2008 Profiles
 2007 Profiles
 2006 Profiles
 2005 Profiles

Faculty profiles and courses - 2008

Mauro Agnoletti, Italy, Geography

GEOG 399, Italy: Analysis and Management of Landscape Resources (2)
GEOG 410/510, Planning for Sustainability in the Cultural Landscape (2)

A professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science at the University of Florence, where he received his PhD in forestry science, Dr. Agnoletti is well known in Europe and the United States for his work on the history of landscape conservation, with a particular focus on forest management. He participated in the IVP Program during the 2003 and 2005 Summer Sessions.

Jovan Babic, Serbia and Montenegro, Philosophy

PHL 309U, Business Ethics (4)
PHL 314U, Computer Ethics (4)
PHL 446/556, Topics in Ethics: Ethics of War (4)

Jovan Babic is Professor of Philosophy at Belgrade University, Serbia and Montenegro, where he earned his doctorate in ethics. A MacArthur Foundation grant brought him to the US in 2000 to collaborate on a writing project on the ethical dimensions of transitional justice, and he spent three years at PSU as a visiting scholar and professor. Dr. Babic has returned annually to teach philosophy courses in the PSU Summer Session.

Renato Carletti, Italy, Sociology

SOC 397, Methods of Sociological Research +Lab (5)
SOC 414/514, Alcohol and Other Drugs (4)

Renato Carletti came to PSU in 1997 as an international graduate student, earning both his master's and doctoral degrees in Sociology. His studies emphasized medical sociology, stratification theories, and statistical methods for data analysis. Today Dr. Carletti lectures at the University of Milano-Bicocca and engages in research for public and private research institutes in Italy.

Venerable Geshe Kalsang Damdul, Tibet, International Studies

INTL 317U, Tibetan Buddhism (4)

Venerable Geshe Kalsang Damdul received his Geshe Degree (Doctorate in Buddhist Philosophy) from Drepung Loseling Monastery in South India in 1995. In 1985 he was appointed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as Assistant Director of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, a position he still holds today. Geshe Kalsang Damdul has taught at American universities and Buddhist Centers and has directed study groups in Canada.

Joyce Onyango-Odhiambo, Kenya, Child and Family Studies

CFS 410/510, The African Family: Past and Present (4)
CFS 410/510, Gender and Development: An African Experience (4)

A member of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Kenyatta, Joyce Onyango-Odhiambo's areas of expertise include gender issues, reproductive health issues, child and youth development, family life issues, nutrition, and community development. She has consulted for a wide variety of non-governmental organizations, including UNICEF Somalia, the World Health Organization, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation – Africa Region. She received her PhD in human ecology and family studies from the University of Alberta, Canada.

Norbert Platz, Germany, English

UNST 226, European Studies, Sophomore Inquiry (4)
ENG 480/580, Australian and Canadian Nature Poetry (4)

A senior scholar in the English Department at the University of Trier, Norbert Platz is a scholar of international standing in ecocriticism as well as an expert on the European Union. In addition to his appointment at the University of Trier, he is also an Associate Professor at the University of Luxembourg. In recent years Dr. Platz's research has focused on nature-oriented literature, particularly the poetry of Australia and Canada. He holds a PhD in English literature from the University of Mannheim.

Sohail Qureshi, Pakistan, Biology

BI 338, Introduction to Molecular Biology (4)
BI 410/510, Mechanisms of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Transcription (4)

A graduate of the University of Maine, where he earned a PhD in molecular biology, Sohail Qureshi is now a professor in the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. He has spent many years in the states and abroad as a professor and researcher, with extensive biotechnology experience in industry. Dr. Qureshi is considered one of the world's leading experts on the regulation of gene expression in Archaea, bacteria-like organisms, some of which live in the most extreme environments on earth. He is also involved in vaccine development, epilepsy, and phyto-therapeutics.

Laurent Roesch, France, Foreign Languages and Literatures

FR 305, Topics in French Film (taught in French) (4)
SOC 399, US Social Policy and the Idea of "Dangerous Classes" (4)

Laurent Roesch is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Avignon, France. He earned his doctorate at the University of Paul Verlaine in Metz in 2006, following graduate study at Pennsylvania State University on two occasions and a summer at George Washington University on a Fulbright scholarship. Dr. Roesch's research interests include the political, economic, and cultural history of the United States, with emphasis on social policy and the myths of the "dangerous city" and "dangerous classes."

Dorothy Rombo, Kenya [now in US], Child and Family Studies

CFS 410/510, HIV/AIDs and Families (2)
CFS 410/510, Working with Immigrant Families (2)

After teaching in the Department of Family and Consumer Science at Kenyatta University for seven years, Dorothy Rombo came to the United States in 2003 to pursue a doctorate in Family Science at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul. She holds a master's of education degree from Kenyatta University in Educational Communication and Technology. Professor Rombo taught in the IVP Program in the 2007 Summer Session.

Vladimir Tikhonov, Russia, Foreign Languages and Literatures

RUS 299, Intermediate Russian Conversation: Russian for the Olympics (4)

Following a year as a visiting professor of Russian at the University of Maryland in 1988-89, Vladimir Tikhonov was named Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research at Nizhny Novgorod Linguistic University (LUNN), where he has been teaching since earning his PhD in linguistics from the State University of Odessa. Dr. Tikhonov has represented LUNN several times at PSU and at other universities across the United States. He comes to PSU this summer from Seoul, Korea, where he has spent the last year as a visiting scholar at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

Volkhart Vincentz, Germany, Economics (John Hall)

EC 447U, Economics of Transition (4)
EC 445U, Comparative Economic Systems (4)

After earning a PhD in economics at Boston University, Volkhart Vincentz went on to a career as a senior economist, university lecturer, and consultant. He is now Deputy Director of the Institute for Eastern European Studies in Regensburg, Germany and teaches courses on economics and Eastern European Studies at the University of Berlin. Dr. Vincentz’s fields of interest include economic transformation, economic systems, foreign trade, economic development and convergence.

Tianxiang Zhan, China, History (Linda Walton)

HST 425/525, Modern China (4)
TA 399, Film and History: Contemporary China (4)

Tianxiang Zhan received his MA from the Department of History at Zhejiang University, where he now teaches. He travels and lectures widely at American universities and at international conferences, including the Friends World Program, Wharton International Forum, and the Symposium on International Education. Professor Zhan was a visiting professor at PSU in 1996-97 and has returned every summer since then to teach in the Summer Session.

For additional information, please call Dawn White, International Faculty Services, in the Office of International Affairs, 503/725-5075.