Research Clusters

The DCII provides a home for informal, collaborative groups of scholars who wish to meet together to discuss and advance shared interdisciplinary interests. Clusters are convened by faculty, staff, and graduate students across campus, and are designed to benefit participants’ research or teaching activities.

Clusters meet at least twice each semester for meetings and events, including holding reading groups, bringing in speakers, organizing workshops, and developing joint research projects. The DCII provides funding and organizational support for these activities. Clusters are open to participants from any and all disciplines and departments at SMU, and some Clusters also welcome participants from other universities and the broader DFW community.

Below is a list of active Research Clusters. Faculty, staff, and students interested in participating in a Cluster should contact the Cluster conveners.

Research Clusters for AY 2026-27

Description

SMU has many strengths to support research in the Data Sciences. One of these strengths has been the creation of the Data Science Cluster divided in three interrelated groups: Data Core, Technology-Enhanced Immersive Learning (TEIL), and Health Analytics. This Interdisciplinary group will have expertise in areas that include the learning sciences, artificial intelligence, machine learning, technology-enhanced learning, and assessment. The purpose of this specific Cluster's activities is to meet regularly in order to maximize the opportunities for immediate and long term success of this intercollege, interdisciplinary commitment by SMU.

Conveners

Description

AI Ethics is an interdisciplinary research cluster focused on the ethical, social, and environmental implications of artificial intelligence. The cluster will bring together faculty, graduate students, and other participants from across SMU to explore topics including AI energy consumption and sustainability, bias and fairness in algorithmic systems, the moral status of advanced AI, and the societal impacts of automation on work and economic security. Through reading groups, workshops, invited speakers, and collaborative research discussions, the cluster will foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and support new research, teaching initiatives, publications, grant proposals, and public engagement related to responsible AI development and governance.

Conveners

Description

AI for Economics and Business Research is an SMU DCII research cluster convened by Zhan Gao (Economics, Dedman), Xiao Liu (Accounting, Cox), and David Xu (Finance, Cox). It brings together econometricians and applied researchers in economics, finance, accounting, and information systems to advance rigorous, responsible use of AI in empirical work and to engage the methodological questions raised by unstructured and AI-generated data — validation, interpretability, reproducibility, and graduate training. In 2026–27 the cluster will host an external speaker seminar, two SMU AI Research Roundtables, and a DFW-area mini-conference, all open to the SMU community.

Conveners

  • Zhan Gao, zhangao@smu.edu
  • Xiao Liu, xiaoliu@smu.edu
  • David Xiaoyu Xu,  davidxu@smu.edu

Description:

This faculty-led research cluster explores the transformative potential of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) as innovative educational tools in the undergraduate classroom. The cluster and its participants will explore how AR/VR is already being used in the SMU curriculum across disciplines to achieve learning outcomes, facilitate dynamic teaching, and foster collaborative and immersive learning experiences. The cluster also provides an opportunity to support the development and implementation of cross-disciplinary collaborations that incorporate AR/VR applications in research and in community-based learning projects. As such, the cluster aims to develop best practices and strategies that harness the power of AR/VR to engage students, promote a deeper understanding of complex concepts, uplift diversity and inclusion, and cultivate essential skills for academic and professional success in an increasingly digital and interconnected world. 

Conveners:

Description

This research cluster proposes to bring together faculty, staff, and graduate students with interests in Asian and Asian American studies. We intend to focus on two major and overlapping areas of scholarship and teaching:

  1. The intersection of Asian studies and Asian American studies
  2. The experiences and needs of Asian American and Pacific Islander community members at SMU and the broader higher-education sector.

Our goals are to explore new research space and opportunities for collaboration, to advance creative teaching in Asian Studies, and to foster a campus environment inclusive of diverse perspectives.

Conveners 

Description:

This interdisciplinary research cluster investigates how creativity and social-emotional learning (SEL) can be applied in higher education to foster more inclusive, engaging, and emotionally responsive classrooms. Using frameworks such as Learning by Design and multiliteracies pedagogy, the cluster will explore digital tools like WeVideo to support student voice, emotional expression, and reflective learning. Participants will collaboratively design teaching materials, explore SEL and creativity across disciplines, and engage in peer feedback. The cluster aims to address the current gap in SEL-informed pedagogy at the university level through innovation, collaboration, and future classroom implementation.

Conveners:

Description

This is a collaborative research cluster exploring the breadth of human sexuality through interdisciplinary dialogue on embodiment, identity, relationships, and human flourishing while engaging contemporary social and ethical questions. Through reading groups, workshops, public conversations, and collaborative research, the cluster seeks to foster innovative scholarship and inclusive community engagement around one of the most complex and contested aspects of human life.

Conveners

  • Heather Gottas Moore, hgottas@smu.edu
  • Emma Bluestein, ebluestein@smu.edu
  • Chrystyna Kouros, ckouros@smu.edu

Description

Dallas, Texas is a city shaped by generations of visionaries who left their mark through architecture, neighborhoods, and civic imagination. This research cluster uses the James Pratt Collection — books, planning reports, and archival documents — as a catalyst for deeper engagement with Dallas history. It broadens access to primary sources, highlights SMU's film holdings in Hamon Library, and fosters interdisciplinary conversation across campus. The cluster connects scholars and the public through events, tours, screenings, a gallery exhibit, and student research fellowships all grounded in Dallas's rich and evolving documentary record.

Conveners

  • Jessie Zarazaga, jzarazaga@smu.edu
  • Jolene de Verges, jdeverges@smu.edu
  • Kate Alleman, kalleman@smu.edu
  • Seemee Ali, seemeeali@smu.edu
  • Joan Arbery, jarbery@smu.edu

Description:

The Catalyst for Good cluster initiative at SMU aims to provide a centralized platform that unites the various individual efforts in philanthropy, social impact, and non-profit engagement across campus into an interdisciplinary academic and practical exploration cluster. Each of SMU’s colleges has elements of social impact, philanthropy, or non-profit studies, yet there is no central venue for these efforts to converge. The lack of a central hub has been a significant gap in fully leveraging the potential of SMU’s diverse academic resources.

Conveners:

Description:

This cluster brings together social sceintists and humanists to rethink the comparative study of political economy and society. 

Conveners: 

Description

Cultivating Character at SMU will bring faculty, staff, and graduate students together to explore how character is taught and strengthened across the university. Grounded in interdisciplinary scholarship and SMU’s commitment to principled leadership, the cluster will examine best practices in character education and consider how they apply within SMU’s academic and co-curricular life. Through shared readings, campus conversations, a public lecture by Dr. Edward Brooks of the Oxford Character Project, and collaborations across campus, the cluster will produce a white paper with practical recommendations for advancing character education at SMU.

Conveners

  • Rita Kirk, rkirk@smu.edu
  • Jon Carman, jcarman@mail.smu.edu
  • Ashlyn Hand, awhand@smu.edu
  • Matt Nadler, mattcnadler@gmail.com

Description

The Culture, Mind, and Brain Research Cluster started as a seminar during the 2021-2022 academic year. The seminar was co-sponsored by the Department of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University and the Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center. The goal of the seminar was to foster collaborations between students and colleagues around shared interests related to the study of the mind and brain from western and nonwestern perspectives.

This coming year, the Culture, Mind, and Brain Research Cluster aim to expand on the success of the seminar to incorporate the interests of likeminded faculty at SMU and strengthen the bridge between SMU and UTSW in this research area.

Conveners

Description

Through this research cluster, we aim to elevate the conversation around Human-Centered Design research and are excited to use this space to share our theories, methods, and tools with a broader research community. 

Conveners

Description

The Directed Reading Program (DRP) at SMU is an informal, collaborative, low-pressure interdisciplinary program that aligns an undergraduate student (Scholar) with a graduate student, staff, or faculty member (Mentor) for direction in studying an advanced topic of interest and presenting their learning. This Cluster promotes interdisciplinary cooperation and understanding through weekly research meetings and end-of-semester presentation events, and helps forward the SMU environment of learning, enjoyment, and community.

Conveners

  • Darryl Berry, deberry@smu.edu
  • Andrew Goebel, agoebel@smu.edu
  • Lindsey Johnson Edwards, ljohnsonedwards@smu.edu

Description

This research cluster will create a university-wide community of faculty, graduate students, and researchers in energy and environmental fields, such as engineering, law, business, and social science. This community will engage in research sharing to remove barriers between energy and environment, advancing holistic systems thinking to address critical issues such as resilience, climate change, energy poverty, and environmental justice. This cluster will build relationships and networks to encourage interdisciplinary relationship, with the goal of fostering an integrated and vibrant environment for grant applications, multi-author publishing, and cross-pollination of pedagogy.

Conveners

Description:

The ERAH Graduate Student Conference Cluster is centered around the yearly ERAH Conference. This cluster and conference promotes interdisciplinary research and community between PhD students in SMU’s English, Religious Studies, Anthropology, and History departments. In addition to the conference in October, the cluster also hosts a number of events focused on workshopping and developing papers for publication; together, we create a working group that seeks to produce rigorous and interdisciplinary scholarship and to foster relationship between Dedman’s graduate programs.

Conveners:

Description:

European Mobility and Migration is an interdisciplinary research cluster focused on the cultural, historical, and political dimensions of migration across Europe. Convened by faculty in World Languages and Literatures, the cluster will bring together colleagues and students to study mobility, displacement, borders, citizenship, and belonging through literature, film, history, anthropology, and related fields. Monthly meetings will pair shared readings with films and discussion leaders specializing in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, and the Balkans. The cluster aims to foster research collaborations, develop shared scholarly resources, and create a campus-wide forum for conversations about migration and Europe.

Conveners:

  • Constantin C. Icleanu, cicleanu@smu.edu
  • Denise DuPont, ddupont@smu.edu

Description

The purpose of this cluster is to collaborate with the Department of Anthropology and other interested university personnel to discuss and develop a research strategy to address two specific aims: i) assess baseline stress levels in the SMU populations, and ii) develop an EIM led intervention (physical activity, meditation, or breathing exercise) designed to improve coping mechanisms, enhance parasympathetic tone and lower overall cortisol measures. This collaborative effort will provide a starting point for evaluating the "medicinal" impact of EIM-OC led initiatives on physiological variables in participants. 

Conveners

Description

The research cluster brings together faculty, graduate students and staff (IT & Library) who are interested in GIS (Geographic Information Systems, for mapping and spatial analysis). In the last two years the interdisciplinary group GIS@SMU has made great strides in:

  1. Connecting SMU faculty, graduate and undergraduate students who may be working independently in the area of spatial analysis
  2. Setting up a GIS lab in the Fondren library
  3. Bringing in leading experts on GIS from top-universities such as Stanford to run workshops
  4. Organizing activities such as a Mapathon to promote the use of GIS to undergraduates and the broader community at SMU.

GIS@SMU is a true interdisciplinary group, bringing together faculty and students from across campus.

Conveners

Description:

This cluster examines how international and domestic students can learn with and from one another as partners in global citizenship education. Through interdisciplinary discussion, student dialogue, and research-informed teaching activities, the cluster explores how students‚ linguistic, cultural, academic, and local knowledge can deepen global learning, belonging, study abroad preparation, and professional readiness. The cluster will bring together faculty, staff, and student voices to develop a reciprocal dialogue model, teaching resources, and future research directions related to global citizenship education and international student belonging.

Conveners:

  • Martha Kwon, mhkwon@smu.edu
  • Michael Nesuda, mnesuda@smu.edu

Description

This research cluster unites faculty from a range of academic and professional disciplines to discuss and define a set of shared goals and best practices to provide students with real-world, global perspectives and transferable skills aligned with skills employers seek in the contemporary workplace. Topics of discussion include curricular innovation, academic and corporate partnerships for internships and field work abroad and at home, and the assessment of and integration with SMU’s Common Curriculum requirements with a focus on the integration of world languages and cultures for professional purposes across the curriculum.

Conveners

Description

The rise of populist nationalist totalitarianism threatens democratic stability at home and globally. The Hannah Arendt Reading Group cluster will examine and learn from selected works by one of the most important political thinkers of the twentieth century —one whose work illuminates the threats of our time.

Conveners

Description:

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Culture and Community is a research cluster that explores how culture shapes communities, identities, communication, and human interaction across academic and social contexts. Through interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration, participants will engage with current research and practical approaches related to cultural competence, cross-cultural understanding, and community engagement. The cluster promotes meaningful connections between academic inquiry and real-world experiences while fostering culturally responsive teaching, research, and learning practices.

Conveners:

  • Miroslava Denislavova Detcheva, mdetcheva@smu.edu
  • Yuriko Ikeda, yikeda@smu.edu

Description

Methodism developed distinctively, out of a variety of revival movements distributed widely across denominations and across the Atlantic World. Because of its informal nature during its first decades, personal communications and relationship played crucial roles in shaping and nurturing the emerging tradition. The study of early Methodism thus opens a diverse range of questions about faith, institutional religion, political community, gender, and family, all during the extended Age of Revolutions. This research cluster will investigate these questions through shared readings, workshopping research in production, and by engaging scholars from around the country. 

Conveners

Description

The “Medieval Matters” Research Cluster plans a year-long initiative to reinvigorate the strong, diverse, and engaged community of medievalists among the faculty and students at SMU and in the metroplex area. As a working group, we will examine fresh methodological approaches to the study of the Middle Ages with the goal of generating opportunities for new collaborative teaching and research across disciplinary boundaries. Among other possibilities, we envision a fully vetted book and digital project (with national and international contributors) that advances current understandings of the uses and limits of transdisciplinary teaching/research in the Middle Ages.

Conveners

Description:

The Online Commons research cluster addresses the challenge of fostering community in SMU's expanding online graduate programs. Convened by faculty across public policy, education, and nonprofit leadership, the group will explore best practices for building connection, trust, and belonging in digital learning environments. Through twice-per-semester virtual meetings featuring guest speakers, interactive dialogues, and collaborative exercises, the cluster aims to strengthen interdisciplinary relationships and surface effective strategies for online engagement. Outcomes include shared insights, a public-facing best practices guide, and enhanced program design. 

Conveners:

Description

Over the course of a year, many people find themselves in poverty and lacking shelter. Whether due to the pandemic, mental illness, diminished opportunity, unfortunate life choices, or trauma in their past. Poverty, particularly homelessness, is a symptom of a deeper, broader problem. One's beliefs about the causes of homelessness can significantly impact the level and longevity of support given. At a time when students are exploring who they are and what they stand for, universities have the opportunity to introduce them to coursework and experiences that challenge their thinking and perception. This research cluster aims to add to the ongoing undergraduate perceptions of poverty/homeless research, and further bolster current homeless awareness efforts on campus.

Conveners

Description:

The Digital Twin Actuator Project is a series of experiments conducted in the Physical Data Capture Lab that integrate various motion capture tools in the creation of digital twin avatars and interactive performance/athletic modalities. Pressure sensing, envelope depth mapping, visible light capture, and the quantification of inertial measurement units are integrated into the development of virtual digital twins of test subjects to gain a critical understanding of the internal mechanics of the human form and how to use the information to promote improved performance and interactivity within specific movement regimens.

Conveners:

  • Christopher Dolder, cdolder@smu.edu
  • Edmond Richer, richer@lyle.smu.edu
  • Guillermo Vazquez, guillermov@mail.smu.edu
    • Eric Godat, John Lagrone, Alejandro Radilla, Rebecca Lynn Rolke, Hallie Morgan, Kale Wicks, Kristian Skydanovych, Tierney Clark

Description:

Consumer culture needs to be rethought because population growth, climate change, and moral crises have made limits of abundance patently clear. Recently, consumer culture scholars have begun to investigate these and other limits of abundance.  In doing so, a rich and varied field has developed under the umbrella term‚ sustainability. This cluster convenes colloquia to discuss recent scholarship in the field of consumer culture and sustainability.

Conveners:

  • Alexis McCrossen, amccross@smu.edu
  • Sara Idacavage, sidacavage@smu.edu

Description:

The goal of the cluster is to employ storytelling through the performing arts to create didactic art works (e.g., stage or radio plays) that can serve as “delivery vehicles” of scientific information. We aim to help science educators by providing them with tools they can use in the classroom, as well as to excite and inform the public about science by showing – in addition to its utility – also its history, methodology of discovery, sources of inspiration, and overall beauty and relevance to all aspects of daily life. We invite artists (actors, musicians, choreographers) and scientists to join us in our interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts.

Conveners:

Description:

This research cluster examines global public health at the intersection of policy, engineering, and social impact. It explores how interdisciplinary approaches can strengthen public health systems, including community engagement, the education of medical practitioners and the general public, and the role of technological innovation in advancing public health.

Conveners:

  • Oppong Hemeng, ohemeng@smu.edu
  • Jasleen Dhillon, jdhillon@mail.smu.edu

Description:

The cluster addresses the urgent need to examine the complexity and precarity of neighborhood infrastructure- small-scale, distributed systems upon which everyday urban livelihoods, safety, and social meaning increasingly depend. Despite the critical role that infrastructure plays in shaping everyday life, existing scholarship has been dominated by quantitative approaches that often overlook how ordinary people perceive, interpret, and navigate these networks in their daily routines. Drawing on interdisciplinary tools-such as transect walks, in-depth interviews, participatory community mapping- our aim is to examine how infrastructure such as public transit, green-space, healthcare shape people's everyday social and economic decisions and survival strategies.

Conveners:

  • Aanmona Priyadarshini, apriyadarshini@smu.edu
  • Barbara Minssker, minsker@smu.edu
  • Nia Parson, nparson@smu.edu

Description:

This research cluster establishes a university-wide community of faculty, students, and researchers in outer space science & resources, encompassing disciplines such as astrophysics, engineering, science, law, and political science. The cluster focuses on research collaboration to bridge gaps between space exploration, resource utilization, and sustainable development areas. The cluster pursues theoretical and experimental research in these varying fields, exploring both fundamental questions of the universe and practical challenges related to governance, exploration, and extraction. This initiative aims to advance systems thinking to address critical issues such as asteroid mining, space debris management, and planetary protection. The cluster fosters interdisciplinary relationships, promoting an integrated environment for securing grants, multi-author publications, and innovative teaching methodologies.

Conveners:

Description

This interdisciplinary research cluster addresses the unique academic experiences of graduate student-athletes at SMU, especially in light of the university's transition to the ACC. Focusing on both research and pedagogy, the cluster aims to support these students by gathering data through focus groups, developing tailored teaching resources, and fostering faculty dialogue. Planned activities include faculty surveys, design-based research, monthly stakeholder meetings, and a public speaker series. Outcomes will include pedagogical interventions, strengthened faculty engagement, and a peer-reviewed publication, contributing to national conversations on graduate education and student-athlete success. 

Conveners

Description

Building on our previous reading of Dante's Divine Comedy, this cluster will now turn tot he Spanish writer Teresa de Avila (1515-1582). Specifically, we will explore the relationship she establishes between writing and the spiritual journey in her two most well-known works: The Way of Perfection (Camino de Perfeccion, 1566) and The Interior Castle (Las Moradas, 1577). We believe that reading Teresa de Avila will allow us to continue examining a theme we encountered in our study of Dante- namely, the trope of the spiritual journey as a transformative process for the individual, and an experience in which writing plays a fundamental role. 

Conveners

Description:

The Texas Redistricting Collective will bring together experts in mathematics and algorithm development in redistricting and gerrymandering for virtual seminars, in-person workshops, and a tutorial. We will focus on Texas-based researchers and Texas-specific redistricting problems will be included in our research.

Conveners:

Description:

The SMU DCII Research Cluster on Africa brings together scholars, practitioners, and humanitarian leaders from across the university to collaborate in research, teaching, and public engagement focused on the African continent and its global diaspora. The cluster will bring together faculty and students in history, public health, anthropology, engineering, environmental studies, theology, education, and the arts. This first year, the cluster will focus on connecting faculty and students across the university, with the hope that these connections will support new research to address a variety of interdisciplinary issues such as sustainable development, education, climate resilience, health, conflict resolution, entrepreneurship, and cultural knowledge.

Conveners:

  • Jessie Zarazaga, jzarazaga@smu.edu
  • Eric Bing, ebing@smu.edu
  • Nia Parson, nparson@smu.edu

Description:

This research cluster focuses on tribal sovereignty and natural resources, bringing together scholars, students, community and tribal partners to examine the legal, political, economic, and cultural dimensions of Indigenous self-determination in natural resource governance. It supports those involved in collaborative, community0informed research that explores how Native Nations exercise sovereign authority over land, water, energy, and mineral resources, and how these practices intersect with federal policies, environmental stewardship, and economic development. By fostering interdisciplinary engagement across law, policy, environmental science, history, and Indigenous studies, the cluster aims to advance understanding, inform policymaking, and support Tribal capacity-building in natural resource management.

Conveners: