ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

Ryan Meek McGregor

Armstrong Commons

Ryan Meek McGregor is a Lecturer for the Economics Department in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. He holds a recent PhD in Economics (2024) from the University of Houston. He mentors many talented undergraduate students, and works with grant programs like ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½’s Summer Research Intensive to create learning opportunities for students outside the classroom. His research is on the economics of the family, specifically studying how parents manage their resources to care for and develop their children over time. Off-campus, his time is consumed practicing this same material as he and his wife Annie scale their home-enterprise to a family of 5 (Leah, 3, Mary, 1, and Felicity, 0).

Sarath Pillai

Boaz Commons

Sarath Pillai is the A. Kenneth Pye Visiting Assistant Professor of South Asian History in the History Department at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. He teaches various courses on South Asia and the British Empire. His first book project offers a global history of federalist ideas in South Asia through the long twentieth century. He received his PhD with distinction from the History Department at the University of Chicago, and his dissertation was awarded the 2022 Sardar Patel Award for the best dissertation on Modern India in the US (conferred by UCLA with a purse of $10,000).  He is an avid road biker who enjoys exploring urban spaces and bike trails, a devoted movie buff who watches movies in various Indian and foreign languages, and an archive nerd who enjoys local archives and histories.

Mónica Fernández Martins

Cockrell-McIntosh Commons

Mónica Fernández Martins holds a Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese Literatures and Cultural Studies, as well as a Master's degree in Hispanic Linguistics from Texas Tech University. She earned her undergraduate degree in Translation and Interpreting from Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio in Madrid, Spain. Her research interests focus on Iberian Studies—particularly the intersections of gender, class, nation, and identity in 19th-century Spain and Portugal—as well as Translation Studies and Spanish as a Heritage Language.

Steve Denson

Crum Commons

Tiffany McCray

Kathy Crow Commons

Tiffany McCray holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, a Bachelor of Arts in American Sign Language from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and a Master of Business Administration from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. With a passion for educating others, Tiffany specializes in Deaf culture, American Sign Language, and Deaf advocacy. She has made significant contributions to the field as an ASL teacher at McKinney Boyd High School and has been sharing her expertise at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Methodist University since 2017. Outside of her professional pursuits, Tiffany enjoys spending quality time with her daughter, Madison, and their dog, Baylee, embracing the joys of family life.

Jessica Garrett

Loyd Commons

Dr. Jessica Garrett is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the University Foundations Department. She is an adventurous scholar and passionate educator, blending her expertise in communications, education, and cultural studies to tackle pressing global issues. Her research spans mental health, global engagement, and intergenerational trauma, with forthcoming publications on comparative education. Beyond academia, she’s a world traveler (having visited over 100 countries!), an avid hiker, a dedicated churchgoer, and a lover of family time. Currently mastering Spanish and tennis, she also enjoys a good roller-skating day!

Kevin Gunter

McElvaney Commons

Joan Arbery

Mary Hay, Peyton, Shuttles Commons

Dr. Joan Arbery was born in Dallas, but grew up in Nashua, NH, for most of her childhood. After college at the University of Dallas, she spent her graduate years studying French and Irish literature at the University of Notre Dame, with a year in Dublin on a graduate fellowship. After a brief stint in free-lance journalism here in town, she started teaching at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ in 2009. In addition to serving as one of the University Honors Program's Assistant Directors, she also serves as the historian for ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½'s Phi Beta Kappa chapter, a member of Faculty Senate, and a Fellow of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. She's the mother of a 12-year-old son, Jude Stefano – they love traveling, exploring Dallas, volunteering at the food pantry, hanging out with their dog Piper, and watching crime shows, silly comedies, and action movies.

Yuriko Ikeda

Morrison-McGinnis Commons

Dr. Yuriko Ikeda is originally from Mexico City, Mexico. She earned her Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from Texas Tech University. After graduation, she taught at Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana, for eight years. Her teaching experience consists of twenty years of instruction at three universities, a community college, and two high schools. She has experience designing and teaching all levels of language courses, Spanish for Specific Purposes, and literature and culture courses. Her research interests include apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic literature, detective fiction, Spanish for Specific Purposes and Spanish for Heritage Speakers.

Zoë Hess Carney

Ware Commons

Dr. Zoë Hess Carney is a scholar of public address specializing in U.S. and transnational political communication. Dr. Carney focuses on how contemporary problems facing our nation and world connect to the past, teaching students how to trace rhetorical histories through textual analysis and archival research. She has spent time living and studying in Spain, Mexico, and China, which grew her desire to continue learning about different cultures, languages, and ideas and how people and institutions work, or fail to work, together. The most rewarding part of her job at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ is getting to know students and learning from them, as well. When she’s not working, Dr. Carney enjoys playing mediocre-at-best tennis, walking trails, watching comedy, and reading. Most of all, she loves spending time with her husband and chasing after her two kids.