Dr David Grumett is a Senior Lecturer in Theology and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh's School of Divinity. He holds a BA(Hons), MPhil, and PhD, and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). His research focuses on theology, ethics, and philosophy, with particular attention to themes like sacramental theology, animal welfare, and historical theologians such as Henri de Lubac and Teilhard de Chardin. **Education**: BA(Hons) MPhil PhD SFHEA **Responsibilities**: Convener, Divinity Research Ethics Committee Academic cohort lead for Philosophy and Theology External roles include Assessor at the Office for Students and membership in the AHRC Peer Review College His work bridges theological theory with practical ethics, including animal ethics and liturgical studies. He has published extensively on sacramental theology, biblical interpretation, and contemporary ethical issues in Christianity.
Amir AghaKouchak is a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Irvine (UCI). He directs the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing (CHRS) and focuses on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of hydrology, climatology, statistics, and remote sensing. B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Civil Engineering (Water Resources), K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran (2001, 2005) Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Stuttgart, Germany (2010) His research aims to leverage satellite data and ground observations to advance modeling of hydrologic extremes (droughts, floods, landslides) and develop decision-support systems for water resources management. Key areas include climate change impacts , stochastic modeling , and the water-energy nexus . Recent publications highlight his work on multi-hazard analysis, groundwater decline, wildfire resilience, and climate projections. Tools like MhAST and MvCAT demonstrate his methodological contributions to copula-based and multi-hazard modeling.
Noah D. Gardiner serves as Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of South Carolina's College of Arts and Sciences. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan (2014), followed by positions as Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Michigan and a postdoctoral fellowship at Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn. Gardiner's scholarly focus centers on Islamic thought and culture with particular emphasis on Sufism, esotericism, occult sciences, and manuscript culture in the 12th-15th century Arabic-speaking Mediterranean. His research explores the 'science of letters and names' (ʿilm al-huruf wa-al-asmaʾ), religious cosmology, and apocalypticism, examining how mystical ideas move between religious margins and centers. His work reveals significant connections between Islamic occult traditions and other esoteric systems like Jewish Kabbalah. His extensive publication record includes the monograph Ibn Khaldūn versus the Occultists at Barqūq's Court (2020), co-editing the special issue Islamicate Occultism: New Perspectives (2017), and numerous articles in leading journals. His current research focuses on the 13th-century Sufi occultist Aḥmad al-Būnī and the broader occult renaissance in 14th-15th century Cairo. Gardiner actively contributes to the scholarly community through his role as co-organizer of the international online workshop 'Islamic Occult Studies on the Rise' and administrator of the scholarly resource site islamicoccult.org, which showcases emerging scholarship in Islamic esotericism. He teaches courses spanning foundational religion studies to specialized topics including Islam, Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic Theology, Sufism, and Religion and the Fantastic.
Carol Carpenter is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Research Scholar at Yale University's School of the Environment. She has held teaching and research positions at Syracuse University, the University of Hawaii, and Hawaii-Pacific University, and a research role at the East-West Center. Her expertise spans environmental anthropology, conservation, sustainable development, and gender in agrarian systems. She earned a B.A. from SUNY Binghamton and M.A./Ph.D. from Cornell University. Her research focuses on the social science of conservation, economic anthropology in agriculture, and gender dynamics in ecological systems. Notable fieldwork includes four years in Indonesia studying rituals and social networks, followed by four years in Pakistan as a development consultant on social forestry and women's issues for USAID, the World Bank, and the Asia Foundation. She joined Yale in 1998 and published Power in Conservation: Environmental Anthropology Beyond Political Ecology (2020) and co-edited Environmental Anthropology: An Historical Reader (2007). Her recent work critiques conservation practices through an anthropological lens, emphasizing cultural contexts and gender roles. Earlier studies explored resource management in Pakistan, including women’s labor in agriculture and afforestation impacts. Her articles span decades, addressing topics from ritual ethnobotany to development surveillance in Bolivia. While no specific grants or lab affiliations are detailed, her consultancy roles highlight applied research in development sectors. No awards are explicitly mentioned, though her academic contributions are substantial.
Professor Alexandra M. Schmidt is a leading academic in Biostatistics at McGill University, holding an endowed University Chair. She specializes in spatial and spatio-temporal modeling, particularly in epidemiology and environmental health. Previously, she served as a Full Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2012–2016). Her research focuses on Bayesian methodologies for analyzing complex processes, including disease spread, environmental hazards, and socio-economic disparities. She has authored influential books such as Spatio-Temporal Methods in Environmental Epidemiology with R (2023) and contributed to over 150 peer-reviewed articles. Key awards include the ISBA Fellowship (2024), ASA Fellowship (2020), and the Abdel El-Shaarawi Award (2008). Education: PhD in Statistics (2001, University of Sheffield, UK), MSc and BSc in Statistics (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Research interests span Bayesian inference, spatial statistics, and environmental epidemiology. She has advised numerous PhD/MSc students and collaborated on projects linking statistical methods to public health challenges, such as modeling dengue outbreaks and air pollution impacts. Active in academic service, she has chaired major conferences (e.g., 2022 ISBA World Meeting) and serves on editorial boards of top journals like Bayesian Analysis and Canadian Journal of Statistics . Teaching includes advanced courses on generalized linear models, spatial epidemiology, and Bayesian analysis. Her work bridges theoretical statistics with practical applications, addressing global health issues through innovative spatio-temporal modeling techniques.
Harald Fuess is a Professor of Cultural Economic History at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies since 2009. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and B.A. from Princeton University , with prior teaching roles at the University of Sheffield, Sophia University, and visiting appointments at Oxford, Duisburg-Essen, Columbia, and Tokyo University. He serves as the Erasmus Coordinator for Asian Studies and as University Scientific Coordinator of the Hexagon Alliance . Education: Princeton University – B.A. Harvard University – M.A., Ph.D. His research spans modern Japanese history , gender dynamics , transcultural economic relations , and Eurasian cultural flows . Publications focus on Japan's legal sovereignty, consumption patterns, and the Meiji Restoration's global impact. Key academic contributions include leadership roles such as President of the European Association for Japanese Studies (2008-2011) and ongoing membership in its Executive Council (since 2000) . He has held administrative positions including Director of the Cluster Graduate School Transcultural Studies (2012-2017) and Speaker for Research Area C "Health and Environment" (2009-2012) . Recent publications analyze topics ranging from historiography of the senses to colonial legal frameworks in East Asia. His work bridges historical analysis with contemporary issues like tourism's economic impact and intellectual property evolution in transnational contexts.
Elaine J. Francis is a Professor of English and Linguistics at Purdue University, where she also serves as the Associate Head of the Department of English. She holds affiliate appointments in the Department of Linguistics and the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. At Purdue, she directs the Experimental Linguistics Lab and teaches linguistics courses at both graduate and undergraduate levels. Francis completed her B.A. in Linguistics at the College of William and Mary in 1993, followed by her M.A. (1995) and Ph.D. (1999) in Linguistics at the University of Chicago under the direction of Salikoko Mufwene. Her dissertation examined variation among members of the same lexical category in English using Sadock's Autolexical Grammar framework. Prior to joining Purdue in 2003, she served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong from 1999 to 2002, where she collaborated with Stephen Matthews on research concerning syntactic categories and relative clauses in Cantonese. Her research focuses on syntax and its interfaces with semantics, discourse information structure, and language processing in production and comprehension. Francis employs experimental methods to investigate syntactic, semantic, discourse-pragmatic, and cognitive factors underlying the grammar and usage of complex sentence structures. Her specific interests include word order alternations, filler-gap dependencies, resumptive pronouns, relative clauses, grammatical categories, and syntactic alternations. She has published extensively in top linguistics journals including Language and Cognition, Glossa Psycholinguistics, Linguistics, Lingua, Cognitive Linguistics, and the Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. Analyzing her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on experimental approaches to syntactic phenomena. Her work demonstrates a strong interest in gradient acceptability, syntactic priming, cross-linguistic comparison (particularly involving English and Cantonese), and the relationship between grammatical theory and language processing. Her 2022 book Gradient Acceptability and Linguistic Theory represents a major contribution that synthesizes experimental findings with theoretical linguistics frameworks. Francis plays an active role in the broader linguistics community. She regularly teaches short courses at the Linguistic Society of America Linguistic Institutes, serves on the LSA Ethics Committee, and is on the editorial board of Glossa Psycholinguistics. She has also edited several books and special journal issues, including Mismatch: Form-Function Incongruity and the Architecture of Grammar (2003) and Polymorphous Linguistics: Jim McCawley's Legacy (2005). As an educator and administrator, Francis has supervised numerous graduate students and currently serves as Associate Head of the Department of English at Purdue. Her Experimental Linguistics Lab provides research opportunities for students interested in the intersection of theoretical syntax and experimental methodology. While she recently announced she will not be accepting new graduate students for the 2025-2026 cycle, her established mentorship record demonstrates her commitment to training the next generation of linguists. The Experimental Linguistics Lab, which she directs, serves as a hub for research combining theoretical linguistics with experimental methods. Her collaborative work extends across disciplines, including collaborations with researchers in speech-language pathology, cognitive science, and computational linguistics, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of modern linguistic research.
Walid A. Saleh is a Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto , holding appointments in both the Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations department and the Department for the Study of Religion . His scholarship focuses on the Qur’an , Quranic exegesis (Tafsir), Islamic apocalyptic literature , and Biblical reception in Islam . PhD from Yale University (2001) Recipient of Mellon New Directions Fellowship (2014) and Konrad Adenauer Fellow (2017) Editor of the Routledge Qur’an Series His research analyzes Quranic chronology , manuscript traditions , and Islamic intellectual history . Recent publications examine periodization in Sunni tafsir, late Ottoman book culture, and the reception of al-Bayḍāwī's Anwar al-tanzīl . Articles explore topics from Quranic death narratives to medieval Islamic cosmology . Key article themes: Quranic identity formation , Islamic manuscript studies , exegetical methodology He has edited critical texts like al-Biqa`i's Bible treatise and serves on editorial boards for the Journal of the American Academy of Religion and Journal of Qur'anic Studies . His teaching includes advanced courses in Arabic paleography and Quranic hermeneutics .
Lauren M.E. Goodlad is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Rutgers University, serving as Chair of Critical AI @ Rutgers and Editor of the journal Critical AI . She holds affiliations with the Center for Cultural Analysis (CCA), Rutgers British Studies Center, and Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science. Her research bridges 19th-century studies and critical AI, emphasizing 'critical AI literacies' and ethical AI development. Goodlad has held roles like Associate Chair of English and membership in Rutgers' AI Advisory Council and CASS (Cyberinfrastructure for Science, Engineering & Society). Her education includes a BSILR from Cornell University, MA in English from NYU, and PhD in English from Columbia University. Notable grants include NEH funding for global AI workshops ('Unboxing AI'), an NSF planning grant on teaching writing with AI, and an upcoming Global Humanities Institute on Design Justice AI. Research interests span Victorian literature, genre theory, television studies, and AI's sociocultural impacts. Awards include University of Illinois' Kathryn Paul Professorial Scholar and Provost Fellow for Undergraduate Education. Current projects include a book on 19th-century fiction's ontological influence and collaborations on AI ethics frameworks. Publications include The Victorian Geopolitical Aesthetic (Oxford, 2015), co-edited special issues on Mad Men and Victorian Internationalisms , and recent critical AI essays in Critical AI and New Literary History . She advocates for AI development aligned with public interest through pedagogical innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Costanza Beltrami is a Senior Lecturer at Stockholm University in the Department of Culture and Aesthetics. She is a dedicated art historian with a focus on Gothic art and architecture of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, particularly in the Spanish region of Castile and its international connections. Her research interests include architectural drawings, collaboration, transculturation, and temporality in architecture. Dr. Beltrami teaches courses on Medieval and Renaissance art and architecture from Cordoba to Florence. Her academic background includes studying Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and working at the University of Oxford/St Catherine's College before joining Stockholm University. Her research has focused on late-Gothic architecture, including a monumental drawing of a tower from Rouen cathedral and ornament prints as artists' models. She is Reviews Editor for the Journal of the British Archaeological Association and has completed her PhD thesis on Juan Guas (active 1453–1496), the leading architect of late fifteenth-century Spain. She is currently working on a book project about collaboration, artistic identity, and the geographies of exchange in late-Gothic Castile. Her co-edited volume "Art, Travel and Exchange between Iberia and Global Geographies, 11400–1550" challenges traditional narratives about Iberian art history and emphasizes multi-directional cultural exchange. Dr. Beltrami's recent research includes editing a special issue on portable drawings and paper in Medieval and Gothic architecture. Her work explores how architectural practices in Castile demonstrate fascinating questions regarding migrant networks, cultural contact, the meanings of architecture, and the role of art in debates on national identity from the 15th century to the present.
Imogen Forbes-Macphail is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis, specializing in the interdisciplinary intersections of nineteenth-century British poetry and mathematical thought. Her current book project, Line and Number: Formal Problems in Nineteenth-Century Poetry and Mathematics , examines how Victorian poets and mathematicians engaged with analogous formal challenges. Victorian Poetry Caucus Representative, North American Victorian Studies Association Co-Editor (with Anna Henchman), Special Issue of Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies on women’s writing and scientific knowledge production (“Longing to Know”) Research Focus: Forbes-Macphail’s work bridges literary formalism and historical scientific methodologies, particularly exploring topics like computational proof, topological poetics, and the mysticism inherent in Victorian-era mathematical and poetic discourse. Her interdisciplinary approach highlights how mathematical concepts influenced poetic structures and vice versa. Scientific Contributions: Her publications span analyses of the Four-Color Theorem, Ada Lovelace’s literary-scientific legacy, and the gendered dynamics of 19th-century knowledge production. Key trends include the aestheticization of mathematical rigor, the role of formalism in shaping Victorian intellectual paradigms, and crossdisciplinary epistemological inquiries. Honorable Mention, “Expanding the Field” Essay Prize, Northeast Victorian Studies Association (2022) Susan Morgan Graduate Student Essay Prize, Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies (2019) Sally Mitchell Prize, North American Victorian Studies Association (2018) Honorable Mention, Susan Morgan Graduate Student Essay Prize (2018) Sussex-Samuel Prize, Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association (2013) Forbes-Macphail’s teaching includes courses such as ENL 164: Writing Science Publications , emphasizing the synthesis of scientific and literary communication. She previously held a Junior Fellowship at the Harvard Society of Fellows (2022–25), underscoring her prominence in Victorian studies.
Timothy Webster serves as Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development at Western New England University's School of Law, with prior academic appointments at Yale Law School, Case Western Reserve University, and international institutions including University of Paris—Dauphine and National Taiwan University. His educational qualifications include: B.A., Yale University M.A., Yale University J.D., Cornell Law School LL.M., Cornell Law School Webster's research focuses on intersections between international law and East Asian domestic legal systems (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan), examining human rights frameworks, international trade mechanisms, foreign investment regulations, and transnational litigation strategies. His scholarship demonstrates deep engagement with historical justice issues and contemporary legal challenges in the region, delivered through presentations at over 175 international conferences conducted in English, French, Japanese, and Mandarin. Analysis of his recent publications reveals consistent thematic concentration on war reparations, state immunity doctrines, corporate liability frameworks, and civil society's role in transnational redress movements, with empirical studies of litigation patterns across East Asia forming a distinctive methodological thread. His professional recognition includes: Catherine Jones Professor of the Year award (2023 and 2024) Asia Scholars Network fellowship (Luce Foundation) U.S.-Japan Network for the Future membership (Mansfield Foundation) Public Intellectuals Program selection (National Committee on U.S.-China Relations) As Associate Dean, Webster mentors law students in international legal studies while directing faculty development initiatives. His research is substantially supported by elite fellowships from the Luce Foundation, Mansfield Foundation, and National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, enabling extensive international collaboration. Webster has testified before Congress regarding China's WTO compliance and contributes legal analysis to major media outlets including The Conversation, South China Morning Post, and Los Angeles Times.
Dr. Megan Renna is an Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University's Teachers College and completed a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the National Cancer Institute at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research focuses on the bidirectional relationship between psychological and physical health, particularly how emotion regulation and negative emotionality contribute to chronic disease risk in breast cancer survivors and healthy adults. Education: Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (2019) and M.Ph. (2018) from Teachers College, Columbia University Training: Predoctoral internship at Duke University Medical Center Her work bridges clinical psychology, psychophysiology, and behavioral medicine through studies on inflammation, autonomic dysfunction, and cancer survivorship. Recent publications examine metabolic syndrome, smartwatch body composition metrics, and couples' health dynamics. Key research themes include stress reactivity, emotion regulation therapy, and biobehavioral pathways linking mental states to physiological outcomes. Dr. Renna teaches Advanced Psychopathology and can be reached at Megan.Renna@usm.edu. Her methodological expertise spans experimental worry inductions, longitudinal studies, and psychometric scale development, with a focus on reducing distress disorders through emotion regulation interventions.
Rita Felski is the William R Kenan, Jr. Professor and John Stewart Bryan Professor in the Department of English at the University of Virginia, where she also serves as Editor of New Literary History . Her distinguished career spans literary theory, feminist criticism, and aesthetics, with significant contributions to the postcritique movement that challenges traditional hermeneutics of suspicion in humanities scholarship. Her educational background includes a B.A. from Cambridge University (1979), M.A. (1982), and Ph.D. (1987) from Monash University. Felski's research centers on affective and descriptive approaches to literature, exploring how attachment to art shapes human experience. Key works include The Gender of Modernity (1995), Uses of Literature (2008), The Limits of Critique (2015), and Hooked: Art and Attachment (2020), which examine everyday aesthetics, feminist theory, and alternative reading practices beyond critique. Recent publications (2020-2024) reveal sustained engagement with Bruno Latour's actor-network theory, resonance sociology, and class recognition, demonstrating her interdisciplinary approach that bridges literary studies with social theory. Her work consistently reimagines interpretive methodologies while analyzing emotional responses to art across diverse cultural forms. Among her notable scientific awards are a Guggenheim Fellowship (2010), an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Southern Denmark (2017), and the William Parker Riley Prize for best article in PMLA. She has held prestigious visiting professorships at institutions including Free University Berlin (2015) and McMaster University (2005). Felski's research has been supported by significant grants including an Australian Research Council Major Grant (1993) and fellowships from Cornell University's Society for the Humanities (1989-1990). As Editor of New Literary History , she has curated influential special issues on topics ranging from "Song" (2015) to "Recomposing the Humanities—with Bruno Latour" (2016), shaping contemporary discourse in literary studies.
María Rivera Maulucci is the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Education and serves as the Education Program Director/Chair at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is a proud alumna of Barnard (Class of 1988) and has been a faculty member since 2004. Her work centers on urban education, science pedagogy, and teacher development with a strong commitment to equity and social justice. Education: BS, Barnard College, Columbia University MFS, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies M.Phil, Teachers College, Columbia University Ph.D., Teachers College, Columbia University Her research focuses on how teachers learn to teach for social justice, emphasizing the role of language, identity, and emotions in teacher development. She employs qualitative research and evaluation methods to explore transformative pedagogical practices in urban science education. Her scholarship bridges formal and informal learning contexts and investigates the interplay between teacher agency and structural constraints. Her recent publications and presentations highlight a sustained focus on equity, critical science inquiry, teacher identity, and professional development. She has contributed extensively to journals such as Journal of Research in Science Teaching and Cultural Studies of Science Education , and has authored chapters on social justice, identity, and assessment in science education. Scientific Awards: Barnard College Emily Gregory Teaching Award (2018) National Association for Research in Science Teaching Equity and Ethics Scholar (2007) She is the Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded Barnard College Robert Noyce Teacher Education Scholars Program, which supports future science teachers in urban schools. She advises students and collaborates with national organizations, including the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Association for Science Teacher Education, and American Educational Research Association. Her teaching includes courses such as Science in the City , Urban School Practicum , and Performance Assessment of Teaching . She is actively engaged in professional development initiatives and has led workshops on family engineering nights, multicultural pedagogy, and social justice in science education. Her lab and programmatic work centers on the Noyce Scholars Program, which functions as a living laboratory for preparing socially conscious science educators.
