Archives

Victoria N. Folse

• Ph.D., Research Methodology Concentration, Saint Louis University, School of Nursing
• M.S., Adult Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing
• B.S.N., Illinois Wesleyan University

Michele Wittler

John Sisko

• Ph.D. in Philosophy, Rutgers University
• B.A. in Liberal Arts, St. John’s College (Annapolis, MD)

Rebecca Berens Matzke

• Ph.D. in modern British history, modern European history, United States diplomatic history, Cornell University
• M.A. in history, Cornell University
• B.A. in history and English, University of Nebraska

Hi! I’m Professor Matzke, and I’ve taught history at Ripon College since 2003. While my PhD is in the history of modern Britain and Europe, I teach a variety of courses, including World History, the Cold War, and World War I, and Catalyst classes. I really enjoy teaching Public History, in which students think critically about all the ways non-academics learn about history (including museums and movies) and learn skills to create their own special public history projects. My scholarly interests include the role of Britain’s naval power in its foreign policy in the 19th century, British propaganda to the U.S. in World War I, and the reception of Atlas missiles in Nebraska during the Cold War. I love history, and I hope my enthusiasm makes my students love history as well!

Mark Kainz

• Postdoctoral scientist (plant virology), University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Postdoctoral fellow (bacteriology), University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Ph.D., Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (biochemistry, molecular and cell biology)
• M.S., Washington State University, Pullman, Washington (plant pathology)
• B.S., University of Portland, Portland, Oregon (biology)

I have been a faculty member at Ripon since 2008 and I love my job. I am interested in molecular biology and virology. My research students and I study the mechanics of how RNA is synthesized in bacteria and the factors that control how new virus particles are assembled in a virus infected cell. I teach Genetics and Microbiology every year and Molecular Biology and Virology every few years. I am also a member of the staff that teach our Introductory Biology and our Scientific Writing & Communication classes. I am a mentor for the Applied Innovation Seminar that is the capstone of our Catalyst curriculum. I teach another Catalyst class called “Bring out your dead: Infectious disease through history” that Professor Matzke from our history department and I developed together. I am part of the team that oversees the Catalyst curriculum, Ripon’s skill-based general education curriculum.