About the Faculty
Çiğdem Üsekes
Department Chair, Professor
Office: White Hall 325C
Phone: (203) 837-3294
Email: usekesc@wcsu.edu
(M.A., University of Minnesota, Duluth; Ph.D., University of North Dakota)
I have published essays in the following journals, books, and encyclopedias: African American Review, Obsidian: Literature in the African Diaspora, American Drama, Bloom’s Modern Critical Views: August Wilson, New England Theatre Journal, Philological Review, Dictionary of Literary Biography, The Literary Encyclopedia and Contemporary Literary Criticism. Although I started out my career as an English professor, I have also taught film courses for nearly two decades. While I spent some time as an administrator, teaching has always been my passion. I look forward to engaging students in conversations on contemporary and relevant topics. I regularly teach the following courses:
- HUM 190 Social Issues in Film
- HUM 213 Artificial Intelligence: Minds and Machines
- HUM 290 Science and Technology in Film
- HUM 291 Utopia and Dystopia
- HUM 292 Science and Society
- HUM 390 Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Moving Image
- HUM 451 Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies
I am firmly committed to interdisciplinarity which best helps us understand the interconnected nature of our world and its complex problems.
Heather Levy, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Office: White Hall 325A
Phone: 203-837-3272
Email: levyh@wcsu.edu
My research interests include LGBTQIA+ fiction, feminist literature and narratives of the sea. Current research projects include a study of abjection and maritime lyricism in the shorter fiction of Langston Hughes and resistance and abjection in Brandon Taylor’s first three novels. Greyhound welfare and animal rights are so important to me. Hobbies include freshwater kayaking, swimming, landscape watercolors and chess with AI.
Adjunct Faculty
Office: White Hall 125
Email: elkhalfih@wcsu.edu
Dr. Hamid El Khalfi holds a Ph.D. in Literature (English and French Drama), Master of Arts (M.A.) in Drama in addition to a Postgraduate Certificate in Literature from the University of Essex, England. His doctorate has enabled him to teach across disciplines and he has taught English, English Literature, IDS (Interdisciplinary Studies), and various Language courses such as French and Arabic. His credentials in Literature and Linguistics, his multicultural background, and research interests over the past 20 years reflect his passion for communication, world languages, and different cultures. Alongside his teaching duties, he continues to develop courses and to give presentations on topics within all his fields of expertise.
John Klyczek
Email: klyczekj@wcsu.edu
John Klyczek holds a master’s degree in English. For more than 10 years, he has taught a range of university and community college courses, including composition, rhetoric, research methods, interdisciplinary studies, literary studies, creative writing, and business writing. He has also taught an array of adult education courses, including developmental writing, fundamental reading, and GED prep classes. Klyczek also has over a decade of experience as a literacy tutor and writing center consultant.
Mari Lerz
Office: White Hall 125
Email: lerzm@wcsu.edu
Mari Lerz is a 1996 graduate of WCSU with a BA in Secondary Education/English, a Master’s Degree in Education (WCSU) and a 6th Year Degree from Sacred Heart University in Educational Leadership. As former chair of the Bethel High School English Dept, she taught American Literature for 15 years and introduced the AP Language and Composition Course to BHS students. Currently, Mari serves as Assistant Principal of Bethel High and Coordinator for the WCSU/Bethel PDS Experience, but her primary passion resides in the classroom. As an avid reader, Ms. Lerz is eager to share her love of literature with her students. Words, especially when beautifully crafted, have great power and influence over the individual and society at large
Jeanette Moore
Office: White Hall 125
Email: moorej@wcsu.edu
Jeanette Moore has been an educator for over 20 years, and adjunct professor for over a decade in many departments at WCSU. She is a published author with Carson Dellosa and Nomad Press; she works as the district-wide Literacy Specialist for public schools in Connecticut and owns Private Educational Services LLC. Dr. Moore consults with districts, schools and teachers in many states, to sharpen literacy and writing practices with students PreK through 12th grade. Her background is in elementary education, special education, and multilingual learners, as well as dyslexia research.
Lynne Paris-Purtle
Office: White Hall 125
Email: parispurtlel@wcsu.edu
Lynne Paris-Purtle, MFA, MA is the author of Eggsistentialism: What I Learned about Life from Chickens, a memoir; Dragonfly Wings and The Hole in the Sky, poetry chapbooks; and Seizure Lady, Psycho Man and the Jersey Boys, a collection of humorous essays. She has had poetry published in Poor Yorick Literary Journal and essays published on the humorist Dave Fox’s blog Globejotting. She teaches writing and literature at Western Connecticut State University and Naugatuck Valley Community College.
Danielle Troetti
Office: White Hall 125
Email: troettid@wcsu.edu
Danielle Troetti, MA, believes deeply in education as activism for social justice. She has been teaching “Secondary English Methods” and “Teaching Literature in Schools” through WCSU’s English and Education departments since 20212, but the majority of her professional time is spent at Bethel High School where she has worked as an English Teacher, interventionist, literacy specialist, and instructional coach since the last millennium. Her service on district-wide teams as well as adjuncting at WCSU has provided her with experience ranging from preschool through graduate school levels; she is grateful for the perspective that has bestowed up her a teacher, mother, and advocate for learners of all ages. She presented on summer reading at the CT Reading Association Conference, but relishes in and discusses reading year-round with all who will indulge her (especially reluctant students).