William Franke is a philosopher of the humanities and professor of comparative literature at Vanderbilt University. He has been professor of philosophy at University of Macao; Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Intercultural Theology at University of Salzburg; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation research fellow in Berlin; and Francesco de Dombrowski Visiting Professor at Harvard University’s Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence. In 2021 he became Professor Honoris Causa of the Agora Hermeneutica. His apophatic philosophy is conceived and expounded in On What Cannot Be Said (2007) and A Philosophy of the Unsayable (2014). It is extended into a comparative philosophy of culture in Apophatic Paths from Europe to China: Regions Without Borders (2018) and applied to address current controversies in education and society in On the Universality of What Is Not: The Apophatic Turn in Critical Thinking (2020). His most recent Pandemics and Apocalypse in World Literature: The Hope for Planetary Salvation (2025) plies his apophatic philosophy to illuminate issues of urgent public purport. He lectures and leads seminars on his ideas in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish on five continents.

Edward Dutton is Honorary Professor of Evolutionary Psychology of Business at Asbiro University, in Łódź, Poland, Honorary Professor at the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Research Associate in the Deanship of Scientific Research at Tabuk University, Saudi Arabia.

Lisa Yamasaki received her doctoral degree from the University of California Los Angeles and worked in the Scandinavian section at UCLA’s European Literatures and Transcultural Studies Department. In addition to training in pedagogy and cultural studies, Dr. Yamasaki pursues her passion in nineteenth-century Norwegian literature, specifically Knut Hamsun and his contemporaries, and examines the literary themes from the Nyromantikken period. She has published in academic journals, including Scandinavian Studies, Supernatural Studies, and Nordlit. Knowledgeable in four languages, Dr. Yamasaki has worked as a writing consultant for fifteen years and shares her fondness for the writing process. Using her interests in the visual arts and academic training to guide her in her investigations, she wishes to show how literature resonates deeply within humans.

Arthur L. Lazarus, MD, MBA, is a healthcare consultant, certified physician executive, and nationally recognized author, speaker, and champion of physician leadership and wellness. He has broad experience in clinical practice and the health insurance industry, having led programs at Cigna and Humana. At Humana, Lazarus was vice president and corporate medical director of behavioral health operations in Louisville, Kentucky, and subsequently a population health medical director in the state of Florida. Lazarus has also held leadership positions in several pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and AstraZeneca, conducting clinical trials, and reviewing promotional materials for medical accuracy and FDA compliance. He has published more than 400 articles and essays and written or edited 11 books, including 7 related to the field of narrative medicine. Lazarus attended Boston University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with distinction. He received his medical degree with honors from Temple University School of Medicine, followed by a psychiatric residency at Temple University Hospital, where he was chief resident. After residency, Lazarus joined the faculty of Temple faculty, where he currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry. He also holds non-faculty appointments as Executive-in-Residence at Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management, where he received his MBA degree, and Senior Fellow at Jefferson College of Population Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lazarus is a past president of the American Association for Psychiatric Administration and Leadership, a former member of the board of directors of the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL), and a current member of the AAPL editorial review board. In 2010, the American Psychiatric Association honored Lazarus with the Administrative Psychiatry Award for his effectiveness as an administrator of major mental health programs and expanding the body of knowledge of management science in mental health services delivery systems. Lazarus is among a select group of physicians in the United States who have been inducted into both the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society and the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society of collegiate schools of business. Lazarus enjoys walking, biking, playing piano, andlistening to music. He has been happily married to his wife, Cheryl, for over 40 years. They are the proud parents of four adult children and have five grandchildren.

Kenneth Quandt holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of California Berkeley. He writes commentaries on the Greek text of Plato’s Dialogues and translates books by contemporary European thinkers.

Confidence Mbang is a legal practitioner based in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. He is legal head of the firm Confidence Mbang Legal (CML) and founder of Morelaw, a legal services advisory in multiple aspects of law. A constitutional law and human rights enthusiast, Mr. Mbang is an associate of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) and an appointee to the Special Envoy for West Africa with the International Human Rights Protection Service in the United States. Mr. Mbang has represented young people of the Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency at the Niger Delta Youth Parliament (NDYP). He is an awardee of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS), an Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) Ranger, and a member of the Citizens’ Liberties Committee (CLC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

“Brian Kaller is a journalist with the soul of a cultural anthropologist. He closely observed the daily life of his adopted country, and took the time to do what so few younger men these days bother to do: talk to the old people, and hear their stories.”
–Rod Dreher, author of Crunchy Cons, The Benedict Option and Live Not by Lies

Brian Kaller worked as a reporter and editor in the United States before moving to rural Ireland for two decades. He writes a weekly newspaper column on sustainable living, and has also written for The American Conservative, First Things, Resilience, Mother Earth News and Quillette. He has appeared on Irish television and his work has been featured on the popular BBC television series QI. He recently returned to his native Missouri.

Homam Al Safadi is a 2024 graduate in Information Systems and Technology from the G. F. Morozov Voronezh State University of Forestry and Technologies, where he earned his
degree with honors. He is a researcher and writer in scientific philosophy, with a focus on interdisciplinary research. His work has been published by various academic journals. In addition to his research, he also designed and coded the software program “Recognition and Classification Program of Human and Gorilla Skeletal Structures,” which is officially registered with the Russian government.

Dr. John A. Gentry teaches at the School of Defense and Strategic Studies at Missouri State University. For twelve years, he was an intelligence analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he mainly worked on economic issues associated with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries. For two of those years, he was senior analyst on the staff of the National Intelligence Officer for Warning. Dr. Gentry is a retired U.S. Army Reserve officer, with most assignments in special operations and intelligence arenas. Previously, he taught at Georgetown University, Columbia University, and the National Intelligence University. He writes regularly on intelligence and security issues. He is the author of Neutering the CIA: Why US Intelligence Versus Trump Has Long-Term Consequences (2023) and about 40 articles and book chapters on intelligence topics. He has an economics background and received his Ph.D. in political science from George Washington University. Follow him at @gentry_johna.

Gregory Novak received his Ph.D. (2004) from Northern Illinois University, where he studied intellectual history. He has taught religion, history, and philosophy at Olney Friends School in Ohio and Canterbury School in Indiana. He is the author of three novels under his pseudonym, Jay Jordan Hawke. These include: Pukawiss the Outcast (a Lambda Literary Award finalist in 2014), A Scout is Brave (Rainbow Award winner in 2015) and Onwaachige the Dreamer. This is his first work of nonfiction.