Edmund Russell is a Professor of History and David M. Roderick Professor of Technology and Social Change at Carnegie Mellon University's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He joined the university in 2019, drawn by its interdisciplinary ethos. His research bridges environmental history, technology history, and American history, with a focus on coevolutionary dynamics, warfare, and capitalism. He holds a B.A. in English (with distinction and highest honors) from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Michigan (1993). His work synthesizes historical methodologies with biological principles, particularly ecology, evolution, and neuroscience. Russell has authored influential books such as Greyhound Nation: A Coevolutionary History of England, 1200–1900 (2018) and Evolutionary History (2011). He leads a digital project on telegraph history ( https://telegraph.library.cmu.edu/ ). His honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, presidency of the American Society for Environmental History, and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. Russell’s current projects include a history of the U.S. transcontinental telegraph and exploring coevolutionary frameworks in environmental policy. He is actively involved in academic leadership, having served as Vice President for Research at the American Historical Association and as a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.
Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black is Professor in the Department of History and Director of the Dietrich College Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University. She has been a faculty member since 2001 and serves as Faculty Advisor for Carnegie Mellon's African and African American Studies Minor. Her work bridges academic research with public engagement, bringing untold stories of enslaved Africans and their descendants to broader audiences through innovative interdisciplinary collaborations. Dr. Fields-Black earned her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001. Her academic journey has focused on connecting historical research with contemporary social issues, particularly through the lens of African diasporic experiences and the legacy of slavery in the United States. Dr. Fields-Black specializes in the trans-national history of West African rice farmers, peasant farmers in pre-colonial Upper Guinea Coast, and enslaved laborers on rice plantations in the antebellum South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry. Her research employs interdisciplinary methods to recover the voices of historical actors who left few written records. She examines how enslaved Africans' technological expertise in rice cultivation shaped both the economies of the American South and cultural practices that persist in the Gullah Geechee communities. Her work challenges conventional narratives about pre-colonial Africa and the African Diaspora, revealing dynamic, diverse societies with specialized agricultural knowledge. Dr. Fields-Black's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on uncovering previously marginalized perspectives in American history, particularly regarding slavery and the Civil War era. Her work increasingly integrates environmental history with social history, examining how enslaved people interacted with and transformed coastal landscapes. The 2024 publication 'COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War' represents the culmination of this trajectory, using Civil War pension files to reconstruct the experiences of freedom-seekers in their own words. Dr. Fields-Black has received numerous prestigious awards for her scholarship, including: 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize 2025 Tom Watson Brown Book Award 2024 George C. Rogers Jr. Award 2024 Marsha M. Greenlee History Award Honorable Mention - 2025 James A. Rawley Prize Finalist - 2025 Mark Lynton History Prize Finalist - 2025 ASALH Book Prize Dr. Fields-Black has secured significant research funding from major foundations including Ford, Mellon, Woodrow Wilson, and Annenberg Foundations, as well as the Smithsonian Museum and Fulbright-Hays. She currently leads an interdisciplinary team of scientists studying 'Queen Rice': How Enslaved Labor Transformed Wetland Landscapes and America,' examining the 300-year impact of enslaved labor on coastal wetlands. Her work extends beyond traditional academic boundaries through collaborations with artists, filmmakers, and museum curators to bring historical narratives to wider audiences. Dr. Fields-Black leads the 'Requiem for Rice' project, an innovative collaboration with composer John Wineglass and filmmaker Julie Dash that transforms historical research into a symphonic work memorializing enslaved Africans on rice plantations. She also serves as principal investigator for a team of scientists studying the environmental impact of enslaved labor on coastal wetlands, integrating archaeology, conservation, digital humanities, and ecological studies. Her work with museums includes advising for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Senator John Heinz History Center, and the International African American Museum.
Lauren Herckis is an anthropologist affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University's Simon Initiative, School of Computer Science (Human-Computer Interaction Institute), and University Libraries. Her research focuses on implementation science, faculty culture, educational technology, and sociotechnical systems in higher education. She explores how technology adoption impacts teaching practices and organizational culture, with a particular emphasis on issues like digital literacy, VR pedagogy, and AI-Augmented Learning. Her work is funded by organizations including the National Science Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Hillman Family Foundations. She has held a Fulbright Fellowship and collaborated with institutions such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Teaching and Learning. Her research methodologies combine ethnography, mixed-methods approaches, and design-based research. Key projects include developing the Digital Robotics Archive and Multimodal Archive Toolkit, analyzing barriers to technology adoption in academia, and designing interventions for workforce readiness in community colleges. She advises students like Rotem Guttman and contributes to initiatives like the CyberSim Lab and AI-literacy programs in academic libraries. Key Awards: Fulbright Fellowship Funding Sources: NSF, CZI, Carnegie Corporation, Hillman Foundations Major Projects: Simon Initiative collaborations, Digital Robotics Archive, AI-Augmented Learning in Community Colleges Her interdisciplinary approach bridges anthropology, education science, and computer science to address challenges in postsecondary education transformation and sociotechnical systems.
Sue-mei Wu is a Teaching Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics. She serves as Director of the Masters in Applied Second Language Acquisition program and Executive Director of the national Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA). Her work integrates linguistics, pedagogy, and technology to advance Chinese language education. Ph.D., Chinese Linguistics & Language Pedagogy (The Ohio State University) B.A., Chinese Language & Literature (National Tsing Hua University) Research Interests: Wu focuses on Technology-enhanced language learning frameworks Chinese folk performance traditions (especially Taiwanese puppetry and opera) Digital storytelling for cultural preservation Modern/Classical Chinese syntax pedagogy DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) in language education Selected Projects: Leadership of CMU's NSF-funded OLI Chinese Online initiative, Chinese Link textbook series (Pearson), Classical Chinese Primer (co-author), and immersive cultural modules like the Wedding Banquet and Internet Café websites. Her work bridges traditional arts with digital innovation. Awards & Grants: Andrew W. Mellon Seed Grant (2016-2018) Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Grant (2015-2018) CLTA-Cengage Innovative Excellence Award (2014) NSF support through PSLC Professional Service: Founded CLTA-WPA (2014-present), served on editorial boards of Foreign Language Annals and Chinese as Second Language , and coordinated multiple teacher training workshops for K-16 educators.
Michal Friedman is an Assistant Professor and Jack Buncher Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies at Carnegie Mellon University's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences . Her scholarship bridges Jewish diasporic history and Iberian studies , with a focus on Sephardi communities and Spain's contested engagement with its Jewish past. She has developed interdisciplinary collaborations with CMU's School of Drama and Entertainment Technology Center for public history projects, including a theatrical production and Belgrade Jewish neighborhood walking tour app tied to Centropa Archive oral histories. Her research interrogates Spain's neocolonial designs in Morocco/Balkans and the ambivalent mobilization of Sephardi heritage in political movements like Zionism and Fascism. She co-founded the Genealogies of Sepharad network, advancing comparative analyses of Sephardi identity. Current projects examine 21st-century Spanish citizenship campaigns for Sephardi descendants and modern antisemitism in the context of Holocaust memorialization. Dr. Friedman's publications span journals like Jewish Quarterly Review and edited volumes including The Routledge Companion to Jewish History and Historiography . She teaches courses on Jewish diaspora , Christian-Muslim-Jewish relations , and 20th-century European history , emphasizing public engagement through digital humanities and oral history projects .
Jessica Cantlon is the Ronald J. and Mary Ann Zdrojkowski Professor of Developmental Neuroscience/Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She leads the Concepts, Actions, and Objects Lab and the Kid Neuro Lab, focusing on the neural and cognitive foundations of quantitative reasoning in humans and non-human primates. Her research employs behavioral and neuroimaging techniques to explore how numerical and spatial concepts develop in children and how these relate to evolutionary processes. Key research themes include cross-species comparisons of numerical processing (e.g., studies on rhesus monkeys and olive baboons), the role of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) in numerical cognition, and the impact of environmental and gender factors on mathematical development. She has contributed to debates on core knowledge theories, semantic frameworks, and the evolution of human intelligence. Her work bridges developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and comparative psychology, with implications for education and public health policy. Her labs emphasize interdisciplinary approaches, combining fMRI studies with behavioral experiments to understand how abstract concepts emerge from neural systems. Current projects investigate recursive pattern processing, hierarchical reasoning, and the neural basis of mathematical learning from naturalistic environments like educational videos.
Denise M. Rousseau serves as the H.J. Heinz II University Professor of Organizational Behavior and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and holds a secondary appointment at the Tepper School of Business. She chairs the Health Care Policy and Management program, directs the Project on Evidence-Based Organizational Practices, and holds leadership roles as Academic Board President of the Center for Evidence-Based Management (CEBMa) and Co-Chair of the Campbell Library’s Management and Business Coordinating Group. Her academic credentials include: A.B. from University of California, Berkeley M.A. from University of California, Berkeley Ph.D. in Psychology and Anthropology from University of California, Berkeley Rousseau pioneered the psychological contract theory examining how individual workers' understanding of employment relationships shapes organizational dynamics. Her research spans evidence-based management, worker well-being, career development, organizational effectiveness, change management, and industrial relations. She developed the influential concept of "I-Deals" (idiosyncratic deals) and emphasizes translating research into practice through evidence-based approaches. Her textbook Evidence-Based Management: How to Use Evidence to Make Better Organizational Decisions has been adopted by over 80 universities and forms the basis of an Open Learning Initiative course. Her recent publications (2023-2025) reveal three dominant research streams: multilevel analyses of psychological contracts across team and organizational contexts, applications in emerging work arrangements like gig economy platforms, and methodological advancements in evidence-based management including systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Her work increasingly examines contextual factors like crisis economies and cross-cultural variations while maintaining focus on practical implementation of research findings. Her distinguished recognition includes: Two-time Academy of Management George Terry Award winner (1996, 2006) Distinguished Scholar Award from Academy of Management Lifetime Achievement Award from Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology Michael Losey Career Award from Society for Human Resource Management Honorary doctorates from Athens University and Tallinn Institute of Technology Fellowships in five major academic associations Through the Evidence-Based Management Collaborative she founded, Rousseau connects global scholars, consultants, and practitioners to advance evidence-informed decision-making. Her grant-funded research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and Institute of Medicine, focusing on organizational effectiveness and evidence-based practices. She previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Organizational Behavior (1998-2007) and President of the Academy of Management (2004-2005). As Academic Board President of CEBMa, she oversees the development of evidence-based management resources including learning modules and research databases. Her Project on Evidence-Based Organizational Practices develops frameworks for implementing research findings in real-world settings, while her Campbell Library coordination role advances systematic review methodologies in management research.
Professor Ling-lin Ku is an artist and faculty member at Oberlin College & Conservatory, known for her solo exhibition Insight Outsight at the Cue Art Foundation in New York City (November 9–December 22, 2023). Her work interrogates the relationships between natural, built, and digital environments through the lens of insects, using digital fabrication to explore themes of scale, camouflage, and the tensions between human and insect ecologies and technologies. The exhibition questions anthropocentrism and reimagines societal structures by drawing parallels between human digital systems and insect behaviors such as calculation, optimization, and rationality. Her research interests span interdisciplinary domains, including digital media art , installation and sculpture , and the intersection of ecology with technology . By blending entomology, anthropology, and media theory, Ku’s practice challenges viewers to reconsider their place within a macrocosm of biodiversity and technological systems. The exhibition’s catalog essay, written by Constanza Salazar, underscores her focus on destabilizing human-centric narratives through insect-inspired metaphors. No scientific awards or grants are explicitly mentioned in the provided texts. Details about her education, advising roles, or lab affiliations are not available. The exhibition’s narrative emphasizes collaborative and conceptual frameworks rather than institutional grants or structured research teams.
Sarvnaz Lotfi is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), specializing in the history of R&D and economic thought. She holds a PhD in Science and Technology Studies (STS) from Virginia Tech, an MA in International Affairs from The New School, and a BA in Neuroscience and Anthropology from Oberlin College. Prior to CMU, she taught at Virginia Tech and Loyola University Maryland as a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow. She also served as a Visiting Research Fellow at Duke University’s Center for the History of Political Economy and contributed to the Journal of the History of Economic Thought as a book review board member. Her research focuses on the intersection of R&D practices, economic systems, and Cold War-era policies. Notable works include a 2023 publication in Enterprise & Society and ongoing projects analyzing R&D tax loopholes and Cold War contracting practices. Upcoming work includes a presentation at the 2025 Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) conference and a monograph derived from her dissertation, Capitalizing the 'Measure of Our Ignorance' .
Nevine Abraham is an Associate Teaching Professor and Coordinator of Arabic Studies in the Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She has been at CMU since 2012, initially as a French instructor before transitioning to her current role as a faculty member specializing in Arabic language and cultural studies. As Coordinator of the Arabic Studies program (2024-2027), she has developed comprehensive curricula including the first-semester online Arabic program that integrates Modern Standard Arabic with Egyptian and Levantine dialects. Abraham earned her PhD in Twentieth Century French Literature and Culture from The Ohio State University, an MA in French Literature from Kent State University, and her BA from Ain Shams University in Egypt. She is also a certified OPI Tester for Arabic. Her scholarly work is positioned at the intersection of literary-cultural studies, indigeneity, and issues of social justice and minoritization in the Arabic-speaking world. Abraham examines minorities in the intellectual, social, and political history of the Middle East and North Africa, with particular focus on Coptic studies and how institutions of power have marginalized groups. Her research illuminates how diasporic communities craft counter-narratives that subvert hegemonic systems while expanding understanding of minority groups in relation to the majority and the state. She has developed innovative approaches to teaching that integrate research into classroom practice, emphasizing cross-cultural literacy and critical examination of dominant narratives about the Arab world. Analysis of Abraham's publications reveals consistent thematic threads across her scholarly output: examination of Coptic identity within Egyptian national frameworks, exploration of diasporic memory and resistance, and culinary studies as sites of national reimagination. Her work consistently challenges reductionist cultural paradigms and examines how marginalized communities navigate complex power structures through literature, film, and food cultures. The interdisciplinary nature of her scholarship bridges literary analysis, cultural studies, and political theory to provide nuanced understandings of minority experiences in the Arab world. The Simon Initiative Seeds Grant (2023) The Maurice and Laura Falk Foundation Grant (2023) Harnessing Innovation through Virtual Exchange for Enhanced Results (HIVE/HIVER) (2018-2024) College of Arts and Sciences Online Course Initiative (2007) Ohio5 Technology Foreign Language (2001-2002) Abraham actively integrates her research into teaching practice, developing innovative courses that challenge students' preconceived notions about the Arab world. She has established interdisciplinary collaborations across CMU, notably co-teaching the Dietrich College Grand Challenge First-Year Seminar on Palestinian and Israeli Food Cultures with Michal Friedman from the Department of History. Her service extends to coordinating the Arabic Studies program, serving on the Artists and Scholars at Risk (ASAR) Program Committee, and co-moderating the Deeper Conversations series on topics like 'The Possibility of Peace' regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict. She also mentors graduate students teaching Arabic and serves as a mentor in the AAC Faculty-Student program. Abraham has cultivated extensive campus engagement through cultural programming, organizing events that bridge Arab and Jewish cultures including cooking workshops, film festivals, and conversations on food and national identity. Her 'Discover the Unexpected: Arabic-Hebrew CommUNITY' series and related programming demonstrate her commitment to building intercultural understanding through shared cultural experiences, particularly focusing on culinary traditions as sites of connection and dialogue.
