Professor Stern is the author of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: An Introduction (CUP, 2004), and Wittgenstein on Mind and Language (OUP, 1995) and has edited several books on Wittgenstein. Thanks to a fellowship from the NEH for 2020-2021, he is currently working on the first complete translation of Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and its German manuscript sources. His other research and teaching interests include the history of analytic philosophy, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy and computing and digital humanities.

Jan Steyn is Associate Professor of Instruction in Literary Translation and French at the University of Iowa, where he serves as Director of Graduate Studies for French, Linguistics, and Translation; Program Director of the MFA in Literary Translation; and Provost’s Fellow in Artificial Intelligence (2025–27). A scholar-translator and teacher, he translates from Afrikaans, French, and Dutch into English, linking the craft of translation to questions of voice, ethics, memory, and global citizenship. He has lived and taught in Africa, Europe, and North America, and regularly mentors students working between languages and cultures. Steyn is editor of Translation: Crafts, Contexts, Consequences (Cambridge University Press, 2024). At Iowa he teaches on world literature, translation, and language in the age of AI, helping students develop thoughtful, responsible practices across languages. He is honored to support the Anne Frank Initiative’s mission to elevate youth voices, deepen historical understanding, and foster inclusive, humanities-based learning across campus and community.

Shefa’a Tawil is a Palestinian-American undergraduate at the University of Iowa pursuing a BS in psychology on the pre-medicine track, with certificates in writing and public health and minors in Arabic and music. She has served in leadership roles across campus that demonstrate her commitment to social advocacy, including serving as president of the Middle East and North African Student Association (MENASA), participating as a constituency senator in the University of Iowa Undergraduate Student Government, and volunteering with refugees. Shefa’a is drawn to the Anne Frank Initiative because it encourages reflection on identity, resilience, and hope in the face of persecution—themes that continue to resonate around the world today. She hopes to contribute to AFI through projects that foster connection across cultures and connect with communities who resonate with Anne’s legacy.

My research focuses on early-modern French studies (1650 to 1800) and can be divided into three interdisciplinary areas: music and opera, theories of language, and aesthetics. My professional knowledge base extends to internationalization strategies, the global higher education landscape, and academic leadership.

Richard Velasco is a clinical assistant professor of mathematics and science education. He teaches secondary math methods courses and supervises secondary math and science pre-service teachers. Prior to working at the University of Iowa, Richard was a secondary math teacher for twelve years, a national board certified teacher in early adolescent mathematics, and a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. His current line of research includes STEM teacher advocacy, conceptualizations of STEM education, and informal STEM learning spaces.

Alisa Weinstein is a program coordinator for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and an adjunct assistant professor in the UI Department of Anthropology. She received a BFA in Drama and MA in Educational Theatre from New York University, and a PhD in Anthropology from Syracuse University; she also studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and conducted dissertation research on a Fulbright-Nehru scholarship. She is currently writing an ethnography on tailors working in Jaipur, India. As co-founder of Home Ec. Workshop in Iowa City, she often teaches knitting and sewing to crafters of all ages. She also served as the youth programs coordinator for the International Writing Program and is committed to the ways the Anne Frank Initiative can amplify the voices of young writers in Iowa, particularly those who are first- or second-generation immigrants, from refugee communities, or marginalized positions.

I am a medical anthropologist who draws on gender and science and technology studies to explore the gendered social consequences of aging, illness, sexual health problems and related medical treatments. Broadly, I am interested in the relationships between gender (especially masculinities), new medical technologies/areas of medicalization, and people’s sex lives and senses of self in contexts of globalization. My research has focused on Mexico, where gender norms and links between ethnicity, biology and sexuality are widely discussed and hotly contested. In a new study of emerging "men's health" medicine, I am widening my scope to examine how local ideas of gender and sexuality are shaping the emergence of a new medical field - and its effects on patients' lives and bodies - in comparative global context.

Dean Adrien K. Wing joined the University of Iowa Law school faculty in 1987, and is the Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor. Wing also serves as the Associate Dean for International and Comparative Law Programs and is Director of the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights. Author of over 140 publications, she teaches Critical Race Theory, Sex Discrimination, and Law in the Muslim World. Her many activities include advising the founding mothers and fathers of three constitutions. She holds her Bachelor’s degree from Princeton with high honors, MA degree from UCLA in African Studies, and her JD from Stanford.

His research interests include Korean and Japanese literature, film and media, melodrama, humanism and its critiques and translation.

Educational background: Ph.D. in Mathematics, 1986, Columbia University. Research interest: number theory and medical imaging.

Research interests include Korean anthropology/folklore/history, ritual, festival, tourism, heritage studies, shamanism, Buddhism, happiness and the wellness industry.

Kevin Zihlman has a been a full-time staff member at the University of Iowa since 2010. Kevin graduated from the University of Iowa in 2005 with a Master of Arts degree. For fourteen years, Kevin was an Assistant Athletic Director in the University of Iowa Athletics Department. Over the last year, Kevin transitioned to a role in the Research Integrity and Security Office housed within the Office of the Vice President for Research. Kevin believes that the University of Iowa and its many world-renowned programs can enlighten those many youths who live only a few miles away from its campus. Kevin has worked with AFI the past three years on establishing an annual field trip for the Clear Creek Amana 8th grade class to the UI campus for a morning of engagement with the AFI and Anne Frank.