AUM Faculty & Staff
Directory
James Francisco
Department Chair, Associate Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Francisco teaches courses on Micro and Macroeconomics, Sports Economics, Law and Economics, Economic Data and Statistics, and International Trade. His research has covered sports economics, sports gambling, education, international economics, and the economics of law and policy. He has been at AUM since 2013, and served as Chair of the Economics Department since 2022. Prior to becoming an Economist, he earned a JD, and practiced law.
Nikhil Ghodke
Associate Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Nikhil Ghodke is currently teaching as an Associate Professor of Graphic Design after joining AUM in 2018. His career journey has taken him across four continents, with professional engagements in New Zealand, India, and the United States (New York and Florida). Educated at Sir J.J. College of Architecture, Mumbai University, and holding an MFA in Computer Art from Savannah College of Art and Design, he has excelled in roles from motion graphics designer to senior art director, contributing to projects for major clients such as History Channel, Home ShopDr. ping Network, and Axcient. His work has garnered industry recognition, including Addys and Hermes awards. As an academic, Nikhil consistently seeks to expand into new media, integrate cross-disciplinary concentrations, and ensure his courses remain highly relevant to industry practices and community engaged.
Jason D. Gray
Senior Lecturer | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
I received my PhD in philosophy from the University of California, Riverside (2013). My areas of philosophical specialization or interest are the metaphysics of free will and its relationship to moral responsibility, the metaphysics of death, the philosophy of addiction (my dissertation topic), and ethics. I am an avid football and baseball fan. I grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL (my BA is from the University of Alabama, where I also majored in history), so I am a lifelong (living memory) fan of the Crimson Tide. In my younger years I got to repel down walls (a few times), bungee jump, and I once stood on a glacier in Alaska. I’ve seen the glove Willie Mays made “The Catch” with in Cooperstown, NY (not interesting to non-baseball fans, sorry), spent a summer studying in England, and a Christmas in Bordeaux, France. My avocation is reading non-fiction books about 19th and 20th century political and military history.
Andrew Hairstans
Associate Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Mr. Andrew Hairstans, BA (Honors), MFA, Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at Auburn University Montgomery is originally from Barrhead near Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom of Great Britain. Professor Hairstans attended portfolio preparation college in Glasgow prior to 1996 before being admitted to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, Scotland. Where, between 1997 to 2001 he earned a BA Honors degree in painting and drawing. After finishing his undergraduate studies, Professor Hairstans migrated to the United States. He attended Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, between 2001 to 2004 where he completed his MFA in painting and drawing. Professor Hairstans has 24 years of college teaching experience in two-dimensional foundations and has successfully overseen the painting and drawing BFA degree since 2006 at AUM.
In conjunction with teaching at AUM Professor Hairstans has developed 2 research projects. A Model for Asylum and Land of Hope and Glory explore geographical, historical, sociological, and current political developments in relation to the migration of asylum seekers, immigrants, and illegal immigrants to the UK. Works created with mixed media (graphite pencil, charcoal, watercolor, acrylic, oil paint, and collage) from both projects have been exhibited and published regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Darren Harris-Fain
Honors Professor; Distinguished Research Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Harris-Fain teaches and writes about British and American literature since the 1800s and popular culture. The topics of his publications include Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Kate Chopin, H. G. Wells, Tarzan, James Bond, superheroes, Star Trek, Ray Bradbury, Ken Kesey, Kurt Vonnegut, New Wave science fiction, Harlan Ellison, Alan Moore, and Alison Bechdel, among others. His courses include surveys of British and American literature as well as upper-level and graduate classes on editing, American film history, and science fiction, fantasy, and graphic novels. Dr. Harris-Fain was a reference book editor and writer before beginning his teaching career and has taught at AUM since 2011. In 2015, he was a three-day champion on Jeopardy!
Shannon K. Howard
Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Howard loves exploring the tools people use when they write—from cuneiform to Chat GPT. Her favorite place is the first-year writing classroom, where she gets to play a part in setting the tone for the college experience. She also teaches upper-level coursework in the fields of rhetoric, literary/cultural theory, and basic writing pedagogy, among others. Dr. Howard is a proud slow runner who finds exercise necessary for stress relief. She also loves to explore strange places in Alabama that no one has found yet.
Katherine Irwin
Senior Lecturer | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Katherine Irwin is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Theatre and teaches media writing, audio production and sound reporting, media law and public communication. She serves as faculty advisor for The AUMnibus, has mentored students recognized at BEA and SEJC competitions, and received Alabama Press Association grants for an AUM summer outreach media camp introducing high schoolers to audio-visual storytelling.
Before teaching, she worked as a newspaper journalist, graphic designer and radio host. She’s interviewed Glen Alyn and Chris Strachwitz about Texas songster Mance Lipscomb, whose legacy she researched this past summer at the University of Texas Briscoe Center archives. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Communication from Auburn University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Texas A&M University.
LTC Joshua Joseph
Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
LTC Joshua E. Joseph is a native of Sango, Tennessee. He graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Troy University in 2010 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Military Intelligence (MI) Branch. Upon completion of the MI Basic Officer Leadership Course, he was assigned to 504th MI Company, 172nd Infantry Brigade at Grafenwoehr, Germany. He served as a Signals Intelligence Platoon Leader and Company Executive Officer. Following the assignment, he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 66th MI Brigade at Wiesbaden, Germany where he served as the Battalion S4.
In 2015, LTC Joseph attended the MI Captain’s Career Course at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Following graduation, he completed the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) Officer Green Platoon and was assigned to 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. After serving as an Assistant S2, he was assigned to 2nd Battalion, where he served as Battalion S2. In 2017, LTC Joseph assumed command of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Special Troops Battalion, 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division. In 2021, LTC Joseph served as the Battalion S2 for 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. From 2022 to 2025, he served as the Regiment S2 for 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. In his current role, he serves as the Professor of Military Science for Auburn, Tuskegee, Auburn-Montgomery, and Troy University.
LTC Joseph is a graduate of the MI Basic Officer Leadership Course, MI Captain’s Career Course, Command and General Staff Officer Course (Superior Graduate), Airborne School, Air Assault School, Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape (SERE-C: High Risk), Officer Combat Skills, Joint Electronic Warfare Theater Operator Course, and Space Enabler Course.
LTC Joseph’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with a “C’ device and three Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Achievement Medal with three Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two campaign stars, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (numeral 2), NATO Medal, Army Basic Space Badge, Parachutist Badge, and Air Assault Badge.
LTC Joseph’s operational deployments include Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Afghanistan; Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan; and two tours during Operation Inherent Resolve, Iraq. He also deployed to Djibouti.
In addition to his bachelor’s degree, LTC Joseph has a master’s degree in Business Management from the University of Florida and one from the Command and General Staff College in Operational Studies.
LTC Joseph and his wife, Mary Beth, have been married for sixteen years and have two children.
Kalu Kalu
Distinguished Research Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Kalu N. Kalu is Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science & Management (Organizational Systems) at Auburn University Montgomery, USA; Docent Professor at Tampere University, Finland; and Fulbright Scholar. He has been a Research Affiliate at The Whitney and Betty Macmillan Center for International and Area Studies (Yale University); Post-Doctoral Fellow (Yale University, and Yale University School of Medicine, 1996-2000); FDD Academic Fellow, on Counterterrorism and Intelligence (Israel); and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos. He is Visiting Professorial Fellow & Research Scholar at the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA), Kaduna. He is a recipient of two Certificates in Joint Strategic Leadership (2010), and National Security Decision Making (2011) from the United States Air War College (MAFB).
Kalu’s articles and publications have appeared in top peer-reviewed journals such as Public Administration Review, Administrative Theory & Praxis, International Review of Administrative Sciences, American Review of Public Administration, Systemic Practice and Action Research, International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, Administration & Society, Contemporary Politics, Defence Studies, Air & Space Power Journal, and Journal of Political and Military Sociology. He has authored several books including State Power, Autarchy and Political Conquest in Nigerian Federalism (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008); Citizenship: A Reality far From Ideal (co-edited with Nada Kakabadse and Andrew Kakabadse, Palgrave Macmillan Publishers, 2009); Technology, Culture, and Public Policy: Critical Lessons from Finland (Routledge Publishers 2017); Citizenship: Identity, Institutions, and the Postmodern Challenge (Routledge Publishers 2017); Political Culture, Change, and Security Policy in Nigeria (Routledge, 2018); A Functional Theory of Government, Law, and Institutions (Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019 – Winner of CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, 2020); and Beyond Westphalia: The Modern State and World Order in the 21st Century (forthcoming 2026).
Prit Kaur
Associate Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Prit Paul Kaur is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Auburn University, Montgomery, Alabama, USA. Her teaching and research competencies are Cybercrime and Cyber Victimization; Cyber Laws, Legislation, and Policies; Cyber Criminology; Juvenile Justice and Future Generations; Policing Cyber Spaces; AI Driven Attacks and Defenses; UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 5 -Gender Equality and UN SDG 16 – Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions. You can find more information about her at: https://www.drpritkaur.com
