Brian Birdsell is an associate professor  and researcher working in the Institute for the Promotion of Higher Education. Brian earned his Bachelor's degree in Comparative Religion from the Colorado College, a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham, UK. His research broadly focuses on creativity and metaphorical competence in both an L1 and L2. Currently he is working on a project that looks at textual and visual metaphors using eye tracking technology. He is also researching embodied cognition and the interaction between action and language learning.