The Kosmos Institute Crew
Gelareh Khoie, PhD Founder and Chief Shepherd
Born in Tehran, Iran, Gelareh Khoie is an artist, writer, scholar, and DJ. She is an adjunct professor at Pacifica Graduate Institute and the founder of Kosmos Institute.
Daniel Joseph Polikoff, PhD Core Professor, Curriculum Design, Contributing Scholar
In addition to his diverse book publications, Daniel Joseph Polikoff's poems and translations have appeared in over seventy journals (including "The Literary Review," "Nimrod," and "Gulf Coast") as well as several anthologies, and earned him a Pushcart Prize nomination from "The Louisiana Review." A Rilke scholar, he has presented on the poet at numerous venues over many years.
The recipient of a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Cornell University and a Diploma in Waldorf Education from Rudolf Steiner College, Dr. Polikoff has taught at Waldorf High Schools, Sonoma State University, and the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is presently an adjunct professor in the Jungian and Archetypal Studies program at Pacifica Graduate Institute near Santa Barbara and serves as core faculty at Kosmos Institute.
Gregory Shaw, PhD Professor and Contributing Scholar
Gregory Shaw, professor of Religious Studies for over 35 years at Stonehill College, Massachusetts, is the author of Theurgy and the Soul: The Neoplatonism of lamblichus, Practicing Gnosis: Ritual, Magic, Theurgy and Liturgy in Nag Hammadi, Manichaean and Oher Ancient Literature, 2013 (with April DeConick and John Turner), Hellenic Tantra: The Theurgic Platonism of lamblichus, 2024, and several articles on the later Platonists, Gnostics, and Hermeticists.
Hereward Tilton, PhD Professor and Contributing Scholar
Hereward Tilton (BA Hons 1, Ph.D., FHEA) is a Religious Studies scholar who has taught on the history of alchemy, magic, and Rosicrucianism at institutes dedicated to the study of Western esotericism within the University of Exeter and the University of Amsterdam. Since receiving his doctorate he has conducted research on alchemical entheogens in early modern Germany under the auspices of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and he has translated and introduced an eighteenth-century Austrian black magical manuscript dealing with traditional psychoactive fumigations called Touch Me Not: A Most Rare Compendium of the Whole Magical Art. In his most recent books, The Path of the Serpent, Vol. 1: Psychedelics and the Neuropsychology of Gnosis, and its forthcoming sequel, he applies recent discoveries in psychedelic neuroscience to the symbolism and techniques of a European gnostic tradition with historical and phenomenological ties to Indo-Tibetan tantra. On occasion, Hereward has drunk ayahuasca With the Dutch neo-shaman Arno Adelaars, and he has translated Ayahuasca: Rituals, Potions, and Visionary Art from the Amazon, a book co-written by Adelaars with Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling.
Adina Bezerita Member, Honorary Board of Executive Advisors
Adina Bezerita, FRSA, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, is a Romanian-American philosopher and scholar (Oxford-Cambridge). She is the founder of Numinous Threads, an independent organization for research, development, and presentation of innovative projects rooted in ancient wisdom relevant across the humanities and sciences to impact higher education, leadership, and governance oriented on meaningful social progress in the global world. Adina is president of the Honorary Council for Science, Innovation, and Technology (COSIT) for the Romanian Government Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation (MCID) and global ambassador for Northwestern University (NU), USA, the first in Eastern Europe, Romania.
Roula-Maria Dib, PhD Member, Honorary Board of Executive Advisors
Roula-Maria Dib (PhD, University of Leeds) is the founding director of the London Arts-Based Research Centre, the founding editor of the literary and arts journal, Indelible, and the creative producer of the literary event series, Indelible Evenings, as well as Psychreative, a virtual salon for researchers and creatives with a background in Jungian psychology. She is an award-winning literary scholar, poet, and editor, and a recipient of the UK Global Talent Visa, as well as the British Council's 2022 Alumni Awards 2022 for Culture and Creativity. Her research interests are at the interstices of literature, art, modern poetry and poetics, autoethnography, and Jungian psychology. She is the author of a poetry collection, Simply Being (Chiron Press, 2021), and Jungian Metaphor in Modernist Literature (Routledge, 2020), which was shortlisted as a finalist for the international lAJS book awards. Formerly, she was a professor of English at the American University in Dubai.
Sephora Markson Strategic Advisor and Consultant
Sephora Markson, M.T.S., Exec. MSc., is a doctoral student at Meridian University, pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychology with a concentration in Somatic Psychology. A self-described seeker at heart, she holds degrees in religion from U.C. Berkeley and Harvard Divinity School and is also a graduate of the Parsons School of Design's Executive Master of Science in Strategic Design for Global Leadership. With nearly 15 years of professional experience, Sephora's background spans strategic planning, marketing and communications, business development, fundraising, and learning experience design, with a special focus on online education.
In her most recent role as Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President for Institutional Advancement at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), Sephora led the creation, development, and scaling of GTUx, an award-winning digital learning platform. Driven by boundless passion and curiosity, Sephora maintains a wide range of interests beyond her work and studies, including yoga, tarot, trail running, and Tantric meditation. She lives in California with her partner, folk musician Ed Masuga.