Affiliated Faculty
Maurina Aranda
Maurina Aranda, PhD, is an assistant professor of biological sciences and a first-generation college-going Latina from rural Michigan. She came to SIUE in 2019 and teaches biology and science education courses. Her research interests are largely focused in identifying ways to improve student knowledge of biology through creating inclusive spaces – both in and out of the classroom.
Stephanie Batson
Stephanie Batson is an instructor in the department of applied communication studies where she teaches public relations and general communication courses. She received a BS in communication from SIU Carbondale and an MS in organizational communication from North Carolina State University. She recently came from non-profit work where she advocated for low-income and vulnerable adults while utilizing her strengths in public relations.
Masonya Bennett
Masonya Bennett received a joint MA/PhD in African and African Diaspora Studies/Global and Sociocultural Studies (with a focus in Cultural Anthropology) at Florida International University in 2018. She graduated from UNC-Charlotte with a BA in Africana Studies and International Studies in 2007 and received her MA in Latin American Studies from UNCC in 2010. As a student she spent a semester in the Dominican Republic,and became deeply interested in Black/Afro-descendent populations, race/processes of racialization and culture in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Jessica DeSpain
Jessica DeSpain, PhD, is a professor of English and co-director of SIUE’s IRIS Center. She collaborated with the STEM Center on the Digital East St. Louis Project, in which middle school students built a website about the culture of their city. She also directed the Conversation Toward a Brighter Future 2.0 program, which uses digital storytelling to study intergenerational relationships.
Connie Frey Spurlock
Connie Frey Spurlock, PhD, is an associate professor of sociology and the faculty director of SIUE’s Successful Communities Collaborative, a cross-disciplinary program that supports one-year partnerships between the University and communities aligned with the EPIC Network, an award-winning program for fostering partnerships. She is also the director of SIUE's Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Center.
John Matta
John Matta, PhD, was an entrepreneur for most of his life and has been a professor of computer science since 2018. He runs an active research group with an emphasis on using CS tools to find solutions to social and public health issues. The group includes undergraduate and graduate students and has published more than 10 scientific papers in the last three years. Dr. Matta is a dedicated teacher with a strong interest in making CS education available to everyone. He is also an original member of IMPACT, SIUE's diversity, equity and inclusion training group.
Shadrack G. Msengi
Shadrack G. Msengi, EdD, is a disciplinary and clinical literacy faculty in the Department of Teaching and Learning. He teaches courses on clinical practicum literacy, literacy research and theories, contextualized literacy and writing assessment, strategies for reading comprehension and writing composition, and foundations for English language learners. Among the topics for his research are home and school literacy connection, multidisciplinary lenses, literacy modalities, and cultural and linguistic diversity.
Howard Rambsy
Howard Rambsy, PhD, is a Distinguished Research Professor of literature. He has taught a wide range of American and African American literature courses and coordinated more than 300 public humanities projects concentrating on African American literature and cultural history.
Margaret Smith
Margaret Smith, PhD, is a research assistant professor of digital humanities in the IRIS Center and a historian of medieval and early modern Ireland. She contributes to the Center’s projects in a number of capacities, including digital humanities teaching and training, project development, grant-writing, and community engagement.
