Mission Statement
The Spaced Repetition Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit center, is dedicated to advancing the adoption of spaced repetition as a supplementary learning tool.
About Us
Despite the scientifically proven ability of spaced repetition to vastly increase the retention of information in the brain as a supplemental learning tool, the use of this technique is, at present, largely restricted to select individuals and students for personal enhancement or academic achievement. To date, no single center exists to advocate for the increased adoption of this approach in educational settings at the macro level, to increase public awareness of this useful tool, and to serve as a focal point for interested individuals to come together and work on these issues.
Attempting to solve this problem, Natalie, Alex and Matt, long-time users of spaced-repetition applications, decided in the summer of 2016 to start the Spaced Repetition Foundation, which seeks to function as an independent advocate dedicated to increasing the adoption of spaced-repetition technology wherever learning is happening.
Natalie McKnight, PhD
Natalie McKnight is Professor of Humanities and Dean of the College of General Studies at Boston University where she has taught courses in literature, art, philosophy, film and writing since 1990. Before becoming Dean in 2013, she served for two years as Associate Dean of Faculty Research and Development and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning. Prior to that, she was Chair of the Humanities Division for 14 years. She earned a B.A. in English and Drama from Washington College, an M.A. in the Writing Seminars at the Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in English and American Literature at University of Delaware. A Victorianist by training, Natalie has published several books on Dickens and other Victorian authors: Idiots, Madmen and Other Prisoners in Dickens (St. Martin’s Press, 1993); Suffering Mothers in Mid-Victorian Novels (St. Martin’s/Palgrave, 1997); and Fathers in Victorian Fiction (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2011), as well as a two-volume anthology of literature and art entitled Culture and Context: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Literature (Cognella, 2014) and a film studies book, Framing Films (Kendall-Hunt, 2009). She is co-editor of DICKENS STUDIES ANNUAL and Vice-President and President-Elect of the international Dickens Society.
She was also the recipient of Boston University's Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 1999.
Alex Strick van Linschoten, PhD
Dr. Alex Strick van Linschoten is a writer/researcher based in Amman, Jordan. In 2016, he successfully defended his PhD at the War Studies Department of King's College London on the identity of the Taliban movement as expressed through their own writings and statements pre-2001. He has also worked as co-editor of a book written by former Taliban envoy to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, published by Hurst and Columbia University Press to critical acclaim in 2010; a history of the relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda entitled An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban - Al-Qaeda Merger, 1970-2010; and a volume of poetry written by Taliban members, published by Hurst (UK) entitled Poetry of the Taliban. He is currently working on a large project dealing with archiving primary sources by the Afghan Taliban. He has worked as a freelance journalist from Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Somalia, writing for Foreign Policy, International Affairs, ABC Nyheter, The Sunday Times (UK), The Global and Mail (Canada) and The Tablet (UK). He speaks Arabic, Farsi, Pashtu and German and can get by in French and Dutch. He is passionate about the use of SRS and other scientifically-validated ways to improve memory/recall in the study of languages and general education.
Matt Trevithick - Founder
Matt Trevithick worked as the Director of Communications at the American University of Afghanistan from 2010 to 2014. Previously, he worked at the American University of Iraq. He is currently the co-founder and managing partner at SREO Research in Turkey, which analyzes aid effectiveness and impact for the United Nations, the World Food Programme, and dozens of NGOs involved in the regional refugee humanitarian response. His first book is the autobiography of Afghanistan's first Minister of Higher Education after the fall of the Taliban, with a foreword written by US Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
Before going overseas, he worked as a writer and researcher at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, DC for Rock The Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Muslim World by Robin Wright, which won an Overseas Press Club award for Best Non-Fiction Title in 2012, as well as at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. His work has been featured in The Atlantic, Time Magazine, Men's Journal, NPR, CNN / Anderson Cooper's AC360, PBS NewsHour, Foreign Policy Magazine, the Daily Beast, the Wall St. Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, in addition to research publications. He speaks Farsi and can get by in Russian and Arabic, and has lived and traveled across the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Mali. He has a silver medal from the 2008 Head of the Charles Regatta, and has coached the Iraqi and Afghan national rowing teams.
Matt graduated from Boston University in 2008 with a degree in International Relations. In 2014, he received the Distinguished Young Alumni Award, the highest honor given to alumni less than 50 years old.