Dr. Anne Foerst comes to St. Bonaventure from the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she worked with emotional and social robots developed for the study of human-robot interaction. She has written numerous papers on human-computer and human-robot interaction and on the impact these technologies have on human self-understanding.

Dr. Foerst participated in a lecture series on religion and science, a field in which she has also published widely. She was offered a joint position in Computer Science and Theology and Robert Harlan, Chair of Computer Science and Chris Stanley, Chair of Theology. She will teach the Artificial Intelligence course for Computer Science, courses on Religion and Science for the Theology department, and courses for Clare College.

Dr. Foerst was instrumental in establishing Nexus, the Bonaventure Forum for Dialog between Science and Religion, and has received over $15,000 in grant monies to fund its efforts.