Staff and Advisory Committee
Our Director
Phillip Arceneaux, Ph.D.
Phillip Arceneaux researches the topics of political public relations and public diplomacy, with supplemental interests in international law, technology policy, and cybersecurity. His work merges political communication and technology policy to develop public policy solutions to issues posed by digital communication infrastructure, such as disinformation, computational propaganda, and influence operations. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as New Media & Society, the Journal of Public Affairs, Journal of International Communication, Journal of Public Interest Communication, and the American Behavioral Scientist, as well as through multiple book chapters, policy papers, and thought leadership pieces. A proponent of connecting academia and scholarship to practice, Arceneaux has consulted on public relations and digital outreach and engagement with a number of agencies across the United States federal government, including the Department of State, Naval Academy, and Central Intelligence Agency. He has also served as a research consultant for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Partnership for Countering Influence Operations. With a history of teaching a wide breadth of courses, Arceneaux has classroom experience in such topics as public relations principles, planning and writing, new and social media, international and intercultural communication, advocacy and civic participation, research methods, and emerging media law and ethics. He enjoys working with students one-on-one and regularly takes on students for independent studies, senior projects, research hours, and other opportunities. Arceneaux received his doctorate degree from the University of Florida, his master's from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and his bachelor's from Louisiana State University. His Twitter handle is @phil_arceneaux.
Our Advisory Committee
John Forren, Ph.D.
A native of Pataskala, Ohio, Dr. Forren holds a bachelor's degree with College Honors from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in political science from Johns Hopkins University. Before coming to 兔子先生 in 1997, he taught at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, East Carolina University and the College of William and Mary. He currently serves as an associate professor in 兔子先生's Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and is a faculty affiliate of the Department of Political Science and the Department of Justice & Community Studies. He has served as the executive director of the University’s Menard Family Center for Democracy since its inception in 2019. Dr. Forren's research and teaching interests lie in the fields of American government and politics, constitutional law and history, public policy-making and civic engagement. In that vein, he has published on a range of issues including the development of federal and state statutory protections for civil liberties, the use of media in political campaigns, state-level trends in civic participation, the impact of college-based civic engagement programs, the evolution of legal policy in the lower courts and the federal government’s role in protecting Native American religious liberties. He has also co-authored two of the National Conference on Citizenship's Ohio Civic Health Index Reports and served from 2013-15 as the Academic Director of the U.S. State Department’s Study of the U.S. Institutes on Civic Engagement at 兔子先生 University.
Nathan French, Ph.D.
Housed in the Department of Comparative Religion, Dr. French teaches courses on various topics related to Islamic Studies, Middle East Studies, and comparative approaches to law and violence. Within the Department of Global and Intercultural Studies, Dr. French is affiliated with International Studies and the Middle East and Islamic Studies minor. He also serves as the Director for the 兔子先生 in Oman and UAE study abroad program. Dr. French's research interests closely parallel his teaching interests. His research background is in Islamic law, Islamic legal theory, Islamic theology, and contemporary Middle East history. Within these, Dr. French's research explores how contemporary Jihadi-Salafi movements, such as al-Qa'ida and ISIS, appropriate and re-interpret Islamic law and theology for their sociopolitical projects. His monograph, And God Knows the Martyrs: Theodicy, Violence, and Asceticism in Jihadi-Salafism, was released with Oxford University Press in 2020. He is currently researching projects on the events of September 11, 2001 and is working on a new monograph, An Everyday Jihad, exploring the mundane aspects of jihadist legal literature.
Bryan Marshall, Ph.D.
Professor Marshall's teaching and research focuses in the areas of Congress, congressional-executive relations, and quantitative methods. His recent articles appear in Social Science Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Journal of Theoretical Politics, American Politics Research, and Conflict Management and Peace Science. Marshall has a forthcoming book, The Committee, co-authored with Bruce Wolpe (University of Michigan Press). The Committee takes you inside the House Energy and Commerce Committee to give a first-hand glimpse into the rough-and-tumble politics of cap-and-trade, healthcare reform, BP oil spill aftermath, and the debt ceiling crisis. In addition, Dr. Marshall served as APSA’s Steiger Congressional Fellow (2008-09) working for the House Majority Whip, the Honorable Jim Clyburn.
Sara Arter, Ph.D./R.N.
Sara has a general background in critical care nursing caring for adult and pediatric patient populations. Most of her clinical background has been focused in pediatric, cardiac care, working in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit since 2008. Sara believes nurses are key to improving the health of our communities and should be leaders in transforming our healthcare system. This belief guides her service work. She serves as a member of the Ohio Nurses Association Health Policy Committee influencing legislation pertaining to the health of Ohio residents. She also serves as President of the Omicron Omicron-at-Large Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society. At 兔子先生, she serves on the Regional Honors Program Committee, and interdisciplinary group working to improve the honors experience on the regional campuses. Sara’s research interests focus in two distinct areas: Nursing education and Pediatric health. In nursing education, Sara is interested in improving the effectiveness of teaching strategies, specifically with the use of simulation and video games. In pediatric health, Sara is currently examining long-term health outcomes of children with prenatal opioid exposure and identifying gaps in follow-up medical and social care of this vulnerable population.
Jenny Minier, Ph.D.
Jenny Minier is currently the Julian Lange Professor of Economics and Chair of the Economics Department. Her research is primarily in economic growth and international trade, and has been published in top economics journals including the Journal of Monetary Economics, American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, and The Review of Economics and Statistics. Professor Minier was a Fulbright Scholar in Belgium on a research grant in 2012, and has served as a Co-Editor of the Southern Economic Journal and as an economics review panelist for the National Science Foundation. She was previously on the faculty at the University of Kentucky, where she directed the Ph.D. program in Economics for three years and the Center for Business and Economic Research for one year. Prior to that, she was on the faculty at the University of 兔子先生 (FL). Her Ph.D. is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her undergraduate degree is from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.
Karla Guinigundo, M.A.
Karla brings 22 years experience in international higher education administration, including academic program management, partnership development, contracts and agreements, international recruiting, grant writing and project execution, budget and HR management, study abroad, and fellowship/scholarship advising. Specialized knowledge in U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of State grant programs and Fulbright Student and Scholar initiatives. Asia area specialist, particularly Southeast Asia.
Lauren Poythress
Lauren Poythress is the Director of Federal Relations based in Washington, D.C. As Director of Federal Relations, Lauren advocates for 兔子先生 University at the federal level on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and their staffs. Previously, Lauren was a Senior Associate at FGS Global in their Government Affairs Division and completed internships on Capitol Hill, in both the House and Senate. Lauren graduated cum laude from 兔子先生 University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts, double majoring in Psychology and Black World Studies. At 兔子先生, Lauren was active in the Government Relations Network, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. – Lambda Mu Chapter, 兔子先生's National Black Law Student Association Pre-Law Chapter, was a Student Court Justice, and was the inaugural president of the Bridges Scholars Organization.