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Visiting Scholars and Students

Conducting a PhD in the Philosophy of Education, University of Glasgow

Michael QuinnConducting a PhD in the Philosophy of Education, University of Glasgow

Michael is conducting a PhD in the Philosophy of Education, which explores the intersections between aesthetics and education, at the University of Glasgow. These research interests emerged from Michael’s previous academic experiences, having completed a Masters in Fantasy Literature as well as a Joint Honours, undergraduate degree, in English Literature and Philosophy. Michael also has a strong passion for education, having taught Literature in secondary schools in Scotland, Spain and Australia for almost a decade.

Since 2023, Michael has been researching the potential to engage philosophically with film and literature. For example, Michael has published on how philosophical topics, such as attention, AI engagement and extended cognition, can be effectively explored through film. While at TC, Michael will be continuing to explore similar themes but with a more intentional focus on attention and literature, drawing especially from the works of Iris Murdoch. Megan Laverty and David Hansen will be on Michael’s dissertation committee for the duration of his stay. This research visit will provide Michael with wider opportunities to engage in developing novel approaches to AI and exploring aesthetic injustice.

Outside of academia, Michael is an avid music, film and sports fan and will be making the most of New York’s vibrant cultural communities. He looks forward to visiting the MSG and US Open (and many more places!).

Gang Zhu

Associate Professor, The Institute of International and Comparative Education, East China Normal University

Gang ZhuAssociate Professor, The Institute of International and Comparative Education, East China Normal University

Gang Zhu is an Associate Professor at the Institute of International and Comparative Education, East China Normal University. His scholarship is situated at the intersection of teacher education, urban education, and comparative education. His research has been sponsored by the National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences, China Scholarship Council, Shanghai Overseas Returned Scholars Association, International Association on Teachers and Teaching, and the Southwest Educational Research Association. Dr. Zhu sits on the editorial boards of Race, Ethnicity, and Education (Routledge), Multicultural Education Review (Routledge), and the International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research (ERIC), and was an Assistant Editor of Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education (Routledge).

Vannesa Hortal de Lucas

Doctoral researcher and educator in the Department of Educational Studies at the Complutense University of Madrid

Vannesa Hortal de LucasDoctoral researcher and educator in the Department of Educational Studies at the Complutense University of Madrid

Vannesa Hortal de Lucas is a doctoral researcher and educator in the Department of Educational Studies at the Complutense University of Madrid, currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Education through a fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. Her research focuses on philosophy of education, with a particular emphasis on the work of Maxine Greene. Through a hermeneutic approach, she is exploring Greene’s contributions to aesthetic education and political formation in pluralistic societies. Vannesa is also involved in several research and teaching innovation projects focused on ethical-civic education, critical thinking, and writing practices in teacher training programs.

Steven Zhao

Steven Zhao’s research largely focuses on questions around ‘meaning,’ particularly in relation to affordance theory, complex adaptive systems, and wide cognition (e.g., distributed, embodied, embedded, extended & enactive cognition). By employing an interdisciplinary approach, his dissertation examined ‘meaning’ as a potential conceptual ground to articulate the idiosyncrasies and normativity of human ‘adaptivity.’ At Teachers College, he will be working with Dr. David Hansen to examine the relationship between education and cultural polarization with specific attention to ‘hidden curricula’ and the history of education.