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.

  • Elizabeth Bobrick

    ebobrick@wesleyan.edu

    ELIZABETH BOBRICK is a Visiting Scholar in Wesleyan’s Department of Classical Studies, where she has taught ancient Greek language and literature. As part of Wesleyan’s Center for Prison Education, she has taught courses in Classical Studies and non-fiction writing at Cheshire Correctional Facility. In addition, she has been a Visiting Professor in the Department of English, the College of Letters, and the Graduate Liberal Studies Program, where she is currently Writing Consultant. Her publications range from scholarly articles on Aristophanes, Sophocles, and Theophrastus to essays on an array of topics, from baseball to seasonal teaching anxiety. She received her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University.

  • Peter Drzewiecki

    drzewieckip@easternct.edu

    Professor Drzewiecki is a sedimentologist specializing in the sequence stratigraphy of carbonate and clastic rocks. He earned a B.S. degree from the University of Notre Dame, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Geology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining Eastern, he worked as a specialist at Exxon-Mobil’s research lab. Professor Drzewiecki’s primary interest lies in understanding the way tectonics and climate have influenced ancient sedimentary environments.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Kathleen Housley

    khousley@snet.net

    Kathleen L. Housley is the author of eleven acclaimed books, ranging from women’s history to materials science. She has written for numerous national journals, including the Christian Century and Image. She is also a freelance writer and editor.

  • Samantha Lee

    samantha.yip.ling.lee@gmail.com

    Samantha Lee (she/her/hers) is currently the Head of Reference Services at the Enfield Public Library. She has worked in libraries for 15 years, first starting off as a page at her hometown library. Sam serves as chair of the CT Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. She holds an MLS from Southern Connecticut State University and a BA in Classics from the University of Connecticut. She is fond of cookbooks, microhistories and cuddle-time with her kitties.

  • Bruce Masters

    bmasters@wesleyan.edu

    Bruce Masters majored in Arabic at Georgetown University, during which time he spent his junior year abroad at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. After graduation he spent three years in Cairo studying Arabic and working as a research assistant in a project out of Cambridge University  UK to create a dictionary of colloquial Egyptian Arabic. He then went to the University of Chicago where he earned a Ph.D in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations with fields in Ottoman History & Islamic law. He has been at Wesleyan since 1982 teaching courses on Middle Eastern history from the rise of Islam to the present.

  • 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.

  • Marcella Trowbridge

    Marcella@art-farm.org

    Marcella is a classically trained actress and dancer and has played many roles from Shakespespeare’s Hermia, Titania, Beatrice, Adriana, Isabella, Kate, Lady Macbeth, Cordelia and the title role in Hamlet to Goldoni and Indian epic roles like Kali/Durga. She has directed many generative works as well as professional Shakespeare productions. Marcella Trowbridge has been dedicated to making new work for over 20 years. She has been an artist in residence at Wesleyan University and the University of Jaffna, as well as guest lecturer at the University of Kelaniya and Middlesex Community College.