2008 Profiles
 2007 Profiles
 2006 Profiles
 2005 Profiles

Faculty profiles and courses - 2006

Rasha Abdulla, Cairo, Egypt

INTL 410/510, The Internet in the Arab World (4)
SP 399, Communication, Culture, and Middle Eastern Societies (4)

Rasha Abdulla is a professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University of Cairo. In addition to her scholarly work, Dr. Abdulla is also a training and communication expert, conducting workshops for journalists and international corporations. Her book on the Internet in Egypt and the Arab World was published in Cairo last year.

Jovan Babic, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

PHL 311U, Morality of Punishment (4)
PHL 314U, Computer Ethics (4)
PHL 407/507, Sem: Political Morality, War, and Pacifism (4)

Jovan Babic is Professor of Philosophy at Belgrade University, Serbia and Montenegro. 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.

Laurence Belingard, Avignon, France

FR 399, Histoire du théâtre et du cinéma in Provence (Provence in Film and Literature) (4)

Laurence Belingard is a professor at the University of Avignon in southern France, where she teaches British civilization, medieval English drama, and literature in translation. She is currently working on an annotated translation of the medieval ballads of the Robin Hood cycle. Her Summer Session course is taught in French.

Nejib ben Lazreg, Tunis, Tunisia

HST 416/516, Topics in Roman History: Archaeology of Tunisia (4)
HST 399, SPST: Carthage & Rome (4)

Nejib ben Lazreg received his PhD in Classical Archaeology from the Université de Tunis. He has held a research position with the National Institute of Heritage in Tunisia since 1983, and has directed excavation of major Roman sites at Leptiminus, Thapsus, and Sullectum.

Kiran Chhokar, Ahmedabad, India

GEOG 347U, Environmental Issues and Action (4)

Kiran Chhokar is Programme Coordinator at the Centre for Environmental Education in Ahmedabad, India, where her responsibilities include developing curricular materials to support the integration of environmental and sustainability issues and perspectives into teaching in higher education. She earned her doctorate in social and cultural geography from Louisiana State University.

Peter H. Fogtdal, Copenhagen, Denmark

WR 412/512, Advanced Fiction Writing (4)

After completing his undergraduate education at California State University, Fullerton, Peter Fogtdal returned to Denmark to write for radio, television, and the stage. Best known for his satire and historical prose, Mr. Fogtdal is the author of nine novels, some of which have been translated into other languages. He has also received numerous awards domestically and internationally for his writing.

Tobias Kaempf, Berlin, Germany

ARH 205, History of Western Art (4)
ARH 450/550, Great Periods: Painters and Poets in Paris (4)
(1592-1680) (4)

Educated in Italy, England, the Republic of San Marino and Germany, where he earned his PhD at the University of Würzburg, Tobias Kämpf specialises in Southern European and French Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture as well as in the culture of Romanticism and its reception up to the Surrealists. He is currently working on a research project dedicated to re-assess the growth of Modernism out of the intellectual legacy of the Romantic period.

Brian Mokopakgosi, Gaborone, Botswana

BST 410/510, Mfecane and the Settler Scramble in Southern Africa to 1800 (4)
BST 410/510, Nationalism, Decolonisation, and Transfer of Power in Southern Africa (4)

Professor Mokopakgosi earned his doctorate in African History from the University of London. He is a professor of History at the University of Botswana, where he has also served as Dean of Humanities and Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. His ongoing research is focused on decolonization and the transfer of power in Botswana.

Joerg Roesler, Berlin, Germany

HST 410/510, German Economic History: Rise of National Socialism through Reunification (4)
ECON 410/510, Latin American Economic History: Early Colonialism to Neoliberalism (4)

Joerg Roesler holds two doctoral degrees from Humboldt University. His professional and scholarly background includes research at the Academy of Science of the German Democratic Republic, teaching at Humboldt University and other universities in Germany and abroad, and publishing on the history of economic reform in Eastern Europe and the economic history of developing countries, especially in Latin America. Dr Roesler currently lectures on macroeconomics at the University of Arts in Berlin and continues to teach and publish on topics of business history and economic history.

E. Kwaku Senah, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

BST 413, Slavery: International Dimensions (4)
INTL 410, Caribbean Tourism, Education and Cultural Values (4)

Educated in Ghana, Nigeria, Great Britain, and Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Senah serves as Project Coordinator of the Morals and Values Education Project, Ministry of Education, in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. For many years he was on the faculty of the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, where he taught history and served as Project Manager in the Centre for Ethnic Studies.

Somtim Tobiga, Accra, Ghana

MGMT 407/507, International Business Negotiations (4)
MGMT 407/507, Doing Business in Emerging Markets (4)

An alumnus of PSU, where he earned a doctorate in Business Administration, Tobiga Somtim is founder and Chairman of the Board of Yakote Women Farmers and Traders Association, an association of rural women farmers and traders in the northern part of Ghana which assists its members in obtaining business loans. Dr. Somtim has previously taught courses in PSU's Business School and been engaged in import and export trade between the US and countries in Africa.

Philip Withers, Crawley, Australia

BI 410/510, Marsupial Biology (4)

Philip Withers is Professor of Zoology at the School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia. A former Fulbright scholar, he earned his doctorate from UCLA, where he received an award for his outstanding graduate research. He has taught in the US, in South Africa, and in his native Australia.

Tianxiang Zhan, Hangzhou, China

HST 425/525, Modern China (4)
HST 497/597, Film & History: Chinese Cinema & Society (4)

Professor Zhan received his MA from the Department of History at Hangzhou 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.

Natalia Zhivolupova, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

RUS 427/527, Topics in Russian Literature of the 19th Century: Dostoevsky (4)
RUS 427/527, Topics in Russian Literature of the 19th Century: Dostoevsky's The Idiot (4)

Natalia Zhivolupova is a Professor of Russian Literature at Nizhny Novgorod Linguistic University. She is internationally known as a specialist on Dostoevsky; in recent years she has lectured in Germany, American, Japan, and Switzerland on Dostoevsky's life, work and times. Her research interests also include Russian literature of the 19th and 20th centuries and Russian as a foreign language.

Thomas Zimmerer, Regensburg, Germany

MGMT 410/510, Portfolio Management: Theory and Practical Implementation in Excel (4)

Thomas Zimmerer is a professor in Finance, Investments, and Banking at the University of Applied Sciences in Ansbach, Germany. He also serves as senior instructor for a company that provides seminars for finance professionals, teaching Excel-based solutions and case studies in bond portfolio management and insurance. He earned his PhD in economics at the University of Regensburg and has extensive experience in the business world.

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