AFGHAN FEMALE STUDENT OUTREACH

Professor Bill Chin

Bill Chin is a Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School teaching classes in legal analysis and writing, veterans' law, and law and culture. He has published law journal articles on various topics including education, immigration, culture, civil rights, and veterans. He also holds a master's in Political Science. During free time, he enjoys jogging and hiking.

Professor Meisam Dadfarmay

Designer and researcher in sustainable architecture, Meisam Dadfarmay holds a Master of Architecture from Pennsylvania State University. His work melds art, philosophy, and the built environment with a focus on socially responsible, environmentally conscious design. Recognized as a Metropolis Future 100 honoree in 2024 across the U.S. and Canada, he is dedicated to creating spaces that resonate deeply with the human experience.

Professor Sarah Dzilinski 

Sarah Dzilinski is a professor at Fairfield University, Graduate School of Education and Human Development preparing the next generation of elementary school teachers.  Sarah spent more than 15 years as an elementary school teacher, working across a wide range of educational settings—from public and private schools to inner-city and suburban classrooms—teaching students from kindergarten through sixth grade.

Professor Emanuela Evangelisti

Emanuela holds an MA in Cultural Studies from the University of Leeds, UK. She is currently Communications Manager at University College London (UCL) and provides mentorship to graduates of the Communication programme at the University of the Arts London (UAL). Additionally, Emanuela is a movement educator and an advocate for holistic learning, emphasizing the integration of science, art, and mind-body practices.

Professor Esme' Ellis 

Esmé Ellis holds a B.A. from Bard College in Political Science and International Relations, as well as an M.A. in English Literature from Humboldt Universität zu Berlin in Germany. She is a speechwriter and executive communications strategist with 5+ years of experience working for international organizations, high-level diplomats, political candidates and parties, as well as other clients in the international field. She joined AFSO in Spring Semester 2025, and teaches a practical seminar course, Introduction to Political Speechwriting.

Professor Alex Fan Moniz 

Alex Fan Moniz is a minority languages researcher at UCL, specializing in language revitalization. His work explores decolonial approaches, language teaching, music, digital media and storytelling as tools for sustaining minoritized languages. His publications include How to Kill a Language (2021) and Aromanian Vlach and Greek: Shifting Identities (2024), focusing on Galician and Aromanian language fragility.

Professor Lucy Ferris

Lucy Ferriss is President of the Board of Afghan Female Student Outreach and Writer in Residence Emerita at Trinity College. Recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Faulkner Society, and others, she is the author of twelve books, mostly fiction. Recent work includes her memoir of reading, The Man Who Loved Children; her essay collection, Meditations for a New Century (2023); her republished novel The Misconceiver (2022); Foreign Climes: Stories (2021); and the novel A Sister to Honor (2015). She lives in Connecticut and the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.

Professor Carmel Finnan

Carmel Finnan is Professor emerita at the University of Limerick, Ireland. She specializes in teaching communications, writing, and English as a Foreign Language. She is based in Berlin, Germany. She has published extensively on the topics of language acquisition, intercultural communication, and writing pedagogy. In addition to her academic work, she is also a certified life coach and provides workshops and coaching sessions to help individuals improve their communication skills in various aspects of their lives.

Professor Elisa Francini

Elisa Francini is Associate Professor of Mathematical Analysis at the University of Florence, Italy. With a PhD in Mathematics from the same university, her research explores inverse problems for partial differential equations. She also previously served as a researcher at the Italian National Research Council. Professor Francini is passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion in the field of mathematics.

Professor Briana Grenert

Briana Grenert is a PhD student in the Graduate Program in Religion at Duke University (USA). She specializes in Early Christianity and Late Ancient Judaism, and particularly enjoys diving into polemics embedded in and created through the interpretation of the Bible. The wackier and more obscure the text, the more she's intrigued.

Professor Emily L. Haynes 

Emily Haynes, PhD in Biophysics, has taught astronomy, chemistry, and physics at both high school and university levels, including Regis University in Denver. With experience as an analytical chemist and biotechnologist, she has also mentored students through NASA's Mars Exploration Rover and Phoenix lander programs. Many of her former students now thrive in careers across aerospace, medicine, and other scientific fields.

Professor Janel Hill

A graduate of UC Berkeley and the University of Arizona College of Law, Janel worked in employment discrimination and commercial litigation. She later volunteered at the College and Career Center at Sunset High School, now guiding students through the college application process. Janel loves board games, long walks, often with her dog Tofu, and harvesting and creating treats from her garden. 

Professor Shan Sherwan Hussein

Shan is currently a research fellow with the center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School where she focuses on negotiation. She is a Gender Based Violence specialist. Shan is an experienced humanitarian leader, having first embarked on her professional journey by responding to support Syrian refugees and Iraqi IDPs during the war with ISIS. Later worked in Ukraine and most recently in Jordan.

Professor Dan Jetter

Dan Jetter is the Founder/Director/Chem Phys Tutor for Education Equity Foundation, a nonprofit that provides free online preparation for the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) to low-income underrepresented premeds in the US. He has Master's Degrees in both Public Health and Science Teaching.

Professor Barbara Kaltenbacher

Barbara Kaltenbacher is Professor of Applied Analysis at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria, specializing in inverse problems, regularization, and PDE-constrained optimization. She is a member of the European Mathematical Society Executive Committee and holds a doctorate from Johannes Kepler University, Linz.

Professor Leslie King

Leslie King's research and teaching focus on population studies, environmental sociology, social movements, and corporate power. Her work explores how ideologies—such as nationalism, gender, race, and class—shape population policies. More recently, she has examined corporate influence on activism and environmental sustainability. She teaches courses on corporate power, food sociology, and population politics. Her research is published in journals including Critical Sociology, Social Movement Studies, and Mobilization, and she is co-editor of the anthology Environmental Sociology: From Analysis to Action.

Professor Christoph König

Christoph König is a doctoral candidate at Humboldt-Universität Berlin and teaches private and corporate law at the University of Erfurt. A former chairman of the Refugee Law Clinic Berlin and the Refugee Law Clinics Germany, he works on legal theory, comparative law, legal history, and civil liberties.

Professor Rachel Leff

Rachel Leff is a librarian who serves as the Head of Research Services at the Sarah Lawrence College Library. In addition to working with students, she teaches about research, academic libraries, and information literacy. Rachel is very interested in the history of libraries and in information ecosystems. When she's not working, she loves spending time with her husband and daughter, who recently talked her into keeping honeybees!

Professor Deanne Loonin

Deanne Loonin is a retired legal aid lawyer based in Northampton, Massachusetts. She spent her career advocating for student borrowers, especially those harmed by predatory lending. Deanne founded the Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project at the National Consumer Law Center and concluded her work at the Project on Predatory Student Lending. She has authored numerous publications and reports. Deanne holds a B.A. from Harvard-Radcliffe and a J.D. from UC Berkeley. A lifelong athlete and former competitive tennis player, she champions the role of women's sports in advancing empowerment and equality.

Professor Sean McCann

Sean McCann is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of the Humanities at Wesleyan University, where he has taught courses in English and American literature for three decades. He is the author of Gumshoe America: Hardboiled Crime Fiction and the Rise and Fall of New Deal Liberalism (Duke University Press, 2000) and A Pinnacle of Feeling: American Literature and Presidential Government (Princeton University Press, 2008) and multiple articles and essays.

Professor Jillian Miller

Jillian Miller is an English language educator with over a decade of experience teaching adult immigrants and refugees in the United States. She also serves as Assistant Director of a refugee resettlement agency in Western Massachusetts, where she oversees Employment, ESOL, and Community Education programs. She is also a certified yoga, Pilates, and meditation instruction, and loves both practicing and teaching in her free time.

Professor Julie Mughal

Julie Mughal is the convenor of the Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN) and the Director of the Humanitarian Action Minor in the Center for Social Impact at Fairfield University. Prior to Fairfield, she worked at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva and Save the Children in the U.S. and Pakistan. She is the author of Land Without Hats, a book that explores the difficulties faced by widows in the developing world and their courage in the face of adversity. She holds an M.A. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Professor Steve O'Brien

Steve O'Brien is a retired PhD chemist who spent much of his career in the chemical industry, rising from scientist to chemical plant manager. A highlight of his work was co-developing a fuel additive that extended oil life and improved fuel efficiency—before the era of electric vehicles. Now an advocate for clean energy, he drives an electric car powered by solar panels. Alongside his industry career, Steve taught chemistry part-time and later transitioned to full-time teaching in math, chemistry, and environmental science. At Washington State University, he embraced online education, offering recorded lectures, slides, and responsive support to enhance student learning.

Professor Reut Paz

An expert in public international law, European law, and international legal history, Professor Paz holds degrees in law and political science from the University of Helsinki and a Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University. She is a senior researcher at the Franz von Liszt Institut für Internationales Recht at Justus Liebig Universität Gießen and is the author of A Gateway Between a Distant God & a Cruel World (2012).

Professor Elaine Pimentel

Elaine Pimentel is a Professor at UCL Computer Science, UK, and works on logic, proof theory, and inclusivity in STEM. She coordinates the ECUMENICAL research project and outreach initiatives like POTIMÁTICAS, in Brazil. A former president of the Brazilian Logic Society, she also holds roles in ACM SIGLOG and the ASL. Elaine is very passionate about all the activities she is involved in, and she loves having lively conversations about all of them. 

Professor Carolina Santos

Carolina Santos is an M.D. specializing in infectious diseases and a dedicated researcher in maternal and child health, cultural competency, and environmental health. With a Ph.D. in child and adolescent health and a master's in health professional education, she is the founder of An Arte de Nascer, a nonprofit improving the well-being of pregnant women and children in northeastern Brazil.

Dr. Vishnu Vinekar

Dr. Vishnu Vinekar is an Associate Professor of Analytics at the Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington. His teaching focuses on Business Analytics. He teaches on campus in Fairfield, and online in Shanghai, China. He has also taken students on Service-Learning trips to Nicaragua. He is an award-winning researcher, with many peer-reviewed journal articles and conference presentations. His research explores empowerment of the underprivileged.

Professor Patience Wesoamo Alogokali

Patience Wesoamo Alogokali is an experienced English Language educator with a Master of Philosophy in English Education. She is dedicated to supporting students from underserved communities, with a focus on inclusive, student-centered language instruction. Patience currently teaches Medical English and communication skills through NGOs such as Afghan Female Student Outreach (AFSO), Afghanistan Development Academy (ADA), and Paper Airplane—organizations committed to expanding global access to education. Her expertise lies in fostering oral language proficiency and grammatical competence. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, oral language instruction, teacher motivation, and effective teaching strategies. 

Professor Margaret Whitehead

Margaret Whitehead (she/her) is a writer, editor and educator whose work has appeared in publications including the Missouri Review, the Atavist Magazine, Joyland, the North American Review, the Normal School, the Boston Globe, and Transition. Her work has been supported by Monson Arts, the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity, and Lambda Literary. She lives in western Massachusetts with her wife and dog.