Mël Coles

Mël Coles is the Program Manager of Engagement, Events & Special Projects for the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM). She leads AIM’s research engagement portfolio, developing programs, partnerships, and funding initiatives that connect researchers across disciplines and strengthen interdisciplinary AI research at the university. Her work spans faculty engagement, research development, seed funding, strategic partnerships, and signature scholarly programs and convenings, with a particular focus on creating the institutional conditions for new collaborations and ideas to take shape.

A two-time alumna of the University of Maryland, Mël holds an M.A. in American Studies (’21) and a B.A. in Sociology (’16), where she studied social stratification, alongside interdisciplinary study in English and Women’s Studies. As an interdisciplinary scholar, Mël’s sociological interests center on social stratification, race and gender, knowledge production, embodiment, and the ways systems of power shape lived experience and possibilities for being. Her scholarship draws on Black feminist thought, critical speculation, rhetoric, and queer(ing) as a critical practice to explore these questions and imagine alternative ways of knowing and being.

Mël brings this interdisciplinary foundation to her work at AIM, where she helps translate research interests into intellectual communities, collaborations, and programs that cross traditional academic boundaries. Her approach to research engagement is grounded in the belief that some of the most consequential questions surrounding artificial intelligence cannot be addressed by any single discipline and require meaningful exchange among the sciences, humanities, arts, and social sciences.

Prior to her current role, Mël held positions supporting university engagement, computing and research programs, alumni relations, and spiritual life. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, biking, collecting antiques, and spending time with her three cats, Emerald, Isis, and Galadriel.