Faculty

Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought Faculty

Click on the tabs below for a list of Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought faculty members alphabetically and by discipline.

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Core Faculty

Affiliate Faculty

Emeritus

Core Faculty

Name	Department	Research Area	Available for Committee Service
Danna Agmon	History	French Empire in India and the Indian Ocean 17th-20th centuries	Yes
Mauro Caraccioli	Political Science	Political Theory International Relations Latin American Studies/Politics Postcolonial Theory Critical Ecology	No
François Debrix	Political Science	Contemporary Political Theory Biopolitics/Necropolitics Critical International Relations Theory Critical Geopolitics Critical Approaches to Neoliberalism Critical World Order Studies	No
Bikrum Gill	Political Science	Global Political Economy Political Ecology Decolonial Theory Critical Race Theory Colonialism/Imperialism
Bettina Koch	Political Science	Political Theory History of Political Thought (Cross-Cultural) Comparative Political Theory Islamic Political Thought	Yes
Desirée Poets	Political Science	Postcolonial, Decolonial, and Settler Colonial Theories Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender (De-)Militarization, Carcerality and Abolitionism Arts and Community Change (especially Social/New Museology) Collaborative and Critical Methods	Yes
Audrey Reeves	Political Science	World politics Affect, emotion, embodiment Difficult heritage at museums and memorials Gender, feminism and security governance Conflict, peace and knowledge	Yes
Rachel M. Scott	Religion and Culture	Islamic Law and Personal Status Law Religion, Law, and Constitutions Modern Islamic Political Thought: Citizenship, Religious Minorities, Religious Authority, and Religion and State Islamism (Particularly the Muslim Brotherhood) in Egypt Religion and Secularism	Yes

Affiliate Faculty

Name	Department	Research Area	Available for Committee Service
Onwubiko Agozino	Sociology	Law and Society Sociology Africana Studies Decolonization of Social Sciences	Yes
Aaron Ansell	Religion and Culture	Sociocultural anthropology Northeast Brazil Alternative democracy Political discourse anti-poverty policy	Yes
Amaryah Shaye Armstrong	Religion and Culture	Black Studies Political Theology Black Feminist Theory Religion and Culture Continental Philosophy of Religion	No
Sweta Baniya	English	Professional and Technical Writing Non-Western Rhetorics Cultural and Digital Rhetoric Transnational Disaster Rhetorics and Risk/Crisis Communication Community and Civic Engagement	Yes
Shannon Elizabeth Bell	Sociology	Environmental Justice and Environmental Sociology Energy and Climate Change Gender Social Movements Photovoice and Participatory Action Research	No
Daniel Breslau	Science, Technology, and Society	Economic sociology Sociology of the social sciences Politics of energy markets STS studies of economics	Yes
Brian Britt	Religion and Culture	Religion and Literature Theory of Religion and Culture Hebrew Bible Modern Jewish Thought	Yes
Christopher Campo-Bowen	Performing Arts	Czech Music Opera Studies Music and Empire Music and Race/Ethnicity Music and Queerness	Yes
Chris Brown	Computer Science	digital education human-computer interaction software engineering	Yes
S. Moon Cassinelli	English	The Korean diaspora Transnational adoption studies Queer kinship	No
Danille Christensen	Religion and Culture	Gendered/domestic labor Material culture (foodways, craft) Performance studies/Ethnography of communication Cultural and environmental sustainability Local knowledge	Yes
Carolyn D. Commer	English	Classical and Modern Rhetorical Theory Rhetoric and Public Policy Critical Theory Argumentation Theory Critical University Studies Professional and Technical Writing	Yes
Samuel R. Cook	History	Indigenous Natural Resource Management among Virginia Indian Nations Understanding Anthropology within the Context of Indigenous Agency Creating Linkages Between African Slave Descendant Communities and Cultural Sites in Southwest Virginia	No
Nicholas Copeland	History	Political Imaginaries Governance Indigenous Politics Guatemala and Latin America Democracy Social Theory	Yes
Mercedes Maria Corredor	Philosophy		No
Cara Daggett	Political Science	Energy Studies Political Ecology Environmental Politics Feminist Political Thought Global Studies/ International Relations	No
Giselle Datz	GIA	Sovereign debt restructuring Pension funds Financial crises and regulation Financial technology and banking Latin American politics	Yes
Priya Dixit	Political Science	U.S. Foreign Policy Terrorism and Counterterrorism Global Security and Critical Security Studies	Yes
Tom Ewing	History and Office of the Dean	History of Information, Knowledge, and Data History of Medicine (Influenza Epidemics) Russian/Soviet History World History Digital History	No
Brandy S. Faulkner	Political Science	Constitutional and Administrative Law Race and Public Policy Critical Organization Theory	Yes
Jessica Folkart	Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures	Contemporary Spanish Fiction Identity Gender Immigration The Body	No
Matthew R. Gabriele	Religion and Culture	Medieval Studies Crusades Apocalypse Intellectual History Christianity	Yes
Carmen Gitre	History	Modern Egyptian History Popular Culture Theater and Performance	No
Edward J. K. Gitre	History	Transatlantic Modern U.S. Cultural and Intellectual History History of the Interdisciplinary Social and Behavioral Sciences War and Society World War II	No
Nicholas Goedert	Political Science	American Politics Legislative Elections Election Law Congress Gerrymandering	No
Liora O'Donnell Goldensher	Sociology	Reproduction Expertise and Professions Science, Technology, and Knowledge Ethnography Medicine and Health	Yes
Saul Halfon	Science, Technology, and Society	Political sociology of technoscience Technical practices of policy institutions Food studies Reproductive health Public engagement with science and technology	No
Anthony K. Harrison	Sociology	Race Popular Music Studies Qualitative Research Methodologies Racialized Social Spaces Hip Hop Historiography Higher Education Pedagogy	No
Matthew Heaton	History	African Studies - Global Perspective Transnational Health and Migration	Yes
Rebecca Hester	Science, Technology, and Society	Global Health Latin American Migration Socio-cultural Studies of Health and Medicine Critical Security Studies Critical race and gender studies	Yes
Javiera Jaque Hidalgo	Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures	Colonial Latin American literature and culture Border Studies Religious Studies Performance Studies Indigenous Migrations	No
Karen Hult	Political Science	Organization and institutional theories U.S. presidency U.S. national executive branch departments and agencies, policy U.S. state politics, policy, and governance Social science methodologies	Yes
James Ivory	English	Social Dimensions of Digital Games Media Portrayals of Character Demographics Research Methods and Meta-Science	Yes
Sharon P. Johnson	Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures	19th-century Literature and Painting Paris in the 19th-Century Flaubert, Maupassant, Zola Rape in 19th-century Penny Presses, French Jurisprudence and Medical Reports	No
Melanie Kiechle	History	19th Century United States Environmental History Urban History Smells and Smelling	Yes
Bryan Klausmeyer	Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures	German Literature and Thought (18th-19th century) History of Science and Technology Media History and Theory Literary Theory and Cultural Studies	Yes
Christine Labuski	Science, Technology, and Society	Feminist energy systems Ecofeminisms and queer ecologies Gender and labor in extractive zones Genital pain and medicalized sexualities Feminist and queer science studies	Yes
Robert (Bob) Leonard	Performing Arts	Directing and Performance Production/ Research Area: Directing, Community Arts Making Teaching Areas: Acting, Shakespeare, Improvisation, Directing Head of the MFA in Applied Theatre and Public Dialogue program	Yes
Douglas Lind	Philosophy	Philosophy of Law Pragmatism Later Philosophy of Wittgenstein Indigenous Law Environmental Ethics & Law	No
Timothy W. Luke	Political Science	History of political thought Contemporary political theory Comparative and international politics	No
Natalia Mielczarek	Communication	Visual communication Iconic images Digital participatory culture & viral content Internet memes Editorial cartoons Image appropriation	Yes
Rachel Midura	History	Digital History History of Information/Communication Early Modern Europe Italy Habsburg Empire	Yes
Michael Moehler	PPE	Ethics and Political Philosophy Social Contract Theory Public Reason Theory Political Economy Philosophy, Politics, and Economics	No
Marian Mollin	History	20th-Century U.S. Social and Political History Women and Gender in U.S. History History of Social Movements History of American Women Religious Oral History	No
Wayne D. Moore	Political Science	Constitutional Law and Politics Constitutional and Political Development Political Theory Judicial Politics Comparative Constitutional Studies	No
Scott G. Nelson	Political Science	Global Governance Political Economy Contemporary Political Theory International Relations Theory International Law and Organizations	Yes
Su Fang Ng	English		No
Zhange Ni	Religion and Culture	Religion and literature Critical theory and cultural criticism Secularism and religion-making in East Asia Transnational youth culture Women and gender studies	Yes
Kim L. Niewolny	Community Education and Development	Action Research and Community-based Participatory Research Participatory and Cultural Community Development Critical Pedagogy for Social Justice Ontological Politics Praxis of Community Food Work Appalachian Community Food Security New Farmer Sustainability Farmworkers, Technology, and Disability	Yes
Shaily Patel	Religion and Culture	Early Christianity Ancient Mediterranean Religions Ancient Magic Graeco-Roman Religions Christian Apocrypha	Yes
Lydia Patton	Philosophy	Philosophy of Science History of Science History of Philosophy of Science Philosophy of Mathematics Kant and Neo-Kantianism	Yes
Katrina M. Powell	English		No
Karl Precoda	Performing Arts	Cinema History Critical Theory The Culture Industry Dramaturgy	Yes
Besnik Pula	Political Science	Global and Comparative Political Economy Post-Communist Transformations Social and Political Theory Qualitative and multi-method research	No
Khadijah Queen	English		No
Ashley Reichelmann	Sociology	Memorialization Racial Threat Social Psychology (Modern Identity and Intergroup Relations) Race and Ethnic Relations Conflict and Violence (Collective Violence and Hate Crimes) White Racial Identity	No
Patrick Roberts	SPIA	Disaster and Security Governance Technology and Public Managerial Thinking and Decision-making Homeland Security	Yes
Fernanda Rosa	Science, Technology, and Society	Global Communication Internet Governance & Policy Indigenous Design Design Justice Infrastructure Studies Global South	No
Emily M. Satterwhite	Religion and Culture	Appalachian studies Reception/audience studies Horror studies Politics of culture Public scholarship	Yes
Paula Seniors	Religion and Culture	U.S. History Ethnic and African American Studies African American and Multi-Racial Radical Movements African American and Multiracial Theater, Film, and Dance Gender Studies	Yes
Brett Shadle	History	Kenya Ethiopia Race Refugees Colonialism	Yes
Ashley Shew	Science, Technology, and Society	Philosophy of Technology Technological Knowledge Disability and Technology Non-Human Animal Tool Use Ethics and the Body	Yes
Max Stephenson	Urban Affairs and Planning	Nonprofit/nongovernmental organizations, governance, leadership, management, and civil society Peacebuilding, international development and democratization Community change processes Higher education: policy and practice Humanitarian and refugee relief and disaster risk mitigation Public policy and policy theory Environmental politics, policy and planning	Yes
Yannis Stivachtis	Political Science	European Union’s strategy, Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security & Defense Policy (CSDP) EU-great powers relations and world order EU Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) European and transatlantic organizations European security The evolution of international society The study of regional international system/society in Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East	Yes
Jessica Taylor	History	Oral History Early American History Historic Preservation Native American History	Yes
Tyechia Thompson	English	Africana Studies Digital Humanities Experiential Learning Manuscripts and Archives Rhetoric and Composition	No
Sharone L. Tomer	Architecture	Urbanism Housing Social Justice Race and Gender Climate Change	Yes
Kelly Trogdon	Philosophy	Metaphysics Philosophy of Mind	No
Vinodh Venkatesh	Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures	Latin American Literature and Cinema Spanish Literature and Cinema Masculinity Studies Urban Studies Queer Theory	Yes
Andrew Wadoski	English	Spenser Milton Premodern poetics History of moral philosophy History of capitalism	No
Janell Watson	Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures	Nineteenth-Century French Literature Collecting Gilles Deleuze Félix Guattari Michel Serres	No
Fabian Wendt	Political Science	Property rights Compromise Distributive justice Political authority Legitimacy	No
Trevor Wilson	Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures	Russo-Soviet philosophy Russian diaspora studies Marxism Critical theory Contemporary Russian cinema	No
Philip Yaure	Philosophy	Social and Political Philosophy Philosophy of Race Early Modern Philosophy Feminist Philosophy Ethics	No
Laura Zanotti	Political Science	Critical Political Theory International Ethics International Organizations UN Peacekeeping NGOs	Yes
Bonnie Zare	Sociology	Women Writers in India Dalit Literature Issues of Women in India Girls’ Empowerment Son Preference/Daughter Devaluation	Yes
Anna Zeide	History	Food Studies Environmental History Consumer & Business History 20^th-century United States History of Agriculture	No

Emeritus

Name	Position	Email
Elizabeth Fine	Professor	bfine@vt.edu
Thomas Gardner	Professor	tom.gardner@vt.edu
James Garrison	Professor	wesley@vt.edu
Ann Laberge	Associate Professor	alaberge@vt.edu
Amy Nelson	Associate Professor	anelson@vt.edu
Joseph C. Pitt	Professor	jcpitt@vt.edu
Anita Puckett	Associate Professor	apuckett@vt.edu
Richard Rich	Professor	rrich@vt.edu
Michael Saffle	Professor	msaffle@vt.edu
Bob Siegle	Professor	bob.siegle@vt.edu
Richard Shingles	Associate Professor	shingles@vt.edu
Barbara E. Smith	Professor	smithbe@vt.edu