Professor Buc's research has been concerned with religion and power in pre-modern western Europe. His current research project studies the intersections between three cultural forms -- holy war, martyrdom, and terror -- in the longue durée of Western History, from 70 CE to the present. It is both an analysis in cultural continuities -- for instance the French terrorists' debt to Catholic martyrdom, universalism, and theories of coercion -- and in the reflexive and reflective use of the premodern past by participants in modern terror, martyrdom, or holy war. He is the recipient of the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching. He received his PhD from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris. He has taught in Heidelberg (Germany) and been a Fellow at the Dutch Institute for Advanced Studies [NIAS].

Pasang Sherpa was born in Kathmandu, Nepal and completed her education in India. She earned her undergraduate degree in Finance from Santa Clara University. She is multi-lingual and enjoys travelling, learning about different cultures and people. She is also very interested in working with troubled children and hopes to pursue her graduate degree in Child Psychology.

Professor Weiner’s research concerns Soviet history with an emphasis on the interaction between totalitarian politics, ideology, nationality, and society. His first book, Making Sense of War analyzed the role and impact of the cataclysm of the Second World War on Soviet society and politics. His current project, Wild West, Window to the West engages the territories between the Baltic and Black Seas that were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939-40, from the initial occupation to present. Professor Weiner has taught courses on modern Russian history; the Second World War; the Origins of Totalitarianism; War and Society in Modern Europe; Modern Ukrainian History; and History and Memory. He received his PhD from Columbia University.