Warren Frisina

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Warren G. Frisina, Dean of Hofstra University's Honors College (HUHC) and Associate Professor of Religion, came to Hofstra in 1997 from a position as acting Executive Director of the American Academy of Religion, the world's largest learned society for scholars of religion. He earned the Ph.D. from the University of Chicago where he did work in theology, philosophy and Chinese intellectual history. He has published widely in the areas of American pragmatism, Neo-Confucianism and the academic study of religion. Contemporary theories of knowledge, metaphysics, Chinese philosophical and religious thought, and comparative philosophy and religion are among his current research and teaching interests. He is especially interested in the implications of recent work in cognitive psychology for our understanding of knowledge and the mind. His book, The Unity of Knowledge and Action: Toward a Nonrepresentational Theory of Knowledge, was published in 2002 by SUNY Press. He has also co-edited Teaching the Daodejing, Oxford University Press, 2007 and The Pragmatic Century: Conversations with Richard J. Bernstein, SUNY Press, 2007. Before his appointment as Dean of HUHC, he served as chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion and as founding chair of the newly independent Department of Religion. He has also taught at Rice University, the University of Houston and Emory University.

Neil Donahue

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Neil H. Donahue, Associate Dean of Hofstra University's Honors College (HUHC) and Professor of German and Comparative Literature, has been at Hofstra since 1988, after having taught at both Columbia University and Rutgers University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1987. From 1999 to 2005, he was chairperson of the Comparative Literature and Languages department, and has directed the German program since 1988. Before becoming Associate Dean, he was an HUHC Faculty Mentor for two years and has taught regularly in Honors College since 2005. His main area of scholarly research has been twentieth-century German literature and culture (specifically the novel, poetry and cultural theory); his scholarship links formal analysis of a work or text with its various contexts in social, cultural, intellectual, artistic and literary history. He has particular interests in verbal-visual relations and in cross-cultural comparisons, including extensive work on Japanese literature. He has written or edited six books [link] as well as numerous articles and reviews, and has received prestigious grants and fellowships from the Fulbright Program, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH, also for an NEH Summer Institute at Harvard University), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. His first book Forms of Disruption in Modern German Prose (University of Michigan Press, 1993) was awarded the 1993 Lawrence Stessin Prize for Best Scholarly Publication at Hofstra University, and in 2000 his article on Victor Klemperer received the Peter Herman Literary Award at Hofstra.

Peggy Ann Matusiak

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Before joining HUHC she worked in Hofstra's Department of Accounts Payable. As the "face" of HUHC she is the first person students turn to when they need help troubleshooting any of a host of administrative problems. She manages all aspects of the office, runs the HUHC Ambassador Program, organizes all extra and co-curricular trips, liaisons with parents and family members, keeps in touch with HUHC alumni and keeps the HUHC trains running on time. Not only does PeggyAnn work for HUHC, she was also a member as an HUHC student. She earned her Honors College Associate with a BA in history and a dual minor in fine arts and Irish Studies. PeggyAnn resides locally in East Meadow Long Island with her husband, Monte and her children, Mairead, a 2010 Hofstra Alum, and Matthew, a Hofstra Sophomore.

Rita Corbett

Rita Corbett, Senior Support Specialist has been with Honors College since 2008. Before joining HUHC she worked in the Departments of Philosophy, Religion and Academic Records. She also attends Hofstra as a part-time student pursuing her BA. Rita resides in Wantagh, Long Island with her husband Michael and two children, Kristina a Hofstra senior, and Jennifer, a Hofstra Freshman.

Lauren Kozol

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Lauren Kozol is currently the Faculty Teaching Fellow in Honors College and Associate Adjunct Professor in the Writing Studies Department at Hofstra University. She received her B.A. from Columbia University and her PhD in English Literature from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, which won the Robert Adams Day Award for “the best dissertation involving interdisciplinary work.” She also holds a Professional Certificate in Music Composition from Berkeley College of Music and has done further studies in connection with Mannes and the Juilliard School. In addition, she participated in a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Seminar on Literature and the Visual Arts. Her primary area of scholarly research is avant-garde collaborations among poets, composers and artists in the 20th and 21st century. Before coming to Hofstra, Dr. Kozol was the Director of Academic Writing at Manhattanville College and Research Assistant Professor at Polytechnic University where she won prizes for “outstanding and dedicated service” and as “Faculty Advisor of the Year” for her work with the Performing Arts Club. As well as teaching traditional writing and literature classes, she has offered interdisciplinary courses in the arts, Professional Writing for Artists and Architects, Contemporary Theater, and Latino Culture in New York. She enjoys collaborating with students both academically and creatively and has run workshops for them with professional actors, musicians and orchestral conductors in the city. Her most ambitious excursion to date involved co-leading a semester abroad program at Polytechnic in which she took twenty-three students to seven countries in Asia – China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Outside the university, her favorite activities include writing poetry, composing music, and playing the piano in chamber groups.

Tamika Dennison

Tamika Dennison, a local student from Lynbrook, NY joined the HUHC staff as a student aide in the spring of 2012. She has decided to complete a dual major in Psychology and Sociology.