Faculty Research

• Data: Methodology of Data, Discussion and Creation of Metrics.
• Economics: Business Cycles, Monetary Policy, Central Banking, Natural Rate of Interest.
• Finance and Accounting: International Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Banking Industry, Capital Structure Decisions, Financial Systems, Sustainable Finance, Business Sustainability Management, Corporate Gender Diversity, Disclosure of Non-Financial Information and Earnings Management.
• Marketing: Distribution Channels, eCommerce, Branding, Value Co-creation, Customer Experience, Consumer Behavior.

• Anthropology: Archaeology of the Southern Levant and the Mediterranean; Archaeology of the Bronze Age; Archaeology of the Iron Age; Pottery Studies; Ancient Mediterranean Cultural Relations; Visigothic Archaeology; Assimilation and Acculturation; Medieval Spain and "Convivencia;" Anthropocene.
• Art History: Spanish and American Art of the 20th Century, Art and Politics, Museum Studies, Transatlantic Artistic Exchanges, 20th-century Latin American Art, the Mexican School, the Cultural Cold War.
• Classical Languages: Comparative Study of Music and Imaginary Geography in Myths, with a Focus on Ancient Greek, Latin, Slavic and Sanskrit Sources. 
• Communication: Media and Politics, International Film, Film Auteurs, Film Subcultures, Media Audiences, Public Speaking, Discourse Analysis, Intercultural Communication, Ethnography of Communication.
• ESL, Modern Languages and Education: Systemic Functional Linguistics, TESOL, Visual Literacy, Bilingual Education, Equity within CLIL, Language development, Methodology and Lusophone literature in the teaching of Portuguese as a Foreign Language, Contemporary Portuguese and Brazilian literature (2000 - now), Postcolonial and Francophone literature, Women's and Gender issues, Exoticism, Application of music and the making of instruments in the classroom, Iraqi folklore and the work of Hassan Mutlak.
• History: Iberian, Latin American and U.S. History, Medieval Iberia, Jews and Converts, Medieval Travelers, Coexistence in Medieval Spain (Muslim, Jews and Christians), Conversos and Moriscos in Early Modern Spain, The Spanish Inquisition, the Spanish Civil War, Anarchist Movement in 20th-Century Iberia, Transatlantic Studies. Religion in Contemporary America.
• History: Canaanite, Phoenician, and Israelite History; Medieval Spain and Medieval Mediterranean; Mendicants Orders; Origins of National Identities; Early Iberian Presence in Asia; Medieval Travels and Explorations; Early Modern Spain, Early Modern Atlantic World; the Spanish Inquisition; Catholic Reform; Religious Minorities; Acculturation; Early Modern Science, Medicine, and Healing; Contemporary Spanish History; Biography; Social Movements; Social History; Social and Political Violence; Anarchist/Anarcho-Syndicalist History; the Spanish Civil War; the Balkans; the 20th Century; Contemporary American History; Christian Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism; Religious Sects and Cults in the United States.
• Philosophy: Ancient Philosophy; Plato; Socratic Schools and Hellenistic Philosophy; Kierkegaard; Husserl; Metaphysics; Analytical Metaphysics; Ethics; Theory of Action; Philosophy of Religion; Political Philosophy; Phenomenology; Hermeneutics; Religion & Science; Existential Philosophy; Philosophy of Sex, Sexuality, and Gender; Philosophy of Mind; Ordinary Language Philosophy; Logic and Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Psychology; Philosophy of Social Science; Philosophy of Cognitive Science; Philosophy of Time; Social Philosophy; Latin American Philosophy; the Ideology of the Cuban Revolution, Contemporary Philosophy, Ontology, Post-Nihilism, Early Greek Thought.
• Political Science: American Foreign Policy, Civil Society in Cuba, Climate Change, Geopolitics of the MENA region, Key Contemporary Crises, Political Evolutions and Civil Society in Latin America, Shifts in the System of International Relations, Structural Changes in the Civil Society in Hong Kong.
• Psychology: Addiction, Attitudes and Persuasion, Child Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Creativity, Emotion Regulation, Health Psychology, Mental Health Services, Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, Integrative Psychotherapy, Psychodrama, Third Generation Therapies, Social Influence, and Loneliness.
• Spanish: Hispanic Linguistics; Variation Linguistics; Applied Linguistics; Language Contact; Interfaces Between Pronunciation, Grammar and Discourse; Latin American Narrative, and 20th-21st century Latin American Literature; Fantastic Literature; Colombian Narrative; Representation of Violence in Colombian Literature; Trauma; Spanish Civil War, and Latin America; Translation Studies; Comics, and Feminism; Contemporary Spanish Theater; Literature of the Republican Exile of 1939; 20th and 21st century Iberian Culture with a focus in Gender Studies; Second Language Acquisition; Computer-Assisted Language Learning.
• Theology: History of the Religion of Ancient Israel; Deuteronomistic History; New Testament; New Testament Textual Criticism; New Testament Apocrypha; Linguistics and New Testament Greek; Socio-Scientific reading of the Bible; Missiological Reading of the Bible; History of Early Judaism; History of Early Christianity; Theology/Bible and Media; Fundamental Theology; Systematic Theology; Dogmatic Theology; Theology and Metaphysics in Western Civilization; Latin Patristics; Late Ancient and Medieval Theology and Philosophy; Moral Theology; Bioethics (Assisted Suicide); Social Justice and the Bible; Research Methods and Design.

• Biology: Astrobiology, Life on Mars, Biotechnology, Colonization of the Solar System.
• Computer Science: Numerical Methods, Multiscale Analysis, Planetary Science Applications, Hypervelocity Impacts, High-Strain Rate Simulations, Social Networks, Machine Learning Applications, Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery.
• Earth Science: Environmental Responsible Behavior, Climate Literacy, Climate Action, Experiential Learning, High Impact Learning.
• Engineering: Interstellar Medium, Physical Data and Processes, Astronomical Instrumentation, Systems Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Design Thinking, Computer Vision, Advanced Robotics, Remote Laboratories, Optics Photonics, Mars Wind Sensors, Space Structures, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Cryogenics, Thermal Control, Analysis and Design of Space Structures, Solid and Fluid Mechanics, Finite Elements, Dynamic Analysis, Fluid-Structure Interaction, Laser Range Finders, Laser Atmospheric Remote Sensing, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), LIBS in Monitoring Heavy Metals in Water, Solid State, and Gaseous Lasers Technology, Front-end Fast Amplification Electronics.
• Mathematics: Algebra, Real Algebra Geometry, Complex Analysis, Geometric Function Theory, Negative Curved Spaces, Graph Theory, Fractional Calculus, Matrix Theory, Matrix Polynomials, Majorization, Condition Numbers and Backward Errors, Bispectral Problems, Numerical Linear Algebra.
• Natural Sciences: Environmental Changes in Cultural Landscapes, Sustainable Development of Latin America, Environmental Management of Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation Biology and Sustainability in Africa.
• Public Health: Food Environments, Urban Environments, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Health Inequities, Social Epidemiology, Urban Health.

Matthew Andler, Ph.D., delivered invited talks on the philosophy of love and sexuality at the University of Barcelona, the University of Valencia, the University of Minho and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). This research was internally supported by a Beaumont Scholarship Research Award (active from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026) and externally funded through the Conceptual Engineering and Communicative Disruptions Project (PID2024-157224NB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

Additionally, Andler hosted a book symposium at SLU-Madrid focused on his book Sexual Orientation and Identity: A Philosophical Analysis (Routledge) and Kevin Richardson's The End of Binaries: How Gender and Sexuality Come in Degrees (OUP). The proceedings from the event are scheduled to be published in a Q1 journal in 2027.

Andler's research has received more than 125 citations, and data from the Centre for Digital Philosophy indicate that his work ranks among the top 1% in its area of specialization based on download counts, recent publication volume and recent citation counts.

Amerigo Barzaghi, Ph.D., received internal research funding from SLU-Madrid to chair and coordinate a roundtable on secularization and theology at the VII Symposium SOFIC, Secularity and Postsecularity: Sociological, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives, held at Ca' Foscari University in Venice in October 2025. He also served as co-organizer of the event.
The conference will generate two special issues in international journals, Razón y Fe and Cuadernos Salmantinos de Filosofía, both of which will be co-edited by Prof. Barzaghi. He will contribute a research article, as well as co-authoring a short introduction and a longer introductory essay for the special issues. The first special issue is scheduled for publication at the end of 2026, while the second is expected in March 2027.

As co-director of the SLU-Madrid Center for Theology and Philosophy, Barzaghi also received internal research funding for events hosted by the Center, including Explorations in Ancient Philosophy (Dec. 5, 2025), conceived and organized by Pablo Molina, Ph.D., with Barzaghi serving as a member of the Scientific Committee, and The Voice of the Eagle: An International Workshop on Eriugena's Homily on John (May 13-14, 2026). The latter was co-organized with Anna Marmodoro, Ph.D., and other colleagues and co-funded by Saint Louis University in St. Louis and SLU-Madrid.

Barzaghi also received a Saint Louis University Scholarship Opportunity Fund award for the project Nostra christiana philosophia: An Investigation on the Twentieth-Century Debate over the Concept of Christian Philosophy. The scholarship covered the publication fees of the book Nostra christiana philosophia. Attualità di un dibattito novecentesco, published by Morcelliana in Brescia in June 2026.

Rafael Cabañas, Ph.D., is a collaborating member of the University of León's recognized research group Grupo de Estudios Literarios y Comparados de lo Insólito y Perspectivas de Género (GEIG). His participation in the group enables him to expand his academic knowledge and incorporate new perspectives into his teaching of advanced language and literature courses.

He is also a member of the research project PROIPRO 04-2220, Configuración de identidades y otredades en la literatura. Hegemonía, memoria, cuerpo y espacio, based at the National University of San Luis, Argentina. His participation in this project likewise contributes to the development of academic knowledge that he integrates into his advanced language and literature courses.

Cabañas also served as a reviewer for the article "Una 'combinación eficaz': humor y fantástico en los microrrelatos de José María Merino", published in Brumal. Revista de Investigación sobre lo Fantástico, Vol. 13, No. 2 (2025), in the special issue Humores fantásticos en la ficción española (siglos XX y XXI).

During the 2025–2026 academic year, his publications included "La representación del miedo, el trauma y lo monstruoso en Instrucciones para salvar el mundo y en La buena suerte, de Rosa Montero", published in Siglo XXI, Literatura y Cultura Españolas: Revista de la Cátedra Miguel Delibes, Vol. 23 (2025), pp. 1–21, and "Objetos insólitos y espejos fantásticos en la ficción y estética de Ramón Gómez de la Serna", published in Brumal. Revista de Investigación sobre lo Fantástico, Vol. 13, No. 1 (2025), pp. 183-208.

Cabañas also presented his research at several academic events, including the presentation "El doctor inverosímil como manual paródico. Apuntes del psicoanálisis" at the first conference of the Asociación Internacional Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Ramón y las Vanguardias, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Madrid in October 2025. He also presented "Los manuscritos de Ramón Gómez de la Serna de la Biblioteca Regional: La emparedada de Burgos, escritos biográficos y en torno al surrealismo" at the Biblioteca Regional de Madrid in 2025, and "Los objetos insólitos y el alma en las minificciones de Ramón Gómez de la Serna" at the Iberian Modernist Studies Forum at Boston University in 2025.

Daniel Chornet, Ph.D., received internal research funding from SLU-Madrid to present his research at the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) conference at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. His research synthesizes two theoretical frameworks — Rhetorical Listening (Ratcliffe) and Invitational Rhetoric (Foss & Foss) — to promote more effective public communication. The paper was based on two chapters from a public speaking textbook he is currently writing.

In addition to this conference presentation, Chornet was invited to deliver a guest lecture titled The Maintenance of Interpersonal Relationships Through Communication to M.A. students in Communication Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The lecture was delivered and recorded via Zoom.

Anne Dewey, Ph.D., received a sabbatical grant from SLU-Madrid, a Collaborative for Humanistic Inquiry grant from SLU St. Louis, and travel funding from SLU-Madrid to present a paper at the American Literature Association's international American Poetry Symposium.

The sabbatical enabled her to conduct research and nearly finalize a book proposal on the afterlife of property in U.S. law and literature, as well as to present papers at SLU-Madrid's Communication and English conferences on the connections between U.S. Supreme Court rhetoric, literature and literary criticism.

Dewey also developed her ALA conference paper into a book chapter on contemporary Latina poets' resistance to racialization and the revocation of Latinxs' civil rights. The chapter was accepted for publication in a volume on resistance in women's poetry.

Luana Fischer received internal research funding from SLU-Madrid to present her artistic research project Augustine at Art Photo BCN in Barcelona after being selected through the festival's competitive open call.

Augustine, which constitutes the artistic core of her ongoing Ph.D. in Fine Arts, explores the historical and contemporary representation of women with intellectual disabilities through photographic practice and critical research. Presenting the project at one of Spain's leading contemporary photography festivals provided valuable opportunities for dialogue with artists, curators, and photography professionals, strengthening both the conceptual development and public dissemination of her research.

The experience also contributed directly to Fischer's teaching at SLU-Madrid by bringing current professional practices, artistic methodologies, and critical perspectives into the classroom, further enriching photography courses through the integration of research-led artistic practice.

Taieb Gasmi, Ph.D., participated in the 32nd International Laser Radar Conference (ILRC32), held in Hiroshima, Japan, from July 5-10, 2026. ILRC32 is a major international conference dedicated to lidar and laser-sensing technologies and their applications in atmospheric, environmental and Earth-system sciences.

At the conference, Gasmi presented his research entitled "Advanced Mid-Infrared KTA Optical Parametric Oscillator DIAL for Urban Methane Monitoring and Diurnal Dynamics." The research focuses on the development and application of advanced mid-infrared laser and DIAL technology for monitoring methane emissions in urban environments and investigating their diurnal variations.

Brian Goss, Ph.D., received major support from the Faculty Professional Development Advisory Committee (FPDAC) during the 2025-2026 academic year in the form of a sabbatical, which ran from May 15, 2025, to Jan. 10, 2026, as well as funding for a conference and a research visit and seminar.

During the sabbatical period, Goss achieved three publications: a journal article in the European Journal of Popular Culture, two book reviews in the Journal of Communication Inquiry and SLU-Madrid's Observatory on Contemporary Crises, and a book chapter in conference proceedings published by the American University of Florence. One additional manuscript developed during the sabbatical is now in press with the European Journal of Popular Culture, while three further manuscripts are currently under review at Interactions, Journalism & Communication Quarterly, and Popular Communication.

During the sabbatical, Goss also organized and managed a three-day international conference featuring 37 presenters from 19 universities across four continents. He subsequently co-edited a special issue of the Journal of European Popular Culture with Assistant Professor Javier Sauras, Ph.D. The special issue, comprising nine contributions, is now in press.

Goss also presented his research at three conferences during the sabbatical period. One presentation, at the University of Palermo, was funded by SLU, while the other two, at SLU-Madrid and the American University of Florence, were not. The research presented in Palermo on neoliberalism and women in European films is now in press.

He also conducted a research visit to Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he delivered a specially convened seminar funded by SLU. The research presented in Rotterdam, focusing on citizenship narratives from Spain and the United Kingdom, is currently under review for publication.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, David Howden, Ph.D., was awarded a sabbatical from SLU-Madrid for the fall semester to support his research activities. He also received research funding to attend and present research at two international conferences: the Madrid Conference on Austrian Economics and the Austrian Economics Research Conference.

At the latter, his paper, "The Misesian Essentialist and the Hayekian Anti-Essentialist: A New Dimension in the Dehomogenization," was accepted for inclusion in the conference papers and proceedings to be published in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. Additionally, he received an external research grant from the Fundación Jesús Huerta de Soto Ballester.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, Cristina Matute, Ph.D., received internal research funding from SLU Madrid to present two research papers at international conferences in Spain. She presented empirical studies on dialectal and diachronic variation in Spanish at the LIV Simposio de la Sociedad Española de Lingüística at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in January 2026 and at the XVII Congreso Internacional de Lingüística de Corpus at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) in June 2026.

Additionally, four papers related to her previous research are scheduled for publication in 2026 with publishers including De Gruyter, including contributions to Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie (BZrP). Three of these publications are related to funding received from SLU-Madrid in 2024.

Her current research is also connected to two research projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

Bradly Mollmann, Ph.D., received funding from SLU-Madrid to present a research paper at the Renaissance Society of America international conference in San Francisco. His paper, which examines crisis and intellectual change in early modern Spain, was well received and is currently being prepared for publication.

He also presented an interdisciplinary project, developed in collaboration with an anthropologist, examining the historical structures of conspiracy theories at the international conference All That Melts, held at SLU-Madrid.

Laura Muro, Ph.D., received internal research funding from SLU-Madrid to present her research at the European Academy of Management (EURAM) Conference in Florence, where she presented the paper Corporate Governance and its Impact on Environmental Impact-Adjusted Firm Value: A Multi-Country Analysis.

She also represented Saint Louis University-Madrid at the Second World Summit for Social Development, organized by the United Nations in Doha, Qatar, contributing to high-level discussions on sustainable development, corporate governance, and financing for development.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, her research resulted in the publication of An Integrated Corporate Governance Index for Spain: From Construction to Construct Validity in the Spanish Accounting Review. Her paper Firm Financial Performance: Disentangling the Corporate Gender Diversity as Driver of ESG Disclosure in EU Companies was also accepted for publication in Accounting & Finance.

Muro contributed the entry/chapter on Corporate Governance to the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Leadership and Organizational Change. She also received an Outstanding Paper Award in the 2025 Emerald Literati Awards.

In addition, she continued to strengthen SLU-Madrid's international research profile through her work with the United Nations and the ImPACT Coalition on International Financial Architecture Reform and Financing for Development.

Elisa Padilla, Ph.D., received internal research funding from SLU-Madrid to present her research at the international conference Fat Liberation in the Age of Ozempic, held at the Feminist Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in May 2026. She presented her work on fat activism in the Spanish context.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, Padilla also presented original research on media representations of Ozempic at the online I Congreso Internacional de Estudios de Gordura: Desbordar la norma, engordar la academia, as well as research on the feminine grotesque and body horror at the English Department's Monstrous Bodies conference, organized by SLU-Madrid.

She continues to contribute to the academic journal Secuencias. Revista de Historia de Cine, where she currently serves as Reviews Editor.

Ana Portilla, Ph.D., received internal research funding from SLU-Madrid to present the research paper The Gutman-Milanović Index in Mathematical Chemistry at the International Conference Computational and Mathematical Methods in Science and Engineering (CMMSE).

In 2025, her research resulted in four papers published in several prestigious, high-impact scientific journals. These publications are positioned within the first and second quartiles (Q1 and Q2) of their respective fields, specifically in Applied Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Applications.

Paolo Saona, Ph.D., received internal research funding from SLU-Madrid, as well as support from SLU-St. Louis through the Scholarship Opportunity Fund and the Beaumont Scholarship Research Award, to present research papers at international conferences in Norway, at the European Academy of Management, and in the United States, at the Academy of Management. He presented empirical studies on corporate tax avoidance and zero-debt decisions.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, his research was published in Accounting & Finance, European Financial Management, Business Strategy and the Environment, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, and the Spanish Accounting Review. He also received an Outstanding Paper Award in the 2025 Emerald Literati Awards.

Furthermore, during the academic year, Saona's research group received external funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and Universidad Pontificia Comillas and was selected as a finalist for the VIII Research Prize on Business Ethics by Bankinter Consumer Finance.

In addition, Saona was invited to deliver a research seminar in St. Louis, Missouri, based on one of his co-authored works, Firm Financial Performance: Disentangling the Corporate Gender Diversity as Driver of ESG Disclosure in EU Companies. He was also invited to deliver research seminars to Ph.D. students at Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción in Chile in his capacity as a research fellow.

Renata Sarmento-Henrique, Ph.D., is currently involved in several research projects.

The first project, The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences During the Perinatal Period and Infant Development in the First Year of Life: A Longitudinal Study, examines the relationship between maternal adverse childhood experiences, maternal mental health, and infant development. Sarmento-Henrique assesses infants' cognitive development at 6 and 12 months of age.

Over the past year, this research has resulted in a presentation at an international conference in Málaga in November 2025, supported by SLU-Madrid, as well as the publication of an article in Midwifery in 2026, titled "Is There More to the Story? The Added Predictive Value of Expanded Adverse Childhood Experiences in Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy." An abstract reporting additional findings from the study has also been accepted for presentation at an international psychology conference in November 2026.

Sarmento-Henrique is also collaborating with colleagues from the SLU main campus, with support from SLU-Madrid, on The Role of Play in Children's Academic Stress, which examines the potential role of play in children's experiences of academic stress.

She was also invited as a guest speaker at a conference in Valencia in October 2025, where she presented research on The Impact of Homeschooling on the Adjustment and Socio-Emotional Well-Being of School-Aged Children.

Finally, within the Psychology Department at SLU-Madrid, Sarmento-Henrique will join the department's Self-Efficacy & AI research project, contributing to ongoing research examining the relationship between self-efficacy and the use of artificial intelligence.

Javier Sauras, Ph.D., received support from SLU-Madrid in 2026 to present his research at the largest international conference in Latin American studies, the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Congress, held in Paris in 2026.

His research on Cuba's connection to the Internet examines how Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, framed information and communication technologies (ICTs) between 1989 and 1999, a period marked by the fall of the Socialist bloc and the rise of global communication networks.

Sauras also served on the steering committee of the World of Change conference, organized on campus in October 2025, where he co-chaired a panel and presented his research.

In Spring 2026, he co-edited a special issue of the Journal of European Popular Culture with his department colleague Brian Goss, Ph.D., and authored a commentary on the rise of AI-automated jobs.

Carolina Toscano, Ph.D., received internal research funding from SLU-Madrid to attend and present research papers online through Demeter Press and the Journal for Research on Motherhood, at the London Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Birkbeck, University of London, and at the English Department's conference at SLU-Madrid.

She presented papers on Matricentric Feminism and Nonnormative Migrant Mothering, Matricentric Feminism in Praxis, and Monstrous Mothering.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, her co-edited book Mothers, Mothering, and Climate Change was published by Demeter Press. She also has four forthcoming book chapters: "I Turned My Pen Inward to Map the Shifting Tectonic Plates of My Life": Matricentric Feminist Rhetoric in Recent Graphic Memoirs (Demeter Press); "Rhetorics at the Intersection of Mothering and Migration" (Peter Lang); "Mothering and Climate Change: Matricentric Eco-Memoir as a Record of Essential Labor and Feminist Praxis" (Routledge); and "Representations of Migrant Motherhood in Contemporary Spanish Literature: From Our Lady of Fatima to Quan Zhou Wu's Gazpacho Agridulce" (Routledge).

Toscano also participated online in the International Association of Maternal Action and Scholarship (IAMAS) conference in June 2026, where she presented part of her chapter on Matricentric Eco-Memoir.

Diana Velázquez López, Ph.D., received internal research funding from SLU-Madrid to attend two conferences: the EUROCALL Annual Conference in Milan, Italy, and the Congreso Internacional de Lingüística: Medio siglo del Instituto Universitario de Lingüística Andrés Bello in Tenerife, Spain.

She presented research on the role of computer-mediated communication in enhancing community building in face-to-face language courses and on the integration of technology into the teaching of Spanish phonology. The latter study was accepted for publication in an edited volume by Peter Lang.