Leadership and Staff

Baldy Center Logo.

The Baldy Center staff includes faculty, research faculty, administrators, and students who focus on supporting and fostering innovative research in law, legal institutions, and social policy. 

Samantha Barbas.

Samantha Barbas

Samantha Barbas, JD, PhD, Director

Samantha Barbas is the director of The Baldy Center. Barbas researches and teaches in the areas of legal history, First Amendment law and mass communications law. Her work focuses on the intersection of law, culture, media and technology in United States history. Her recent research has explored the history of the law of privacy and defamation. 

Amanda M. Benzin.

Amanda M. Benzin

Amanda M. Benzin, MFA, Assistant Director

Amanda M. Benzin is the Assistant Director of The Baldy Center, effective November 28, 2022. She is responsible for managing various activities in The Center. Benzin graduated summa cum laude from UB with a BFA in Dance and minor in Business Administration. She holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Colorado Boulder with concentrations in performance, choreography, women and gender studies, somatics, and pedagogy.

Benzin is a somatically conscious, rhythmically and passionately driven scholar-artist, educator, Emmy-Award-winning performer, choreographer, and administrator. Most recently she served as Dance Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Dance at Colorado Mesa University. Benzin's current research exists at the intersection of pedagogy, ethical practices, somatic techniques, and vulnerability.

2022-2023 Staff and Media Producers

  • Alexis Cohen
    UB College of Arts and Science BA expected 2023
  • Farrah DeLozier
    UB College of Arts and Science BA expected 2024
  • Sheba DeLozier
    UB College of Arts and Science BA expected 2023
  • Simon Honig
    UB School of Law 3L, JD expected 2023
  • Debra Kolodczak, PhD
    Website Managing Editor and UX Designer
  • Julia Merante
    UB School of Law 3L, JD expected 2023

 

2021- 2022 Multimedia Production Team

2020-21 Multimedia Production Team