H. James Birx, PhD is an anthropologist who has written several books and published many articles in the area of human evolution, including Human Evolution, Interpreting Evolution, and Craniometry of the Orchid Site Ostuary. He teaches physical anthropology and cultural anthropology. He also teaches CRJ 333 Anthropology and Crime Science. He brings to this course his knowledge of biology, anthropology, and philosophy in order to understand and appreciate the value of forensic investigation. His interest in crime science spans the history of human culture. Dr. Birx was an undergraduate at the State University of New York at Geneseo and did his graduate work at the State University of New York at Buffalo. 
Patricia Christian, PhD is a sociologist whose teaching and research interests center around families, child care, and gender issues. She teaches two required courses for the sociology major, SOC111, Contemporary Social Problems, and SOC342, Research Methods. She also teaches various electives for the major, including SOC291, Gender and Society, SOC340, The City, and SOC390, Marriage and Family. She was an undergraduate major in anthropology at Wellesley College and did her graduate work in sociology at Brown University. As a Member of the Board of the Child Care Resource Network she helps in the operation of the local child care resource and referral agency. Her latest research project involves participant-observation at day care centers and interviews with parents of children in day care centers.
Patricia E. Erickson, PhD is the chair of the Department of Sociololgy, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, and director of the Criminal Justice Program. She is a sociologist and an attorney. Dr. Erickson is especially interested in the areas of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect. She has practiced in Erie County Family Court representing parents as well as children. Dr. Erickson teaches several of the required courses for criminal justice majors including CRJ 337 Violence and the Family, CRJ 449 Criminal Law, CRJ 450 Criminal Procedure, CRJ 382 Criminal Justice Ethics, CRJ 227 Criminal Justice I, CRJ 228 Criminal Justice II, CRJ 254 Crime and Society, CRJ 343 Law and Society, and, as director of the Criminal Justice Program, oversees CRJ 498 and CRJ 499. Dr. Erickson taught inmates at the Attica Correctional Facility through the Consortium of the Niagara Frontier, a program partially sponsored by Canisius College. In 2008, she co-authored Crime, Punishment and Mental Illness: Law and the Behavioral Sciences in Conflict which examines the response of American society to mentally ill persons who commit crimes. Dr. Erickson was an undergraduate at the State University of New York at Buffalo, did her graduate work in sociology at the University of Denver and received her law degree, cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo. To read more about her work, click here (Adobe Acrobat PDF).
Peter J. Galie, PhDProfessor & Department Chair
Director, Raichle Pre-law Center
Phone: 888-2699
E-mail: galie@canisius.edu
Peter J. Galie received his PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 1970. He came to Canisius College in 1972 as chair of the Political Science Department, a position he held until 1992. He returned to that position in the fall of 2003.
Galie is also the director of the Raichle Pre-Law Center at Canisius. His expertise is in the area of state constitutional law and New York constitutional law and history. He has published numerous articles and two books in these areas. The books are The New York State Constitution: A Reference Guide (Greenwood Press, 1991) and Ordered Liberty: A Constitutional History of New York (Fordham University Press, 1996).
He was invited to membership in the New York Academy of Historians. The organization’s purpose is to encourage the study of history and to represent the interests of those who actually work in classrooms, archives, and historical societies. Membership is limited to historians with a demonstrated record of accomplishment in New York history including as authors, archivists, public historians, teachers and administrators.
Galie participated in a panel discussion sponsored by the Rockefeller Institute in Albany on May 29, 2008. Acting Lieutenant Governor Joseph Bruno and Assemblyman Robin Shimminger joined him and other leading scholars of the New York Constitution to address the issue of gubernatorial succession in New York State. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York conducts research on the role of state and local governments in American federalism, education, and on the management and finances of states and localities.
Robert A. Klump ‘79Adjunct Professor
Associate Director, Frank G. Raichle Pre-Law Center
Phone:888-2884
E-mail: klumpr@canisius.edu
A Buffalo attorney, Klump is a graduate of Canisius College (B.A. Political Science), and earned both an M.A. in Political Science and a J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has taught American government and constitutional law at Canisius since 1984, and is an attorney with the U.S. District Court in Buffalo. He is the president of the Buffalo Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society.
In November 2002, Klump was presented with the New York State Bar Association (NSBA) Law-Related Education Distinguished Service Award for his years of dedicated teaching at Canisius, as well as his role as a faculty adviser to the Canisius chapter of Phi Alpha Delta, a pre-law organization. Since 1991, he has led an annual four-day trip to Washington, D.C. to attend Supreme Court oral arguments, and visit Congress, the White House, and historic sites in Virginia. Klump is a member of the Canisius College DiGamma Honor Society, which recognizes Canisius alumni, faculty and staff who have distinguished themselves, over an extended period of time, through exemplary service to the college.
David Koteras recently completed a thirty-five career in law enforcement. He served as the Director of Training for the Erie County Sheriff’s Department in his final assignment. Other experiences in his career involved corrections, traffic enforcement, investigations, writing policy and procedure, and assisting in the creation and administration of law enforcement accreditation. He also is the past president of the Law Enforcement Training Directors Association of New York State. As an adjunct faculty member, Professor Koteras teaches several criminal justice courses including CRJ 351 Police and the Community,CRJ 354 Juvenile Delinquency,CRJ 356 Treatment of Offenders I, CRJ 357 Treatment of Offenders II, CRJ 344 Violent Crime in American Society, and CRJ 359 Women and Crime. In the future he will be teaching a course on Gangs in America. Professor Koteras completed his undergraduate and graduate work at the State University of New York at Buffalo. 
Melissa Menasco, PhDAssistant Professor
Phone: 888-3203
Email: menascom@canisius.edu
Melissa is a sociologist whose specialty is the area of criminology. Her primary interests include the study of social control theory and juvenile delinquency and their effects upon academic performance and gender. Her postdoctoral work has focused on nonverbal behavior and specifically that of deception. She teachesCRJ 227 Criminal Justice I, CRJ 228 Criminal Justice II, and CRJ 320 Criminology. Dr. Menasco was an undergraduate at U.C.L.A. in Mathematics and received her graduate degree in Sociology from the State University at New York, Buffalo.
John D.Occhipinti, PhDProfessor
Director, European Studies Program
Phone: 888-2799
E-mail: occhipij@canisius.edu
John D. Occhipinti joined the faculty in 1996 and is director of the European Studies program. He is a native of Buffalo and a graduate of St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute. Occhipinti earned his BA from Colgate University, where he majored in international relations and German literature and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. While an undergraduate, Occhipinti studied in Freiburg, Germany. After graduation, he returned to Germany as a Fulbright Scholar, this time in Tübingen in 1989-1990, when the Berlin Wall was opened. He earned his MA and PhD in government and politics from the University of Maryland at College Park. His doctoral field research was conducted in Berlin on the transformation of the East German police after German unity.
Occhipinti’s course on Comparative Government and Politics (PSC 150) introduces students to politics outside the United States and employs the cooperative team learning approach in which students learn from each other while working in small groups. Occhipinti also teaches on “International Crime after 9/11” (PSC 345), which features guest speakers from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
Each fall, Occhipinti teaches a course on the European Union (EU) (PSC 355) that relies on a mix of multi-media power point presentations, active learning and student presentations. Related to this course, he is the advisor for the EuroSim student club, which helps students prepare for an annual international, intercollegiate simulation of the EU, held in Europe and the US in alternating years. When EuroSim is hosted in Europe, Occhipinti guides his students on two weeks of travel and touring in several European cities.
Occhipinti has published extensively on internal security policy in the EU, including The Politics of EU Police Cooperation: Toward a European FBI? (Lynne Rienner, 2003) and a chapter in the popular edited volume, The European Union: How Does it Work? (Oxford University Press, 2008). He has also lectured for the U.S. Foreign Service Institute and spoken at the U.S. State Department for its Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). In August of 2005, Occhipinti was invited by the State Department to brief the newly appointed US Ambassador to the European Union on internal security policy in the EU.
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Phone: 888-2517
E-mail: pines@canisius.edu
I have taught in the Psychology Department at Canisius College for more than 30 years. During that time I have always been impressed with the fine character of the students who attend this institution. I currently teach the psychology department’s two semester course in Introduction to Psychology, as well as advanced courses in social psychology and forensic psychology. In teaching these courses I try to develop not only student’s knowledge of the field, but other important skills as well.
Students emerging from college in today’s world need knowledge of a discipline, but they also need to know how to continue to learn after college, how to solve problems that arise in their work and personal lives, and how to communicate effectively with other people, orally and in writing. I try to create assignments in all my courses that address these needs.
In addition to teaching I, like most other academic professors, engage in scholarly research to develop new knowledge. One of the things that makes this fun is the opportunity to work with students on research projects. This enables the student to learn about research as an apprentice and not just from reading a book. Many students emerge from this joint activity with professional presentations and even journal articles to their credit, an important asset if they wish to go on to graduate or professional school.
My own research interests are varied, but one that I have pursued since the mid 1980’s is William James idea of “the material self.” William James was one of the first psychologists to discuss people’s concept of themselves and how they express their self-concept by the clothes they wear, their possessions, and other “material” aspects of their lives. These material possessions are often symbolic of ourselves and we are careful in how we choose to communicate with them. We feel very uncomfortable when material objects represent us that are not true expressions of our self. For example, think how you would feel if you had to wear something to a party and what you were wearing was “not at all me.” My students and I have been conducting research into these questions.
When not working at Canisius I look after my goldfish, work in my small garden at home (mostly flowers), and explore the excellent restaurant scene here in Buffalo. I am also interested in art and spend a fair amount of time at art galleries and museums both in Buffalo and when traveling to other cities. One of my favorite places to go is Toronto, Canada, a city of great diversity. Coming from NYC I find myself attracted to urban environments for both my professional and recreational activities.
If there is anything else you would like to know about me or my activities at Canisius please e-mail me at pines@canisius.edu. Hope to meet you sometime in the future.
Erin Robinson, PhD, assistant professor of Sociology, is a sociologist who concentrates her teaching and research in the areas of environmental sociology and the study of social movements. The required courses she teaches for the major include SOC110, Introduction to Sociology, and SOC432, Theories in Sociology. She also offers a number of electives, including SOC 324, Visual Sociology, SOC 273, Social Movements and Social Change, and SOC 234, Environment and Society. She also teaches a course in qualitative methodology, ANT351. She received her undergraduate degree in sociology and English from SUNY Geneseo, her MA in sociology at the University of Tennessee, and her Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Robinson is involved in the Environment section of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP). Currently she is working on a project studying the development of People’s Park, a community effort to reclaim unused urban space along Main Street in Buffalo. She also works with the United Way, Tools For Living Working Group, helping to evaluate agencies who are awarded community grants.  |
Phone: 888-2519
E-mail: sandersn@canisius.edu
I am a native of Stillwater, OK and obtained my undergraduate and graduate degrees (B.S., M.S., and Ph.D.) from Oklahoma State University. I completed my training as a child clinical psychologist via an internship and post-doctoral position at the University of California in San Diego’s Child and Adolescent Inpatient Hospital, where I met my husband, a child psychiatrist and native of North Tonawanda.
At present, I teach a variety of courses within the field of clinical/counseling psychology: Abnormal Psychology, Child Psychopathology, Behavior Modification, Theories and Techniques of Counseling, Clinical/Counseling practicum (direct field related experiences). In addition to providing relevant coursework, I helped develop and advise two minors for the Psychology Department: Clinical/Counseling and Child, Family and Community Studies. I strongly believe in providing hands-on experiences for students and preparing them for careers in the field of psychology upon completion of their undergraduate education. During their time at Canisius, students are provided the opportunity to obtain in-depth information about the entire graduate application process via bi-yearly informational seminars. Individuals interested in entering the workforce in field-related positions are also assisted at my annual “Career Faire.”
My current research interests are twofold and include outcome assessments of children and adolescents hospitalized on inpatient psychiatric units and factors affecting individual’s knowledge and perceptions of mental illness.
I am the proud mom of a set of boy/girl twins born in March of 2002 and a new arrival in April 2005. I love spending my free time with my children and husband doing things outdoors, particularly going to concerts and playgrounds or hanging out in our backyard swimming and grilling. I also enjoys working out, eating out and watching football.