Damien Mahiet is Director of Academic Programs at the Cogut Institute and Lecturer in Humanities. His research and teaching foreground aesthetics in international relations, with a particular focus on musical ideas and practices in diplomacy. Current projects include discourses and experiences of the Concert of Nations from the 17th century to the present, and the conception of White House state dinners in recent decades. His work has appeared in Eighteenth-Century Music, 19th-Century Music, Dance Research, History of European Ideas, and the Journal of International Political Theory. He coedited L’Institution musicale (Delatour, 2011) and Music and Diplomacy from the Early Modern Era to the Present (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). He serves as a review editor of the H-Diplo network. Trained in political thought (M.A. Sciences Po Paris) and musicology (Ph.D. Cornell University), he was a fellow at Harvard University’s Mahindra Humanities Center in 2012–13.

Gregory Kimbrell promotes the institute’s initiatives and events and the accomplishments of its faculty, fellows, and students across a variety of channels. For 11 years, he organized events and managed event space and publicity for Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries. He completed his MFA in creative writing at VCU and has since published two books of poetry: The Primitive Observatory (Southern Illinois University Press, 2016) and The Ceremonial Armor of the Impostor (Weasel Press, 2019). He has also supported startups as a user experience designer.

Ben Safran manages operations including strategic and financial planning, facilities management, academic programs, and supervising administrative staff. They have a Ph.D. in music from Temple University and have presented research on protest music, campaign strategy, identity studies in music, music in childhood and youth culture, media studies, hermeneutics, ecomusicology, and 20th- and 21st-century concert music. Their scholarly work has been published in the Journal of the Society for American Music and Yale Journal of Music and Religion, while their compositions have been performed by musicians ranging from principal members of the Philadelphia Orchestra to grassroots activists performing a guerilla concert in a corporate headquarters lobby. They also serve on the board of environmental group Earth Quaker Action Team.

Jordan Smith provides administrative support for the Center for the Study of the Early Modern World, the Program in Medieval Studies, and the Medieval and Early Modern History Seminar. Previously, he was an administrative coordinator across the academic programs at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. He earned a B.A. from Drew University for theater arts and comparative religion and trained with the Atlantic Theater Company through its conservatory program.

Rachel Ulm coordinates logistics for a wide range of events and provides administrative support for the institute. Previously, she worked as a Community Ambassador at Colgate University and served on a public relations committee for the Tredecim Honor Society. She has also worked as a private cello teacher for six years. She earned her B.A. in geography and environmental studies at Colgate University. Her research focused on resource disparities within Indigenous populations, low-income neighborhoods, and communities of color with a particular focus on food insecurity and the viability of sustainable urban agriculture.

Matt Hoffmann provides administrative and logistical support for the institute’s courses, fellowship programs, and funding opportunities. Previously, he worked as a Campus Coordinator for Levine Music, a large community music school in Washington, D.C. There, he managed teachers’ studios and assisted students in beginning their musical journey. He graduated from George Mason University in 2022 with a B.M. in French horn performance, and has enjoyed teaching private horn lessons since 2018. In his spare time, he enjoys camping, hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding, surfing, as well as watching sports.