Five Women Join the Faculty at Virginia Tech

Katharine Cleland was appointed assistant professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She is working on a book entitled Fictions of Clandestine Marriage in Early Modern England.

Dr. Cleland is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.

Laura Boyd Farmer was named an assistant professor in the educational research program. She will teach courses in counselor education in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.

Dr. Farmer is a graduate of Bridgewater College in Virginia. She earned a master’s degree from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.

Katie Carmichael was appointed assistant professor of English. She will teach courses in language and society and linguistic discourse analysis. Dr. Carmichael will also serve on the master’s degree committee of the English department.

Dr. Carmichael holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tulane University in New Orleans. She earned a Ph.D. at Ohio State University.

Carmen M.K. Gitre was named an assistant professor of history. She specializes in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Egypt. She will teach courses on the modern Middle East.

Dr. Gitre is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She holds a master’s degree from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Caitlin E. Jewitt was appointed assistant professor of political science. She is teaching courses on U.S. government and politics and research methods in political science.

Dr. Jewitt is a graduate of Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.