The Department of Humanistic studies offers a wide range of courses of history, literature, philosophy, religion, creative writing, and other disciplines. Our faculty are multidisciplinary scholars, writers, teachers and practitioners who are dedicated to the unique mission of preparing artists and designers to contribute to our cultural life as creators and thinkers, redefining our ideas of what it means to be human in relation to ourselves, others, and the world.
Elizabeth Holden Wagenheim holds graduate degrees i n Fine Arts (Creative Writing) and Curriculum Design/Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Elizabeth’s professional interests include program design and evaluation and intercultural communications. She is dedicated to MICA’s internationalization and the shared responsibility of all members of the college community in making MICA a welcoming and vibrant place.
Carissa Aoki serves as the Area Head for Ecosystems, Sustainability, and Justice, MICA’s interdisciplinary major preparing students to address today’s most pressing social and environmental challenges through the lens of their creative practice. She is an applied ecologist, with a particular interest in the ways in which social justice concerns are interwoven with ecological questions.
Alec Armstrong received his PhD in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. He received a BS in Environmental Science from The Ohio State University.
Mikita Brottman is a widely-published nonfiction writer whose work investigates the intersection of crime and psychology. She is also a psychoanalyst and has a special interest in gothic and uncanny literature.
Firmin DeBrabander is a professor of philosophy, specializing in political philosophy. He also teaches courses in Greek Philosophy, Aesthetics, Moral Philosophy, the Philosophy of Religion, and the Philosophy of Economics.
Jeanette Gerrity Gómez is an English Language Learning Specialist. Her areas of interest include language learning acquisition and theory and Latin American studies, focused on Central America and Mexico.
Soheila Ghaussy earned her Magister der Literaturwissenschaften (the equivalent of an MA degree) from Hamburg University, where she majored in English and American Literature and minored in Middle Eastern Studies.
Paul Jaskunas is a professor of creative writing and literature. His novel Hidden received the Friends of American Writers Award, and his fiction, poetry, and journalism have appeared in numerous publications.
Dr. Alan Orr holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. His research and teaching interests focus on the intellectual and cultural history of early modern Britain and Ireland (1500-1800).
Mike Sizer is a historian specializing in the culture, literature, and society of the pre-modern world, with a scholarly focus on medieval France, urban life, and social movements. Among the many classes he teaches are courses on Utopias, Mythology, Revolutions, the Black Death, Ancient Cultures, and Crowds.
Ruth E. Toulson is a sociocultural anthropologist (PhD Cambridge) whose research focuses on Southeast and East Asia. Her scholarship explores the intersection of death and the state, particularly in densely-populated cities during moments of sociopolitical transition.
Eglutė Trinkauskaitė holds PhD in Religion from Syracuse University. She works with the Indigenous Values Initiative, a group of activist scholars working to educate the public about the devastating consequences of the "Doctrine of Discovery" on Indigenous Peoples and their environments.
Nathan Ackerman is an award-winning producer, storyteller and strategist for who got his start at ABC NEWS where he contributed to OJ Simpson Trial coverage, co-created a weekly trend spotting series for Good Morning America and produced several film reviews with the late Joel Siegel. He was recruited to help build an in-house communications operation for the Senate Democrats.
Nina Brown has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Amy Eisner received her AB in English from Harvard University and her MA in poetry from The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.
Michael Garral (Ph.D. Johns Hopkins; B.A. U.C. Berkeley) is a professor of Philosophy and the History of Ideas. He teaches courses ranging from Existentialism to Ancient Greek Philosophy, from Freud, and Psychoanalysis more generally, to the Philosophy of Religion, of Film, and of Literature.
Ralph Hubbell is a writer and Turkish-to-English translator whose fiction, essays and translations have appeared in Asymptote, the Dial, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. His translation of Oğuz Atay's story collection Waiting for the Fear was published by NYRB Classics in October, 2024. He holds an MFA from Johns Hopkins University, where he currently works as the senior academic program coordinator in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.
Elizabeth Leik's teaching focuses on nonfiction writing and research skills. She previously taught at Loyola University Maryland and Goucher College. Her writing includes shorts on Scranton, Pa., clamming in the Chesapeake Bay, and playing Little League baseball, as well as reviews on library and museum collections. She has taught at MICA since 2020 and holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College and an MS in Education from Johns Hopkins University.
Jane Lewty is an award-winning poet, fiction writer, and critic. She is the author of two poetry collections: Bravura Cool (1913 Press) and In One Form To Find Another (Cleveland State University Poetry Center). She has also co-edited two essay collections: Broadcasting Modernism (University Press of Florida) and Pornotopias: Image, Desire, Apocalypse (Litteraria Pragensia).
Paul Long has taught a variety of courses in MICA's Humanistic Studies department over the past decade, including: Genre: Introduction to Creative Writing, Hypertext: 21st Century Electronic Writing and Theory, Experimental Narrative and Mixed Media, and Contemporary American Poetry.
Fred Luthardt has been teaching Bioethics at MICA since 2004. He directs the Johns Hopkins University’s Office of Human Subjects Research (the IRB) Compliance Monitoring Program (CMP), and has over 25 years experience in clinical research and knowledge of regulatory compliance to sustain a culture of respect whereby the rights, well-being, and safety of research participants are safeguarded.
Michelle Mariano teaches literature and creative writing. She also serves as the managing director of ArtWorks for Freedom, a DC-based arts activism nonprofit, and has 15 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit arts sector.
Joseph Martin joined MICA’s Humanistic Studies faculty in 2012. He holds an MFA in fiction from Johns Hopkins University, and his stories, reviews, and journalism have appeared in The Believer, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Bookforum, Tin House, Fourteen Hills, Cutbank, and other publications.
David Sterritt is a scholar of international film history, theory, and criticism, including intersections of film, literature, and music. For many years, he was the film critic and cultural correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor. He holds a PhD in Cinema Studies from New York University.
Before joining MICA’s adjunct faculty in 2012, Washington held key leadership positions in Maryland-based non-profit organizations, foundations, and local government agencies in the Greater Baltimore region. Much of this work has been at the intersection of community organizing, environmental education, housing, and the restoration of urban ecosystems.
