Spring 2020
Energy and Social Justice
- Gary Dirks
- Dr. Dirks is senior director, Global Futures Laboratory, and director of LightWorks®, an Arizona State University initiative that capitalizes on ASU’s strengths in solar energy and other light-inspired research. Garydirks@asu.edu
- Christopher Jones
- Dr. Jones is an assistant professor of history in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies. He is currently working on a book analyzing the relationships between natural resources and economic theories of growth over the past century and a half. Cjones36@asu.edu
Life without Earth
- Joshua Loughman
- Joshua Loughman is a graduate student in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. His expertise areas include humanitarian engineering design and energy and sustainability. His research interests include Space Policy, Sustainable Engineering, and Future studies. Joshua.loughman@asu.edu
- Adam Nocek
- Adam Nocek is an assistant professor in the philosophy of technology and science and technology studies in the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering. He is also the founding director of the Center for Philosophical Technologies at ASU. Adam.nocek@asu.edu
Sound and Well-Being
- Mary Margaret Fonow
- Dr. Fonow, professor of women and gender studies, was named founding director of the School of Social Transformation in 2008. Her research interests include transnational labor activism, women and work in the global economy and feminist methodology. Marymargaret.fonow@asu.edu

- Kimberly Marshall
- A world-renown organist and teacher, Marshall is known for her creative programming. She plays both historical and modern instruments and is a consultant for the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix. Kimberly.marshall@asu.edu
Working Bodies and Technology
- Grisha Coleman
- Dr. Coleman is a time-based artist working in performance and experiential media. Her work explores relationships between physiological, technological and ecological systems. Grisha.coleman@asu.edu
- Christy Spackman
- Christy Spackman is an assistant professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. She studies the environmental and social impact of scientific and technological efforts to manipulate sensory experiences of smelling and tasting. Christy.spackman@asu.edu
Spring 2019
Facing Immigration II
- Alexander Avina
- Dr. Aviña is an associate professor of Latin American history in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. His current research project explores the links between the political economy of narcotics, drug wars, and state violence in 1960s and 70s Mexico. Alexander.avina@asu.edu
- Emir Estrada
- Dr. Estrada is a qualitative immigration scholar interested in the migration an incorporation aspect of immigrants from Latin America. Her research interests in immigration and gender are influenced in great part by her own immigration experience. Emir.estrada@asu.edu
The Future of Cars
- David King
- Dr. David King researches the codependence of transportation and land use planning along with transportation finance and economics. His current research focuses on taxi and jitney services, informal transit, street design, and how new technologies affect transportation finance and local policy. David.a.king@asu.edu
- Thaddeus Miller
- Dr. Thaddeus Miller is an associate professor at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and The Polytechnic School. He also co-directs the Center for Smart Cities and Regions. He collaborates with interdisciplinary teams of researchers and practitioners to enable cities to leverage science and technology to meet policy goals and community needs. Thaddeus.miller@asu.edu
Rebuilding Puerto Rico

- Elizabeth Brake
- Dr. Brake is an Associate Professor of Philosophy. Her research is primarily in ethics and political philosophy. She is currently working on a project in disaster response. Elizabeth.brake@asu.edu
- Jose Lobo
- Dr. Lobo is interested in determinants of metropolitan economic performance and location-specific economic growth; the application of machine learning, data mining and spatial statistics methods to the study of socioeconomic data; causes and consequences of urban size and scale; and how the characteristics of individuals, organizations, institutions and social networks interact to create “regions of innovation.” Jose.lobo@asu.edu
Fall 2018
Facing Immigration I
- Christiane Reves
- Christiane Reves is an instructor and lower-division coordinator in the German group at the School of International Letters and Cultures. Her primary research interests are migration, networks and culture transfer. Creves@asu.edu
- Sujey Vega
- Dr. Vega is an Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies and affiliate faculty member in the School of Transborder Studies and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. Her research explores the everyday lived experiences of Latina/os in the U.S. By looking to moments of belonging, she traces the way Latina/os make their own notion of home in the U.S. Sujey.vega@asu.edu
Re-Envisioning Food Systems
- Joan McGregor
- Dr. McGregor is a professor of Philosophy in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies. Her current research interests are focused on a number of questions in moral and legal philosophy. j.mcgregor@asu.edu
- Juliann Vitullo
- Dr. Vitullo is an associate professor of Italian studies. She currently is researching the history and culture of the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle in Italy, strategies used for maintaining it in Italian communities, and possible ways to adapt to it to our local food system. Jullian.vitullo@asu.edu
Spring 2018
Sexual Violence
- Lizbett Benge
- Lizbett is a performance artist, trained actor, playwright, and doula. Lizbett researches the strategies for survival that those who’ve aged out of the foster care system employ in their everyday lives. ljbenge@asu.edu
- Alesha Durfee
- Dr. Durfee’s research and teaching focus on domestic violence, social policy, and structural intersectionality, including mandatory arrest policies and civil protection orders. She has led the School of Social Transformation’s Clothesline Project since 2014. alesha.durfee@asu.edu
Health Humanities
- Marlon Bailey
- Dr. Bailey’s research focuses on the intersections between race, gender and sexuality. Professor Bailey is currently conducting an ethnographic study of the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on Black gay subjectivity. marlon.bailey@asu.edu
- Jason Bruner
- Dr. Bruner is a scholar of religion with a particular interest in the histories of Christian missions, European imperialism, and the growth of Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. jason.bruner.1@asu.edu
Spring 2017
Health Humanities

- Cora Fox
- Dr. Fox is Associate Professor and Director of the Literature Program in the Department of English. Her current work focuses on the cultural histories and politics of positive emotions and well-being, as well as the role of fiction in shaping notions of care and community, particularly their exclusions. cora.fox@asu.edu
Sustaining Humans
- Karen Bruhn
- Dr. Bruhn is a Dean’s Fellow and Honors faculty fellow in Barrett. Her field is late medieval and early modern European religious development, with an emphasis in Tudor and Jacobean England. karen.bruhn@asu.edu
- Sally Kitch
- Dr. Kitch is University and Regents Professor of women’s and gender studies. Professor Kitch’s research focuses on gender and feminism through the analysis of a wide range of social and cultural narratives, including historical documents, political texts, and philosophical and religious treatises. sally.kitch@asu.edu