Two faculty members have been named to head two vital campus programs.
Tim Olsen, associate professor of performing arts, will be director of Africana Studies.
“Tim has been active in many venues for the college, and his creative work and his courses have meshed nicely with this important program,” said Charlotte Borst, in making the announcements. “As a senior scholar, he realizes the need to help mentor many of the junior faculty who contribute directly to this program, and I am grateful for his leadership.”
Olsen teaches courses in the language of music, music theory, jazz improvisation, American music and the music of Black America and Latin America. He conducts the Union College Jazz Ensemble, gives private lessons in trumpet, jazz trumpet and jazz piano, and guest conducts the Union College Orchestra. He also is a freelance composer and performer.
Christine Henseler, associate professor of Spanish, will lead the Latin and Carribbean Studies (LACS) program.
“Christine's scholarly and classroom work contribute to this vital program,” Borst said. “She is eager to reach out to many constituencies around campus to help this program continue to flourish.”
Henseler's areas of expertise are in contemporary Spanish narrative, women's studies, book publishing, visual culture, media and cultural studies. She is the author of a number of articles on contemporary Spanish literature. Her book, “Contemporary Spanish Women's Narrative and the Publishing Industry,” (University of Illinois Press, 2003) was selected an Outstanding Title of the Year. She also has published a compilation of essays by Spanish women writers, called “En sus propias palabras: escritoras españolas ante el mercado literario” (Ediciones Torremozas, 2003). She is co-editor of the special issue, “Market Matters: Literary Commodities and Exchanges in Hispanic Publishing” (The Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies; forthcoming, 2006).
“I am grateful to both faculty members for agreeing to take on this important work,” Borst said. She urged faculty to “think of creative ways to contribute and support their programs.”