Jeff Aziz
Senior Lecturer, Advisor, Department of English
Project: Fight Bravely – Stage Combat for Everyone
Jeff Aziz is a faculty member in Pitt’s Department of English and is an affiliated faculty member of the Jewish Studies, Medieval & Renaissance Studies, and Medical Humanities programs, as well as the Vibrant Media Lab. This is to say, he likes a lot of things. He is interested in the history of printing and media and heads the English department’s early-modern printing initiative (he and his students set metal type and print with ink and teach others to do this). Jeff is a passionate believer in communication between disciplines, especially between the humanities and the sciences. He is a Faculty Fellow of the University Honors College and was recognized with the 2020 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Most importantly, as someone who was not always a successful student himself, Jeff wants to welcome and encourage students of all backgrounds and levels of development.
Gianni Downs
Lecturer II, Senior Designer, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Co-Head of Design Tech, Department of Theatre Arts
Project: Painting Large – Mural Painting Techniques for the Beginner
Gianni Downs (Scenic Designer) is the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Head of Design/Tech, and a Lecturer of Scenic Design and Scenic Art in the Theatre Arts Department at the University of Pittsburgh. His work has been nationally recognized with a Kevin Kline Award and two nominations for productions at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, as well as an Irene Ryan nomination for designs at Stoneham Theatre. He is the recipient of the 2017 Tina and David Bellet Teaching Excellence Award and with his colleague Annmarie Duggan: the 2019 Provost’s Personalized Education Grant, as well as both the 2018 and 2015 Innovation in Education Awards. He has had the pleasure of working regionally at St. Michael’s Playhouse, Theatre Squared, The City Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, PICT Theatre, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Stoneham Theatre, Pittsburgh Playhouse, as well as many others. Gianni received his MFA from Brandeis University and has been on the faculty of Westminster College, Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama, the University of Pittsburgh, and Point Park University.
Felix Germain
Department Chair & Associate Professor, Department of Africana Studies
Project: Social Justice in College and Beyond
Dr. Germain's research focuses on Black migrations and race relations in France and the United States, as well as contemporary socio-political issues in Haiti and the French Caribbean. He explores topics such as race relations, colonization, decolonization, postcolonial migration and labor relations, and black social movements and gender relations in Africa and the African Diaspora. His first book, Decolonizing the Republic: African and Caribbean Migrants in Postwar Paris (1946-1974), examines the formation of the African Diaspora in France during a period that French historians call "the glorious thirty". It chronicles the evolution of Paris from a space fertile for black literacy and artistic production to a city where Caribbean and African labor migrants lived in quasi "exile," often protesting for better working and living conditions.
Beth Hoffman
Postdoctoral Scholar, Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health
Project: From TV to TikTok –Using Media to Promote Health
Dr. Hoffman is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at Pitt Public Health. After starting down the medical school path, she switched over to public health and completed both her MPH and PhD at Pitt Public Health. Her research primarily focuses on the portrayal of health topics on popular television programs and the influence of medical TV programs on viewers’ perceptions of health and healthcare. She also researches the spread of health information and misinformation on social media, which has been featured by multiple major news outlets such as CNN, The New York Times, and a February 2020 documentary on Hulu.
Ron Idoko
Associate Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems, Founding Director of the Racial Equity Consciousness Institute, and Research Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
Project: Your Voice is Your Power
As Associate Director, Ron leads the Center’s day-to-day operations and strategic and programmatic initiatives with a focus on research, education, and praxis to advance positive social change. Ron founded and directs the Racial Equity Consciousness Institute, an expansive engagement platform that guides learners & teachers through the critical systems thinking racial equity consciousness framework—via immersive resource modules that integrate narrative guides, videos, activities, articles, reflection prompts, discussion forums, and more—to support learners & teachers in analyzing the complexity and pervasiveness of racism, and reflecting on what they can do, personally and collectively, to catalyze antiracist initiatives, communities, and cultures.
Prior to joining the School of Social Work, Ron worked in the University’s Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OEDI), where he exercised strategic and programmatic leadership to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion as institutional components of social and academic engagement at the University. Ron is an instructor in the Public Service program at Pitt, facilitating courses that address challenges and opportunities for social equity advancement in the public sector.
He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and is currently an Ed. D. candidate at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education.
Kristin Kanthak
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Project: Your Voice is Your Power
Kristin Kanthak’s research focuses on the effects on political representation of exogenous constraints such as political institutions. She teaches the following courses at Pitt: American Political Process, Capstone Seminar in American Politics, Legislative Process and American Government and Politics. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.
Andrew Lotz
Teaching Professor and Academic Advisor, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies, Department of Political Science
Project: Is Utopia Possible?
Andrew Lotz, Ph.D., currently serves as an Assistant Dean in Arts and Sciences, as well as a Teaching Professor and Advisor in the Department of Political Science. His work and teaching have focused on the intersection of pop culture and politics, doing instruction on politics in manga comics, in Game of Thrones, and a forthcoming course on Hamilton the Musical. His current interest focuses on propaganda and myth and their role in regime support, and in particular the ways that regimes use narratives to shape, remove, and control voice. He also has an interest in space policy--particularly states' (in)ability to communicate about space policy effectively. When not flipping through a Judge Dredd comic book or stacks of propaganda, Andrew enjoys hobby painting and exploring Pittsburgh.
Patrick Shirey
Assistant Professor, Department of Geology and Environmental Science
Project: Urban Ecology and Sustainable Food Systems
Dr. Patrick Douglas Shirey is the grandson of steelworkers from the Pittsburgh area. His father enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and later attended college supported by the G.I. Bill while working for Gulf Oil Corporation and his mother worked as a secretary at Gulf Oil Corporation while attending night classes to earn her degree at the University of Pittsburgh.
Patrick serves as an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies Program in the Department of Geology and Environmental Science. He is a Certified Ecologist (Ecological Society of America) and Certified Fisheries Professional (American Fisheries Society). He is a Leonard Peters Faculty Fellow in Sustainability with the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation at the University of Pittsburgh and serves on the Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory’s Faculty Advisory Board as an Associate Director (water.pitt.edu). Patrick conducts multidisciplinary research using techniques from his terminal degrees in ecology (Ph.D.) and law (J.D.). His recently published research topics include water policy, fisheries history, urban stream restoration, endangered species conservation policy, environmental DNA, and science communication. He teaches courses in Environmental Justice, Environmental Law and Policy, and Current Issues in Sustainability in Pitt’s Environmental Studies Program.
John Stoner
Senior Lecturer, Department of History
Project: Unwrapping Pittsburgh –Mapping Class, Race, and History
John Stoner is a faculty member in the History Department where he teaches U.S. foreign relations, the history of the 1960s, the Cold War, and modern South Africa (he is also co-director of the Pitt in South Africa Study Abroad program which he hopes will restart in 2024). His research focuses on the projection of American power into the world, particularly on the continent of Africa. He is currently completing a monograph on American labor’s foreign policy in Cold War Africa and researching another on American propaganda in Cold War Africa.
Jessie VanSwearingen
Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy
Project: Neuroscience of Human Movement – Do We Sense to Move, Move to Sense, or Just Act?
Dr. Jessie VanSwearingen has a BS in Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, a MS from The Ohio State University, and a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. Jessie’s research interests include neural and walking efficiency, and assessment and intervention to restore motor skill of walking in older adults. A professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, Dr. VanSwearingen teaches graduate courses in neuroscience, neuromotor control applied in clinical decision-making, and community instructor training for motor skill of walking group exercise. Jessie serves on the University of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board for human subject research and is active in professional societies, including service as Research Committee chair, Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy. A ‘Therapet Team’ for Animal Friends, Jessie and her therapy dog, Notti, visit healthcare facilities and community events, and provide humane education to enhance companion animal care.