Six New Full Professors at Smith College

Smith College, the highly rated liberal arts college for women in Northampton, Massachusetts, has announced the promotion of 10 faculty members to the rank of full professor. Six of the 10 promotions went to women.

(L to R) Dawn Fulton, Velma Garcia, Ambreen Hai, Alexandra Keller, Sabina Knight, and Lynne Yamamoto

Dawn Fulton was named professor of French studies. Professor Fulton joined the Smith College faculty in 2000 and teaches course in French language, and Francophone literature and cinema. She is the author of the book Signs of Dissent: Maryse Conde and Postcolonial Criticism (University of Virginia Press, 2008). Dr. Fulton is a graduate of Yale University and earned a Ph.D. at Duke University.

Velma Garcia was promoted to full professor of government. She is also involved with Latin American and Latino/a studies at Smith. Her current research focuses on U.S. death penalty cases involving Mexican nationals. Professor Garcia is a graduate of Smith College and earned a doctorate at Yale University.

Ambreen Hai was appointed a full professor of English. She teaches on literature of the British empire and twentieth-century critical theory. Professor Hai is the author of Making Words Matter: The Agency of Colonial and Postcolonial Literature (Ohio University Press, 2009). Dr. Hai is a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she majored in English, philosophy, and economics. She holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. from Yale University.

Alexandra Keller was promoted to professor of film studies. She specializes in American western films and avant-garde and experimental filmmaking. She is the author of James Cameron (Routledge, 2006) and is currently working on a book entitled, The Endless Frontier: Westerns and American Identity From Reagan to Bush II. Dr. Keller is a graduate of Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. in cinema studies from New York University.

Sabina Knight was named full professor of comparative literature. She has been on the Smith College faculty since 1998 and was promoted to associate professor in 2005. Her latest book is entitled, Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2012). She is also the author of The Heart of Time: Moral Agency in Twentieth-Century Chinese Fiction (Harvard University Press, 2006). Professor Knight holds bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Chinese from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She also earned a master’s degree in comparative literature at the University of California at Berkeley.

Lynne Yamamoto was appointed professor of art at Smith College. She teaches courses in three-dimensional design and installation art. Professor Yamamoto has exhibited her work at museums and galleries throughout the world. She is a graduate of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and earned a master’s degree at New York University.