Humanities and Social Sciences

Dr. Christopher Hawk received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington & Jefferson College. He went on to earn his master’s degree, with an emphasis in clinical psychology, from Cleveland State University, as well as his Ph.D., with an emphasis in applied social psychology, from Brigham Young University.

Dr. Hawk’s primary area of research involves the effects of violent media on aggression. He is particularly interested in investigating the effects of video games on aggressive and prosocial behavior.

Dr. Calvery finished her undergraduate studies in philosophy at Trinity Western University before completing an MA in literature at Northeastern Illinois University. Her MAT and Ph.D. are both from Seattle Pacific University in the field of curriculum and instruction. Her work spans corporate roles and non-profit organizations, and she has been primarily focused on education innovation through practice, research, and strategy for the past 10 years.

As a member of one of Microsoft’s Global Training Partners, Dr. Calvery has trained districts and schools across the United States in effective and authentic technology integration. Her curriculum has been published by Microsoft, Canva for Education, and the WE “Tech for Good” challenge.

In addition to her role leading the online and distance education initiatives across the organization, Dr. Calvery is teaching storytelling and College 101 courses. She looks forward to learning with and from all the students who come through her sessions.

Claire Alexander-Joly holds multiple higher education degrees from several major universities including a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in English from the Sorbonne in Paris, France, her home town and country. In 1986, she came to the United States on a university exchange program that allowed her to pursue her interest in American culture and led to a second master’s degree.

During her first two years in America, Alexander-Joly became interested in the country’s racial and ethnic relations. This shift of focus led to a Ph.D. in Comparative Cultures (similar to Ethnic Studies) from the University of California at Irvine where she wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on the critical reception of Richard Wright’s works. Upon completing her studies, she joined the University of Notre Dame where she worked as an Assistant Professor in American Studies. In 1998, she received an N.A.A.C.P Image Award for her work with African American students.

Alexander-Joly started teaching at DigiPen in 2000 and became a full-time member of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences faculty in 2006. In 2008, she became department chair and remained in that position until 2016. Alexander-Joly teaches writing, storytelling, and scriptwriting among other things. She has also taught courses on race, ethnicity, and gender identity.

Because she understands the importance of making her curriculum relevant to her students, Alexander-Joly strives to relate it to games, film, and technology. She is particularly interested in story-based games, games that address issues of diversity, and serious games. Whenever possible, she finds ways to bring her world and her students’ world together. You might even catch her playing a game or two. In her quiet time, she enjoys reading, writing, singing, and going to the theatre.

Amber Davies-Sloan completed her undergraduate work at Northern Arizona University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication with a pre-law emphasis. She continued her education at The University of New Mexico (UNM) and earned an MA in Communication, focusing on interpersonal and family communication. A love of teaching was sparked during her time at UNM, and she spent 14 years as a professor of communication at Yavapai College in the central highlands of Arizona before joining the DigiPen faculty in 2022.

Davies-Sloan’s research focuses on the identity formation of transracial adoptees through communication and how biracial and adoptee identities might affect interpersonal relationships in adulthood. As a Korean adoptee herself, Davies-Sloan feels that it is important to share the experiences of adoptees and amplify their voices as historically the rhetoric surrounding adoption is from the perspective of the adopter and not the adoptees themselves.

At DigiPen, Davies-Sloan is an Assistant Professor of Communication and teaches courses on interpersonal communication, professional communication, and workplace/group communication. Her teaching philosophy demonstrates how students learn best in a collaborative environment, so she works hard to create a student centered, discussion-based classroom where various experiences are shared to promote learning. Ultimately, communication is essential to success in relationships, both personally and professionally. Davies-Sloan hopes that students leave her classroom with a better grasp on the tools to achieve that success.

As a recent transplant from Arizona to the Pacific Northwest, Davies-Sloan spends a lot of time outdoors with her husband and two young boys. Her family looks forward to weekend “adventures” that include hiking, exploring nearby Seattle, or trying out tasty new foods. In her spare time, Davies-Sloan can be found in the kitchen trying to improve her Korean cooking skills, curled up with a good book and a cup of tea, or bettering her knowledge of video games through an epic family tournament of Mario Kart.

Courtney A. Druzak attended Chatham University in Pittsburgh, where in 2014 she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. By 2016, she had graduated from West Virginia University with a master’s in English literature, followed up by a Ph.D. in English from Duquesne University in 2021. She began teaching college-level writing and composition as a master’s student in fall 2014; taught composition, writing, and literature at Duquesne University from 2016-2020; and returned to her undergraduate alma mater Chatham from 2018-2019 as a literature adjunct. At DigiPen, she teaches courses based in writing, composition, literature, and research. As a scholar, Druzak focuses on early modern English literature (spanning the period 1550-1680) and contemporary fantasy and sci-fi novels, with a dedication to reading texts through an intersectional ecofeminist framework.

As an Assistant Professor of English at DigiPen, Druzak is committed to helping students understand writing, research, and reading as tools of self-empowerment, both in their personal lives and careers. She firmly subscribes to the dual notions of process writing and reflection, and helps students navigate these aspects of their learning in every class she teaches. She greatly enjoys getting to know her students as individuals and working closely with them to help them make the most of their time at DigiPen and in higher education more broadly. Further, she is committed to accessibility, inclusion, and equity in her lessons and classroom, and always hopes students leave her classroom both having learned something and having had fun.

When she’s not working, Druzak spends her time gardening, reading, watching k-dramas, and exercising to prepare for the upcoming zombie apocalypse. She has an abiding love for the arts and history, and greatly enjoys browsing art collections and museums, or attending the theater. She considers herself a gamer-lite, mostly due to her fixation on handheld gaming platforms.

Dr. Faye Houshyari completed her Bachelor of Science in Economics at Tehran University, Iran. She later completed her MBA and Doctorate in Educational Leadership at Seattle University.

Dr. Houshyari joined DigiPen as an adjunct faculty member in 2018, teaching economics. She also teaches economics, business, and college success strategies at Cascadia College and Seattle University. In addition to her expertise in business, she brings diversity, an international perspective, and an interdisciplinary background to educational programs and academic development.