Simon is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of East Anglia, a Senior Fellow on Global Cities at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a Senior Research Fellow at UCL's City Leadership Initiative, and an Affiliated Professor in International Relations at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudies Internacionales. His latest book, Global Cities and Global Order (Oxford University Press), won the 2018 European Consortium for Political Research Hedley Bull Prize in International Relations. It was also shortlisted for the 2017 British International Studies Association Susan Strange Book Prize.

Engaged in research and teaching on issues pertaining to caste based exclusion, untouchability and atrocities/human right violation against the Scheduled Castes/Dalits in India. Published extensively on the issue of caste violence and diversity, and delivered numerous lectures in reputed universities both within and outside India. Currently a Professor at the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India.

Philosopher by training, Phinith Chanthalangsy is Unit Head of the Social and Human Sciences Sector, in the UNESCO ROSA Office in Harare (Zimbabwe). His fields of specialization are Comparative Philosophy, Ethics, and Cultural Studies. He joined UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (France) in 2007, under the Philosophy, Democracy and Human Security Programme. From 2012 to 2019, he worked in the UNESCO Office for the Maghreb region in Rabat (Morocco), in charge of Youth Civic Participation and Citizenship and Human Rights Education, Gender, Social Inclusion, Philosophy, Ethics, and Intercultural Dialogue. Prior to joining UNESCO, he worked as a Research Fellow at the Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient and the National Library in Vientiane, Laos.

Before her appointment at University of Bath, she was an Associate Professor at the University of York’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work, an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign and a Postdoctorate Research Associate at the Washington University in St. Louis Medical School-Siteman Cancer Center. She earned her Ph.D. and masters in social work (Boston College), and an M.P.A. as well as an M.A. from Columbia University and St. John’s University, respectively. A native of Kosovo, Venera Bekteshi acquired extensive experience in health and mental health research over 9 years by practicing in non-profit and government sectors, among others, as an associate researcher at the United Nations’ Human Development Reports Office and as Deputy Director of the Albanian American Women’s Organization. Most of her research focuses on the health and mental needs of immigrants, the homeless and of adolescents, and on breast cancer prevention research. Yet, she also examines sex trafficking in such Eastern European countries as Albania, Kosovo, Romania, and Macedonia. Grounded in theory, her research addresses this significant issue by employing various methodological techniques, depending on data availability. For her academic contributions and her involvement in community service and development, Professor Bekteshi received several prestigious awards and fellowships, among which the First Award for Community Building and Leadership by the International Leadership Class at the University of Oklahoma and the Mayor’s Recognition for Community Service, New York. Additionally, she won several competitive research grants from the National Institute of Health, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (co-authored) and a number of NGOs in New York such as the Van Ameringen Foundation and the New York Foundation. Currently, Professor Bektheshi has several ongoing projects on topics such as discrimination and Polish immigrants (with Dr. Monika Stodolska), the emotional barriers and access to mammography among Latina immigrants, and the integration challenges they face in the United States and United Kingdom