Iradj Esmailpour Ghouchani
Iradj Esmailpour Ghouchani (Farsi: ایرج اسماعیل پور قوچانی) was born on October 1, 1968, in Tehran. He is an Iranian visual anthropologist and the founder of the IFEKT Institute (Institute for Ethno-psychoanalytical Art and Theater) based in Germany. Iradj is renowned as a Lacanian ethnologist who has dedicated his work to the exploration of dream culture and art pedagogy in Iran, Kurdistan, and Germany, beginning in 2005. Notably, one of his significant works is an online-accessible dissertation titled ” Bābā Āb Dād ,” published by the library of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. In addition to his studies on dream culture, Iradj has conducted research on Moorish Architecture in Spain, with a particular focus on Moorish door-gates. In Iran, Ghouchani pioneered the multidisciplinary field of ethno-psychoanalysis, named Mardomkavi (مردمکاوی), combining mardomshenasi (ethnology) and ravankavi (psychoanalysis) in Farsi. Mardomkavi is an innovative, holistic approach aiming to transform immigrant communities living in Germany as well as the Iranian educational landscape. Currently, Ghouchani co-authored, with Kunze, the HAL project for integrating OpenAI with group theory innovation. Many of his essays can be accessed online.
Don Kunze
Don Kunze presently writes and creates educational videos as an independent researcher. His dissertation (Penn State, Geography, 1983) was about the place–theoretics of Giambattista Vico. He has taught architecture theory at Penn State and given workshops at Penn, NCSU, NDSU, Penn, WAAC, and Carleton, lectured at Harvard, Yale, Carleton, and WAAC, and taught at University at Buffalo, LSU, and Virginia Tech (Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center), His collaborations with Iradj Ghoochani include the OpenAI Competition for a Democratic ChatGPT and a project to develop thinking on lalangue. He currently resides in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, with his wife Elaine.