Media Experts

Salem State University welcomes the opportunity to introduce members of the press to our remarkable students, exceptional faculty and extraordinary academic programs.

Within the Salem State community are many who make themselves available to provide expert commentary on a wide range of issues in the news. The university’s public relations department welcomes inquiries about professors and others that have a particular area of expertise, including topics in education, ethics, human rights, health care, the climate crisis, the history of Salem and Massachusetts, social justice and many more.

Get in Touch

For help connecting with one of our faculty experts, or to discuss a topic not currently listed, please reach out to our media relations office.

Margaret Ackerman, Assistant Professor, Nursing

• Healthcare policies
• Current recommendations and best practices
• Current health care trends

Elisa Castillo, Associate Dean of Students for Wellness 

• Student wellness and mental health 
• Trauma-informed care 
• Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic 
• Hispanic Serving and Minority Serving Institutions

Tiffany Chenault, professor of sociology, coordinator of African-American studies minor

• Running Culture
• Race and Leisure
• Intersectionality
• Sociology
• Black Women in Running and Sports
• Inequalities

Avi Chomsky, Professor, History

• Immigration and undocumentedness in the United States.
• The Cuban Revolution
• Northern Columbia's coal industry

Peggy Dillon, Associate Professor, Media and Communication

• The state of modern-day journalism
• How the media cover political and other current events
• How the journalism profession is changing and evolving due to social media, the convergence of media formats (audio, video, text) in online platforms, and business model changes in the newspaper industry
• The use and effectiveness of design principles (contrast, alignment, repetition, proximity) in print and online publication design

J.P. James, Assistant Professor, Marketing in the Bertolon School of Business

• Marketing (products, price, distribution/supply chain and promotions)
• Advertising (multicultural marketing-marketing efforts targeting racially and ethnically diverse consumer groups 

Michele Louro, Associate Professor, History

• Fascism and Anti-fascist struggles
• Non-violent political struggles (in India, but with wider implications for world)
• International left-wing organizations, solidarity, unity
• Modern India
• Legacies of the British Empire

Marcos Luna, Professor, Geography 

• Environmental justice
• Climate change and its intersection with social justice
• Transportation equity/justice
• Racial segregation
• Energy and the environment
• Digital mapping

Christopher Mauriello, Professor, History; Director, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies; Coordinator, Graduate Certificate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies 

• Genocide education in K-12 public schools 
• Threats to democracy in the U.S. and abroad 
• The Holocaust and World War II 
• Modern European history

Sara Moore, Assistant Professor, Sociology

• Health disparities and health equity
• Food access and insecurity
• Civic engagement
• Reproductive justice
• Gender and sexuality

Michael Mulnix, professor of philosophy

• Moral philosophy/ethics
• Happiness and well-being

Alexandria Peary, professor of English, Poet Laureate of the State of New Hampshire

• Mindful writing
• Poetry
• Creative writing as public service
• Youth publication
• Writer's block

Keith Ratner, Professor, Geography

• Urban planning
• Transportation planning
• GIS Implementation

Kanishkan Sathasivam, Professor, Political Science

• International security and conflict
• Foreign policy
• Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
• Middle East politics
• Asian politics
• U.S. and international space programs

Megan Schumaker-Murphy, Assistant Professor, Early Education and Care

• · Equity in early childhood education 
• · Early childhood workforce development 
• · Equity in teacher education 
• · Book bans 
• · The importance of representation in children’s literature

Cindy Vincent, Assistant Professor, Media and Communication

• Digital media activism
• Civic media (media and civic engagement)
• Technology and culture
• Media literacy and “fake” news
• Civic learning and community engagement

Yvonne Vissing, professor of healthcare studies; director of the Center for Childhood and Youth Studies

• Human Rights
• Children, Youth and Families
• Violence and Safety
• Homelessness
• Community and Global Improvement
• Public Health

Cheryl Williams, Associate Professor, Nursing

• Nursing
• Nursing education