Professor Courtney Marshall with students in the lab

Faculty Research

Teacher. Scholar. At Wellesley, it’s not an either-or proposition.

As a research college, Wellesley College is dedicated to advancing knowledge, engaging with issues of global importance to address the pressing problems of the day. In the sciences, arts, humanities, and social sciences, Wellesley professors conduct a wide variety of research, making leading-edge discoveries, publishing papers, and exhibiting and presenting at conferences together.

Wellesley’s commitment to academic distinction shines through the caliber of our faculty. Our students have the rare opportunity to learn from world-class scholars and researchers whose engagement in their fields illuminates the undergraduate experience.

Research highlights Humanities

Hélène Bilis

With a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Professor of French and Francophone Studies Hélène Bilis developed a digital pedagogical edition and new translation of Lafayette’s “La Princesse de Clèves” with three colleagues from liberal arts colleges.
Tavi González

“Limerence” (Rebel Satori Press, 2023), a poetry collection by Tavi González, associate professor of humanities and associate professor of English, probes the inextricable tension, pain, pleasure, and danger in relationships between men. Poignant and searing, the poems ask readers to appreciate and reexamine the meaning of love, trust, and safety.
Koichi Hagimoto

Professor of Spanish Koichi Hagimoto’s research centers on the relationship between Asia and Latin America. Hagimoto’s new book, “Samurai in the Land of the Gaucho: Transpacific Modernity and Nikkei Literature in Argentina” (Vanderbilt University Press, 2023), explores how diverse literary and cultural approaches to Japan have defined and defied the concept of modernity in Argentina.

Research highlights Social Sciences

Adam Van Arsdale

In collaboration with Wellesley colleagues, Professor of Anthropology Adam Van Arsdale is constructing a virtual reality (VR) evolutionary anatomy lab, which enables students to access, explore, and interact with human skeletal anatomy and the human fossil record in ways that are not possible in the “real” world.
Kellie Carter Jackson

Professor of Africana Studies Kellie Carter Jackson’s current projects include “We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance” (Basic Books, 2024), which examines the multiple ways Black people have combated white supremacy, from the Haitian Revolution to the present, and two podcasts with Radiotopia: “This Day in Esoteric Political History” and “You Get a Podcast!”
Petra Rivera-Rideau

The Bad Bunny Syllabus, created by Associate Professor of American Studies Petra Rivera-Rideau and Loyola Marymount University’s Professor Vanessa Diaz, is a free online resource for contextualizing the Puerto Rican reggaetón artist’s rise to superstardom. Using music, academic articles, and other media, the syllabus explores reggaetón history and gender politics, as well as topics important to Puerto Rico.

Research highlights Arts

Claire Fontijn

To accompany Professor Claire Fontijn’s article on 17th-century vocal music by Barbara Strozzi and Antonia Bembo, a student research assistant transcribed musical examples from manuscript sources using the Sibelius software package. The article has recently been published in a multilingual collection, Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677): Music and Discourse in Seicento Venice.
Phyllis McGibbon

Professor of Art Phyllis McGibbon contributed a zine piece to the Quarantine Public Library in 2020. Printmakers, illustrators, and other invited artists made eight-page single-sheet zines that visitors could print out and refold at home, allowing them to build their own zine library at a time when direct in-person artwork exchanges were not possible.
Daniela Rivera

Professor Daniela Rivera’s solo exhibition Labored Landscapes (where hand meets ground) (Fitchburg Art Museum, 2019–2020) featured a series of large-scale paintings accompanied by photos etched with interviews with miners. The work was a response to Chuquicamata, one of the world’s largest open-pit copper mines, exploring the complexity of national and personal narratives and productive/destructive labor.

Research highlights Sciences

Sharon Gobes

Associate Professor of Neuroscience Sharon Gobes’ lab investigates the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying animal behavior, using songbirds as a model system to study learning and memory.
Orit Shaer

Professor of Computer Science Orit Shaer is examining the use of generative language models in the user-centered design process with Assistant Professor of Computer Science Catherine Grevet Delcourt. Their goal is to identify best practices for using AI tools for creative and inclusive user experience (UX) design processes. They presented a paper on their work in CHIWork 2023.
Yui Suzuki

Professor of Biological Sciences Yui Suzuki compared the growth of wildtype larvae, coloration of black mutant larvae, and gene expression differences between larvae fed an artificial diet containing conventional wheat germ and one containing organic wheat germ. The resulting article was published in Frontiers in Insect Science in 2021.