Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Benj is an artist, art director and graphic designer who has worked in various creative capacities for the last 25 years. Benj’s artwork, which combines texture, painting, drawing, collage and typography, has been shown in more than thirty group and solo shows and his photography has been published in Thrasher Magazine and Adirondack Life. He has worked as a designer and art director at large and small companies, as a freelancer, and has focused much of his design work on regional non-profits and art-based organizations.

Yingrui Yang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cognitive Science, with a joint appointment in the Lally School of Management & Technology.  Dr. Yang received his doctorate in Experimental Psychology from New York University in 1995.  Since 1974, he also studied or worked at Beijing Normal University, Peking University, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Beijing), the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), New York University, Princeton University, Educational Testing Service, the United States Air Force Information Laboratory, and Tsinghua University. Dr.

Dr. Ghosal is Professor and Department Head of Economics, and Virginia and Lloyd W. Rittenhouse Chaired Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences. He was the Acting Dean, School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, from January-July 2023.

Prof. Tomek Strzalkowski research interests span a wide spectrum of human language technology including computational linguistics and sociolinguistics, socio-behavioral computing, interactive information retrieval, question-answering, human-computer dialogue, serious games, social media analytics, formal semantics, and reversible grammars. He has directed research sponsored by IARPA, DARPA, ARL, AFRL, NSF, the European Commission, NSERC, as well as a number of industry-funded projects. He was involved in IBM’s Jeopardy! Challenge in advanced question answering. Dr.

Tom Gerbino holds degrees from Mansfield University and Ithaca College and is the founder of the successful “A Touch of Woodwinds” Chamber Ensemble.  A Woodwind instructor at SUNY Schenectady, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College, Tom previously had been an instructor at Russell Sage College, Ithaca College, The College of Saint Rose, Skidmore College, and SUNY Cortland.  Performing with the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra as Principal Clarinet, he frequently appears with the Catskill, Utica and Clinton Symphony Orchestra.  His various ensembles (Classical and Jazz)

Tamar Gordon focuses on the cultural analysis of contemporary religions and their intersections with local and global modernities; themed environments; discourse analysis, documentary theory, and has done fieldwork in Polynesian and American societies. She wrote, directed and co-produced the documentary feature film, "Global Villages" which was shown in film festivals around the world.

Interdisciplinary work is at the core of Susan Smith’s research and educational interests.  Her undergraduate work in Biology serves as a basis for her research in Philosophy of Biology, Philosophy of Race and Biomedical Ethics. Her master’s work at the University of Guelph was completed under the direction of Michael Ruse and focused on the nature of human action with respect to free will and determinism.  At the University at Buffalo, working with Jorge J.E. Garcia, she explored the metaphysical basis of race with a focus on its intersection with healthcare.Dr.

Stephanie Loveless is a sound and media artist whose research centers on listening and vocal embodiment. Her recent projects include a mobile web-app for geo-located listening, and sound works that channel the voices of plants, animals, and musical divas. Loveless’ sound, video and performance work has been presented widely in festivals, galleries, museums and artist-run centers in North America, South America, Europe and the Middle East.

Skye Anicca is a Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Media with specializations in creative writing, professional writing, and multiethnic literature of the United States. Her research and writing are highly interdisciplinary, drawing on scholarship in contemporary creative writing, border, communication, and intersectional gender studies, as well as critical analyses of U.S. pop culture and media. Her fiction has earned national recognition, including a Dana Award in short fiction and a Promise Award from the Sustainable Arts Foundation.