Back For The First Time: The Q's New Faculty Profiles, Continued
Issue date: 10/12/05 Section: Features
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Assistant Professor, Math and Computer Science
Profile by Tyler Adams
"I'm from all over," says Assistant Professor Gretchen Koch (pronounced 'cawtch', not 'cook') halfway through our interview. "I'm an army brat." Ah. That explains a lot. There is something about Koch, who has a 'newly-minted Ph. D.' with degrees from St. Lawrence University and a brand-new doctorate from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that exudes wisdom, a sort of well-traveled comfort with which she speaks. "I actually lived in Germany for three and a half years. I was there when the [Berlin] Wall came down. I was there during the Gulf War." Ah.
Koch has been welcomed warmly by the students and faculty of the Math and Computer Science department - although she is unique among faculty in that she is an applied mathematician. "I take math and I take it and apply it to real world activation," she explains. "My [latest] research involves modeling cell division and e.Coli. So I work with biochemists and talk with them about what they see in the microscope, and [when there are] questions that they cannot answer with what they see... maybe I can answer them using a math model." Sometimes Koch creates computer simulations, sometimes she resorts to more old-fashioned methods, but regardless, her skills are a definite asset to Goucher's sometimes overshadowed Math and Computer Science Department. She has an entire day - every Thursday - dedicated to continuing her previous research. Koch's tendency to combine disciplines and her worldly stance seem to make Goucher a perfect fit for her. She agrees.
Koch loves to talk about St. Lawrence, her alma mater, and it is clear she wants Goucher students to have that same feeling after graduation. "I really liked the small family environment that I had in undergrad," she says. "I loved the feeling of a professor knowing your name." Already, students have shown up to Koch's office (HS 132) to discuss math separate from any of her courses. She plans to develop her relationship with the students here even more. "I love to involve undergraduates in research," Koch says. "[I wanted to be] some place that would have students who would be interested in researching with me. [Goucher's] internship requirements help with that."
The adjustment from graduate school to full-blown professor appears to have been an easy one for Koch. "I have felt extremely welcome," Koch says, smiling. "The department is very much like a family." The area is an advantage over her alma mater, too, she notes. "It's a small liberal arts school, and yet it's not in the middle of nowhere." Currently living in Towson, Koch is still making the adjustment from several years in New York State to our cozy suburb. Still, the army brat part of her adapts quickly. "Right now, it's a matter of getting to know everybody, and seeing where my skills fit in with theirs," she says.
That said, Koch has ambitious plans for her future at Goucher. "I have [a] project in mind for undergraduates to work that would pull students from biology or chemistry, pre-med, and have them work together," she says. "That's the beauty of interdisciplinary research. You don't have to know everything about your subject." Not to say that Koch doesn't. A qualified addition to Goucher faculty, Koch shares many traits with the College's strategic plan: worldly, flexible, intelligent, educated, and approachable. Ah. That explains a lot.
Raquel Schuster-Herr
Visiting Assistant Professor, Modern Languages, Spanish
Profile by Bree Katz
Raquel Schuster-Herr came to Baltimore in 1983 after growing up in Colombia, where her family still lives. Having taught at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, she is now a visiting instructor of Spanish at Goucher, where she teaches two sections of Spanish 130 (Intermediate Spanish) and one section of Spanish 235 (Advanced Grammar and Composition). Her passion is modern poetry in the Spanish and Italian languages, and she would like to possibly teach a course on Spanish and Italian poetry sometime in the future. A more immediate possibility for Raquel is teaching basic Italian, which she has taught at Brandeis University along with Spanish. As a mother of three, the majority of her time is spent with her family or the courses she teaches this semester, but in her personal time, she enjoys walking, reading, cooking, classical music, talking with friends, and yoga, which she says helps her focus. Though she had initially not planned to stay in Maryland when she first moved here, she now feels it is her base. She finds Baltimore's atmosphere to be tranquil and has no desire to depart. She hopes to expand on her teaching in Modern Languages and Literatures.
Matthew Hale
Assistant Professor, History and Historic Preservation
Profile by Rachel Mirsky
"There are unique discussions [with the students]. They make wonderful comments in class," Professor Matthew Hale says, as he reflects on his first month at Goucher College. "It is very fulfilling."
Matthew Hale is the newest addition to the History Department, specializing in early American History. Growing up in Massachusetts, Hale lived with a large family of eight people and learned to love history at a young age. When he was a young child, Hale visited museums, which sparked his historical and cultural interests. "I remember when my parents bought me a fort and it had American Revolutionary soldiers. I loved playing with that," says Hale.
Following high school, Hale went for an undergraduate degree at Middlebury College in Vermont and did his graduate work at Brandeis University. During his studies, he visited Spain and Italy to obtain a more hands on experience on history. He traveled around the different regions of Spain to see all of the places he had studied in college with a new perspective. Hale stayed with a Spanish family who had a strong opinion on history. "They were intrigued that I liked American history and said, 'American history is only a couple of hundred years old. That's not history! Go out and drive ten miles and you'll see Roman bridges. That's a thousand years of history!'" remembers Hale.
After an assistant professorship at Mississippi State University, Hale came to Goucher College. Hale was attached to Goucher because it reminded him of his experiences at Middlebury College which was also a small, intimate college. Returning to a similar college with a strong liberal arts background was very appealing. He enjoys living near Baltimore and being close to both Washington D.C. and New York City which are a short distance away for accessing research archives.
Hale is currently pursuing a research project which explores the United States' relationship with the French Revolution. Through discovery, he is analyzing the transnational currents that are pervasive in the U.S. and how they illuminate the deeper meaning of particular aspects of American national identity.
Professor Hale currently teaches HIS 110, the early American survey and HIS 235, the American Revolution. In the future he would like to do a course on reading and writing in America from the early Puritan Era to the Modern period. He would also like to teach a course on Atlantic Revolutions and compare them to the American Revolution. Hopefully students will have a chance to explore different areas of American History.
"Students have the opportunity to engage in material in a useful, beneficial fashion," says Hale. "Goucher College is going to be a really interesting place to teach."
April Oettinger
Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
Profile by Tyler Adams
It was the day the rain began when I trudged to the 'Art Slides' section of Van Meter to interview new Assistant Professor of Art History April Oettinger. For readers not based in Towson, we had a three-week drought from the last half of September into early October. Turns out the skies were just saving up moisture, because it was pouring buckets. I was soaked. Professor Oettinger was smiling. That smile and the ensuing interview made the drenched walk back enjoyable.
Oettinger comes to Goucher from bigger schools - a year at the University of Delaware, followed by three at the University of Hartford - and her personal, caring style seems to fit Goucher a bit better. She says as much: "I got a job at University of Delaware my first year out," says Oettinger. "I had graduate students right away, which was insane, but also rewarding. It was huge, and I'd be looking out at this room of 150 faces and it was rare that I ever got to know any of my students. I knew all along that I wanted to be at a small liberal arts school, but after those two years teaching at those huge schools, that sort of brought it home for me."
Prof. Oettinger, a graduate of Colgate and the University of Virginia, is a former Fulbright fellow who is extremely qualified in her specialization: the role of medieval traditions in shaping Italian Renaissance art and literature. "At Colgate, I studied abroad my junior year in Venice," she says. "It's funny how things come together; one of the things that attracted me to Goucher was the study-abroad requirement."
Although Oettinger says she likes Baltimore, her heart seems tied to Venice. "My research is just on the past, on the Renaissance," she says. "[But] I love every bit as much just being a part of the city [Venice] today, so I go back whenever I can. In graduate school, I studied Renaissance Venice. It's an amazing city, and it has its own challenges today as well." It's difficult to imagine much challenging the casual, content Oettinger. She seems capable of commanding the attention of those huge rooms at her previous jobs.
The fifth-year professor has learned a few lessons in her own academic career. "I went straight to graduate school from college," Oettinger says. "Not sure I'd recommend that for everybody, but it was nice." While there, she received a Fulbright "on the second try," she says. "So I encourage my students to always try again. It's just a phenomenal program."
She smiles, returning to one of her favorite topics. "That study-abroad experience [at Colgate] was so crucial [for me]. I speak Italian, and I'm still friends with all the people I met way back then... it really broadened every horizon for me, and it led to a love of travel, love of getting to know different cultures."
Apparently, that love has not diminished whatsoever. Oettinger went back for more, armed with her Fulbright, while working on her doctorate. "I went to Rome," she says, smiling (as usual). "I wrote my dissertation in Rome. It was a great experience."
Here is to hoping that the great experiences only continue for Oettinger here at Goucher. She says the year is off to a good start. "[Goucher] was really confirmed maybe two days in," she says. "I was already talking to my students, who were visiting me in my office, which never happened [at the two other schools]." She smiles.