Margaret Ellen Newell, Distinguished Professor of History, talks with host David Staley about her directorship at the History Praxis Lab, a collaborative research initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation. The Praxis Lab engages undergraduates in research focused on citizenship, civic engagement, and the movements of Native Americans and African Americans in the Midwest. She also explores Native American history, particularly their complex journey towards and status following the 1924 citizenship law. Prof. Newell also describes the benefits of collaborative historical research, an unusual mode of scholarship in the mostly individual field.
I am a Storm Chaser: Jana Houser and the Study of Tornados
Dr. Jana Houser, an Associate Professor of Geography and Director of Undergraduate Studies, discusses her pioneering research on tornadoes through the use of mobile radar technology. She describes to host David Staley the challenges of predicting tornadoes due to their chaotic and localized nature. She’s been a storm chaser and worked on the movie Twisters. She credits her passion for tornadoes with growing up in Kansas. Dr Houser will present at the November 3, 2024 Science Sundays.
Not Your Grandmother’s Halloween: Merrill Kaplan on Holiday Traditions
What scares you?
Merrill Kaplan, Associate Professor of English and Director of Scandinavian Studies, takes time out of the spooky season to discuss the cultural and historical significance of Halloween, comparing its traditions to those of other holidays. She describes to host David Staley the evolution of folklore studies, which emphasizes the importance of understanding current cultural meanings and individual agency. They look at her term “paganesque,” debunk common misinterpretations, and highlight the appearance of folklore in modern contexts, including social media. Prof Kaplan sees social media platforms like Twitter as having transformed folklore, becoming ways to share stories, jokes, rumors, and other forms of folklore.
So, a ghost, a skeleton and a chicken walk into a bar…
Simone Drake: Opening Up History That’s Been Shutdown
Simone Drake, Hazel C. Youngberg Trustees Distinguished Professor at The Ohio State University College of the Arts and Sciences, joins David Staley to discuss Shutdown, a documentary she executive produced. The documentary explores the 1971 racial tensions at Linden-McKinley High School in Columbus, Ohio. These tensions arose from rapid demographic shifts and culminated in police violence against students following a series of events advocating for black studies and representation. Prof Drake interviewed many of the participants to gain understanding of their viewpoints and how the event had “a domino effect that led all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Exploring Shakespeare’s London with Christopher Highley
Christopher Highley, Professor of English and Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at The Ohio State University, discusses the context and findings of his most recent book, Blackfriars in Early Modern London. He highlights his extensive knowledge of the historical and cultural landscape of London during the time of Shakespeare. He describes the opportunities The Ohio State University has for students who want to learn more about this subject both at the university and overseas. Highley also tells host David Staley about the exciting initiatives through the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, which range from symposiums and research talks to fencing and falconry exhibitions.
Elizabeth Renker: Discovering and Recovering Sarah Piatt
Elizabeth Renker, Professor of English at The Ohio State University, discusses her work in “Discovering Sarah Piatt“, a podcast and recovery project aimed at reclaiming the legacy of 19th-century poet Sarah Piatt, who was once a famous poet but faded into obscurity due to shifts in literary canon. Renker faced challenges in recovering Piatt’s work, such as incomplete archives and lost manuscripts but persevered to make her poems accessible through a digital humanities project. Renker gives glimpses of her forthcoming biography of Piatt, her views on the evolving nature of English departments, and her award-winning teaching methodologies.
Andréa G Grottoli: Will Coral Reefs Survive?
Andréa Grottoli, Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences, discusses her research on and the future of coral reefs with host David Staley. Grottoli shares insights into coral biology, the impacts of climate change on coral reefs, and the significance of coral ecosystems to the economy and environment. She specializes in coral resilience, the traits that enable some corals to survive environmental stressors. She has co-created innovative technologies, such as the UZELA device, to enhance coral survival. Listen in to see what the future might be.
“Who Was Your Favorite Guest?”: ASC Podcasters Talk Shop
Voices host David Staley is joined by podcasters from the College of Arts and Sciences: Kayley DeLong – Shakespeare in the “Post”Colonies, Jim Phelan – Project Narrative, Elizabeth Renker – Discovering Sarah Piatt, and Elise Robbins – Nouvelle Nouvelle. They describe their podcasts and discuss whether podcasting can be considered a form of scholarship. The conversation explores the democratization of knowledge through podcasts, challenges in making academic work accessible, and the interdisciplinary and collaborative benefits of podcasting. They also discuss notable guests and episodes, audience engagement, and the personal motivations behind their podcasting ventures.
Julia Applegate: Creating a Film or Preserving History?
Julia Applegate, Senior Lecturer at The Ohio State University, discusses her documentary film Free Beer Tomorrow. The film focuses on the historically significant and longest-running lesbian-owned Ohio bar, which was located near The Ohio State University. For her, it’s a story of the patrons of the bar and how they lived during the 1970s and ’80s. The bar served as a safe space for lesbians amid broader societal homophobia and discrimination.
Christo Sevov: Pushing the Limits of Catalysis
Dr. Christo Sevov, Associate Professor in the The Ohio State University Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, shares his research interests. Dr. Sevov explains the significance of catalysis, particularly homogeneous catalysis, and how it accelerates chemical reactions by using abundant, affordable metals like nickel and copper. He describes his research in polyvinyl chloride (PVC), its inherent instability, and the strategies his lab uses to make it more robust. Dr. Sevov outlines his lab’s contributions to pharmaceuticals, such as developing new tools for drug synthesis that reduce waste.
Michael Ibrahim and the Impact of the Timashev Donation
Michael Ibrahim, Director of the School of Music at The Ohio State University, discusses the significance of the Timashev family donation and the design and features of the new Timashev Family Music Building. He describes initiatives such as the Global Black Music Studies Initiative and Opus 88. Ibrahim also elaborates on plans for expanding the school’s offerings, including a new music therapy program, and the importance of broadening their curriculum to include genres like hip hop and emerging technologies like AI in music.
Robert Baker: From Laser Tag to Laser Lab
Voices 200th episode!
Dr. Robert Baker, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has had a life-long fascination with light, culminating in his work co-creating the National Science Foundation-Ohio State University NeXUS Laboratory. Baker’s current research focuses on electron dynamics and catalytic energy conversion. The NeXUS Laboratory houses a groundbreaking laser system capable of taking attosecond (10-18) measurements. “Voices” host David Staley and Baker tour the NeXUS lab, exploring its three main beamlines and discussing the facility’s role in advancing fields such as quantum information processing and material science. Dr. Baker describes the collaborative nature of the facility, involving graduate students, postdocs, and researchers from around the world.
Robert Ward: Celebrating 150 Years of The Ohio State University Glee Club
Dr. Robert Ward, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at Ohio State University, discusses his journey from being rejected by his elementary school band to becoming a music professor. He describes the Men’s Glee Club at Ohio State, highlighting its history since 1875, the non-music major composition of its members, the sense of community it fosters, and the audition process. Dr. Ward also elaborates on the club’s musical repertoire, the role of a conductor, and the importance of musical literacy and listening skills for club members.
Carmen Winant: The Art of Labor
Carmen Winant, Associate Professor and a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, discusses her work in the Whitney Biennial. Winant’s installation, “The Last Safe Abortion,” consists of nearly 3,000 photographs depicting everyday activities in abortion clinics, emphasizing the labor and commitment of the workers. She details her approach to large-scale photography installations and discusses her previous project, “My Birth,” which visually documents childbirth and the power dynamics embedded in its representation.
Lisa Florman: Moving the Arts Forward at Ohio State
Lisa Florman, Professor of the History of Arts and Vice Provost for the Arts at Ohio State University, discusses the status and future of the arts at Ohio State. She highlights the impressive history of Ohio State artists, citing notable alumni and current achievements such as participation in the Whitney Biennial and the awarding of Guggenheim Fellowships. Florman describes initiatives like the visiting artist program, art projects at the Wexner Medical Center, and the Calling Hours performance about coal plants. She also explains ongoing efforts to launch an integrated arts website and app, enhance curriculum with art ‘making,’ and integrate with arts infrastructure in Columbus through a $2 million Mellon Foundation grant.
Kevin McClatchy, Ohio State’s Artist Laureate Works from the Heartbeat
Kevin McClatchy, Associate Professor of Theatre at Ohio State University, will serve as Ohio State’s Artist Laureate for the 2024-2025 academic year, focusing on expanding his projects to underserved communities in Ohio. He discusses his work with the Shakespeare and Autism Project, which uses theater games based on Shakespeare’s texts to help autistic children express themselves. McClatchy also describes the Hunter Heartbeat Method, which uses the rhythm of Shakespeare’s language to engage children. He also touches on his project working with military veterans, using Shakespeare to help them process their experiences and build a sense of community.
Adélékè Adéẹ̀kọ́: Why Would Anybody Write an Ode to Palm Trees?
Dr. Adélékè Adéèkó, Humanities Distinguished Professor at The Ohio State University, discusses his book Arts of Being Yorùbá. Dr. Adéèkó delves into the cultural significance of Yorùbá proverbs, praise poetry, and fiction. He explains how these forms of expression define Yorùbá identity and addresses their use in modern forms like pictorial magazines. The conversation also touches on orature, a term coined to describe oral literature, and its impact on written texts. Dr. Adéèkó reveals his interest in 20th-century literary theory and how he integrates Derrida’s deconstruction into his work.
Anna Willow: No Such Thing as Distant Objectivity
Dr. Anna Willow, professor and engaged environmental anthropologist, focuses on human-environment relationships and resource conflicts. She joins David Staley to discuss her work on anti-clearcutting activism among the Anishinaabe people and her broader studies on industrial development impacts. She describes her publications on extractivism and alternative futures, emphasizing the role of anthropologists in envisioning and driving positive social and environmental change.
Anna Dobritsa: Pollen – It’s More than Just an Allergen
Anna Dobritsa, Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics at the Ohio State University, discusses with David Staley the intricacies of pollen development, focusing on the unique cell walls called exine. She explains the structures, functions, and variations in exine patterns among different plant species and addresses the role of pollen in plant reproduction. She also describes the technological advances that have enabled recent discoveries in this field, along with insights into the potential agricultural applications of manipulating pollen characteristics.
Sean Downey: The Significance of Indigenous Knowledge
Sean Downey, associate professor of anthropology at The Ohio State University, discusses his research on the social and environmental dynamics of farming and foraging societies. Dr. Downey talks about his Human Complexity Lab and its work on swidden agriculture in Belize, highlights the significance of indigenous knowledge, and advocates for interdisciplinary approaches to understanding ecological patterns. He also shares his journey into anthropology, his passion for fieldwork, and the future direction of his research in supporting indigenous rights and addressing climate change.
Cynthia Young: Making Universities Accountable, Accessible, and Relevant
Cynthia Young, associate professor and chair of the Ohio State University Department of African American and African Studies, discusses her vision for the department and the future of higher education. She emphasizes the importance of rethinking universities to be more accountable and relevant in the 21st century. Young creates courses that help students think critically about social issues and discusses the need for graduate programs to adapt to the evolving job landscape by equipping students with skills applicable beyond academia. Young and host David Staley conclude by discussing her journey into academia administration, emphasizing her delight in problem-solving and intellectual work, and how she has found administration to be a creative and collaborative field.
Angus Fletcher: How to Hack the GRE and Get into Yale
Angus Fletcher, a professor in the Ohio State University Department of English, discusses his unconventional journey from studying neuroscience at the University of Michigan to obtaining a PhD in literature at Yale. He shares how his background in neurophysiology, which involved studying neuronal communication, informed his unique approach to literature. Listen in to hear about his experiments that measure the impacts of narrative elements on empathy and problem-solving.
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Tanya Berger·Wolf: Why You Should Go to See Zebras
Tanya Berger·Wolf directs The Ohio State University’s Translational Data Analytics Institute and is a professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology. She discusses translational data analytics, interdisciplinary research, and the intersection of computer science with ecology and biology. Berger Wolf describes the importance of data analytics in addressing societal challenges, the role of computational ecology in understanding animal behavior and conservation, and the development of imageomics as a new field of science.
Christopher McKnight Nichols: Can Those Who Know History Avoid Repeating It?
Professor of history Christopher McKnight Nichols is the Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies at the Ohio State University. He specializes in the history of the United States and its relationship to the rest of the world. He discusses with David Staley isolationism, internationalism, the impact of crises on societal change, the study of ideas and ideologies in history, and the concept of grand strategy in shaping national and international policies. He also draws parallels between the 1918 influenza and 2020 COVID pandemics.
Dorothy Noyes: Folklore, Exemplarity and Politics
Professor Dorothy Noyes studies folklore from its different views in American and European contexts to its role in representing marginalized cultures and the interplay between high and low culture. Profs. Noyes and Staley discuss the idea of exemplarity and the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration in academia, drawing from her experience at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies and sharing insights from her book projects on exemplarity in liberal politics.
Sahar Heydari Fard: Peace and Hope in Dark Times
Dr. Sahar Heydari Fard, a professor of philosophy, researches at the intersection of philosophy, ethics, and social movements. She discusses the evolving nature of ethics in complex societies, the concept of strategic injustice, the role of social movements in driving progress, and the importance of diversity in shaping norms and values in society.
States-in-Waiting: Professor Lydia Walker on Decolonization and Untold Histories
Lydia Walker, Assistant Professor and Seth Andre Myers Chair in Global Military History at The Ohio State University, researches histories of decolonization, nationalist insurgence movements, and the concept of “states in waiting”, which also serves as the title of her forthcoming book. She discusses the Nagas people, colonial historical and social structures in India, and the impact of the United Nations on nationalist movements with Voices of Excellence host, David Staley.
OPEEP: Empowering Incarcerated Voices with Mary Thomas and Tiyi Morris
Mary Thomas, Professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Tiyi Morris, Associate Professor in the Department of African American and African Studies, both serve as co-directors of the Ohio Prison Education Exchange Project, also known as OPEEP. They talk about the program, which has brought Ohio State students and professors together with incarcerated individuals across the state in the context of higher learning. They also discuss transforming education through feminist pedagogies, decolonization, intergenerational learning, and accessibility.
Sara Butler: Medieval Myth Buster
Sara Butler is the King George III Professor in British History and the Director for the Center for Historical Research at The Ohio State University. She specializes in medieval history and legal studies, with a focus on understanding ordinary people’s lives, particularly women, in medieval times. She challenges misconceptions about medieval society, arguing that women had significant roles and rights, especially in economic activities. Butler’s research covers diverse topics such as marital relationships, divorce, forensic medicine, and penitential justice. She also describes her archival research challenges, her childhood fascination with history, and the activities of the Center for Historical Research at Ohio State University.
Schlingman Talks Skeptics, the Las Vegas Sphere, and the 2024 Eclipse
Wayne Schlingman, Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Arne Slettebak OSU Planetarium, talks with host David Staley about the importance of the planetarium, active engagement, and learner-centered environments in educating students and the general public. He also discusses the future of immersive technology and its potentials for education, scientific, and artistic exploration.
Randolph Roth: “When You’re a Historian, You See the Civil War Everywhere”
Randolph Roth, Distinguished Professor of history and sociology at The Ohio State University, discusses the use of quantitative methods in historical research, patterns of adult homicide and child mortality, and the impact of political instability and social hierarchy on violence in America. Roth also talks on the role of women’s empowerment and gender equality in reducing child mortality and highlights the importance of historical insight in addressing current societal challenges.
Professor Shiyu Zhang: “I Love Making New Molecules”
Shiyu Zhang, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, researches sustainability within chemistry, specifically the production of sustainable batteries made from organic material. He talks with host David Staley about his love for making new molecules, the applications of machine learning in his laboratory, and how chemistry is “kind of like cooking”.
OSU Going Overseas: Breyfogle and Elmore Discuss Dubai and COP 28
Nicholas Breyfogle, assistant professor of history and director of the Harvey Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, and Bart Elmore, professor of history, discuss their recent visit to COP 28, which is the name for 2023’s United Nations Climate Change Conference that was held in Dubai. They talk about traveling across the globe with ten Ohio State students and the experience they had listening and talking to global leaders, activists, and scholars at the largest climate conference in the world.
How Does Vladimir Kogan Spend His Free Time? School Board Meetings, Of Course
Vladimir Kogan, professor of political science, researches the activity of school boards across the state and the country to analyze their real impact on students and the communities they preside over. He discusses the misalignment of many school board policies with the needs of students as well as his forthcoming book project with the working title “No Adult Left Behind”.
“A Hip Hop Dissertation is a Community Body of Work:” Dr View Describes His Research
Stevie ‘Dr. View’ Johnson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Creative Practice in Popular Music at The Ohio State University. He joins Voices of Excellence host Prof. David Staley to discuss the origins and evolution of hip hop, the significance of the 50th anniversary of hip hop, the influence of hip hop in the South, and Dr. View’s work on the Fire in Little Africa project. The interview also delves into Dr. View’s approach to Hip Hop Studies and the unique format of his hip hop dissertation, which won the Bobby Wright Dissertation of the Year Award. Additionally, it covers Dr. View’s Nasir Jones Hip Hop Fellowship at Harvard University, his thoughts on becoming a professor, and his upcoming research projects and album releases.
Brian Skinner Talks Physics, From Basketball to Quantum Entanglement
Brian Skinner, associate professor of physics, joins David Staley this week to talk about his wide range of research topics, ranging from quantum entanglement and its implications to the physics of crowds and basketball play-calling.
Bart Elmore: Will Genetically Engineered Food Help Us Feed a Hungry Planet?
Environmental historian Bart Elmore has spent more than a decade studying the history of one of the largest seed sellers in the world: Monsanto. This St. Louis company, which German firm Bayer bought in 2018, launched a genetic engineering revolution in agriculture over 25 years ago, introducing the first Roundup Ready crops in 1996 that could tolerate Monsanto’s signature herbicide Roundup. Listen below to Prof Elmore discuss his findings with host David Staley, and then see Prof Elmore in person at ASC’s Science Sundays on February 18, 2024.
Chris Knoester Discusses Research on Impact of Sports in Daily Life
Chris Knoester, Professor of Sociology and Chair of Research of the Sports and Society Initiative at Ohio State, discusses the emerging field of sports sociology and the ways in which politics, economics, patriotism and other influential forces impact the world of sports and the ways in which people perceive and enjoy them.
Gleissner Reflects on Emphasis on Literacy in Former Soviet Bloc
Philip Gleissner, Assistant Professor in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, specializes in the study of the culture and communication of former socialist Eastern Europe states. Gleissner discusses his latest monograph, “Soviet Circulations: A History of the Socialist Literary Journal,” and the emphasis placed on literacy as a vehicle of social mobility in parts of the former Soviet Bloc.
Start Dancing With Devils, Says Michelle Wibbelsman
Michelle Wibbelsman, Associate Professor of Latin American Indigenous Cultures, ethnographic studies and ethnomusicology in the department of Spanish and Portuguese, studies ritual and politics, aesthetics and power, festival and ritual practices of meaning-making memory in indigenous communities in northern Ecuador. She also discusses the “Dancing with Devils” exhibit now on display in the Barnett Center.
Categories Keep Us Alive, Says Vladimir Sloutsky
Vladimir Sloutsky, Professor of Psychology, researches conceptual development and interrelationships between cognition and language. His most recent publication describes how humans can learn about categories without explicit teaching.
David Brakke Explains How the Gnostics Influenced “The Matrix”
David Brakke, Professor and Joe R. Engle Chair in the History of Christianity in the Department of History, studies and teaches the history and literature of ancient Christianity from its origins through the fifth century, with special interest in asceticism monasticism, Gnosticism, biblical interpretation, and Egyptian Christianity. He discusses why the Gnostics and their views were considered so dangerous and what the Gospel of Judas reveals about these beliefs.
How To Be Curious, With Doug Alsdorf
Doug Alsdorf, Professor in the School of Earth Sciences, researches satellite hydrology, large tropical wetlands, and geophysics. He describes himself as driven by curiosity, to ask “why is that there?” or “what is that over there?” Join him as he discusses the value of scientific curiosity and more with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Jesse Fox: Virtual Reality Mythbuster
Jesse Fox, Associate Professor in the School of Communication, researches the effects and implications of new media technologies, including virtual worlds, video games, social network sites, and mobile applications. Virtual reality has gone through booms and busts in the 15 years she’s been studying it, so she talks about what it can and cannot do (ex., VR isn’t an empathy machine) with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Siri, Which OSU Researcher Is On This Week’s Voice of Excellence? “It’s Michael White”
Michael White, Professor of Linguistics, researches how to enable computers to usefully converse with people in natural language. He’s seen the ability of predictive text become so good that it’s created concerns about the ethical uses of it. He discusses this and more with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence
Mindfulness Meditation Can Improve Mental and Physical Health, Says Ruchika Prakash
Ruchika Prakash, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, researches neuroplasticity in the context of healthy aging, and neurological disorders, specifically, multiple sclerosis. Her lab’s findings include ways that meditation can improve your behavioral and neural functioning.
Making Sense of African-Brazilian History, With Isis Barra Costa
Isis Barra Costa is an Assistant Professor in Contemporary Brazilian Cultural and Literary Studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese with research interests in Brazilian literature and culture, cyber literature and art activism in the Americas performance studies, and Latin American cinema, among others. Her research started with the question of how religious men and women from different parts of the African continent would explain what happened historically in the new world and how it changed expressions like sacred oratory. On this week’s Voices of Excellence, she discusses with host David Staley how to gain recognition for the best parts of the culture that are not recognized by historiography or in literature.
Examining the Complexity of Ethics With Tristram McPherson
Tristram McPherson, Professor of Philosophy, examines foundational philosophical questions about ethics, specifically meta-ethics; epistemology; and conceptual ethics. He looks at whether there are ethical facts that answer ethical questions and what the relationship is between God and ethical claims, among other areas.
What Can Minions Reveal About Child Language Acquisition? John Grinstead Explains
John Grinstead, Professor and Interim Chair in Spanish and Portuguese, researches developmental linguistics, developmental semantics and pragmatics, and children’s comprehension of syntax. Ten years ago, he began using stop-motion movies in his experiments on language development, and the Despicable Me “minions” were a well-known and experimentally useful choice. For more about how minions reveal the workings of language acquisition, listen to his discussion with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Virginia Rich Looks At How the Earth’s Biosphere Will React to Climate Change
Virginia Rich, Associate Professor of Microbiology and the Director of the eMERGE Biology Integration Institute, studies global change microbiology, microbial meta-omics, and “Genes-to-Ecosystems” inquiry. She’s spurred on in her work by the problem of not knowing how the biosphere as a whole will respond to climate change.
“History Is Detective Work,” Says Historian Sam White
Sam White, Professor of History, studies environmental history and uses natural and human records to reconstruct past climate variability and extreme weather. He discusses the methods that historians use to get a more complete picture of the past, such as how an intense drought and famine impacted the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s.
David Steigerwald Asks, “How In Control Are You of Your Life?”
Professor of History David Steigerwald teaches courses in 20th-century American history from World War I through the 1960s. He also researches and writes about alienation, a composite term that refers to the sense people have of not really being in control of their everyday lives. His emerging book argues that post WWII power structures pushed toward a hyper organization of society that devalued individuals.
Richard Samuels On “Why Are We Able to Count?”
Richard Samuels, Professor of Philosophy, researches cognitive development, reasoning, computational models of psychological capacities, and modular theories of cognition. He describes why cognitive science is different from psychology and why children can acquire the ability to count and to do basic arithmetic.
“What Was Reality in the Past?” Greg Anderson Asks
Greg Anderson, Professor of History, specializes in ancient Greek history, historical thoughts, and critical theory. In his most recent book The Realness of Things Past, he proposes a new way of doing history that is a fundamentally different way of thinking about reality for people who lived in the past.
Alex Thompson Looks at How Climate Change Agreements Have Evolved
Alexander Thompson, Professor of Political Science and Senior Faculty Fellow at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, conducts research in international relations with an emphasis on the politics of international organizations and law. From the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement, countries have tried different tactics to deal with climate change.
How Have Haitian Authors Hacked Classical Forms? Tom Hawkins Tells All
Tom Hawkins, Associate Professor of Classics, looks at the ways that societies create social hierarchies and how the lower ends of those hierarchies interact with the higher. His forthcoming book explores the way Greek and Roman literary models and themes have been used, appropriated, and hacked by Haitian authors.
Sarah-Grace Heller Answers “What Was Shopping Like in Medieval Paris?”
Sarah-Grace Heller, Associate Professor of French, specializes in medieval French and Occitan literature, language, and material culture. Her most recent book is a cultural history of fashion in a medieval age. She describes her sources from sumptuary laws to conduct literature to poetry and beyond to host David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
A Passage Through India: How Scott Levi’s Study Abroad Trip Led to a Career Studying Central Asia
Scott Levi, Professor and Chair of the Department of History and Interim Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, specializes in the social and economic history of Central Asia. His most recent book is The Bukharan Crisis: A Connected History of 18th-Century Central Asia, which he describes as “the first time I’ve ever written a book by accident.”
Bruce Weinberg, Professor of Economics, Studies the Economics of Innovation and Creativity
Bruce Weinberg, Professor of Economics, studies the economics of innovation and creativity. In this area, potentially small numbers of individuals can have a large impact on how our understanding and knowledge evolves, which is rare among economic activities.
Gregory Jusdanis Looks at the Poet C. P. Cavafy and Blossoming in Middle Age
Gregory Jusdanis, Humanities Distinguished Professor of Classics, researches modern Greek literature and culture, including the poet C. P. Cavafy. His recent work has been a biography of Cavafy, co-written with Peter Jeffries, exploring, among other areas, how Cavafy rejected his early poetry and found new expressions in his later years.
The Metaverse is Not Just For Marvel, Says Kevin Richards
Kevin Richards, Lecturer and Outreach Coordinator in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, defines the “metaverse” as the embodied Internet. His research follows the work of John Dewey who argued that the more immersed people are in what they’re doing, the more they’ll remember and be able to learn.
What Kind of Animals Are Those? Questions of Art With Michael Mercil
Michael Mercil, Emeritus Professor of Art, has created sculpture, drawing, painting, landscape architecture, film, and performance for regional and national exhibitions. His installations at Ohio State have included bean fields by the Wexner Center and a virtual pasture of Shetland sheep.
The Importance of Vision for Emotions to Michelangelo: Christian Kleinbub
Christian Kleinbub, Professor of History of Art, studies the arts of the Italian Renaissance, with particular focus on issues of image theory, naturalism, the body, and period conceptions of vision and the visionary. He joins host David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence podcast to describe his research and how where vision “landed” in the body was of central importance to artists like Michelangelo.
Sedentary Versus Pastoralist Logic With Mark Moritz
Mark Moritz, Professor and Graduate Studies Chair in Anthropology, studies the transformation of African pastoral systems, specifically examining how pastoralists adapt to changing ecological, political, and institutional conditions. He shares some of the results of his research with pastoralists in the far north region of Cameroon with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Kotaro Nakanishi: How Errors In Protein Formation Lead To Diseases
Kotaro Nakanishi, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, studies Argonaute proteins and how they join with microRNA to form complexes in cells. Errors in this process can lead to many different types of diseases, including cancer and autism.
For Rebekah Matheny, Architecture Takes You To the Front Door, But Interior Design Takes You In
Associate Professor of Design Rebekah Matheney studies interior design, sustainable design, retail experience design, curricular economy, and higher education design. Her recent work has examined slow retail, how retail design can impact all areas of sustainability by slowing down its pace, similar to slow food and slow fashion.
Elizabeth Hewitt on the Speculative Fiction of Alexander Hamilton
Elizabeth Hewitt, Professor of English, studies African-American literature, American literature before 1900, and economics in literature. Her most recent book, Speculative Fictions, examines the economy in the early United States with a focus on Alexander Hamilton and his attempts “to explain economic science in a way that didn’t just depend on empiricism.”
Russ Fazio On Whether We Mean What We Say On Surveys
Russ Fazio, the Harold E. Burt Professor of Social Psychology, researches attitude formation, change, and accessibility, attitude-behavior consistency, and social cognition. His work in social cognition seeks to understand the thought processes that underlie social psychological phenomenon.
Jared Gardner On How Comics Have Long Focused On the Environment
Jared Gardner, Joseph V. Denney Designated Professor of English and Director of Popular Culture Studies, has a wide set of interests, including finding “striking examples of 19th century comics and cartoons” describing how humans impact the environment.
Have You Been Reading Dickens All Wrong? Maybe, Says Robyn Warhol
Distinguished Professor of English Robyn Warhol researches a variety of subjects, from narrative theory to Regency and Victorian novels to feminist theory to television narrative. She sees great parallels between binge watching tv shows and reading Victorian novels straight through, something that contemporary readers couldn’t do.
Mark Rudoff on Simultaneously Looking Forward and Backward
Mark Rudoff, Associate Professor of Cello in the School of Music, performs with the Janus String Quartet, the Galileo Trio, and Chiarina Piano Quartet. He joins host David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss how professors of music bring a different kind of research and scholarship to their roles. He also explains why the double-faced god Janus represents his interest in music, which draws from the past while creating the future.
Independent Voters Respond More To Negative Ads, Says Richard Petty
Richard Petty, Distinguished University Professor of Social Psychology, researches the situational and individual difference factors responsible for changes in beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. He joins host David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss his recent work on how political partisans (those who strongly identify as liberal or conservative) differ from independent voters in the overall strength of their attitudes. He’s found that independent voters often have greater animosity toward one candidate than they have liking toward the candidate that they were going to vote for, and this negativity is growing.
Got a Crisis? Lanier Holt Knows What You Should Say
Lanier Holt, Associate Professor in Communication, researches journalism, media effects, and social psychology, with a focus on the impact media messages have on audience perceptions of African Americans, women, and other traditionally marginalized groups. He shares with host David Staley how he prepares students in his crisis communication class by having them represent contentious clients at mock press conference, such as Donald Trump after the Capital Insurrection.
Plants Can Move: Maria Miriti Tells Us How
Maria Miriti, Associate Professor of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, uses experimental and demographic methods to address factors that regulate plant populations and communities. She joins David Staley to discuss her research, which has stretched from desserts in the Joshua Tree National Park to the Amazonian tropics to grasslands.
Allison Bean On How New Communication Systems Impact People with Autism
Allison Bean, Associate Professor in Speech and Hearing Science, researches language development in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. She’s especially interested in how people use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems in place of spoken language.
Piers Turner Explores the Many Interests of John Stuart Mill
Piers Norris Turner, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Ethics and Human Values, researches utilitarianism and liberal political thoughts, especially as it relates to the moral and political philosophy of John Stuart Mill. He argues that Mill was far more than his famous essay on liberty, with wide-ranging interests in a variety of philosophical and political areas.
Unions, Social Media, and Social Movements: The Research of Andrew Martin
Andrew Martin, Professor of Sociology and Interim Associate Executive Dean for Undergraduate Education, studies working class mobilization and unions, particularly their use of social movement strategies. He’s also researched the ways in which groups collaborate to curb the growth of corporate power in America.
Dana Kletchka: Are Museums For Objects or People?
Dana Carlisle Kletchka, Assistant Professor in the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy, studies the history, theory, and philosophy of art museum education. Her research has examined museum practices and how art educators are treated in large institutional contexts. In addition, she looks at the surprisingly different roles and intentions of art educators and art historians in museums.
How Did Humans Evolve? Scott McGraw Explores This and More
Scott McGraw, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology, is a researcher, biological anthropologist, evolutionary anatomist, and primate behavior analyst. He observes animals in the wild to see how their physical movements, for example, result from bone structures. Biological anthropologists then use this information to understand how extinct animals might have moved, such as our human ancestors.
Why Do People Write? Benjamin Hoffmann Thinks It’s About Posterity
Benjamin Hoffman – Associate Professor in the Department of French and Italian, Director of the Center for Excellence, and novelist – researches 18th-century French literature and philosophy, transatlantic studies, contemporary French literature, and creative writing. His recent publication is The Paradoxes of Posterity, a philosophical inquiry on the concept of posterity. He discusses this, digital humanities, and more with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence
Robert Holub Explains Nietzsche’s Jewish Problem
Robert Holub, Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor and Chair of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, studies 19th and 20th century intellectual, cultural, and literary history, especially Friedrich Nietzsche, Heinrich Heine, German realism, and literary and aesthetic theory. He discusses the historical setting of Nietzsche and how this impacts the ways we understand his writing.
Making the Inner Ear Cool: Eric Bielefeld
Eric Bielefeld, Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, studies auditory physiology, especially inner ear pathology. His most recent work involves modeling how exposure to HIV medications during pregnancy influences the development of auditory systems and the impact of cooling the inner ear on chemotherapy efficacy.
What Computer Simulations Tell Us About the Influence of Social Networks: Robert Bond
Robert Bond, Associate Professor in the School of Communication, researches political behavior and attitudes; specifically, how social networks influence political behavior and communication. His work as a computational social scientist involves building models that mimic human behavior and studying the results of interactions.
Are Your Political Views Hereditary? Skylar Cranmer’s Brain Scan Research Suggests It Is
Skylar Cranmer, the Carter Phillips and Sue Henry Professor of Political Science, researches network science, such as forecasting the evolution of complex networks or exploring whether brain scans can predict political partisanship. He joins host David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss network science, which incorporates fields from political science to physics to mathematics to biology, among others.
How Do Cells Make Decisions?: Adriana Dawes Has Answers
Adriana Dawes, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Molecular Genetics, studies mathematical biology, mathematical modeling of cell polarization and chemotaxis, and differential equations. She traces how organisms control their grow from one to trillions of cells, which involves countless decisions about organization and function.
How a Highly Advanced Microscope is Like a Record Player, Jay Gupta
Jay Gupta, Professor of Physics, explores the properties of novel materials at the atomic scale to address problems in energy conversion and advanced computing. Via scanning tunneling microscopy, his group examine items that are a billionth of a meter. For more of his discussion of nanomaterials, semiconductors and how to spell your name in atoms, listen to this week’s Voices of Excellence.
“We Are Interested in Creating Understanding:” Jennifer Willging On Cultural Studies
Jennifer Willging, Associate Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of French and Italian, specializes in 20th and 21st century French literature and culture. Her work explores literature that attempts to understand contemporary society and important influences, such as technology.
John Low On Understanding the Importance of the Newark Earthworks
John Low, Associate Professor of Comparative Studies and Director of the Newark Earthworks Center, studies American Indian histories, literatures, religions, and cultures, and native environmental perspectives and practices, among other areas. He joins David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss the Newark Earthworks and what makes the two remaining mounds so special, on par with Stonehenge.
Andrea Sims On What Can and Can’t Be a Word
Andrea Sims, Associate Professor in the Departments of Linguistics and Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, studies theoretical morphology, meaning what kinds of words and structures can exist in a particular language. She explores what speakers know, often unconsciously, about what is possible in their language.
“I Fell in Love with Mountain Glaciers as a Mountaineer,” Bryan Mark
Bryan Mark, Professor of Geography, studies climate-glacier-hydrologic dynamics over different time scales and serves as State Climatologist of Ohio. He joins David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Meg Daly On Why Animals Choose Their Habitat
Meg Daly, Professor of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, studies animal systematics and ecology, serving as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education. She’s particularly interested in studying how and why marine animals live where they do, most recently looking at sea anemones that live in temperate marine intertidal ecosystems.
“Our Annual Conference is Like the Bar in Star Wars,” Says Peter Mansoor
Peter Mansoor, Professor and General Raymond E. Mason, Jr., Chair of Military History, researches modern U.S. military history, World War II, the Iraq War, and counterinsurgency warfare. He discusses his most recent research on the 1944-1945 liberation of the Philippines, the five types of military history, and the surprising breadth of attendees at military history conferences on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Julie Golomb Looks at How Our Brains Make Sense of the World
Julie Golomb, Associate Professor of Psychology, researches the interactions between visual perception, attention, memory, and eye movements using human behavioral and computational cognitive neuroscience techniques. She’s especially interested in questions like, “How do our brains convert patterns of light into rich perceptual experiences, and what can we learn from perceptual errors?”
Robin Judd Describes What Military Marriages Were Like After the Holocaust
Robin Judd, Associate Professor of History, explores how European and North African Jewish women met and married American, British, and Canadian soldiers and officers after the Holocaust in her latest book, Love, Liberation, and Loss: Jewish Military Marriages after the Holocaust. Her research illuminates how these couples developed relationships, what policies regulated their marriages, and what happened to the women when they moved to other countries with their husbands to face acculturation in the aftermath of trauma.
Ludmila Isurin On the Production of Collective Memory Versus History
Ludmila Isurin, Professor in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, is an interdisciplinary scholar with multiple affiliations within Ohio State. Her latest book is Collective Remembering: Memory in the World and in the Mind, which she discusses with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Mari Noda: Learning a New Language is Performing as a Believable, Intelligent Person in a Culture
Mari Noda, Professor in Japanese in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, is a specialist in East Asian language pedagogy and is primarily interested in curriculum, material development, and assessment. She seeks to help students not only understand a language, but to use that language as a mechanism to participate in the culture.
Different Languages Follow Similar Evolutions, Says Brian Joseph
Brian Joseph, Distinguished University Professor of Linguistics and the Kenneth E. Naylor Professor of South Slavic Languages and Linguistics, studies historical linguistics, the history of the Greek language, language contact, Greek, Albanian, and Balkan linguistics, and Sanskrit. He’s especially interested in the way that the similar experiences that cultures have with language influence how their language develops.
Think You Know the Classical World? Think Again, Says Carolina Lopez-Ruiz
Carolina Lopez-Ruiz, Professor of Classics, studies ancient Greek literature and classical mythology, and Greek and Near Eastern interaction and colonization. She strives to show that this period was more than just traditional Greek influences, with many cultures interacting and influencing each other.
Prof. Zhengyu Liu on Using the Past to Predict the Future of Climate Dynamics
Zhengyu Liu is the Max Thomas Professor of Climate Dynamics in the Department of Geography. His areas of expertise include climate change, Earth systems modeling, and climate dynamics. He discusses how scientists can have confidence in their predictions about the future of climate on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
The Tension Between the Practical and the Impractical: Reitter Describes the Crisis in Humanities
Paul Reitter, Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, studies German-Jewish culture, the history of higher education, modernism, and critical theory, among other areas. His most recent book, co-authored with Chad Wellmon, is Permanent Crisis: The Humanities in a Disenchanted Age, which examines the long history of the Humanities being described in terms of crisis.
Miranda Martinez Describes the Best Way to Save for Retirement
Miranda Martinez, an Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Studies, researches race and public policy and economic, sociological, and cultural economies, among other areas. She looks at the impact of financial coaching in communities of color and how having an automated monthly savings plan can be a significant benefit over having to decide consciously to save every month.
What Is It to Know Something, and Do Dogs Have Knowledge? Declan Smithies knows
Declan Smithies, Professor and Director of Philosophy Graduate Studies, researches what it means to know something and to have consciousness. His book, The Epistemic Role of Consciousness, argues that consciousness gives humans knowledge of the external world and that without consciousness, we wouldn’t know anything. Since a dog can know whether there’s food in its bowl by perceiving its bowl, Smithies says, “it’s very plausible that the conscious experience of seeing or smelling the food in the bowl can give dogs knowledge.”
How Do People Make Difficult Decisions? Dana Howard Has Decided on an Answer.
Dana Howard, Assistant Professor of Philosophy with an appointment in the Ohio State Center for Bioethics, researches medical care, often in palliative and internal medicine, to discover how information is shared and decisions reached. She shares her research with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
From Florida to the Antarctic: W. Berry Lyons’ Scientific Journey
W. Berry Lyons, Professor and Distinguished University Scholar in the Ohio State School of Earth Sciences, was born and raised in the sunny state of Florida, but much of his career has been focused on the decidedly colder Antarctic, where he’s researched the impact of climate and climate change on the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the continent’s largest ice-free area.
Who Were the First Americans? Mark Hubbe Has Some Suggestions
Professor of Anthropology Mark Hubbe studies modern human dispersion with a special emphasis on the settlement of South America. He joins host David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss how the Americas were inhabited, what makes archeological evidence for human settlements controversial, and what methods are used to explore these questions.
Listening to the COSMOS with Katherine Borst Jones
Professor Katherine Borst Jones, Professor of Flute and Chair of Orchestral Instruments in the School of Music, not only commissions new musical works but performs them as well.
What Makes Us Sick? Daniel Wozniak Looks at the Causes
Daniel Wozniak, Professor of Microbial Infection and Immunity and Microbiology, studies bacterial pathogenesis and gene regulation. He joins David Staley to discuss his research that seeks to determine how bacteria live in human hosts and what kinds of treatment can stop their growth.
An Economist and a Geographer Meet in a Forest…: Research by Darla Munroe
Professor Darla Munroe, Chair of the Department of Geography, studies land economics and human geography, with a focus on human environment interactions at a landscape level. She joins David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss her work on the forests of southeast Ohio and the methodological distinctions between economists and geographers, among other topics.
The Quirks of Quarks and Other Aspects of Quantum Mechanics with Yuri Kovchegov
Yuri Kovchegov, Professor of Physics at The Ohio State University, studies quantum chromodynamics at high energy and nuclear theory, and was recently named to the 2020 class of Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He breaks down some of the intricacies of quantum mechanics with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Jennifer Suchland on the Role of the Scholar in Society
Associate Professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures Jennifer Suchland is a 2020 Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies Scholars and Society Fellow. She describes how the role of scholars in society is also the role of education in society, especially democracies. Her current research focuses on the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, which she discusses with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Professor Susan Van Pelt Petry on turning COVID-19 into 19ChoreOVIDs
When Dance Professor Susan Van Pelt Petry began working from home due to the pandemic, her interest in staying hopeful as an artist led her to begin creating 19 choreographed videos, aka 19ChoreOVIDs, a play on COVID-19. She describes these videos and more of her work with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Voices of Excellence Hits the Century Mark!
Voices of Excellence will release its 100th episode on November 18th. Join host David Staley as Olivia Miltner from ASC Marketing and Communication talks to him about interviewing dozens of faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences, what he’s learned about interdisciplinary in the college, and what he hopes listeners gain from the podcast.
Building Capacity: Joni Acuff on Collectives, Movement Work and the Arts
Joni Acuff is an Associate Professor, Graduate Studies Chair, and Diversity Chair in the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy. Recently, she’s been researching the collective work of artists and art educators of color, with an eye to recognizing and supporting emerging social justice collectives and coalitions.
Pioneering in the Language Program Director Field: Holly Nibert
Holly Nibert, Associate Professor of Hispanic Linguistics and Language Program Director in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, researches phonology and phonetics, the acquisition of a second language sound system, and the principles and practices of second language classroom instruction. Recently, she’s been writing a book about how to be a language program director, in an effort to help professionalize the position.
Newspaper Ads Are a Great Way to Learn About a Culture: Treva Lindsey
Associate Professor Treva Lindsey of the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies specializes in African American women’s history, Black popular and expressive culture, Black feminism(s), hip hop studies, critical race and gender theory, and sexual politics. She researched Black women’s beauty culture by delving into newspapers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries for ads to learn how products were advertised, who advertised them, and who were the models, among other questions.
Scott Swearingen: It’s More Than Gunning Down Zombies
Scott Swearingen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Design, studies game design, collaborative gaming, and animation, and worked as a game designer on award-winning games and franchises, including Medal of Honor, The Simpsons, and The Sims. He talks with David Staley about how games define our culture and why he values face-to-face interactions that games can engage.
Jennifer Brello on Helping Patients Learn to Speak Again
Jennifer Brello, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, serves as the Director of the Ohio State University Aphasia Initiative, a free program for people living with loss of communication ability due to brain injury. Aphasia can make mundane tasks like ordering a cup of coffee very challenging, and Brello describes to host David Staley the benefits of therapy at the institute on this week’s episode of Voices of Excellence.
Julia Nelson Hawkins on Researching a Pandemic While Living in One
Julia Nelson Hawkins, Associate Professor in the Department of Classics, leads a group of clinicians and humanities scholars in the Discovery Themes-funded project “Humanities in the Pandemic” that seeks to increase academia and public awareness about the role that arts and humanities play in global health crises. She talks with David Staley about the project and what we can learn from previous pandemics.
Shannon Winnubst on “The Past That Is Never Past”: Anti-Blackness & Anti-Indigeneity
Shannon Winnubst, Professor and Chair of the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, researches queer and trans studies, race theory, psychoanalytic theory, and 20th century French theory. Energized by the Black Lives Matter movement, she talks about new language that is emerging in the public sphere to name systemic racism and the deeper encounter it offers, especially for white persons and institutions, with the centuries-long violence.
Katra Byram Asks “How Do Germans Regard the Mothers of World War II?”
Associate Professor of Germanic Languages and Literature Katra Byram, is a core member of Project Narrative and co-editor of The Ohio State University Press book series. Her current research examines the complicated and, for her, ambivalent roles played by German mothers and grandmothers in post-war German literature.
Nicholas Breyfogle on the Impact of Discounting Russia in 1991
“There was a time after the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 where Americans, others in Europe, and other places in the world discounted Russia as a global power. And this was a mistake,” says Nicholas Breyfogle, Associate Professor, Director of the Goldberg Center, and an expert on Russian and Soviet history and global environmental history, especially the history of water. Listen in as he describes the impact of this mistake all the way to our current times.
Judson Jeffries: Why the BLM Protests Look New
Judson Jeffries, Professor of African American and African Studies, researches media studies, public policy, Homeland Security, African American politics, and police-community relations. He sees the BLM protests as having a new kind of participant and perhaps a new kind of possibility for success.
Kristi Williams Discusses How 60% of U.S. Adults Experience Trauma Before 18
Kristi Williams, a Professor in the Department of Sociology, researches the influence of family and other personal relationships on mental and physical health, with a particular focus on gender and life course variations in those patterns. She is particularly interested in exploring how the more trauma people experience, the worse their health is and how that can be treated.
The Ethical Significance of Reading, According to Prof. Ashley Hope Pérez
How readers engage with what they encounter in reading has ethical significance, says Ashley Hope Pérez, Assistant Professor of Comparative Studies. In addition to having written three novels, she researches fiction with an eye to how it shapes the way that readers respond to others in the real world.
Heather Allen and Researching the Underpinnings of Science
Heather Allen, Dow Professor and Ohio State Distinguished Scholar in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, researches molecular organization, ion pairing, and hydration at aqueous interfaces. She describes her work as taking the very basic units of life and asking, “How do they respond to an electric field or slight changes in pH and environment?”
Reconstruction, Green Books, and Representation: Prof. Trevon Logan on African American History
Trevon Logan, Hazel C. Youngberg Trustees Distinguished Professor of Economics and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, researches economic history, economic demography, and applied micro economics. He joins David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss the economic history of African Americans.
Elena Foulis, Podcaster: “Every Time I Interview a Person…I’m Learning Something”
Elena Foulis, Coordinator for the Spanish for Heritage Language program in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and host of the Ohio Habla podcast, joins David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence. She discusses her work as a public humanist, how she engages students in her classes, and what she learns hosting her very popular podcast.
Never the Same Word Twice: Cynthia Clopper on the Uniqueness of Pronunciation
Cynthia Clopper, Professor and Chair of the Department of Linguistics, researches speech sounds: how we produce them, their acoustic characteristics, and their perception by listeners. She says that every time we say a word, like “cat,” it’s subtly different.
Elizabeth Cooksey and the Survey That Launched 10,000 Articles
Professor of Sociology Elizabeth Cooksey studies social demography, life course transitions, and the development of youth and children. She also serves as the Director of the Center for Human Resource Research, which started the first national longitudinal survey 55 years ago. The data from the study has been used in thousands of articles.
Laura Kubatko: It’s An Exciting Time to Be Working in Biology
Professor Laura Kubatko, from the Department of Statistics and the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, is amazed by the advances she’s seen in her career in how scientists translate “observations into formal mathematical or statistical models.” Moreover, this is, for her, the “fun part,” because they collaborate to explain “why [we] think [an event] is happening.”
Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Laura Wagner Says It Had a Story to Tell
Professor of Psychology Laura Wagner studies how children acquire language and learn about meaning, such as the progression of time in storytelling. Their interpretations of even simple stories like the famous chicken joke reveal hidden meanings about complicated linguistics and complex concepts of time.
Barry Green Invites You to Join the Inner Game of Music
The School of Music’s Barry Green has served as the Principal Bassist for the Cincinnati Symphony, the California Symphony, and the Sun Valley Idaho Summer Symphony. His book, The Inner Game of Music, has sold over a quarter of a million copies . He shares his thoughts on music, musicianship, and how to drown out the negative thoughts in your head so you can play better music.
Prof. Meow Hui Goh On How People Experience the Collapse of a Society
Meow Hui Goh, an Associate Professor of Chinese in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, researches medieval Chinese literature, medieval Chinese literary and cultural history, memory and text in medieval China, and the instrumentality of medieval Chinese literature. She is completing a new book manuscript, The Double Life of Chaos: Living Memory and Literature in Early Medieval China, 180s–300s, which covers the collapse of the Han Dynasty.
Gina Osterloh On the Pressure of Looking
Gina Osterloh, Assistant Professor of Art, sees her photographic practice as embodying the printed image, drawing, film, and performance as it explores the resonances between the physical body and its representational imprint, trace or stand in. She offers insight into the role of looking and vision in creating one’s identity, as well as being a site of tremendous pressure and pleasure.
Prof. Ola Ahlqvist Tells Us How to See the Forest For the Trees
Professor of Geography, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Enrichment, and Executive Director of the Honors and Scholars Center, Ola Ahlqvist studies cartography, land cover change, geographic information, and online maps. He also looks at the impact that the definition of terms has on research, such as what defines a forest.
Jim Phelan Describes the Power of Narrative
Distinguished University Professor and Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor in the Department of English, Jim Phelan, also serves as Director of Medical Humanities and Director of Project Narrative. He joins David Staley to define narrative theory, identify the many audiences built into narratives, and discuss how “narrative competence enhances medical competence.”
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (Matter) Says Annika Peter
Annika Peter, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, works at the interface of particle physics and astronomy to discover the secrets of dark matter. She shares her research on galaxies, particles, and constellations.
Laughter and Disruption From Women Comedians with Prof. Linda Mizejewski
Linda Mizejewski, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, researches comedy and women comedians as well as women detectives in popular culture. She joins David Staley to discuss her research and suggests some great classic movies to watch.
Prof. Wendy Panero Talks About What It’s Like to Really Be Under Pressure
A Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and Director of the Mineral Physics Research Group, Wendy Panero studies the behavior of materials under the high pressure and temperature of the Earth’s interior.
Prof. Carmen Taleghani-Nikazm On How We Use Language to Get Help From Others
Carmen Taleghani-Nikazm, Professor of German, researches language interaction, often through conversation analysis. She joins David Staley to define conversation analysis and the role turn taking plays in conversation, among other areas.
Professor Brad Bushman: Mythbuster
“I want people to base their beliefs on research evidence rather than hunches,” says Brad Bushman, Professor of Communication and the Margaret Hall and Robert Randal Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication. Bushman studies the causes, consequences, and solutions to the problem of human aggression and violence, and shares his insights.
Prof. Piperata Looks at the Impact on Health of Adapting to Your Circumstances
Associate professor of anthropology Barbara Piperata applies an evolutionary and critical biocultural perspective to the study of nutritional anthropology, food security, and reproductive energetics. She’s especially interested in what happens to people’s health as they adapt to their circumstances. She explains her findings to David Staley on this week’s episode.
Finding a Celestial Needle in a “Haystack” of Similar Needles: Scott Gaudi’s Dilemma
Scott Gaudi, Thomas Jefferson Professor for Discovery and Space Exploration and University Distinguished Scholar in the Department of Astronomy, is an expert on extrasolar planets and astrobiology. His work with the KELT, Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope, led to the discovery of several planets.
Making App-ropriate Dance: Hannah Kosstrin Describes the KineScribe Program
Hannah Kosstrin, Associate Professor of Dance, researches dance, Jewish, and gender studies. She is Project Director for KineScribe, a Labanotation iPad app supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Tune in to hear her discussion of the app and how dance movements are recorded on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Morality is a Product of Our Emotions, Says Justin D’Arms
Professor of Philosophy, Justin D’Arms, researches moral theory, meta ethics, reason and rationality, evolutionary theory and the philosophy of emotion. His forthcoming book, Rational Sentimentalism, is an “articulation and defense of sentimentalist theory of value.”
The Impact of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the Greek Crisis on Greek Self-Identity
Georgios Anagnostou, Professor of Modern Greek and American Ethnic Studies, discusses the impact of the Greek debt crisis and pop culture representations of Greeks on Greek self identity, especially for those living outside of Greece.
“Columbus Is Perfectly Poised Right Now to Do Something That Toronto Initiated” Says Shoshanah Goldberg-Miller
An Assistant Professor in the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy, Shoshanah Goldberg-Miller researches arts and cultural entrepreneurship and creative economic development, among other areas. She argues that, like Toronto did a few years ago, Columbus is ready to implement a cultural plan to guide its development.
Do You Form a Mental Image of a Podcast Host? Kathryn Campbell-Kibler Has Research For You
Kathryn Campbell-Kibler, an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, researches sociolinguistic variation, small differences in pronunciation, word choice, and syntactic structures that listeners use to form an impression of a speaker. She also discusses her “See Your Speech” linguistics project, an interactive website that gives users visual displays based on acoustic analysis of their own speech.
What Popular Soft Drink Gets its Caffeine from Waste Tea Leaves and Coal? Bart Elmore Knows
Bart Elmore, Associate Professor of History, is a core faculty member of the Ohio State Sustainability Institute and author of the book Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca Cola Capitalism. He joins David Staley this week on Voices to discuss the history and business practices of large companies like Coca Cola, Monsanto, and Bayer.
Which Supreme Court Justice did Executive Dean Gretchen Ritter Interview?
Gretchen Ritter joins David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss the “amazing experience” of interviewing a sitting Supreme Court Justice and to describe her vision for the College of Arts and Sciences: encouraging more full-time students, promoting the value of a liberal arts education, and creating lifelong learners, among others.
When Proteins Go Wrong: Amanda Hummon’s Cancer Research
Amanda Hummon, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, researches the intersection of analytical chemistry and chemical biology with a focus on cancer biology, especially its origins and how different drugs can impact tumor growth. Join Dr. Hummon for her discussion with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Susan Melsop Describes How to Turn a Bridge Into a Community Resource Center
When São Paulo, Brazil, gifted an empty 12,000 square foot building to the city’s homeless, a world of opportunities and needs was created. Susan Melsop, an Associate Professor in the Ohio State Department of Design, had recently received the Ronald and Deborah Ratner Distinguished Teaching Award, which gave her the opportunity to create a social impact design project abroad. Over the course of several months, she developed academic and NGO partnerships in Brazil and formed a design class to illustrate how design can be an agent for change and social justice.
From Hammer to Nutcrackers to Pins: The Increasing Sophistication of Math with Roman Holowinsky
Math has been studied for thousands of years, so what could be left to discover? Plenty says Roman Holowinsky, associate professor of mathematics and the managing director and co-founder of the Erdős Institute. He studies analytic number theory and aims to find the simplest and most elegant way to accomplish a proof.
The Data About Your Steak Purchase Is More Valuable Than the Steak: Thomas Wood
Thomas Wood is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science who has worked on political campaigns such as Jeb Bush’s presidential run. He studies data use in campaigns and advertisement and shares with David Staley that the fact that a consumer has bought a mail order steak is more valuable than the actual steak sale, since this data can be sold to businesses that target this population.
Nandini Trivedi: How To Make Electrons Flow (Nearly) Forever
Ohio State University Professor of Physics Nandini Trivedi works in the area of theoretical physics, specifically on quantum Monte Carlo simulations, condensed matter theory, and cold atoms. She joins David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss how the rules of physics change when the scales get very small in quantum physics. Dr. Trivedi will also be the featured speaker at the December 1 Science Sundays event: https://artsandsciences.osu.edu/research/science-sundays
Theodora Dragostinova: “We Realized Change Might Be Possible Because the Tanks Did Not Show Up”
Department of History Associate Professor Theodora Dragostinova researches nation-building, refugee movements, and minority politics in Eastern Europe, with a particular emphasis on the Balkans. The 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has given her a chance to reconsider the events around this historical occasion and she discusses them with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence podcast.
Anna Gawboy on Realizing a Revolutionary Symphonic Vision From 1910
Anna Gawboy, Associate Professor in the School of Music at The Ohio State University College of the Arts and Sciences, researches the intersection of music theory, cultural history and multimedia with a special focus on visualized music. She has researched and staged Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s Prometheus, Poem of Fire, an audiovisual composition well ahead of its time that included lighting and pyrotechnics.
Amy Youngs Wants You to Get Inside of Photographs
Amy Youngs, an Associate Professor in the Department of Art at The Ohio State University College of the Arts and Sciences, creates biological art, interactive sculptures, and digital media works that explore relationships between technology and our changing concept of nature and self. Her exhibit at The Ohio State Urban Arts Center features photographs of Flushing Meadows, Corona Park that have been mapped into three-dimensional space, so viewers “feel like [they’re] there… and see these photographs as almost objects that [they] can pick up and move around.”
Two Million Photos, 150 Years: Time and Change at Ohio State
The Ohio State University Archives has a huge number of photographs, events, and stories that could have been included in the Ohio State University Press’s recent book Time and Change: 150 Years of The Ohio State University. The group behind the book–Tamar Chute, University Archivist; Tony SanFilippo, director of The Ohio State University Press; and Paul Nini, professor in the department of design–recently sat down with David Staley on Voices of Excellence to talk about the decisions that went into the production of the book.
Michael Poirier Wants to Know: Why Are Some Genes Used and Others Aren’t?
Professor of Physics, Michael Poirier, is a member of the Ohio State Biochemistry graduate and the Biophysics graduate programs. He joins David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to describe his research into biology with a physics approach that manipulates and looks at individual molecules.
Statistical Modeling Can Coax More Information Out of Medical Studies, Says Elly Kaizar
Statistical modeling can reveal many hidden facts, such as the best time to start certain treatments for childhood traumatic brain injuries. Elly Kaizar, Professor of Statistics, has shown that statistically combining data from several sources gives us the opportunity to learn more about treatment effectiveness as it varies with different treatment implementations and across populations. Prof. Kaizar discusses this topic and more ways statistical analyses can mitigate imperfect data collection with host David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Do You Laugh or Cry When a Character Cries on Screen? Asks Laura Podalsky
Professor and Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The Ohio State University College of the Arts and Sciences Laura Podalsky specializes in Latin American film and cultural studies and researches the relationship between Latin American culture, politics and socio-historical formations. Her latest project examines how films encourage us to respond with empathy or laughter to character emotions.
Studying Cell Communication Offers Insight into Development of Embryos and Cancer, Says Susan Cole
Susan Cole, Professor of Molecular Genetics at The Ohio State University College of the Arts and Sciences, joins David Staley on Voices of Excellence this week to discuss the role of cell communication in both the development of people from embryos to adults and the growth of cancer cells.
Can We Teach Hope? Jennifer Cheavens Says “Yes”
Jennifer Cheavens, Associate Professor of Psychology at The Ohio State University College of the Arts and Sciences, joins David Staley this week on Voices of Excellence podcast to discuss positive psychology, prosocial behavior, and how hope is defined as a research topic.
“Are Longer Commutes Necessarily Inefficient?” Morton O’Kelly Says Not Necessarily
Morton O’Kelly, Professor of Geography and Divisional Dean for the Social and Behavioral Sciences at The Ohio State University College of the Arts and Sciences, is fascinated by how things and people get from one place to another. He discusses whether Columbus is a more efficient city than San Diego or Las Vegas and if airlines that use point-to-point versus hub-and-spoke networks save or cost you money.
United States Nearly as Politically Polarized as Post-Civil War Mozambique: Paul Beck
Paul Beck, Professor Emeritus of Political Science in the College of the Arts and Sciences, co-coordinates the Comparative National Election Project, which surveys voters in dozens of countries to compare their views. He talks with David Staley about what the project reveals about democracies, including the United States, on this week’s Voices of Excellence.
Prof. John Beacom: Science Is Not About Trying to Memorize What’s in a Book
Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy John Beacom describes neutrinos, the fun part of science–learning something new–and the importance of science outreach for introducing young people to the field. To this end, Beacom leads the college’s Science Sundays events, whose season begins this Sunday at 3 PM at the Ohio Union U.S. Bank Conference Theater.
Professor David Horn on Cultural and Historical Studies of Science
Professor of Comparative Studies David Horn describes the history of spiritism, automatic writing, and other human sciences of the 19th century on Voices of Excellence.
Why Are We Fascinated by Horrifying or Sad Stories? Michael Slater Has Some Thoughts
Director of the School of Communications and distinguished professor Michael Slater has researched media influence on youth behavior, as well as the impact of social media on its users.
The Foundation of All Universities Is in Arts and Sciences, Says Professor Janet Box-Steffensmeier
Janet Box-Steffensmeier stepped down as the Interim Executive Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University in July to return to being the Vernal Riffe Professor of Political Science. She joins David Staley to discuss the extension of the university’s land grant mission and her return to studying coalition behavior in politics.
Diaspora, Beyoncé, and Law School: Prof. Simone Drake’s Academic Journeys
Simone Drake, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of African American and African Studies, discusses her latest book, When We Imagine Grace: Black Men and Subject Making.
Jim Fowler Sees Math Everywhere
“It encompasses practically everything I do in some capacity or another,” Jim Fowler tells David Staley on the Voices of Excellence podcast. Fowler, an Assistant Professor of mathematics at The Ohio State University College of the Arts and Sciences, researches geometry and topology and uses computational techniques to attack problems in pure mathematics.
Asteroids Isn’t Just Fun to Play; It Has Great Physics, Says Professor Chris Orban
An Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, Chris Orban specializes in computational physics and uses video games like Asteroids and Angry Birds to demonstrate coding and physics to his freshman classes at the Marion campus.
What’s French? Prof. Danielle Marx-Scouras Moves Us Beyond Paris
When Americans think of France, they often think of Paris. But many other locations and cultures thrive in France, such as the Toulousain rock band Zebda, whose activities French & Italian Professor Danielle Marx-Scouras chronicles in her book La France de Zebda. She discusses French culture and politics with David Staley on the Voices of Excellence podcast.
Karen Hutzel Describes the Making of Art and Cultural Policy
Associate Professor Karen Hutzel is Chair of the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy and interim Chair of the Department of Art. She recently discussed cultural policy and collaborative art making with David Staley on the Voices of Excellence podcast.
Hearing Loss Can Slow Learning to Read, Says Prof. Gail Whitelaw
Gail Whitelaw, Clinical Associate Professor of Audiology in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, joins David Staley on Voices of Excellence to discuss audiology, the importance of early hearing loss detection, and the impact of hearing loss on learning to read.
Tomorrow, The World: Vice Provost Gil Latz Describes the Global Reach of The Ohio State University
As the Vice Provost for Global Strategies and International Affairs, Professor of Geography Gil Latz leads development of Ohio State’s global engagement strategy: international research partnerships, recruitment of international students, and study abroad. With regional offices in Shanghai, China; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Mumbai, India, and areas in between, Ohio State’s global presence must be handled carefully and grown, a primary responsibility of Dr. Latz’s leadership appointment in the Office of Academic Affairs.
The Case of the Murderer Caught by Speech Scientist Robert Fox
In addition to his many publications and academic achievements, Professor and Chair of the Department of Speech and Hearing Science Robert Fox consults about forensic phonetics, including a 2003 murder trial that was resolved with his expertise and audiology technology.
Screening Trafficking: Yana Hashamova Describes Media Depictions of Human Trafficking
Films and TV productions about human trafficking made by Eastern and Western European companies don’t differ in outlook as much as one might expect. Yana Hashamova’s latest book, Screening Trafficking, looks at this topic through a cultural lens.
Why Do Viewers Find TV Mobsters So Attractive? Prof. Dana Renga Has a Theory
A sympathetic treatment of people who do horrible things seems hard to justify. So why are such depictions so common with mafia movies and tv, especially in Italy? Professor Dana Renga’s new book Watching Sympathetic Perpetrators on Italian Television: Gomorrah and Beyond offers the first comprehensive study of recent, popular Italian television.
How Did U.S. Supreme Court Justices Divide Along Party Lines? Lawrence Baum Knows
We tend to think of a Supreme Court in which Justices divide along party lines as the way it’s always been. But that’s not the case, according to legal scholar Lawrence Baum, whose research points to these party-line divisions as being a relatively recent phenomenon.
Controlling Your Microbes: Michael Ibba
Humans have at least as many microbial as human cells on and in their bodies. These microbes can be beneficial or destructive, and Professor Michael Ibba describes what happens when these microbes get out of control through antibiotic resistance and how Ohio State is working for better health outcomes.
Professor Barry Shank Says Musical Beauty Builds Community
Professor Shank’s latest book explores the power of music to create community, and he discusses this along with a history of Comparative Studies and how greeting cards maintain social connections.
Provost: Ohio State Should Be In ‘The Room Where It Happens’
Citing the song from Hamilton, Provost Bruce A. McPheron says Ohio State should be “in the room where it happens” for higher education topics, ranging from the student experience to teaching and learning.
How Did Precious Lapis Lazuli End Up on the Teeth of a Medieval Nun? Alison Beach Has Some Ideas
When researchers studying the teeth of a medieval woman excavated in a dig near Dalheim, Germany found something strange, they knew the right person to call: Professor Alison Beach. Her expertise in twelfth-century female scribes helped to document that women were heavily involved in the creation of illuminated manuscripts.
Professor Osei Appiah Describes How We Move Beyond Racial Prejudice to Form a More Perfect Union
News images of racial conflict are contradicted by the fact that society is becoming increasingly progressive and accepting of diversity. One key indicator of progress may be increasing instances of mediated interracial interaction, facilitated though a process of cultural voyeurism. Join Professor and Associate Director of the Ohio State University School of Communications Osei Appiah in a conversion about this concept and more.
Cultivation of Corn Caused Problems for Early Humans, Says Clark Larsen
As humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to farmers, their diet influenced their health greatly. Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Clark Larson’s research shows that “in much of North America, wherever corn agriculture happens relatively late in pre-history, health begins to decline.”
What Do Spanish, Quechua, and DACA Have In Common? A Linguist Named Babel
Anna Babel, Associate Professor of Hispanic Linguistics in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, spent 17 years gathering ethnographic data for her 2018 book, Language at the Border of the Andes and the Amazon. She discusses how language use creates similarities and differences among speakers of Spanish and Quechua with host David Staley. She then turns to a topic closer to home, her experience leading ally trainings for campus community members interested in supporting undocumented students.
Can’t Make Decisions? Prof. Ellen Peters’ Research Can Help You Understand Why
Ellen Peters, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Director of the Decision Sciences Collaborative, joins David Staley to discuss judgment, decision making and choice architecture, as well as Prof. Peters’ forthcoming book, Innumeracy in the Wild: Misunderstanding and Misusing Numbers.
Bord(hers) Around Bodies: Professor Lucille Toth Describes the Power of Dance
Going through an airport security checkpoint calls for people to enact the same physical movements. The Bord(hers) improvisational dance project created by Lucille Toth, assistant professor of French at The Ohio State University Newark campus, aims to explore these motions and ask how borders impact immigrants.
Harvey Miller Uses New Mobility Data to Understand Cities and Transportation
Trucks, buses, autonomous cars, scooters and bikes: everyone is crowding onto roadways. Professor and Chair of Geographic Information Science in the Department of Geography Harvey Miller talks with David Staley about how GIS can help make sense of it all.
Jennifer Schlueter: Making Found Text into Theatrical Events
So you’ve found a 28-volume transcription of a 1920s spiritualist who believed a thwarted seventeenth century authoress spoke through her. What do you do? Theatre Professor Jennifer Schlueter’s approach with this and other texts is to work with collaborators to create performance events built out of archival material. Listen in as she describes her process and how, with experimental work, sometimes failure is the best teacher.
What Should You Do During a Bank Run? Professor Peck Gives Advice
Professor Jim Peck, interim chair of the Department of Economics, describes what causes bank runs, whether Federal Deposit Insurance works to prevent them, and what financial crises qualify as bank runs.
Scientific Curiosity Is in the Blood Says Irina Artsimovitch
Her grandfather is credited with saying “Science is a way to pursue one’s sense of inquiry at the expense of the State,” so it’s no surprise that Irina Artsimovich has a passion for science, including “trying to channel [her curiosity] to find new antibiotics because we desperately need them.”
Sarah Iles Johnston Sees Stories As Creating Meaning and Beliefs
Professor Sarah Iles Johnston joins David Staley to discuss how myths and engaging narratives of all kinds—including modern narratives such as Lord of the Rings—create belief, and the way that telling stories might have contributed to human survival.
Claudia Buchmann Looks At Gender Reversal In Higher Education
Over the past 50 years, the percentage of women attaining degrees in higher education has risen to 56% of all college degrees. Professor Buchmann discusses the history and impact of this change with David Staley on Voices of Excellence from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Professor Mytheli Sreenivas Asks: “Are Families Primarily Economic or Emotional Units?”
Mytheli Sreenivas, Associate Professor in the Department of History and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, describes her research and her award-winning book, Wives, Widows, Concubines: The Conjugal Family Ideal in Colonial India.
Wendy Smooth On the Impact of Race and Gender on Legislators’ Power
“If you don’t have a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” Join Wendy Smooth, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as she discusses her research into the roles that race and gender play in establishing influence in legislatures.
What’s the Intersection of War and Math? It’s Where Bear Braumoeller’s Research Happens
Join Bear Braumoeller and host David Staley for a discussion of how data analytics apply to geopolitics, including those times when the computer models fail to account for the actions of global players in maintaining international order.
Not Your Grandparents’ English, Says Janice Aski
“I’m fascinating with how languages change,” says French and Italian Professor Janice Aski. Join her and David Staley for a discussion of the ways that languages change and why interest in learning another language is decreasing in the United States at exactly the time it needs to be increasing.
Trailblazing Female Dance Giants Get New Attention Thanks to Harmony Bench
Katherine Dunham and Anna Pavlova were remarkable for their eras, and Harmony Bench describes how they brought innovations to dance, not only in their on-stage work but in how they traveled the world.
One Cool CATalyst: Robert Baker Works to Convert CO2 to a Fuel
L. Robert Baker is an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences. He is a recipient of a US Department of Energy Early Career Award and researches ways to make a fuel from CO2.
Hannah Shafaat Looks Deep into the Oceans and Gets Answers
Professor of Chemistry Hannah Shafaat knows what lurks way below the ocean’s surface and she’ll talk about the research that garnered her a Department of Energy Early Career Award.
Yuan-Ming Lu Describes the Surprising Connection Between the Avengers’ Thanos and Condensed Matter
Ohio State University Physics Professor Yuan-Ming Lu is a National Science Foundation Career Award winner and a condensed matter theorist. Tune in to learn more about this fascinating field when Professor Lu talks to David Staley on Voices of Excellence from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Paloma Martinez-Cruz Seeks New Philosophers
Paloma Martinez-Cruz, Associate Professor of Latinx Cultural and Literary Studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, joins David Staley to discuss decolonial feminism, Chicano/Latino studies, performance studies, and Mesoamerican culture.
Ann Hamilton’s Creativity Secret? Work Comes from Paying Attention
The work of Ohioan, visual artist, and educator Ann Hamilton has been described as “internationally recognized for the sensory surrounds of her large-scale multi-media installations.” She joins host David Staley to discuss her work including her latest installation, at the Cortlandt -World Trade Center Station, called CHORUS.
Steve Quiring Keeps an Eye on Temperatures Across the Globe
Ohio State University Geography Professor Steven Quiring is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Career award for his work with Drought Predictability and the Role of Land-Atmosphere Interactions in the U.S. Great Plains.
Ann Cook Identifies the Most Pressing Continent for Global Change (It’s Not What You Think)
School of Earth Sciences Assistant Professor Ann Cook aims to fill in the gaps in the scientific understanding of natural gas hydrates.
Abraham Badu Looks for Affordable Diagnostic Tools
Professor Abraham Badu-Tawiah is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Ohio State University where he studies photochemistry in droplets and disease diagnosis. He’s a recipient of an Early Career Award from the Department of Energy, an Eli Lilly Young Investigator Award in Analytical Chemistry, and most recently an American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Arthur F. Findeis Award for Achievements by a Young Analytical Scientist.
Frederick Luis Aldama Takes Comics Seriously
David Staley and Frederick Luis Aldama discuss Aldama’s recent Eisner award for his book Latinx Superheroes in Mainstream Comics, Aldama’s formative years with comics, and why comics have become an area of scrutiny for academics.
Michael Neblo is Optimistic about Democracy
Michael Neblo is an Associate Professor in the Ohio State University Department of Political Science, an affiliated faculty in the department of philosophy, and the Director of the Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability (IDEA). His research focuses on deliberative democracy and political psychology. His new book, Politics with the People: Building a Directly Representative Democracy, develops and tests a new model of politics connecting citizens and elected officials to improve representative government.