Professor Dr. Kerry Bystrom is the Associate Dean of Bard College Berlin. She earned a BA, summa cum laude, in English/Creative Writing and Government from Dartmouth College (1999) and a Ph.D. in English from Princeton University (2007). Awards for her doctoral research include Princeton’s Charlotte Elizabeth Proctor Honorific Fellowship and an International Dissertation Research Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council (USA).

Before arriving at Bard College Berlin in 2012, she taught at Princeton University, Bard College, the University of the Witwatersrand, and the University of Connecticut, where she was also director of the Research Program on Humanitarianism at the Human Rights Institute. She teaches at the intersection of aesthetics and politics, and on topics ranging from postcolonial studies (theory, literature, performance, and visual art) and African and world literature to trauma and memory studies, human rights, and humanitarianism. You can contact her at k.bystrom@berlin.bard.edu

Jana Lozanoska is an Assistant Professor and the Head of Hu­man Rights Program at the Al-Quds Bard College in Palestine. She received a Ph.D. in Human Rights from the UN University of Costa Rica. Her re­search interests are in the areas of transitional justice, refugees, sustainability, and technology. She has edited and published var­ious articles and volumes and recently co-authored the article “Activities of Degrowth and Political Change,” published by the peer-reviewed Journal of Cleaner Production. You can reach her at jlozanoska@staff.alquds.edu

Saniia Toktogazieva is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Human Rights program at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. Saniia teaches courses in Constitutional Law, International Criminal Law, Advanced Issues in Public vi International Law and human rights law. She holds an LL.B. in International and Business law from the American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, an LL.M. in Human Rights from Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, and an S.J.D. in Comparative Constitutional Law from the Central European University. Saniia was a fellow of the Academic Fellowship Program (OSF) and a recipient of the research grant "Beyond the Ivory Tower" supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You can contact her at toktogazieva_s@auca.kg

Ziad Abu-Rish is an Associate Professor of Human Rights and Middle Eastern Studies at Bard College, where he also directs the MA Program at the OSUN Center for Human Rights and the Arts. His course offerings span the history of human rights, comparative state formation, and popular protests. His research centers on the political economy of state formation, economic development, and social mobilization in Lebanon and Jordan. He serves as co-editor of Arab Studies Journal and Jadaliyya e-zine. You can contact him at zaburish@bard.edu