Judith Strathearn, Ph.D., is a lecturer in the Gender and Women’s Studies Department and an affiliate professor in the Africana Studies Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her areas of expertise include black feminism, experiential pedagogy, literature of the African Diaspora and Gullah Geechee studies.
Adriann Wycoff, Ph.D., is a professor of Chicana/o Studies and holds a courtesy appointment as an associate professor of Women’s Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Apart from teaching she is also Director of the MSU Denver Family Literacy Program and Co-Principal Investigator of the College Assistance Migrant Program. She has more than thirty years’ experience in community-based, non-traditional education. Her responsibilities have included teaching, program administration, curriculum development, grant writing, community outreach and public relations. Wycoff holds a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, also in Spanish.
Watson taught Psychology of Sexuality at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 1974. She is a professor emeritus of Psychological Sciences.
Watson has published many papers throughout her academic career, including “SAMD: Diversity Division – My Journey,” “Female Circumcision from Africa to the Americas: Slavery to the Present” and “Bereavement in the Elderly.”
Watson has contributed to several documentaries, including, “Wearing Hijab: Uncovering the Myths of Islam in the United States” and “Africans in America: The Unfolding of Ethnic Identity.” Watson has won several Telly Awards which honor excellence in film and video productions. Watson also had a cameo role in “Combover: The Movie,” which screened at the Denver International Film Series in 2005.
Watson also maintains a private clinical and consulting psychology practice in Denver.
Tara Tull, M.S., is an emeritus professor and former chair in the Department of Human Services and Counseling at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
She joined MSU Denver in 1990 as coordinator of Women’s Services and was named associate director of the Institute of Women’s Studies and Services in 1996, a position she held for 14 years. Tull served as an assistant dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and co-wrote the proposal to create what’s now known as the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Services on campus, which is celebrating its 25th year in 2018. Additionally, she helped create the Scholarship Center and the Students to Watch awards program, which recognizes students who have overcome major obstacles to get an education.
Tull is trained as a mediator and gives presentation on a variety of issues relating to conflict. She is involved with the statewide Women of Color Conference and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Peace Breakfast, helped establish the LGBTQ Student Services Office on the Auraria Campus and has advocated for physical accessibility to the National Historic Register houses on campus. Tull is committed to social justice education with emphasis on gender, sexual identity and multicultural awareness.
She received her master’s in women’s studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato and a bachelor’s in women’s studies from University of Colorado, Boulder.
Michelle Tollefson is a physician and associate professor in the Health Professions Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She teaches in the Integrative Therapies program and is the current secretary of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
Tollefson worked as a private practice obstetrician and gynecologist, until leaving to work with Poudre Valley Health System as a medical director and director of Women’s Wellness Education. She is a certified wellcoach, guest faculty for Harvard and author of online continuing medical education for the Harvard Institute of Lifestyle Medicine. She is passionate about women’s healthcare, lifestyle medicine and teaching people to lead healthier and happier lives.
Tollefson is a graduate of Creighton University, where she received her Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees. She completed her obstetrics and gynecology residency at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and received her board certification in this medical specialty.
Nancy Sayre teaches Health Economics, Healthcare Strategic Planning and Entrepreneurship in Healthcare.
She has taught at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 2007.
Sayre’s entire career has been in the health care industry. Most recently, she worked as senior vice president for an international company developing medical databases where she was in charge of strategic planning, marketing and new product development. Sayre started her career as a billing clerk and an admitting officer in a hospital to fund her college tuition. She also has worked as a consultant for start-up health care companies, a medical editor and a physician’s assistant.
Rebecca Rivera-Serrano, Ed.D. is an affiliate professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She spent 20 working in law enforcement for the Department of Justice and as a senior probation officer for the 18th Judicial District in Colorado. During this time, she taught motivational interviewing through probation services within the State Court Administrator’s Office.
Rivera-Serrano teaches and mentored men and women returning from prison at a post-secondary level and have designed post-secondary curriculum for correctional education. She developed a life skills curriculum for juveniles and adults who are in high risk environments and/or are serving some form of corrections sentence.
She obtained her doctorate from Creighton University in correctional education. Rivera-Serrano dissertation research addressed: Identifying the Practices that Reduce Criminality Through Community-based Post-secondary Correctional Education.
Professor Marina Pereira has taught graduate courses in the Graduate Social Work program as MSU Denver. She has taught at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 1999.
Professor Pereira is well versed in topics of mental health and families. She has special interest in issues of acculturation, diversity and first-generation Latino students. She was an advisor for the Student Association of Social Workers (SASW), a student organization that helps students develop and increase their sense of civic responsibility and community engagement by service learning activities.
Before teaching at MSU Denver, Pereira worked in the areas of medical social work and mental health, where she specialized in treating and advocating for children and families with a history of domestic violence, sexual and physical abuse.
Brandi Moore, Ph.D., is a lecturer and naturopathic physician in the Department of Health Professions at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She teaches Dynamics of Health HON, Medical Terminology and Clinical Pathophysiology. In addition, she is the owner of Reclaim Integrative Health in Denver and the host of “The Pretty Healthy Podcast,” where she tackles trending topics in health and wellness from a balanced perspective.
Her interest in medicine started once she began her formal education in Naturopathic Medicine and began making changes in her own life after seeing significant improvements to her health. This fueled her desire to help and educate those around her in the healing power of nature. Moore understands first-hand how hard it is to make health a priority in people’s lives and helps women prepare their bodies for pregnancy, increase energy levels, lose weight, eat healthier and maintain a balanced mood.
Moore received her Ph.D., from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2016 and completed a two-year residency in general medicine and naturopathic oncology in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She received her bachelor’s in public relations from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2010.
Mike Monsour, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Communication Arts and Sciences Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He has focused on friendships between women and men for the past 25 years.
He has conducted research on postmodern cross-gender friendships, interpersonal perception, identity formation and general studies assessment. Most recently, Monsour has written about friendships formed between a cisgender person and a transgender person. He is also chairing the PAC (Provost’s Office Assessment Committee) from fall 2016 through fall 2019.
Monsour received his doctorate in Interpersonal Communication from the University of Illinois in Champaign, a masters from University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and a bachelor’s from Louisiana State University in Shreveport.
