Michael Lucey is the Sidney and Margaret Ancker Chair and Distinguished Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. His work bridges French literature from the 19th to 21st centuries with social theory, sexuality studies, and linguistic anthropology. He has authored the critically acclaimed What Proust Heard: Novels and the Ethnography of Talk (2022) and Thinking about Sexuality with Novels (forthcoming). As founding director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Culture , he has shaped interdisciplinary research in queer theory and gender studies. Current research focuses on novels as ethnographic tools Specializes in Proust, Balzac, Woolf, and contemporary French fiction Translation work includes Didier Eribon and Édouard Louis His recent articles explore phonetics in narrative, readability frameworks, and sociological implications of literary form. He actively engages with comparative methodologies and critical theory, while his teaching spans British and American literature’s intersections with French modernism. Lucey’s academic leadership includes directing Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Sexual Culture, which supports global discourse through fellowships and conferences. His office hours are held in Dwinelle Hall and via Zoom. Contact: mlucey@berkeley.edu
Winnie Wong is a Professor of Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on art history, particularly exploring themes of fakes, forgeries, and authorship through interdisciplinary approaches. She examines the global artistic networks of Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, challenging Western narratives of Chinese artistic practices. Wong holds a PhD from MIT's History, Theory + Criticism program and was a Harvard Society of Fellows Junior Fellow. Her major works include Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade (2014, Joseph Levenson Prize winner), Learning from Shenzhen (2017), and a forthcoming book on Canton trade portraitists. She teaches courses like Theory of the Copy and Rhetoric of the Image , mentoring undergraduates through the Undergraduate Research Apprentices program and advising PhD students in art history and visual studies. Wong's research has been supported by grants from Mellon Foundation, ACLS, SSRC, and others. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and appears in journals like Current Anthropology and Law & Literature . She frequently discusses her work on podcasts and collaborates with museums including M+ and the Asian Art Museum.
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.
Matthew Potolsky is Professor of English at the University of Utah, specializing in nineteenth-century literature and literary theory. His career spans from 1998 Lecturer at Harvard University to current University Professorship. He earned a BA in Comparative Literature and Philosophy (1990), followed by MA and PhD in Comparative Literature (1992, 1997) from UC Irvine. Chair of English Department (2013-2016) University Professor (2014-2016) Research focuses on Decadence , Mimesis , Finance-Aesthetics intersections , and Government Secrecy . His work traces connections between financialization and decadent aesthetics, revealing how economic cycles influence artistic production. Key themes include: Decadent anti-realist literary movements Finance capital's cultural impact Decadent counterpublic formations Victorian aesthetic education debates Sublime aesthetics in national security Cosmopolitanism in literary communities Recent publications analyze: Decadent style as financialization rhetoric Reintroduction of verisimilitude theory Decadent responses to financial crises Mimetic labor in artistic production Decadent cosmopolitan counterpublics Historical parallels between financialization and literary decadence
Adriana Kovashka is an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh , affiliated with the School of Computing and Information and serving as Department Chair . Her academic journey began with BA degrees in Computer Science and Media Studies from Pomona College (2008) and a PhD in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin (2014). Joined Pitt’s faculty in January 2015 NSF CAREER awardee (2021) Google Faculty Research Award recipient Dr. Kovashka’s research spans Computer Vision , Machine Learning , and Natural Language Processing , focusing on visual rhetoric, weak multimodal supervision, and domain adaptation. She pioneered techniques for analyzing political imagery, developing robust object detection frameworks, and exploring the intersection of visual and textual persuasion through large-scale annotated datasets. Her recent work emphasizes geographic diversity in vision-language systems, audio-visual fusion for domain generalization, and shape-texture bias mitigation in CNNs. Key publications include groundbreaking studies on symbolic reasoning, multimodal dialogue systems, and ethical AI applications in education. Scientific honors include: NSF CRII Award (2016) NSF CAREER Award (2021) Pitt CRDF Award (2016, 2018) Best Paper at ECV Workshop (2021) Google Faculty Research Award (2016, 2018) Dr. Kovashka actively mentors students in multimodal learning projects and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on NSF-funded initiatives. She co-organizes workshops like the first CVPR workshop on advertisement understanding and leads research groups exploring human-AI co-learning systems.
Maja J Matarić is the Chan Soon-Shiong Chaired and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering, with courtesy appointments in Neuroscience and Pediatrics. She serves as founding director of the USC Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center, co-director of the USC Robotics Research Lab, and Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind. Previously, she held leadership roles as USC's interim Vice President of Research (2020-2021) and Vice Dean for Research (2006-2019). Her educational background includes: PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from MIT (1994) MS in Computer Science from MIT (1990) BS in Computer Science from University of Kansas (1987) Matarić pioneers Socially Assistive Robotics (SAR) , a field her lab named, focusing on human-robot interaction that provides assistance through social rather than physical support. Her research targets critical health and wellness challenges including post-stroke rehabilitation, autism spectrum disorder therapy, cognitive exercises for Alzheimer's patients, ADHD academic support, and mental health interventions. She develops systems modeling user engagement, personality, and motivation, with extensive real-world deployments in schools, rehabilitation centers, and homes. Analysis of her recent publications reveals dominant themes in cognitive health robotics (2025 CHI paper on LLM-powered elder care), pediatric assistive technology (2025 IDC speech therapy review), and adaptive preference modeling (2025 HRI contrastive learning work). Her research consistently bridges machine learning with human-centered design for vulnerable populations. Major scientific recognition includes: ACM Athena Lecturer Award (2024) ACM Eugene L. Lawler Humanitarian Award (2024) ACM Fellow (2020) Presidential Mentoring Award (2011) Multiple society fellowships (AAAS, IEEE, AAAI) As a dedicated mentor, Matarić has championed underrepresented groups through CRA-W, placing numerous women in faculty positions. She leads USC Viterbi's K-12 STEM Outreach Program serving low-income Los Angeles schools and authored The Robotics Prime for student education. Her research has secured significant funding enabling real-world technology transfer, with documented impact in rehabilitation centers and homes through deployable SAR systems. Her Robotics Research Lab at USC drives innovation in embodied AI, with current projects spanning LLM-integrated elder care robots, ADHD academic companions, and autism therapy systems. The lab emphasizes co-design with end-users and rigorous real-world validation across diverse populations.
Haijun Xia is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he directs the Foundation Interface Lab and contributes to the Cognitive Science and Design Lab. His work focuses on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Human-AI Collaboration , emphasizing the development of dynamic, malleable interfaces that integrate human cognition with intelligent systems to enhance thinking and working paradigms. Education: Bachelor's, Tsinghua University Master's and PhD, University of Toronto His research spans generative AI , interface design , and creative collaboration , with applications in data visualization, programming, and scholarly work. He advocates for treating information as a malleable material that can be flexibly manipulated by users and AI agents. Recent publications highlight advancements in: 2025 CHI Conference - Generative user interfaces, malleable overview-detail designs, and compositional structures for human-AI co-creation 2024 CHI Conference - Structured design space exploration with LLMs, ASCII diagram analysis, and adaptive presentation systems 2023 CHI/UIST Conferences - Data particle visualization, contextual logging tools, and metaphor generation for science communication Scientific recognitions include: Multiple Best Paper Awards and Honorable Mentions at CHI and UIST Hellman Fellowship and grants from NSF , Microsoft , Google , Meta , Apple , and Adobe He actively recruits undergraduate and graduate interns and has an upcoming postdoc position in early 2025 for researchers interested in foundational interface development.
April Yi Wang is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zürich, where she directs the Programming, Education, and Computer-Human Interaction Lab (PEACH Lab). She is a core faculty member at the Institute for Intelligent Interactive Systems and associated with the ETH AI Center. Wang is also an active member of ETH HCI and Swiss CHI communities, contributing significantly to human-computer interaction and educational technology research. Dr. Wang's educational background includes: Ph.D. in Information Science from University of Michigan (2023), advised by Steve Oney and Christopher Brooks M.Sc. in Computer Science from Simon Fraser University (2018), advised by Parmit Chilana B.Eng in Computer Science from Zhejiang University (2016) Dr. Wang's research focuses on human-centered approaches to programming and data science. Her work reimagines programming as a form of literature that communicates with both machines and people, exploring creative representations like text, shapes, animations, and everyday objects. She investigates how to make programming more natural and intuitive through literate programming environments, with applications in professional and educational contexts. Her research spans human-computer interaction, educational technology, and AI-assisted programming tools. Analysis of Dr. Wang's recent publications reveals a strong focus on AI-enhanced educational tools, particularly for programming and data literacy. Her work increasingly integrates large language models to scaffold learning while maintaining user agency. There's a clear trajectory toward developing situated learning approaches that connect abstract concepts to real-world contexts through augmented reality and tangible interfaces. Her research bridges HCI, education, and AI to create more accessible and engaging technical learning experiences. Dr. Wang has received numerous prestigious awards including: 2023 Gary M. Olson Award and Honourable Mention Award at ACM CHI 2022 Rising Stars in EECS and Heidelberg Laureate Forum Young Researcher 2020 Best Short Paper Award at IEEE VL/HCC and Honourable Mention at ACM CHI 2019 Best Paper Award at ACM CSCW Dr. Wang actively mentors students through thesis projects at ETH Zürich, supervising numerous bachelor's and master's students on topics ranging from AI-assisted programming to data literacy tools. Her lab, PEACH Lab, has secured funding including the recent innovedum funding for the Coducate project. She serves on program committees for major conferences including CHI and UIST, and regularly reviews for top HCI and education journals. The PEACH Lab, directed by Dr. Wang, focuses on creating expressive, intelligent, and human-centered systems that make technical topics more accessible. The lab explores textual, visual, and embodied representations for programming, with emphasis on enhancing communication, collaboration, and learning. Current research directions include balancing automation with user agency, supporting diverse learning needs, and developing tools for interdisciplinary technical communication.
John McAuliffe is Professor of Poetry at The University of Manchester, where he joined in 2004 and currently directs the Creative Manchester research platform focused on Creative Industries, Creativity/Health/Well-being, and Creative Civic Futures. He founded and directed the internationally renowned Centre for New Writing (2007-2021). Additional roles include Associate Publisher at Carcanet Press, co-editor of PN Review, and trustee of Manchester's UNESCO City of Literature. His creative scholarship centers on contemporary poetry with emphases on Irish literary traditions, cross-cultural translation, and poetry's civic applications. Work spans lyric composition, editorial curation of emerging voices, and critical analysis of poetry's intersections with theatre, conflict studies, and social identity. His practice bridges academic scholarship and public literary engagement through institutional leadership. Recent publications reveal evolving thematic trajectories: 2024's National Theatre examines theatricality in modern verse, while Selected Poems (2021/2022) consolidates decades of work exploring Irish landscapes and personal memory. The Kabul Olympics (2020) and Stockholm Syndrome (2019) demonstrate sustained engagement with geopolitical conflict and psychological dimensions of displacement through poetic form. Major recognitions include: Observer Book of the Year (2021/2022) for Selected Poems Guardian Poetry Book of the Month (June 2020) for The Kabul Olympics TLS and Irish Times Book of the Year (2020) for The Kabul Olympics Poetry Book Society Winter Pamphlet Choice (2019) for Stockholm Syndrome McAuliffe served as Deputy Director of the Irish Arts Council (2013-2018), chairs strategic initiatives, contributes to AHRC peer review, and writes extensively for The Irish Times (2013-2020 column). He actively shapes literary policy through Manchester City Council's Events Commission and UNESCO City of Literature governance.
Laurie Shannon is the Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English at Northwestern University, with a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She studies English literature and culture in the long sixteenth century, focusing on the history of ideas in language, stakeholdership, embodiment, and cross-species relations. She serves as convener of The Anne Lister Society and is collaborating with Oxford University Press on a scholarly edition of Anne Lister’s Journal. Education: J.D., Harvard Law School; Ph.D., University of Chicago Shannon’s research explores the political imagination in early modern literature, particularly through friendship (Sovereign Amity: Figures of Friendship in Shakespearean Contexts) and animal studies (The Accommodated Animal: Cosmopolity in Shakespearean Locales). Her current monograph, 'Frailty’s Name: Shakespeare and the Natural History of Human Being,' examines human negative exceptionalism in Renaissance thought and its implications for climate crisis ethics. Her publications span Shakespeare studies, queer theory, environmental humanities, and textual editing. Notable awards include the Elizabeth Dietz Memorial Award, Robert B. Cox Teaching Award, and Dean’s Award for Graduate Mentoring. She has held NEH, ACLS, and Guggenheim fellowships. Scientific Awards: Elizabeth Dietz Memorial Award, Robert B. Cox Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award, Dean's Award for Graduate Mentoring, NEH Fellowship, ACLS Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship Shannon contributes to the Anne Lister Diary Transcription Project and has served as English Department Chair at Northwestern. Her recent articles focus on Shakespeare’s engagement with natural history, queer cosmology, and animal sovereignty, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach.
Melanie Mitchell is a Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, focusing on artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and complex systems. She is an inaugural Fractal Faculty member and originated the Complexity Explorer platform. PhD in Computer Science from University of Michigan (1990) Faculty/research roles at Santa Fe Institute, Portland State University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and others Her research explores abstraction, analogy-making, and reasoning in AI and human intelligence. She has authored six books, including the award-winning Complexity: A Guided Tour and Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans . Recent work examines large language models, conceptual understanding, and cognitive parallels between humans and AI. Her 15 most recent publications address topics like AI reasoning, language model robustness, cognitive metaphors, and the Turing test's evolving relevance. Awards include the Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Award and the Herbert A. Simon Award. She advises numerous PhD and postdoctoral students and leads public outreach through online courses and media appearances.
Dr. Patrick van Rossem is an Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Department of History and Art History within the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University (The Netherlands). He has been serving as Head of the Art History department since May 2022 and has coordinated various Master and Bachelor programs in Art History since 2008. His educational background includes Art History (Humanities) and Media and Communication (Social Sciences) from Ghent University, and a Curating program at Goldsmith College, University of London. He earned his Ph.D. in Art History in 2006 from Ghent University with a dissertation on artist-audience relations in the second half of the 20th century. Dr. van Rossem's research focuses on post-1960s art, with particular emphasis on artists' audience relations, the representation of audiences, and the performative turn. His teaching covers similar areas including post-1960s art, audiences for art, curating, and art mediation and education. His scholarly work demonstrates a consistent exploration of how artists engage with their audiences, the changing nature of art viewership, and the performative aspects of contemporary art practices. His recent publications span topics from art vandalism in digital contexts to historical analyses of museum visitors in the 19th century, showing the breadth of his research interests that bridge contemporary art theory with historical perspectives on art reception. Dr. van Rossem has been actively involved in academic service, including editorial work for Stedelijk Studies journal and organizing conferences such as 'Keeping silent, listening, speaking up: voice and silence in audience-response to arts and literature.' He has delivered numerous invited talks at institutions including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and has participated in international conferences on contemporary art, audience studies, and art history methodologies.
Annette Schellenberg-Lagler serves as Professor of Old Testament Studies at the University of Vienna's Faculty of Protestant Theology, where she concurrently holds leadership roles as Vice Dean, Director of Studies, and Deputy Head of the Institute for Old Testament Studies and Biblical Archaeology. Her academic career spans over two decades with significant contributions to biblical scholarship since joining Vienna in 2015 after positions at the University of Zurich and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Her educational foundation includes Protestant Theology studies at the University of Zurich (1991-1998), followed by doctoral completion in 2002 and habilitation in 2011 at the same institution. Key developmental phases include Swiss National Science Foundation research in Los Angeles (2003-2005) and tenure-track professorship in California (2007-2015). Schellenberg-Lagler's research centers on Prehistory (Genesis 1-11), Priestly literature, Wisdom literature, and the Song of Songs, with specialized focus on Old Testament Anthropology and theological controversies within ancient Near Eastern contexts. Her work consistently bridges textual analysis with anthropological and epistemological frameworks, particularly examining human cognition in wisdom texts and sensory dimensions in biblical poetry. Current projects include a Song of Songs commentary for Eerdmans' Illuminations series. Recent publications reveal evolving scholarly trajectories toward negative theology in Hebrew Bible studies and interdisciplinary epistemology, while maintaining deep engagement with Wisdom literature. Her editorial leadership as Editor-in-Chief of Vetus Testamentum since 2020 significantly shapes contemporary Old Testament scholarship. She actively mentors students through STEOP-Mentoring programs and doctoral seminars, building on early-career support from Swiss National Science Foundation and Zurich Young Talents scholarships. Her academic service extends to steering committees for the Society of Biblical Literature's 'Wisdom in Israelite Traditions' group and the Working Group on Old Testament Reception (AKRAT). As a core member of Vienna's Research Center 'Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society' (RaT), she collaborates across multiple networks including the 'Epistemology in ancient Israel' consortium. Her institutional leadership drives curriculum development for Evangelical Theology programs while maintaining active participation in European scholarly societies like EABS and SBL.
Walter W. Powell is the Jacks Family Professor of Education at Stanford University, with courtesy appointments in Sociology, Organizational Behavior, Management Science and Engineering, and Communication. He serves as Faculty Co-Director of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS), which he co-founded in 2006, and leads the Civic Life of Cities Lab examining civil society organizations across global metropolitan areas. Powell is also an External Faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute and co-directs the CASBS summer institute on Organizations with MIT's Bob Gibbons. His educational background includes a PhD in Sociology from SUNY-Stony Brook (1978), an MA in Sociology from the same institution (1975), and a BA from Florida State University (1971). Powell's research fundamentally explores how ideas and practices transfer across organizational boundaries, with particular emphasis on network structures that enable or constrain knowledge diffusion. His work spans organizational theory, institutional analysis, university-industry relations, economic sociology, and comparative analysis of nonprofit, public, and private institutional forms. Powell's publications reveal consistent focus on network dynamics and institutional evolution, particularly examining how organizations navigate between market, hierarchy, and network governance structures. His research demonstrates how knowledge spillovers operate within biotechnology clusters, how institutional isomorphism shapes organizational fields, and how civil society organizations adapt to technological and economic pressures across different urban contexts. Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching (2018-19) Max Weber Award for "Neither Market Nor Hierarchy" Viviana Zelizer Prize for "Network Dynamics and Field Evolution" Administrative Science Quarterly Recognition Member of Swedish Royal Academy of Science Member of The British Academy Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences Honorary Degrees from Uppsala University, Copenhagen Business School, and Aalto University Powell has made substantial contributions to graduate education, receiving Stanford's highest teaching honor. His leadership of PACS and SCANCOR (1999-2010) demonstrates sustained commitment to advancing organizational research through collaborative initiatives. He supervises postdoctoral fellows and runs annual PhD workshops in Europe, fostering the next generation of organizational scholars. His research has been supported by grants enabling comparative studies of university-industry relations and civil society across multiple national contexts. Through the Civic Life of Cities Lab at PACS, Powell directs comparative research on civil society organizations across seven global cities, examining how these organizations navigate technological change, economic pressures, and political environments. His work bridges theoretical organizational sociology with practical applications in philanthropy, civil society development, and knowledge transfer between academic and commercial sectors.
Blair Hoxby is Professor of English at Stanford University's School of Humanities and Sciences, where he has taught since 2007. Previously, he served as Associate Professor of History and Literature at Harvard University (2005-2007) and Associate Professor of English at Yale University (2003-2005), where he began as Assistant Professor in 1998. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. in English from Yale University (1998), an M.Phil. in English Studies from the University of Oxford (1990), and an A.B. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University (1988). Hoxby's research focuses on literature and culture from 1500 to 1800, with particular emphasis on tragedy theory, Milton studies, and the intersection of literature and economics. His notable works include What Was Tragedy? Theory and the Early Modern Canon (2015) and Mammon's Music: Literature and Economics in the Age of Milton (2002). He argues that early modern tragedy differed significantly from contemporary understandings of the genre, with passions rather than deeds or character serving as the keys to early modern tragic performance. Hoxby's recent scholarly output reveals a consistent engagement with early modern theatrical practices, particularly tragedy and opera. His work demonstrates sophisticated interdisciplinary approaches, connecting literary analysis with historical context, economic theory, and performance studies. He has made significant contributions to understanding how commercial culture shaped literary production and how theatrical conventions evolved across national boundaries in Europe. Scientific Awards and Honors Internal Fellow, Stanford Humanities Center (2009-2010) Morse Fellowship, Juilliard School (2001-2002) Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Prize, Yale University (2001) John Addison Porter Prize, Yale University (1999) Rhodes Scholarship, University of Oxford (1988-1990) Hoxby has supervised numerous doctoral students and served in various administrative roles at Stanford, including Director of Undergraduate Studies (2011-2014) and Director of Graduate Admissions (2008-2011). His teaching portfolio includes courses on English poetry from the Renaissance to Romanticism, tragedy and tragic theory from Aristotle to the present, theater history, and performance theory. Currently, he teaches courses such as Court Theater from Shakespeare to Mozart and Introduction to English II: From Milton to the Romantics . Hoxby maintains active scholarly engagement through committee memberships, including the Executive Committee of the Milton Society of America (2009-2013) and service as a referee for major academic presses including Oxford University Press and the University of Pennsylvania Press.
