Honors Faculty
The professors who teach Honors courses at Salem State College are among the most experienced and enthusiastic faculty on campus. They look forward to working with motivated students in class and on senior Honors projects. This page is representative of our core Honors faculty. Please feel free to contact them with any questions about the Honors courses they teach.
Aviva Chomsky, Department of History, BA, MA, and PhD, University of California-Berkeley
Professor Chomsky is a published author and is currently working on an analytical college-level text on the Cuban Revolution, as well as a larger research project that intertwines the global history of coal with a micro-history of northern Colombia. Courses: Honors History I & II
Email: aviva.chomsky@salemstate.edu
Office: Sullivan Building 102F
Phone: 978.542.6389
Michael Deere, Department of Philosophy, PhD, Pennsylvania State University
Course: Honors Philosophy Seminar
Email: michael.deere@salemstate.edu
Office: Sullivan Building 204B
Phone: 978.542.7141
Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, BA, Connecticut College; PhD Boston University
Professor Duclos-Orsello has been teaching and working in universities and museums for more than a decade. Her research and scholarly work focuses on issues of community in American culture; ethnic and immigrant literatures; gender studies; and the connections between place and memory. She has developed and directed grant projects linking K-12 school districts, universities, and museums, and currently writes for "The Public Humanist," a blog that focuses on the relationship between the humanities and public policy issues. Courses: Junior and Senior Honors Seminars
Email: educlosorsello@salemstate.edu
Office: Admissions Building 2
Phone: 978.542.7210
Richard Elia, Department of English, BA, Providence College; MA, Northeastern University; PhD, University of Massachusetts
Professor Elia is an expert in English Literature from 1800 to 1925, literary criticism, and the classics. He also publishes an international wine magazine and runs our Honors Etiquette Dinner. Courses: Honors Literature I & II
Email: richard.elia@salemstate.edu
Office: Sullivan Building 200A
Phone: 978.542.6474
Perry Glasser, Department of English, BA, Brooklyn College of City University of New York; MFA, University of Arizona
Professor Glasser has published more than 50 stories and memoirs in dozens of literary journals, as well as two collections of short fiction, Suspicious Origins and Singing on the Titanic. A three-time winner of the PEN Syndicated Fiction Prize and two-time winner of the Boston Fiction Festival Competition, his work has been read on National Public Radio. He received the Sarah Russo Prize for Exile Literature in 2005; and has been a fellow at Ucross, Yaddo and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Perry coordinates the Professional Writing Program at the college. Course: Honors English
Email: perry.glasser@salemstate.edu
Office: Meier Hall 228
Phone: 978.542.7032
Joanna Gonsalves, Department of Psychology, BA, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; MA and PhD, Clark University
Professor Gonsalves is the Honors Program coordinator and a member of the Psychology Department faculty. Her research is focused on experiential learning and adult cognitive development. Her teaching and research is enriched by her experience as a municipal politician and advocate for community groups. Courses: Junior and Senior Honors Seminars
Email: jgonsalves@salemstate.edu
Office: 452 Enterprise Center
Phone: 978.542.6247
David Gow, Department of Psychology, BA, Tufts University; MA, Brandeis University; PhD, Harvard University
Professor Gow has completed post-doctoral studies in neuropsychology and acoustic phonetics at the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the question of how listeners recognize spoken words in the context of fluent, connected speech. Course: Honors Foundations of Psychology
Email: david.gow@salemstate.edu
Office: Meier Hall 224
Phone: 978.542.6831
Thomas Healy, Department of Theater and Speech Communication, AB, College of the Holy Cross; MA, Fairfield University; PhD, University of Southern Mississippi
Professor Healy has experience as an oral historian, an evaluator of bilingual educational programs, a corporate trainer, and as a leader in the establishment of educational standards for teachers of speech in Massachusetts. Current research interests focus on the influence of public communication in popular culture. Course: Honors Speech
Email: thomas.healey@salemstate.edu
Office: ADM 3
Phone: 978.542.7232
Rod Kessler, Department of English, BA, Harvard University; MS, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; MFA, University of Arizona
Professor Kessler has taught in the Department of English at Salem State College since fall 1983. During this time, he has also served as editor of Sextant, the college faculty journal, and as coordinator of the college's Honors Program. At various times he has been advisor to the English Society, to Soundings East, the college's literary magazine, and to the Honors Program Advisory Council. He is also a published author. Course: Freshman Honors English
Email: rod.kessler@salemstate.edu
Office: Sullivan Building 208A
Phone: 978.542.6247
Maureen McRae, School of Nursing, BSN and MS, Boston College; DNSc, Boston University
Maureen McRae is the coordinator of the Direct Entry MSN Program. She is also the faculty advisor for the Student Nursing Association. Courses: Nursing Research I & II: Honors
Email: maureen.mccrae@salemstate.edu
Office: Harrington Building 123
Phone: 978.542.6652
Daniel Mulcare, Department of Political Science, BS University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth; MS, PhD New School for Social Research
Course: Honors Political Science Seminar
Email: daniel.mulcare@salemstate.edu
Office: Meier Hall 333B
Phone: 978.542.6470
Jeanette Sablock, Department of Geology, BS, Salem State College; MS and PhD, University of Idaho
Jeanette Sablock has field experiences in earth science and in the geologic hazards of North America. She is the coordinator of the Master of Arts program for science teachers and also partakes in the annual trip to Montana with the Geology department. Courses: Honors Physical Geology and Honors Historical Geology
Email: jeanette.sablock@salemstate.edu
Office: Meier Hall 245
Phone: 978.542.7077
Donna Vinson, Department of History
Courses: Honors History I & II
Email: donna.vinson@salemstate.edu
Office: Sullivan Building 110D
Phone: 978.542.7147
Geertje Wiersma, Department of Sociology, PhD, University of Wageningen, Netherlands
Having been raised and education in the Netherlands, and having lived in the United States since 1969, Geertje Wiersma's research and studies have focused on cross-cultural comparisons between the Netherlands and the United States. Currently, she is writing about the Dutch cultural search for compromise in comparison to the "U.S. Argument Society". Course: Honors Sociology
Email: geertje.wiersma@salemstate.edu
Office: Meier Hall 335E
Phone: 978.542.6363
Alan Young, Department of Biology, BA, University of Vermont; MS, Clark University; PhD, University of South Carolina-Columbia
A biology professor, Alan Young is also the director of Salem State's marine biology program and coordinator of marine biology internships. He serves as a liaison to the Marine Studies Consortium, is chairman of Salem Sound Coast Watch, and is historian of New England Estuarine Research Society. Course: Honors Biology
Email: alan.young@salemstate.edu
Office: Meier Hall 538C
Phone: 978.542.6710