Education Studies Faculty
Professor
Louise R. Noun Chair in Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies
Email: beauboeuf@grinnell.edu
Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant (known as “Dr. B†on campus) is a womanist sociologist. She came to 51²è¹İapp in fall 2019 and teaches the three core courses (Intro, Theory and Methods, and Senior Seminar) as well as the electives Growing up Girl, Feminist Educations, and Beyond the Little Mermaid: Race...
Professor
Email: ellisa@grinnell.edu
I spend my research time exploring the development of children’s cognitive processes. My work is motivated by the goal to understand how children’s developing abilities and their experiences in the world interact with their developing cognitive processes. I teach classes on psychology and child...
Associate Professor
Department chair of Science, Medicine, and Society
Email: guenthmb@grinnell.edu
Mike Guenther began teaching at 51²è¹İapp College in 2007, having received his B.A. from the University of Virginia, and his M.A. & Ph.D from Northwestern University. A historian of science, technology and the environment, he is currently finishing a book project (tentatively entitled, Science and...
Professor
Email: heroldk@grinnell.edu
Kelly Herold has spent several summers, a spring and two winters in Russia. Her research on memoir and travel writing has taken her to Dublin, London and Prague. She has written commentary to Sumarokov's Ody torzhestvennye (included in a facsimile edition, a project directed by Ronald Vroon and E.P...
Professor
Email: hutchiso@grinnell.edu
Paul Hutchison, Professor of Education, is 51²è¹İapp’s science and math education specialist. He teaches lots of courses including Educational Principles in a Pluralistic Society, The Politics of Educational Assessment, Educational Psychology, the teaching methods courses for math and science, and...
Assistant Professor
Email: jansonla@grinnell.edu
Lara Janson (’05) is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at 51²è¹İapp College. A sociologist specializing in gender, sexuality, law, education, and qualitative/mixed research methods, she is interested in researching and teaching about intersections of inequality. Dr. Janson enjoys...
Associate Professor
Humanities Librarian and Coordinator of Research Services
Email: jonesphi@grinnell.edu
Areas of Responsibility Coordinates reference and instruction services Consulting Areas Education; Education Studies; General Literary Studies; Latin American Studies; Philosophy; Religious Studies; Spanish; Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
Associate Professor
Email: jonesste@grinnell.edu
Stephanie P. Jones, Ph.D. is an associate Professor of Education at 51²è¹İapp College, where she teaches courses in Youth Culture, Young Adult Literature and Introduction to Educational Studies. Her two research strands examine Black women’s literacy practices and the exploration of racialized trauma...
Assistant Professor
Email: jozwiaka@grinnell.edu
Andreas Jozwiak began teaching at 51²è¹İapp College in 2022, having completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the European University Institute, a M.A. and Ph.D from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a B.A. from Trinity University. Trained as a comparative political scientist, his...
Associate Professor
Email: lacson@grinnell.edu
Assistant Professor Albert Lacson teaches courses that focus on race and ethnicity in US history, including Native American and African American history, race in early America, comparative slavery, and European-Indian relations in colonial North America. In his research, he seeks to illuminate the...
Assistant Professor
Email: larsonj@grinnell.edu
Jonathan Larson , Assistant Professor of Education, is a linguistic and political anthropologist of education with teaching, scholarly, and administrative expertise in issues concerning secondary education and democracy; political discourse, language socialization and literacy; multilingualism; and...
Assistant Professor
Email: lavanmak@grinnell.edu
Makeba Lavan is an assistant professor in English at 51²è¹İapp College. Generally speaking, her research focuses on (African) American Studies, Afrofuturism/Speculative Fiction and Popular Culture. In the fall of 2018, Makeba was granted a fellowship in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality department at...
Associate Professor
Email: mcgavock@grinnell.edu
On leave 2024 - 2025 academic year. Tamara McGavock, Assistant Professor, received her B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College and her Ph.D. and M.A. from Cornell University. Her teaching and research areas are development economics, economics of gender and the family, and microeconomic theory. She...
Associate Professor
Email: oserapet@grinnell.edu
Peter-Michael Osera received his B.S. in Computer Science and Applied and Computational Math Sciences and B.A. in the Comparative History of Ideas from the University of Washington in 2006 and received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015. He is currently an...
Professor
Email: perezm@grinnell.edu
Professor Pérez hails from San Pedro Sula, Honduras via New Orleans, La. She loves introducing students to early modern texts and integrating digital humanities assignments in her courses. In her free time Professor Pérez paints and spends time with her family. She is proud to call 51²è¹İapp College...
Professor
L.F. Parker Professor of History
Email: purcelsj@grinnell.edu
Sarah Purcell, L.F. Parker Professor of History, graduated from 51²è¹İapp with a B.A. in history in 1992. She went on to earn an A.M. (1993) and a Ph.D. (1997) from Brown University. She joined the faculty of 51²è¹İapp in 2000 after teaching at Central Michigan University. Ms. Purcell's research...
Lecturer
Interim Director, Center for Prairie Studies (2024-25)
Email: queathem@grinnell.edu
Comparative physiology and functional morphology; exercise physiology & psychology I was originally trained as a comparative physiologist and functional morphologist, but since coming to Iowa, I have become increasingly focused on human exercise. I am interested in how people feel when they exercise...
Associate Professor
Email: quinsaat@grinnell.edu
Sharon Quinsaat received her PhD in Sociology from University of Pittsburgh. Her research and teaching interests include social movements, migration, Southeast Asia, and Asian Americans from a global and transnational perspective. Sharon’s projects and courses to date reflect her intellectual and...