Dr. Ketevan Mosashvili from Georgia
Meet Ketevan Mosashvili, a visiting scholar, professor of Psychology. Ketevan has PhD in Personality and Clinical Psychology and holds an assistant professor position at Tbilisi State University, Georgia. Her PhD research “Meaning – Making Framework: Religiosity, World Assumptions and Posttraumatic Growth in Case of Internally Displaced Persons after the Russian-Georgian War in 2008” is closely related with the problems of war and Internally Displaced Persons. Ketevan is extending her research, now focusing on IDPs and refugees from Russian aggression in Ukraine. Her collaboration with BSU has started from NSF funded undergraduate student research SIMuR project, where she worked with fellow students, providing training in Acceptance and Well-being in the Context of a Different Cultures, Cultural Adjustment vs “Culture Shock”, Meaning Making Framework, Appraisal of Life Events and Coping Strategies. Apart from teaching at BSU several classes in psychology, Ketevan cooperates with the student wellness center. Being a coordinator of Psychological Counseling Center for Students at Tbilisi State University (TSU), she is working on knowledge and experience exchange between the two centers.
Dr. Mikheil Elashvili from Georgia
Meet Dr. Mikheil Elashvili from Ilia State University ISU, Georgia (Republic of) joined the BSU community as a Fulbright research fellow for the spring of 2022. He has earned his Bachelor degree with honors in 1997, and Master degree with distinction at Informatics and Applied Mathematics in 1999 from the Tbilisi State University. Mikheil got his PhD degree in Geophysics in 2004. Professor at ISU, Mikheil is actively pursuing research and academic carrier. Former dean of School of Engineering at ISU and director of the Cultural Heritage and Environment Research Center, he is serving as a PI of various ongoing and completed international projects, collaborating with research teams from the Caucasus region, EU and US. Scientific/Research interests of Professor Elashvili are Environmental Studies, Climate and Environmental Changes, Reconstruction of Paleo Environment, Natural Hazards and Geomorphology, GIS and Remote Sensing, Applied Geophysics and Geo-Archaeology. Prof. Elashvili is engaged in developing innovative Virtual Reality technologies, used in research and education, by reconstruction of historic past and working on virtual museum concept. Currently Mikheil Elashvili is conducting the Multidisciplinary Study of Changes in Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironment and Human-Environment Interactions, actively participating in the NSF funded International Research Experience for Students project SIMuR and working with BSU students through the Graduate Course INTD499 in Multidisciplinary Studies. Mikheil Elashvili is also teaching several classes in calculus.
Haixia Li from China
Meet Haixia Li, a Senior Editor at China Movie Channels since 2004. This is the national movie channel in China. She obtained her Master's degree in Film Studies from the China Film Art Research Center in 2004. Her main responsibility at work is to decide which movies the channel should acquire to air them with satisfactory audience ratings. She watches numerous films and then holds meetings with the team to discuss which movie copyrights the channel should purchase. Haixia has planned over 300 themed exhibition series of domestic feature films such as "100 Chinese Films in 100 Years", "Classic Films in the 40 Years of Reform and Opening Up", and "Exhibition and Broadcast of Fifth Generation Filmmakers". Haixia has also arranged festival film broadcasts such as "Spring Festival Film Broadcast" and "Summer Vacation Film Broadcast". She has published 36 papers and articles in core Chinese film journals since 2004. Haixia's research focuses on various aspects of the Chinese film industry, including market development, audience studies and the international dissemination of Chinese cinema. During her visit to BSU, she will concentrate on researching the overseas market for Chinese films.
Nino Ricci from Canada
Canadian novelist Nino Ricci was the inaugural holder of the Killam Visiting Professorship in Canadian Studies at Bridgewater in 2009 and has returned to reprise that role for the fall 2024 semester. His work has been published around the world and has earned him a host of honours and awards, including two Governor General Awards for fiction and, in England, the Betty Trask Award and the Winifred Holtby Prize. His Lives of the Saints trilogy was adapted for a television miniseries starring Sophia Loren and Kris Kristofferson.
Ricci’s most recent novel is Sleep, winner of the Canadian Authors Award and hailed by Canada’s Quill & Quire as an “essential addition to the oeuvre of one of this country’s best and most important writers.” Ricci is a past president of Canadian PEN and has taught literature and creative writing at institutions across North America, including the University of Toronto, Colorado College, and Princeton University.
Dr. Jin-Ho Jang from South Korea
Dr. Jin-Ho Jang is Professor at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), which is a public research university in science and engineering. He has taught several social-science courses at GIST since 2009 and was a chair at Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences there as well as a directorial board member at Korean Sociological Association. He got Ph.D in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006, and his research fields include political economy in South Korea/East Asia, science and technology studies, and cultural studies. He published several academic articles and books in these fields, and translated into Korean two books including Robots published by MIT Press(2016). Being a Visiting Scholar at 51Թ from Aug. 15, 2024 for 6 months, he also teaches to BSU students one course titled "COMP399-002 Top: Governance Emerging Tech" at the Department of Computer Science in the fall semester 2024.
Dr. Buthina Alobidyeen from Jordan
Dr. Buthina Ziead Alobidyeen is a distinguished professor at Tafila Technical University (TTU) in Tafila, Jordan, and a prominent scholar in the fields of human resource management (HRM). In the 2024-2025 academic year, she will serve as the Visiting Scholar for The College of Graduate Studies, where she will focus on her research project titled “Compatibility of Human Resources Management and Leadership Success with Gender: Cases from America and Jordan.” During her visit from October 2024 to January 2025, Dr. Alobidyeen will also facilitate courses for undergraduate and graduate students, fostering collaboration through Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) with both TTU and Yarmouk University.
Dr. Alobidyeen is passionate about women's roles in academia and entrepreneurship, frequently invited as a guest speaker in the USA and Jordan to discuss these topics. During her upcoming visit to BSU, she looks forward to conducting research in HRM and employee engagement, as well as sharing insights on women in academia and higher education in the Middle East. Open to collaborations, Dr. Alobidyeen embodies a commitment to fostering international academic partnerships and advancing knowledge across cultures.