WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY

 

Meet the Staff

 

 

Administration

Dr. Allan Louden- Allan Louden is an associate professor at Wake Forest University, where he serves as Director of Debate. Dr. Louden has a Ph. D. from the University of Southern California and has published in political communication and argumentation theory. Wake Forest Debate squad is regularly among the nation’s top ten programs. Occasionally, Allan consults with political campaigns and keeps company with a precocious golden retriever!

 

Dr. Linda Petrou- Linda Petrou received her Ph.D. in International Relation from the University of Maryland. She teaches courses on American Government, Comparative Government, US Foreign Policy, and International Security.  Petrou participated in the Southeast Europe Youth Leadership Institution (in 2004 as an instructor and 2005 as the program director). She is also active in local, state, and national politics. 

 

Scott Freese- Home Stay Coordinator- Scott serves as the Campus Minister and Director of the "International Campus Ministries of the Triad” in Winston-Salem/High Point & Jamestown.  Scott, with his family (wife Syndie and their two sons, Matt and Stephen, ages 19 & 17 years), served in "Campus Ministry" for eight years in the Southern part of  Brasil (in Goias, and Santa Catarina) as Christian missionaries

 

Erin Witte and Blake Abbot will share duties as Dorm Directors/Mentors. They both received their Master Degrees in Communication at Wake Forest this spring and will be doctorial candidates at the University of Georgia in the fall. 

 

Faculty

 

Dr. John Dinan – John Dinan is Zachary Smith Associate Professor of Political Science at Wake Forest University, and holds a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Virginia.  He is the author of Keeping the People’s Liberties: Legislators, Citizens, and Judges as Guardians of Rights (1998), and The American State Constitutional Tradition (2006). He has taught courses in U.S. politics, constitutional law, federalism, and campaigns and elections, among other subjects.

 

 

Ross K. Smith – Ross Smith is the head debate coach and instructor at Wake Forest University.  His debate teams have won the national championship; he has twice been named national coach of the year.  He has researched and/or edited twenty policy debate research guides on subjects including foreign policy towards Russia and China, global environmental issues, law, and education. He has developed a blog www.argundoclass.com, for use in teaching his Debate and Advocacy course at Wake Forest and has had blog posts reach national prominence at the nation’s most visited political blog, DailyKos. He just returned from the YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas and is a candidate for the Forsyth-Winston-Salem School Board.

 

Dr. Gordon Mitchell- Gordon R. Mitchell is an Associate Professor and Director of Debate in the Department of Communications at the University of Pittsburgh.  His academic work focuses on rhetoric of science, public argument, and argumentation pedagogy. Mitchell is author of the award-winning book Strategic Deception: Rhetoric, Science and Politics in Missile Defense Advocacy (Michigan State University Press, 2000), and co-author of Hitting First: Preventive Force in U.S. Security Strategy (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006). As director of Debate University of Pittsburgh and Associate Director of Debate at Northwestern University, Mitchell has led teams to national championships and moderated some 60 public debates. He is a recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2001) and the Bellet Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2000). In 1999, he designed the initial public debate curriculum for the Southeast Europe Youth Leadership Institute, which he helped refine and implement in teaching stints from 2000-2005 in Baltimore and Winston-Salem. 

 

Damien Pfister- Damien Pfister earned an MA in Communications from the University of Pittsburgh in 2003 and is currently completely his doctoral coursework with a plan of study focusing on public argument in the “blogosphere.” A grant from the Ohio University Institute for Applied and Professional Ethics recently supported presentation of Damien’s research on “Blogging and Critical Publicity” at the institute’s conference on Blogging Ethics. Damien served as Acting Director of Debate at the University of Pittsburgh in Fall 2004. Before beginning his graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh, Damien worked for two years as an Assistant Program Manager of the New York Urban Debate League. He is also worked with the Southeast Europe Youth Leadership Institute where he created the official Weblog for online amplification of the Institute’s efforts in 2005.

 

Survey Research Staff

 

The Survey Research Segment and On-line applications will be taught be Dr. Ananda Mitra, Director of the WFU Survey Research Center, Dr. Randall Rogan, Chair, Dept. of Communication (He teaches a course on Intl Terrorism), and Dr. Don Helme, who researches persuasion campaigns in Health Communication.

 

 

 

 

  

Computer Instruction

 

Two Instructors, Rosalind Tedford and Giz Womack from the Z. Smith Reynolds Library Information Technology Center will conduct classes in computer use as a research tool and topics designed to enhance the use of computers wherever one resides. Other library staff personnel may address the group on specific expertise.

 

 

 

 

  

Information Services/Technical Staff

Steve Jarrett – Technical Support Staff – Steve will direct preparation of filming and streaming video for web page. He teaches film theory and criticism at Wake Forest.

 

Matt Butterworth – Web Page Specialist – Information Services. Matt is a Senior Communication major at Wake Forest. He will be available in the evenings to assist participants with their computer questions in the dorm.

 

 

Mentors

 

Mandy Castle – will be a senior at Boston College where she was a multiple qualifier for the National Debate Tournament.  She hails from Holland, Michigan. Mandy will serve as a mentor and assist with Benjamin Franklin Administration.

 

Kathy Gregory is a teacher-coach of the Urban Debate League of St. Louis since the league's inception in 1998. She teaches English at the St. Louis Public School's alternative school, Meda P. Washington and served as the St. Louis coordinator for the Kaiser Foundation's Barbara Jordan's Health Debates.

 

RJ Green finished his Master in Communication at Wake Forest this spring. Next year he will be an instructor at James Madison University in Virginia. RJ attended the University of Louisville in Kentucky as an undergraduate. He will serve as a mentor and assist the Web page and computer efforts.

 

OD Hobeika is a successful sophomore debater at Wake Forest. She will bring the most enthusiasm to the three weeks possible. OD is from Merrimack New Hampshire.

 

David Leung, Georgetown, Texas, graduated from Wake Forest this spring from Wake Forest with honors in political science. He is planning on Law School in his future.

 

John Patten is a junior debater at Wake Forest University who has won numerous debate awards in high school and college. He is a veteran from the 2005 SEEYLI program. He is from Nashville, Tennessee.

 

 

Oversees Chaperons

 

Karen Wernsing works as an Administrative Coordinator with Wake Forest Resident Life and Housing. She will meet students in Amsterdam.

 

Scott Freese will meet students in Vienna.