Visiting Speakers

Karen Russell’s most recent book of short stories, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, published in 2014, was named a best book of the year by The Boston Globe, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Huffington Post, and The A.V. Club. Her debut novel Swamplandia! published in 2011, has received wide critical acclaim. In 2012 it was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, a finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and a recipient of The New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award.

Mariam C. Said was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon and currently resides in New York. Together with Daniel Barenboim, she is a major force behind the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) and serves as the Vice President of the Barenboim-Said Foundation USA.

Before arriving at Yale in 2006, Maurice Samuels taught at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in the literature and culture of nineteenth-century France and in Jewish Studies.

Professor Schilling was educated in the United States (BA, Williams College 1992; MA, University of Pennsylvania, 1993) and in France (Paris IV/SBCJYF). In 1997 he completed a coordinated doctorate between the University of Pennsylvania and the Université Paris VIII (Vincennes/Saint-Denis) with a dissertation on the discourses of the quotidian in the work of Georges Perec.

Pratim Sengupta is an Assistant Professor in the following PhD programs at Vanderbilt University: Learning Sciences & Learning Environments Design (LSLED), and Mathematics & Science Education (MSE). He also directs the Mind, Matter & Media Lab. Sengupta's research is funded by several grants from the National Science Foundation, and he is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award.

Before planning the launch of Common Justice, Danielle served as the interim deputy director of Vera’s Adolescent Reentry Initiative, a program for young men returning from incarceration on Rikers Island. Prior to joining Vera, she worked at the Center for Court Innovation's Harlem Community Justice Center, where she led its programs for court-involved and recently incarcerated youth.

Fred Siegel is the author of The Revolt Against the Masses, which rewrites the history of American liberalism. His previous book, The Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York and the Genius of American Life (2005 received the cover review in the NY Times Book Review.

Vaishali Sinha is the Co-Director/Producer of the feature documentary MADE IN INDIA about the personal stories behind the phenomenon of "outsourcing" surrogates to India. The film premiered on PBS and is currently a case study at Harvard Business School for their class on ethics.