Dr. Paul Robertson
Paul Robertson is Senior Fellow and Program Manager for UNH in the New Hampshire Humanities Collaborative. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Classics, Humanities and Italian Studies at the University of New Hampshire. He is a specialist in ancient Mediterranean religion and philosophy, the history of western thought and the theory of religion that looks to answer what religion is and why it exists. He particularly focuses on the origins of big ideas in western thought, tracing the diverse and formative influences on our current understandings of morality, justice, virtue, health and spirituality. Recently, he has been working in the cognitive science of religion, which investigates the human brain's biological evolution in order to better understand religious beliefs and practices across cultures. His publications include books and articles connecting these interests, supported with grants and fellowships ranging from community groups interested in religious literacy and narrative medicine to research centers at Harvard University and Washington, DC. paul.robertson@unh.edu
Dr. Leslie Barber
Dr. Leslie Barber is Senior Fellow and Program Manager for CCSNH in the New Hampshire Humanities Collaborative. She is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Great Bay Community College and currently serves the CCSNH Chancellor as Faculty Fellow for Academic Affairs. Dr. Barber holds a B.A. in Chemistry, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and also spent five years as a visiting scholar in the Program in Science, Technology and Society at MIT. Dr. Barber is past chair of the GBCC Life Sciences department and for many years, she has also served as the CCSNH liaison for academic program articulation between CCSNH and UNH. Dr. Barber is a member of the CCSNH-USNH synergies working group. In addition to her current responsibilities to the chancellor, she manages a grant portfolio for the Community College System which, in addition to NHHC, includes eleven years as CCSNH PI for NH-INBRE, seven years as CCSNH PI for NH-EPSCoR, and recent work as PI of the new P2P S-STEM grant program. lbarber@ccsnh.edu
Dr. Stephanie Roper
Dr. Roper is in her fourth year as the Program Coordinator for History and Political Science at Nashua Community College. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas, specializing in colonial cartographic history. She teaches American History and Geography, focusing on race relations, local history, and historical geography. Dr. Roper has lives in the small town of Lyndeborough, along the Monadnock Range. She has authored or co-authored with her husband three books on southern New Hampshire history and is currently finishing the History of Lyndeborough. Dr Roper feels that it is important to give back to the community. Hence, she been a Supervisor of the Checklist in Lyndeborough for 17 years and a member of many town committees. She is in her fifth year as a CCSNH Fellow for the New Hampshire Humanities Collaborative. sroper@ccsnh.edu
Colleen Sasso
Colleen R. Sasso is the Chair of English, Humanities and Languages at Manchester (NH) Community College. In her time at the community college, Colleen served as Faculty Senate President (3 terms), Chair of Strategic Planning, NEASC Standard 2 and 8 Chair, New Hampshire Humanities Collaborative Fellow, and CCSNH Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce representative. Colleen received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Communication from the University of New Hampshire where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Colleen continued her education at the University of New Hampshire where she completed her Master of Arts degree in English with a concentration in Poetry and taught College Composition as a Graduate Instructor. Her Master’s thesis won the Daniel Morin Poetry prize for excellence in graduate poetry. Years later Colleen completed her Master of Fine Arts, the terminal degree in Creative Writing, at Southern New Hampshire University in Nonfiction. Colleen served as an Area Coordinator, Director, and Assistant Director of Residence Life at Roanoke College (VA), Saint Anselm College (NH), and Green Mountain College (VT) respectively where she also taught English. Colleen instructed English and Communications courses for Southern New Hampshire University, Granite State College, and New England College. Colleen designed a community-service based First Year Seminar at the University of New Hampshire, Manchester. In the Community College System of New Hampshire, her classroom experience includes College Composition I and II, Creative Writing, and Creative Nonfiction. Colleen won the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2018. csasso@ccsnh.edu
Dr. Paula DelBonis-Platt
Dr. DelBonis-Platt serves as Chair of Liberal Arts, General Studies, Social Sciences, and ESOL at NHTI—Concord’s Community College where she teaches writing, literature, mindful communication, and French. She earned her Ph.D. from the City University of New York, specializing in feminist theory, border poetics, transnational literature, and the human rights struggles of Chinese writers. Dr. DelBonis-Platt has also taught at the University of Montana and the Université de Bourgogne and worked for eight years at Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press. She serves as a freelance editor and copyeditor and has worked on such titles as Imagining the Sacred Past: Hagiography and Power in Early Normandy (Herrick, Harvard UP); The Complete Jewish Guide to France (Kamins, SMP); The Richer, The Poorer (West, Anchor); Eastern Europe: A Traveler’s Companion (Méras, Mariner); and Franz Fanon (Macey, SMP). Dr. DelBpnis-Platt is an instructor of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and mindfulness-based communication and literature courses, having trained at the UMass Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness. In 2015 she received the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence at NHTI, and she has received a number of writing awards from the New England Press Association and the Montana Press Association for news and feature writing, including one for a year-long series on the struggles of Main Street, USA. Dr. DenBpnis-Platt is active with refugee issues and serves on NHTI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force. She is in her second year as a CCSNH Fellow for the New Hampshire Humanities Collaborative. pdelbonis-platt@ccsnh.edu
Dr. Rick Walters
Dr. Walters earned his Ph.D. at The University of New Hampshire with teaching fields in Twentieth Century African American Music, American Literature, and Twentieth-Century African American Literature. He has taught at The University of New Hampshire, Boston College, and St. Anselm’s before coming to Great Bay Community College over 18 years ago. Rick has served as English Department Chair as well as Chair of the Chancellor’s Faculty Academic Advisory Committee. Dr. Walters is a long-time professional Jazz musician, current Humanities Coordinator, and Director of the American Studies Program at GBCC. He has been a CCSNH Fellow for the New Hampshire Humanities Collaborative for the last three years and is currently Chair of the GBCC Faculty.