Joel Andreas is a Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University since 2003, serving as Program Director of the East Asian Studies Program. His research focuses on political contention, social inequality, and social change in contemporary China. He holds a PhD in Sociology from UCLA and teaches social theory, political sociology, and courses on Chinese society. He has held visiting positions at universities including the University of Sydney, Hong Kong University, and Ningxia University. His work examines labor movements, rural land policies, and class dynamics in China. Recent research includes analyses of staff-worker congresses, rural land dispossession, and the persistence of militarism in U.S. policy. He critiques market reforms and explores the legacy of the Cultural Revolution. Andreas has contributed to debates on China’s transition to capitalism and the decline of socialist systems. His publications span topics from urbanization to state coercion in rural development. He maintains an active role in academic exchanges and policy-relevant research on China’s socio-political landscape.
Winnie Wong is a Professor of Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on art history, particularly exploring themes of fakes, forgeries, and authorship through interdisciplinary approaches. She examines the global artistic networks of Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, challenging Western narratives of Chinese artistic practices. Wong holds a PhD from MIT's History, Theory + Criticism program and was a Harvard Society of Fellows Junior Fellow. Her major works include Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade (2014, Joseph Levenson Prize winner), Learning from Shenzhen (2017), and a forthcoming book on Canton trade portraitists. She teaches courses like Theory of the Copy and Rhetoric of the Image , mentoring undergraduates through the Undergraduate Research Apprentices program and advising PhD students in art history and visual studies. Wong's research has been supported by grants from Mellon Foundation, ACLS, SSRC, and others. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and appears in journals like Current Anthropology and Law & Literature . She frequently discusses her work on podcasts and collaborates with museums including M+ and the Asian Art Museum.
Tom McEnaney is an Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Spanish & Portuguese at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM). He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese and serves on the Executive Board of UC Cuba. He is affiliated with the Center for Cultural Analytics, the Program in Critical Theory, the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society, and the Data Science Lab (D-Lab). His research focuses on the history of media and technology, Argentine, Cuban, and U.S. literature, sound studies, linguistic anthropology, computational humanities, and new media studies. His book Acoustic Properties: Radio, Narrative, and the New Neighborhood of the Americas (2017) explores the interplay of radio and narrative in Argentina, Cuba, and the U.S., analyzing populism, state socialism, and the reimagining of the vox populi through listening practices. McEnaney’s work has appeared in journals such as diacritics , PMLA , and Representations , and media outlets like The New York Times and Public Books . He is a Mellon New Directions Fellow (2020–2023) in cultural analytics and leads a project on tape technology’s impact on testimonial writing, rock nacional, electronic music, and audiobooks in the Americas. Previously an Assistant Professor at Cornell University, he founded the Latin American Journals Project, an online archive of digitized literary journals from Latin America and the Hispanophone Caribbean. His current affiliations emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration and expanding access to cultural archives globally.
Felicity Meakins is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Queensland, affiliated with the School of Languages and Cultures. She specializes in documenting First Nations languages in northern Australia, focusing on language contact processes, revitalization, and the impact of English on Indigenous languages. Her work bridges academic research and community engagement, including consulting on Native Title claims and language revitalization programs. Education: She studied at the University of Queensland between 1995–2001, completing her PhD in 2008. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a community linguist with Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation (2001–2004) and as a PhD researcher with the Aboriginal Child Language Project (2004–2008). Research Interests: Meakins explores language contact, mixed languages, and Indigenous knowledge systems. Her projects include the 'Dingo Lingo' study tracing canine terminology across Australia and co-authored works like Tamarra: A Story of Termites on Gurindji Country (2023) and Understanding Linguistic Fieldwork (2018). She has compiled dictionaries and grammars for languages such as Gurindji, Bilinarra, and Mudburra. Grants & Recognition: Recipient of the Eureka Award (2021), LSA’s Hale Award (2021), and a Fellow of FASSA/FAHA. She led the UQ node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (2022). Labs/Teams: Collaborates with the Language Data Commons of Australia (LDaCA) and Indigenous communities in Northern Territory projects like the Wave Hill Walk-Off documentation.
Sasha Welland is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington, affiliated with Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies; China Studies; Comparative History of Ideas; and graduate certificate programs in Cinema & Media Studies and Public Scholarship. Her research focuses on Asian American studies, East Asian ethnography, feminism, visual culture, and sociocultural anthropology. Welland’s scholarship bridges historical and contemporary analyses. Her book Experimental Beijing (2018) explores Chinese contemporary art as a site of cultural negotiation around gender, globalization, and post-socialist transformations. Her earlier work A Thousand Miles of Dreams (2006) traces the transnational lives of two 20 th -century Chinese women activists. She contributes to Journal of Visual Culture and has published in Signs and Yishu . An engaged public scholar, Welland has curated feminist art exhibitions in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, blending academic research with cultural practice. Her work interrogates intersections of gender, space, and global flows in East Asian contexts.
Matthew Louis Mauriello is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Delaware , where he directs the Sensify Lab . He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Maryland (2018) and completed postdoctoral work at Stanford University (School of Medicine, 2020; School of Public Policy & Environmental Engineering Department, 2019). Research interests span Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Ubiquitous Computing, and User-Centered Design with applications in: Sustainability Human-Building Interaction Wearable Technology Personal Informatics Educational Game Design Mental Health Interventions Recent publications highlight trends in stress monitoring (skin-like biosensors, workplace wellbeing), energy auditing (thermography systems), and educational technology (block-based programming tools for teachers). His work appears in ACM CHI, ACM Human-Computer Interaction, and Building and Environment. Scientific awards include: Best Paper Honorable Mention, CHI 2016 Best Paper Honorable Mention, CHI 2015 Best of WebSci'18 Teaching at University of Delaware encompasses courses like Educational Game Design Operating Systems Advanced Web Technologies Computing for Social Good with a focus on project-based learning and systems thinking.
Jonathan Rosa is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and, by courtesy, Departments of Anthropology, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature at Stanford University. He serves as Director of Stanford's Program in Chicanx-Latinx Studies and has held leadership positions including President of the Association of Latina/o and Latinx Anthropologists of the American Anthropological Association. Dr. Rosa's educational background includes: Ph.D. in Sociocultural and Linguistic Anthropology from the University of Chicago (2010) M.A. in Sociocultural and Linguistic Anthropology from the University of Chicago (2006) B.A. in Linguistics and Educational Studies from Swarthmore College (2003) Dr. Rosa's research examines the co-naturalization of language and race as a key feature of modern governance, tracking colonially structured interrelations among racial marginalization, linguistic stigmatization, and institutional inequity. His scholarship centers on raciolinguistic ideologies, Latinx studies, and educational justice, with a community-based approach that develops tools for challenging systemic vulnerability. He investigates how race and language are jointly defined across historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts, with particular focus on Latinx communities and educational settings. His recent publications demonstrate a consistent thematic focus on decolonizing linguistic and educational frameworks, challenging standard language ideologies, and examining the intersections of race, language, and power. The work spans multiple disciplines including sociolinguistics, anthropology, education, and critical race studies, increasingly emphasizing undoing raciolinguistics and addressing coloniality in language education and assessment practices. Dr. Rosa has received numerous prestigious awards for his scholarship: Distinguished Summer Scholar, Banks Center for Educational Justice, University of Washington College of Education (2024) Outstanding Book of the Year Award for "Looking like a Language, Sounding like a Race," American Association of Teaching and Curriculum (2022) First Book Award for "Looking like a Language, Sounding like a Race," American Association for Applied Linguistics (2021) Prose Award for Excellence in Language & Linguistics for "Looking like a Language, Sounding like a Race," Association of American Publishers (2020) Charles A. Ferguson Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Center for Applied Linguistics (2018) Dr. Rosa actively mentors doctoral students across multiple programs, serving as primary advisor for students researching race, ethnicity, language, and education. His research has been supported by major grants from the National Science Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and Ford Foundation. He collaborates extensively with community organizations, particularly in Chicago, to develop educational approaches grounded in decolonial praxis, focusing on how scholarship can serve as a platform for social transformation. Dr. Rosa co-directed Stanford's Center for Global Ethnography (2021-2023) and directed Stanford's Program in Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies (2020-2023). He serves on multiple editorial boards including Current Anthropology and Equity & Excellence in Education, and has held leadership positions in professional organizations including President of the Association of Latina/o and Latinx Anthropologists (2020-2022).
Adam Hollowell is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Program in Education at Duke University, where he also serves as Senior Research Associate at the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity and Director of the Inequality Studies Minor. His teaching spans ethics, inequality studies, and history across Duke’s Kenan Institute for Ethics, Sanford School of Public Policy, and Department of History. Hollowell holds a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh (2009). His research focuses on inequality, higher education, public policy, and ethics, with notable work on pandemic impacts, telemedicine in education, and reproductive health access during crises. In Inequality Studies , Hollowell emphasizes understanding policies to drive social change, as highlighted in recent media coverage. His publications explore topics like student behavior shifts during the pandemic, telemedicine adoption in universities, and James Baldwin’s ethical challenges. He is a finalist for the Judith Deckers Prize (2024). Professionally, Hollowell leads projects such as Bass Connections on college contraception access and Story+ initiatives. His work bridges academia and public engagement, addressing systemic inequities through interdisciplinary approaches.
Alexis Peri is an Associate Professor of History at Boston University, specializing in modern Russian and Soviet history, with a focus on war, gender, and private life. Her work bridges cultural history, environmental history, and transnational studies. She holds a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research explores Soviet beauty pageants, US-Soviet women’s correspondence, and environmental dimensions of the Crimean War (co-authored with Catherine Ashcraft). Major publications include The War Within: Diaries from the Siege of Leningrad (2017) and Dear Unknown Friend: the Remarkable Correspondence between American and Soviet Women (2024). Dr. Peri has received the 2018 Pushkin House Book Prize, 2019 Gitner Teaching Prize, and 2024 Metcalf Award. Her research has been supported by the Fulbright Program, Kennan Institute, and others. She teaches undergraduate courses on Russian/Soviet history and directs multiple collaborative research projects.
Monica Berlin was the Richard & Sophie D. Henke Distinguished Professor of English at Knox College, serving from 1998 until her passing in 2022. She held leadership roles as Chair of the Department of English and Associate Director of the Program in Creative Writing. Her academic background includes a B.A. in English Writing (1995, Knox College), M.A. in Literature and Composition (1998, Western Illinois University), and M.F.A. in Poetry (2002, Vermont College). Her research focuses on creative writing (poetry, nonfiction, fiction) and modern/contemporary American literature. She has published extensively in literary journals and anthologies, earning major awards like the Crab Orchard Poetry Series Open (2018) and New Measure Poetry Prize (2013). Her collaborative work with Beth Marzoni has been widely recognized in literary circles. Beyond academia, Berlin directed The Space (a literary center) and spearheaded digital archives like A Map of Voices: The Knox Writers' House . She contributed to campus governance as a member of the Faculty Personnel Committee and engaged with the community through roles at the Galesburg Public Library and literary festivals. Students praise her ability to guide them in refining their craft, emphasizing the 'elusive mechanics of writing.' Her legacy includes fostering literary innovation and accessibility in education and public spaces.
Carl Vondrick is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University. His research focuses on creating robust and versatile perception systems that leverage video and interaction with the natural world, with applications in 3D reconstruction, visual question answering, and robot manipulation. Former research scientist at Google Visiting researcher at Cruise Education: PhD (2017) from MIT, advised by Antonio Torralba BS (2011) from UC Irvine, advised by Deva Ramanan His research explores multimodal approaches for cross-task and cross-modal transfer, scene dynamics, audiovisual perception, interpretable models, and spatial awareness systems. The lab emphasizes zero-shot generalization and neuro-symbolic methods while addressing safety and robustness in AI systems. Key publication trends include: 2025: Video generation for robotics 2024: Differentiable rendering and cross-modal reasoning 2023: Robust perception and 3D modeling Scientific Awards: 2024 PAMI Young Researcher Award 2021 NSF CAREER Award Teaching Roles: Teaching Computer Vision II (2021-2025), Computer Vision I (2018-2019), and Representation Learning (2020-2022). Advising: Advises 8 current PhD students and has mentored 5 graduated students now at institutions like MBZUAI and UMD. The lab recruits 1-2 PhD students annually through Columbia’s PhD program. Grants and Collaborations: Funded by NSF, DARPA, Toyota Research Institute, Amazon Research, and Google.
Arvind Parkhe is a Laura H. Carnell Professor of Strategy and International Business at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. He previously taught at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business (1989–2003) and holds degrees from IIT Bombay (B.Tech.), Georgia State University (MBA), and Temple University (Ph.D.). His research focuses on strategic alliances, global supply chains, international joint ventures, and trust in cross-border partnerships. He has published in top journals like the Academy of Management Journal and Strategic Management Journal, earning awards such as the AIB Best Dissertation Award (1990) and JIBS Decade Award (2001). Teaching excellence spans all academic levels: recognized as outstanding faculty for Ph.D., MBA, and undergraduate programs. Service leadership includes Vice President of the Consortium for Undergraduate International Business Education (2014), Chair of Fox’s Strategic Management Department (2010–2020), and Managing Director of Fox MBA Programs (2005–2010). He received Temple’s Musser Outstanding Service Award (2012) and Faculty Service Excellence Award (2012). Key research contributions emphasize interorganizational networks, global competitive strategies, and trust mechanisms in alliances. His work bridges theory and practice, addressing challenges in global business operations and strategic collaboration.
Prof. Ahmet Atay holds the rank of Professor of Communication Studies at the College of Wooster, serving as Program Chair of Global Media & Digital Studies and liaison to the Digital Visual Storytelling Pathway. His academic journey includes degrees from Marmara University (B.A., 1998), Ohio University (M.A., 2001), University of Northern Iowa (M.A., 2003), and Southern Illinois University (Ph.D., 2009). His research focuses on transnational communication, digital media's societal impact, cultural identity formation in global contexts, and queer diasporic experiences. He actively explores media representation of gender/sexuality, critical pedagogy, and autoethnography as research methodologies. Notable projects include editing works on millennial media ecology, intercultural communication pedagogy, and transnational queer cinema. Teaching responsibilities include courses on intercultural communication, mediated gender studies, and digital storytelling for social justice. He has held leadership roles in professional organizations like the National Communication Association and Central States Communication Association. Prof. Atay's recent publications emphasize digital ethnography, decolonizing communication studies, and queer pedagogy innovations. His work bridges theoretical frameworks with practical educational applications, addressing contemporary issues like diversity in academia and media's role in shaping cultural narratives.
Andrea Voyer is a Professor of Sociology at Stockholm University , focusing on social norms, boundaries, and their role in shaping social inequality , particularly in the context of immigrant integration , class disparities, and ethnic inequality. She employs both qualitative and computational methods , including large-scale text analysis and cultural theory, to explore these themes. Her research has received funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond , the Swedish Research Council , the National Science Foundation (USA) , and the Russell Sage Foundation . Voyer serves as a program coordinator for master's programs in sociology and applied social research, and leads the department's research groups in qualitative methods , computational sociology , and cultural sociology . She is also an editorial board member for Sociological Theory and American Journal of Cultural Sociology , and contributes to public discourse on immigration, segregation, and social norms. Her recent publications highlight the use of computational techniques to analyze immigrant incorporation through shifts in mainstream discourse, the cultural processes of inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic , and the evolving role of class distinction-making in etiquette literature. These works bridge cultural theory with empirical analysis, offering actionable insights for addressing social inequality.
Robert Kaufman is a Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a B.A. (1979), J.D. (1982), and Ph.D. (1995) from UC Berkeley. Prior to academia, he practiced labor and employment law. His career includes positions at McGill University, Stanford University (where he was an Assistant Professor of English and affiliated with German Studies and Modern Thought & Literature), and visiting roles at the University of Chicago and UC Berkeley. He has held fellowships including Stanford Humanities Center, Hellman Family, and Institute of International Studies. He co-chairs Berkeley's Program in Critical Theory. His research focuses on 20th-21st century American poetry, Latin American poetry, Romantic-era poetics, Frankfurt School Critical Theory, and aesthetic philosophy. Key projects include Negative Romanticism: Adornian Aesthetics in Keats, Shelley, and Modern Poetry , and studies on César Vallejo, Paul Celan, and Robert Duncan. His work bridges Marxist theory, lyric form, and sociopolitical critique. Kaufman's essays analyze Adorno's influence on modern poetry, the ethics of lyric form, and intersections between poetry and democracy. His recent work engages postmodernism's aftermath and contemporary political crises. He frequently collaborates on translation projects and public humanities initiatives, including events on Paul Celan's centenary.