New Faculty
This article was originally published in the September 1999 issue of CLASnotes.
Ben Bolker
Ben Bolker, an assistant professor of zoology, came to UF from Princeton University, where he was a research associate. Bolker, who earned his PhD from Cambridge University in 1993, is interested in the theoretical, mathematical, and statistical underpinnings of a wide variety of ecological questions, ranging from epidemics to climate change. His current research focuses on spatial patterns in ecological communities. He will teach courses in ecology, ecological modeling, and biostatistics. He enjoys frisbee and American and English folk music and dance.
Florin Curta
Assistant professor of history Florin Curta comes to UF from Cornell, where he taught after earning his PhD from Western Michigan University in 1998. His research interests include ethnic identity and material culture in medieval Eastern Europe, gift-giving networks, and monasticism. Current projects include a book on the early Slavs (AD 500-700), a book on medieval Bulgaria, and a bibliography of medieval East Central Europe. His outside interests include classical music, swimming, poetry, windsurfing, biking and playing chess with his daughter.
Steve Hagen
Steve Hagen, an assistant professor of physics, came to UF from the National Institutes of Health, near Washington, DC. Steve earned his PhD in experimental physics from Princeton University in 1989 and performed postdoctoral research in the field of superconductivity at the University of Maryland from 1989 until 1992. As an NIH staff fellow, Hagen studied biological physics, using techniques of laser spectroscopy to examine the physics of protein molecules. His interests include hiking and movies, as well as science and public policy. Steve spent 1997 on the legislative staff of the US Senate, as a Congressional Science Fellow of the American Institute of Physics.
Jodi Lane
Assistant professor of criminology and sociology Jodi Lane received her PhD from the University of California-Irvine's School of Social Ecology in 1998. Her research focuses on juvenile justice issues, the corrections system, and the fear of crime. Lane is currently measuring the impact of a South Oxnard, California juvenile justice program on its participants (youth on probation). In addition, she recently designed and conducted a randomized survey in Orange County, California with which she measured residents' fear of crime and gangs. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies, yoga and walking on the beach.
Ido Oren
Ido Oren, an assistant professor of political science, earned his PhD from the University of Chicago and comes to UF from the University of Minnesota. His research interests include international relations theory, international security, US foreign policy, and US intellectual history. His current project explores how America's changing international rivalries affected the ways in which American social scientists perceived America's rivals, as well as their images of America itself. He will be teaching courses in international relations. In his free time, he enjoys working out and playing his pinball machine.
Josh Russell
Josh Russell, an assistant professor of English, earned his MFA in 1993 from Louisiana State University. He is the author of the novel Yellow Jack (W.W. Norton & Co., 1999). His short fiction has appeared in The Antioch Review, Epoch, the Southwest Review and New Stories from The South: The Year's Best, 1998. He is presently teaching graduate and undergraduate fiction writing workshops. His outside interests include cooking and hiking.
