Pierre Atlas, Kim Hodges, Vinaya Murthy, Lydia Spotts
With a fresh school year upon us, IUPUI welcomes an infusion of new faculty members to campus.
IUPUI Today talked with four new full-time faculty members to learn more about them and their work.
Pierre Atlas
Senior lecturer, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
PierreAtlas will be especially busy during his first semester at IUPUI. He’s teaching three classes: Urban Structure and Policy, Governance and Leadership in a Global Society, and a new course of his design, Gun Culture and Policy. A former professor at Marian University, he was the founding director of the Richard G. Lugar Franciscan Center for Global Studies, where he created and directed Marian’s interdisciplinary global studies program and its annual speaker series. He is a former opinion columnist for The Indianapolis Star and writes a monthly op-ed for the Indianapolis Business Journal.
Q: How would you describe your teaching/instruction style?
A: I like to get students as involved as possible in discussing and interacting with course topics and materials, so I always try to encourage participation in class and in online discussions. As a political scientist focusing on public policy issues at O’Neill, I will often address controversial issues in the classroom; my goal is not to tell students what to think, but to provide them with tools and concepts to reach their own conclusions and to ask more nuanced and sophisticated questions. As a comparative social scientist, I also try to encourage students to think comparatively and systematically about whatever issue they are examining.
Q: What is something from your research, studies or teaching that you found particularly interesting and notable?
A: I am an American who did my undergraduate studies in Canada. From the minute I arrived at the University of Toronto as a 17-year-old from the American West, I was fascinated by the political and cultural differences between the United States and Canada. As a young student, and then several decades later as a scholar doing research, I found the differences between the two countries’ western frontier experiences — the history but also the mythology — particularly compelling. We think of the American frontier as “lawless” and as the “Wild West,” where the armed cowboy and gunfighter are the iconic figures. In Canada, they talk of the “Mild West,” of a frontier where law and order preceded white settlement, and where the Mountie (the federal policeman on horseback) is the icon of their frontier. In both cases, the history did not always support the mythology. But these national differences helped to shape each country’s culture and have had profound policy implications as well, especially when we compare them on gun violence, gun laws and gun culture today.
Q: If you aren’t working, what are you most likely doing?
A: Besides watching old movies on TCM, two of my favorite hobbies are horseback riding and target shooting — although, sadly, the last time I was on a horse was before the pandemic. I hope to change that soon!
Kim Hodges
Clinical assistant professor of community and health systems, IU School of Nursing
New clinical assistant professor Kim Hodges is a proud IUPUI graduate and no stranger to campus. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s in nursing from the IU School of Nursing before gaining her doctorate from Purdue. She has 19 years of nursing experience in clinical environments and previously was the regional director for nursing professional development for IU Health. She will be teaching an Applied Health Care Ethics course for undergraduates and Leadership for Advanced Nursing Practice for graduate students.
Q: How would you describe your teaching/instruction style?
A: I am most interested in fostering an environment that cultivates diversity of thought and vulnerability in sharing one’s perspective. The ability to freely share one’s thoughts and views inspires professional growth and development.
Q: What is something from your research, studies or teaching that you found particularly interesting and notable?
A: From my Doctor of Nursing Practice work regarding infant safe sleep, we found that the presence of safe sleep resources (i.e. Pack ‘n Play) did not always motivate safe sleep behaviors. Motivating behavior change for safe sleep environments included involving the mother’s significant other in the education and clearly communicating safety risks for the infant in unsafe sleeping environments.
Q: If you aren’t working, what are you most likely doing?
A: I enjoy reading and spending time outside with my family. Pre-pandemic we spent time traveling to U.S. National Parks. I hope to travel more and explore the National Parks in the future.
Vinaya Murthy
Assistant professor of clinical medical and molecular genetics, IU School of Medicine
Vinaya Murthy joins IUPUI after working in the San Francisco area for 15 years as a clinical genetic counselor for Kaiser Permanente. Murthy’s work has focused on genetics education in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and underserved, rural communities. Additionally, Murthy is pursuing a doctoral degree in translational health sciences at George Washington University and is interested in implementation science and program evaluation. Two classes are on Murthy’s schedule this semester, a diversity, equity and inclusion session for the Leadership in Action program and Molecules to Cells and Tissues for medical students.
Q: Why are you pursuing this career? What do you enjoy about being a professor?
A: I have spent many years in clinical practice helping patients and their families with navigating genetic diagnoses and risks of genetic conditions. Another way that I can contribute to improving patient care delivery is through educating and training the next generation of health care providers. My background in genetic counseling, public health and now translational science gives me a unique outlook as an educator.
Q: What is something from your research, studies or teaching that you found particularly interesting and notable?
A: As a genetic counseling student, I had the opportunity to do family history education in the Black community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Almost 15 years later, it is exciting to see how the efforts to educate and teach BIPOC communities in non-healthcare settings, such as Black barbershops and churches, have expanded and been successful in improving health outcomes and disease prevention for patients suffering from and at risk for common chronic diseases. I would like to incorporate genomic medicine education in these settings to increase uptake of genetics services and counseling in underrepresented populations.
Q: What’s been your impression of Indianapolis/IUPUI so far?
A: I have been enjoying getting to discover Indianapolis and the surrounding area. This city has so much to offer culturally and educationally.
Lydia Spotts
Lecturer for library and information science, School of Informatics and Computing
Lydia Spotts is a master’s graduate of IUPUI and has spent much of her professional career working in nonprofit, government, academic and corporate archives. She started as an adjunct faculty member in 2017 and will be teaching three courses this semester: Archival Arrangement and Description, The Book 1450 to the Present, and Career Planning and Engaging with the library and information science profession. Her interests are digital preservation, particularly email preservation; information lifecycle management; small archives management; and labor concerns in the library and information science and archives fields, such as precarious employment and salary transparency.
Q: How would you describe your teaching/instruction style?
A: Collaborative, hands-on and discussion-based. Our graduate students bring a wealth of knowledge from previous studies and careers. I enjoy learning with them.
Q: Why are you pursuing this career? What do you enjoy about being a professor?
A: I enjoy the opportunity to reflect on the profession and consider how to improve it. I hope educating emergent professionals and empowering them to critique structures and advocate effectively will help achieve positive change.
Q: What is something from your research, studies or teaching that you found particularly interesting and notable?
A: The disconnect between the general public’s demand for information and the understanding of labor and infrastructure costs to preserve and provide access to it.
Q: If you aren’t working, what are you most likely doing?
A: Gardening, biking, hiking, reading, and visiting local museums and galleries.
