Vadim Bulitko is a Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta, affiliated with the Department of Computing Science. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Research Interests: His work spans heuristic search, program synthesis, and deep learning applications for sound. Recent projects focus on AI-driven puzzle generation, pathfinding in dynamic game environments, and neural network classification. Publications: His 15 most recent articles explore AI advancements in puzzle design, video-game navigation, and bioacoustic classification, emphasizing heuristic optimization and explainable AI techniques.
Dr. Jamie White-Farnham is a Professor of Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, serving as Director of the Jim Dan Hill Library and Markwood Center for Learning, Innovation and Collaboration. She has held these roles since 2011, contributing to academic administration and library outreach. Her research focuses on feminist rhetoric, women’s health communication, grammar evolution, and higher education governance. Education: PhD in English/Writing & Rhetoric (University of Rhode Island, 2011), MA & BA in English/Writing (Bridgewater State University, 2002/2000). Research interests include analyzing rhetorical strategies in healthcare advocacy, mid-20th century feminist humor, and visual rhetoric in administrative contexts. Her recent book Patients Making Meaning explores patient support frameworks in women’s health. She frequently presents at conferences like CCCC and Feminisms & Rhetorics. Publications span books and 18 articles, with work on library outreach history, Catholic women’s rhetoric, and writing program architecture. She received UW-Superior’s 2018 Scholarship Award. As an administrator, she oversees academic support initiatives and collaborates on grants, including a CCCC Research Initiative grant for writing program studies. Her work bridges pedagogical innovation with institutional change, emphasizing equity and accessibility in academic spaces.
Liana E. Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Trent University. She holds degrees from the University of Waterloo (B.Sc., M.Sc.) and Pennsylvania State University (M.S., Ph.D.). Her research focuses on sensory-motor integration, exploring how vision, perception, and motor control interact during everyday tasks. Key interests include motor learning, proprioception, and the neural mechanisms underlying action-perception interactions. Dr. Brown’s research program investigates four core questions: 1) How hand use enhances vision/attention, 2) Limb spatial tracking mechanisms, 3) Motor capabilities’ influence on cognition, and 4) Observational motor skill acquisition. Her work bridges neuroscience, biomechanics, and clinical applications. She advises up to 2 Honours thesis students and 2 practicum students annually (2025-26 onward). Her lab (ACT Lab: https://actlab.squarespace.com/ ) explores motor learning, tool use, and neurorehabilitation strategies. Notable collaborations include studies on concussion assessment, Parkinson’s gait analysis, and motor skill development in cerebral palsy patients.
Susan Slyomovics is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), part of the UCLA College. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley (1985). Her research focuses on Gender Studies, Human Rights, Folklore, Material Culture, Visual Anthropology, and Middle Eastern and North African Studies. She has authored numerous books including Monuments Decolonized: Algeria’s French Colonial Heritage (2024), How to Accept German Reparations (2014), and The Object of Memory: Arab and Jew Narrate the Palestinian Village (1998), which won the Albert Hourani Book Award and Chicago Folklore Prize. Slyomovics has held prestigious fellowships such as the CAORC-NEH Fellowship (2023-24), TALIM Fellowship (2020), and IMéRA Fellowship (2019). She teaches courses on Arabic literature, Al-Andalus, oral traditions, and visual anthropology. Her work critically examines colonial legacies, memory politics, and human rights in North Africa and the Middle East. She has published extensively on topics like Algerian monuments, Moroccan truth commissions, and Palestinian village narratives. Beyond academia, she has curated multimedia projects and translations, including works by Fatna El Bouih and Habib Tengour. Her contributions bridge anthropology, literature, and public scholarship, addressing themes of displacement, cultural heritage, and decolonization.
Mireille Roddier serves as Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. She maintains a joint appointment with Women's Studies and faculty affiliation at the Institute for Research on Women & Gender, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach. Roddier teaches across the architecture curriculum including design studios, architectural theory courses, and specialized seminars. Her research centers on the cyclical emergence of vernacular forms, examining the intricate relationship between visual representation of the built environment and architecture itself as an indexical representation of place and time. Roddier investigates urban narratives, the production of public realm, and processes of belonging and appropriation, with particular attention to media representations of Detroit and Paris. Her work borrows theories from theatre, photography, and ethnography to explore how visual narration transforms urban environments. Roddier's publications reveal a consistent trajectory examining representation in architecture and urbanism. Her book 'Lavoirs: Washhouses of Rural France' (2003) established her interest in women's civic spaces, which evolved into broader investigations of urban legibility, gendered spatial experiences, and vernacular architecture. Recent scholarship addresses energetic degrowth, urban decay aesthetics, and the paradoxes of preservation. Rome Prize in Architecture (2021-22) from the American Academy in Rome Architecture League of New York's Young Architects Prize Architectural Record's Design Vanguard (2005) As an educator, Roddier mentors architecture students through thesis development and specialized seminars including 'New Babylon Redux' (2013-15), 'Medusa in the Metro' (2018-2021), and 'Radical Vernacular' (2023-). Her interdisciplinary teaching approach bridges design practice and critical theory, guiding students through examinations of how architecture is conceived, produced, and understood. Through Mitnick-Roddier, her collaborative design practice with Keith Mitnick founded in 1997, Roddier produces architectural installations and speculative designs exhibited internationally. The practice has received numerous awards and has been published in major architectural journals including Architectural Record, Log, and Mark Magazine, with works featured at Storefront for Art and Architecture and SFMoMA.
Tung-Hui Hu is an Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He holds dual roles as a scholar of digital media and a poet, affiliated with LSA's Graduate Faculty and MFA programs. His research explores technology’s societal impact, including digital infrastructure, cultural norms, and the psychological effects of digital labor. He has been honored with the Rome Prize, NEA Fellowship, and Berlin Prize for his interdisciplinary work. Education: Ph.D. in Rhetoric/Film Studies from UC Berkeley (2009); MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan (2003). Research Interests: Technology and the Humanities, Digital Media Critique, Visual Culture, Poetry’s Role in Digital Age, American Literature, and the intersection of Geography with Literary Studies. His notable works include A Prehistory of the Cloud (MIT Press, 2015) and Digital Lethargy (MIT Press, 2022), which examine the cultural and existential dimensions of technology. His poetry collections, such as Greenhouses, Lighthouses , blend personal and cosmic themes to interrogate human connection. Publications: His work has been featured in Boston Review , Ploughshares , and Art in America . He advises students in the MFA program and contributes to interdisciplinary initiatives at LSA.
Sage Boettcher is a Career Development Research Fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford and a Stipendiary Lecturer at St Anne's College. She holds affiliations with multiple colleges: St Anne's, Kellogg, and Somerville. Her research focuses on the interplay between memory, attention, and behavior in dynamic environments, leveraging psychophysical methods and non-invasive brain imaging. She investigates how short- and long-term memories guide spatial, temporal, and identity-based behavior through proactive memory use. Boettcher earned her PhD in 2020 from the University of Oxford (supervised by Kia Nobre, Mark Stokes, and Freek van Ede), following a Master’s in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience from Goethe University Frankfurt and a BSc from the University of Delaware. She has held postdoctoral roles, including an EPS Fellowship in Kia Nobre’s Brain and Cognition Lab and a Junior Research Fellowship at Kellogg College. Her research interests span cognitive neuroscience, memory dynamics, and attentional processes. Key themes include how spatiotemporal predictions bias perception and action, and how working memory interacts with sensory input. Recent work emphasizes neural mechanisms underlying attentional template formation and interference shielding. Key Awards: EPS Postdoctoral Fellowship, Junior Research Fellowship at Kellogg College, Career Development Fellowship Labs: Dynamic Cognition Lab (lead), Brain and Cognition Lab (former affiliation) Advocacy: Chair of ECR Committee, member of WIN Ethnic Diversity Working Group Her publications emphasize neural dynamics of memory maintenance, attentional shifting, and prediction-driven behavior. Work bridges theory and application, with implications for understanding robust human behavior in complex environments.
Monika Harvey is a Professor of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Glasgow's School of Psychology & Neuroscience. She holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bielefeld (Germany) and a PhD in Neuropsychology from the University of St Andrews (UK). Her career includes appointments at the University of Bristol and the University of Glasgow. Her research focuses on cognitive neuroscience, particularly visual perception, hemispatial neglect, and cognitive aging. She employs techniques like EEG, non-invasive brain stimulation, virtual reality, and AI to study brain age prediction and attention mechanisms. Her work spans neurorehabilitation, aging-related cognitive changes, and clinical applications of neurotechnology. She has contributed to studies on stroke recovery, attention deficits, and driver behavior in autonomous vehicles. Her research emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, bridging psychology, neuroscience, and technology. Publications highlight her expertise in spatial attention, neglect rehabilitation, and the neural basis of perception-action systems. She collaborates on grants exploring post-stroke insomnia, driver interfaces for autonomous cars, and neuroimaging techniques. Her lab integrates experimental and computational methods to advance understanding of brain function and disorders.
Dr. Rapti Siriwardane-de Zoysa is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) within the University of Bonn. Their research focuses on maritime and coastal studies, particularly in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, examining themes such as island studies, environmental humanities, and urbanization. Their work integrates decolonial perspectives, multispecies theories, and transoceanic connectivities to explore human-environmental interactions. Key research areas include Sri Lanka’s littoral histories, coastal urbanities, and the socio-political dimensions of environmental adaptation. Dr. Siriwardane-de Zoysa’s publications address topics like oceanic circulations, climate resilience, and the intersection of policy and ecology in Southeast Asian cities. They advocate for conceptually plural approaches to understanding more-than-human entanglements and coastal dynamics. While no specific awards or grants are listed, their academic contributions highlight engagement with critical theories and empirical fieldwork across multiple regions. Their work often critiques land-locked scholarly biases and emphasizes the centrality of maritime and coastal perspectives in understanding socio-environmental systems.
Raúl Rodríguez-Hernández is an Associate Professor of Spanish at the University of Rochester's Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, part of the School of Arts & Sciences. He serves as Program Head for Advisors to Minors and Placement Petitions. His research focuses on 20th- and 21st-century Hispanic literatures and cultures, literary theory, Frankfurt School influences, Latin American cinema, and philosophical traditions in Latin America. He holds a PhD from Cornell University. Education: PhD in Spanish from Cornell University. Research interests span European philosophical traditions in Latin America, the Baroque/Neo-Baroque, Gothic traditions, and visual arts. His work often intersects with critical theory, cultural history, and interdisciplinary approaches to literature and film. Recent publications analyze Mexican cinema's engagement with revolutionary history, witchcraft imagery, and vampire narratives, alongside studies of Walter Benjamin's legacy in Latin American writing. Teaching includes courses on Mexican cultural studies, Latin American film, and advanced Spanish composition. Collaborations include co-teaching a course on the Transhispanic Supernatural with Claudia Schaefer. Office hours are held Monday/Wednesday 2:25-3:25 PM in 420 Lattimore Hall.
Yaacov Trope is a Professor of Psychology at New York University's Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Science. His research examines cognitive and motivational processes underlying how people transcend immediate concerns to consider broader temporal, social, and hypothetical perspectives. Key areas include psychological distance, self-control mechanisms, and abstract vs. associative thinking in social judgment. Education : B.A. summa cum laude, Tel Aviv University (1970) Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Michigan (1974) Research Interests : Trope's work explores three core themes: 1. **Psychological Distance**: How people mentally broaden horizons to envision distant futures, cultures, and perspectives. 2. **Self-Control**: Mechanisms resolving conflicts between short-term desires and long-term goals. 3. **Cognitive Processes**: Analytical vs. associative thinking, wishful thinking, and stereotyping. Labs/Teams : Directs the Trope Lab, studying expansive/contractive mental processes in social contexts. Research focuses on construal level theory and its implications for imitation, decision-making, and social perception. Advising/Grants : While specific grants are not listed here, his extensive publications (216+ works) indicate sustained academic leadership. Advises graduate students in NYU's Psychology Department, though specific names are not provided in source texts.
John Rinzel is a Professor of Neural Science and Mathematics at New York University, affiliated with the Center for Neural Science and the Courant Institute. He holds academic positions within the College of Arts and Science and the Graduate School of Arts and Science. His research focuses on computational neuroscience, integrating biophysical mechanisms with mathematical modeling to understand neural computations at cellular and network levels. Education: Ph.D. in Mathematics (1973) and M.S. in Mathematics (1968) from NYU’s Courant Institute, and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Florida (1967). Ph.D. in Mathematics, NYU Courant Institute (1973) M.S. in Mathematics, NYU Courant Institute (1968) B.S. in Engineering, University of Florida (1967) Research Interests: Rinzel studies biophysical mechanisms underlying neural computations, including dendritic computation, neuronal excitability, auditory pathway modeling, perceptual bistability, and rhythmic timing. His work combines theoretical models with experimental collaborations, emphasizing reduced biophysical models for cellular and network-level dynamics. Recent research trends include auditory streaming, perceptual dynamics, and rhythmic beat generation in music. His models explore gamma oscillations, thalamic spindle rhythms, and sleep-related neural excitability. Publications highlight applications in sensory processing, neural network oscillations, and cognitive functions like attention and memory coordination. No scientific awards explicitly listed. Rinzel leads a research group focusing on computational neuroscience, collaborating on projects involving auditory neuroscience, mathematical biology, and theoretical neurophysiology. His lab is part of NYU’s Center for Neural Science, fostering interdisciplinary approaches to brain function.
Charlotta Salmi is a Senior Lecturer in Postcolonial and Global Literature at Queen Mary University of London’s School of English and Drama. She holds a BA and MA from the University of York and a DPhil from the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on postcolonial literature, graphic narratives, and the intersections of conflict, protest, and state power. She has held a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Birmingham (2014–2017), where she investigated global graphic narratives of protest and violence. Currently, she explores how graphic storytelling forms like comics and street art are deployed in social movements such as Black Lives Matter and the Arab Spring. She also co-leads a British Academy-funded project on visual representations of gender-based violence in Nepal. Her teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate courses including Global Graphic Narratives , Postcolonial and Global Literature , and Researching Modern Culture . She has published widely on topics such as partition literature, graphic human rights narratives, and the role of visual art in activism. Her recent projects emphasize interdisciplinary collaborations, particularly with NGOs and arts collectives in Nepal to address issues like domestic abuse and menstruation-based discrimination through street art and comics workshops. Key awards include the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her research bridges literary analysis with sociopolitical critique, focusing on how marginalized voices use non-traditional narrative forms to challenge state narratives and mobilize resistance. She maintains an active role in academic and public discourse on global literature’s capacity to document and transform societal struggles.
Joachim Voth is the UBS Foundation Professor of Economics and Scientific Director of the UBS Center for Economics in Society at the University of Zurich. His research focuses on Cultural Economics, Long-Run Growth, Asset Market Volatility, and the interplay between history and contemporary economic phenomena. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and has held visiting positions at institutions including Stanford and NYU. Research Interests : Voth’s work bridges historical analysis with modern economic challenges. Key themes include the impact of cultural factors on economic outcomes, the role of historical institutions, and the application of novel data sources (e.g., historical narratives, visual datasets) to understand societal trends. His recent projects analyze cultural convergence via high school yearbook portraits and the legacy of medieval anti-Semitism in Nazi-era violence. Publications : Over 50 peer-reviewed articles and three books, including Lending to the Borrower from Hell (2014) and Prometheus Shackled (2013). His work frequently combines economic theory with historical evidence, such as linking British industrialization to colonial slave wealth or explaining WWII resistance patterns through Allied bombing and radio propaganda. Grants & Awards : Supported by the UBS Foundation, European Research Council, and National Science Foundation. He is a frequent commentator in venues like VoxEU and The Economist , and his research has been featured in podcasts and documentaries. Advising : Supervised 10+ doctoral students now at top institutions like UCLA, NYU, Stanford, and the Norwegian School of Economics.
Prof. Dr. Sascha Schneider is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Zurich's Institute of Educational Science, affiliated with the Digital Society Initiative (DSI). His research focuses on optimizing digital learning media design to enhance cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes in education. He holds a PhD in Media and Instructional Psychology and has held postdoctoral positions at TU Chemnitz. His work investigates topics like decorative elements' impact, motivational effects of choice, emotional design, and adaptive learning environments, targeting K-12 students, university learners, and adults. Education: Bachelor's: Educational Science & English, University of Erfurt Master's: Continuing Education & Educational Technology, University of Erfurt PhD: Media and Instructional Psychology, TU Chemnitz (2017) Habilitation: Educational Psychology, TU Chemnitz (2022) His research emphasizes experimental and meta-analytical methods to explore multimedia learning theory extensions, including social processes and instructional design principles. Key projects include the DEEP initiative for differentiated instruction and the LiT+ educational transfer program. Prof. Schneider's awards include the Erik De Corte Award (2021), a Dissertation Prize (2019), and the Commerzbank Prize (2018). He actively contributes to academic communities, organizing conferences and serving on editorial boards. Advising & Grants: Supervises doctoral research in educational technology Leads projects funded by BMBF and Swiss National Science Foundation His team at the Chair of Educational Technology collaborates on labs like NARRATID , focusing on narrative-driven instructional design.
