Several international scholars visited Vanderbilt University this spring as part of the third cohort of the Global Scholars in Residence program. Introduced in November 2022, the program is designed to boost the university’s global profile through scholarly partnerships and collaboration.
Visiting scholars are selected through an application process that prioritizes new scholarship, collaboration across departments and schools, and investment in ongoing relationships. The goal is to establish new relationships around the world that produce ongoing scholarship and open new avenues for grants and fundraising.
The third cohort who visited campus during the spring semester includes:
- Serkan Özel, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey, was hosted by Bethany Rittle-Johnson, the Anita S. and Antonio M. Gotto Professor of Child Development. Özel’s work focuses on empowering students, with a particular emphasis on leveraging innovative STEM education approaches to uplift Turkey’s disadvantaged and marginalized students. He spoke on this work in two lectures at Peabody.
- Carlos Cabrelli and Ursula Molter, leading mathematicians affiliated with Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council, were hosted by Akram Aldroubi, Stevenson Professor in the Department of Mathematics. Their collaboration with Vanderbilt faculty culminated with the Shanks Workshop in March, which focused on modern harmonic analysis and its applications.
- Simone De Liberato, an expert in quantum nanophotonics, was hosted by Joshua Caldwell, professor of mechanical engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering. During his stay, he collaborated with researchers in the School of Engineering and the College of Arts and Science and met with undergraduate and graduate students. De Liberato’s Global Scholar Lecture titled “Weaving Quantum Materials with Light” was well received by a large, engaged audience.
- Yusuke Kusatsu, a renowned calligraphy artist and scholar from Tokyo Gakugei University, was hosted by Hideko Shimizu, senior lecturer in Asian studies. Kusatsu was the keynote speaker for a symposium on calligraphy in East Asia, gave numerous calligraphy demonstrations, and partnered with the Vanderbilt University Museum of Art for an exhibition of calligraphy works during his stay.
- Daniel James, an expert in post-Kantian philosophy and social philosophy, was hosted by Karen Ng, associate professor of philosophy. During his visit, James collaborated with faculty on a project titled “Comparative Perspectives on Race, Racism, and Colonialism in Classical German Philosophy and the Black Intellectual Tradition.” He gave two public talks, one hosted by the Department of Philosophy and one by the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities “Black Worlds” seminar.
- Srinivasan Gopalakrishnan, a renowned engineering researcher in the fields of wave propagation and computational mechanics, was hosted by Sankaran Mahadevan, the John R. Murray Sr. Professor of Engineering. As part of his stay, he taught two seminars focusing on emerging methods in computational science and structural health monitoring and multiple guest lectures for graduate courses on continuum solid mechanics.
- Wei Li, the director and dean of the University College London’s Institute of Education, was hosted by Huili Hong, professor of the practice in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Li’s translanguaging research is multidisciplinary, incorporating elements of space, variety and semiotics. He covered this subject in his marquee event, “What Does a Translanguaging Peabody Aim to Transform?”
- Ana Paula Fukushiro, the head of the respiratory physiology lab and assistant professor in the department of speech and language pathology at the Universidade de São Paulo, was hosted by Tatiana Peredo, research assistant professor in the Department of Special Education. At Vanderbilt, Fukushiro collaborated with faculty to research the effects of a universal early speech and language intervention for children with repaired cleft palate, and she gave a public lecture on language development in infants and young children with CL/P.
- Marc Vanscheeuwijck, a professor of music history and Baroque cello at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, was hosted by Molly Barth, associate professor of flute. During his stay, Vanscheeuwijck coached instrumentalists and ensembles on the repertoire of the 16th–18th century. He provided sessions for musicology students, the Romance languages departments and the Curb Scholars.
Marc Vanscheeuqijck performs at a Global Scholars event. Photo credit: Vanderbilt University - Florian Frick, an expert in real-time communications and hardware, was hosted by Bryan Ward, assistant professor of computer science and of electrical and computer engineering. Frick shared his expertise on security in time-sensitive networking, an emerging networking standard used in industrial control and automation, and helped in establishing Vanderbilt’s TSN networking infrastructure as an international testbed.
- Martin Vinck, a world leader in the analysis methods for neural data, was hosted by Kari Hoffman, associate professor of psychology. Vinck gave a weekly series of in-depth tutorials to the neuroscience community on the analysis methods he has developed, and he met with Vanderbilt labs to discuss how they might implement these methods.
“This program continues to build strong research connections for our faculty and students,” Vice Provost for Arts, Libraries and Global Engagement Tracy Sharpley-Whiting said. “I am grateful to the extraordinary researchers who have joined us this spring as well as our Vanderbilt faculty who have hosted them. There is exciting work emerging from these collaborations.”
Visit the Global Research website to learn more about the Global Scholars in Residence program and other funding opportunities.
