Faculty and Staff for the Germantown Humanities Department

Humanities Department - Germantown Campus

Department Chair | Dept. Administrative Aide | Full-time Faculty | Part-time Faculty

Department Chair

Jennifer Haydel

MA, University of Minnesota

Email: Jennifer.haydel@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7756

Office Location: Germantown Campus, HS-138

Biography

Jennifer Haydel holds a BA in Integrated International Studies from Knox College (1998) and an MA in Political Science from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (2004). Her teaching and research interests include peacebuilding, transitional justice in post-conflict environments, social movements, the intersection of mathematics and voting systems, and interdisciplinary education. She also co-coordinates the collegewide Quantitative Reasoning in the Disciplines Program. She has been teaching Political Science at Montgomery College since 2008. Jennifer has lived in California, Illinois, Minnesota, Germany, Georgia, and Maryland.

Educational Background

BA, Integrated International Studies, Knox College
MA, Political Science, University of Minnesota

Department Administrative Aide

Sella Gesumwa

Administrative Aide

Email: sella.gesumwa@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7766

Office Location: Germantown Campus, HS 138

Full-time Faculty

Kurt Borkman

PhD, University of Michigan

Email: kurt.borkman@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7758

Office Location: Germantown Campus, HS 196

Biography

A native Marylander who worked the waters of the lower Chesapeake as a commercial fisherman, Dr. Kurt Borkman is a graduate of Montgomery College. He earned his BA in History at The George Washington University, and his MA and PhD in History at the University of Michigan. Dr. Borkman is also the recipient of a DAAD Fellowship and was a visiting scholar in Germany in the 1980's. His areas of special interest include European Intellectual History, Historiography, the History of Christianity, and German History. Born in Baltimore and baptized in the shadow of Camden Yards, Kurt is a lifelong Orioles and Colts/Ravens fan.

Educational Background
AA, General Studies, Montgomery College
BA, History, George Washington University
MA, History, University of Michigan
PhD, History, University of Michigan

Michael Harding

PhD, University of Dallas

Email: Michael.harding@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7759

Office Location: Germantown Campus, HS 181

Biography

Born in New York, but raised in Texas, Dr. Michael P. Harding holds a BA from the University of North Texas (1999), and MA degrees in philosophy and politics from the University of Dallas (2004 and 2007). Writing on Nietzsche's political philosophy, he earned his PhD from the University of Dallas (2013). His research interests can broadly be described as the history of philosophy - especially Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke and Nietzsche, as well as the American Founders and Progressives. He recently co-edited Socrates in the Cave: On the Philosopher's Motive in Plato (Palgrave, 2018). He has been teaching philosophy at Montgomery College since 2013. His hobbies include reading, playing music, and traveling.

Educational Background
BA, University of North Texas
MA, Philosophy & Politics, University of Dallas
PhD, University of Dallas

Sylvea Hollis

PhD, University of Iowa

Biography

Assistant Professor Sylvea Hollis earned a Ph.D. in US History, with a concentration in African American History from the University of Iowa. As a graduate student she developed and taught her own courses in African American History and created civically engaged programming with the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies. Her dissertation, “Race, Capitalism, and Social Welfare after the Civil War, 1864-1911: The CKOP and the COC,” is a cultural history. It examines the African American fraternal association, the Colored Knights of Pythias and their women’s auxiliary, the Court of Calanthe.

Before coming to Montgomery College in the fall of 2020, Dr. Hollis was an NPS-Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and taught courses in gender and sexuality in the American Studies Department at The George Washington University. She earned a MA in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program (SUNY-Oneonta) and has extensive experience in the museum field, working with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, National Museum of American History, and American Alliance of Museum. Dr. Hollis also runs a blog that explores the intersections of archives, civic engagement, and teaching.

Carla Naranjo

MS, Georgetown University

Email: Carla.naranjo@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-2241

Office Location: Germantown Campus, HS 178

Biography

Carla Isabel Naranjo is a Spanish Professor on the Germantown campus. She holds a BA in Political Science with a concentration in Latin America from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland (1991), a Master of Science in Spanish Language and Culture from Georgetown University in Washington, DC (2005) and a Graduate Certificate in Spanish Interpretation and Translation from American University in Washington, D.C (2005). She is currently at the dissertation phase for a PhD in Instructional Leadership for Changing Populations from Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore.
She has developed Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) curriculum in her Spanish courses since 2015 by collaborating with faculty members from the University of El Salvador. In addition, she serves as the co-coordinator of the Global Classrooms Faculty Fellowship for Montgomery College. Her academic interests include the impact of COIL on community college students, OERs for Spanish, and immigration trends from Central American countries to the US.
Prior to teaching, Carla was a labor organizer for over 10 years, organizing Spanish-speaking immigrants living and working in Texas, California, and Washington, D.C. In her free time, Carla enjoys exercising in the early morning hours, discovering vegetarian recipes, and giggling with her daughter, Reina de la Paz.

Educational Background

BA, Political Science, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
MS, Spanish Language and Culture, Georgetown University, Washington DC
Graduate Certificate in Spanish Interpretation and Translation, American University, Washington DC
PhD in progress: Instructional Leadership for Changing Populations, Notre Dame of Maryland University

Joseph Thompson

PhD, University of Florida

Email: joe.thompson@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7751

Office Location: Germantown Campus, HS 108

Biography

Born and raised in northeastern New Jersey, Dr. Joseph C. Thompson holds a BA in history from East Stroudsburg University (1983), an MA in history from Kent State University (1986) and a PhD in history from the University of Florida (1995). His research interests include antebellum politics, African American history, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age. He has been teaching US history at Montgomery College since 2000. In his spare time, Joe enjoys playing golf, reading, and rooting for the New York Yankees.

Educational Background
BA, History, East Stroudsburg University
MA, History, Kent State University
PhD, History, University of Florida

Part-time Faculty

Christopher DeLorenzo

Phone: 240-567-7766

Khady Diene

PhD, University of Maryland

Email: khady.diene@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7766

Office Location: Germantown Campus, HS 185

Educational Background

MA, French, University of Kansas
MA, American Studies, University of Kansas
PhD, French & Francophone, University of Maryland

James Furgol

MA, University of Maryland Baltimore County

Email: james.furgol@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7766

Biography

From 2012 to today, I have taught HIST 114, 116, 117, 190, 200 and 201. I am a generalist in modern world history (1500-present), but regardless of the course content, my goal is to connect the past to the present, so students have a better understanding of today’s global community.

Educational Background
AA, General Studies, Montgomery College
BA, History, College of Wooster
MA, US History, College of Wooster
MA, US/UK History, University of Maryland Baltimore County

Mohammad Ghaedi

Phone: 240-567-7766