Faculty

Dina Alsowayel

Dina Alsowayel received her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley college, her law degree from the University of Houston in 1990, and her Ph.D. from Rice University where she also teaches.  She is Associate Director of the Women’s Studies Program at the University of Houston where she was also a post doctoral fellow in the religious studies department.  She lectures on the religion, history, and other aspects of the Middle East.  Dr. Alsowayel’s research and publications deal with the efficacy of economic sanctions as instruments of policy change as well as other topics and projects.  She leads study tours to the Middle East in an effort to complement student class time with actual experience.  In addition to the academic setting, she worked in the oil industry in Houston and abroad for 20 years.

Nancy Gisbrecht Bailey

Nancy Gisbrecht Bailey received her undergraduate degree in music from the University of Redlands (California) and a Masters and Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Southern California. Her research areas are Richard Wagner and French music of the late 19th century. She teaches for the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Rice University Continuing Studies, and for the Master of Liberal Arts Program. In addition she lecturers for Col Canto and the Houston Symphony.

David E. Brauer

David Brauer is Senior Lecturer of the History of Art Department of the Glassell School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.  A native of Scotland, he was educated in England at the Sir Christopher Wren School and St. Martin’s School of Art from which he received his degree. After extensive travel in Europe, Russia, Turkey, and North Africa, Mr. Brauer returned to England where he worked at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London, the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, and taught at the North Oxfordshire College of Art and Technology. Since moving to Houston, he has curated numerous art exhibits: “Houston Art in Norway” in 1982; “Artist’s Progress: Seven Houston Artists 1943-1993” in 1993; “Landscape without Figures” in 1994; and “Images from Space,” 1995; “Charles Schorre 1925-1996: A Retrospective, 1997,” which opened at the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi and traveled to several Texas museums; and he co-curated a Pop Art exhibition at the Menil Collection in 2001. He has taught at the University of Houston and Rice University and he has guest lectured at Columbia University, University of Notre Dame, and the University of Texas at Austin, the San Antonio Art Museum, the World Business Council’s conference in Brussels, and the Anderson Ranch in Aspen, Colorado.

Jill Carroll

Jill Carroll, Assistant Director of the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religion and Tolerance at Rice University, holds a doctorate in religious studies from Rice and she received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theological and historical studies from Oral Roberts University. She also teaches classes in religion, philosophy, and humanities at Rice.

Fernando Casas

Fernando R. Casas received his B.A. from Colorado College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Rice University. He currently teaches classes in the Humanities Department at Rice University. A native of Bolivia, he is also an artist whose works have been exhibited all over the world in numerous group and individual shows. He has received several teaching awards as well as awards for his art.

Walter Cubberly

Walter Cubberly, Ph.D., is a psychologist in marriage counseling. A 1980 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, he has served on the graduate faculty of the University of Houston for several years before entering full time practice. He has been active in professional societies and is a past president of the Houston Psychological Association and the Texas Psychological Association. He currently serves on the board of trustees of the Texas Psychological Association, the Houston Psychological Association, and the board of the Houston Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.

Mimi Crossley Detering

Mimi Crossley Detering, was the director of the Museum of Printing History and is the former curator of the Pre-Columbian section of the John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas at the Houston Museum of of Natural Science. She studied at Vassar College, the University of Minnesota, and the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas. She is the author of numerous articles on Pre-Columbian art, archaeology, and civilization that have appeared in the New York Tiimes, Washington Post, and Connoisseur Magaziine.

Roberta M. Diddel

Roberta Diddel, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist with a private practice in Houston. She received her B.A. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University. She is also a part-time lecturer in the psychology department at Rice University where she teaches classes in abnormal psychology and behavioral medicine. She is a former board member of AIDS Housing, Houston, is a regional trainer for the American Psychology Association's program for HIV education, serves on the medical advisory committee of Houston's M.S. Society, and acts as a clinical advisor for the Free Clinic for Women with Breast Cancer. She lives in West University with her husband and two cats, Mr. & Mrs. Cosmo.

Terrence Doody

Terrence Doody received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1970 and joined the faculty of Rice University where he is now a professor in the Department of English and teaches courses in modernism, the novel, and contemporary literature. His publications include Confession and Community in the Novel (Louisiana State University Press, 1980) and Among Other Things: A Description of the Novel (LSU Press, 1998) as well as recent essays on Susan Sontag, Norman Mailer, architectural theory, and the poets Eavan Boland and Robert Hass. He is the recipient of grants from the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a five-time winner of a George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching. In 1997 he was also voted the Outstanding Associate of Lovett College and he was awarded the Allison Sarofim Distinguished Teaching Professor for 2002-2003. He has taught for many years in Rice's program of Continuing Studies and at the Women's Institute of Houston since 1973.

Stefan Fleischer

Stefan Fleischer is an emeritus professor from the State University of New York at Buffalo, now living in Houston.  He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in Comparative Literature, concentrating in English and German Romanticism.  Over his many years at SUNY Buffalo, he has regularly taught courses in film analysis and film history, as well as personal journalism and other non-fiction documentary writing.  Other specialties include advanced literacy and surveys of the 19th century novel, literary criticism, and serious popular literature.  A consultant for the College Board, he has worked on Advanced Placement Literature test development, led training sessions for high school teachers, and supervised exam scoring. His writings on film, documentary journalism, and photography have appeared in Film Quarterly, MLN, and Modern Language Studies, among others.  His present focus in film studies is on developments in serious films away from Hollywood, as well as international, mainstream notions of the “well made film” and toward more highly fragmented, smaller scale, more subjective and personal films that appeal to audiences who generally do not go to multiplexes and who do most of their film viewing in “art houses‚” or, more and more, via DVD services such as Netflix or GreenCine.

William E. Frisco

William Frisco, CPA, is a certified financial planner with an international firm. He has over 20 years experience managing growth and retirement portfolios for individuals, trusts, and corporations; and he also serves as a retirement consultant for 410(k) and profit sharing programs. Mr. Frisco received his B.A. in Economics from Duke University and M.B.A. from Tulane University. A member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Institute of Certified Financial Planners, he has presented his investment seminars to corporations, Rice University’s School for Continuing Studies, and CPA societies across Texas.

Susan Fruit

Susan Fruit ASID, CGR is an award winning interior designer and certified graduate remodeling contractor with 35 years of professional design experience. She has designed homes in Texas, California, Florida and in South America and her work has been published in numerous design magazines. Her interior design and home remodeling company, Susan Fruit Interiors, has won several prestigious home renovation awards as well as the Better Business Bureau’s Pinnacle Award of Excellence for outstanding customer service. In addition, Susan is a frequent speaker at interior design conventions and trade shows and she teaches interior design and home remodeling courses to the public throughout the year.

Ursula Gehring-Muenzel

Ursula Gehring-Müenzel, Ph.D., is an author of books and articles and a frequent lecturer on German history, politics and literature. She has conducted research focusing on foreign policy of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi era at the German Foreign Ministry, has worked for the Leo Baeck Institute in New York City and taught at the University of Nairobi. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Würzburg in Germany.

Barry A. Greenlaw

Barry Greenlaw is a private consultant, appraiser and lecturer specializing in the decorative and fine arts of England and America. He received his undergraduate degree from Bates College and his master's degree from the University of Delaware as a Winterthur Fellow. Before coming to Houston in 1974 as Curator of the Bayou Bend Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, he served as Curator of Furniture and Assistant Director of Collections at Colonial Williamsburg. For three years he was a dealer in antique maps and prints. Mr. Greenlaw has lectured throughout the United States and has taught at several institutions including the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to the publication of numerous articles, he is the author of New England Furniture at Williamsburg.

Deborah Harter

Deborah Harter is Associate Professor of French Studies at Rice University where she teaches courses in 19th-century French literature, modern American and European short fiction, literature and psychoanalysis, and the humanities. While at Rice she has been awarded numerous teaching prizes including the Phi Beta Kappa, several George R. Brown prizes for Superior Teaching, the Impact award, and the Alison Sarofim Distinguished Teaching Professorship. Dr. Harter has been the recipient of research fellowships from the American Association of University Women, the American Council of Learned Societies, and from Rice's Center for the Study of Cultures. She earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Berkeley, was a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities for two years at the University of Chicago, and is the author of Bodies in Pieces: Fantastic Narrative and the Poetics of the Fragment (Stanford, 1996). Currently working on literature and ethics, as well as on literary and artistic representations of excess, there are few things she enjoys more than thinking about, and talking about, great works of art and of literature.

Lynda Kelly

Lynda Harper Kelly received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in French from Rice University. In 1974 her doctoral dissertation received Rice's Gardner Award given to the graduate student doing the best piece of research and writing in the humanities and social sciences. Her romance with France began in 1961 when she spent a summer in Paris studying at the Alliance Française school. In 1966 she returned to Paris for a year to study at the Sorbonne and to live with a French family, with whom she still maintains close ties. She and her husband, architect Frank Kelly, return to France almost every year to explore another region. They have given many lectures on their travels at the Alliance Francaise de Houston. Dr. Kelly has taught French at Southern Methodist University, Houston Community College, and Rice. In 1995 she organized and conducted a six­week travel/study program in Burgundy for Rice University. She also loves French cuisine and has studied at both the Cordon Bleu and the Ecole Ritz in Paris.

J. Pittman McGehee

J. Pittman McGehee is an Episcopal priest and former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral. In 1991 he resigned that office in order to train as a Jungian analyst. He received his diploma in 1997 and currently is in practice as an analyst. He is a published poet, teaches at the University of Houston, and lectures frequently in the fields of psychology and religion.

Richard Murray

Richard Murray is a native of Louisiana with B.A. and M.A. degrees in government from Louisiana State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and has taught at the University of Houston since 1966 where he is currently Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Public Policy. His principal academic interests are in political parties, campaigns and elections, public opinion, and interest groups. The author of numerous articles and books, Dr. Murray's most recent book is Progrowth Politics: Change and Governance in Houston. Professor Murray consulted in over 200 political campaigns in the 1970s and 1980's (he has since given up the sport), and has conducted over 50 polls for local media. In addition he serves as an election analyst for Channel 13 News.

William J. Neidinger

William J. Neidinger received his B.A. in history and Spanish from Fordham University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Rice University. He is a trustee on the board of the Texas Foundation for Archaeological and Historical Research and has directed a number of excavations in the Balkans and Middle East.

Antoine Plante

Antoine Plante is in his seventh season as Artistic Director of Mercury Baroque where he continues to build upon his reputation for innovative programming and musical excellence. Mr. Plante led Mercury in last season’s fully-staged performance of Rameau’s opera “Pygmalion,” and in concerts of Bach, Vivaldi, and other Baroque masters.  He also recently conducted the National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador and the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra.  His ever-expanding repertoire ventured into the classical this season with Mercury’s performance of Mozart and Haydn symphonies.  A native of Montréal, Mr. Plante earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Conservatoire de Montréal and a Master in Music Degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.  He regularly gives lectures in relation to the concerts he gives.

Seymour Rossel

 Seymour Rossel is the Rabbi of Congregation Jewish Community North of Spring, Texas.  He is the author of 33 books, including The Torah: Portion by Portion, Bible Dreams: The Spiritual Quest, Israel: Covenant People, Covenant Land, and The Child’s Bible.  Rabbi Rossel formerly served as Director of Education for the Union of Reform Judaism, Director of the Commission on Reform Jewish Education, and Academic Coordinator of the School of Education of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, where he was on faculty for nearly a dozen years.  As speaker, author, and editor, he is listed in Who's Who in the Eastern States, Contemporary Authors, The International Authors and Writers Who's Who, as well as Who's Who in World Jewry.  He holds the Bonei HaNegev award for excellence in Jewish Education and served as an ex-officio member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.  Before serving his present congregation, Rabbi Rossel lectured on Bible and biblical archaeology, Jewish history, mysticism, and spiritual values throughout North America, in Great Britain, and in Israel.

Sylvia Blackley Thompson

Sylvia Blackley Thompson received her B.A. degree in history and English from Baylor University and taught American history for a number of years at Memorial High School. She has over 20 years experience as a book reviewer, historical trip narrator, and lecturer on Texas and Southern history. A frequent banquet and event speaker, Mrs. Thompson has lectured for Baylor University's Women's Forum, the Knife and Fork Club International, the University of Texas's Elderhostel, and as a Distinguished Lecturer for UT's Winedale Symposium. She is the author of the original history of Texas used for docent training at the Harris County Heritage Society and "In Praise of Painted Churches," written for the Texas State Historical Society's Heritage Magazine. In addition, she has served on the boards of the Texas Association of Museums, Baylor University Women's Association, and as chairman of both the Accessions Committee and the Guild of the Heritage Society.

Melanie Urban

Melanie Urban received her Diploma in Asian Art from the Royal Holloway College of the University of London/British Museum. A graduate of Purdue University, she received her J.D. from Louisiana State University and practiced law with the federal government for 15 years before moving to Singapore. While in Singapore, Ms. Urban began her studies in Asian culture, history, and art and traveled throughout region from Central Asia to China, from Tibet to Viet Nam, and points in between.

Hector Urrutibeheity

Hector Urrutibéheity has a B.A. in English Literature from the National University of La Plata, Argentina,  and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Stanford University.  He is a Professor Emeritus from Rice University, where he taught Spanish, Romance Linguistics, and foreign language methodology in Spanish and French.  He also served as chairman of the Department of Hispanic Studies for 15 years.  He is currently an adjunct professor of Spanish and French at the University of St. Thomas.  He is the co-author of The Lexical Structure of Spanish, Mouton, The Hague, two college Spanish textbooks, Peldaños and Tierra del Feugo, and the French series entitled "Echelons.”  At the present time, he is working as one of the compilers of The Spanish-English Dictionary of Verb Collocations due to be published by John Benjamin’s.

Liz M. Weiman

Liz M. Weiman received her bachelor’s degree in English from Boston University and has worked as a journalist, editor, graphic designer, computer instructor, and in the healing arts. She has served as a fiction reviewer for the Houston Chronicle and other national newspapers, as associate editor of Ultra Magazine, and as senior editor of Southwest Art Magazine. Ms. Weiman has written instruction and technical manuals for Hewlett-Packard, and as founder of the Computer Communications Software Training Center, she continues to teach software programs to the public. She maintains her own lively website of Internet links, Liz's Links. She also specializes in several facets of the healing arts and is a Healing Touch Provider and Energy Worker; and she continues to study therapeutic massage, ancient Eastern philosophy, Reiki, and Chinese ways to self-healing and health, including the practice of Chi-Gong.

Christopher Woods

Christopher Woods is a Texas native who writes poetry, plays, fiction and non-fiction. He is the author of a novel, The Dream Patch, a prose collection Under A Riverbed Sky, and a collection of stage monologues for actors, Heart Speak. His work has appeared in over 400 periodicals in the U.S. and in 12 foreign countries. Some of these journals include The Southern Review, Glimmer Train, New Orleans Review, and Columbia. His plays include "Fire"; "La Loma"; "Women Alone"; "Lover, Killer, Angel, Thief"; "Pillow Dreams"; and "Moonbirds: A Play in the Desert." He has received a grant from the Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation and the Betty Green Fiction Award from the Center for Texas Studies. Mr. Woods has also been the recipient of residencies from the Uncross Foundation in Wyoming and the Edward Albee Foundation in New York. He has served as playwright-in-residence for Stage Two Theatre Company in Illinois.

Susan Briggs Wright

Susan Briggs Wright holds a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University and a M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York where she became a producer at WOR-Radio and TV.  In Houston, she covered consumer affairs, medicine and courts for KPRC Channel 2.  She was a Houston Business Journal columnist, a journalism instructor at the University of Houston, and anchor/managing producer at KUHT-TV.  Ms. Wright was a partner in Meyer, Griffin & Wright Public Relations and also directed communications at a technology services company and a community college district.  In addition to her numerous journalistic columns, articles and broadcasts, and her work in marketing and public relations, she has guided and edited three self-publishing projects:   From There to Here, her mother’s memoir/history of four Norwegian-American families, Life and Times of a Trucking Pioneer, her father’s memoirs published posthumously, and a small collection of stories about a Portuguese Water Dog.