2024-2025 Faculty Fellows Bios

Bio:

Mihai Boicu, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Information Technology at George Mason University. He is an expert in artificial intelligence, structured analytical methods, probabilistic reasoning, evidence-based reasoning, personalized education, active learning with technology, crowd-sourcing, and collective intelligence. He is the main software architect of the Disciple agent development platform and coordinates the software development of various analytical tools used in IC and education. He received over 2M direct allocation of research funds from various agencies, including DARPA, AFOSR, IC, NSF. He has around 150 publications, including 2 books and 3 textbooks. He has received the Innovative Application Award from the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, and several certificates of appreciation from the U.S. Army War College and the Air War College. He is a GMU Teacher of Distinction.

As a UL Faculty Fellow, Boicu is collaborating with University Career Services in support of student career education and development.

Bio:

Jeffrey K. Grim, Ph.D. (he/him) is an assistant professor in the higher education program at George Mason University. Jeff uses his perspective as a first-generation college student and former university administrator to shape his research agenda that pushes theoretical and empirical boundaries for equitable organizational change in higher education. His research examines how organizational structures, policies, and practices shape the experiences and outcomes for faculty, staff, and students in higher education. More specifically, he examines 1) diversity, equity, and inclusion; 2) academic careers and leadership; and 3) student access and success. Jeff earned a PhD in higher education from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Master’s in Student Affairs Administration from Michigan State University; Bachelor’s in Elementary Education from the University of Maryland, College Park, and Associate’s degree in General Studies from Hagerstown Community College. In addition, he also holds an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Washington University in St. Louis and Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from Southern Methodist University.

As a UL Faculty Fellow, Grim is working to understand the experiences of Pell Grant eligible students to improve equitable student success.

Bio:

Dr. Jihye Moon is Assistant Professor of Korean in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at George Mason University. She received her Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Maryland, College Park and served as Foreign Language Reviewer at the American Councils for International Education in Washington, D.C. before joining Mason. Her scholarly and teaching interests lie in language pedagogy, language assessment, intercultural communicative competence, and cultural translation. She has been committed to building the curriculum for a new BA program in Korean Studies at Mason, conducting a program evaluation, developing internship courses and core courses in Korean language, linguistics, and translation, and promoting critical language education in the United States through Project Global Officer Korean Program, an initiative of the Defense Language and National Security Education Office. She has been recognized for excellence in teaching and career connection.

As a UL Faculty Fellow, Moon is working with University Career Services to integrate career development into the curriculum and engage faculty peers in fostering a culture of career readiness at Mason.

Bio:

Kelly Schrum is a professor in the Higher Education Program and co-editor for Teaching and Learning Inquiry, the journal for the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL). Schrum’s research and teaching focus on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and on digital pedagogy, including online learning, scholarly digital storytelling, and digital humanities. A historian by training, Schrum has directed more than 60 digital humanities education projects with funding from federal and state agencies, foundations, and school districts. Schrum has published widely, including recent articles on SoTL, scholarly digital storytelling, and teaching history in student affairs programs. She regularly presents her work nationally and internationally. Schrum received a B.A. in history and anthropology from U.C. Berkeley and a Ph.D. in history from Johns Hopkins University.

As a UL Faculty Fellow, Schrum is collaborating with the First Gen+ Center and University Libraries to increase library self-efficacy among first-generation college students through gamification.

Kelly Schrum - Final Report

Bio:

Dr. Powers Corwin holds a Ph.D. in Writing and Rhetoric and a certificate in qualitative research methods from George Mason University. They teach and conduct research in the areas of LGBTQ+ Studies, television studies, trauma rhetoric, friendship studies, Appalachian Studies, and gender and sexuality in higher education.

As a UL Faculty Fellow Corwin is partnering with the Center for Leadership and Intercultural Engagement in support of cross-campus civil dialogue. They are also working to create workshops on LGBTQ+ literacies in leadership and the importance of friendships in leadership theory.

Bio:

Antti Pentikainen has been a peace mediator for two decades and came to Mason with interest to figure out why peace processes fail. Antti is interested in connecting students with ongoing processes so they can be involved in creating new, more transformative processes. Pentikainen was the recipient of the the Faculty Connector Award of 2024.

As a UL Faculty Fellow, Pentikainen is thrilled about the opportunity to work with University Career Services to explore how to support students not only in their careers but also in saving our world.

Bio:

Dr. McKinley Green (he/him) studies queer rhetorics, community-based research, and sexual health risk communication around HIV/AIDS. His current research investigates how young people living with HIV communicate about HIV risk on social media and dating applications. This project works from a premise that people living with HIV have developed complex rhetorical strategies to communicate about HIV, and that these situated communication practices can offer models for public health institutions invested in HIV risk reduction. His research has recently been published in Rhetoric of Health and Medicine, Technical Communication Quarterly, and Computers and Composition,

As a UL Faculty Fellow, Green is working with the LGBTQ+ Resources Center to co-create a list of LGBTQ+ scholars, a research repository, and a faculty guide for chosen names and pronouns.

Bio:

Lisa Thrasher is a creative Independent Film Producer with 20 years of filmmaking experience in Hollywood and the World beyond. Lisa has focused her producing career to creating authentic Queer and Women’s Arthouse fiction-films with diverse voices and stories that are much-loved by audiences worldwide.

Lisa’s films are creative collaborations with some of Hollywood’s top women and queer film and TV artists/creators, including Jamie Babbit, Cherien Dabis, Tina Mabry, Angela Robinson, Andrea Sperling, Colette Burson, Nefertite Nguvu, Doug Spearman, Jane Lynch, and Melanie Mayron. While Lisa is known for her robust creative vision, adept storytelling, and strong support of her Directors’ visions, she is also a solid practical Producer who strives to create collaborative, diverse, and equitable work environments, working within each film’s time and budget constraints.

Collectively, Lisa’s films have screened at over 1000 film festivals worldwide, including four Sundance, Berlinale, and South by Southwest Film Festival premieres and top-slot programming (Opening Night, Centerpiece, Closing Night) at Queer Film Festivals around the world. Lisa’s films have won over 90 film festival awards, a regional Television Academy Emmy, and a student Academy Award Nomination. Her short and feature films have achieved international and domestic commercial success in distribution via Theatrical, Television, Home Entertainment, and Streaming. Lisa has Produced international film and television productions in Kosovo, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.

For over 10 years, Lisa co-headed POWER UP Films, a visionary film production company and non-profit educational organization dedicated to films by-and-for Women and the Queer community. As President of Film Production and Distribution, Lisa led all development, production, and distribution of POWER UP Films’ content and filmed entertainment, including Queer romantic comedy features “Itty Bitty Titty Committee” (Berlinale “Teddy Award” Nominee and the South by Southwest “Best Narrative Feature Jury Award winner) and the rock-musical-comedy “Girltrash: All Night Long” (Cinneffable: Paris Lesbian & Feminist Film Festival, Best Film); and, the Marriage Equality Public Service promotional campaign, “Get to Know Us First.”

Previously, Lisa worked inside the Hollywood Entertainment Studio system, doing International Anti-Piracy litigation, International Anti-Piracy Policy Relations, Trademark Prosecution & Appeals, and Licensing & Merchandising. While in-house at the 20th Century Fox Film Studio, Lisa sat on the Motion Picture of Association of America’s International Anti-Piracy Committee to conduct joint International Anti-Piracy litigations and engage in International Anti-Piracy negotiations with Heads of State in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Lisa has taught at a number of universities, including Chung Ang University in Seoul, Korea; Howard University in Washington, D.C.; University at Buffalo, New York; and, the Madrid Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Lisa also participates in many Film Festival industry panel discussions, including “Sex on Screen” South by Southwest panel with John Cameron Mitchell; Frameline’s “We Want our Dykeback Mountain” panel; and, the Belfast International Film Festival in Northern Ireland with Daniela Sea and Julie Christie.

As a UL Faculty Fellow, Lisa’s Fine Art Photography has been exhibited in the US and France. Lisa was awarded the prestigious Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Visual Arts Fellowship for her Fine Art Photography.

Bio:

Patricia A. Maulden is Professor of Conflict Resolution, Director of the Dialogue & Difference Project, and the Student Engagement Coordinator at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University. Her research interests include generational and gendered dynamics of conflict and peace, social militarization/demilitarization processes, urbanization, post-conflict peace economies, and building peace practices. She has written about child soldiers as agents of war and peace as well as the role of girls in conflict, whether as soldiers, combatants, or associates of fighting forces. She investigates NGOs as private peacebuilding contractors, their roles in the post conflict peace economy, and the post-conflict paradox – engaging war while creating peace. Additionally, she explores peacebuilding over time and the trajectories of post-conflict knowledge.

Her research and field activities include: youth/child disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration in Sierra Leone; community based peace education in Sierra Leone and Burundi; youth focused palaver management in Liberia; reconciliation and the role of the arts in Kosovo; socio-territorial development, local power, and social justice in Salvador, Brazil; human rights, power, and culture in Bahia, Brazil; conflict resolution and natural resource exploitation in Colombia; incorporating dialogue to explore ongoing political, social, and economic concerns in Ukraine; and inclusive dialogue in University Peace Clubs in Ethiopia. Currently she is researching the theory and practice of civil death in the United States, the implications for the carceral state, mass conviction and mass incarceration, education inside prison, post-incarceration re-entry, and prison abolition.

She has conducted practice-focused workshops on dialogue, conflict analysis and resolution, peaceful leadership, building peace, environmental conflicts, and political conciliation in Brazil, Liberia, Columbia, Turkey, and Morocco. Dr. Maulden has trained in restorative justice, problem solving workshops, sustained dialogue, and the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, the pedagogy and practice teaching inside prison with half incarcerated and half outside students. She is also the co-founder of the Praxis Conference.

As a UL Faculty Fellow, Maulden is partnering with the Center for Leadership and Intercultural Engagement in the Dialogue Across Differences (DxD) initiative.