Co-Directors
Dr. Lawrence Cappello is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Director of the UA Legal History Concentration. He is a UA Distinguished Teaching Fellow, recipient of the UA National Alumni Association’s Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award, and was named the UA Division of Student Life’s 2021 “Advisor of the Year.” In addition to teaching and research, he is a certified information privacy professional (CIPP/US & CIPM) and consults with public and private organizations on data privacy laws, ethics, and best practices.
Dr. Katherine Chiou is an Assistant Professor and archaeologist in the Department of Anthropology who oversees UA’s Ancient People and Plants Laboratory and the Assistant Director of Water Social Science for the CONSERVE group. She is a UA Distinguished Teaching Fellow and a recipient of the UA National Alumni Association’s Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award. In addition to teaching and research on archaeology, foodways, plant domestication, and inequality in the past and present, she works on ethical reasoning and responsible conduct of research (RCR) in education in partnership with multiple professional societies and is a longtime organizer of the Society for American Archaeology Ethics Bowl competition.
Faculty Task Force
Dr. Albert D. Pionke is the William and Margaret Going Endowed Professor of English and Assistant Dean for General Education at the University of Alabama. He is, most recently, the author of Victorian Fictions of Middle-Class Status (Edinburgh UP, 2023); coeditor of The Socio-Literary Imaginary in 19th and 20th Century Britain (Routledge 2020); and general editor of the COVE edition (2021) of William North’s The City of the Jugglers. He is also editor of VIJ: Victorians Institute Journal and founding director and principal investigator of Mill Marginalia Online.
Dr. Xabier Granja is an Associate Professor of Spanish in the Modern Languages and Classics Department. He is a Leadership Board Fellow and Undergraduate Director at UA. In addition to teaching and research on gender studies, early modern literature, women writers, and social justice & equity, he works on archival recovery and analysis of historical judicial documents involving gender violence and political/religious representation of minority groups. He is the Associate Editor for the Journal of Gender and Sexuality Studies by Michigan State University Press and collaborates with local NGOs such as Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Alabama Museum of Natural History, Good Samaritan Clinic, Schoolyard Roots, Turning Point, and Tuscaloosa SAFE Center.
Dr. Nathan Loewen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies. His research develops publications and collaborations to advance the Global-Critical Philosophy of Religion project. Loewen’s work also integrates conventional close readings in philosophy of religion with digital tools to develop resources that widen the scope of topics and analytical methods in his field. As Faculty Technology Liaison, he assists A&S faculty with online courses, manages the Teaching Hub, supports UA’s Quality Enhancement Plan, and is a member of campus technology committees.”