Jeff Mettler

Assistant Professor of Kinesiology

• Phone: 309-794-2601
• Email: jeffmettler@augustana.edu
• Office: Lindberg 212

• RELATED: Faculty spotlight: Dr. Jeff Mettler, assistant professor of kinesiology

Dr. Jeff Mettler's current academic interests lie in analyzing foot mechanics to understand the cause of foot disorders. Additionally, he is interested in the biomechanical and physiological aspects of gait and running.

Rachel Horner Brackett

Associate Professor of Anthropology

• Phone: 309-794-7676
• Email: rachelbrackett@augustana.edu
• Office: Evald 108

Rachel Horner Brackett is an enthusiastic anthropologist who brings her passion for the subject into the classroom. Growing up on a family farm in a small town in Illinois, Dr. Horner Brackett had never even heard of anthropology until she accidentally signed up for an intro course during her first year of college. The rest, as they say, is history.

Dr. Horner Brackett received broad training across the four subfields of American anthropology: archaeology, bioanthropology, linguistic anthropology, and socio-cultural anthropology. She conducted PhD research in Tuscany, where she lived and worked on an agritourism estate in order to study the connections between food traditions, sustainability and heritage management. In 2015, she returned to Italy to study Etruscan archaeology through a National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowship. Dr. Horner Brackett also holds a Master's Degree in Public Health, with a focus on Community and Behavioral Health. At Augustana, she teaches courses on medical anthropology, food studies, anthropological theory, the prehistoric human record, public health, and more. Her current research projects examine 1) the impact of climate change on Italian agritourism, and 2) the threat of African Swine Fever in heritage-breed hog operations in Italy.

When she’s not teaching, reading, or planning her next trip abroad, Dr. HB enjoys organic gardening, keeping 100+ houseplants alive, spending time with the Horner Brackett family menagerie (two cats, two dogs and two parrots), and dabbling in fiber arts.

Anne Oakes

Student Counselor

• Email: anneoakes@augustana.edu
• Office: Founders 206

Anne Oakes is a licensed clinical social worker. She spent the the first part of her career working for a community mental health center as an outpatient therapist as well as a school-based therapist for K-12 students. She has spent the last several years working in higher education.

Specializations: Counseling services

Meg E. Gillette

Professor and Chair of English

• Phone: 309-794-7384
• Email: MegGillette@augustana.edu
• Office: Old Main 129

Meg Gillette received her B.A. from the University of Iowa and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

Her research and teaching interests include 19th and 20th century American literature, women's literature, and midwestern literature.

Dr. Gillette is the chair of the English department, a member of the Women's and Gender Studies advisory board, and the faculty advisor to Unabridged, Augustana's English club. 

Her articles on 19th and 20th century literature have recently appeared in Modern Fiction Studies, Studies in American Fiction, Twentieth-Century Literature, and American Literary Realism. Her 2021 article on Davenport writer Alice French won the David D. Anderson Award for Outstanding Essay in Midwestern Literary Studies.

Specializations: American literature, Composition theory, Women's studies, Gender studies

John Glimco ’83

Director of Individual Giving and Estate Gift Planning

• Email: johnglimco@augustana.edu

Specializations: Advancement

Andrea Wanek she/her

Administrative Assistant, Tredway Library

• Phone: 309-794-7266
• Email: andreawanek@augustana.edu
• Office: Tredway Library

Andrea Wanek is a graduate of Illinois State University where she obtained her degree in political science with a concentration in public administration.

Specializations: Library

Kelly Daniels

Professor of English

• Phone: 309-794-7603
• Email: KellyDaniels@augustana.edu
• Office: Old Main 128

Kelly Daniels first stood at the head of a class in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he taught English as a Second Language for a shoestring operation called The USA School. 

His teaching philosophy, in a sentence, is that we learn by supervised practice, and so students in his classes can expect to read a lot, write a lot, and discuss reading and writing, a lot.  

His debut memoir, Cloudbreak, California, was one of BuzzFeed’s “13 favorite works of nonfiction in 2013," and his literary thriller novel, A Candle for San Simón, was released in 2021. He’s a former MacDowell Fellow, and a regular contributor to the Sun magazine. 

Otherwise, his stories and essays have appeared in many literary journals and reviews, including Hotel Amerika, Puerto del Sol, Cimarron Review, Third Coast, and the Sonora Review. 

A professor at Augustana since 2007, he teaches fiction, creative nonfiction, literature, and LSFY. Additionally, he is active in all aspects of creative writing at Augustana.

Specializations: Contemporary literature, American literature, Creative writing, Fiction, Creative nonfiction

Jennifer Ong

Assistant Director, Center for Visual Culture

• Phone: 309-794-7611 or 309-794-7210
• Email: jenniferong@augustana.edu
• Office: Bergendoff 7A

Specializations: Center for Visual Culture

Joel Linscheid he/him

Visiting Assistant Professor, Augustana Jazz Ensemble, Improvisation

• Phone: 309-794-7183
• Email: joellinscheid@augustana.edu
• Office: Bergendoff 23

Joel Linscheid is Director of Jazz Studies and Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Augustana College, where he directs the Augustana Jazz Ensemble and Augustana Jazz Combos, teaches courses in jazz history and jazz analysis, and teaches applied jazz improvisation lessons.

Prior to coming to Augustana in 2021, Linscheid served as Instructor of Music at Bethel College (Kansas) from 2013-2017. He has also taught at the University of Colorado (Boulder), Hutchinson Community College, and Friends University. Linscheid has served as a guest artist and/or clinician at numerous colleges and jazz festivals, including University of Missouri Jazz Festival, Hutchinson Community College Jazz Festival, Wichita State University, SWOSU Jazz Festival, Texas Tech University Jazz Festival, and Knox College. He has presented research and educational workshops at the Jazz Education Network Conference and Illinois Music Education Association Conference.

As a performer, Linscheid has previously been active on the music scenes in Boston, Denver, Kansas City, and Wichita, and worked for Holland America Cruise Lines. From 2012 to 2013, he toured the U.S., Canada, and Japan and recorded an album with The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra. He has performed in educational or professional settings with many notable musicians, including Dave Douglas, Bobby Watson, Dave Holland, Brad Leali, Allen Vizzutti, Wycliffe Gordon, Tanya Darby, Jerry Hahn, Michael Feinstein, Johnny Mathis, The Temptations, and The Four Tops. He has also worked with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Music Theater Wichita, and the Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra.

Linscheid received his D.M.A. in jazz performance with a minor in musicology from New England Conservatory, where he studied with Jerry Bergonzi, Donny McCaslin, Miguel Zenon, and Mark Turner. He received his M.M. in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder and B.A. in Music with K-12 Education Certification from Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas.

Specializations: Jazz