Expert Sources at Cabrini

Dawn Francis, EdD, is Chair and Associate Professor of Communication. She is a member of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the American Marketing Association.

• presentation communication, public speaking, and organizational communication
• integrated marketing communication
• journalism
• career preparation and career development in communication

For a more detailed bio, go to Dawn Francis, EdD (cabrini.edu)

Wendy Rosenfeld is a Professor of Practice in the Communications Department. She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, served on the executive committee of the American Theatre Critics Association, was a longtime features writer and theater critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer and served as a judge for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and many other theater and journalism awards. Wendy was also editor-in-chief of Broad Street Review. 

• commenter/expert on journalism
• arts and culture criticism

Katie Farina, PhD, is Associate Professor of Criminology. She is a member of the American Society of Criminology and that organization’s Division of Women and Crime.

• juveniles
• school climate
• bullying
• intersectionality
• feminist criminology
• criminological theory

For a detailed bio, please see Katie Farina, PhD (cabrini.edu).

Vivian Smith, PhD, is Associate Professor of Criminology and a former National Institute of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse postdoctoral fellow. Smith has published on issues related to the war on drugs against women and research projects involving females with substance abuse diagnoses and histories of sexual and physical abuse.

She was part of a multiphase women and reentry project, where she collected and analyzed archival data from a women’s prison. She also created and facilitated a reentry survey instrument for women soon to be released from prison and halfway houses.

• the impact of the war on drugs on women
• women with substance abuse diagnoses and histories of sexual and physical abuse
• women reentry 

For a more detailed bio, please see Vivian Smith, PhD (cabrini.edu).

Carolyn L. Berenato, EdD, is the Chair, Educational Specialist Department, Coordinator, Reading Specialist Program. Her research focuses on K-12 and higher education settings with a concentration on learning environments, such as online and face-to-face classrooms, educational landscape such as a museum, and educational equity.

• Reading Specialist
• PK-12 Special Education
• Trauma-Informed Teacher
• Educational Leadership 

For a more detailed bio, go to Carolyn Berenato (cabrini.edu).

Thomas R. Conway, EdD (He, His, Him), is the Associate Professor and Chairperson of Teacher Education, the Director of the Honors Program, the Project Director the Early Childhood Workforce (ECE) PDO grant from PHMC, the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators (PAC-TE) President-Elect, and the Co-Editor of the Pennsylvania Teacher Educator.

• Instructional Coaching
• Curriculum Development
• Socio-Cultural Education
• Secondary Education
• Educational Leadership
• Assorted topics in Education

Conway recently spoke with KYW NewsRadio's In Depth podcast about the current state of education "culture wars" on the local and national stages.

• Listen here

For a more detailed bio, go to Thomas Conway, EdD (cabrini.edu)

Colleen Lelli, Ed.D. is a Professor in the Educational Specialists Department and the Director of the Barbara and John Jordan Center for Children of Trauma and Domestic Violence Education at Cabrini University. 

• content-area reading, phonics, and print awareness
• domestic violence education
• support, pre-service, and in-service teacher preperation to support the learning of children of trauma
• study skills and bibliotherapy
• math and reading learning disabilities

For a more detailed bio, go to Colleen Lelli, EdD (cabrini.edu).

Susan Jacques Pierson, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Education, Coordinator of Graduate ESL Program, and Project Director for National Professional Development Grants Adelante and ÉXITO.

For a more detailed bio, go to Susan Pierson, PhD (cabrini.edu).

• Educating Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Schooling:  Best Practices for meeting the needs of newcomers to our schools including unaccompanied minors who need to learn academic content and adjust to a new culture, while learning English Language
• Supporting Teachers who work with students who are learning English, establishing communities of practice within and between school districts
• Implementing strategies that work for struggling readers in grades K-12
• Using Technology to help struggling readers and English learners in K-12
• Working with families through literacy workshops:  Strategies for meeting the needs of emergent bilingual students in preschool and early grades

Ronald W. Whitaker II, EdD, is a Culturally Responsive Assistant Professor of Education, Chair, Educational Policy and Leadership Department, Director of District and School Relations, and Director of the Center for Urban Education, Equity, and Improvement

• black liberation theology and the social gospel
• culturally relevant programming
• culturally responsive pedagogy
• educational experiences of African American male students
• issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• School, Academy, and Community (SAC) partnership development
• urban education and teacher preparation

For a more detailed bio, go to Ronald W. Whitaker, II, EdD (cabrini.edu).

Colleen Lelli, Ed.D. is a Professor in the Educational Specialists Department and the Director of the Barbara and John Jordan Center for Children of Trauma and Domestic Violence Education. 

• domestic violence education
• teaching strategies and resources for children of trauma
• content-area reading, phonics, and print awareness
• study skills and bibliotherapy
• math and reading learning disabilities

For a more detailed bio, go to Colleen Lelli, EdD (cabrini.edu).

Melissa Terlecki, Associate Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, Co-Director, Nerney Leadership Institute, and a member of the American Psychological Association and the Psychonomic Society.

• cognitive neuroscience, spatial ability, and mental rotation
• multimedia/videogame effects on spatial ability
• gender differences in spatial ability
• sports/exercise psychology and spatial ability 

For a more deatiled bio, go to Melissa Terlecki, PhD (cabrini.edu).

James Hedtke, PhD, is Professor of History and Political Science and author of Lame Duck Presidents: Myth or Reality and Civil War Professional Soldiers, Citizen Soldiers and Native American Soldiers of Genesee County, New York: Ordinary Men of Valor.

• American presidency
• baseball and the American tradition
• the American Civil War and World War II

For a more detailed bio, go to James Hedtke, PhD (cabrini.edu).