Bates College, the highly selective liberal arts educational institution in Lewiston, Maine, has announced the promotion of seven faculty members to the rank of associate professor. The seven scholars were also granted tenure. Five of the promotions went to women.
Yunkyoung L. Garrison, who joined Bates in 2020, was promoted to associate professor of psychology. Dr. Garrison’s work centers on psychological well-being and vocational outcomes among people of color and immigrant and refugee communities. Dr. Garrison holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in psychology from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. She earned a master’s degree in educational measurement and statistics and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Iowa.
Lisa R. Gilson joined the Bates faculty in 2020. She has been promoted to associate professor of politics. Prior to her arrival at Bates, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. Dr. Gilson’s research focuses on political reactions that reject institutional paths toward change, from abolitionist movements to contemporary far-right groups. She is a graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University.
Seulgie Claire Lim is a new associate professor of politics. Her research focuses on gender equality; women’s political movement and participation in West Africa, specifically in Senegal; and African feminism. Dr. Lim holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international relations from Seoul National University in South Korea. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from Boston University with a certificate in African studies.
Zhenzhen Lu was promoted to associate professor of Chinese. Dr. Lu’s work focuses on the practices of reading, writing, publishing, and performance in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. She is the author of The Vernacular World of Pu Songling: Popular Literature and Manuscript Culture in Late Imperial China (Brill, 2025). The book examines a diverse body of local writings in the manuscripts of village scholars from Shandong in northern China. Dr. Lu holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sarah B. Lynch was promoted to associate professor of classical and medieval studies and history. She is the author of Elementary and Grammar Education in Late Medieval France: Lyon, 1285–1530 (Amsterdam University Press, 2017) and Medieval Pedagogical Writings: An Epitome (Kismet Press, 2018). Dr. Lynch is a graduate of University College Dublin. She holds a master’s degree from Trinity College Dublin and a Ph.D. from the University of Leeds in England.