Faculty Type: Staff

Brooks Emanuel has backgrounds in both (1) dance and choreography and (2) civil rights law, policy advocacy, and legislative and political work. He obtained his J.D. from NYU Law and his MFA in Dance from Duke University and has both performed at Symphony Space in New York City and drafted petitions to the United States Supreme Court. Among other roles, Brooks has had the great fortune to work for both Stacey Abrams (Georgia House Democratic Caucus) and Bryan Stevenson (Equal Justice Initiative), as well as serving as public policy director for Planned Parenthood Southeast. A large portion of his work in these realms focused particularly on challenging the injustices of the criminal legal system and protecting voting rights. In the dance world, he has performed with Michael Mao Dance, PearsonWidrig Dance, Beacon Dance, and Several Dancers Core, among others. In his current work, he seeks to bring all of these experiences to bear.

At the Kenan Institute for Ethics, Brooks creates and implements both curricular and cocurricular programming for undergraduates around radical imagination, expansive thinking, and strategies—including embodied and artistic—for changing the world. In addition to his work at Kenan, Brooks facilitates embodied movement workshops for social justice practitioners and creates performance works that investigate humans’ relationships to each other and the rest of the natural world.

As Associate Director of Student Engagement, Shannan develops and oversees several undergraduate co-curricular programs at Kenan. She brings with her an emphasis on “practice,” embodied thinking-feeling, historical materialism, and a healthy skepticism toward the framework of “ethics” when exploring lived questions about what personal, interpersonal, social, and institutional ethics might entail. As a person, Shannan enjoys techno raving, film, and trying to learn to surf! Her dog Krewe is often in the office. 😉

Shannan comes to Kenan having worked with undergraduates in the interdisciplinary humanities classroom since 2006. She was most recently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Haverford College, teaching critical theory across the departments of Political Science, Peace, Justice & Human Rights, Writing, and Visual Studies. She has also taught in the Stern School of Business at NYU, in the Studio Art and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies departments at Stony Brook University, and in Writing, Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies, and Global Culture & Theory at Duke. Shannan returns to Duke having received a PhD from the Literature Department and Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies in 2019. She remains connected to Philly (from where she recently came) and NYC through various DIY political-aesthetics endeavors, while nesting now in Durham.

Her publications appear in the journals differences, Camera Obscura, Women & Performance, Feminist Formations, and The Journal of Visual Culture, with invited keywords entries in Finance Aesthetics: A Critical Glossary and The John Hopkins Guide to Critical and Cultural Theory.

Shannan received a Neurosomatic Intelligence Certification in 2023 and has practiced Zen and Mindfulness meditation for 3+ years. She is enrolled to receive a Mindfulness teaching certification through MIEA this summer, and is dedicated to developing trauma-informed, mindfulness-based undergraduate pedagogy and programing.

Christine Mayer-Patel, Program Coordinator for DukeEngage, joined the Kenan Institute for Ethics team in September 2023. She manages the DukeEngage application and registration processes, including travel and visas, as well as supporting DukeEngage events and programming.

Christine has a Master’s in Nonprofit Administration and a Bachelor’s in Political Economy of Industrial Societies. She has 17 years of experience at Duke, during which time her work has focused on stewardship/donor relations and financial management. Prior to coming to Duke, Christine worked at the Volunteer Center of Durham and other nonprofits in North Carolina and California.

Elena joined the Kenan team in November 2024. She is a Program Coordinator for DukeEngage helping manage the Gateway, Brodhead, Decaminada, and Group programs. She previously worked for DukeEngage as a Site Coordinator (SC) in Brazil and Uganda, and currently supports SC training and student recruitment.

Her background is in Engineering Physics, Spanish, Mathematics, and Music. Prior to working for Duke, she was a two-time Fulbright Scholarship recipient and worked with Universities in Bucaramanga and Tunja, Colombia.

Kimberly Dorman is the Administrative Coordinator for the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University.  She is a graduate of North Carolina Central University with 10 + years of experience in Program/Administrative Coordination; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordination; and Financial Management.  In her spare time, she likes to participate in community activities, watch sports, and spend time with her family.  She is excited to bring her talents to the Kenan Institute for Ethics.

Laura joined the Kenan Institute for Ethics in November 2023.

As Research Associate, she supports new institute collaborations at Duke University, particularly with the Native American Studies Initiative (NASI), and provides event support. She also serves as editorial assistant for Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal, which as of 2023 has its editorial home at the Kenan Institute for Ethics.

Previously, Laura spent nine years at UNC-Chapel Hill, the last six of which she worked on the development team at Carolina Performing Arts (CPA), one of the nation’s Major University Presenters. Laura is a graduate of Davidson College, and she lives in Durham.