Housing and Residence Life offers a number of opportunities for residents and faculty to interact in the residence halls in meaningful ways. By bringing faculty and residents together, residents are empowered to form academic support systems, engage more deeply in their studies, and form lasting relationships with their community. Tulane offers the following faculty driven programs:
The Faculty in Residence (FIR) is a full-time faculty member who lives in a residence hall on campus and serves as a positive and visible leader, teacher, and mentor to students living in the residence halls. FIRs facilitate, promote, and encourage intellectual, social, and cultural development, as well as provide assistance to students seeking academic support and guidance through programming, one on one relationship building, and the sharing of academic resources. FIRs work with our Housing and Residence Life staff to provide supportive environments where students can learn and develop.
Dr. Courtney Baker (Faculty-In-Residence, Greenbaum Hall): Dr. Courtney Baker moved to New Orleans in 2012 to join the faculty at Tulane after spending time in Philadelphia, Upstate New York, and Western Massachusetts. She is a clinical psychologist, and, as an undergraduate, she majored in Psychology and English at Oberlin College. Dr. Baker’s research focuses on child mental health and, in particular, on how teachers and schools can support the well-being of children who live in poverty. As Faculty in Residence, Dr. Baker is excited to support students as they navigate their academic curriculum, make choices for their future careers, and leverage their university learning to solve real-world problems. She enjoys traveling, scuba diving, reading, trying new things, cooking, baking, and doing yoga. Dr. Baker is joined in Greenbaum by her family, including Dr. Mike Hoerger, faculty in the Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Medicine, and their son Henry.
Dr. Jananarthanan (Janan) Jayawickramarajah (Faculty in Residence, Weatherhead Residence Hall): Dr. Jayawickramarajah was born in Sri Lanka, but spent much of his childhood abroad and moved to the United States for his undergraduate education. He joined the faculty at Tulane in 2007. His research work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health and broadly encompasses biological and materials aspects of supramolecular chemistry. Dr. Jayawickramarajah views the role of a faculty member as not only conducting transformative research and education but also as a facilitator who supports the growth of students into civic-minded and community-engaged leaders. Whenever the opportunity arises, he loves to travel with his family and to explore new countries, cultures, and cuisines. Dr. Jayawickramarajah will be joined in Weatherhead by his wife, Dr. Mehnaaz Ali, an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Xavier University, and their three children.
Dr. Izabela Stefjla (Faculty-In-Residence, Wall Hall): Dr. Izabela Steflja is a Professor of Practice in the Department of Political Science. Her teaching and research interests lie at the intersection of international criminal law, international development, and comparative politics of the developing world. Most recently, she coauthored a book entitled Women as War Criminals: Gender, Agency and Justice. As Faculty in Residence (FIR), Dr. Steflja hopes to not only support intellectual curiosity in students but also to inspire them to be active and reflective global citizens committed to equity and inclusion. The Wall FIR family is immigrant and multilingual. Dr. Steflja spent her childhood in the former Yugoslavia, completed her secondary and postsecondary education in Canada, and conducted extensive fieldwork in East and Central Africa. Her partner, Boris Martín, is a historian from Cuba, and their baby, Anton Xavier, is a native New Orleanian.
Residential Faculty Mentors (RFM) are professors at Tulane who are partnered with first-year residence halls. The purpose of the RFM program is to foster an intellectual community within the residence halls, to encourage students to cross the boundaries between academic and student spaces, and to increase faculty-student engagement. By bringing faculty into the residence halls, we are offering co-curricular experiences for students that facilitate learning and holistic student growth through faculty lobby hours, community programming, and one-on-one relationship building.
Carolyn Bayer (Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering)
Brian Brox (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science)
Gary Dohanich (Professor, Department of Psychology)
Michelle Foa (Associate Professor, Newcomb Art Department)
Jeanette Gustat (Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine)
Emily Harville (Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine)
Karissa Haugeberg (Assistant Professor, Department of History)
Mike Kuczynski (Professor and Chair, Department of English)
Michelle Lacey (Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics)
Tim McLean (Professor of the Practice, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)
Charles Mignot (Professor of Practice, Department of French and Italian)
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