Holy Cross Announces Faculty Promotions

The following members of the College of the Holy Cross faculty have been promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure.

Florencia K. Anggoro, of the psychology department, earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Northwestern University. Her research focuses on conceptual development, specifically how language, culture, and formal learning experiences shape children’s and adults’ knowledge about the world. Her work has been published in Psychological Science, Child Development, and the Journal of Cognition and Culture. Recently, she was awarded a 2-year grant of $311,139 from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the Department of Education to examine cognitive factors that support children's learning in astronomy. She is also a co-principal investigator on a 3.5-year grant of $1,462,318 from IES to develop early childhood STEM curriculum. She has been a member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2010.

Joshua M. Congdon-Hohman, of the economics and accounting department, specializes in labor economics, public economics and health economics. He earned his B.A. from Wesleyan University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. A recipient of the Batchelor (Ford) Summer Faculty Fellowship, his work has been published in respected economic journals, including “Love, Toil and Health Insurance: Why American Husbands Retire When They Do” in the Contemporary Economic Policy; “Potential Effects of the Affordable Care Act on the Award of Life Care Expenses” in the Journal of Forensic Economics; and “The Lasting Effects of Crime: The Relationship of Discovered Methamphetamine Laboratories and Home Values” in Regional Science and Urban Economics. Congdon-Hohman has also refereed numerous articles for journals including the Journal of Urban Economics, the Southern Economic Journal, and the Journal of Sports Economics. He currently has five works in progress, one of which is titled “Do Sporting Events Displace Crime? The Case of the Bulls and Chicago.” He has been a member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2009.

Ara Francis, of the sociology and anthropology department, earned her B.A. at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of California-Davis. She has been a member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2009. Interested in how people experience and make sense of personal loss and suffering, Francis teaches courses in self and society, deviance, trouble, and death and dying. She is particularly interested in the personal troubles associated with family life, such as illness, separation, and the death of close loved ones. Her research has an international audience, appearing in journals such as the Sociology of Health and Illness and the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. Her book “Family Trouble: Middle-Class Parents, Children’s Problems, and the Disruption of Everyday Life” (Rutgers University Press, 2015) examines how children’s challenges — ranging from mild learning disabilities to substance addiction — impact their parents’ lives.

Rev. John F. Gavin, S.J., of the religious studies department, earned his B.A. in Russian at Boston College, his M.A. in Philosophy at Fordham University, his M. Div. at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, and his S.T.L. and S.T.D at Instituto Patristico Augustinianum (Lateran University) in Rome. Currently on the Academic Affairs Council, he has been a member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2011. He is the author of “A Celtic Christology: The Incarnation According to John Scottus Eriugena” (Cascade Books, 2014) and articles on late ancient Christian writings. Fr. Gavin is currently working on two new book projects, as well as translations to English from Greek, Latin and Italian religious literature. He is also a member of the International Society for the Study of Medieval Theology; the Academy of Catholic Theology; the Association Internationale d’Etudes Patristiques; the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars; and the North American Patristics Society.

Nadine M. Knight, of the English department, specializes in 19th and 20th century American and African American novel and nonfiction; American civil war literature; the American slave narrative; historical fiction; and film and television studies. She earned her B.A. at Princeton University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. at Harvard University. She is a recipient of the SSRC-Mellon Mays Postdoctoral Retreat Travel Grant and the Robert L. Ardizzone Fund for Junior Faculty Excellence. In 2010, she received a research fellowship from the University of South Carolina Institute for Southern Studies, and in 2006, the Derrick K. Gondwe Visiting Fellowship from Gettysburg College. A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2011, her work has been featured in College Literature; MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S.; and the Journal of Science Fiction Film and Television.

Written by Marjorie Smith ’16.