Meet the Team
Michelle Zerba
Maggie B. Martin Professor
Ph. D., University of California, Berkeley
225-578-3048
mzerba@lsu.edu
210-D Allen Hall
Biography
Michelle Zerba is Maggie B. Martin Professor of Rhetoric and Classical Studies and
has a split appointment in the Departments of English and World Languages and Literatures.
Her research and teaching span the fields of Greek and Roman literature, philosophy,
and rhetoric; Renaissance drama and political theory; and classical reception. She
is especially interested in questions that emerge at the intersection of antiquity
and modernity. She has held grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities,
the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, the Partnership University Fund
of the French Government, and the American Association of University Women. Her publications
include Tragedy and Theory (Princeton), Doubt and Skepticism in Antiquity and the Renaissance (Cambridge), Modern Odysseys: Cavafy, Woolf, Césaire and the Poetics of Indirection (Ohio State University Press), and the Norton Critical Edition of Aristotle’s Poetics. She is currently writing a book entitled “The Origins of Mystery: A Cultural History
of the Eleusinian Mysteries.”
Chris Barrett
Associate Professor
Ph.D., Harvard University
225-578-3048
cbarrett@lsu.edu
223-E Allen Hall
Biography
Chris Barrett is Associate Professor of English at Louisiana State University, where
she joined the faculty in 2012 after completing her doctoral degree in English at
Harvard University. Her research and teaching interests include early modern English
literature, poetry and poetics, ecocriticisms, and geocritical approaches to literature.
Her published works--recognized by a Rainmaker Award in 2018--include the book Early Modern English Literature and the Poetics of Cartographic Anxiety (Oxford University Press, 2018), as well as articles and essays on forests, Shakespeare,
Spenser, Milton, butterflies, fire, and the twinned history of ether and laughter.
She is currently at work on two book projects, about early modern trees and about
the poetics of the obvious. Her research has been supported by the Council on Research,
the Newberry Library, the Folger Library, the Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Collection,
and the Lilly Library. Since 2013, Dr. Barrett has been the faculty adviser to Spectrum,
LSU's largest LGBTQIA+ student organization. Additionally, Barrett has been the recipient
of several teaching awards, including the inaugural Outstanding Professor Award from
the LSU Student Government (2018), the Tiger Athletic Foundation President’s Award
(2017), the Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award (2014), and the
English Graduate Student Association Graduate Faculty Award (2014).
Inessa Bazayev
Paula G. Manship Professor of Music Theory
Ph.D., Graduate Center of the City University of New York
ibazayev@lsu.edu
267 Music & Dramatic Arts Building
Biography
Inessa Bazayev is Paula G. Manship Professor of Music Theory in the LSU School of
Music and Faculty Senate President of LSU. Her research focuses on Russian and Soviet
Music, Russian Futurism, and the history of Russian music theory. She has organized
two sets of publications that are part of special issues for Music Theory Online: “Perspectives on 20th-Century Russian Theory” and “Prokofiev at 125.” Her research
has brought her into the world of Theosophy, alternative spiritualities, esotericism,
and the music of mystery. She brings to The MPC exemplary leadership skills and deep
knowledge of some of music's many mysteries.
Joseph Givens
Faculty, College of Art and Design
MA, Louisiana State University
givens@lsu.edu
220 Julian T. White Hall
Biography
Joseph Givens is an Instructor in the College of Art and Design and Director of Ronald
E. McNair Research Scholars at LSU. He is an advocate for marginalized artists, specializes
in the scholarly investigation of overlooked and neglected art movements, and is a
contributing author to Oxford Art Online’s Grove Dictionary of Art. He regularly teaches a course in Occulture, a reservoir of ideas, beliefs, theories,
and practices associated with alternative spiritualities and esotericism. He contributes
perspectives on the occult dimensions of the art world and leads students in the McNair
Scholars Program.
Golden G. Richard III
Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
Ph.D., The Ohio State University
goldenrichard1@lsu.edu
1081A Digital Media Center
Biography
Golden G. Richard III is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Director
of LSU Cyber Center and Applied Cybersecurity Lab, and Associate Director for Cybersecurity
at the Center for Computation and Technology. He is an applied computer scientist
working in cybersecurity and a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
He has over 45 years of practical experience in computer systems and computer security
and is a devoted advocate for applied cybersecurity education. He is the author of
numerous publications. He is a benevolent hacker, sharing with The MPC a deep interest
in mystery, secrecy, and the workings of the dark web.