Ermira Mazziotta Associate Professor, Accounting |
Education
Teaching Interests
One of the most exciting aspects of teaching for me is the ability to connect the classroom to the practical business world. I am able to accomplish that by bringing examples from my own professional experience. I believe learning continues well beyond the classroom. To help my students become lifelong learners, I encourage my students to explore and express an intellectual curiosity in everything they do.
Teaching at Muhlenberg is very rewarding for me because of the relationships and interactions with the students and colleagues alike. I love the fact that I am able to know all of my students’ names by the first week of class; that helps to foster a learning environment where everyone feels comfortable to ask questions and express their ideas. Another reason that I enjoy teaching at Muhlenberg is the interaction with other disciplines. It is common to have students in my accounting classes that are double majors in accounting and dance or accounting and theatre; this enhances the diversity of thought and collaboration in the classroom, from which everyone benefits.
Research, Scholarship or Creative/Artistic Interests
When financial scandals happen, as we have seen recently, many people’s lives are impacted negatively and everyone is left wondering, how did that happen? That’s why among the areas of research that I am interested in is analyzing the anatomy of fraud and how fraud impacts financial statements. Internal controls of an organization are the gatekeepers that can prevent fraud from happening. Management is the decision maker for implementing internal controls of an organization. What happens if management lacks integrity and is motivated to commit fraud? How effective are these internal controls? These and other questions are answered by analyzing fraud and control environments where fraud happens.