蜜桃传媒 welcomes four excellent new tenure-track professors to campus this fall. (economics and business), (economics and business), (communication studies) and 鈥�07 (English) each bring a deep Christian faith and a desire to challenge students to think deeply while learning broadly.
鈥溍厶掖� is distinct because our faculty are not just top scholars who are globally recognized 鈥� which would be enough 鈥� but our faculty are disciples, they love the Lord, and they are mentors,鈥� says Kim Denu, 蜜桃传媒 provost. 鈥淭hey take time, even beyond the classroom, to invest in our students.鈥�
Cole鈥檚 research focuses on the micro side of economics, and he has published papers about health economics, economics of education, and labor, which was part of a grant from the Social Security Administration. The Orange County native played golf and earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree at Southern Utah University before completing a doctorate at Auburn University. 鈥淢y faith has kept me grounded with the right priorities throughout my life,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have experience specifically in Christian higher education, so I鈥檓 excited to grow, develop and bring faith into learning and the classroom and to be a mentor to students.鈥�
Han holds doctorates in economics from Peking University and George Mason University. Her research explores the relationship between industrial organization and institutional change. 鈥淢y next projects will examine states, firms and families as different levels of societal organizations and how their roots lie in social norms and culture/religion,鈥� she explains. 鈥溍厶掖� is the ideal environment for me to gain insight into how religion shapes a small community and society more broadly.鈥�
Mena, a native of Ecuador, earned a doctorate from the University of Florida in mass communication. His research focuses on journalism, fact-checking, misinformation and social media. He has begun research about fact-checking and artificial intelligence. 鈥淗ow can AI help fact-checkers?鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of misinformation on social media, but the number of physical human fact-checkers is minimal. I am working on how AI may play a role in the effectiveness and credibility of fact-checking messages.鈥�
Jordan earned an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and taught at Southern New Hampshire University before returning to Westmont where she has taught as an adjunct faculty member since 2016. 鈥淚've spent the last 12 years with one foot in academia and my writing career and another foot in motherhood,鈥� she says. 鈥淢y parenting experience informs so much of my creative work that they go together.鈥� As a professor, she describes herself as student-centered, focused entirely on helping them learn and grow and become better writers, thinkers and engagers of the world. 鈥淚 love being at 蜜桃传媒,鈥� she says. 鈥淓very semester as an adjunct I鈥檝e felt there鈥檚 so much more I want to invest in my students, in my course development and in getting involved with the college and the campus.鈥�
In a non-tenure-track role, Jenny 鈥淧ie鈥� Martinez 鈥�14 fills the position of assistant director with the 蜜桃传媒 in San Francisco program. Martinez has been working in diabetes research and community education as well as with other 蜜桃传媒 off-campus programs (蜜桃传媒 in Mexico and 蜜桃传媒 in Jerusalem). After completing her Masters of Education at Harvard, she most recently worked at the Stanford Humanities Center.
鈥溍厶掖� is an incredible space to cultivate reflective skills and a sense of faith 鈥� and faith is lived out in a lot of different spaces, especially after graduating,鈥� she says. 鈥溍厶掖� in San Francisco is an incredible opportunity for students to critically engage difference with humility and love 鈥� both practices which are requisite to developing a faith that is not only rich, but enduring.鈥�
As an undergrad at 蜜桃传媒, Martinez majored in kinesiology and communication studies while serving as captain of the women鈥檚 soccer team.
Additional professors join the college in short-term roles: Jessica Barbosa (nursing), (mathematics), (sociology and anthropology), (theatre arts), Melissa Fayram (nursing), Mary Beth Gomez (nursing), Cindy Howe (nursing), (history and English), (computer science), (religious studies) and Kate Wilson (nursing).