MLA Lecture Series

Doug Wiens
Robert S. Brookings Distinguished Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science

Douglas Wiens is the Robert S. Brookings Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and is the author or co-author of hundreds of articles. He specializes in seismology and geophysics and has done research on large deep earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean and the seismology of Antarctica. He has taught courses on earth forces, seismology, environmental geophysics, and geodynamics. Through his research on the melting of ice sheets and the ensuing sea-level rise, Wiens is uniquely positioned to talk about climate change.

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David Marchant
Professor of the Practice, Department of Performing Arts

David Marchant is Professor of the Practice, Performing Arts Department, and coordinator of the University College Somatic Studies program. He has been a full time faculty member in the Performing Arts Department at Washington University since 1994. He holds a Master’s degrees in Dance and is a certified instructor in the Alexander Technique. David was a company member with the Utah Repertory Dance Theatre and a recipient of the Iowa Arts Fellowship for excellence in choreography. He has performed and conducted master classes and residencies at universities throughout the United States and abroad including Movement Arts and Design in Europe (MADE) in France, Tsinghua University in Beijing China, Beijing Modern Dance Company, Chicago Academy of the Arts, and Scripps and Pomona College. 

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Hillary Elfenbein
John and Ellen Wallace Distinguished Professor, Olin School of Business

Hillary Anger Elfenbein is the John and Ellen Wallace Distinguished Professor at the Olin School of Business.  She holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior, a Master’s degree in Statistics, and undergraduate degrees in Physics and Sanskrit, all from Harvard University.  Dr. Elfenbein served for five years on faculty at the University of California, and two years as a Senior Researcher at the Harvard Business School.  Her research focuses on emotion in the workplace, including emotional intelligence, interpersonal relationships, negotiation, and personality.  She served as an Associate Editor at Management Science.

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Zakiya Luna
Dean's Distinguished Professorial Scholar, Department of Sociology

Zakiya Luna is the Dean's Distinguished Professorial Scholar in the Department of Sociology. She is the author of Reproductive Rights as Human Rights: Women of Color and the Fight for Reproductive Justice. She was the co-creator and co-editor of the University of California Press book series, Reproductive Justice: A New Vision for the 21st Century, and is currently working on an edited volume, Black Feminist Sociology: Perspectives and Praxis with Whitney Pirtle. She was a CoreAlign Generative Fellow and member of the Humane Resources Innovation Lab where her team focused on how reproductive justice movement organizations could be accountable to cultivating practices that recognize a person's whole self, in order to help people thrive while sustaining the movement.