Amanda Tumbarello she/her

Associate Director of Residential Life

• Phone: 309-794-2686
• Email: amandatumbarello@augustana.edu
• Office: Residential Life, Andreen Hall

Specializations: Residential Life

M. Wolff they/them

Associate Professor of Religion

• Phone: 309-794-7633
• Email: mwolff@augustana.edu
• Office: Old Main 003

Dr. Wolff teaches "Race, Ethnicity, & Religion," "Sexual Ethics," "Religion & Film," "Senior Capstone," "Christian Theology," and "Christian Ethics." South African-born, and U.S.-raised, Dr. Wolff was a first-generation college student.

Wolff was a 2016-2017 American Association of University Women dissertation fellow and completed a Ph.D. in Christian theology and ethics, certificate in College Teaching, and certificate in Feminist Studies at Duke University in 2017.

They were selected for the Wabash Center's 2021-22 Teaching and Learning Workshop for Early Career Religion Faculty Teaching Undergraduates.

Duke University Press published Body Problems: What Intersex Priest Sally Gross Teaches Us About Embodiment, Justice, and Belonging.

Scholarly publications

Guest editor with David Rubin and Amanda Swarr of "The Intersex Issue," special issue for Transgender Studies Quarterly.

Round table response to Joan Scott’s On the Judgment of History. Political Theology 23, No. 5, 498-505. DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2022.2083835

"Companion Sex Robots: Racialized Household Economics" Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 2021, Vol. 37, No. 2, 43-64 DOI:10.2979/jfemistudreli.37.2.04.

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza New Scholars Award *

“A Diptych Reading of Christ’s Transfiguration: Trans and Intersex Aesthetics Reveal Baptismal Identity,” Theology & Sexuality, 2019, Vol. 25, No. 1-2, pp. 1-12 DOI: 10.1080/13558358.2019.1636173.

“Karl Barth’s Christology and Jan Christian Smuts’ Human Rights Rhetoric,” Stellenbosch Theological Journal, December Vol. 5, No. 1.

“Madonna and Child of Soweto: Black Life Beyond Apartheid and Democracy,” Political Theology, 2018, Vol 19, Issue 7, pp. 572-592 DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2018.1450468.

One of six articles over the past two decades on race and political theology selected to be made free and open access 2020

Teaching and mentoring

Students Cece Vu and Thao Chu turned their class project into a book that has been published "Womanist Dictionary: Womanism as a Second Language" (Excellence in Liberal Arts Award, presented at National Women's Studies Association annual conference 2021).

Dr. Wolff co-authored an article with undergraduate Aviana Zahara on the ethics of gender selection.

"Moonlight" (Mary Wollstonecraft first place)

Sports (Mary Wollstonecraft honorable mention short analytical essay award)

Environmentalism (Mary Wollstonecraft second place short analytical essay award)

Assault (Audre Lorde Writing Prize)

Public scholarship

“Trans Embodiment Beyond Entrapment, or, an Invitation to Cultivate Compassionate Curiosity,” Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, invited contributor to series on “Embodied Teaching”

Co-authored with Stacy Williams, “Trauma Informed Pedagogy Begins with Educators,” Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, invited contributor to series on “Embodied Teaching”

Editor for Linn Tonstad’s Queer Theology: Beyond Apologetics, Syndicate symposium

Editor for Sara Ahmed’s Living a Feminist Life, Syndicate symposium

“Ain’t She A Woman? Laverne, Caitlyn, & Christian Theology,” Cosmologics, Science, Religion, and Culture program at Harvard Divinity School, Vol. 2, No. 4, Winter

Service

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies working board member

Center for the Study of Judaism and Jewish Culture co-director

The Project of the Quad Cities, member of the board of directors

American Academy of Religion, Religion and Disability Studies Unit, steering committee member

American Academy of Religion, Queer and Trans Studies in Religion Unit , steering committee member

Former American Academy of Religion, Lesbian-Feminisms and Religion Group, co-chair

Works in progress

"Cruising Decolonial Utopias: AI Benefits and Threats, Real versus Imagined,” article contribution to Yale Divinity School conference special issue, Modern Theology

Queer Communities in the Illinois-Iowa Quad Cities, co-authored with geographer Christopher Strunk

Dawn Farmer

Associate Professor, Music Education, Coordinator of Music Education

• Phone: 309-794-8052
• Email: dawnfarmer@augustana.edu
• Office: Bergendoff 119

Dawn Farmer is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of Music Education at Augustana College and is the instrumental music specialist. She currently advises ACME, the Augustana College Music Education pre-professional club on campus.

She is the Music Teacher Education Division President of the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) and a Past National President of Tau Beta Sigma, the National Band Sorority. 

Previously, she has held positions at Saint Mary's College (IN), the University of Oklahoma, and Boise State University.

A native of Phoenix, Ariz., Dr. Farmer has taught public school music in Tucson, Ariz., and the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. areas. Having experience in three diverse school systems, Dr. Farmer has taught band, orchestra, and general music in grades 3-12, and also undergraduate and graduate coursework in music, education, and music education. 

Dr. Farmer's bands and orchestras have amassed many achievements in performance and sportsmanship, and her Tri-M clubs have received local recognition within the school and community.

She is the founding director of the Manhattan Beach Elementary Schools Honor Band and Honor Orchestra. Her groups commissioned the work "Enchanted Village" by Sean O'Loughlin and have been recipients of "Esprit de Corps" awards and Superior ratings at festivals.

Her secondary school teaching experience includes working with the outstanding Mira Costa High School Band Program in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and middle school band and orchestra programs in Prince George’s County, Md. Her CNAfME chapter at Saint Mary's College has been recognized on the NAfME national website and Facebook. 

Research interests of Dr. Farmer include urban music education, teacher preparation, women in music and band, discourse analysis, and social justice. She has presented multiple papers and posters at research conferences across the country and internationally, and also hosts workshops for college students on a myriad of topics including peer leadership and effective communication.

A current member of the Editorial Board for Contributions to Music Education, Dr. Farmer has been involved with research and publications on multiple levels. She is a member of several professional affiliations such as NAfME and WBDI, and when she finds the time enjoys reading, board games, and video games. Dr. Farmer volunteers with rescue dog organizations and holds membership in Mensa.

Lucy Burgchardt

Associate Professor of Communication Studies

• Phone: 309-794-7276
• Email: lucyburgchardt@augustana.edu
• Office: Old Main 307

Dr. Lucy Burgchardt teaches Communication and Culture (COMM 260), Communication, Politics, and Citizenship (COMM 230), Public Rhetoric (COMM 330), and Listening (COMM 203). She has worked with a student research assistant to develop a project about the National Park Service, and she has mentored several COMM majors as they've navigated their first academic conferences. Dr. Burgchardt really enjoys helping students get ready for graduate school.

Dr. Burgchardt received the 2019 Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award for her dissertation, “Attitudes Toward Antiquities: Rhetorical Enchantments, Preservation Advocacy, and The American Southwest.”

When Dr. Burgchardt isn't teaching or working on research, she enjoys time at home with her husband, Paul, and their corgi, Tombo. She knows that her last name looks hard to pronounce (it's "burr-kart").

Megan Lorenz

Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience

• Phone: 309-794-7468
• Email: meganlorenz@augustana.edu
• Office: Evald 011

• RELATED: ABCD Lab helps students decide if research is in their future

Megan Lorenz's primary research interests are the development of language and spatial skills in young children. Her dissertation focused on how children’s understanding of words like “close” and “far” facilitates encoding of different spatial locations.

Allison M. Haskill

Florence C. and Dr. John E. Wertz Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Co-Chair of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Director of Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Program

• Phone: 309-794-7388
• Email: AllisonHaskill@augustana.edu
• Office: Brodahl

• RELATED: Faculty spotlight: Dr. Allison Haskill

Alli Haskill is a professor in the CSD Department where she teaches courses in child language development, autism spectrum disorder and child language disorders.

She is the CSD Department co-chair and MS-SLP program director.

Her research interests include grammatical morphology of preschoolers with speech-language impairment and narrative skills of children with autism spectrum disorder and primary language impairment.

Specializations: Child language

Desiree Grace she/her

Part-time Instructor of Business Administration

• Phone: 309-794-8072
• Email: desireegrace@augustana.edu
• Office: Sorensen 107

Specializations: Marketing, Advertising, Marketing strategy and execution, Consumer behavior, Business to business marketing

Laura Kestner-Ricketts

Executive Director of Career and Professional Development

• Phone: 309-794-7338
• Email: laurakestnerricketts@augustana.edu
• Office: Olin 119

Specializations: CORE

Chikahide Komura was born and raised in Japan. His research interest is Vygotskian sociocultural theory of mind with a special emphasis on internalization process of language acquisition.

He is interested in employing dramatic elements in contextually situated interactions for enhancing speaking proficiency of Japanese. He has studied theatre arts and has been trained to be a stage actor and a lighting designer.

Chikahide likes to read the classical plays of Japanese theatre and the works of Haruki Murakami. He also enjoys bicycling, jogging, hiking and traveling with his wife, Miyuki.

Specializations: Sociocultural theory in second language acquisition, Dialogic interaction, Theatre arts