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Excel at
Amherst College Susanna Brock (Social Psychology): A.B. cum laude in History and Science and honors certificate in Mind, Brain and Behavior from Harvard University. Susanna was awarded magna cum laude for her senior thesis discussing the history of Alcoholics Anonymous. Fascinated by trying to understand the human mind using an interdisciplinary method, Susanna has done independent research in medical anthropology, neuroscience, and abnormal psychology. While at Harvard, Susanna taught urban dance with CityStep, a non-profit after school program. Born and raised in New York City, she loves to travel and worked in Switzerland for International Summer Camp Montana as a sports and language instructor Summer 2004. In the fall of 2004 Susanna spent a semester living and studying abroad in Aix-en Provence, France. Her other hobbies include acting, creative writing, and watching movies. In September Susanna will begin work as a corporate strategy consultant for Accenture. This is Susanna’s first summer with Excel, although she has brilliant memories of attending the program as a student in 1999.
Jonathan Brunstedt (History of War, International Relations): UCLA, B.A.; Oxford University, M.Phil.; Oxford University, D.Phil. candidate. Jonathan graduated summa cum laude from UCLA where he studied ancient and modern history. After finishing at UCLA Jonathan received an Ambassadorial Scholarship to Russia and was a one-year visiting scholar with the History Faculty at Moscow State University. He subsequently completed a two-year M.Phil. with Distinction, at Oxford University, where he is currently a doctoral candidate in History. Jonathan has received numerous grants and scholarships from Oxford and the British government for graduate study and research. In his spare time he loves to travel, and has journeyed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. His trips have included a third-class voyage on the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian railways, hitchhiking along the Silk Road through Central Asia, and a road trip in Africa from Cape Town to Nairobi. This will be his third summer with Excel.
Patrick Burleigh (Acting, Scriptwriting): Dartmouth College, B.A; Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), M.Phil. After graduating cum laude with high honors from Dartmouth, Patrick shipped to Dublin, Ireland, where he earned his Masters at Trinity College on Dartmouth's Campbell Scholarship. While there, he worked as a staff writer for Irish Theatre magazine and had his first plays produced to acclaim at the Dublin Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe festivals. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he has continued to work as a writer and actor. His plays have received staged readings and productions starring the likes of James McDaniel and Reni Santoni. He has written numerous feature films and was recently hired by Redhouse Entertainment to pen the feature "Fake I.D.” He has twice been a top-ten finalist for the Chesterfield Fellowship and has been a finalist for the Sundance Filmmakers Lab. Patrick’s screenplay, "Riot Song," about the 1992 L.A. riots, is currently generating strong industry interest. Patrick also writes for television and worked as assistant to Senior Story Editor, John Romano, on the show American Dreams. His work is regularly performed at the Naked Angel Theatre Company's reading series in L.A., Tuesdays@Nine. His acting credits include: the features "Bereft" for Showtime and the upcoming "Illegal Aliens;” stage appearances with Ensemble Studio Theatre West, The Naked Angels, The Evidence Room, Padua Playwrights and Fox Television's "Naked TV" pilots. He can currently be seen every Tuesday night as a regular on the MyNetworkTV drama, “American Heiress.” This is Patrick's sixth summer with Putney. He led Seeds for Progress Community Service programs to Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, taught Beat Literature at the Bennington Excel program, led the Cultural Exploration Theatre in Britain program and Assistant Directed the Williams Excel program. Patrick is fluent in Spanish.
Geoff Casey (Criminal Law): Middlebury College, B.A.; Western New England College of Law, J.D. Geoff is a Northampton-based attorney and educator. After graduating from Middlebury, where he was a member of the varsity hockey team, Geoff spent several years leading adventure bicycle tours in Northern Maine before attending law school at Western New England College. Geoff has wide-ranging legal experience, as an intern for the Northwestern District Attorney and the Western Massachusetts Probate Court, as a legal advisor for the American Postal Workers Union, and as an attorney for the Berkshire District Attorney's Office, and for Western Massachusetts Legal Services. For the past six years Geoff has been employed as a Social Studies teacher at Hampshire Regional High School in Westhampton, Massachusetts. Geoff is an avid athlete and outdoorsman who enjoys hiking and mountain biking. This will be his ninth summer with Excel.
Jill Certo (Psychology, Personality, & Behavior): Oberlin College, B.A. Jill received the Phyllis Jones Memorial Prize in Women's Studies at Oberlin, where she completed a double-major in Women's Studies with a Psychology concentration, and English with a Creative Writing concentration. Before coming to Excel, she taught Personality Psychology for Exploration Summer Programs at Yale University, tutored in the inner-city East Cleveland schools, and interned with Catalyst For Cleveland Schools magazine. She recently spent an academic year in the foothills of the Massif Central as an English Language Assistant at the teacher-training college in Mende, Lozère, France. Jill is a teacher, Master Tutor, and trainer for the Princeton Review. Currently, she is doing post-Baccalaureate study in French at Oberlin and studying voice at Cleveland State University. She enjoys writing, yoga, and haggling with vendors at flea markets. This will be her fifth summer with Excel.
Soumi Chatterjee (Business & Economics): Trinity College, B.A. in American Studies. Since graduating from Trinity, Soumi has taught English, Italian, and American History in Italy and Portugal including two years as the U.S. History teacher and Boy's Varsity Basketball coach at St. Stephen's School in Rome, Italy. While at Trinity, he served as the President of the Class of 2004, a Student Senator, and business manager for the College's newspaper, the Trinity Tripod. Additionally, he has worked with children of all ages as a tutor, mentor, and counselor at the Boys' and Girls' Club of Hartford, CT. Soumi spent a year and a half working at Salomon Smith Barney, managing client-expansion and recruitment projects. He also spent a semester working for ESPN and another semester studying abroad at Trinity's Rome campus. He was a student at Excel at Amherst College in the summer of 1998 and returned to Amherst in 2002 as a Resident Advisor. He was also a Resident Advisor for the Excel Santa Cruz program in 2003 and for the past three summers he has taught Business & Economics for Excel Amherst. This marks his seventh summer with Excel.
Gustavo Adolpho Chaves
(Spanish Conversation): University of Costa Rica, B.A. Gustavo
received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the
University of Costa Rica and is currently completing graduate studies in
Contemporary Latin American Literature at the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst. His first book, "Cuentos etcétera" was published
in 2004. An early version of this volume was nominated for the Second
Prize of Young Latin American Literature ST Dupont -MEET, in 1999. At
UMass-Amherst, Gustavo has taught the complete beginner and intermediate
Spanish program as well as the
Jessi Duston (Resident Advisor): University of Massachusetts at Amherst, B.A. Jessi received a B.A. with magna cum laude honors from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in an independently created major entitled “Politics through Theater and Film”. During her time at UMass she spent a semester abroad studying film at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. Jessi also studied Spanish in Salamanca, Spain during the summer of 2003, and backpacked around Spain, France, Italy and Greece. Jessi was a member of the UMass Theater Guild for 4 years and served as artistic director, stage manager, actor, secretary of the executive board, and various other positions. Jessi enjoys international volunteer work and has helped to build houses in El Salvador and also worked in an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. Other hobbies include writing, music, photography, reading and skiing. She has just spent a few months living and working in Ireland and returns with an even deeper love and fascination for Irish culture, history and literature.
Erica Ehrenberg (Creative Writing): Amherst College, B.A.; New York University, MFA. Erica teaches writing at Montclair State University. Her poems have appeared, or are forthcoming in Goodfoot, jubilat, The New Republic, The St. Ann's Review, at www.unpleasnanteventschedule.com, the Center for Book Arts broadside series, and in the anthology Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems (Crown, 2007). She also makes hand-bound books with text, collage, and photos, and has photographed landscapes in Iceland, Scotland, Italy, and Massachusetts. Currently, she is at work on completing her first collection of poetry, and on a graphic novel loosely based on the gangs of 19th century New York. This will be her first summer with Excel.
Melissa Extein (Assistant Director): Yale University, B.A., Rutgers University, Psy.D. candidate. While at Yale, Melissa focused on counseling as both a peer and resident counselor to her fellow Yalies, and as co-founder of the College Resource Center for New Haven high school students. After graduating, she worked in New York City as an art teacher and assistant camp director for HiArt!, a visual and performing arts program for children, and as a researcher at the Center for Human Environments at CUNY. Melissa is now an advanced doctoral candidate in Organizational Psychology at Rutgers University, where she received a Center for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations Fellowship. At Rutgers, she has served as the Student Alliance co-chair and lectured on emotional intelligence. Her work has been published in the Educational Psychologist, among other journals. Melissa also works as an organizational consultant to corporations and nonprofits – including high schools, universities, and arts institutions – helping them understand themselves better through assessment and implement changes to improve effectiveness through training, coaching, facilitation, and evaluation. Melissa's other interests include dance, writing, architecture, and the outdoors. Her love of travel began in high school when she participated in Putney Student Travel's France, Holland, and England program, and has since led her to study in both Spain and Brazil, and to backpack throughout South America. This is Melissa's sixth summer as a Putney leader, after three summers with Excel Madrid/Barcelona, one with Excel Cuba, and one leading Cultural Exploration Thailand/Cambodia.
Victoria Fener (Resident Advisor): Dartmouth College, B.A. candidate. Victoria is an Economics major with a focus on International Trade and Finance. She works for the Dartmouth Admissions Office as a tour guide and led a pre-orientation kayaking trip for incoming freshmen last fall. Her love of traveling led her to Israel for the summer after her freshman year where she studied Hebrew language in Haifa. She also spent three months of her sophomore year in Puebla, Mexico, studying Spanish language and Mexican history, culture, and literature. This past winter, Victoria interned as an investment banking analyst for Lehman Brothers in New York City. On campus, she works as a peer writing tutor, teaches Hebrew to middle school students, and is involved with a mentoring program for underprivileged children in Vermont. Victoria enjoys drawing, cooking, jewelry-making, volleyball, swimming, foreign languages, and good conversations. Her first experience with Putney was as a student on the Excel Madrid/Barcelona program after her junior year of high school, and she is thrilled to be back as a member of the staff.
Lewis Goff
(Structured
Writing): St. Lawrence University, B.S.; Middlebury College, Bread Loaf
School of English, M.A. After graduating from St. Lawrence, Lewis
taught at Landmark College in Putney, Vermont which serves students with
language-based learning difficulties. During his eight years there,
Lewis worked as a Resident Dean and taught a wide range of writing
courses, including College Writing 101. From there, he moved on to the
Northfield Mount Hermon School where he worked as an English instructor,
House Director, ice hockey coach and outdoor education instructor. AT
NMH, Lewis taught Humanities classes, Advanced Placement Language and
Composition, and served as a learning skills specialist and study skills
instructor. This year was his second teaching English and Humanities
classes at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School in South
Hadley. His interests include cycling, playing blues harmonica, and
adventuring with his wife Carolyn and 5-year-old son Willem. This is
his third summer with Excel.
Dan King (Ethics; Philosophy): Dartmouth College, B.A. Dan majored in History and minored in Moral Philosophy at Dartmouth, where he was an undergraduate advisor for the college's Office of Residential Life and worked for a year as "the in-school suspension guy" at Hartford High School just over the river in Vermont. He was an on-air color commentator for the Men's Hockey team on the Dartmouth Sports Network, and also served as Program Director and General Manager of a small commercial rock radio station, 99Rock in Hanover, NH, in addition to being a DJ there. Dan has taught rigorous five-week SAT preparation courses for The Princeton Review, and also spent a year teaching U.S. and Modern World history at Darlington School, a small boarding school in Georgia. In 2004, he moved to our nation's capital to be a Program Instructor for the Close Up Foundation, using the city as a classroom and teaching civics and grassroots activism to high school students from all over the country in intensive weeklong sessions. He has been with Close Up ever since, most recently as a Program Supervisor. In addition to his academic interests, Dan enjoys local music, digital photography, and anything relating to the preparation or consumption of good food. This will be Dan's fifth summer at Excel Amherst.
Ginger Legon (Acting & Theatre Production/Public Speaking): NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, B.F.A. Ginger is an actor, director, and educator based in New York City. She is a teaching artist for The Leadership Program and Lincoln Center Theater, facilitating a variety of workshops with youth of all ages using theatre as a tool for growth, empowerment and social change. Recently, she worked with NYU Law School using role play to train first-year law students. Ginger performs with Synaesthetic Theatre, creating original theatre works such as Arcana: Cycle of the Fool and The Trial of K. This will be Ginger's fifth summer with Putney. She co-directed Hold on Tightly, Let go Lightly at Excel Bennington, U.S. Undressed, a performance of Putney's Theatre in Britain program at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Can I See Your I.D.? and Drawn from the Dream at Excel Williams.
Marissa Leonino (Fashion Design): Oberlin College, B.A. University of Akron, B.A., M.Mus. (anticipated 2008). Marissa received the Dean of Students’ Leadership Award from Oberlin where she majored in English with a concentration in Media and Culture and studied music composition and piano privately in the Conservatory. She was the costume designer for several theatrical productions at Oberlin, including Hair and Closer, and has worked with Pro-Model Management in Akron, Ohio, in fashion and make-up design. Also an actor, Marissa has directed and performed with several improv troupes in Oberlin, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. She auditioned for television shows, commercials and film in Los Angeles. As a Teach For America Corps Member 2002-2004, Marissa taught music at an under-resourced elementary school in Washington, D.C. Currently a graduate assistant at the University of Akron, Marissa is earning her Masters in Music Education with a concentration in piano and voice. She is also a Master Tutor for the Princeton Review and creates her own fashion pieces for a local vintage resale shop. This will be her fourth summer with Excel.
Jake Levine (Architectural Design): Lehigh University, B.A.; University of Pennsylvania, M.Arch candidate. Jake’s interest in architecture can be traced back to an early inclination for design, both structurally and artistically based. Studying in college sparked an interest in other cultures and contexts, which led him on numerous trips, both independent and education-centered throughout Eastern and Western Europe (including one summer as a student on the Excel Oxford/Tuscany program), Israel, Greece, China, and most recently Peru. This also included a semester with Syracuse University in Florence, studying Renaissance art and architecture as well as field sketching and figure drawing. Recently, he has been working on illustrations for a children’s book with his cousin which they hope to publish this year. In his first year of graduate school, Jake placed 2nd amongst his new peers in the annual Schenk-Woodman Traveling Scholarship Competition. Besides spending summers working in architecture firms in New York City on projects ranging from World Trade Center proposals to 8,ooo sq.ft. homes, Jake also enjoys wakeboarding, barefoot waterskiing, and basketball.
John Lurz
(Creative Writing): Princeton University, B.A.; University of California
– Berkeley, PhD Student. A native of Baltimore, MD, John graduated
summa cum laude from Princeton in 2003 with a major in English
literature and a minor in German. While at Princeton, he was on the
Varsity swim team and was a columnist for The Daily Princetonian and the
Princeton Alumni Weekly. After college, John taught English as a
Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Eisenstadt, Austria, a provincial
capital one hour south of Vienna. Upon his return to the States, John
moved to Manhattan and worked for the Paul
Joshua Lustig (Journalism): University of Maryland, B.A. Josh double majored in Journalism and Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park. While he was an undergraduate, he spent time working for many publications including the Associated Press and Washingtonpost.com. Josh also spent time as a local radio DJ for WMUC 88.1 FM, an independent student-run radio station. Josh is currently a Program Instructor in Washington D.C. for Close Up, a non-profit foundation aimed at civic education through educational trips to the nation’s capital. When he’s not working, Josh is an avid fan of music, movies, writing, food and travel.
Rob Miller (Director): University of California, Los Angeles, B.A.; University of Southern California School of Cinema/Television, M.F.A. Rob is a screenwriter and Los Angeles native. As an undergraduate art history major, he was assistant arts editor for the Daily Bruin and wrote for the upstart magazine Hot Spots. In film school, he worked such disparate jobs as phlebotomist, middle school English teacher, and realtor. He has written for several television series and has just completed an untitled pilot for cable. He has two feature-length scripts in development: "Vortex" at Warner Brothers with Joel Silver ("The Matrix," "V for Vendetta") producing and "Windfall" with Max Wong ("Bring it On") producing. He will enter the spec market late summer with an action/comedy "Crisscross" and a female action "Recoil" in the fall, and is currently working to secure independent financing for his thriller "Detour." This will be his eleventh summer with Excel.
Andrzej Rattinger (Video Production): Universidad Iberoamericana, Lic., B.A.; Columbia University, M.F.A. Born and raised in Mexico, Andrzej lives and breathes for film. He's been a movie critic for radio shows and websites, a sitcom writer, music video director, short film editor and cinematographer, and the youngest editor-in-chief ever for an advertising magazine. He's been assistant to cinema legends Andrew Sarris and Annette Insdorf as well as director David Jones, and has more recently been consulting on features, including the 2007 Sundance Grand Jury Winner "Padre Nuestro". His most recent film, "Killing Killian", is currently doing the festival rounds, and he's preparing several screenplays for development. He's a heavy metal fan who can't play the guitar, hates when people talk during movies but still would rather go to the cinema than rent, and loves Mexico yet calls New York home. This is his fourth summer with Excel, returning to Amherst after two years with the Spain program.
Shannon Rush (Resident Advisor): Amherst College, B.A. Shannon is a recent graduate of Amherst College, where she was an honors sociology major. During her stay at Amherst, Shannon was a Peer Counselor and Educator with a campus organization promoting healthy relationships and sexual respect. She was also the Resident Advisor of the only cooperative dormitory on campus - the Zu - whose focus is on conscientious, primarily vegetarian food preparation and communal living. Shannon also studied biology and served as a research assistant for Professor Jill Miller, who examines plant reproduction systems and genetics. Shannon enjoys weight training, biking, and outdoor activities, as well as cooking, good cups of coffee, and trying new foods. She is looking forward to her first summer working at Excel Amherst.
Amber Scoon (Drawing & Painting): New York University, B.A.; American University, M.F.A. Amber majored in Studio Art at N.Y.U., and studied abroad in Naples, Pompeii, and Corciano, Italy. She spent a summer at the Chatauqua Institute of Art in Chautauqua, New York. During the summer of 2002 Amber was awarded a travel grant from Smith College to make a documentary movie about the Dominican Republic, later exhibited at Smith College. From 2002- 2004, Amber completed her M.F.A in Rome, Italy. In 2004, she worked and lived in Sevastopol, Ukraine where she exhibited her work at the Sevastopol Children's Library and taught at the Sevastopol branch of Moscow University. In 2005-2006, Amber ran the painting department and King Gallery at the College of Southern Idaho. In the summer of 2006, Amber received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to attend the Bau Institute Art Residency in Otranto, Italy. During the fall of 2006, Amber taught painting and drawing at American University’s abroad program in Corciano, Italy. This spring Amber has been attending the Arts and Ideas Residency in Lisbon, Portugal. and looks forward to two upcoming solo exhibitions in the capital city.
Sophie Smith (Resident Advisor): Macalester College
B.A. candidate. Sophie is a Humanities, Media, and Cultural Studies
major, concentrating in Film Theory with minors in English and Art
History. As a political organizer, Sophie is the co-chair of the
Macalester Peace and Justice Coalition, helping to found Macalester’s
first progressive lending library. She also volunteers at the Jack Pine
Community Center in Minneapolis and works with local labor unions as a
member of the Student Labor Action Committee. Sophie is the senior
editor of The Chanter, Macalester’s literary and arts magazine,
where her poetry and photography has been published over the past three
years. Sophie works as a curatorial assistant in the campus art gallery,
and her photography has appeared in the Northwest Regional Educational
Journal. Combining her interests in art and social action, Sophie was a
member of the production crew on several documentary films, and has
contributed original music to the soundtrack for the forthcoming motion
picture Queens of Heart, a film chronicling the oldest drag club
in the United States. In the past, Sophie was a counselor at a summer
residential program on the Oregon coast, and a youth boys’ basketball
coach. In her free time, she enjoys writing creative non-fiction and
poetry, playing guitar, taking photos, watching movies, and eating good
food. This will be Sophie’s first summer with Excel.
Alex Verron (Intro to Photography, Advanced Photography): St. Lawrence University, B.A. Alex studied at St. Lawrence University where he received a B.A. in Fine Arts and Asian Studies. While there he was the recipient of the Jean Scribner Cashin Endowment for Fine Art Students after his six month photo documentary on textile production in India was a featured exhibition in the Brush Art Gallery. Upon graduation he began work in New York City as a studio assistant at the Manhattan/Hong Kong based advertising agency, The Coastal Group. Alex then moved to Aspen, Colorado where he continues to work as a sport and events photographer in the world of skiing and snow-boarding. His most recent work has been published by Burton Snowboards and several international outdoor magazines. Alex's other interests include travel, snow-boarding, and competitive swimming. This is Alex’s second summer with Excel Amherst.
Shannon Leigh Woolley (Public Speaking/Theatre Production): Southern Methodist University, B.F.A.; NYU, M.A. Shannon is the Artistic Director of Looking for Lilith Theatre Company, a professional women's ensemble theatre that creates original work based on interviews with women. Shannon holds an MA in Educational Theatre from NYU, and a BFA in Acting from SMU. She is an expert in oral history, story-telling, vocal training, and ensemble movement work. She currently works through several theatre companies to create original theatre with women and young people, and is an artist in residence at The Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, KY. To date, Shannon (in collaboration with her teaching partners) has led Excel students in creating 5 original full length plays, including "Mirror, Mirror: The Beauty Play;" "Jack and Jill: A Gender Story;" "Hold on Tightly, Let Go Lightly: Stories of Mothers and Daughters;" "Airplanes, Milk Cartons, and Answering Machines: a play about FEAR;" and "Can I See Your I.D.?" This will be her fifth summer with Excel.
Nicole Zvarik (Dance): Wilson College B.S.; Mills College, M.F.A. Originally from the East Coast, Nicole received her Bachelor's degree in Dance and Sociology from Wilson College. While at Wilson, she danced with Chambersburg Ballet Theatre, and performed and choreographed for Wilson's Modern Dance Ensemble, including a performance for Italia Dance Festival in Cesena, Italy. During her graduate education Nicole studied with Molissa Fenley, June Watanabe, Kathleen McClintock, Sonia Delwaide-Nichols and Anne Westwick. She has taught dance on the East and West Coast including choreographic workshops for National Dance Week. She is one of the founders of Deep Root Dance, a collective of modern dance artists who promote and support dialog about the art making process through low cost performances and workshops. Nicole’s choreography has been presented throughout the Bay Area including at the Culture Catch Salon: Macworld Expo 2007 and ArtSFest’s Spectra Ball in San Francisco. This is her first summer with Excel.
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