This episode of Epistemic Alchemy features Dr. Celeste Snowber—dancer, poet, scholar, and pioneer in embodied and arts-based inquiry. In conversation with host Dr. Mohammed Raei, Celeste traces the origins of her work to an early, visceral realization that we are bodies, not merely thinkers who happen to have bodies. She reflects on how pregnancy, silence, and enforced stillness led her to write the way she dances—through sensation, intuition, and movement. Together, they explore how embodied inquiry challenges disembodied academic norms by foregrounding somatic wisdom, creativity, and presence. Celeste discusses how dance reveals forms of knowing inaccessible to language alone, including intergenerational memory, trauma, and hidden insight. She emphasizes the power of listening with the whole body, the role of improvisation in cultivating risk, play, and originality, and the necessity of integrating spirit, intuition, and vulnerability into scholarship. The episode addresses methodological rigor, the resistance and expansion of arts-based research within neoliberal universities, and the subversive courage required to sustain such work. Celeste offers guidance to the next generation: pursue your deepest gladness relentlessly, honor your embodied calling, and trust that creative, somatic scholarship ripples far beyond the academy.

Dr. Snowbar's Website:

https://www.celestesnowber.com/

In this episode, Dr. Mohammed Raei welcomes Dr. Dani Chesson, organizational and behavioral scientist, adjunct professor at the University of Denver, and founder of the Design Thinker Institute. Together, they explore how design thinking—a human-centered, experimental approach to problem-solving—extends far beyond process to become a capability and even a way of being. Drawing from her doctoral research, Dani discusses the development and validation of the Design Thinker Profile, a framework identifying six key capabilities that enable effective design thinking: solution optimism, visual expression, ideation, collaboration, experimentation, and empathy.

The conversation moves fluidly between scholarship and practice: from the mixed-methods rigor behind the profile’s creation to Dani’s experience leading large-scale organizational transformations across global enterprises. She shares insights from her research in New Zealand’s public-health sector, where indigenous and decolonizing research approaches reshaped how empathy, co-design, and storytelling can democratize knowledge production.

Dr. Raei and Dr. Chesson also discuss the founding of the Design Thinker Institute, her upcoming book (on why organizations get stuck and how to move forward), and practical advice for anyone applying design thinking to research, leadership, or everyday life. The episode closes with a reminder that design thinking is not just about thinking—it’s about doing: experimenting boldly, learning continuously, and acting with empathy in the face of complexity.

Resources:

Dr. Chesson's Dissertation

https://aura.antioch.edu/stuworks/31/

Design Thinker Institute

https://www.designthinkerinstitute.com/

Design Thinker Podcast

https://www.designthinkerpodcast.com/

This podcast episode features Dr. Martin Kilduff, Professor of Organizations and Innovation at UCL School of Management, in conversation with Dr. Mohammed Raei. The dialogue explores Kilduff’s influential work on theory contribution, particularly his framework derived from the philosophy of science. Kilduff traces the origins of this work to his experience teaching a doctoral course in philosophy of science, which led him to grapple with the unintelligibility of much of the field and the absence of a clear framework for theory contribution in organizational studies. The discussion highlights four distinct approaches—empiricism, strong paradigm advocacy, instrumentalism, and realism—mapped across two dimensions: truth claims and the representativeness of theoretical terms. Kilduff illustrates the strengths and limitations of each approach, while underscoring the role of instrumentalism and empiricism in contemporary research, particularly given the rise of big data. The conversation also addresses challenges for early-career scholars, offering practical strategies such as Jay Barney’s three-paragraph rule for articulating contributions. Finally, Raei and Kilduff reflect on the implications of transdisciplinary and boundary-spanning work, warning of both the promise and perils of venturing beyond disciplinary homes. The episode provides conceptual clarity and pragmatic insights into how scholars can frame contributions that resonate across diverse audiences.

Resources:

*FROM BLUE SKY RESEARCH TO PROBLEM SOLVING: A PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE THEORY OF NEW KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION Author(s): MARTIN KILDUFF, AJAY MEHRA and MARY B. DUNN Source: The Academy of Management Review, April 2011, Vol. 36, No. 2 (April 2011), pp. 297-317

* Where's the theory contribution? An answer in four parts

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20413866241233739