Humanities & Social Sciences

Esteemed speakers contributing their insights into human culture, behavior, and societal development

Natalia da Silva

Natalia da Silva

I am an Assistant Professor of Statistics in the Department of Quantitative Methods at Universidad de la República in Montevideo, Uruguay (UDELAR-IESTA). I earned my Ph.D. in Statistics from Iowa State University in July 2017, under the supervision of Di Cook and Heike Hofmann. My research interests include supervised learning methods, prediction, exploratory data analysis, statistical graphics, reproducible research, and meta-analysis.

I co-founded the Latinamerican Conference About the Use of R in R&D, (LatinR,https://latin-r.com), in 2018 and have been serving as co-chair of the event since then. Additionally, I co-founded R-Ladies Montevideo (RLadies_MVD and The R User Group in Montevideo, known as GURU. Most of the courses I teach involve coding in R at various levels. If you want to know more about the R community across Latin America, check R Fordwards post: http://forwards.github.io/blog/2018/02/05/r-in-latin-america/. During my Ph.D. at ISU, I also co-founded R-Ladies-Ames.

I am an Assistant Professor of Statistics in the Department of Quantitative Methods at Universidad de la República in Montevideo, Uruguay (UDELAR-IESTA). I earned my Ph.D. in Statistics from Iowa State University in July 2017, under the supervision ... Show more

Amy Dix

Amy Dix

“A breath of fresh air, Amy inspires others through her positive outlook on life!”

Positive Psychology Practitioner, Happiness Expert, Two-Time No. 1 International Best-Selling Author

Amy inspires others to live life on a different level, rooted in positivity and pure happiness. Once Amy learned that she may only have 20 more years left to live, she started to think differently, make different choices, and help others to design the life they are meant to have.

Influenced by her mom, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, Amy researched the science of positivity and happiness as illustrated in her latest book, “SEVEN MORE DAYS: Live a Life That's Bursting with Positivity and Happiness ... Before It's Too Late.” Seven More Days celebrates the transformative power of positivity and the potential of ultimate joy. It became a bestseller in eight countries and eight categories.

She now brings this message to the stage, creating a gripping experience of emotion, catapulting happiness, and challenging the chaos in today’s world.

“A breath of fresh air, Amy inspires others through her positive outlook on life!” Positive Psychology Practitioner, Happiness Expert, Two-Time No. 1 International Best-Selling Author Amy inspires others to live life on a different level, roote... Show more

Kristen Engelke

Kristen Engelke

As a Licensed Spiritual Guide for the decade, Kristen has a thriving private practice helping others shift their thinking to change their lives. Her book, Bliss Breaks®, empowers individuals by challenging the misconception that mindfulness is difficult, time-consuming, and needs to be performed in private. Her workshops share fast, free, focused exercises that swiftly alleviate stress anywhere, anytime. She is a speaker, author, trainer, and workshop facilitator. Embracing creativity at every step, Kristen is seasoned in appealing to all types of participants and loves sharing a message of empowerment and hope.

As a Licensed Spiritual Guide for the decade, Kristen has a thriving private practice helping others shift their thinking to change their lives. Her book, Bliss Breaks®, empowers individuals by challenging the misconception that mindfulness is diffi... Show more

Kien Nghi Ha

Kien Nghi Ha

Researcher, writer, curator, public speaker and community activist in Asian Germany since the 1990s

Education
2009 Ph.D. Cultural Studies (summa cum laude), University of Bremen (Germany)
1998 Diploma Political Sciences, Free University of Berlin

Academic and Professional Appointments
2023 Curator Asian Presences in Colonial Metropolis Berlin, Sinema Transtopia Berlin
Since 2020 Postdoctoral Researcher, Asian-Orient-Institute, University of Tübingen
2014-2016 Co-speaker of the Association for Intercultural Welfare, Empowerment and Diversity
2015 Senior Research Fellowship an der Bayreuth Academy of Advanced Studies, University of Bayreuth
Since 2012 Associated Fellow of the Institute for Postcolonial and Transcultural Studies, University of Bremen
2012 Co-curator of the Asia-Pacific Weeks at the House of World Cultures (Berlin)
2011 Visiting Professor at the Asia-Orient-Institute, University of Tübingen
2010 Curator Vietnamese Diaspora and Beyond, Hebbel am Ufer Theater (Berlin)
since 2010 Member of korientation. Network for German-Asian Perspectives
2009-2010 Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context”, University of Heidelberg
2009 Visiting Scholar at Asian/Pacific/America-Institute, New York University
Since 2001 Independent researcher, writer and public speaker frequently invited to universities, museums, cultural and art institutions

Academic Awards (selected)
2023 Conference grant from the Platform “Global Encounters” of the University of Tübingen, funded by Excellence Strategy of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
2022 Project grant from “Promotion of Contemporary History and Remembrance Culture” of the Berlin Senate
2011 Augsburg Science Prize for Intercultural Studies – Main Award
2009 Publication grant from the FAZIT-Foundation of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
2007 Conference travel grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG)
2001-2004 Doctoral scholarship of the Heinrich Böll Foundation
2001 European Commission’s “Human Potential Programme”

German Publications - Books (peer-reviewed)
2010 Impure and Mixed. Postcolonial Border Crossings through the Cultural History of Hybridity and Colonial “Racial Bastards” (Postcolonial Studies, Vol. 6), Münster: transcript
2005 Hype about Hybridity. Cultural Consumption of Difference and Postmodern Techniques of Utilization in Late Capitalism (Cultural Studies, Vol. 11), Bielefeld: transcript
1999 Ethnicity and Migration (Introductions: Basic Concepts of Social Philosophy and Social Theory, Vol. 9), Münster: Westfälisches Dampfboot

German Publications - Books (non peer-reviewed)
2025 Editor Anti-Asian Racism in Transatlantic Perspectives: History, Theory, Cultural Representations and Social Movements [in English in preparation]
2023 Editor Asian Presences in the Colonial Metropolis Berlin. Localizing Decolonialization. Berlin: Assoziation A [in print]
2012/2021 Editor Asian Germans [Extended]. Vietnamese Diaspora and Beyond. Berlin: Assoziation A
2014 Editor Asian Germany–Asian Diaspora in Germany.Heinrich Böll Foundation
2013 Leading guest editor of the special edition surfacing – Empowering Asian Germany, No. 21, April 2013, Transcultural magazine freitext
2007 Co-editor Re/visions. Postcolonial Perspectives of People of Color on Racism, Cultural Politics and Resistance in Germany. Münster: Unrast
2005 Vietnam Revisited. Berlin: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Berlin
2004 Ethnicity and Migration Reloaded. Identity, Difference and Hybridity in Postcolonial Discourse. Berlin: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Berlin

More than 60 Book Chapters and Articles in Academic Journals (translated)
In print: On the Colonial Matrix of Anti-Asian Racism: Yellow Danger, Invisibility and Exoticization. In: German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) (ed.): Racism Research: Racisms, Communities and Anti-Racist Movements, Vol. 2, Bielefeld: transcript
In print: The Pogrom in Rostock-Lichtenhagen as Institutionalized Racism. In: Gudrun Heinrich/David Jünger/Oliver Plessow/Cornelia Sylla (eds.): Perspectives from Science on 30 Years of Lichtenhagen 1992. Berlin: Neofelis
2023 Coloniality and Asian-German perspectives in Hito Steyerl's “The Empty Middle” (1998). In: Kien Nghi Ha (ed.): Asian presences in the colonial metropolis of Berlin. Berlin-Hamburg: Association A [in print]
2023 Chinese community in Berlin. In: Kien Nghi Ha (ed.): Asian presences in the colonial metropolis of Berlin. Berlin-Hamburg: Association A [in print]
2023 Interwoven Concealment: Coloniality, Anti-Semitism and Racism in Hito Steyerl's The Empty Middle (1998). In: Ömer Alkin/Alena Strohmaier (eds.): Racism and Film. Marburg: Schüren Verlag [in print]
2023 Human Rights: Multiple (State) Citizenships, Democracy, Anti-Racism and Decolonization. In: new German organizations (ed.): Citizenship Reloaded. Critical perspectives on citizenship in post-migrant society. Berlin, pp. 48-66.
2023 Anti-racist Alliances and Self-designations. A Critical Reflection on the BIPoC Approach. In: Birgit Jagusch/Yasmine Chehata (eds.): Empowerment and Power Sharing. Anchor Points – Positioning – Arenas. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, 2023, pp. 156-177.
2022 On the Transnational Coloniality of Anti-Asian Racism: Yellow Peril and Anti-Chinese Migration Policy in the Pacific. In: Mechthild Leutner/Pan Lu/Kimiko Suda (eds.): Anti-Chinese and Anti-Asian Racism. Münster: LIT-Verlag, pp. 38-58.
2021 Hybridity and resistance. Constructions of identity and culture in the age of colonial globalization. In: Frank Eckardt/Hamidou Maurice Bouguerra (eds.): City and racism. Analyzes and perspectives for anti-racist urbanity. Münster: Unrast, 2021, pp. 27-42.
2021 Looking back and looking forward: Decentralized communities and transnational solidarities. In: Kien Nghi Ha (ed.): Asian German Extended. Vietnamese Diaspora and Beyond. Berlin-Hamburg: Association A, 2021, pp. 11-20.
2021 The arrival of the Vietnamese boat people. Conjunctures and anomalies of an exceptional refugee and integration policy. In: Kien Nghi Ha (ed.): Asian German Extended. Vietnamese Diaspora and Beyond. Berlin-Hamburg: Association A, 2021, pp. 132-139.
2021 Nguyễn Ngọc Châu and Đỗ Anh Lân († Hamburg 1980): No two-class society in cultural and remembrance politics!. In: Kien Nghi Ha (ed.): Asian German Extended. Vietnamese Diaspora and Beyond. Berlin-Hamburg: Association A, 2021, pp. 140-149.
2021 Rostock-Lichtenhagen – The return of the repressed. In: Kien Nghi Ha (ed.): Asian German Extended. Vietnamese Diaspora and Beyond. Berlin-Hamburg: Association A, 2021, pp. 150-166.
2021 Decolonial commemoration: The Peace Statue in honor of Asian defiant women. In: Kien Nghi Ha (ed.): Asian German Extended. Vietnamese Diaspora and Beyond. Berlin-Hamburg: Association A, 2021, pp. 364-369.
2021 Solidarity and critique of power relationsships within the movement? Anti-Asian Violence and Intercommunal Alliances. In: Kien Nghi Ha (ed.): Asian German Extended. Vietnamese Diaspora and Beyond. Berlin-Hamburg: Association A, 2021, pp. 418-459.
2021 History and conception of Asian-German presences. In: Overview: Quarterly magazine of the IDA-NRW. No. 2/2021. June 2021, pp.3-9.
Full listing: See https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/208381

Researcher, writer, curator, public speaker and community activist in Asian Germany since the 1990s Education 2009 Ph.D. Cultural Studies (summa cum laude), University of Bremen (Germany) 1998 Diploma Political Sciences, Free University of Berli... Show more

José Luis Jiménez Figarotti

José Luis Jiménez Figarotti

EdTech scholar & VE expert, Prof. Jiménez is a prolific author on equity & human rights. His work bridges cultures inspiring empathy. His publications spark critical conversations on global exchange & social justice.

EdTech scholar & VE expert, Prof. Jiménez is a prolific author on equity & human rights. His work bridges cultures inspiring empathy. His publications spark critical conversations on global exchange & social justice. Show more

Pietro Pesce

Pietro Pesce

Dr Pietro Pesce is an instructor of Italian at the University of Arkansas. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from Florida State University, where he also completed a Master's Degree in Italian Studies (Literature and Linguistics). Dr Pesce's research interests center around Acquisition of Foreign Languages and Syntax, and he is actively investigating grammatical processing of complex morphosyntax in second and heritage language speakers of Spanish and Italian. Additionally, Dr Pesce has been involved in the reshaping and redesigning of foreign language courses for several years, focusing his efforts in the renovation of grading systems, the revitalization of contents, and the integration of newer instructional tools in the classroom.

Dr Pietro Pesce is an instructor of Italian at the University of Arkansas. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from Florida State University, where he also completed a Master's Degree in Italian Studies (Literature and Linguistics). Dr Pesce's research int... Show more

Ivana Vermiglio

Ivana Vermiglio

Ivana Vermiglio (1996) è una dottoranda di ricerca in Studi Umanistici presso l’Università di Palermo. Si occupa dello studio della microtoponomastica di tradizione orale-popolare degli arcipelaghi e delle piccole isole siciliane. Fa parte del comitato scientifico del progetto ASES (Archivio dei soprannomi etnici siciliani) e di quello redazionale della collana DATOS (Dizionario-atlante dei toponimi orali in Sicilia) diretto dal Centro di studi filologici e linguistici siciliani, con cui collabora per l’allestimento della piattaforma digitale ATOS (Archivio dei toponimi orali in Sicilia): cfr. Chichi M., Vermiglio I., Verso la realizzazione di ATOS: struttura e progetto di una piattaforma digitale sulla toponomastica siciliana, in «Bollettino dell’Atlante Linguistico Italiano» 47, 2023, pp. 186-211. Tra i suoi interessi principali la toponomastica (Isola Ferdinandea. Breve resoconto di una storia onomastica emersa e inabissata, in «RIOn» 39/2, 2023), lo studio della testualità nei nuovi media (Quando la testualità si fa lingua nei giochi televisivi, in Paternostro G., Pinello V. (a cura di), Teorie e pratiche del testo. Grammatica, nuovi metodi, didattica e letteratura, University Press, Palermo 2024, pp. 143-165), l’onomastica letteraria (Emersioni letterarie e testuali di Ferdinandea dall’Ottocento a oggi: un casus anche onomastico, in «the Italianist», in corso di pubblicazione). Ha preso parte a diversi convegni nazionali e internazionali.

Ivana Vermiglio (1996) è una dottoranda di ricerca in Studi Umanistici presso l’Università di Palermo. Si occupa dello studio della microtoponomastica di tradizione orale-popolare degli arcipelaghi e delle piccole isole siciliane. Fa parte del comita... Show more

Vivian Lei

Vivian Lei

2nd-year PhD student at the Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University

2nd-year PhD student at the Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University Show more

Sam Boysel

Sam Boysel

Sam is a postdoctoral fellow at the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard. His research interests lie at the intersection of digital economics, labor and productivity, industrial organization, and socio-technical networks. Specifically, his work has centered around the private provision of public goods, productivity in open collaboration, and welfare effects within the context of open source software (OSS) ecosystems.

Sam is a postdoctoral fellow at the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard. His research interests lie at the intersection of digital economics, labor and productivity, industrial organization, and socio-technical networks. Specifically, his wo... Show more

Nyla Numan

Nyla Numan

Nyla Numan is a doctoral candidate in the English Department at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her research focuses on how twenty-first century Asian American fiction speculates and experiments with historical narrative to imagine alternative temporalities, literary structures, and intra-racial and ethnic relationalities.

Nyla Numan is a doctoral candidate in the English Department at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her research focuses on how twenty-first century Asian American fiction speculates and experiments with historical narrative to imagine alternat... Show more

Samah Choudhury

Samah Choudhury

Samah Choudhury is Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer with the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago. She is at work on her first book, American Muslim and the Politics of Secularity, which asks how a “sense of humor” came to be a prized trait of the modern secular subject and why present-day Muslims are consistently configured as lacking this comportment. Through a study of the American Muslim standup comedians, she contends that Muslim legibility depends on situating Islam and within the logics of model secular subjecthood and the register of race. Her work has been supported by the Asian American Religions Research Initiative, the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World, the UNC Chapel Hill Asian American Center, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice. She previously taught at Ithaca College and earned her PhD in Islamic Studies from UNC Chapel Hill in 2020.

Samah Choudhury is Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer with the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago. She is at work on her first book, American Muslim and the Politics of Secularity, which asks how a “sense of ... Show more

Kathryn Lige

Kathryn Lige

Kathryn Lige, LCSW (she/her) is a licensed psychotherapist and certificated school social worker. Her responsibilities include providing oversight of a school-based mental health program, providing psychotherapy, and consulting with staff in educational institutions. She also specializes in designing and teaching social-emotional curricula. The heart of her work is in communities of color. Kathryn has served throughout California and in New York City. She has extensive experience providing behavioral health services to children, adolescents, young adults, and parents in K-12 and college settings.

Kathryn earned a B.A. in Social Work from Cal State LA and an M.S. in Social Work from Columbia University, specializing in Advanced Generalist Practice & Programming. Her focuses included school-based social services and the integration of mental health practitioners in educational leadership. As a current doctoral student, Kathryn researches the social-emotional intelligence and well-being of educational administrators, the motivation and retention of educators, and what it takes to lead school communities of color effectively. Through opportunities in political advocacy at California’s capital, several media appearances, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and various committee leadership roles, Kathryn is driven to make a difference in the future of education.

Kathryn Lige, LCSW (she/her) is a licensed psychotherapist and certificated school social worker. Her responsibilities include providing oversight of a school-based mental health program, providing psychotherapy, and consulting with staff in educatio... Show more

Thierry Secqueville

Thierry Secqueville

Trainer / Teacher (Agile, project management, edutainment), edutainment researcher, designer of specialist serious learning games (analogue, digital, hybrid).
Has been practising Agile since the 90s.

Trainer / Teacher (Agile, project management, edutainment), edutainment researcher, designer of specialist serious learning games (analogue, digital, hybrid). Has been practising Agile since the 90s. Show more

Dr. Stefan T. Siegel

Dr. Stefan T. Siegel

Education Researcher & Lecturer 👨‍🏫 @HSGStGallen
🇨🇭 | Researching #educationaltheory #educationalmedia | Enjoying #highered #sustainability #openscience

Education Researcher & Lecturer 👨‍🏫 @HSGStGallen 🇨🇭 | Researching #educationaltheory #educationalmedia | Enjoying #highered #sustainability #openscience Show more

Yuria Celidwen PhD

Yuria Celidwen PhD

I am Indigenous Nahua and Maya from the highlands of ‎Chiapas, Mexico. I study self-transcendence in Indigenous contemplative traditions ‎and how it enhances prosocial behavior (ethics, compassion, ‎kindness, and a sense of awe, love, and sacredness).‎ My ‎approach intersects ‎Indigeneity, psychology, and contemplation for ‎epistemological equity, relational ‎well-being, and actions toward planetary flourishing. I co-chair the Indigenous Religions ‎Unit of the American Academy of ‎Religion, I'm on the Contemplative ‎Studies committee, and I'm contemplative ‎faculty and scholar at UC Berkeley.‎

I am Indigenous Nahua and Maya from the highlands of ‎Chiapas, Mexico. I study self-transcendence in Indigenous contemplative traditions ‎and how it enhances prosocial behavior (ethics, compassion, ‎kindness, and a sense of awe, love, and sacredness)... Show more

Leah Milne

Leah Milne

Leah Milne is the author of Novel Subjects: Authorship as Radical Self-Care in Multiethnic American Narratives https://linktr.ee/leahmilne

Leah Milne is the author of Novel Subjects: Authorship as Radical Self-Care in Multiethnic American Narratives https://linktr.ee/leahmilne Show more

Benalia Kaouther

Benalia Kaouther

-Clinical Psychology student
-Writer, Speaker, and Content maker

-Clinical Psychology student -Writer, Speaker, and Content maker Show more

Olga Afanaseva

Olga Afanaseva

I'm 34 y.o. and I live in Russia. I have university degree in Human Resources speciality. As many people in the world I'm worried a lot about what happens in our planet now. As a mother I couldn't stop thinking what future my child will have. As a human being I want to do anything possible for our human race to evolve with love and peace, because it is the only way we can help our planet and develop the other ones. For the last 2 years I've been writing my book, which I'd love to present you.

I'm 34 y.o. and I live in Russia. I have university degree in Human Resources speciality. As many people in the world I'm worried a lot about what happens in our planet now. As a mother I couldn't stop thinking what future my child will have. As a hu... Show more

Carmen Lega

Carmen Lega

Carmen Lega è dottoranda presso l’Università per Stranieri di Perugia (XXXIX ciclo, curriculum in Studi linguistici, filologici e artistico letterari).
Nel 2022 pubblica, presso la casa editrice Divergenze, Canti e disincanti. Le forme fluide della letteratura del Novecento; nello stesso anno partecipa al Convegno ADI - “Scenari del conflitto” con un contributo dal titolo La sonorità della maceria: Montale e la musicalità sconnessa. Nel 2023 partecipa al convegno MOD “Contaminazioni, dissonanze ed eterotopie nella modernità letteraria”. Nel 2024 partecipa al Convegno AATI presso l’Università per stranieri di Perugia con una relazione dal titolo “Irma Brandeis: la scala della trascendenza”, al convegno Mod “Moderno e Antimoderno. Le avventure di una contrapposizione”, al convegno ADI “Rotte mediterranee. Migrazioni e ibridazioni nella letteratura italiana”. È in pubblicazione per Editoriale Scientifica un saggio in volume dal titolo “Orfeo, ma perché ti sei voltato?”

Carmen Lega è dottoranda presso l’Università per Stranieri di Perugia (XXXIX ciclo, curriculum in Studi linguistici, filologici e artistico letterari). Nel 2022 pubblica, presso la casa editrice Divergenze, Canti e disincanti. Le forme fluide della ... Show more

Simona Muratore

Simona Muratore

Dr. Muratore joined the Emory University Italian Studies Program as a Lecturer in 2006 and since then she has designed and taught several courses in Italian language, culture, literature and film. For the past several years, Dr. Muratore has been working in the design and implementation of a pedagogical approach to second language acquisition through a multidisciplinary analysis of the social and cultural forces that ushered the emergence of the Slow Food Movement: A decentralized social movement that originated in Italy in the early 1990’s to promote the implementation of “good, clean and fair” food production practices around the world.

Dr. Muratore has recently published a book chapter entitled, “The Language of Italian Food and the Flavors of Sustainability: Think Globally, Act Locally” for the volume Environment and Pedagogy in Higher Education, in their Ecocrititcal Theory and Practice Series, edited by Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson for Second Language Acquisition and Identity. She was also co-convener for the African Literature Association Conference, a global gathering that took place in Atlanta, GA, in April 2016.

Dr. Muratore established the Italian Business Night which is an opportunity for Emory students to meet and engage with Italian businesses located in the Metro Atlanta area. The Italian Business Night seeks to highlight how communication and other soft skills learned in foreign language study work in partnership to enhance job-specific expertise. With the success of the Italian Business Night, Dr. Muratore has won the ECLC's Curriculum Development Award for the 2019-2020 academic year to develop a new course that brings her research and expertise into the classroom.

Dr. Muratore joined the Emory University Italian Studies Program as a Lecturer in 2006 and since then she has designed and taught several courses in Italian language, culture, literature and film. For the past several years, Dr. Muratore has been wor... Show more

Lior Gelernter Oryan

Lior Gelernter Oryan

Product Management leader with 10+ years of experience in financial services, AI, and NLP within global SaaS B2B companies. Passionate about going beyond the hype and using AI to solve complex challenges in production. In my other hat, I have a Ph.D. in Sociology specializing in Internet Studies, Online communities, Knowledge production and consumption in WIkipedia and other online settings.

Product Management leader with 10+ years of experience in financial services, AI, and NLP within global SaaS B2B companies. Passionate about going beyond the hype and using AI to solve complex challenges in production. In my other hat, I have a Ph.D.... Show more

Marina Krizman

Marina Krizman

Meet Marina, a self-proclaimed Fleabag fanatic! Ever since stumbling upon the show during a lazy Sunday binge-watch session, she's been hooked on the witty humor and raw honesty of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's masterpiece. From the iconic fourth-wall breaking to the hilarious and heart-wrenching relationships, Marina can't get enough of Fleabag's antics. She's watched every episode multiple times, analyzed every character's motives, and even started a Fleabag-themed Instagram account. Her friends and family might think she's a bit obsessed, but Marina knows that Fleabag is more than just a show - it's a work of art that speaks to her soul.

Meet Marina, a self-proclaimed Fleabag fanatic! Ever since stumbling upon the show during a lazy Sunday binge-watch session, she's been hooked on the witty humor and raw honesty of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's masterpiece. From the iconic fourth-wall break... Show more

Cathy Schlund-Vials

Cathy Schlund-Vials

Cathy J. Schlund-Vials is the Iris Howard Regents Professor in English Literature at the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to this academic appointment, Schlund-Vials was Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in English and Asian/Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut. She is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies (2016-2018) and recently completed her tenure as the president of the American Studies Association (2021-2022).

In addition to numerous book chapters and articles, Cathy has edited and co-edited a number of collections, including Keywords for Asian American Studies (NYU Press 2015), Asian America: A Primary Source Reader (Yale UP 2016), Flashpoints for Asian American Studies (Fordham UP 2017), and The Subject(s) of Human Rights (Temple UP 2019). She is author of two monographs: Modeling Citizenship: Jewish and Asian American Writing (Temple UP 2011) and War, Genocide, and Justice: Cambodian American Memory Work (University of Minnesota Press 2012). Cathy is currently completing three monographs: Militarized Excess: Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Prosthetic Ecologies: Disability, Environment, and Human Rights, and Planned Obsolescence: The Mediated Rise and Predetermined Fall of Ethnic Studies.

Cathy J. Schlund-Vials is the Iris Howard Regents Professor in English Literature at the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to this academic appointment, Schlund-Vials was Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in English and Asian/Asian American ... Show more

Jessica Tjiu

Jessica Tjiu

Jessica Tjiu (She/They) is a PhD Candidate in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at The Ohio State University. Her research interests focus on sex work, human/sex trafficking, and (im)migration.

Jessica Tjiu (She/They) is a PhD Candidate in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at The Ohio State University. Her research interests focus on sex work, human/sex trafficking, and (im)migration. Show more

Sunhay You

Sunhay You

Sunhay You is an Assistant Professor of Literary Arts and Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design where she teaches courses on Asian American Literature and Culture. She has forthcoming articles in American Literature and Post45 Contemporaries.

Sunhay You is an Assistant Professor of Literary Arts and Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design where she teaches courses on Asian American Literature and Culture. She has forthcoming articles in American Literature and Post45 Contemporaries. Show more

Minjung Noh

Minjung Noh

Lehigh University, Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Culture & Society

Lehigh University, Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Culture & Society Show more

Cvetanka Walter

Cvetanka Walter

Research Fellow and Educator #Future Skills #Higher Education

Research Fellow and Educator #Future Skills #Higher Education Show more

Kanjana Thepboriruk

Kanjana Thepboriruk

Dr. Kanjana is a linguist and an historian. She is an associate professor of Thai language in the Department of World Languages & Cultures and is a research affiliate at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University. Her work examines the notion of "Thainess" and how Thais define, perform, understand, transmit, and regulate "Thainess" both in Thailand and in the US diaspora, in the past and in the present, including the role(s) that the Thai language may or may not have in these processes.

Dr. Kanjana is a linguist and an historian. She is an associate professor of Thai language in the Department of World Languages & Cultures and is a research affiliate at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University. Her work... Show more

Hinako Ishikawa

Hinako Ishikawa

Hinako Ishikawa is a second-year graduate student in the Department of Sociology & Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University and has been studying racial fetishization of Asian/Japanese women and the ways of reclaiming their sexuality. Hinako is currently working as a Teaching Assistant for Asian American Sexuality course at SFSU. She won Queer Ethnic Studies Endowed Graduate Student Scholarship and Grant A. Larsen Scholarship at SFSU in recognition of her research on Japanese women’s sexuality and the Japanese queer community. As an international student from Japan, Hinako utilizes her own experiences of facing yellow fever and racial fetishization as well as her connections with Japanese queer and feminist communities. Utilizing her multicultural experiences and multilingual ability, Hinako analyzes Japanese erotic comics and animations that are consumed by Western male audience, where she finds out the perpetuation of the traditional Japanese women's stereotype such as geisha and maiko tropes. Hinako presented “Intersectionality in Japanese LGBTQ Community” at the Annual Research Week 2020 at the Akita International University as the only undergraduate student presenter. She is part of a local LGBTQ organization in Akita, Japan, where she helped organize the first pride parade in Akita. She also works as a lecturer who delivers information on gender, sexuality, and feminism-related issues in Japan. She also co-organized the first comprehensive sexual education event at Akita International University in 2020. Utilizing her professional experiences and these community activism, Hinako examines and explores racial objectification of Asian/Japanese women and the ways to reimagine their sexuality.

Hinako Ishikawa is a second-year graduate student in the Department of Sociology & Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University and has been studying racial fetishization of Asian/Japanese women and the ways of reclaiming their sexuality. Hina... Show more

Amanda Kavner, PhD

Amanda Kavner, PhD

Dr Amanda Kavner is a cognitive neuroscientist with a research focus on mapping cognitive processes using neurocognitive measurements and machine learning algorithms.

As a professor, Kavner has always focused on the understanding, utilization, and teaching of current and upcoming technological innovations that are positioned to become a mainstream tool for her students' future lives, which is what has brought her to blockchain technology and NFTs.

Dr Amanda Kavner is a cognitive neuroscientist with a research focus on mapping cognitive processes using neurocognitive measurements and machine learning algorithms. As a professor, Kavner has always focused on the understanding, utilization, an... Show more

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