The College of Arts and Sciences ushers in the new academic year with two new department chairs, a new director of the School of Music and 30 new faculty members. Such development and growth are a reflection of the College's commitment to advancing student success, scholarship, and campus and community engagement.

The new faculty members are joining 13 departments across the college, plus the School of Music, with the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences adding the most hires. 

“I’m proud to welcome an outstanding cohort of new faculty whose dedication to student success, cutting-edge scholarship and civic impact reflects the very best of our mission,” said Caleb Everett, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Their expertise and vision will enrich the college and advance its excellence well into the future."

Leadership appointments were announced in the history and art history departments as well as the School of Music. Owen White is now the chair of history, after serving as interim chair for one year. He specializes in the history of modern France and the French colonial empire, with particular interests in West Africa and Algeria. The author of a book about the mixed-race population of French West Africa and articles on a variety of aspects of French colonialism, White also has published two edited volumes, one on French missionaries, the other on social organization in modern empires. He received his B.A. from the University of Exeter and his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford.

Mónica Domínguez Torres is the new chair of the Department of Art History. She specializes in the arts of the early modern Iberian World, with particular interest in cross-cultural exchanges between Spain and the Americas during the period 1500-1700. Since 2005, she has held a joint appointment in Latin American and Iberian Studies. She also serves as associate director of UD’s Center for Material Culture Studies. Domínguez Torres’ most recent book is “Pearls for the Crown: Art, Nature, and Race in the Age of Spanish Expansion.” She received her B.A. from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, and her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.

Daniel B. Stevens has been named the new director of the School of Music after serving as interim director since 2023. Previously he was associate director of undergraduate studies for the school. Recognized for his innovative approaches to teaching music theory and aural skills, Stevens received the 2023 Pedagogy Award from the Society for Music Theory.

An advocate for problem-based learning and community engagement, Stevens has engaged his students in community-engaged learning experiences. Examples include creating musical arrangements for children with autism spectrum disorders and composing a soundtrack for a video for the Physical Therapy Clinic on UD’s STAR Health campus.

The new faculty members and their departments are:

Art & Design 

Xiao Han

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Darrell A. Collison

Communication

Dan Totzkay

History

Jake C. Ransohoff

Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Kathleen Cunniffe Peña

Jennifer Waldburger Máthé

Linguistics and Cognitive Science

Bilge Palaz 

Andrea Beltrama

Alexis Garner

Kasia Hitczenko

Peter Nelson

Mathematical Sciences 

Ash DeClerk

John Graf

Juntao Huang

Jacob Mayle

Samuel Waters

Philosophy

Carla Merino-Rajme

Physics and Astronomy

Riddhi Bandyopadhyay

Psychological & Brain Sciences 

Johanna R. Chajes

Sara Driskell

Zachary Meehan

Sydney C. Simmons

Sydney Y. Wood

Franssy M. Zablah

School of Music

Matthew Kiple

George Nicholson

Luke Williams

Sociology

Tyler Leeds

Theatre and Dance

Monica J. Cameron Frichtel

Women and Gender Studies

Andrea L. Glass-Heffner