FYS Faculty Profiles
Dr. Mahfuzul Khondaker
I am a professor of Criminal Justice and have been teaching at Kutztown University since 2006. I received my Ph.D. in 2004 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The topic of my FYS class is Prison Industrial Complex. I am dedicated to helping our students, especially in their first semester, to integrate in KU community and achieve both academic and non-academic success at our university.
Contact: khondake@kutztown.edu
Location: OM 364/RL 4
Dr. Hank Alviani
I am Dr. Hank Alviani, associate professor of music. The FYS class I have taught since 2020 is titled Finding Your Voice. It is designed to help students improve their vocal production to become more effective public speakers by learning correct singing techniques. This is NOT a music class, but it USES music. I make one guarantee to my students: You will be better at the end of the semester than you were at the beginning.
Contact: alviani@kutztown.edu
Location: OM 115B
Dr. Anthony Bleach
I have been teaching at Kutztown since 2006. I am currently an Associate Professor who teaches courses in composition, film studies, pop music journalism, and comics studies in the English and Professional Writing programs.
Contact: bleach@kutztown.edu
Location: LY 205A
Dr. Moira Conway
I am an Associate Professor of Geography. Fall 2022 is my first semester teaching FYS. I have experience teaching courses at a variety of levels including Cultural Geography, Economic Geography, Transportation Geography, Land Use Planning, and Introduction to GIS. I seek to help students successfully make connections to the “place” of Kutztown University.
Contact: conway@kutztown.edu
Location: GC 108
Dr. Marlene Fares
I am an Assistant Professor & Academic Advisor in the department of Academic Enrichment where we serve Exploratory Studies (Undeclared) students. I began teaching FYS here at Kutztown University this past summer. I am dedicated to the successful transition of new students to KU by creating connections with students, providing resource, and facilitating learning through diverse experiences, conversations and ideas.
Contact: fares@kutztown.edu
Location: RL 11
Dr. Kyleigh Ivory
I am an Assistant Professor of Special Education and teach the FYS course Differently Abled in Pop Culture. I received my Ph.D. from Lehigh University and previously served as a Transition Coordinator where I assisted students transitioning from high school to college and adult life. My current research focuses on facilitating self-regulatory behaviors, including self-management, to promote long-term independence and success.
Contact: ivory@kutztown.edu
Location: BK 100
Dr. Lynn Kutch
I am Professor of German in the Department of Modern Language Studies and Coordinator of Undergraduate Research and Creativity. I began teaching FYS in spring 2019, and have taken a research-oriented (at the FYS level) and global approach. By introducing students to undergraduate research and global issues, I hope to motivate some of them to consider exploring other cultures, preferably through study abroad experiences.
Location: OM 226
Dr. Keith Massie
I currently serve as the Social Media Area Coordinator. I'm a Board Certified Social Media Intelligence Analyst through McAfee Institute. While I usually focused on social media, I actually, as an FYS instructor, teach Deception Theory through the lens of card, coin, and mental magic tricks.
Contact: massie@kutztown.edu
Location: LC 110
Dr. Brenda Muzeta
I am an assistant professor in the department of secondary education at Kutztown University. I hold a Ph.D. in teacher education and curriculum studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. I joined Kutztown University in 2018. I have been teaching the first-year seminar (FYS 100 - Teachers in the Movies) since 2018. My goal is to adequately train and prepare teachers by advocating culturally relevant pedagogies for practicing teachers and pre-service teachers.
Contact: muzeta@kutztown.edu
Location: BK 230
Dr. Khori Newlander
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology & Sociology. I have taught FYS at Kutztown University since Fall 2020, offering courses that draw on my expertise in anthropology and archaeology. In FYS, I start students on a journey of growth and discovery that, I hope, prepares them to engage the world around them in an informed and responsible manner.
Contact: newlander@kutztown.edu
Location: OM 459
Dr. Roseanne Perkins
I am an Associate Professor who teaches in the library science and instructional technology programs for the EMLT department. I have taught FYS courses for the past two years and I have been teaching the first-year intro course for the library science major, so I am familiar with the many transitions our first-year students experience. I love using popular culture (Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, etc.) as a way to connect with each other in the KU community and as a lens to think about and talk about contemporary events and issues.
Contact: rperkins@kutztown.edu
Location: BK 204
Dr. Steven M. Schnell
I am a Professor in the Department of Geography, where I teach courses in cultural geography, globalization, geography of the US and Canada, Pennsylvania and of sub-Saharan Africa, social justice and the food system, and composition for the social sciences. I’ve been teaching at KU since 2002, and FYS since 2019. My FYS class focuses on “The Power of Place,” an exploration of the way we are all impacted by place – the ways that we shape it, and that it shapes us.
Location: GC 103
Dr. Juliana Svistova
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work. I began teaching FYS Global Social Problems and Social Change at Kutztown University in 2018. Teaching is a central part of my identity as a scholar change agent, and I am invested in student growth and success inside and outside of the classroom. I see teaching as a social practice that allows me to help create a more socially just society through aspiring global social change agents.
Contact: svistova@kutztown.edu
Location: OM 327
Dr. Sarah Tindall
I am a Professor of Geology in the Department of Physical Sciences. I’ve been developing my FYS class at Kutztown since 2018. Students in Doomsday: Would You Survive? use the multitude of academic and support resources available at KU, and build student-student connections and friendships, while collaborating to survive their first semester at KU… and the end of the world!
Contact: tindall@kutztown.edu
Location: BH 137
Douglass W. Turrell
I teach in the College of Business and have since December 2020. I began teaching FYS here at Kutztown University Fall of ’21. The focus of my FYS class is: College, Career, Life. The class culture is: engagement, relationship building, responsibility, time management, "we are here to help you succeed - not just today, this class, this term...but the entire year, 4-5 years from now, graduate, get a job, be a productive citizen in society."
Contact: turrell@kutztown.edu
Location: OM 512
Dr. Wing Hong Tony Wong
I am a Professor in the Department of Mathematics. Graduated with a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2013, Through this FYS course, I guide students who have an inquisitive mind to explore the labyrinth of mathematics and develop qualities such as persistence and attention to details that are critical to problem-solving.
Location: LY 213