Honors Program

Dr. Diane Brewer, professor of theatre, teaches three Honors courses for theatre majors – Survey and Analysis of Dramatic Literature and Theatre History I and II. In describing the classes, she explains, In Survey and Analysis, we look at plays that fall within the Aristotelian tradition and those that intentionally deviate from those conventions. As we do so, we engage in intensive discussions and writing assignments that help students learn to identify and understand their personal reactions to plays. In both semesters of Theatre History, we throw ourselves into the gap between past and present, holding ourselves to rigorous standards of research, writing, and critical thinking."|

"I want my students to feel challenged and inspired to continue exploring the connection between their own values and the theatre they create," Dr. Brewer notes. "I enjoy teaching UE Honors students because they keep me on my toes. They often ask questions I've never considered and come up with solutions I've never imagined. In that way, they reaffirm why I teach – to keep learning."

Dr. Brewer holds a BA in drama from Tufts University and a PhD in theatre from UCLA. Her areas of expertise include theatre history and dramatic criticism, and she also dramaturgs and directs productions for the UE theatre department. Her articles have been published in The Dramaturgy Protocol, The Dramaturgy Sourcebook (vol. 4), Theatre Topics, PAJ: Performing Arts Journal, and HowlRound at the Center for Theater Commons. She has received such honors as the Dean's Teaching Award, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Evansville and a Certificate of Merit for Dramaturgy from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Professor Hwang is a graduate of Iowa State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is an associate professor of computer science and has been the director of the computer science program at the University of Evansville since 1995. She is the faculty advisor for the UE ACM student chapter, and she is active in computer science education organizations and women in technology organizations.

Dr. George Iber, received his PhD in social foundations of education from The University of Iowa in 1992. Originally a High School English and Spanish teacher, he became interested in Teaching English as a Second Language through his students, many of whom were not native speakers of English. Throughout his thirty plus years of experience in higher education, his faculty responsibilities have taken him to Belize, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Jamaica, Ecuador and Malaysia; as well as conferences in China, Indonesia, and Cambodia. He was a recipient of a State Department Senior English Language Fellowship and spent 10 months working with the Ministry of Education in Malaysia in 2013-2014.

Currently, he is an Associate Professor at the University of Evansville, School of Education. His interests include teacher training, teaching English to speakers of other languages, international education, and holistic education methods that create a healthier and more compassionate world.

Jerrilee is associate professor and Chair in the Dunigan Family School of Nursing and currently teaches the junior level nursing research course and junior level clinical courses. She also teaches a general education health and wellness course each semester and serves as an American Heart Association Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support Instructor.

Sara Petrosillo received her BA in English and Italian Literature from Colby College, and her PhD in English from the University of California, Davis. Her scholarship focuses on medieval literature and feminism and she has published articles on medieval poetry and drama in the Journal for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Exemplaria: Medieval, Early Modern, Theory, and most recently in a 2018 essay collection, Animal Languages in the Middle Ages: Representations of Interspecies Communication (Palgrave-Macmillan). She is currently working on a book about the cultural influence of falconry on medieval reading practices, Predatory Poetics: Form, Feminism, and Falconry in Medieval Literary Culture. She teaches the first half of the British literature survey, first year seminars, and early English literature.

Dr. Shelby received his PhD from the University of Louisville in 2016 in applied sociology. He earned graduate degrees in sociology (Western Illinois University) and communications (Trinity International University) and an undergraduate degree in youth ministry and biblical studies (Trinity International University). Dr. Shelby specializes in the study of complex social organizations, most recently Protestant Christian megachurches. He teaches Introduction to Sociology, Research Methods, Statistics, Theory, Community Organization, and Race and Ethnic Relations.

Research Areas:
Forensic psychology, children, psychology and law