As we enter the fall semester, the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies is excited to welcome Dr. L Fahn-Lai (they/them) as our Communications and Creative Consultant. This is an inaugural part-time position for the 2023-2024 academic year.

L comes to us from Harvard University, where they completed a PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology in 2021, and more recently a Gates Foundation-funded postdoctoral project looking at hidden structural and behavioral influencing behind tuberculosis and COVID-19 care delivery. As a proud member of the trans/non-binary community who has balanced their academic work with a decade-long freelance career in visual and interactive design, L embodies the department’s commitment to bridging silos of theory and practice in the pursuit of peace.

Prior to their doctorate, L completed their undergraduate education as a double concentrator in International Relations and Human Biology at Brown University, before continuing on to complete an master’s in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, also at Brown. Years working in the spaces between disciplines has impressed on them the importance of openness, curiosity and a willingness to take a step back and re-frame basic norms and assumptions when communicating and collaborating across different communities of practice and inquiry in pursuit of a shared purpose.

L will be supporting the department with communications and creative strategy, and will also be drawing on their experience as a visual designer to advance a series of projects.

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Fahn-Lai to the Peace and Conflict Studies community at Swarthmore!