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r, Carleton welcomes thirty-two new professors to its faculty. The Carletonian recently interviewed several of these professors for some insight into their experiences, both before and after their arrivals at Carleton. Here is what we found:

Bruce Dalgaard is a Benedict Distinguished Visiting Professor of Economics, and will be teaching both Principles of Microeconomics (ECON 111) and Economic Development in Japan (ECON 284)this fall. He is currently the author or co-author of five books, and was distinguished as a Fulbright research fellow at China University in 1990.

Prior to arriving at Carleton, Professor Dalgaard was the director of the Center for Economic Education at the University of Minnesota and an Economics professor at St. Olaf College.

Professor Dalgaard’s research focuses on the interplay between religious reform and entrepreneurship in Norway in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Outside of his love for Norway and Japan, Professor Dalgaard enjoys cooking and taking walks in the Arboretum with his dog. He is also “delighted to be [at Carleton] and eager to get to know new people.”

Tim Semanik is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music. He is also the conductor of the Carleton Orchestra and the instructor of the chamber music groups.

In addition his degree in the trumpet from California State University, Fullerton, Professor Semanik has studied piano and voice. He also received a master’s degree in orchestral conducting at the University of Minnesota and a doctorate degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University.

Aside from playing music, he enjoys listening to opera music, especially Puccini, Verdi, and Mahler, as well as more modern music, such as Eminem, Lady Gaga, and early Christina Aguilera. Since arriving at Carleton, he has been impressed by the “amount of support the faculty [at Carleton] get” and how “people here are so friendly and helpful.”

Kara Sage is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology and is teaching Principles of Psychology (PSYC 110) and Developmental Psychology (PSYC 250). She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from the University of Washington-Seattle and her master’s and doctorate from the University of Oregon in Eugene. Her research focuses on social learning in infancy and childhood.

Professor Sage is passionate about Zumba, drinking coffee, science fiction, cats, playing Settlers of Catan, and playing Seafarers of Catan. (“If students ever want to play with me, I’m down.”)

She met her husband on Craigslist and married him in their common hometown of Seattle. They honeymooned in Australia and have been skydiving together. Next on her bucket-list is to travel to Europe.

Catherine Walden is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History and is teaching Introduction to Art History (ARTH 101) and the Art of Death in the Middle Ages (ARTH 285). She received her bachelor’s degree in English and French from the University of Indiana, a master’s in architectural history and a doctorate in art history from the University of Virginia.

As a child, Professor Walden would frequently visit monasteries and cathedrals with her family. She had always felt affected by the space around her and extremely attentive to detail but didn’t realize that she could make a career out of these skills until later in her life. Because of this, she wants to emphasize to students that they “don’t have to make big decisions now, there’s time afterwards to regroup.”
Her current research focuses on tombs and monuments made for twelfth and thirteenth century bishops.

Before coming to Carleton, Professor Walden taught at two universities and a community college. She is interested in the local food movement and enjoys reading, yoga, and jogging in her free time.

Sarah Jansen is a Visiting Instructor in Philosophy and is teaching Philosophical Problems (PHIL  117) and Animal Ethics: The Moral Status of Animals (PHIL 243). She received her bachelor’s and graduate degrees in philosophy from the University of California Los Angeles.

As an undergraduate, Professor Jansen intended to enroll in law school but was averse to the idea of “arguing for arguing’s sake… [she] wanted to argue in order to uncover the truth”; this brought her to the study of philosophy. Greek philosophy is Professor Jansen’s favorite; she finds Aristotle’s work on ethics and human nature especially fascinating. Her dissertation work was on Plato’s views on art in The Republic.

Outside of teaching, Professor Jansen is an avid cyclist. She loves mountain biking, road biking, and cross biking.

Other new professors include:

Majdi Abudalbuh, Visiting Lecturer in Arabic.
Roger Bechtel, Associate Professor of Theater.
LaToya Beck, Visiting Instructor in African/African American Studies and Anthropology.
Justin Becknell, Visiting Instructor in Biology.
Katherine Brink, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion.
Chris Calderone, Assistant Professor of Chemistry.
Laura Effinger-Dean, Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science.
Michael Elyanow, Visiting Assistant Professor of Cinema and Media Studies.
Philip Francis, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion.
Andrew Gainer-Dewar, Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics.
Sara Gonzalez, Scholar-In-Residence Fellow in Anthropology.
Carrie Jennings, Visiting Assistant Professor of Geology.
Rafe Jones, Assistant Professor of Mathematics.
Jocelyn Keller, Instructor in Physical Education and Head Women’s Soccer Coach.
Michael Loux, Cowling Distinguished Visiting Professor of Philosophy.
Kassandra Martin-Wells, Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics.
Whitney McClusky, Visiting Instructor in Dance.Daphne McCoy, Visiting Instructor in Dance.
Joseph Paxton, Visiting Instructor in Cognitive Science.
Liz Raleigh, Assistant Professor of Sociology.
Mira Reinberg, Visiting Assistant Professor of Hebrew.
Anahi Russo Garrido, LGBT Postdoctoral Fellow in Women’s and Gender Studies.
Mikaela Schmitt-Harsh, Robert A. Oden, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow for Innovation in the Liberal Arts in Environmental Studies.
Brian Shea, Visiting Instructor in Mathematics.
Jeff Snyder, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies.
Matt Wiebold, Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics.
Jennifer Wright, Visiting Instructor in Geology.