Dr. Ellen Swider is the Director of History, Humanities, and Spanish at Goodwin University. Her research interests focus on the perspectives of the unknown and overlooked, namely, people who have lived history first hand but who had little opportunity to write it. This includes the perspectives of women, children, and marginalized communities. Ellen has a B.S and M.Ed. in Education from the University of Connecticut and a Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Hartford
Ellen enjoys gardening, coffee, and doing anything outside. Between the months of April and October, you’ll most likely find her on the beach.
Christopher Ryan is an Assistant Professor of History at Goodwin University. Christopher received his B.A. in International Politics from London South Bank University and his master's in History from Southern Connecticut State University. His primary research interests include the history of revolutions, social movements, and connections to eschatological beliefs. His master's dissertation focused on the ideological facets of Fifth Monarchism during the British Wars of the Three Kingdoms and broader Seventeenth Century, linking millenarianism to reactionary political thought. Christopher teaches a broad range of undergraduate courses, including American History Since 1877 and Modern World History.
In his spare time Christopher enjoys hiking, travelling abroad, visiting local historical sites and spending far too much time playing video games. He is also an avid historical fencer, primarily interested in the fourteenth and fifteenth century German longsword.
Ann Finateri-Laist has served as an adjunct instructor in the Goodwin Humanities Department since September 2013. She received a B.A. in Art from Mount Holyoke College and an M.S.Ed in Education from the University of Bridgeport. She has nearly twenty years of experience as an educator across a variety of grade levels, from elementary school through college. She lives in New Haven, CT with her husband, Randy, their eleven-year-old son, Tony, eight-year-old daughter, Sharilyn, and their cat, Sigmund. She currently teaches Introduction to the Humanities and Art History and Appreciation.
When she is not teaching at Goodwin, Ann works with students with special needs at Beecher Road School in Woodbridge. She also enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, knitting, and playing trivia.
Caroline Lieber has a B.A. in History from the University of Connecticut, and a Master of Philosophy in Irish Studies from University College Dublin in Ireland. As an Adjunct Professor, she teaches History, English, and Philosophy. She is a former director of the English Language Institute at Post University and spent six years teaching English in Kobe and Osaka, Japan. She works full-time at Yale University in the Department of Immunobiology. For her MPhil thesis, she spotlighted a visionary 18th-century Irish woman, Martha McTier. She endeavors to bring women to the forefront of history, as well as other groups that have been left out of mainstream historical narratives.
In her spare time, Caroline enjoys traveling abroad, reading historical narratives, basking in the sunshine by the water, and spending time with her two children and two cats.
Jason Matthew Malli, an emerging New England composer, delves into the realms of microtones, poly-temporality, sound masses, extended instruments, analog synthesis, and digital sound all while cultivating his lifelong passion for folkloric melodies and the exploration of human narratives as effective vehicles for artistic expression. Jason earned his MFA in Music Composition from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University with concentrations in documentary filmmaking, digital media, and acting. He has a BA in Humanities from Albertus Magnus College.
Certified as a Sound and Vibrational Healing Practitioner, Mindfulness-Rooted Ecotherapist, and Meditation Teacher, Jason researches and explores alternative wellness opportunities to help people live their best lives. His recent music includes Earth {if} 1.0, a set of soundscapes created to accompany a multimedia playlist, Immersive Mindfulness.
Dr. Sarah Snyder is an adjunct lecturer at Goodwin University. Sarah earned her PhD in History of Ideas with a focus on Holocaust Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas and her Master’s in Cultural Anthropology from the University at Buffalo. Her research centers on intergenerational survivors, trauma studies, memorials and memory, transitional justice, and perpetrators trials. Sarah has taught a wide range of courses in the fields of Genocide Studies, Rhetoric, Humanities, History, Judaic Studies, and Anthropology.
Sarah enjoys traveling especially to Poland, yoga, and hanging out with her family.
Dr. Wayne Steely is Adjunct Professor of Spanish at Goodwin University and Professor Emeritus of Spanish at the University of Saint Joseph, where he received that institution's Teaching Excellence Award. Wayne received his BA degree in Spanish from Drew University, and his MA and PhD from the University of Connecticut. His fields of expertise include medieval Spanish language and literature, Spanish language pedagogy, Spanish grammar and composition, and Colonial-era Mesoamerican texts. He has presented extensively at national and international conferences on Spanish-language and TESOL pedagogy, and on incorporating culture into language classes.
In his spare time, Wayne likes traveling, cooking, baseball, and is an avid word game and crossword puzzle devotee.