The School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, the largest transdisciplinary school in the humanities at Arizona State University, is welcoming new faculty members to its impressive roster of scholars.
The school is excited about the new research topics, courses and ideas they will all bring.
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Nathan Ballantyne, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Nathan Ballantyne
Nathan Ballantyne joins the philosophy faculty at ASU from Fordham University, where he was an associate professor of philosophy. He earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Arizona.
His research includes questions about improving human judgment and research, especially during times of conflict. During times of conflict and uncertainty in society, problems of knowledge and rational opinion surface: What do we know? Who should we trust? How can we improve our beliefs? HIS research confronts these questions and aims to provide researchers with sound cognitive advice by blending philosophical reflection with insights from the sciences.
Maurice Crandall, associate professor, history
Maurice Crandall joins the history faculty from Dartmouth College, where he was assistant professor of Native American studies. He earned his doctorate at the University of New Mexico.
His research focuses on the indigenous peoples of the US-Mexico borderlands. Currently, he is working on a book that explores the role played by the Yavapai and Dilzhe’e Apache Scouts in building their communities after the “Indian Wars.”
Alan Shane Dillingham, assistant professor, history
Alan Shane Dillingham
Alan Shane Dillingham is joining the faculty at ASU from Albright College, where he was an assistant professor of Latin American history. He earned his doctorate in Latin American history from the University of Maryland.
His research focuses on the historical experiences of Native American peoples. In particular, he focuses on 20th-century Mexico, the intersection of anti-colonial politics and education and development politics, and social movements led by workers and youth.
Estibalitz left Vegas
Estibalitz Ezkerra Vegas, Postdoctoral Researcher, ACLS Fellow
Estibalitz Ezkerra Vegas is joining the school from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she was Etxepare Lecturer in Basque Studies. She earned her PhD in comparative literature from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Her research includes interdisciplinary, transnational and comparative approaches to the politics of memory, violence and the demand for justice in cultural production in post-conflict territories such as Ireland and the Basque Country in Spain. She is invested in illuminating the voices and narratives of minorities and indigenous communities that have generally been rendered invisible in Western and American narratives of the past, with particular attention to literature and the arts.
Jimmy Licon, lecturer, philosophy
Jimmy Licon is joining the philosophy faculty from George Mason University, where he was an emeritus fellow in entrepreneurship at the Mercatus Center. He earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Maryland, College Park.
His work focuses on issues of ethics, epistemology, philosophy, politics and economics. He also researches philosophy of religion and metaphysics.
Ashley Tickle Odebiyi, assistant professor, history
Ashley Tickle Odebiyi
Ashley Tickle Odebiyi recently earned her doctorate in history from the University of Alabama and is joining the ASU history faculty as an assistant professor of history.
Her research includes women’s religious movements in medieval and early modern Europe and Renaissance Rome. Currently, she is examining the networks that pious laymen, called bizzoche, created in Rome during the 15th century. These networks include religious, economic, and political networks among other devout lay women, male clergy, and men and women in their local neighborhoods.
Nandita Punj, Postdoctoral Researcher, Jain Studies
Nandita Punj is joining the ASU faculty from Rutgers University, where she earned her PhD in art history. She also holds a PhD in history from Delhi University.
Most recently, her research focuses on early modern Jain manuscript painting and examines the role of folk art in the visual culture of western India.
Mónica Espaillat Lizardo, assistant professor, history
Mónica Espaillat Lizardo earned her PhD in history and sexual diversity studies from the University of Toronto.
She researches gender, sex and sexuality, Latin American and Caribbean history, migration and diaspora studies, and the state, politics and law. Her latest project examined the construction of Dominican citizenship from the Trujillo dictatorship (1930 – 1961) to 2012.
*Not all new faculty members submitted a photo at the original point of publication.
