The AddRan College of Liberal Arts is proud to recognize our newest faculty members for the 2025-26 academic year.

Pearce Edwards, Assistant Professor of Political Science

Edwards ‘13 joins TCU from Louisiana State University, where he had been an Assistant Professor since 2023. A native Texan, he is a proud alumnus of TCU. After leaving Fort Worth, he went on to earn his doctorate in political science at Emory University in 2021 and complete a postdoctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University. He studies comparative politics with a focus on authoritarianism, political violence and transitions to democracy. His geographic focus is on Latin American cases, particularly Cold War-era military dictatorships and their aftermaths in Argentina and Chile, though he has conducted research related to multiple regions. At TCU, he will teach classes on comparative politics, research methods, Latin American politics and other topics related to his research interests such as authoritarian politics.

Gavin P. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric & Composition

Johnson is a teacher-scholar specializing in critical digital pedagogy, anti-oppressive assessment, queer rhetorics and surveillance studies. As the director of composition, he coordinates Core Curriculum writing courses (English 10803 and 20803), which serve every student at TCU as they develop as critical thinkers and communicators. With over twenty published articles and book chapters, Johnson has been recognized for his research at the national level, including the Ellen Nold Award for Outstanding Article in Computers and Composition Studies (with Laura L. Allen of York University, Toronto). He is a founding member of the award-winning Digital Rhetorical Privacy Collective, which aims to bridge scholarly and public conversations about surveillance and privacy. Johnson comes to TCU from East Texas A&M, where he was director of writing. He earned his doctorate in English (rhetoric, composition, and digital media) at The Ohio State University in 2020. He is a proud first-generation graduate from Southeast Louisiana.

Hannah Jorgensen, Assistant Professor of English

Jorgensen comes to TCU from Duke University, where she completed her doctorate in English. Her research interests are in contemporary literature, popular culture and fan studies. She also works in the computational humanities, using code and software to see literature in new ways. She is currently working on a book project, “Character After the Digital,” which identifies the partly real, partly fictional hybrid character of contemporary fiction as a literary response to the blending of reality and fantasy found in digital culture.

 

 

Danielle LaPlace, Assistant Professor of Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies

LaPlace joins TCU from the University of Maryland, where she completed her doctorate in women, gender, and sexuality studies. Focusing on the Caribbean, her work foregrounds undertheorized disability histories of the Global South. She has experience educating children and youth of all ages, from kindergarteners to undergraduates, and is invested in supporting young people towards achieving their goals. She is passionate about mentoring women and girls towards academic success. New to Fort Worth (and Texas!), Danielle is looking forward to learning about the city and engaging with the community and with local organizations and initiatives.

 

 

 

Angela D. Mack, Instructor I in Women and Gender Studies

Mack (PhD '23) is a community-focused public scholar who centers her work on the care, remembrance and amplification of the Black lived experience for those impacted by systemic erasure and racialized trauma within Fort Worth. Having worked as a visiting lecturer, she now joins full-time. With a background in performance poetry, storytelling, creative writing and social advocacy, Mack is informed through the lenses of Black diasporic and African American rhetorics and literacies, public memory work, Black feminist-womanist storytelling, pop culture and Afrofuturism and its first cousins. A native of Fort Worth, Mack also works with local nonprofits towards community uplift and empowerment.

 

 

James W. Marquart, Senior Instructor of Criminology & Criminal Justice

Marquart holds a doctorate in sociology from Texas A&M University. He currently resides in Frisco, Texas, with his treasured wife, Kimberly, and teaches classes in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at Texas Christian University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Law Enforcement from Western Illinois University, a Master of Arts in Sociology from Kansas State University, and a doctorate in sociology from Texas A&M University, while working as a prison guard. He has served in such positions as program chair, dean and provost. He was president of The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in 2010. He has published many papers on numerous topics, authored several books, three with the University of Texas Press, and has two recent true crime books in publication.

 

Luna Sarti, Instructor I in Italian

Sarti is a dedicated scholar and educator whose interdisciplinary research enriches the study of Italian language and culture at TCU. She holds a doctorate in Italian Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, where her dissertation explored the cultural and ecological histories of the Arno River in Florence, Italy. Her academic journey includes a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Florence, a master’s degree from SOAS in London and a degree in foreign languages and literatures. Sarti has received awards, including the Dean’s Scholar Award from the University of Pennsylvania and fellowships from the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities. Passionate about connecting students with complex cultural narratives, she looks forward to inspiring learners at TCU to engage deeply with Italian language, literature and the environment.

 

Olga Verlato, Assistant Professor of History

Verlato joins TCU from Cornell University, where, as a Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow, she worked on her book project, “Polyglot Egypt: Language Politics and the Rise of the Modern Nation,” based on her award-winning dissertation. Verlato has published on the history of education, the press and Italian communities in modern Egypt, including in the International Journal of Middle East Studies and the Mashriq & Mahjar journal, among others. Passionate about teaching on the history of the modern Middle East, Mediterranean mobilities and media and language politics, at TCU she looks forward to contributing to the Department of History’s undergraduate and graduate education, programming and professionalization initiatives, as well as to the minor in Middle East studies.

 

Isabella Yerby, Instructor I in Economics

Yerby joins TCU after recently completing her graduate studies at the University of Georgia. She is excited to bring her passion for student-centered education to the TCU community and looks forward to introducing a new generation of students to economics. Beyond teaching, Yerby has research interests in health and labor economics, with a focus on the intersection of mental health and the labor market. She holds a doctoral and master’s degree in economics from the University of Georgia and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Central Florida.