Contributors: One Single Tribe

      Ben Almassi teaches philosophy at Governors State University and lives in Chicago, where just once he would love to flip an 18-wheeler lengthwise or pull out into a line of school buses to complete the perfect bank heist. Alas, these things only happen in Chicago in The Dark Knight. If they could move to Wakanda, he and his family would probably fit best with the Jabari – his naturalist spouse could explore the mountains and he could feed interrupting CIA operatives to his daughter. (Just kidding! We are vegetarians.)

      Steve Bein is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dayton. He is a regular contributor to volumes on popular culture and philosophy, with chapters on Batman, Wonder Woman, LEGO, Star Trek, Blade Runner, and Mr. Rogers. He’s also a novelist, and his sci-fi short stories make the occasional appearance in science fiction courses across the United States. His books include Purifying Zen (2011), Compassion and Moral Guidance (2012), and the Fated Blades trilogy. Steve has traveled extensively through southern Africa but never made it as far north as Wakanda.

      Armond Boudreaux is an Associate Professor of English at East Georgia State College. His publications include The Way Out and The Two Riders (the first two books in his sci-fi thriller series Forbidden Minds); contributions to Disney and Philosophy and Doctor Strange and Philosophy; as well as Titans: How Superheroes Can Help Us Make Sense of a Polarized World. It is not unusual for him to spend his spare time in the faculty lounge trying to convince his colleagues that the best way to choose a department chair is through ritual combat.

Timothy E. Brown is an Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington School of Medicine. His academic interests bring together the ethics of biotechnology, Black/Latinx feminist philosophy, and aesthetics. His research explores on how different disabled people experience the world through technologies that stimulate their brains and spinal cords. Tim is also a geek of many trades – from creating yo-yo tricks to making sci-fi sounds with esoteric synthesizers.

      Gerald Browning is a husband, father, writer, and martial artist who teaches English and Literature for Muskegon Community College and Grand Valley State University. He enjoys reading philosophy and history. He cross-trains in multiple martial arts – serving as a sparring partner for T’Challa and Okoye – and has published in other popular culture and philosophy books. An avid writer of horror fiction, his first horror novel is titled, Demon in My Head.

      Julio C. Covarrubias-Cabeza is Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges. After learning to ride a rhinoceros during an internship with W’Kabi and the Border Tribe, Julio received his PhD in philosophy at the University of Washington, and was Arnold L. Mitchem Fellow at Marquette University, where he finished writing his dissertation reconceptualizing the concept of genocide for settler/slaver empires like the United States. His work focuses on questions that emerge from thinking at the nexus of critical race theory, critical Indigenous studies, and Latin American and Latina/o/x philosophy. He sees these traditions as different manifestations of anti-colonial thought, his goal being to put them into conversation in new ways.

      Paul A. Dottin, PhD, is a China Affiliated Scholar at The Johns Hopkins University – Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in China. After apprenticing with Nakia at the Wakandan International Outreach Centre, Paul now conducts research on China–Africa social and cultural relations, American social movements, and African-Chinese comparative philosophy. Paul was also an Alain L. Locke Visiting Scholar in Philosophy at Purdue University.

Ian J. Drake is Associate Professor of Jurisprudence at Montclair State University in New Jersey. He obtained his PhD in American history from the University of Maryland at College Park. Prior to earning his PhD, Drake practiced insurance defense law – and was very busy after the Avengers trashed New York and Sokovia (and don’t even mention the snap). His research and teaching interests include American legal and constitutional history and the history of animal rights law. Drake is also a host of the New Books in Law podcast on the New Books Network. When Drake is not engrossed in a book, he’s likely discussing the finer points of Marvel characters with his son, Owen.

      Juan M. Floyd-Thomas is Associate Professor of African American Religious History at Vanderbilt University where he teaches on theories and methods of religious studies as well as religion and popular culture. While Juan earned a few academic degrees from fancy educational institutions (Rutgers, Temple, and University of Pennsylvania), his true preparation for the task at hand began as a geeky latch-key kid in NJ whose hard-working single mother introduced him to the wonderful world of comic books at 11 years old. Although he started out pretty agnostic about comic book fandom, he quickly decided to give his allegiance to Marvel! Much like T’Challa, he maintains a pretty busy schedule as a teacher, author, spouse, and parent thanks to a steady diet of the purple Heart-Shaped Herb (a.k.a. coffee). Meanwhile, he happily lives in a household with his lovely wife and adorable daughter who are the bravest, most beautiful, and brilliant women warriors this side of the Dora Milaje.

      Alessio Gerola, not able to enjoy an education like the children of royalty, made the poor life decision to study philosophy at the University of Trento in Italy. As the world was not yet aware of Wakanda at the time, he specialized in philosophy of technology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. An avid wanderer of fictional worlds, he is always trying to imagine what the world would look like from a different perspective. He opted to spend lockdown in Wakanda as flights were cheap at the time, and has not regretted it ever since. He’s now trying to apply for a PhD at Golden City University under the supervision of Wakandan philosopher Changamire, but visa issues are slowing down the process. In the meantime, he’s been working as a school teacher.

Michael J. Gormley is an ecocritic by way of wilderness survival training and a pop culture literary critic by way of never shutting up about Star Wars. His literary criticism focuses on the biotic relationship between an organism and environment as expressed in its tracks, on this planet, the Moon, and on Mars. Generally, he prefers his realities fictional and sees little difference between the literary and real images of tracks and most other things. At conferences and in the classroom, he has entwined these ecocritical notions with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War to reflect on reactions to climate change in the environmental humanities. Gormley published