Jason Harris,
Director of Theatre Design and Technology; Associate Professor of Theatre
Jason has an M.F.A. from UMKC and a B.S. in Secondary Education from Kansas State.
Before joining the Avila faculty, Jason made stops around Kansas City at the Kansas City
Repertory Theatre, Theatre in the Park, Quality Hill Playhouse, and the Coterie Theatre.
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Stanley Banks,
English Artist of Residence and Assistant Professor English
Stanley Banks, assistant professor and artist-in-residence at Avila University, uses creative writing to give students the first-hand knowledge of a real world practitioner.
Banks, a member of Avila’s faculty since 1998, said he chose to be an educator because he wanted to change the world for the better.
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Leslie Smith,
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Dr. Dorrough Smith's most recent research focuses on the cultural significance of American Conservative Protestant rhetoric, with special emphasis on the Christian Right.
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Dr. Nancy Cervetti,
Professor of English
Dr. Nancy Cervetti, professor of English joined the Avila faculty in 1993 after receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. She specializes in British literature and feminist theory and teaches courses that include: women and literature, Darwin and literature, images and realities of women, and introduction to literary criticism. She most recently received the Distinguished Scholar Award from Avila University.
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Dr. Jeffrey Myers,
Professor and Chair of History
Dr. Myers, a preeminent Holocaust scholar and historian of German history, was called to study the Holocaust after hearing a survivor bear witness. His response has come via teaching and scholarship to preserve the memory of and advocate for victims of this dark time in history.
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Dr. Jordan Wagge,
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Dr. Wagge is an Assistant Professor of Psychology. She advises Master's level students in the general psychology program and teaches courses in cognition, research methods, and general psychology in the undergraduate and graduate programs.
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Dr. Carol Coburn,
Professor of Religious Studies and Women's Studies
Dr. Carol Coburn received her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 1988 where she worked as a Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant in the History Department and as teaching faculty in the Women’s Studies Department. Coming to Avila University in 1989, she has taught courses in education, history, psychology, religious studies and women’s studies.
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Dr. Amity Bryson,
Associate Professor and Chair of Music
Dr. Bryson won the Professor of the year, 2009. She most recently took the Music students on a choir tour through Italy. Amity holds a D.M.A. in vocal performance from UMKC. She has performed with the local opera company, Opera Kadopera. She is past-President for the K.C. Metro National
Association of Teachers of Singing and Repertoire Standards Chair for Women’s Choirs for the American Choral Directors Association.
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Dr. Amy Bucher,
Associate Professor of Psychology
Dr. Bucher is an Assistant Professor of Psychology. Dr. Bucher is a licensed psychologist and maintains a small private practice of psychology and works with individuals and couples.
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Dr. Tony Michel,
Associate Professor of English
Dr. Michel received his Ph.D. in American Studies with a specialization in rhetoric and composition from Michigan State University. He is happy to return to Kansas City after teaching for four years in California State University, Fresno. He teaches courses in American literature, composition and rhetoric.
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Dr. Ken Parsons,
Assistant Professor of Philosophy;
Chair of Religious Studies & Philosophy
Dr. Parsons teaches a variety of courses in the areas of Ethics, Political Philosophy, and the History of Philosophy. His research in Political Philosophy and Contemporary European Philosophy orients around issues of violence and power, globalization, and social justice.
Dr. Francis Origanti,
Chair of Department of Social Work
A native of India, Dr. Origanti was born and brought up in Chennai, fourth largest city in India with a population of 7 million.
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Dr. Maria Hunt,
Professor of Psychology
Dr. Hunt teaches, advises and mentors both graduate and undergraduate students in psychology. Her specialties include positive psychology, intuition, and mindful well being.
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Dr. David Wissmann,
Professor of Sociology and Chair of Law and Justice Studies
Wissmann, Professor of Sociology and Chair of Law and Justice Studies, spends his time balancing his career and family. Teaching statistics and research methods at Avila, and completing research in organ transplantation donation behavior, has earned Wissmann many accolades.
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Dr. Stephen Sirridge,
Professor of Psychology
Dr. Sirridge is a Professor of Psychology and a Licensed Psychologist. He has been a teacher and psychotherapist for thirty years. He is currently the President of the Kansas City Association of Psychoanalytic Psychology (KCAPP) which is the local chapter of Division 39 Psychoanalysis of APA.
Dr. Regina Staves,
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Dr. Staves is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and is also the Director of Graduate Psychology. She active in our community as an advocate to prevent child abuse and neglect and also to support restorative justice. Dr. Staves currently serves as chair on the board of the Missouri Children's Trust Fund, which is Missouri 's foundation for child abuse prevention.
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Robert Foulk,
Assistant Professor and Director of Performance Studies
Robert Foulk, assistant professor and Director of Performance Studies , takes students studying the art of theatre on an epic journey off the page of the one retold in the scripts they study. Foulk believes in the organic nature of theatre by learning with students and studying tirelessly to improve his craft so that he may pass on that knowledge.
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Lindee Petersen Wilson,
Assistant Professor of Social Work
Avila University’s Lindee Petersen Wilson teaches students to learn more about themselves, the world they are living in, and to always have a deeper sense of knowledge and compassion about important and complex social work issues such as environmental, economic and social justice.
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Dr. Marcia Pasqualini,
Professor and Chair of Psychology
When Dr. Marcia Pasqualini sat in her wooden desk at Center High School as a student, she knew that one day she was going to leave the comforts of Kansas City and live abroad. During her junior year at Tulane University in New Orleans, Pasqualini got her first opportunity to travel the world, and she hasn’t stopped since.
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Dr. Amy Milakovic,
Assistant Professor of English
Dr. Milakovic received her Ph.D. in English from Texas Christian University and joined the Avila faculty in 2009. She specializes in rhetoric and composition, with research interests that include the rhetoric of war, visual rhetoric, and modern rhetorical theory.
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