Creative Inquiry Faculty Fellowships

Arielle Carr is a Professor of Practice in the Computer Science and Engineering department.  She is a also a PhD candidate in applied mathematics at Virginia Tech with an expected completion date of Summer 2020.  Her research focus is recycling techniques with an aim to achieve fast convergence in the iterative solution of large, sparse linear systems, using both preconditioner updates as well as subspace recycling. Since 2012, Arielle has been an active member of and contributing presenter to the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.  She holds a master of science degree in mathematics along with two bachelor of science degrees in math and sociology.  Arielle's pedagogical interest is in bridging gaps between core courses in a computer science curriculum, using inquiry-based learning (IBL). In particular, she is interested in identifying key concepts that are introduced in early classes of a prerequisite chain, that are then developed through until higher-level courses.  Arielle has developed a two-fold objectiv for her fellowship: (1) appropriately integrate IBL into early, core computer science courses at levels appropriate for the learners in that specific course; and (2) strategically use IBL to emphasize keystone concepts encountered in prerequisite classes so those concepts are successfully realized in later classes. 

Khurram Hussain, Associate Professor of Religion Studies

Khurram Hussain is a native of Pakistan , and has lived , worked and studies in the US since 1993.  He holds an A.B. in Religion and Physics from Bowdoin College (1997) and a PhD. in Religion Studies from Yale University (2011). Hussain is broadly interested in exploring the possibility of a robust critical conversation across diverse cultures and traditions and has extensive training in comparative ethics, historical sociology and modern Western philosophy. His first monograph, Islam as Critique: Sayyid Ahmad Khan and the Challenge of Modernity (Bloomsbury, 2019), is an exploration of the work of the 19th-century Indian Muslim reformer Sayyid Ahmad Khan in a comparative perspective with Western thinkers like Reinhold Niebuhr, Hannah Arendt and Alasdair MacIntyre. His second book, The Muslim Questions (or Can the Muslim Speak?) (Zed Books, forthcoming 2020), is a detailed examination of the tropes and discourses surrounding the category of Islam in modern Western public spheres. Dr. Hussain is also an active member of the Center for Global Islamic Studies, the Humanities Center and several other initiatives and programs across the university. In 2011, Hussain was awarded the Waves Award as Male Faculty Ally by the Women's Center at Lehih University.

Ganesh Balasubramanian has been Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics at Lehigh University since July 2017. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and (by courtesy) of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University. He received his BME degree in Mechanical Engineering from Jadavpur University, India in 2007, his PhD in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech in 2011, and was a postdoctoral research associate in the Theoretical Physical Chemistry unit at TU Darmstadt in Germany till fall of 2012. His research and teaching interests are in advanced energy and structural materials, nanoscale transport and mechanics, and predictive engineering. Some of his recognitions include the ASEE Outstanding New ME Educator award, AFRL Summer Faculty Fellowships, Miller Faculty Fellowship at Iowa State, the Graduate Man of the Year and Liviu Librescu Scholarship at Virginia Tech, Young Engineering Fellowship from the Indian Institute of Science. As a Creative Inquiry Faculty Fellow, Ganesh plans to implement a project based learning approach using an inverted pyramid model encouraging deep and creative inquiry.

Michael Kramp is Associate Professor in the Department of English. He is the author of Disciplining Love: Austen and the Modern Man (The Ohio State University Press, 2007) and editor of Jane Austen and Masculinity (Bucknell University Press, 2017). He has also published on such figures as Deleuze, Foucault, Pater, Dickens, and Lawrence. He has edited and introduced special issues of Rhizomes focused on Deleuze and Photography and Austen and Deleuze, and published a series of articles on nineteenth-century visual culture, including pieces on the work of Hawarden, Lady Clementina, Henry Fox Talbot, Ella Hepworth Dixon’s The Story of a Modern Woman, and Amy Levy’s The Romance of a Shop.  As a Creative Inquiry Faculty Fellow, Michael will develop a functional plan to offer a regular filmmaking seminar within the academic year that could both incorporate students' ongoing filmic work and allow them to initiate projects that could continue beyond the semester. 

János D. Pintér is a researcher and practitioner with more than four decades of work experience. His professional interests are primarily related to Operations Research, "The Science of Making Better Decisions". More specifically, key topics of interest include model, algorithm and software development for nonlinear optimization, and a broad range of applications. He holds M.Sc. (Applied Mathematics / Operations Research), Ph.D. (Probability Theory / Stochastic Optimization), and D.Sc. (Mathematics / Global Optimization) degrees. Dr. Pintér wrote four books, and edited six other internationally published books (so far). He is also the author or co-author of more than 200 articles, book chapters, and other technical publications. His optimization software products have been in use around the world. He has worked and presented lectures in 40 countries of the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific Region. Dr. Pintér joined the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Lehigh University in August 2016 as a Professor of Practice. As a Creative Inquiry Faculty Fellow, János - with the active involvement of his students - will develop project-based creative thinking and learning tools, to be integrated into present and future courses at Lehigh's ISE Department (and perhaps also elsewhere).

Farah Vallera is the instructional technology and teacher education Professor of Practice in the College of Education's Teaching, Learning, and Technology program. She holds her Ph.D. from Lehigh's TLT program, where she developed a STEM-integrated, project-based curriculum for upper-elementary students surrounding agricultural education. Aside from her interests in STEM, PBL, and agricultural education, Farah builds curricula and instructional materials to enhance diversity education, multicultural competence, and ADA compliance using innovative educational technology and inquiry-based design strategies.  In her spare time, she serves on the board of the Center for Humanistic Change and heads their data analysis and program review committee. As a Creative Inquiry Faculty Fellow, Prof. Vallera will be building innovative and engaging materials using AR, VR, and integrated tools and subjects for students to use design thinking, project-based learning, failure and iteration, and a maker mindset in their own design and development of inclusive learning.