Julia Mourão Permoser is Professor of Migration and Integration at Danube University Krems, where she leads the Center for Migration and Globalization Research. She directs the FWF-funded project "Migration as Morality Politics" and co-coordinates the international initiative "Ethical Dilemmas of Migration Policy." Her research examines migration governance, ethical policy dilemmas, democratic inclusion, and human rights, with a focus on sanctuary movements and irregular migration. Publications analyze moral conflicts in refugee protection, labor migration, and political responses to displacement. Education: PhD in Political Science (University of Vienna), MA in International Studies (Diplomatic Academy Vienna), BA in International Relations (Georgetown University). Leadership: Associate Editor of Comparative Migration Studies ; founder of the working paper series on ethical migration dilemmas.
Dorota Heneghan is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of the LSU Program in Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University's College of Humanities & Social Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. from Yale University (2008) and specializes in 19th- and 20th-century Spanish literature, gender studies, and transatlantic cultural connections. Her research bridges literary analysis with art history and interdisciplinary methodologies, focusing on women writers and the intersections of fashion, gender, and modernity. She has taught over 20 courses ranging from comparative literature theory to women’s studies and film. Heneghan’s recent work includes Striking Their Modern Pose: Fashion, Gender, and Modernity in Galdós, Pardo Bazán, and Picón (2015) and articles analyzing Spanish authors like Galdós and Sofía Casanova. Her research has been supported by prestigious fellowships including the Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professorship at the University of Bristol (2018-2019) and the LSU Special Collections Faculty Fellowship (2024). Notable lectures include discussions on feminist reinterpretations of Sherlock Holmes and transnational feminist narratives in Spanish and Slavic literature. Her teaching excellence has been recognized through multiple awards: the Ogden Honors College Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award (2019), LSU’s Women’s, Gender & Sexualities Program Contribution Award (2020), and Yale’s Prize Teaching Fellowship (2004, 2006). She actively engages in digital humanities and cultural preservation projects, including work with LSU’s Russell A. Mann Sherlock Holmes Collection.
Heather A. O'Connell is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Louisiana State University's College of Humanities & Social Sciences. She earned her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014 and completed postdoctoral work at Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Her research examines racial inequality through spatial and structural lenses, with a focus on the legacy of slavery and its contemporary impacts. Research Focus: Her work integrates race/ethnicity, migration, and spatial methods to analyze structural determinants of inequality. Key areas include: The historical persistence of racial hierarchies Spatial demography of racial disparities Confederate monuments as racialized artifacts Selective migration patterns Publication Trends: Her articles demonstrate consistent focus on structural racism across historical and contemporary contexts, employing spatial analysis to explore slavery's legacy in shaping modern inequalities. Recent work emphasizes commemorative landscapes and collective memory.
Dr. David Parker is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Queen's University, affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Science. His research focuses on Latin America's middle class, urban social history, law and society, and global knowledge transfer. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University (1991), an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Stanford (1986), and a B.A. from Wesleyan University (1982). His notable works include The Pen, the Sword, and the Law: Dueling and Democracy in Uruguay (2022), exploring how dueling codes shaped journalism and politics, and Latin America's Middle Class: Unsettled Debates and New Histories (2012). His current SSHRC-funded research examines South American urban social problems through global comparisons. Research Interests: Latin America's middle class, urban social history, law and society, 19th-20th century South America. Awards: History Department Teaching Award (2019), Principal's Teaching Award (2018). Dr. Parker teaches courses on Latin American history, including Latin America from 1850 to Today and Liberalism, Authoritarianism, and Citizenship in Latin America . His work bridges historical analysis with socio-legal frameworks, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding class dynamics and urban development.
Jimena Valdez is a Lecturer in Politics at King’s College London’s Department of European & International Studies, within the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy. She previously held positions at City, University of London and the London School of Economics (LSE) as a Postdoctoral Fellow. She earned her PhD in Government from Cornell University in 2020. Her research focuses on comparative political economy, examining how capital and labor interact with political systems. Key projects include analyzing business resistance to labor reforms in Portugal and Spain during the Eurozone crisis and studying the political implications of platform capitalism. Her work has been published in journals like Regulation & Governance and Comparative Politics . Valdez collaborates on the CIVICA-funded research project on Digital Trade Integration with scholars from LSE, Bocconi University, and the Hertie School. She is affiliated with King’s Comparative Politics Research Group, European Politics and Society Research Group, and the Geoeconomics and Technology Initiative. Her teaching includes courses on contemporary Spanish politics and the political economy of platform capitalism. She is currently not supervising new PhD students.
Dr Colin Jennings is a Reader in Political Economy and Deputy Head of the Department of Political Economy at King’s College London. He holds affiliations with the School of Politics & Economics and serves as a co-editor of the National Institute Economic Review. His research focuses on political economy, particularly conflict analysis and political competition/voting behavior, emphasizing the interplay between material and identity-driven motivations in collective actions. Education: PhD in Political Economy, University of Southampton Masters in Economics, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario Undergraduate degree, Queen’s University, Belfast Research Interests: Jennings explores two primary research branches: conflict dynamics and the mechanisms of political competition/voting behavior. His work examines how individual motivations influence collective outcomes, with notable contributions to Brexit analysis, LGBTQ+ social attitudes, and radical right politics. He integrates economic models with sociopolitical frameworks to analyze welfare implications and institutional design. Teaching & Supervision: Teaches undergraduate modules on Political Economics and Public Sector Economics. Supervises PhD students in areas like expressive voting, public policy, and conflict economics. Labs/Groups: Active in the Political Economy of Peace and Security, Quantitative Political Economy, and PPE research groups at King’s. Collaborates with the Centre for British Democracy and the Institute of Contemporary British History.
Michele Filippini is an Associate Professor in the Department of the Arts at the University of Bologna, specializing in the History of Political Thought. His research focuses on Marxism, post-Marxism (Gramsci, workerism, Laclau), early modern political thinkers like Machiavelli and Hobbes, and the evolution of mass society and political power structures. He has coordinated multidisciplinary projects such as gramsciproject.org, a semantic digital library of Gramsci's texts. His academic journey includes a PhD in Political Science (2008) and a prestigious cum laude degree in Political Sciences (2004). His key works include Using Gramsci: A New Approach (2017), Una politica di massa (2015), and co-editing Mario Tronti's Il demone della politica (2017). He has held roles such as Principal Investigator of a FIRB project (2013–2018) and membership in committees like the Fondazione Gramsci Emilia-Romagna (2019–present). His awards include the Gerratana Prize (2009, 2005) and the 2012 FIRB grant. Research interests span the theoretical legacy of Gramsci, workerism, and critical theory. He has organized international conferences, authored over 20 books and edited volumes, and contributed to journals like Storia del pensiero politico and Historical Materialism . His work bridges political philosophy, digital humanities, and global intellectual history.
Dr. Ferdiansyah Thajib is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Near Eastern and East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. He is affiliated with the Elite Master Program 'Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures.' His doctoral work (2020) was completed at Freie Universität Berlin's Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Thajib's research focuses on psychological anthropology, gender and sexuality studies, queer religiosity, and alternative pedagogy. His activism with KUNCI, a transdisciplinary collective in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, emphasizes self-organization and alternative education. He explores transformative practices in knowledge production, particularly in Southeast Asia and Indonesia. Key research interests include the intersection of queer identities and religious practices, affective ethnography, and institutional critiques. His work often addresses vulnerable communities, such as Indonesia's waria (transgender women) in HIV/AIDS research and anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns. He co-edits volumes on queer theology, public pedagogy, and interdisciplinary research methodologies. Thajib has published widely in journals like Medical Anthropology , Indonesia and the Malay World , and ARTMargins . He collaborates on projects analyzing global health crises, institutional dynamics, and cultural solidarity. His activism and academic work intersect in promoting decolonial methodologies and community-driven knowledge systems. Current projects include editing volumes on queer-feminist engagements with religion and curating artist-led pedagogical frameworks in Asia-Pacific contexts. His research bridges anthropology, gender studies, and cultural activism, emphasizing interdisciplinary and participatory approaches.
Özlem SAYAR is an Assistant Professor at Adıyaman University's Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She holds a PhD from Erciyes University's Department of English Language and Literature (2015–2022) and a Master's from Erciyes University's Department of English Language and Literature (2013–2015). Her research focuses on comparative literature, postcolonial studies, and literary criticism, with a particular interest in analyzing texts through New Historicism, Foucauldian, and psychoanalytic frameworks. Her academic career includes roles as a research assistant at Adıyaman and Erciyes Universities, culminating in her current position as a doctoral instructor since 2023. She teaches courses such as Comparative Literature, British Poetry, and Cinema and Literature. Her publications explore themes like subaltern voices in postcolonial contexts, the Oedipus complex in Chekhov's works, and intertextuality between Romantic and Victorian poetry. Her work bridges literary theory with historical and cultural analyses, contributing to global literary discourse. Özlem SAYAR is fluent in English and maintains active engagement with academic communities through her teaching, research, and administrative roles.
Luke Manget is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Western Carolina University (WCU), part of the College of Arts and Sciences. His academic journey includes a BS from Georgia Institute of Technology (200?), MA in History from WCU (2012), and PhD from the University of Georgia (2017). Prior to his current role, he taught at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Dalton State College, and the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics. His research focuses on environmental and Appalachian history, particularly exploring how class, gender, and race shape human-environmental interactions. He is best known for his award-winning book Ginseng Diggers , which examines the botanical drug trade in Appalachia and received the 2023 Weatherford Award and James A. Duke Award. Teaching interests include American history, environmental history, and social studies pedagogy. His research extends to topics like postbellum economic adaptation, transnational commodity flows, and commons land use traditions. Over 15 scholarly articles reflect his interdisciplinary approach, spanning topics from Civil War environmental impacts to modern Appalachian trail cultural dynamics. Beyond academia, he maintains an active outdoor lifestyle with his family in Western North Carolina.
Sabina Stan is an Assistant Professor in Sociology and Anthropology at Dublin City University (DCU), affiliated with the School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health. She is seconded to the ERC Project 'Labour politics and the new European economic governance' at UCD's Geary Institute. Her roles include teaching modules on health sociology, anthropology, and qualitative research methods. Stan's research focuses on EU healthcare governance, migration, and healthcare privatization, with a regional emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe. She contributes to interdisciplinary projects exploring transnational healthcare practices and labor migration impacts. Her work has been published in journals like Social Science and Medicine and Medical Anthropology . Education: PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology (Université de Montréal), postdoctoral fellowship at GRIS (Montreal), and earlier studies in Sociology/Anthropology at Université Paris V. Research Interests: EU economic governance in healthcare, cross-border patient mobility, healthcare privatisation, medical tourism, and transnational collective action. She examines informal healthcare practices and labor migration dynamics in post-socialist contexts. Grants & Collaborations: Leads or collaborates on projects including the ERC-funded 'European Unions' initiative, the 'Medical Tourism in Romania' study, and cross-border healthcare mobility analyses. Engaged with international networks like the European Patients' Forum and EPSU. Labs/Teams: Member of DCU's Eurasian Studies Group, Migration Discussion Group, and Population and Global Health Research Cluster. Active in the Geary Institute's ERC project at UCD.
Anita Buhin is a tenured Assistant Professor at the Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, and a postdoctoral fellow at Nova University in Lisbon. Her research focuses on 20th-century cultural and social history, emphasizing popular culture under socialism, Mediterranean influences, and Yugoslav cultural policy. She holds a PhD from the European University Institute (2019) with a dissertation on Mediterranean influences in Yugoslav popular culture. She has been affiliated with the Center for Cultural and Historical Research on Socialism since 2013, contributing to projects like Microsocialism and The Creation of a Socialist Man. Education: B.A. (2008), M.A. (2011) in History/Croatian Literature from Juraj Dobrila University; Central European University (2012); EUI Florence (2019). Research interests include Yugoslav popular music, self-management cultural policies, Adriatic cultural exchanges, and socialist-era sports history. She has organized conferences such as the IV Adriatic Meeting of History Students and co-edited works like *Continuities and Innovations* (2021). Active in academic societies including the Istrian Historical Society, she has produced historical TV programs and edited peer-reviewed publications. Her recent publications analyze Mediterranean cultural transfer, industrial self-management practices, and the interplay between ideology and entertainment in socialist Yugoslavia. Current work explores Yugoslav cultural diplomacy through music festivals and factory-based cultural initiatives.
Mireille Miller-Young is an Associate Professor in the Department of Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her work focuses on race, gender, and sexuality in US history, popular culture, and the sex industries. She holds affiliations with Film and Media Studies, Black Studies, History, and Comparative Literature departments. Dr. Miller-Young earned her PhD and MA from New York University and a BA from Emory University. Her research explores Black cultural studies, the history of sexuality, and pornography/sex work studies. Notable publications include A Taste for Brown Sugar: Black Women in Pornography (2014), which won major awards, and co-edited volumes like Black Sexual Economies (2019). She leads initiatives like the Black Sexuality Studies Collective and the New Sexualities Research Initiative at UCSB. Her recent work includes a visiting fellowship at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry Berlin for her upcoming book Hoe Theory , and projects such as The Black Erotic Archive and Sex Worker Oral History Project. Awards include the Sara A. Whaley Prize, John Hope Franklin Prize, and UCSB’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Miller-Young serves on editorial boards for Porn Studies and Signs , and her public engagement includes media contributions to The New York Times, Netflix’s Explained , and podcasts like Marketplace . Her interdisciplinary approach bridges academia, activism, and cultural critique.
Lorien Foote is the Patricia & Bookman Peters Professor of History at Texas A&M University, specializing in 19th-century U.S., Civil War and Reconstruction, and war and society. She holds a PhD from the University of Oklahoma (1999). Her research explores military history, prisoner dynamics, and digital humanities through projects like the 'Fugitive Federals' visualization of Union escapees. She has authored four books, including Rites of Retaliation (2021), which won the 2022 OAH Civil War Book Award, and co-edited volumes like The Oxford Handbook of the American Civil War . Key awards include the Lincoln Prize Finalist (2011) for The Gentlemen and the Roughs and a Choice Outstanding Academic Title (2016) for The Yankee Plague . Her work bridges military strategy, social dynamics, and digital innovation, examining themes like prisoner exploitation, community resilience during war, and animal roles in conflict. Publications: Books on Civil War military culture, edited collections, and articles on guerrilla warfare, prisoner narratives, and animal histories. Grants/Projects: Principal investigator of the 'Fugitive Federals' Digital Humanities project. Labs/Teams: Leads interdisciplinary teams analyzing Civil War data through digital platforms.
Angie N. Ocampo-Roland is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh’s Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. She specializes in racial and ethnic politics, focusing on the political incorporation of Latina/o/x populations in the U.S. Her research compares political attitudes across racial groups, including White and Black Americans, to understand inclusion/exclusion dynamics in national identity. Education: PhD in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania (2021). Research interests include Latina/o/x political attitudes, political psychology, public opinion, and immigration studies. She explores how racial categorization shapes political behavior and social integration. Recent work examines Latino perceptions of the 2024 election, the role of aspirational status in political support, and group prototypicality in national identity. Her 2021 project on Latino immigrants in the U.S. South challenges traditional intergroup dynamics frameworks. Key themes in her publications address subgroup variations within Latino communities, electoral behavior, and the intersection of race, immigration, and citizenship.
