Use the links below to navigate the 2024 Mason Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference website.
Panel Discussion
Interdisciplinary Horizons: Navigating Complexity, Inspiring Solutions
9:00 AM – 10:15 AM | Merten Hall, Room 1201
In the face of the intricate challenges characterizing our modern world, traditional disciplinary boundaries often prove insufficient to address the complexity of the issues at hand. Embracing this imperative for collaboration and innovation, our distinguished panel, titled “Interdisciplinary Horizons: Navigating Complexity, Inspiring Solutions,” brings together a diverse ensemble of voices. Two esteemed faculty members with extensive experience in interdisciplinary research, alongside two exceptional graduate students who are actively engaged in interdisciplinary pursuits at Mason, will share their experiences and perspectives on the intricacies of interdisciplinary research, illuminating how interdisciplinary collaboration not only addresses complex issues but also fosters innovative solutions to the urgent challenges of our time.
Moderator
Melissa Broeckelman-Post, Ph.D.
Dr. Broeckelman-Post is a Professor and the Basic Course Director in the Department of Communication at George Mason University and also currently serves as President of the Faculty Senate. As Basic Course Director in Communication, Dr. Broeckelman-Post is responsible for planning, supervising, assessing, and improving the communication courses that meet the general education requirement at GMU, including training and mentoring a team of 45-50 GTAs and instructors. She established the Communication Center in 2018, which became part of the new Lab for Writing and Communication in Fall 2021. She was also the recipient of the John Toups Medal for Excellence in Teaching in 2021.
Panelists
Harbir Antil, Ph.D.
Dr. Antil is the Founder and Director of the Center for Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence and a Professor of Mathematics at George Mason University. His areas of interest include optimization, calculus of variations, partial differential equations, numerical analysis, and scientific machine learning. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Houston and spent time as a postdoc at Rice University and the University of Maryland, College Park. His research is supported by the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Naval Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Department of Energy, and the Department of Navy. He is a member of the Intelligence Science and Technology Experts Group at the National Academy of Sciences. He is also the President of SIAM Washington DC – Baltimore Section. He is on the editorial board of journals such as SIAM Reviews, SIAM J. of Sci. Comp., Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, and he is the Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Continuous and Discrete Models.
Erika De Los Santos, M.A.
Erika is a doctoral student in the Human Factors and Applied Cognition Psychology program at George Mason University. The focus of her current research is on cue utilization in detecting threats related to cybersecurity. Specifically, she is interested in understanding how various cues are applied when detecting deepfake deceptions, and how factors related to workload, stress, and the use of an AI-teammate may impact the weights of these cues. The goal of this research is to develop accessible tools that enhance detection capabilities.
Zoë Gluck
Zoe is a master’s candidate in Political Science at the George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government. Her research explores the intersection of religion and politics, focusing on the politicization of Christians in the United States and their use of social media. This research incorporates history, sociology, political science, and religious, gender, and media studies. Zoe received her BA in International Studies from American University. She is a third-year graduate student and was a Schar School Dean’s Fellow in 2022. Outside of school, Zoe works in financial regulation at the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.
Brittany Johnson-Matthews, Ph.D.
Dr. Johnson-Matthews is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department where she directs the Interdisciplinary Software Practice Improvement Research & Development (INSPIRED) Lab. She received her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University after getting her B.A. from the College of Charleston. Her research lies at the intersection of software engineering, human factors, and artificial intelligence. Her lab investigates sociotechnical problems pertaining to software team productivity and software development/use, such as developer tool support, ethics, and software for social good. You can learn more about her lab on their website: https://inspired.cs.gmu.edu/.