We often think about our professors as teachers. They are the authorities in their subjects who know (or know how to find) the right answer. But knowledge doesn’t end when you graduate, whether that’s with a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Doctorate degree. Our professors are lifelong learners. They continually research, then share their findings with colleagues, through conference presentations and publications.

Our faculty are intellectually curious people, and we were interested to find out about the research interests of new faculty. Katherine Miller, assistant professor of anthropology, has research interests in Mesoamerican bioarchaeology (particularly the biological remains of the Maya people), odontometry, biodistance analysis, and biogeochemical analysis; social relationships like kinship, identity, and sociopolitical interaction; and behaviors including cultural body modifications, household configuration, and residential mobility.

Have you ever wondered how scientists are able to learn so much about the health, age, and lifestyle of ancient cultures just through examining preserved teeth? Well, now you know someone you can ask! And if you’re interested in taking classes with Dr. Miller, you might also like to look at some of the resources available to you through the library.

We’re also welcoming three new lecturers in psychology this year. Gregory Dam’s research interests include decision making and learning, science and math education, and computational cognitive neuroscience. Amanda Kraha specializes in experimental psychology and statistics. And Eevett Loshek has expertise in human sexuality, gender studies, social psychology, and evolutionary psychology. So if you’re interested in pursuing psychology as your major, you can see that there are a lot of amazing directions you can go with it. You can find out what the library offers for psychology research here.

Our other new faculty this year include Joshua Beal, assistant professor of mathematics and Ramesh Karki, visiting assistant professor of mathematics; Melissa Blankenship, visiting lecturer in English; Shay Clamme, lecturer in criminal justice; and Denise Dallmer, clinical assistant professor of education.

So when you’re in classes this year, as you do your research for assignments, know that you are in good research company. And in addition to help from your professors, you know you can count on the library to help as well. Just ask us! iueref@iue.edu