Dr. Ryan Fan is a two-time Fulbright Fellow who holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. His research focuses on human communication at the intersection of spoken, signed, and written modalities. Ryan is fluent in multiple varieties of Arabic, proficient in ASL and Persian, and conversational in nine other languages. As a public scholar, he has delivered dozens of invited lectures and peer-reviewed presentations at universities, embassies, and cultural institutes in the US, Europe, and the MENA region. Ryan is a passionate language educator and teacher trainer with over a decade of experience in K-12, post-secondary, and professional settings. Previously, he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in UT Austin's Arabic Flagship Program, while mentoring other language instructors and hosting conversation roundtables in Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic. Ryan currently works for the San Francisco Unified School District, which hired him to design and pilot their Arabic program. He regularly serves as an instructor, translator, interpreter, and cultural liaison for public and private clients. In addition to playing carillon and chimes concerts for audiences of thousands, Ryan has debuted his original guitar and vocal compositions as a solo acoustic artist in SXSW Unplugged Sessions and OUTsider Fest in Austin, TX. His songwriting style ranges from playful to ponderous, using dark humor and catchy melodies to capture truthful vignettes of our shared humanity. Ryan performs as a singer and musical director in Leela's improvised musical productions in San Francisco, CA.