Who We Are

Director and Assistant Director

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Director of Honors and Interdisciplinary Initiatives / Associate Professor, History

Dr. Allyson Brantley is an Associate Professor of History in the Department of History and Political Science, where she teaches courses in U.S., Latin American, Borderlands, and Social Movements histories (a number of these courses also include Honors sections). She received her PhD from Yale University in 2016. Her research focuses on interracial labor and consumer organizing and activism in the 20th century United States; her first book, on the subject of the long-running boycott of Coors beer – Brewing a Boycott: How a Grassroots Coalition Fought Coors & Remade American Consumer Activism – was published in 2021 with the University of North Carolina Press.

To make an appointment to discuss Honors questions with Dr. Brantley, please use her scheduling link.

Assistant Director of Honors / Assistant Professor, Economics

Professor Lee is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of La Verne. His research is focused on international trade; with particular attention paid to the formation and subsequent causal effects of trade agreements, as well as the importance of shared language in facilitating trade. He was previously taught courses at Wabash College after receiving his PhD in Economics from Indiana University.

To make an appointment with Dr. Lee, email him directly.

Peer Mentors

Peer mentors are available to meet in the Honors Center (Campus Center 216) or via Zoom throughout the semester. Explore their bios below to see who you would like to meet with, and use their scheduling links to make appointments.

Brianna Avila

Schedule an Appointment

  • About Me: Fourth-year Biology major and Educational Studies minor, I am a commuter student with 3 jobs, I am in the ULV chamber singers. You can find me in the honors center Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings!
  • See Me For: Questions about Biology courses, Choir information, student worker information, general college life questions, commuter questions or just to chat.

Brian Duenas

Schedule an Appointment

  • About Me: Fourth-year Digital Media major with a Film & Television concentration, and a minor in Business Administration.
  • See Me For: General advising questions, questions regarding Digital Media or Business courses, and advice for scheduling with both a major and a minor.

Fiyona Haile

Schedule an Appointment

  • About Me: First-year Biology major and a member of the women’s basketball team here at La Verne.
  • See Me For: General advising questions.

Jazmine (Joey) Madore

Schedule an Appointment

  • About Me: Third-year Kinesiology major with a Biology minor. I love talking about most things ranging from weight-lifting to medicine to horror movies. Please feel free to schedule an appointment with me if in need of any type of support, especially academic.
  • See Me For: General advising, advising on my majors, pre-physician assistant questions.

Gael Mendoza

Schedule an Appointment

  • About Me: I am a freshman here at the University of La Verne. I am a Digital Media major and I am very excited to get this school year underway!
  • See Me For: General advising questions.

Faculty

A wide array of the university’s top faculty teach in the Honors Program and/or support the program as members of the Honors Council, which is entrusted with creating program policies, handling curricular issues, and establishing the future goals of the program. See below to learn more about our faculty:

Gitty Amini, PhD

Profile

  • Department and College: Department of History and Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Honors Courses Taught: Global Ideas I: Multi-Ethnic Literature and Philosophy (HONR 205); Game Theory (HONR 312); Politics of Developing Nations (HONR 314)
  • Research Interests: International crisis and war; strategic interactions between nation-states, including negotiation, coercion, and military aggression.

John and Linda Bartelt

Profile

  • Department and College: Educational Studies, LaFetra College of Education
  • Honors Courses Taught: Human Sexuality (HONR 311)
  • Research Interests: Gender and sexuality, educational technology, educational psychology, child development

Sean Bernard

Profile

  • Department and College: Modern Languages, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Honors Courses Taught: Latinx: The Magical and the Real; Advanced Literary Non-Fiction; Food Writing
  • Research Interests: Visit website

Elena Gabriela Capraroiu, PhD

Profile

  • Department and College: Modern Languages, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Honors Courses Taught: Word & Image, Mexico 1920-1940 (HONR 306); Breaking the Pact of Silence: Women and Dictatorship in the Literature and Film of Latin America, Spain, and Eastern Europe (HONR 306)
  • Research Interests: Twentieth-century Spanish and Latin American literature; literature and politics; Romanian literature; indigenous literatures of Latin America; translation Studies

Benjamin Jenkins

Profile

  • Department and College: Department of History and Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences; Archives and Special Collections, Wilson Library
  • Honors Courses Taught: Honors Colloquium II (HONR 380)
  • Research Interests: History of California; California citrus industry; public history

Elaine Padilla, PhD

Profile

  • Department and College: Department of Philosophy and Religion, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Honors Courses Taught: Latin American/Latinx Religiosity (HONR 302); On the Common Good: Aquinas from Medieval Times to the Present (HONR 302); Border Theory in Religion and Philosophy (HONR 215); Decolonizing Feminisms in Philosophies of Religion (HONR 314); Indigenous and Contemporary Philosophies of the Americas (HONR 215); Contemporary Issues in Philosophy: Love and Sex (HONR 215); Introduction to Process Philosophy (HONR 302)
  • Research Interests: Visit website

Jason Neidleman, PhD

Profile

  • Department and College: Department of History and Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Honors Courses Taught: Global Ideas I: Multi-Ethnic Literature and Philosophy (HONR 205)
  • Research Interests: Visit website

Jonathan Reed

Profile

  • Department and College: Department of Philosophy and Religion, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Honors Courses Taught: Global Ideas I: Multi-Ethnic Literature and Philosophy (HONR 205); Global Ideas II: Identity and Difference: The Post-Modern/Post-Colonial Condition (HONR 215)
  • Research Interests: Early Christianity and Judaism, the archaeology of the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean, Roman imperial civic religion, North American indigenous religions, and the Lakota Ghost Dance

katherine “christy” roberts

Profile

  • Department and College: Art & Art History and Photography, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Honors Courses Taught: The Female Frame; Witches and Witch Hunts
  • Research Interests: Surveillance, data and machine learning, feminism, art history, anarchism, witches and witch hunting, labor movements, music, performance, and conceptual art

Sarah Rodman-Alvarez, PhD, MPH

Profile

  • Department and College: Randall Lewis Center for Well-Being and Research
  • Honors Courses Taught: Food and the Body (HONR 361)
  • Research Interests: I’m interested in how food and agriculture intersect with the well-being of people and the Earth. Lately, I’m especially curious about how the experience of motherhood is impacted by cultural expectations around how we feed children.

Krystal Rodriguez-Campos

Profile

  • Department and College: College of Law and Public Service
  • Honors Courses Taught: Justice and Immigration Clinic (HONR 380)
  • Research Interests: Immigration law and policy

Dane Sawyer, PhD

Profile

  • Department and College: Philosophy and Religion, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Honors Courses Taught: Global Ideas I: Multi-Ethnic Literature and Philosophy (HONR 205); Global Ideas II: Identity and Difference: The Post-Modern/Post-Colonial Condition (HONR 215); Political and Social Theory; The Nature of Human Nature
  • Research Interests: Philosophy of mind, Existentialism, and Buddhism