Four Women Scholars Promoted to Associate Professor and Granted Tenure at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania

Muhlenberg College, a selective liberal arts educational institution in Allentown, Pennsylvania, has announced the promotion of eleven faculty members to the rank of associate professor with tenure. Four of these promotions went to women.

Kassandra Hartford is an associate professor of music. Primarily a scholar of 20th century American, French and Brazilian music, Hartford examines the influence of transnational exchanges on musical works and music’s role in shaping conceptions of racial and national identity in the era between the two World Wars. Dr. Hartford is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Stony Brook University in New York.

Elena FitzPatrick Sifford was promoted to associate professor of art history. She is also an affiliate faculty member with Africana studies, Latin American and Caribbean studies, and Italian studies. Dr. Sifford is a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio, where she majored in art history and African American studies. She holds a Ph.D. in art history from the City University of New York.

Rebecca Lustig was named associate professor of theatre. Her studio classes encourage students to explore their own theatre-making processes and discover how design elements can support and contribute to storytelling in performance. Lustig earned a bachelor’s degree in theater from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She holds a master of fine arts degree in costume design from the University of California, San Diego.

Sahar Sadeghi was promoted to associate professor of sociology. Her research is organized around several interrelated projects and themes — migration and geopolitics, as well as racialized and politicized belonging — with a regional specialization in contemporary Europe and the United States. Dr. Sadeghi is a graduate of the University of California, Davis. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Temple University in Philadelphia.