Kathleen Brinegar, Ph.D., assistant professor of education, has a specialty in middle school/adolescent education. A former middle-grades teacher, she taught at the University of Vermont and was a research associate coordinating the Vermont Adolescent Literacy and Learning Initiative. In this capacity she also provided professional development to middle- and high-school teachers and taught graduate courses on adolescent literacy. Beyond her literacy research, she is examining the schooling experiences of immigrant and refugee students in the U.S. and exploring ways that educators can incorporate student voice into all elements of their work.
Sean Clute, MFA, assistant professor of digital arts, has extensive experience in new media, intermedia, video and sound. He and his wife have relocated to Johnson from Berkeley, Calif., where he was co-artistic director of the San Francisco-based intermedia group “Double Vision”; an award-winning independent artist and performer; and a lecturer at colleges and institutions worldwide. He is playing a key role in JSC’s evolving digital media arts program, which recently launched a state-of-the-art Media Arts Research Studio equipped with 21 high-end Macintosh computers, digital photography equipment, and related hardware and software.
Perry LaRoque, Ph.D., associate professor of education, has a concentration in special education. Dr. Laroque earned his degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and most recently was assistant professor at SUNY-Potsdam. He also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and helped design, implement, analyze and publish intervention research at the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research.
Bethany Plissey, MM, assistant professor of music, holds a master of music in choral conducting from Indiana University and has completed course work for her doctorate in musical arts in choral conducting at the University of Miami. She comes to JSC from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where she was associate director of choral activities and a lecturer in choral music and music education. She also has taught and conducted at the University of Miami Frost School of Music and Indiana University. She is directing the JSC Chorale and planning several upcoming concerts.
Jacob White, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor of writing and literature, comes to JSC from the University of North Florida, where he taught literature and composition. He previously taught creative writing at Binghamton University and the University of Houston. He was a 2008 Donald Barthelme Memorial Fellow in Fiction, received special mention in The Pushcart Prize XXX, and was a finalist for the 2008 Flannery O’Connor Fiction Prize.