Meet the Team
We have a wide variety of skills and talents on our team from a variety of backgrounds!
Teacher-Scholars
Teacher-Scholars are Professors and Instructors from across DePaul University that have a passion for Civics Education and merging that with their own areas of interest.
Molly Andolina (She/Her)
Professor of Political Science
Faculty Co-Director
Benjamin Epstein (He/Him)
Associate Professor of Political Science
Faculty Co-Director
John Shanahan (He/Him)
Associate Dean, Director of Liberal Studies, and Professor of English
Affliated Support Team
Margaret Storey (She/Her)
Professor of History and Associate Dean of LAS
Affiliated Support Team
Hilary Conklin (She/Her)
Professor of Education
Matthew Girson (He/Him)
Associate Professor of Art
Avery Goldman (He/Him)
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Valerie C. Johnson (She/Her)
Associate Professor Political Science
Martha Martinez-Firestone (She/Her)
Associate Professor of Sociology
Kristen Pengelly (She/Her)
Instructor of Communication Studies
Margaret Poncin Reeves (She/Her)
Senior Lecturer in Writing Rhetoric and Discourse
Jay Baglia (He/Him)
Associate Professor of Communication Studies
Diane Claussen (She/They)
Associate Professor in the Theatre Studies department and Head of Theatre Management
Samantha Close (She/Her)
Assistant Professor of Communication
Kate Cooper (She/Her)
Assistant Professor of Communication Studies
Michael Gallaway (He/Him)
Professional Lecturer in Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse
Christine Gimbar (She/Her)
Associate Professor of Accounting and Management Information Studies
Verena Graupmann (She/Her)
Associate Professor of Psychology
Nick Kachiroubas (He/Him)
Teaching Professor of Public Administration
Paige Treebridge (She/Her)
Associate Professor in the School of Design, College of Computing and Digital Media
About Our Team
The Teacher-Scholars working with the DePaul Civics Initiative come from a wide variety of backgrounds and areas of study across DePaul University.
Each Teacher-Scholar has their own area of interest that they are connecting with the ideas of lived civics and the social construct to create an engaging curriculum for students.
Our Student Team
Kali Lachner (She/They)
Student Media Assistant
Rachel Kubicek (She/her)
Student Assistant