Meet the Instructors

The instructors for our courses include current and retired Wesleyan faculty members who live in the Middletown area, alumni/ae,  and local professionals—artists, clergy, curators, scholars, scientists, writers, and other experts—who have no formal affiliation with Wesleyan but are pleased to share their knowledge, experience, and perspectives with our students.

  • Stephen Bank

    stephenbank88@gmail.com

    Stephen Bank, psychotherapist, former Adjunct Professor of Psychology, co –author The Sibling Bond, author Hamlet-The Sequel. The course Psychological Perspectives on Hamlet expresses Steve’s life-long interest in using psychology to help people understand their lives and their relationships.

  • Joan Barere

    joan@wesleyanpotters.com

    After careers in law, finance and government, Joan now consults to nonprofits, specializing in strategic planning, resource development, advocacy, and program design. She has also served since 2017 as a member of the advisory board to the Connecticut Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity, a nonpartisan agency that supports the policy work of the state legislature. As an actor, Joan has been seen on Connecticut and New York stages in works long and short, old and new, and in roles as diverse as Titania and the Allergist’s Wife. As one of the original performing members of SheSpeak CT, she has appeared in spoken word performances at multiple venues in Connecticut, including the 2022 New Haven Festival of Arts & Ideas. Joan holds an BS in Urban Studies and Planning from MIT and a JD from NYU School of Law. She lives in downtown New Haven, in an apartment full of knitting projects in varying stages of completion - and way too many books.

  • Chad Floyd

    floyd@centerbrook.com

    Chad Floyd's projects around the country in academia, the arts, and civic architecture include the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas; Liberty Memorial in Virginia that honors those who lost their lives on 9/11; Maud Gatewood Hall at the University of North Carolina; an expansion and renovation of the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy Andover in Massachusetts; Krieble Gallery at the Florence Griswold Museum; Almetris Duren Hall at the University of Texas at Austin; new studio arts and athletics buildings at Colgate University; a master plan and two new academic buildings for St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas; a master plan and expansion of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center; a new academic and dining building for the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College; renovation of the Garde Arts Center in Connecticut; and new and renovated science buildings along with the new Floren Varsity Field House at Dartmouth College.

  • Richard Friswell

    rfriswell@wesleyan.edu

    Richard Friswell is a cultural historian who lectures widely on topics related to Modernism and the modern era in world history.  Underpinning his cultural-historical approach to art history is the notion that the art, literature, and social history of nations are interrelated.  His recent publications include Balancing Act: Postcards from the Edge of Risk and Reward (2017) and Hudson River Chronicles: In Search of the Splendid & Sublime on America's 'First' River (2019).  His historical novel, Merchants of Deceit: American Fortune & the China Trade (Fall 2021) deals with the experiences of the Middletown merchant Samuel Russell in Canton, China.

  • Erik Hesselberg

    erikhesselberg@comcast.net

    Erik Hesselberg has been writing about the Connecticut River for 20 years, first as an environmental reporter for the Middletown Press, and after as executive editor of Shore Line Newspapers in Guilford, where he oversaw 20 weekly newspapers from Old Lyme to Stratford, CT. He was president of the Middlesex County Historical Society and developed the award-winning exhibit “A Vanished Port,” on the Connecticut River’s ties to the slave economy of the Caribbean islands. His writings have appeared in Wesleyan Magazine, the Hartford Courant, Estuary Magazine, and on his blog, Voicesontheriver.com. He lives in Haddam, CT.

  • Rhea Higgins

    rhiggins@wesleyan.edu

    Rhea Padis Higgins taught for many years in the art history department in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Hartford. She holds a BA from Smith College and an MAT from Harvard. From 1986 to 2002 she also taught at Wesleyan in Graduate Liberal Studies. Her particular area of expertise is 19th-century European painting, with an emphasis on post-Impressionist artists, but her knowledge of art ranges from classical antiquity to the present.

  • Kimberly Behre Kenna

    kimkenna@yahoo.com

    After many years of inspiring interactions with children as a teacher, Kimberly turned to writing middle grade novels. Each of her three books features a brave girl protagonist whose love of nature helps her find her voice and stand up for her beliefs. The first of the three, Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade, was awarded honorable mention in the 2019 Tassy Walden New Voices in Children’s Literature contest. Kimberly can’t wait to see the book in children’s hands and hopes it launches a whole new flock of brave kids willing to speak out and share their own stories.

  • Richard Little

    rdlittle2000@aol.com

    Richard Little has led "Fantastic Landscapes Tours" for almost 4 decades, inspired by the eruption  of Mt. St. Helens.  While he no longer provides "distance" tours, Professor Little still leads local excursions. His books and videos have been used by thousands and are on the Massachusetts State Geology reading list.

  • Vicky McCarthy

    vmccarthy@northeastwoodsales.com

    Vicky McCarthy is a Connecticut licensed arborist who works full time at SavATree in the Ridgefield territory. She is also a beekeeper and master gardener. As a UConn horticultural professional she taught at Middlesex Extension in Haddam, sharing garden education including The Enclosed Garden with an accompanying trip to the Cloisters and other edutainment classes. Vicky is an arboriculture and gardening contributor on the Lisa Wexler Show on WICC. When she is not working you can find her in her garden.

  • Tom F. Olson

    tfolson@comcast.net

    Thomas F. Olson, Deputy, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Groton, Connecticut, is a native of Libertyville, Illinois, and a 1973 graduate of Bradley University. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Design from Bradley, a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a Masters in Business Administration Degree from Marymount University.

  • Laura Pirie

    laura@pirieassociates.com

    Laura Pirie, AIA, who for over 28 years has designed and implemented thoughtful and integrated built environments, is the principal of Pirie Associates Architects. Her work across the country includes extensive, award-winning experience with museum, performing art, institutional, commercial/retail, and residential structures, as well as community visioning and urban design.

  • Karl Stocker

    stockerk@easternct.edu

    Karl Stocker has been teaching Philosophy at Eastern Connecticut State University for 20 years, and is currently serving as the director of the Philosophy program at Eastern. Karl was instrumental in the development of a Philosophy major at Eastern, and has overseen the growth of the Philosophy program there to an enrollment rate that is the highest in the state. Emphasizing the social and intellectual benefits of studying Philosophy, he was recently awarded Eastern’s Excellence Award for Outstanding Teaching. His teaching and research interests are broad but include critical analysis, ethics, justice, political philosophy, and the philosophy of mind. Recently, Karl has launched an initiative both at Eastern and at nearby elementary schools to practice Philosophy with children.