Christian Farina
Education
- Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 2023
- M.S. Physics, University of Pittsburgh, 2015
- B.S. Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh, 2014
Biography
Christian Farina received his Bachelor's Degree in mathematics with minor in physics in 2014 and his M.S. in physics in 2015 both from the University of Pittsburgh. Briefly after starting his doctoral work in particle physics at the University of Pittsburgh, he took a break to work as a physics instructor at Community College of Allegheny County, in Pittsburgh, where he then became first Assistant then Associate Professor of physics. He returned to his Ph.D. in 2019 and completed it in 2023, with at thesis on the spectrum and decay of hybrid mesons. He was an adjunct professor of physics at Duquesne University in 2024 and 2025. He joined the University of Illinois in August of 2025 as a Teaching Assistant Professor, where he focuses on teaching and on developing effective strategies for improving physics education through active learning. He also continues to pursue his interests in non-perturbative QCD and the study of exotic mesons and their properties.
Academic Positions
- Associate Professor of Physics, Community College of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, 2017-2025
Research Interests
- Collaborative work as a way to improve learning
- Applications of active learning instruction to physics education
- Metacognition in physics learning
- Non-perturbative QCD and properties of exotic hadrons
Research Areas
Selected Articles in Journals
- C. Farina, E. S. Swanson, Strong Decays of the Light Exotic $0^{+−}$ and $2^{+−}$ Hybrid Mesons, [arxiv.org/2512.00459], (2025)
- Constituent Gluon Model of Light Hybrid Decays, C. Farina, E. S. Swanson, PHY. Rev. D 109, 094015 (2024)
- Heavy Hybrid Decays in a Constituent Gluon Model, Christian Farina, Hugo Garcia Tecocoatzi, Alessandro Giachino, Elena Santopinto, Eric S. Swanson, Phys. Rev. D 102, 014023 (2020)
Teaching Honors
- Myron P. Garfunkel Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching Award, 2016, University of Pittsburgh
Recent Courses Taught
- PHYS 211 - University Physics: Mechanics
- PHYS 213 - Univ Physics: Thermal Physics
- PHYS 214 - Univ Physics: Quantum Physics