Paul Buono is a member of the music faculty at WPI, Clark University, and Assumption University where he is the director of the jazz ensemble. Paul holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in jazz performance as well as a law degree. He has toured internationally as a pianist and musical director for various ensembles. Paul performs and records regularly and teaches privately.
Dr. Maria Alessandra Bollettino teaches courses on the history of early America, the Caribbean, and race, slavery, and abolition in the Atlantic world. Her book manuscript, “Slavery, War, and Britain’s Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Empire,” examines the participation of enslaved and free Blacks in the imperial wars Britain waged against France and Spain over the course of the eighteenth century and the ways in which Blacks’ wartime actions influenced British conceptions of race, slavery, and imperial identity. Her article, “‘Of equal or of more Service’: Black Soldiers and the British Empire in the Mid-Eighteenth-Century Caribbean” appeared in Slavery & Abolition in 2017. “‘All Spirited Likely Young Lads of Colour’: Interpreting Britain’s Recruitment of Black Soldiers in Jamaica during the American War for Independence,” which she co-authored with Matthew Dziennik and Simon P. Newman, was published by Slavery & Abolition in 2020. She has presented her work in several academic forums, among them conferences sponsored by the Association for Caribbean Historians, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, the North American Conference on British Studies, and the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. She has been the recipient of numerous research fellowships, including an NEH Long-Term Fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society. Her colleagues awarded her the Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2014 and the Beacon Award in recognition of her “noteworthy contributions and outstanding efforts that have assisted in advancing Inclusive Excellence” in 2017.
Dr. Helen Heineman, President Emerita of Framingham State University, has had an extensive career in higher education, including 43 years in teaching and senior level administrative positions. She holds a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Queens College, a Master’s degree from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. She received an Andrew Dickson White Fellowship to Cornell, two Woodrow Wilson Fellowships, was a Radcliffe Fellow, and an American Association of University Women (AAUW) Fellow. Dr. Heineman was chair of the English Department at Framingham State University, and was then appointed Academic Vice President. In 1999, Dr. Heineman became President of Framingham State University, where she served until retiring in 2006. She has published four books and numerous articles in the field of Victorian literature. Dr. Heineman now spends her retirement years traveling, writing, and teaching in Framingham’s Adventures in Lifelong Learning program. Dr. Heineman’s novel, Emma Redux, a continuation of Jane Austen’s Emma, has been accepted for publication by TouchPoint Press, and will appear next year.
Yumi Park Huntington, PhD, is an interdisciplinary art historian of ancient America. She specializes in South America, investing ceramic objects, architectural structures, and other kinds of archaeological evidence from the past four thousand years. Her research emphasizes questions of cultural identity, intercultural transmission, and relationships between human construction and natural landscape. Park Huntington offers courses not only in ancient American art but also African American art, Asian art, and African art. In addition, she actively pursues innovative teaching methods with digital tools, online learning, and community-oriented projects such as public exhibitions.
Dr. David Smailes is the Program Coordinator and Advisor for the Master of Public Administration program and an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at Framingham State University. Dr. Smailes received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his B.A. from the College of Wooster in Ohio. His research interests include American political history, public administration, the presidency and American political thought. Prior to joining the Framingham State community, Dr. Smailes taught at Westfield State University (where he served as department chair and program director for the MPA program) and Regis College.