Lisa M. Seidlitz

Professor of German; Chair of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

• Phone: 309-794-7657
• Email: LisaSeidlitz@augustana.edu
• Office: Denkmann 110

Lisa Seidlitz received her Ph.D. in Germanic studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003, where she specialized in linguistics, sociolinguistics, language acquisition, and language teaching. Her dissertation dealt with functions of codeswitching, or language alternation, in foreign language classes. She earned her master's andbachelor's degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Seidlitz teaches a variety of classes, including all levels of German language and culture, German film, and linguistics. Her recent academic work has focused on development and assessment of curricular innovation in German studies. She is active in the American Association of Teachers of German and recently served as the president of the Northern Illinois chapter of that group.

When not teaching, she enjoys baking, cooking, watching independent and foreign films, traveling, and spending time with her husband and daughter.

Specializations: German language, German film, German culture, Teaching German, Foreign language pedagogy

Irene Karedis Borys

Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Brand Communication

• Phone: 309-794-7721
• Email: ireneborys@augustana.edu

Irene Karedis Borys leads Augustana's Office of Communication and Marketing, a multi-talented team of 12 staff members who serve enrollment marketing, brand strategy, campus and alumni communications, media engagement and event management. As assistant vice president, Borys oversees the planning, development and execution of the college's marketing and brand initiatives with primary responsibility to shape the college's brand and promotion strategy. 

Borys previously held roles at the Childress Agency, the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce and UnityPoint Health. Before coming to the Quad Cities, she held roles in marketing for more than six years after nearly four years in government relations in Washington, D.C.

Specializations: Communication and marketing, Public relations

Justin Bankert

Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics

• Phone: 309-794-7480
• Email: justinbankert@augustana.edu
• Office: Hanson 204C

Dr. Justin Bankert’s research is focused on creating and analyzing computer simulations of the effects of circumbinary accretion disks on the evolution of the orbital characteristics of the central binary. He started his teaching career as a visiting assistant professor at Angelo State University. He then worked as an assistant professor at Troy University. Family concerns brought him back to the Midwest where he worked as an adjunct professor at Oakton College. Dr. Bankert is excited to join the Augustana community as a visiting assistant professor.

Charlotte Shepherd

Professional Faculty Instructor of Education

• Phone: 309-794-7803
• Email: charlotteshepherd@augustana.edu
• Office: Evald 213

Charlotte Shepherd has 14 years of experience in K-12 education, including 10 years of classroom teaching in Quad-City area schools. She specializes in science education, and has a strong interest in inclusive teaching practices in STEM classrooms. Her two children and Standard Poodle claim most of her free time, but when nap times synchronize, she enjoys cooking and reading. She also loves birding and kayaking with her husband.

Nicholas Scalora

Assistant Professor of Biology

• Phone: 309-794-7334
• Email: nicholasscalora@augustana.edu
• Office: Hanson 314

Dr. Nick Scalora studies the role of topoisomerase II in cancer progression and metastasis. Outside of the lab, he enjoys watching and playing soccer and spending time with his wife, Lindsay, and their dog, Winston.

Anne Heide they/them/theirs

Visiting Assistant Professor of Art

• Phone: 309-794-7490
• Email: anneheide@augustana.edu
• Office: Art Studios 7

Website: www.annexavierheide.com

I teach courses on weaving, sculpture, fabric design, and contemporary artistic practice.

I make artwork that considers the environmental and social impacts of contemporary clothing overconsumption as well as gender and class norms that clothing embodies. I research and use craft practices that historically repurposed and repaired worn-out clothing alongside contemporary digital weaving and garment construction techniques. These practices include quilting, rag rug weaving, hand papermaking, and mending. Through combining these contemporary and historical practices, I produce fluid alternatives to the rigid constraints of contemporary clothing consumption that center reuse and gender diversity.

Projects include exhibitions with Manifest Gallery (Cincinnati, OH), Handweavers Guild of America (Convergence 2024 in Wichita, KS), Surface Design Association (Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, OH). I also facilitate public events and workshops including 2022 mending workshops in collaboration with the Spencer Museum of Art (Lawrence, KS).

I grew up on the south side of Chicago and completed my MFA in Fiber/Textiles at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS in 2024. Before starting graduate school, I lived in Iowa City, IA where I completed a graduate certificate concentrated in hand papermaking at the University of Iowa Center for the Book and worked odd jobs including being a youth bicycle educator and croissant baker.

Specializations: Art, Textile history, Contemporary art, Weaving, Queer Studies, Gender and feminist theory, Environmental studies

Erin Hopkins she/her/hers

Assistant Professor of Music

• Phone: 309-794-8054
• Email: erinhopkins@augustana.edu
• Office: Bergendoff 120

Dr. Erin Hopkins specializes in general music methods and assessment in music education. She holds Level 1 certification in both Orff Schulwerk and Music Learning Theory– Early Childhood. Prior to joining the Augustana faculty, she taught elementary general music for eight years in Michigan and Ohio, the majority of which was in urban and Title 1 public schools. She has also taught middle school general music, beginning orchestra, and beginning band.

Dr. Hopkins created the Music Makers program for Gigi’s Playhouse Cleveland, a nonprofit organization that provides free educational and therapeutic programming for children and adults with Down Syndrome, which she led for six years. She is pleased to continue this volunteer work with Gigi's Playhouse Quad Cities.

Dr. Hopkins's research is interdisciplinary, focusing on intersections between neurodiversity studies, music cognition, and music education praxis. She has conducted studies on topics including the perspectives and expertise of neurodivergent music educators, equity of access to music for students with disabilities, musical stimming in autistic adults, and cognitive processes involved in reading music notation. She has presented her work at state, national, and international conferences and has published articles in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, Contributions to Music Education, and Science.

Find more from Dr. Hopkins at www.neurodivergentmusiceducation.com.

Specializations: Elementary General Music Education

Dong Yeol Hong

Part-Time Assistant Professor of Music

• Phone: 309-794-7299
• Email: dongyeolhong@augustana.edu
• Office: Bergendoff 22

Dr. Dong Yeol Hong firmly establishes himself as a serious performer and teacher. Dr. Hong joined the faculty at Augustana College in 2024. At the same time, Dr. Hong is currently on the faculty at Indiana State University School of Music. Previously instructed cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Moscow Conservatory Pre-College. As a guest artist and educator, he has performed and taught at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Indiana State University, Delta State University, Northwestern State University, and Mississippi University for Women.

Dr. Hong has appeared as a soloist with the Korea National Orchestra and Moscow Pre-college Chamber Orchestra. As a dedicated chamber musician, Dr. Hong has performed with numerous faculty members from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music among others. Recently, Dr. Hong has expanded his performance activities by forming a Piano Trio with faculty members from Jacobs School of Music and Indiana State University. Festival appearances have included the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Moscow Conservatory Chamber Music Festival, New Music on the Bayou, and Classical Music Festival in Austria.

Dr. Hong has claimed top prizes in the Korea National Symphony Orchestra International Competition, Korea Youth Competition, Second Prize in the Moscow Pre-Conservatory Ensemble Competition, Moscow Conservatory International Competition, Moscow Contemporary Music Competition, and CBS Korea Broadcast International Competition.

Dr. Hong holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and recently completed his DMA at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Also, additional studies include Moscow Conservatory and among others. His primary teachers include Stanislav Nicholivich, Maria Tchaikovskaya, Alan Harris, Stephen Geber, Peter Stumpf, and Alan Rafferty.

Specializations: Cello