Founders

Michela Dianetti

Dr Michela Dianetti is a research associate in Philosophy at the University of Galway. She did her post-doc in the ‘Critical Thinking in Communities of Inquiry’ project at the Insight Centre for Data Analytics. Her PhD research developed a literary ethics of attention grounded in the philosophies of Simone Weil and Iris Murdoch, applying them to the literary work of Elsa Morante. She integrates art and literature into her CPI practice with a focus on how this space can foster attention.

Lucy Elvis

Dr Lucy Elvis is a lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Galway, a founder of Curo Thinking for Communities a not-for-profit that focuses on empowering groups to think philosophically together in non-formal educational contexts from music festivals to art galleries and libraries and an art writer. Her research and teaching focuses on the power of art and of philosophical thinking to enrich human life.

Chiara Li Mandri

Chiara Li Mandri is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the University of Palermo. Her current research explores the intersection of poetry and environmental studies, focusing on poetry as a powerful medium for raising awareness about climate crisis, particularly through the works of the Italian poet and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi. In addition, she is developing an educational methodology – Dark Pedagogy – to engage with the unsettling dimensions of climate and ecological disruption.

Nora Ward

Dr Nora Ward is a lecturer in the philosophy department at the University of Galway. She received her BA and MA from the University of Galway and her Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. Her research focus is on environmental ethics and philosophy, with a particular interest in ecological attention, rewilding, and ecofeminism.