Daniel Hack is a Professor of English at the University of Michigan, affiliated with the Department of English Language and Literature within the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA). His research focuses on Victorian literature, African American literature, and transatlantic cultural exchanges. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Hack’s work explores how literary texts engage with material culture, transatlantic print networks, and racial identity. His books include The Material Interests of the Victorian Novel (2005) and Reaping Something New: African American Transformations of Victorian Literature (2017), which examines how African American writers reinterpreted Victorian texts. His current project investigates the relationship between fiction and real-life meaning-making in modern culture. He has received prestigious awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship (2022), the Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award (2021), and the Donald Gray Prize (2012). His editorial work includes co-editing Victorian Literature and Culture and contributing to volumes like Jonathan Freedman: The Jewish Decadence (2021). His teaching spans courses on fiction, narrative theory, race, and Victorian literature. He has delivered invited lectures at Harvard, Yale, and numerous conferences, exploring themes like transatlantic influence, literary canon formation, and modernist narrative techniques. His professional service includes roles as Associate Chair of the English Department and leadership in academic organizations like the MLA.
University of California, Los AngelesUnited States
Vinay Lal is Professor of History and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he has been teaching since Fall 1993. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of History and the Asian American Studies Department. Born in Delhi and raised across multiple countries including India, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States, Lal brings a global perspective to his scholarship and teaching. His educational journey began at Johns Hopkins University, where he earned both his B.A. (1982) and M.A. (1982) from the Humanities Center with concentrations in literature, history, and philosophy. He then studied film in Australia and India on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship before pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago's Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, which he completed with Distinction in 1992. His dissertation, 'Committees of Inquiry and Discourses of 'Law and Order' in Twentieth-Century British India', received the Marc Galler Award for the best dissertation in the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago. Lal's research spans an extraordinary breadth of intellectual interests, with primary focus on Indian history, historiography, public and popular culture in India, the Indian diaspora, colonialism, human rights, American politics, the architecture of nonviolence, Gandhi studies, and the global politics of knowledge systems. His work consistently challenges conventional disciplinary boundaries, engaging with topics ranging from the politics of religion and ethnicity in South Asia to the moral and political thought of Mohandas Gandhi, from the partition of India to the intersection of history and popular cinema. His scholarship reflects a deep commitment to decolonizing knowledge systems and exploring alternative epistemologies from the Global South. His publications reveal a scholar deeply engaged with both historical analysis and contemporary political issues. The 15 most recent articles demonstrate his consistent focus on South Asian politics, historical memory, nonviolence, and the politics of knowledge. His writing spans academic journals, major newspapers, and public intellectual platforms, with a distinctive voice that bridges scholarly rigor and public accessibility. His work on Gandhi, colonialism, and contemporary Indian politics forms a particularly strong thread throughout his recent publications. Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (elected February 2000) William R. Kenan Fellow, Society of Fellows in the Humanities, Columbia University (1992-93) Senior Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers Fellowship from the Society for the Promotion of Science/Japan Area Studies Center Listed among the '101 Most Dangerous Professors in America' in David Horowitz's book Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship for Academic and Professional Excellence Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), South Africa (2024) Oxford University Press India Academic (Humanities) Delegate (2022-2028) As a dedicated mentor, Lal has supervised numerous PhD students who have gone on to prominent academic careers at institutions including CSU-Sacramento, UNC-Charlotte, O.P. Jindal University, UC Irvine, and the University of Pittsburgh. His teaching portfolio at UCLA is exceptionally broad, encompassing undergraduate courses on Indian Civilization, British India, contemporary South Asia, and world history, along with graduate seminars on Indian politics and religion, historiography of modern India, nationalism and colonialism, Indian cinema, and postcolonial theory. His lecture courses are available in their entirety on his academic YouTube channel, which has garnered over 3 million views and 36,000 subscribers. Lal has also served as University of California's Director of the Education Abroad Program in India and as Professor of History at the University of Delhi during 2010-11. Lal is a founding member of the Backwaters Collective on Metaphysics and Politics (2010-2020), which met annually in Kerala, and was associated with Multiversity, a group of scholars focused on decolonizing Western knowledge systems. His current work includes a four-book project titled 'The Genocide and Hope Quartet: Studies in the Architecture of Oppression and the Redemptive Possibilities of Nonviolence', examining Dandi, Auschwitz, Hiroshima, and Robben Island. He maintains an active public intellectual presence through his blog 'LAL SALAAM' and his academic YouTube channel, making scholarly content accessible to wider audiences.
James Grant is an Associate Professor in Philosophy at the University of Oxford, serving as William Kneale and Le Rossignol–Clarendon Fellow and Tutor at Exeter College. He specializes in aesthetics, ethics, and 17th-century philosophy. His research explores metaphor, art criticism, and creativity's role in artistic merit. Grant holds a BA from Queen’s University (Canada), and BPhil/DPhil from Oxford. He teaches aesthetics, ethics, and early modern philosophy. His work emphasizes the value of imaginativeness and metaphor in art criticism, arguing for experientialist approaches to aesthetic evaluation. Notable publications include The Critical Imagination (2013) and articles on moral worth, artistic achievement, and Hume’s aesthetic theories. He received the British Society of Aesthetics Prize Essay 2010 for his work on metaphor. Grant’s lectures cover aesthetics, ethics, and global poverty. His research bridges philosophical analysis with practical criticism, addressing questions of artistic value and moral psychology. He actively engages in public philosophy through interviews and blog posts.
Robert A Davis is a Professor of Religious and Cultural Education in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, within the College of Social Sciences. He holds editorial roles for the Journal of Philosophy of Education and Journal of Beliefs and Values , and is a member of several academic societies including the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain. His research spans religion, postsecularism, literature, music, folklore, and education, with a focus on teacher education and the philosophy of education. He has led significant projects such as the AHRC-funded Changing Discourses of the Parent-Child Relationship and contributed to initiatives like the Teaching Scotland's Future reform. Davis has also engaged in international collaborations, including with the British Council and institutions in Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. His publications explore themes like the role of religion in education, cultural identity, and the intersection of myth and pedagogy. Recent works address iconoclasm, Catholic curriculum design, and critiques of educational metaphors. He has advised on policy reforms and teacher training frameworks, emphasizing professional ethics and global citizenship. As a supervisor, Davis has guided numerous doctoral studies on topics ranging from liturgy and catechesis to comparative religious education models. His work bridges theory and practice, influencing educational policy and pedagogical innovation in Scotland and beyond.
Dr. Madeleine Callaghan is a Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield's School of English since 2010. Her research focuses on Romantic poets like Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, and Yeats, as well as 20th-century British and Irish poetry. She holds a BA, MA, and PhD from Durham University. Her publications include monographs such as Eternity in British Romantic Poetry (2022), Shelley’s Living Artistry (2017), and co-edited volumes like Romantic Poetry Handbook (2018). She is currently preparing a new edition of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s works for the Oxford Authors series, supported by the Carr-Thomas-Ovenden Visiting Fellowship at the Bodleian Library (2024). Teaching includes modules like “Romanticism to Modernism” and “Life After Death? Romantic Poets and Writing the Afterlife.” She supervises PhD students in Romantic and post-Romantic poetry, with past theses on Keats, Shelley, and the Romantic elegiac tradition. Professional roles include joint presidency of the International Association of Byron Societies and coordination of the Established Researcher Forum at the University of Sheffield.
Meg Wesling is an Associate Professor of US Literatures at UC San Diego, affiliated with the Critical Gender Studies Program. She previously served as faculty director of UC Education Abroad Program in France (2013–2015). Her research focuses on intersections of American literature, sexuality studies, feminist theory, and queer theory, with a particular emphasis on colonialism and diaspora. Wesling holds a Ph.D. in English from Cornell University, an M.A. in Cultural Studies from Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.A. in French with a Women’s Studies certificate from Indiana University. Education: Ph.D. in English, Cornell University (2004) M.A. in Cultural Studies, Carnegie Mellon University (1998) B.A. in French (with Women’s Studies certificate), Indiana University (1995) Research Highlights: Wesling’s monograph Empire’s Proxy: American Literature and US Imperialism in the Philippines (NYU Press, 2011) analyzes colonial narratives. Her recent work critiques neoliberalism’s impact on queer identities and explores diasporic consciousness in literature. She has been recognized with Hellman and UC San Diego Faculty Research Fellowships. Publications Overview: Her articles span queer diaspora theory, postcolonial literature, and the politics of marriage equality. Notable themes include queer kinship in diasporic contexts, the role of colonial education, and the intersection of sexuality with neoliberal academia. Awards & Grants: Recipient of Society for the Humanities fellowship (Cornell) and UCSD Hellman Fellowship. Her work bridges critical theory with literary analysis, addressing contemporary social issues through historical and cultural lenses.
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States
Joseph Lam is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (2012) and specializes in ancient Near Eastern languages and literatures, particularly Hebrew Bible studies, Ugaritic texts, and Semitic linguistics. His research focuses on religious thought, metaphor theory, and ritual practices in ancient Syria-Palestine and Anatolia. Lam teaches courses on Classical Hebrew, ancient Near Eastern history, and religious metaphors, and has authored influential works like Patterns of Sin in the Hebrew Bible (2016). He has received awards including the Schwab Academic Excellence Award (2017) and Lydie T. Shufro Research Fellowship (2017). His current projects explore sacrificial traditions and their connections to sin concepts in ancient Israel. Lam also contributes to public scholarship through courses on Wondrium and academic council roles. Education: Ph.D., University of Chicago (2012); M.A. (2005), M.Div. (2003), and B.A.Sc. (1999) from other institutions. Research interests include Hebrew Bible context, ritual analysis, Semitic languages, and metaphor in religious discourse. Key publications address sin metaphors, Ugaritic literature, and linguistic studies of ancient texts. He maintains affiliations with the Society of Biblical Literature Council and has developed innovative courses on ancient Near Eastern mythologies and religious practices.
Associate Professor Daniel Fried holds the Chair position in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Arts. His research focuses on comparative approaches to classical Chinese literature, intellectual history, and Daoist semiotics, with particular attention to Northern Song Dynasty print culture and European literary theory intersections. Current projects include a literary non-fiction work linking Daoist philosophy to social activism. Key academic roles include Co-Editor of the Routledge Studies in Comparative Chinese Literature and Culture series (2020–present), Founding Chair of the MLA Forum on pre-14th century Chinese Literature (2018), and President of the Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature (2017–2019). Teaching responsibilities include advanced readings in modern Chinese literature and graduate research methods courses. Research interests span ancient Chinese textuality, medieval print culture transformations, and cross-cultural philosophical dialogues. Recent publications (2020–2023) emphasize Song Dynasty print modernity and Daoist semiotic frameworks. Earlier works address pre-Qin philosophical discourse and 20th century comparative literature methodologies. No scientific awards explicitly listed. Advising focuses exclusively on graduate students researching Chinese literature/philosophy from Warring States to Southern Song periods. Active in developing interdisciplinary research programs bridging Anglophone and Sinophone scholarship. Led development of East Asia Research Methods (EASIA 550), an online graduate course covering regional and disciplinary methodologies. Current research projects maintain focus on pre-modern Chinese cultural production and its global comparative dimensions.
Jesse Rosenthal is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Johns Hopkins University, part of the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences. His research focuses on Victorian novels, the theory of the novel, and the intersection of ethics and literature. He also employs quantitative textual analysis methods in his work. His major publication, Good Form: The Ethical Experience of the Victorian Novel (2017), explores how intuition shaped both moral understanding and novel-reading experiences in the 19th century. He co-edited a special Genre issue on 'Narrative against Data in the Victorian Novel' and is currently researching the development of tradition concepts in literary studies and social thought. Key research areas include Victorian narrative ethics, moral epistemology, and the relationship between narrative form and ethical reasoning. His work bridges literary analysis with philosophy, mathematics, and social theory. Rosenthal teaches courses on Victorian literature, narrative theory, and ethics in literature. His recent publications address topics like statistical narratives in novels, the role of humor in moral judgment, and the tension between data-driven and narrative-based approaches to knowledge.
Joanna Mąkowska is an Assistant Professor at the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw. She specializes in 20th and 21st century American and Canadian literature, with a focus on poetry, ecocriticism, and feminist theory. Her roles include Academic Writing Coordinator (BA/MA), Head of Admissions Committee, and Writing Lab Coordinator. She has held prestigious fellowships including the Fulbright Junior Research Award (SUNY Buffalo) and Kosciuszko Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (Duquesne University). Her research explores intersections of documentary writing, protest literature, and posthumanist thought. Major works include analyses of James Baldwin, Jericho Brown, and Adrienne Rich, with recent focus on ecocritical frameworks in American poetry. She has contributed to journals like Arizona Quarterly and Modernism/modernity , and co-authored chapters in The Routledge Companion to Ecopoetics . Notable achievements include the NCN SONATA Grant (2024-2027) for her project on protest assemblages in poetry, and multiple residential fellowships at Cambridge and Yale. Her teaching spans courses like 'American Protest Literature' and 'Literary Reportage.' Labs/Teams: Leads ASC Writing Lab, fostering interdisciplinary academic writing. Grants: 5 competitive awards since 2015, including national and international fellowships.
Claire Bubb is an Assistant Professor of Classical Literature and Science at New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW). She holds a Ph.D. in Classical Philology from Harvard University and an A.B. in Classics from Brown University. Her research focuses on medicine, biological sciences, and their intersection with Greco-Roman literature and law. Notable works include Dissection in Classical Antiquity (2022), which received major awards, and co-edited Medicine and the Law under the Roman Empire (2023). Her work examines topics like dietetics, ancient dissection practices, and the cultural contexts of medical knowledge. She co-curated ISAW's digital exhibition The Empire’s Physician (2020/21) and is preparing a book on diet and digestion in classical thought. Recent talks address Galen’s aesthetics, medical experimentation subjects, and Aristotle’s biological writings. Teaching includes graduate seminars on Galen, Hippocrates, Aristotle’s zoology, and ancient science’s social contexts. She regularly instructs NYU’s core curriculum course The Body in the Ancient Mediterranean .
Nancy Glazener is a Professor of English and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (GSWS) at the University of Pittsburgh, affiliated with the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Her work bridges literary history, gender studies, and cultural analysis, focusing on US literature from the 18th century to the present and contemporary global fiction. She is the author of seminal works such as Literature in the Making (2016) and Reading for Realism (1997). Her research interests span interdisciplinary theories of gender/sexuality, institutional history of literary studies, affect theory, print culture, and the history of personhood. Current projects include a study of police procedural detective fiction’s intersections with policing, masculinity, and neoliberal work cultures. She also explores class politics, reception theory, and the role of literature in shaping societal ethics. Glazener’s scholarship critically examines the relationship between literary forms and social structures, particularly how marginalized voices and cultural dissent are represented in print and media. Her work has redefined understandings of 19th-century literary culture, feminist authorship, and the global dimensions of American realism. Her publications reflect a commitment to interdisciplinary approaches, blending historical analysis with contemporary theoretical frameworks. She actively participates in academic communities through teaching, mentoring, and contributions to scholarly discourse on gender, literature, and cultural history.
Jennie Grillo is an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, affiliated with the College of Arts and Letters. She holds a DPhil, MSt, and MA from Oxford University. Her primary research focuses on Christianity and Judaism in antiquity, particularly the Old Testament's interpretation within Christian theology and the history of Israelite religion. Grillo’s work bridges biblical studies, patristic exegesis, and reception history. Key publications include *Daniel After Babylon* (OUP, 2024) and *The Story of Israel in the Book of Qohelet* (OUP, 2012), which won the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award. Current research explores divine incorporeality in the Hebrew Bible, with interests in wisdom literature, liturgical reception, and early biblical print traditions. Grillo has held fellowships from ACLS, the Louisville Institute, and the National Humanities Center. Her teaching emphasizes Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies, reflecting her expertise in ancient Near Eastern thought and early Jewish-Christian interpretation.
Nicolas de Warren is a Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, located in University Park. His primary affiliation is with the Department of Philosophy within the College of the Liberal Arts. De Warren’s research spans phenomenology, ethics, 19th and 20th century philosophy, aesthetics, political philosophy, and literature. He is the author of four major books, including Husserl and the Promise of Time (2010), A Momentary Breathlessness in the Sadness of Time (2018), Original Forgiveness (2020), and German Philosophy and the First World War (2023). Currently, he is developing projects on the phenomenology of the afterlife and the impact of World War I on Proust’s In Search of Lost Time . His research interests explore intersections between time, ethics, and existential questions, engaging thinkers like Husserl, Heidegger, Levinas, and Sartre. He has co-authored works on nuclear responsibility and edited volumes on phenomenology, Europe’s philosophy, and neo-Kantianism. De Warren’s work extends to documentary films, including The Socrates of Prague (2017) and a series on The Great War and Modern Philosophy (2016). His scholarship bridges philosophy with literary, historical, and cultural studies, reflecting a commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue. Notable contributions include analyses of war’s philosophical implications, phenomenological ethics, and the critique of anti-Semitism in Heidegger’s thought. He has published over 100 papers and translations, demonstrating a prolific engagement with continental philosophy’s core questions. His current projects address temporal ethics, the legacy of World War I in modern thought, and the philosophical dimensions of nuclear temporality.
Professor Cristina Vatulescu teaches Comparative Literature at NYU's College of Arts and Science, specializing in the intersection of literature, policing practices, and archival theory. An award-winning scholar, her book Police Aesthetics won the Heldt Prize and Outstanding Academic Title Award. She holds a Harvard PhD and completed a Harvard Society of Fellows junior fellowship. Her research examines secret police archives, Soviet-era cultural production, and intermedia genres. Current projects include Reading the Archival Revolution and Arts of Attention: A Literary Seed Bank . Fellowships: NYU Humanities (2021-2022), Goddard (2010) Research spans film pedagogy, Foucault's archives, and Iron Curtain cultural politics Publications in Kritika, Diacritics, and Law and Literature
