Sasha Su-Ling Welland is Chair & Professor in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington, with an adjunct role in Anthropology and affiliation in China Studies. She holds a PhD (2006) and MA (1998) in Anthropology from UC Santa Cruz, and a BA (1991) in Ethnic Studies from Stanford University. Her research focuses on transnational visual culture, women of color, ecocriticism, and post-socialist gender dynamics. Current work explores embodied ecologies, nuclear colonialism, and racial capitalism in the Anthropocene. Welland’s scholarship bridges art, ethnography, and public scholarship. Her book Experimental Beijing (2018) won major prizes for its analysis of gender in Chinese contemporary art. Recent research intertwines military/medical histories with environmental justice in St. Louis. She curates feminist art exhibits in Asia and serves on the Journal of Visual Culture editorial board. Her awards include the 2019 Francis L.K. Hsu Book Prize and 2020 Joseph Levenson Prize. She advises graduate students and leads lab teams investigating transnational feminisms and environmental humanities. Resources include her CV and online office hours via the department’s website.
Haiyan Lee serves as the Walter A. Haas Professor of the Humanities and Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and of Comparative Literature at Stanford University. She has held these positions since joining Stanford in 2009, and currently serves as Chair of the East Asian Languages and Cultures department (2020-present). Her academic journey includes previous teaching appointments at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Hong Kong, along with post-doctoral fellowships at Cornell University and Harvard University. Lee's research spans multiple interdisciplinary fields with particular focus on modern Chinese literature and cultural production. Her work bridges literary studies with law, philosophy, cognitive science, affect theory, gender studies, and environmental humanities. She has developed influential theoretical frameworks including the concept of "high justice" and "low justice" in Chinese legal imagination. Her current research explores animism, cognition, and the Chinese environmental imagination, extending her longstanding interest in human-animal relations. Lee's publications reveal a consistent trajectory examining Chinese cultural production through innovative theoretical lenses. Her recent work shows increasing engagement with legal theory, environmental humanities, and cognitive approaches to literature. She has produced significant scholarship on Chinese concepts of justice, love, and the stranger, moving across historical periods from early 20th century to contemporary China. Biennial Book Prize, Honorable Mention, International Society for Chinese Law and History (ISCLH) (2024) Humanities Seed Grant, Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences (2023-2025) Bass Fellowship in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University (2022-2027) Joseph Levenson Book Prize, The Association for Asian Studies (2009) Professor Lee actively mentors doctoral students across multiple disciplines, serving as dissertation advisor, co-advisor, and committee member for students working at the intersection of Chinese studies, law, literature, and cultural theory. Her teaching includes courses across East Asian humanities, comparative literature, and interdisciplinary environmental studies. She has received significant research support including the Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies and a residency at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
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.
Sophie Volpp is a Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on Chinese literature from the 16th to 19th centuries, with particular emphasis on theatricality, material culture, and literary objects. She is the author of *Worldly Stage: Theatricality in Seventeenth-Century China* (2011) and *The Substance of Fiction: Literary Objects in China, 1550-1775* (2022). Her current projects include a book on the National Peiping Library’s preservation efforts during the Sino-Japanese War and an analysis of referents in *The Story of the Stone*. Her scholarly work bridges literary analysis and cultural history, examining themes such as gender, power, and spectacle in late-imperial China. She has translated works by pre-modern women poets and dramatists, contributing to gender-centric scholarship in East Asian studies. Her publications span journal articles and edited volumes, addressing topics like Qing-era theatrical design, material circulation in classical novels, and cross-cultural influences in literary production. Her research has been published in venues such as *Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies* and *Journal of Asian Studies*.
Alison Isenberg is a Professor of History at Princeton University and Faculty Associate at the School of Public and International Affairs. She is founding co-director of the Princeton-Mellon Initiative in Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities, and formerly directed Princeton’s Urban Studies Program (2012-2014). She serves on the Executive Committees of the Urban Studies Program, American Studies, and Gender and Sexuality Studies. Her research focuses on urban history, American society, and intersections with public policy, preservation, and cultural studies. Ph.D. in History, University of Pennsylvania (1995) B.A. in History, Yale University (1984) Her scholarship examines urban transformations, including award-winning books on urban renewal and historical preservation. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Princeton’s Humanities Council, and institutions like the Schlesinger Library and the Graham Foundation. Her collaborative projects with filmmakers, playwrights, and community partners explore public humanities and Trenton’s 1968 unrest. Ellis Hawley Prize (Organization of American Historians) PROSE Award for Architecture & Urban Planning Old Dominion Fellowship NEH Fellowship (2021) Isenberg teaches courses spanning urban history, documentary film, and public policy, including seminars on the 1960s and lectures on urban unrest. She previously taught at Rutgers, UNC Chapel Hill, and Florida International University, with visiting fellowships at Stanford, UNC, and the Bard Graduate Center. Her work bridges academic research and community engagement, supported by grants from the Princeton Histories Fund and 250th Anniversary Fund.
Ramsey McGlazer is an Associate Professor specializing in twentieth-century European and Latin American literature, film, and critical theory. His research engages with poetry, politics-aesthetics intersections, critical carceral studies, and feminist/queer/psychoanalytic frameworks. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Critical Theory from UC Berkeley (2015) and previously taught at the University of St Andrews and Brown University’s Pembroke Center. McGlazer’s work interrogates modernist critiques of progress, radical psychiatry movements, and the interplay between aesthetic practices and institutional critique. His acclaimed monograph Old Schools: Modernism, Education, and the Critique of Progress (2020) won the American Association for Italian Studies First Book Prize. Current projects include The Clinic and its Double , exploring mid-century radical psychiatry and avant-garde art. He serves as Senior Editor of Critical Times and Coeditor of Italian Culture , and has translated key works like Rita Segato’s The War Against Women . McGlazer’s writing appears in venues such as Los Angeles Review of Books and n+1 . Research interests span Surrealist provocations, Brazilian artist Lygia Clark’s propositions, and transnational feminist solidarities. His scholarship bridges literary analysis with critical engagements in carceral studies, postcolonial theory, and decolonial thought.
Michele Ripplinger is a Berkeley Lecturer and Ph.D. candidate in English and Medieval Studies at UC Berkeley. Her research focuses on late medieval literature, particularly Chaucer and the reception of classical texts, with emphasis on gender studies, representational ethics, and women’s reading practices. She teaches across historical periods, integrating cultural studies and poetry analysis. Education: Pursuing a Ph.D. in English and Medieval Studies at UC Berkeley (dissertation on Chaucer and the Moralized Ovid). Research Interests: Medieval and early modern classics reception, fictionality, history of reading, women’s/gender/sexuality studies, and intersections between premodern and modern literary thought. Her publications and conference presentations highlight work on Chaucer, Hoccleve, and medieval literary methodologies. She has presented at major venues including the New Chaucer Society Congress and the International Congress on Medieval Studies. No scientific awards are listed. Advising and grants details are not provided. Office hours are by appointment.
Maile Arvin is a Kanaka Maoli feminist scholar and Assistant Professor at the Department of Ethnic Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her research and teaching focus on Indigenous relationships to land, histories of race and settler colonialism in Hawaiʻi, Oceania, and the United States. Previously, she was faculty in History and Gender Studies at the University of Utah and founding director of the Center for Pasifika Indigenous Knowledges. PhD in Ethnic Studies, University of California San Diego (2013) MA in Ethnic Studies, University of California San Diego (2009) BA in English, Swarthmore College (2005) Her research examines: Colonial production of racial categories, particularly Polynesians as an 'almost white race' in historical social science History of incarceration of Native Hawaiian children in government institutions (1865–1960s) Intersection of settler colonialism and Indigenous feminisms Critique of eugenics and genomic studies in the Pacific Community-engaged memorialization projects in Hawaiʻi Recent scholarly trends include analyses of Indigenous sovereignty, critiques of settler colonial whiteness, and interdisciplinary studies of race-gender dynamics. Arvin's publications explore Polynesian racialization, decolonial feminism, and the socioeconomic impacts of colonial institutions. NEH Chair's Grant for Nā Lei Poina ʻOle ACLS Digital Justice Seed Grant Arvin leads Nā Lei Poina ʻOle (Beloved Children Never Forgotten), a community history project about reformatories and industrial schools in Hawaiʻi. In collaboration with Kawela Farrant and the North Shore Community Land Trust, this project uses archival and oral histories to confront the legacy of child incarceration. She also critiques the nonprofit-industrial complex's role in limiting Indigenous sovereignty.
University of California, Los AngelesUnited States
Anna Morcom is Professor and Mohindar Brar Sambhi Chair of Indian Music in the Department of Ethnomusicology at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music. She previously held a professorship at Royal Holloway, University of London, and earned her Ph.D. from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) in 2002, where she also completed her undergraduate studies in Ethnomusicology and Hindi (1993-1996). Her research spans music and dance in India and Tibet, employing ethnographic and oral historical methods to examine the intersections of musical culture with politics, nationalism, identity, gender, inequality, economic development, and media. Morcom's scholarship is notable for its interdisciplinary approach that bridges traditional and popular musics with contemporary theoretical frameworks. Her work demonstrates significant trends toward examining music within economic frameworks, particularly through her founding of SEM's Special Interest Group on Economic Ethnomusicology. Recent publications increasingly focus on cultural economies, performance labor, and the relationship between artistic practice and economic systems in South Asia. Society of Ethnomusicology's Allan Merriam prize (2014) Marcia Herndon prize of SEM's Gender and Sexualities section (2014) Morcom's research has been supported by multiple grants from the Leverhulme Trust and the British Academy. She has been interviewed by prominent media outlets including BBC Radio 4's Thinking Allowed, The Hindu, Tehelka, and Scroll regarding her influential work on Indian dance cultures. As founder of SEM's Special Interest Group on Economic Ethnomusicology, she has shaped scholarly discourse on the economic dimensions of musical practice. Her current projects include the monograph on Hindustani music and co-editing two significant volumes: Creative Economies of Culture in South Asia: Craftspeople Performers (Routledge) and the Oxford Handbook of Economic Ethnomusicology (OUP).
Dorothy Kim serves as Assistant Professor of English at Brandeis University with cross-appointments in the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies and the Women's Studies Research Center. Her innovative scholarship bridges medieval literary studies, digital humanities, and critical race theory, examining how medieval history is weaponized by contemporary white supremacist movements and advocating for antiracist frameworks in academia. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. Her educational trajectory reflects deep engagement with interdisciplinary approaches to literature and cultural studies. Kim's research centers on exposing the racialized foundations of medieval studies, particularly through projects analyzing digital white supremacy and medievalism's role in alt-right ideology. She pioneers methodologies connecting medieval women's literary cultures with contemporary trans feminism while interrogating Jewish/Christian difference in manuscript studies. Her work consistently challenges the field's historical whiteness and develops decolonial digital humanities practices. Her publication trends reveal a decisive shift toward critical race interventions in premodern studies, with increasing focus on database methodologies, sonic histories, and the material politics of medieval manuscript transmission. Recent works demonstrate how digital tools can either reinforce or dismantle racial hierarchies in academic knowledge production. Her distinguished honors include: 2023 Medieval Academy of America Article Prize in Critical Race Studies American Studies Association Digital Humanities Book Prize (2021) Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship's Best Feminist Article Award (2021) AAUW Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018-2019) Folger Shakespeare Library Long-Term Fellowship (2025-2026) SSHRC, Ford Foundation, Fulbright, and Mellon fellowships Kim directs major collaborative projects including the NEH-funded An Archive of Early Middle English (161-manuscript database) and co-leads the Global Middle Ages Project. As co-director of RaceB4Race and the Reckonings Institute, she creates platforms for community archiving and social justice praxis. Her mentorship focuses on training students in critical digital methodologies through Brandeis' DH Lab while developing antifascist frameworks for humanities education. She currently leads the Brandeis University DH Lab housing her NEH project, co-edits Literature Compass's pre-1800 section, and develops two major book projects: Race, the Crusades, and the Katherine Group (based on her AAUW fellowship) and Music, Multimodal Manuscripts, and Remediating the Medieval Lyric for ArcPress.
Laurie Shannon is the Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English at Northwestern University, with a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She studies English literature and culture in the long sixteenth century, focusing on the history of ideas in language, stakeholdership, embodiment, and cross-species relations. She serves as convener of The Anne Lister Society and is collaborating with Oxford University Press on a scholarly edition of Anne Lister’s Journal. Education: J.D., Harvard Law School; Ph.D., University of Chicago Shannon’s research explores the political imagination in early modern literature, particularly through friendship (Sovereign Amity: Figures of Friendship in Shakespearean Contexts) and animal studies (The Accommodated Animal: Cosmopolity in Shakespearean Locales). Her current monograph, 'Frailty’s Name: Shakespeare and the Natural History of Human Being,' examines human negative exceptionalism in Renaissance thought and its implications for climate crisis ethics. Her publications span Shakespeare studies, queer theory, environmental humanities, and textual editing. Notable awards include the Elizabeth Dietz Memorial Award, Robert B. Cox Teaching Award, and Dean’s Award for Graduate Mentoring. She has held NEH, ACLS, and Guggenheim fellowships. Scientific Awards: Elizabeth Dietz Memorial Award, Robert B. Cox Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award, Dean's Award for Graduate Mentoring, NEH Fellowship, ACLS Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship Shannon contributes to the Anne Lister Diary Transcription Project and has served as English Department Chair at Northwestern. Her recent articles focus on Shakespeare’s engagement with natural history, queer cosmology, and animal sovereignty, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach.
Max Cavitch is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts & Sciences, specializing in American literature, psychoanalytic studies, and cinema. He joined Penn in 1999 after earning his B.A. from Yale and Ph.D. from Rutgers. His research spans 19th- and 20th-century literature, African American studies, and interdisciplinary fields like animal studies and gender theory. Cavitch has authored influential works such as *American Elegy* (2007) and co-edited volumes on Whitman and early American studies. He directs Penn's Psychoanalytic Studies program and edits the blog *Psyche on Campus*, honored with the 2022 American Psychoanalytic Association's Excellence in Journalism Award. His teaching includes courses on psychoanalysis, autobiography, and American poetry. Cavitch has held fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, Newcombe Foundation, and others. His recent projects explore world autobiography, psychoanalysis in academia, and the history of 'ashes' as a conceptual and material symbol. Award-winning scholar and educator, Cavitch's work bridges literary criticism with clinical theory, media studies, and transnational frameworks. He advises doctoral students in American literature and affiliated programs, maintaining active collaborations with institutions like the McNeil Center for Early American Studies and the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia.
Heidi R. Lewis is the David and Lucile Packard Professor of Feminist & Gender Studies at Colorado College. She serves as President of the National Women's Studies Association (2023-25) and Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Bibliography in Women's & Gender Studies. Her research focuses on Black Feminisms, Hip Hop discourse, and Critical Media Studies, with a current project challenging narratives around Mumble Rap's authenticity. Lewis holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Purdue University and has taught interdisciplinary courses including Hip Hop & Feminism and Critical Media Studies. Education: Ph.D., American Studies, Purdue University (2011) M.A., English Literature, Ohio University (2005) B.A., English Studies, Robert Morris University (2003) Research Interests: Lewis interrogates intersections of race, gender, and media through projects like her forthcoming book on Mumble Rap and a documentary on her experiences during the crack cocaine epidemic. She employs discourse analysis to challenge dominant narratives in Hip Hop and feminist theory, emphasizing marginalized voices and transnational collaborations. Service & Leadership: As Director of Feminist & Gender Studies, Lewis secured funding for new faculty lines, student programs, and community partnerships. Nationally, she co-created the #FemSTEMSymposium to bridge feminist inquiry and STEM fields. Her service prioritizes equity, including roles on promotion committees and external reviews for academic centers. Community Engagement: Lewis collaborates with organizations like the Kampagne für Opfer Rassistischer Polizeigewalt and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Her work extends beyond academia through public talks, media contributions, and initiatives like the Marsha P. Johnson Professorship.
Ken Mello is an Associate Professor of Religion at Southwestern University, specializing in Native American and Indigenous religious studies. His expertise includes contemporary Indigenous identity, sacred space, gender/sexuality studies, and non-textual religious traditions. He employs an 'integrated approach' combining interdisciplinary methods (history, anthropology, sociology) and direct community engagement to teach and research indigenous traditions. Education: PhD from UC Santa Barbara (2003), MAs from University of Arizona (1996) and Colgate University (1994), BA from Colgate (1992). His research focuses on urban Native American religious identity, religion-place intersections, and future projects include material culture revival, Native American music, and religion-sports connections. Courses cross-list with Environmental Studies, Feminist Studies, Race/Ethnicity Studies, and LABS to foster interdisciplinary learning.
Donald R. Davis, Jr. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin's College of Liberal Arts. With a PhD from the same institution, he has established himself as a leading scholar in Hindu law and Dharmaśāstra studies. His work bridges religious studies, legal history, and South Asian studies, making significant contributions to our understanding of law and religion in medieval India. Davis earned his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, where he has built his academic career. His scholarly journey has been deeply rooted in the study of Sanskrit legal traditions and their intersection with religious practice. Professor Davis's primary research concerns the interaction of law and religion in medieval India. He examines both historical evidence for law and legal practice through inscriptions and regional language documents, as well as the Dharmaśāstra tradition as a system of religious law and jurisprudence. His work situates Sanskrit normative texts within historical contexts while exploring their conceptual frameworks. He maintains the Resource Library for Dharmaśāstra Studies and has published extensively on Hindu law, including books such as The Spirit of Hindu Law (2010) and The Dharma of Business (2017). Davis's recent publications demonstrate a continued focus on the intersection of law, religion, and ethics in Hindu tradition. His work explores caste, conservatism, marital ethics, and the historical development of legal thought in India. He frequently draws comparative connections between Hindu legal traditions and other religious legal systems, contributing to broader conversations in legal anthropology and comparative religious law. Professor Davis actively supervises graduate students interested in Dharmaśāstra traditions and their relevance to law, religion, history, politics, and economics in India. He encourages students with broader interests in comparative religious law (Jewish law, Islamic law, Roman law, etc.) and works with those studying various aspects of Hinduism and classical religions in India, particularly in normative and "mainstream" areas such as Vedānta, Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā, Epics, and Purāṇas.
