University of California, Los AngelesUnited States
Yunxiang Yan is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His work focuses on China and Cultural Anthropology , with specific expertise in Economic Anthropology , Family and Kinship , and Individualization . Education: Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Harvard University (1993). Yan’s research explores the intersection of social change , moral theory , and family dynamics in modern China. His ethnographic studies in rural villages provide foundational insights into exchange theory and cultural globalization . Recent publications analyze food safety , medical ethics , and moral crises in China, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach combining anthropology, sociology, and philosophy. Articles span themes like intergenerational intimacy , political oppression , and networked social structures . Scientific Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship Levenson Prize-winning Research Yan’s work bridges local Chinese studies with global anthropological discourse. He has held positions at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Johns Hopkins University, and UCLA since 1996. His career reflects a commitment to documenting the lives of ordinary people, rooted in his early experiences as an expelled villager during Maoist China. Contact: yan@anthro.ucla.edu
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.
Professor David A Palmer is a distinguished academic jointly appointed by the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong, where he has been teaching since 2008. His interdisciplinary work bridges anthropology, sociology, religious studies, and Sinology, establishing him as a leading scholar in Chinese religious studies and transnational religious movements. Palmer's educational background includes a PhD in Anthropology of Religion from Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Sorbonne, Paris), an MPhil in Clinical Psychology/Medical Anthropology from University of Paris-VIII, and a BA in Anthropology and East Asian Studies from McGill University. His scholarly contributions span multiple disciplines with particular emphasis on Chinese religious traditions and their global manifestations. His research interests focus on the anthropology and sociology of spirituality and religion, especially Daoism and Chinese religion; religion in modern and contemporary China; inter-Asian and transnational religious circulations; Baháʼí Faith; civil society, volunteering, philanthropy, community engagement; and cultural and religious interactions on the Belt and Road. His work examines how religious traditions navigate modernity, state power, and globalization, with particular attention to the Belt and Road Initiative's cultural dimensions. Palmer's publications reveal a consistent focus on understanding Chinese religious traditions within broader theoretical frameworks of social theory, civil society, and transnational religious networks. His articles demonstrate how Chinese religious practices and institutions both adapt to and shape contemporary social and political contexts, with particular attention to the intersections of spirituality, modernity, and state-society relations. Joseph Levenson Award of the Association for Asian Studies PROSE award of the American Publishers' Association Francis L.K. Hsu Award of the Society for East Asian Anthropology Edward Bruner Prize for the best book in Anthropology of Tourism HK Research Grants Council RGC Research Fellowship (2021-2025) HK Research Grants Council Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship (2019) Palmer currently leads multiple significant research projects including 'Global China, Local Cultures: Chinese Modernity and Soft Power on the Belt and Road' (RGC Research Fellowship, 2021-2025), 'Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road' (CRF, 2019-2023), 'Rituals and Manuscripts of the Lanten Yao (Laos)' (GRF, 2021-2024), and 'Religious Cosmopolitanism in China, 1895-1927' (GRF, 2021-2024). He leads the 'Asian Religious Connections' research cluster at HKIHSS, co-convenes the 'Culture, Community and Social Equity' research cluster in the HKU Faculty of Social Sciences, and serves as co-convenor of the HKU Anthropology Research Network. As President of the East Asian Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, he plays a key role in advancing scholarly understanding of religion in the region.
Crystal S. Rudds is an Assistant Professor of African American literature and culture in the Department of English at the University of Utah, specializing in twentieth-century American and African American fiction, urban life narratives, Black Feminisms, and black geography/ecology. She earned her PhD in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2016) and MFA in Creative Writing from Indiana University-Bloomington (2004). Her research explores intersections between literary analysis and community engagement, focusing on urban spatiality, public housing representation, and black interiority. She has published works analyzing Frank London Brown and Jasmon Drain's housing narratives, digital archiving practices, and pedagogical identity evolution. Key grant activities include: Gathering, Sewing, Giving: Chronopolitics and Black Women's Quilting (TRIC/Mellon Foundation, 2023) Utah Presidential Leadership Fellowship (2023) Recognitions: David D. Anderson Award for Midwestern Literary Studies (2023) Mary Blinn Poetry Prize (2022) University of Utah Fellowships (2022) Teaching activities feature: Experiential learning with archival documents Historic site visits Performance-based literary analysis Community-focused pedagogy
University of California, Los AngelesUnited States
Ching Kwan Lee is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her work focuses on global and comparative issues, including labor politics, political sociology, decolonization, and the dynamics of Chinese capitalism. She is renowned for her trilogy on Chinese labor and global expansion, including Gender and the South China Miracle , Against the Law , and The Specter of Global China . Lee has also authored groundbreaking studies on Hong Kong’s decolonization struggles and African-China relations. Education: PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Research Interests : Globalization and its social impacts Comparative labor movements and protest dynamics Decolonization and postcolonial state formations Sino-African economic and labor relations Hong Kong’s political trajectory and transnational activism Her recent work explores resistance to 'global China,' including mass mobilizations in Hong Kong documented in Forever Hong Kong: A Global City’s Decolonization Struggle (2025). She co-edits the Cambridge Elements in Global China and leads the Global Hong Kong Studies @UC initiative. Awards & Recognition : 2024 Distinguished Career in Political Sociology Award Multiple book prizes for The Specter of Global China Fellowships at Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study and Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study Grants & Initiatives : Lead researcher on NSF grants studying platform capitalism and labor in China Initiated comparative projects on Brazil, India, China, and South Africa ( Southern Interregnum ) Co-editor of volumes on Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement and global labor studies
Dr. Corey T. Callaghan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida . Based at the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center , his research focuses on global change ecology using big data from citizen science platforms like eBird and iNaturalist, combined with geospatial analyses and macroecological theory . Ph.D. (2019) from UNSW Sydney M.S. (2015) from Florida Atlantic University B.S. + B.S. (2013) from Canisius College His work examines urban ecology , including how species traits influence urban tolerance across birds, amphibians, and butterflies. He develops adaptive sampling frameworks to optimize citizen science data collection while addressing biases. Current projects analyze human-nature interactions through citizen science participation, secondary data in photographs, and machine learning for biodiversity monitoring. He actively contributes to conservation strategies for urban biodiversity and data-driven restoration efforts . Recent publications highlight his expertise in cross-taxa comparisons , continental-scale analyses , and ecosystem service quantification . He leads the Global Ecology Research Group at the University of Florida, emphasizing collaborative science and open-source methodologies .
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.
Jerrica Ty Rowlett serves as an Assistant Professor of Communication and Language Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences at Bryant University, where she examines digital communication's societal implications through research and teaching in digital culture and social media dynamics. Education Ph.D., Florida State University M.A., Clemson University B.A., Georgetown College Her research program investigates identity formation, civic engagement, and digital inequity through critical analysis of social media platforms. She explores how digital environments shape interpersonal relationships, political discourse, and community building while addressing power dynamics in online spaces, with particular attention to abusive contexts, gender representation, and emotional experiences. Analysis of her publication record (2015-2024) reveals a consistent trajectory examining social media's evolving societal impact. Early work focused on educational applications and youth culture, progressing to sophisticated analyses of political meme culture, relationship dissolution in abusive contexts, and emotional contagion online. Her scholarship demonstrates increasing attention to social justice dimensions within digital communication. Scientific Awards No awards documented in current sources Advising and Grants Student advising details and research grant information are not specified in available materials, though her extensive publication record indicates active scholarly mentorship and research productivity. Labs and Teams No dedicated research laboratories or formal collaborative teams are mentioned in the provided information.
Mark Post is a Senior Lecturer and Honours Coordinator in the Discipline of Linguistics at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Sydney. He also serves as Deputy Head of School (Humanities) and is affiliated with the China Studies Centre, Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, and The Vere Gordon Childe Centre. His educational background includes a BA Hons from Wesleyan University, an MA from the University of Oregon, and a PhD from La Trobe University. Dr. Post's research focuses on describing and explaining the typologies and relationships among Greater Mainland Southeast Asian and Himalayan languages. His descriptive work relies exclusively on primary field data, with interests in improving fieldwork methodologies. He approaches linguistic explanation from a functional-diachronic perspective, viewing language as a dynamic process whose structures emerge from patterns of discourse and interaction. His extensive publication record reveals a strong focus on Eastern Himalayan languages, particularly Tani languages, with research spanning linguistic typology, historical linguistics, and language documentation. Key themes include classifiers, deixis, applicatives, and the ethnolinguistic prehistory of the Eastern Himalaya across more than 50 publications since 2004. His notable recognition includes: 2011 Recipient of the Association for Linguistic Typology's Pāṇini Award Dr. Post has supervised research students including Chintan SHETH on ethno-linguistic prehistory in the Eastern Himalaya. His grant history includes significant projects such as 'Pseudo grains and adaptiveness in the Eastern Himalayas' (ARC, 2023), 'Center for Cultural Linguistic Diversity - Eastern Himalayas' (Firebird Foundation, 2022), and 'A Documentation of the Upper Belt variety of Minyong (Adi)' (Endangered Languages Documentation Programme). He is a life member of the Galo Language Development Committee (Arunachal Pradesh, India) and actively participates in the Association for Linguistic Typology, Australian Linguistic Society, and North East Indian Linguistics Society.
Silvia Lindtner is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan's School of Information and Director of the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing (ESC). She holds courtesy appointments in the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design and the Digital Studies Institute. Her work focuses on the social and cultural study of technology in China and globally, with a focus on data-driven governance, AI ethics, and the intersection of technology and labor. Lindtner has conducted nearly two decades of fieldwork in China, examining innovation ecosystems, digital economies, and the affective dimensions of state control. She is the author of the award-winning *Prototype Nation: China and the Contested Promise of Innovation* (2020) and co-author of *Technoprecarious* (2020). Education: PhD in Information and Computer Sciences from University of California, Irvine; BS/MS in Media Technology and Design from University of Hagenberg, Austria. Research Interests: Science and Technology Studies (STS), China Studies, HCI, Critical Computing, AI Ethics, Data Governance, Labor Studies, and Transnational Digital Economies. She explores how technological systems shape governance, labor practices, and everyday life, particularly in contexts of global inequality and state surveillance. Awards: Joseph Levenson Prize (2021), Francis L.K. Hsu Book Prize (2021), ACM Distinguished Member (2022), and fellowships from the National Committee on US-China Relations (2021-2023) and China-US Scholars Program (2021-2022). Grants: Supported by NSF, IMLS, Intel Labs, Google Anita Borg, and Chinese National Natural Science Foundation. Leads interdisciplinary initiatives including Tech.Culture.Matters research group and Michigan Interactive and Social Computing (MISC) research group. Labs/Teams: Directs the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing (ESC) and collaborates with the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies. Current projects include studies on affective control in AI governance and transnational data practices in healthcare and labor.
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)United Kingdom
Clare Hemmings is a Professor of Feminist Theory at the Department of Gender Studies, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she has been since 1999. Her work bridges feminist theory, queer studies, and sexuality studies, with a focus on how these fields are institutionalized and narrated. She holds a PhD and has authored seminal works like Why Stories Matter (2011) and Considering Emma Goldman (2018), which explore feminist historiography and political ambivalence. Her research emphasizes interdisciplinary methods, including archival interventions and creative writing to challenge dominant narratives. Hemmings’ research interests include feminist epistemology, queer of color critique, and anarchist thought. She has been active in countering 'anti-gender' movements and is currently developing a project on 'Feminist Knowledge Struggles.' Her work is marked by attention to form, affect, and the intersection of nationalism, feminism, and sexuality. She supervises PhD students Senel Wanniarachchi and Rawda Elaskary and has received the FWSA Book Prize 2012 for Why Stories Matter . Hemmings’ articles span feminist theory, political mobilizations, and affect studies. Her recent work engages with family memory archives and decolonial methodologies. She is a prolific scholar, contributing to journals like Memory Studies , Feminist Studies , and Radical Philosophy . Her interdisciplinary approach integrates literary criticism, sociology, and activism, offering transformative frameworks for feminist praxis.
Josh Seim is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Boston College, affiliated with the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. His work focuses on the sociologies of work, medicine, welfare, punishment, pedagogy, and ethnographic methods. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and has published widely in top journals including *American Sociological Review* and *Social Problems*. Education: B.A., Gonzaga University M.S., Portland State University Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley Research Interests: His research explores how institutions like healthcare systems, welfare offices, and penal institutions interact with urban poverty. Recent projects include studies on ambulance crews’ labor processes, welfare bureaucracy, and post-prison labor. His writing also emphasizes pedagogical innovation in sociology teaching and ethnographic methodological rigor. Key themes include the governance of suffering, medical labor, and carceral systems. Publications & Books: Bandage, Sort, and Hustle: Ambulance Crews on the Front Lines of Urban Suffering (UC Press, 2020) The Welfare Assembly Line: Public Servants in the Suffering City (forthcoming UC Press, 2026) Teaching: Sociology 7715: Classical Sociological Theory (graduate) Sociology 7716: Contemporary Sociological Theory (graduate)
Ameil Joseph is an Associate Professor at McMaster University's School of Social Work, where they contribute to critical scholarship at the intersection of mental health, race, and social justice. Their work examines how ideas about difference, normalcy, sexuality, eugenics, race, ability and mental 'illness' cohere and perform within policy, law and practice, with over a decade of professional experience in mental health settings including supportive housing, settlement services, crisis respite, and forensic community treatment. Education: Ph.D in Social Work, York University (2009-2014) MSW, Wilfrid Laurier University (2005-2007) BA in Psychology, University of Waterloo (1998-2003) Dr. Joseph's research engages with critical mental health, postcolonial theory, critical race theory, and critical disability studies to examine the historical production of ideas about difference. Their scholarship particularly focuses on how these ideas manifest in mental health systems, immigration policy, and criminal justice, with attention to issues of social justice, violence, ethics, and confluence. Their work bridges theoretical frameworks with practical implications, addressing the complex interplay of colonialism, racism, sanism, and eugenics in contemporary social systems. Analysis of Dr. Joseph's recent publications reveals a sustained focus on colonial and eugenic violence within mental health, immigration, and criminal justice systems. Their scholarship consistently examines how racism, sanism, and ableism intersect to produce particular forms of state violence, particularly against racialized immigrants with mental health conditions. Recent work has expanded to address temporal dimensions of oppression, data colonialism, and community responses to grief and loss during the pandemic, demonstrating both theoretical sophistication and practical relevance to current social issues. Scientific Awards: University Scholar 2025 - Recognized for research leadership and impact among eight McMaster professors honored as University Scholars Dr. Joseph has secured significant research funding, including nearly $75,000 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for community-engaged projects addressing social justice issues. Their teaching portfolio includes advanced courses on critical mental health perspectives, race and colonialism in Canadian society, and social justice theory. While specific graduate students aren't listed in available materials, their extensive co-author network suggests active mentorship and collaboration. Dr. Joseph contributes to community-based initiatives in Hamilton addressing racism in healthcare and mental health systems, connecting academic scholarship with practical community responses to systemic issues. Dr. Joseph maintains an active presence in community responses to contemporary challenges, particularly through initiatives addressing grief during the pandemic and systemic racism in healthcare. Their work exemplifies the integration of scholarly rigor with community engagement, demonstrating how academic research can inform and be informed by real-world social justice efforts.
Steven Jackson is a Professor of Information Science and Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University's Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, with additional graduate field appointments in Communication and Public Affairs. Since July 2023, he has served as Vice-Provost for Academic Innovation at Cornell, and previously held leadership positions as Chair of Information Science and Dean of William Keeton House. His work bridges academic research with significant institutional leadership in higher education innovation. Dr. Jackson's research focuses on critical intersections of technology, society, and the environment, with three primary strands: technology ethics, law and policy; maintenance, repair and sustainability; and technology, inequality and global development. His work draws from American pragmatism, political economy, and science and technology studies, integrating methods from sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and media studies. He is particularly interested in how computing practices meet social and material worlds, with implications for infrastructure, collaboration, sustainability, and cultural practice. His recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on repair as both theoretical concept and practical methodology, exploring 'ordinary hope' as a framework for technological engagement and examining unmaking as a necessary counterpart to design. The research spans diverse geographical contexts from the global North to South, addressing caste dynamics in computing, digital authoritarianism, and infrastructure challenges in developing contexts. Dr. Jackson has received significant recognition including an NSF CAREER award and more than twenty paper awards at leading computing and information science venues. His research has been supported by major organizations including the U.S. National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, Ford Foundation, Sloan Foundation, World Bank, Intel Research, Atkinson Center for Sustainability, and the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council. As an advisor, Dr. Jackson has mentored numerous graduate students who have gone on to prominent positions at institutions worldwide. He currently advises Jen Liu, Amy Cheatle, Daniel Mwesigwa, Johan Michalove, and Ritik Batra, while his former students include Palashi Vaghela (Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University), Samir Passi (Responsible AI Researcher at Microsoft), Maggie Jack (Assistant Professor at NYU), and Ranjit Singh (Senior Researcher at Data and Society). Dr. Jackson convenes the Computing On Earth Lab, an experimental collaboration bringing together social scientists, humanists, artists, and engineers to rethink the material and planetary foundations of computing. The lab reflects his commitment to interdisciplinary approaches that address computing's environmental impacts and sustainability challenges.
