The Ohio State University

Jeanne Serb: The Eyes Have It

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Jeanne Serb, professor and chair of the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, grew up fascinated by animals. She turned that interest into a successful career researching how organisms sense environmental cues and how sensory systems evolve.

She describes to host David Staley how eyes evolved independently across animals, and outlines her research on marine bivalves (scallops, oysters, mussels), showing five independent origins of eyes. If you didn’t know that scallops and jellyfish have eyes, this is the podcast for you!

Shuai Huang: Understanding How Plants Defend Themselves

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Shuai Huang, assistant professor of molecular genetics and NSF CAREER awardee, researches how plants defend themselves. Although plants lack specialized immune cells, each cell has immune receptors and can mount responses against bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, viruses, and other pathogens. Huang’s lab identifies genes, pathways, and signaling molecules involved in plant defense and discovered that many cellular molecules rapidly cluster into membrane-free “biomolecular condensates” via liquid-liquid phase separation, assembling quickly under stress and disassembling when the job is done.

Huang aims to engineer condensates to improve resistance without reducing growth and to study roles in mechanical and abiotic stress responses relevant to climate change and food security.

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Kristen Lindquist: The Brain Didn’t Evolve for Thought

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Kristen Lindquist, professor of psychology, shares her research with host David Staley. Lindquist researches what emotions are and how the brain creates them. She challenges the common view that emotions are triggered, instinctive packages generated by dedicated brain centers like the amygdala. Lindquist summarizes neuroimaging evidence that the amygdala is neither consistent nor specific to fear and that emotions involve whole-brain patterns including regions linked to language, memory, and abstract knowledge. She argues emotions are constructed through predictive processes shaped by personal experience, social learning, and cultural narratives, with implications for treatment. Lindquist closes by describing lifespan research using daily-life sampling, physiology, brain scans, and planned longitudinal follow-up.

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Charles O. Anderson: Kinetic Storyteller and Ohio State University Artist Laureate

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Charles O. Anderson, OSU’s fourth artist laureate, professor of dance, and founder of the Afro contemporary Charles O. Anderson Dance Theater X, discusses being a “kinetic storyteller.” Anderson prefers this term because it understands movement as knowledge production, memory transmission, and meaning-making shaped. His choreography is influenced by Black church and club cultures and emphasizes how bodies carry histories somatically through gesture, rhythm, and proximity. Anderson’s choreography embodies behavior from sources like tension, social anxiety, and everyday observations . and defines “Afro contemporary” as embracing experimental identity beyond “traditional African dance.” Anderson describes Recurrent Unrest, developed amid early Black Lives Matter influences and set to Steve Reich, as a cumulative, polyrhythmic exploration of civil unrest that also included a reparations initiative to bring impacted communities into concert dance; it became a film during the pandemic. He outlines his laureate project Croatoa: Re-Singing America’s Next 250 Years, with statewide community testimony, “wailing wall” artifacts, and inclusive performance, and shares his late start in dance, career path, and current work Re-Singing From the Underspace with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

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Danielle Schoon: Teaching in Multiple Departments

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Danielle Schoon, assistant teaching professor of sociology, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) fellow, and recipient of the Ohio State University’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, discusses her many areas of expertise with host David Staley.

Schoon, trained in cultural anthropology with earlier work in dance studies and Middle Eastern studies, emphasizes culture and power and explains how metacognition and transparent course design help students become partners in learning. She describes COIL, which connects OSU students with peers at international institutions for 5–8 week collaborative projects, and discusses challenges such as time zones, unequal language burdens, tool selection, accessibility, and differing definitions of success, with emphasis on learning processes over polished products.

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Replay Wednesday: Can We Avoid Repeating History?

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Christopher McKnight Nichols speaking on stage

On the 250th Anniversary of the United States, take a minute to reflect on Christopher McKnight Nichols’ question of “Can Those Who Know History Avoid Repeating It?”

Nick Passalacqua Makes No Bones about Anthropology’s Value

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Nick Passalacqua, associate professor of anthropology, discusses how anthropologists recover and analyze skeletal remains to build biological profiles including age, sex, stature, and ancestry. He contrasts real methods with those of TV dramas (such as Bones), noting the field relies on careful measurement and collaboration rather than flashy technology. Ethics remain central, guiding respectful treatment of the dead and their families. Ultimately, forensic anthropology serves a humanitarian mission: returning individuals to their communities. The program at Ohio State is expanding rapidly and training the next generation of professionals.

Steve MacEachern: Odds Were Always Good He’d Work in Statistics

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Steve MacEachern, distinguished professor of statistics, discusses his field, how he got into statistics, and what feature he has to have in his job.

MacEachern earned a doctorate at the University of Minnesota, researching Bayesian methods, a way to use probability to represent uncertainty via prior and posterior distributions informed by data.

He sees statistics as different from data science/analytics because statistics emphasizes modeling and inference, while data science adds large-scale data capture and wrangling, often from computer science.

MacEachern discusses modern statistics’ growing focus on prediction in platforms like search and e-commerce, contrasts hard-science versus human-centered data, and outlines current research challenges driven by AI and massive predictor sets.

Dale Gnidovec: Dinosaurs Are Like Measles

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“I’ve loved dinosaurs since I was a little kid. A lot of kids like dinosaurs. It’s sort of like measles: most kids get it, most kids get over it. I never got over it. I still love dinosaurs.”

Dale Gnidovec, collections manager and curator of the Orton Geological Museum, received the Ohio Department of Natural Resources 2025 Cardinal Award, which recognizes individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to conservation and environmental education in Ohio. This episode features Gnidovec giving David Staley a tour of the Orton Museum, something you can do in person almost any weekday or any time at all online.

Ryan Joyce: How Former Colonies Recover

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Ryan Joyce, assistant professor of French and Francophone Studies, researches decolonization, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic World. His scholarship foregrounds the study of creolization, gender and sexuality, diaspora and migration, performance, and marronage (slaves escaping captivity). Joyce is especially interested in decolonization, the ways former colonies reclaim their economic, political and cultural autonomy. Joyce argues for the contemporary relevance of this process in Ohio due to its continued influence on large Haitian communities in Springfield and Columbus. Joyce discusses his decolonization seminar that was supported by OSU Special Collections, his Engaged Scholars Academy experience, and his plans for an expanded free public Creole course and a marronage monograph.

Stuart Ludsin and the Mystery of the Yellow Perch

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What’s causing yellow perch to disappear from Lake Erie’s waters? Ohio State professor of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Stuart Ludsin is on the case. One part of his research is a look at Lake Erie where he suspects the spiny water flea, a half-inch invasive zooplankton with a barbed spine, to play a role in the declining catch rates of yellow perch. The flea’s abundance may seem like a positive for hungry perch but its impact on perch digestive may causing problems. Elsewhere in the lake, an exploding walleye population may also be devouring young yellow perch after eliminating their preferred prey like gizzard shad and emerald shiners. Listen in to hear how Ludsin’s team uses novel genetics approaches to track walleye diets and understand these ecosystem shifts.

Empirical Economics with Lucia Dunn

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Lucia Dunn, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics, studies a wide range of topics in the realm of empirical economics. She talks about her vast body of research, which covers topics from baseball cards and credit cards to wages in the U.S. Army. Dunn discusses her research emphasis on labor market economics, where she’s employed many unconventional methodologies like in-person interviews to provide more comprehensive data and conclusions. She also talks about the value of survey data generated by the OSU Center for Human Resource Research, which allowed herself and her fellow researchers unique access to valuable, more specific data.

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John E. Davidson: Film, History, and Memory in Post-War Germany

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John E. Davidson, Professor of Germanic Languages and Literature and Founding Director of OSU’s Film Studies program, discusses film as a field of study and its power to shape social memory. Davidson outlines recent research on the postwar “disappearance of race” in Germany and the work of Dadaist Hans Arp and his contemporaries. He also talks about his role as Faculty Athletics Representative, which he’s held since 2015, advising on academic issues, compliance, and student-athlete wellbeing, offering views on NIL and skepticism about a proposed “sports” major.

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Felecia Ross on the History and Importance of the Black Press

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Felecia Ross, Associate Professor in the School of Communication, discusses her research and writing on the history and influence of the Black press. She describes her field research contributions to the PBS documentary Bombshell, particularly journalist Charles Loeb and his reporting on the truth about radiation casualties in Hiroshima. Ross also describes other projects, including one on Booker T. Washington’s influence on the Black press and the remembrance of the Reconstruction Era and the Civil War.

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Nima Dahir: How Race and Immigration Shape Neighborhoods and Lives

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Nima Dahir, Assistant Professor and Provost’s Fellow in the Department of Sociology, discusses her research in urban sociology and the intersections of race, ethnicity, and immigration. She talks about a current project on the historic presence of Black immigrants in cities, including New York’s Harlem neighborhood and Columbus, and their portrayal in both media and government documents. She also discusses other projects she has worked on, namely “Re-learning to be a woman: virtual space and post-migration womanhood in the Somali diaspora”, where she used a public phone line to further understand how Somali Women “learn and practice the new identity of ‘immigrant woman’”.

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Agus Munoz-Garcia: From Cockroaches to Cancer Research

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Agus Munoz-Garcia, Associate Professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at the Ohio State Mansfield Campus, explains his research in physiological ecology, including studies on resource allocation (how animals distribute limited nutrients among different biological functions) using a unique cockroach species that he raises in the lab. He also discusses his current research project with fellow Ohio State Professor Karl Obrietan in the Neuroscience Department, where they are investigating the possible applications of controlling regulatory proteins in the treatment of cancer.

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John Hunter: Paleontology, Evolution, and Prehistoric Teeth

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John Hunter, Associate Professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at the Ohio State Newark campus, discusses his research in the evolution, paleoecology, and biogeography of mammals and dinosaurs. He talks about his recently published research on duck-billed dinosaurs, where he studied roughly 75 to 80 million year old fossils found in Montana. Hunter also explains his focus on teeth within his research, elaborating on the unique and beneficial properties of teeth to paleontologists and what they can show us about how different animals lived and evolved.

John Hunter holding tooth rows of duckbill dinosaurs: (1) Adult, (2) nestling, and (3) hatchling. Photo Credit: Karen Goodell

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Klaus Honscheid on Unraveling the Mystery of Dark Energy

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Klaus Honscheid, Professor of Physics, talks about dark energy, dark matter, and his work on the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). He discusses the universe’s accelerating expansion, the unknowns of dark energy, and how working with cosmology has impacted his view on human life and history. Honscheid recently delivered the 16th Annual Biard Lecture, hosted by Ohio State’s Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics. Honscheid outlined his extensive contributions to DESI, and the questions these contributions are helping scientists answer about the universe.

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Asking the Deep Questions with Kurt Gray

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Kurt Gray, Professor and Weary Foundation Endowed Chair in Social Psychology at the Ohio State University, talks about his research on morality, political division, beliefs, and polarization. He discusses his novel, Outraged: Why we Fight about Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground, in which he makes conclusions about division, common morals, and possible ways to bridge gaps between opposing groups. Gray also delves into his work with the Deepest Beliefs Lab and the Collaborative on the Science of Polarization and Misinformation, where he works with graduate and undergraduate students from all across the College of the Arts and Sciences.

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David Brewer on the Magic of Literature

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David Brewer, Associate Professor in the Department of English, talks about his research on 18th-century literary culture, the history of the book, and the fantastical and historical functions of magic. He discusses his upcoming book project The Fate of Authors, which challenges conventional literary-historical narratives and emphasizes the impact of reputation on authors in the 18th century. He also speaks on several classes he’s taught, including a book history class that ended with students researching and curating texts from the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library here at Ohio State.

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Chris Coleman: Critical Arts Engineer

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Chris Coleman, Professor of Arts and Director of ACCAD (the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design), describes his identity as a “critical arts engineer,” who translates technology for creative practice. He recounts leaving mechanical engineering for art, and explains how his work in sculpture, animation, creative coding, and interactive installations focuses on complex systems, control, and how people experience space and time. Coleman also discusses several upcoming projects, including his significant work with the Clinic for Open Source Arts along with fellow Ohio State Professor of Art and Technology, Laleh Mehran.

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Hollie Nyseth Nzitatira: Forecasting, Preventing, and Recovering From Genocide

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Hollie Nyseth Nzitatira, Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Sociology, discusses her board range of work in the field of genocide studies. She explains the concept and legal definition of genocide, rooted in the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, and shares insights into her research on forecasting and preventing future genocides. Nzitatira has worked with both the US and UK governments to predict regions at risk, and has explored the challenges of midstream interventions during ongoing genocides and the complexities of post-genocide recovery, particularly in Rwanda. Additionally, she highlights her ongoing projects, which include a study abroad program in Rwanda, a forthcoming book on rescue during genocide, and the development of a forecasting initiative centered here at The Ohio State University.

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Nathan Whelan: Rediscovering the Extinct

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Nathan Whelan, Associate Professor of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology and Director of the Museum of Biological Diversity, discusses the core mission of the museum. The museum focuses on research rather than public exhibits, emphasizing the importance of understanding and documenting natural history through collections of various organisms such as mollusks, insects, plants, birds, and mammals. He highlights the significance of freshwater mollusks in maintaining healthy ecosystems and outlines his lab’s efforts in using genomic data to understand and conserve these organisms. Whelan shares instances of discovering species thought to be extinct, adding to the conservation initiatives. He also describes plans to expand the museum’s engagement with the community with outreach events, including the Open House on March 28th, 2026.

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Exploring Icy Extremes with Melisa Diaz

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Melisa Diaz, Assistant Professor in Earth Sciences, specializes in geochemistry and the study of the cryosphere. She discusses her broad research interests, including her focus on the Antarctic and Arctic, urban geochemistry, and the environmental impact of redlining. Diaz elaborates on her role as a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, her work on Greenland’s periodic lake drainage, astrobiology, and research on ocean worlds. The conversation also touches upon her outreach initiatives like the “Girls on Rock” program, which aims to inspire young women to pursue science, and her efforts to intersect science, storytelling, and art to make research more inclusive and accessible.

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Joyce Chen: A Humanistic View of Economics

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Dr. Joyce Chen, Professor of Economics in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at The Ohio State University, discusses her research and teaching at the intersection of economics and societal contexts. She highlights how she integrates a feminist and humanistic approach to economics, developing courses such as “Data Feminism”, which teaches students to apply new ways of thinking to data analysis. The conversation also touches on Dr. Chen’s research on climate-induced migration in Bangladesh, as well as her focus on aiding communities and non-profits through research insights.

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George Rush: Beyond Rural Landscapes

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George Rush, Professor of Art at The Ohio State University, delves into his recent work, including international exhibitions Curtain Walls in Mexico City and Dresden Cabinet in Germany. Rush discusses the integration of site characteristics into his works, his use of photography and collage, and his exploration of themes like urban landscapes and architecture. Rush also reflects on the evolution of his practice and creative process, as well as his future projects that include exploring overlooked parts of Columbus, Ohio.

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Nicole Kraft: The Power of Journalism

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Nicole Kraft, Professor of Journalism Practice at Ohio State University and Director of the Sports and Society Initiative, emphasizes the critical role of journalism in sustaining democracy and ensuring the public receives accurate information. She outlines the challenges now facing journalism, often in differentiating authentic journalism from misinformation. Kraft describes solutions journalism, highlighting its importance in advocating for societal improvements. Kraft will present as part of the Science Sundays series on January 11, 2026.

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Music on the Move with Danielle Fosler-Lussier

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Danielle Fosler-Lussier, Professor of Musicology, discusses her research in historical and social inquiries about music. She describes the focus of her third book, Music on the Move, which examines how music migrates and adapts through technology as well as sociopolitical and cultural interactions. Music on the Move is a digital open access work with multimedia elements, a mode that has allowed her work to reach wider audiences in more accessible ways. With host David Staley, she delves into her work on music within U.S. cultural diplomacy and directorship of the Imagine Futures Initiative through the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme.

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Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan on Contemporary Family Dynamics

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Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, Professor of Developmental Psychology, discusses her research on family dynamics, particularly focusing on father-child relationships, co-parenting, and the transition into parenthood. She talks about the New Parents Project, which has followed nearly 200 couples from pregnancy through their child’s early years, examining the impact of factors like maternal gatekeeping and parental leave on father involvement and parenting quality. Schoppe-Sullivan also touches on her research methods, including the use of video observations and time diaries, and how these methods provide novel insights into family interactions.

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Harvey Miller: Mapping the  Ghost Neighborhoods of Columbus

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Harvey Miller, professor of geography and Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis, discusses his project “Ghost Neighborhoods of Columbus,” which uses AI, machine learning, and GIS to extract data from historic Sanborn fire insurance maps and construct 3D virtual models of neighborhoods that have been altered or destroyed by urban renewal, highway construction, and redlining.

The project is a collaboration with Ohio History Connection and incorporates oral histories, archival photos, and VR experiences to preserve cultural memory.

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Classical Reception: Harriet Fertik on Returning to Antiquity

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Harriet Fertik, Associate Professor in the Department of Classics, discusses her research in classical reception, as well as her focus on literature and political thought in the early Roman empire. She speaks on her most recent project, Traditions Lost and Found: W. E. B. Du Bois, Hannah Arendt, and Classical Antiquity, which explores the intersections of these two thinkers and their uses of classical antiquity in their respective works. Fertik also talks about her involvement with the group Eos, a society dedicated to Africana receptions of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as the Ohio State Humanities Institute working group “Metaphors of Reception, Reception as Metaphor”.

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 Behind the Curtain with Professor EJ Westlake 

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 EJ Westlake, Professor and Chair of Theatre, Film and Media Arts, shares insights into her vast and varied work with plays, which includes her experiences directing, writing, and conducting research. She discusses her award-winning play about Amelia Earhart’s life, exploits, and ultimate tragedy. She also speaks on her many research and academic interests, including historical pageants, Nicaraguan and Guatemalan theater, and the larger scale of global theater, which she writes about in the textbook World Theatre: The Basics, soon to be released in its second edition.

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Sarah Neville: Exploring the Bounds of Book History

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Sarah Neville, Associate Professor of English and Theater, Film, and Media Arts, discusses her role as a book historian, editorial theorist, and creative director of Lord Denney’s Players. Neville emphasizes the importance of the materiality of books, not just as containers for text, but as objects that hold meaning and historical significance. Neville also elaborates on her work with editorial theory, specifically how scholars determine the true text of Shakespearean works given the lack of original manuscripts. She talks about Lord Denney’s Players, an academic theater company at Ohio State, and their unique approach to exploring textual questions in Shakespeare’s plays through performance.

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Kym McDaniel: Artist, Educator, Intuitive Filmmaker

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Kym McDaniel, Assistant Professor of Dance, shares her wide range of experiences with experimental filmmaking, dance, writing, interdisciplinary art, choreography, education, and the world of disability studies. She talks about her body of work, which is often informed by personal and perceived experiences of disability, injury, and trauma, with her recent film Document with No End examining the intertwining of environmental crises and personal illness. Professor McDaniel also discusses her intuitive creative process and an ongoing project involving undergraduate students at Ohio State.

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Yuan-Sen Ting: How AI is Impacting Science Research

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Yuan-Sen Ting, Associate Professor of Astronomy and a member of the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, discusses his innovative research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and astronomy. He uses large language models as agents to aid in astronomical research. He explains the concept of agentic research, how AI assists in tasks such as identifying outlier data from telescopic observations, and the potential and limitations of AI in complementing human researchers. Dr. Ting also talks about his background in mathematical physics, his interest in non-intrusive applications of AI, and the future of AI in scientific research. He emphasizes the importance of teaching students to use and critically assess AI outputs in their work.

You may also be interested in Dr. Ting’s Science Sundays discussion

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John Herbert: Not All Science is Going to Take Us to the Moon – And That’s Okay

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John Herbert, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, discusses his work in computational molecular quantum mechanics and quantum chemistry with host David Staley. Herbert describes machine learning, cost-effective training data for AI models and the need for low-cost computational methods, which he calls “computing for the proletariat”. Professor Herbert also shares his insights on the culture of academic science, advocating for a reevaluation of the current “great man approach” towards research and innovation.

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Nyama McCarthy-Brown: Everybody is a Dancer

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Nyama McCarthy-Brown, Associate Professor of Dance Pedagogy through Community Engagement, discusses her work and achievements in dance pedagogy and community engagement. She also talks about the Ohio State Artist Laureate program, and her experience as the inaugural Laureate in 2023. Dr. Brown talks with host David Staley about her book, Skin Colored Pointes, which explores the experiences of women of color in ballet, and how her pedagogical work aims to honor diverse dance histories.

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Adam Fromme: Designing the Future

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Adam Fromme, Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Design and contributor to the College of Nursing’s Master of Healthcare Innovation Program, discusses his podcast, Thinking Through Design, which explores the process and mindset behind design work. With host David Staley, he discusses the origins and target audience of the podcast, the importance of in-person interviews, and the recursive design framework he has developed to aid fellow designers, instructors, and students.

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Catalina Iannone: Iberian Urban Explorer

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Catalina Iannone, Assistant Professor of Spanish & Portuguese, discusses her work in urban and Iberian cultural studies. She explains how cultural studies explores texts produced by societies, including literature, advertisements, and urban spaces themselves. Her research and book Cities Beyond Crisis focus on the evolution of historically marginalized neighborhoods in Madrid and Lisbon, examining how they have been gentrified and branded for tourism, and the racial and cultural implications of these transformations. Iannone’s “Atlas of Resistance” project is a deep mapping initiative that aims to visualize the complexities of urban changes and cultural texts in Madrid.

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Bryan Carstens: How AI Can Predict Undescribed Mammals

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Bryan Carstens, Professor of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, discusses his research on phylogeography, molecular ecology, and systematics. Carstens’ lab uses genetic data to understand the evolutionary history of animals. A bat biologist by training, he delves into fieldwork processes, the importance of museum collections, and technological advancements like DNA sequencing and AI in his research. Carstens discusses with host David Staley his notable projects, such as a study predicting undescribed mammals using data science and AI models and ongoing work studying the shapes of bat skulls to understand early stages of species diversification.

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Voices EXTRA: Roman Suer on the 2025 Barbara and Sheldon Pinchuk Award

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Roman Suer, Arts Scholars Program Manager and recipient of the 2025 Barbara and Sheldon Pinchuk Arts – Community Outreach Award, discusses his award and the details and objectives of the Arts Scholars Program. Suer received the Pinchuk Arts Community Outreach Award for his work on a high school arts incubator project. The program provides applied learning experiences that connect classroom knowledge to real-world environments, encouraging students from a variety of disciplines to engage with the arts. Suer and host David Staley review the program’s emphasis on storytelling, creative identity, and career exploration.

This is the first in an occasional series of interviews with Ohio State College of Arts and Sciences staff.

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Dehua Pei: How Do Large Molecules Pass Through Cell Membranes?

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Dehua Pei, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, discusses his groundbreaking research on how biomolecules, particularly large proteins, traverse cell membranes. This fundamental question has significant implications for drug discovery. His team has identified a new mechanism they call vesicle budding and collapse (VBC) and is exploring its potential to deliver therapeutic agents for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. Pei and host David Staley discuss the importance of combining curiosity-driven research with societal needs, aiming to solve “undruggable” diseases (those lacking drug treatments) and improve sustainable agriculture. He also describes his journey from doing fundamental research to founding four biotech companies.

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Sultana Nahar: Eye on the Sky

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Sultana Nahar, research professor in the Department of Astronomy and 2025 recipient of the William Fowler Award for Research from the Eastern Great Lakes Section of the American Physical Society, discusses her innovative research in atomic astrophysics, including her notable contributions to the NORAD atomic database and the book Atomic Astrophysics and Spectroscopy. She explores the interdisciplinary bridge between physics and astronomy, explaining how her work helps understand astrophysical plasmas and their applications. Profs Staley and Nahar review her work detecting extraterrestrial life through phosphorus spectroscopy, her unique method of using x-rays in medical applications derived from black hole studies, and the study of the sun’s opacity for better astronomical standards.

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Ashley Hope Pérez: Exploring Uncomfortable Narratives in Literature

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Ashley Hope Pérez, Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Studies, discusses her latest book, Deformative Fictions: Narrative Ethics and Cruelty in Twentieth-Century Latin American Literature. Pérez explores difficult and uncomfortable narratives in literature and explains how these fictions challenge readers and why such narratives are important. She and host David Staley discuss her experience with book banning, particularly her novel Out of Darkness, and explore the impact of book censorship on readers and authors. Additionally, Pérez describes editing the anthology Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers Rights and leading her Unite to Read project.

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Kate Shannon: A Picture is Worth (More Than) a Thousand Pixels

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Kate Shannon, Associate Professor of Art and the Ohio State University 2025-26 Artist Laureate, focuses on photography, and digitally manipulating and recontextualizing existing photographs to explore their connection to time, history, and the digital age. Shannon is fascinated with the physical deterioration of photographs and how it contributes to their stories. Host David Staley and Shannon discuss her works, including “Construction/Destruction,” in which she animates decayed Wright Brothers’ glass plate negatives, and “The Insignificant,” in which she treats rejected Farm Security Administration negatives. She also reflects on her students’ interactions with both historical and modern digital photography and the implications of generative AI in the art world.

Photograph by Carlos G. Vertanessian

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Kentaro Fujita Asks, “Can YOU Resist a Marshmallow?”

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Ken Fujita, Professor of Psychology, researches self-control in the Ohio State University Motivation and Cognitive Science Laboratory. He explores how motivation and cognition intersect to affect decision-making and behavior, such as the influence of thinking patterns on desires, as famously shown by the marshmallow test (can a child resist eating a marshmallow for 15 minutes?). Fujita looks at situational factors and strategies for self-control, arguing that self-control is a skill developed through practice rather than an innate ability. The interview ends with Fujita sharing his journey into psychology and discussing his commitment to mentoring students.

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Christa Teston: How to Teach Dignity

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Christa Teston, the Andrea Lunsford Designated Professor of English, discusses her book Doing Dignity: Ethical Praxis and the Politics of Care. Teston argues that dignity is not an inherent trait but a practice that depends on situations and can be taught. She supports her argument with ethnographic research and interviews with healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as case studies involving wheelchair fittings and medical aid in dying legislation. Teston see value in teaching dignity in medical training through simulations. Additionally, Teston describes her research methodology, which includes empirical research with human participants, and touches on the future impacts of AI on business and technical writing.

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Jason Rawls: On A Hip Hop Mission

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Dr. Jason Rawls, Assistant Professor of Hip Hop Studies, discusses his approach to education, which uses hip hop culture to connect with students. He talks about how he went from being a business major to an educator by emphasizing the importance of authenticity and building strong connections through hip hop. Rawls describes the elements of hip hop culture, youth culture pedagogy, and his innovative research into the producer’s role in hip hop music. He also discusses his co-authored book Youth Culture Power, his radio show “Crate Missions,” and his ambitions for developing a comprehensive Ohio State hip hip hop studies program.

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Björn Köhnlein: From Sounds to Language

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Björn Köhnlein, Associate Professor of Linguistics, studies sound systems in languages. He and host David Staley discuss how speech melodies and intonational patterns distinguish between statements and questions and the challenges of historical linguistic studies. Köhnlein shares his journey into linguistics, his fascination with generative grammar, and his current research projects, including the surprisingly complex rules that govern how curse words can be embedded into other words.

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Roger Beebe: Broadcasting on the Times Square Jumbotron and the McMurdo Station in Antarctica

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Roger Beebe, Professor of Art and Theater, Film and Media Arts at Ohio State University, describes his artistic practice of experimental filmmaking and expanded cinema, including his use of found images and multi-projector performances. Beebe’s work seeks to transform traditional film screenings into live events. Beebe shares his creative process, touching on innovative projects like his “Quickie Karaoke Factory” and how the pandemic inspired new artistic directions. He also talks about the significance of material investigation in his filmmaking and the influence of the community garden in his recent works. Lastly, the conversation covers various venues where Beebe’s films have been shown, such as the CBS Jumbotron in Times Square and McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

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Amy Brunell: How to Deal with Narcissists

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Amy Brunell, Professor of Social Psychology at The Ohio State University, researches narcissism in social contexts. In this interview, she discusses with host David Staley the clinical definition of narcissism versus its understanding from a social psychology perspective and details the three different types of narcissism. Brunell describes how narcissistic traits manifest in individuals, the impact of narcissism in various relationships, and the lack of systematic research on coping mechanisms for dealing with narcissists. She shares her academic journey, teaching experiences, and future research directions, including uncovering public perceptions of narcissism and discrepancies between self-reported and actual risky behaviors in narcissists.

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Eric Schoon: How Do Social Scientists Produce Knowledge?

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Eric Schoon, Associate Professor of Sociology at The Ohio State University, discusses his research interests, such as how social scientists produce knowledge and what makes something have legitimacy. He touches upon his work on linear regression in the book Regression Inside Out, co-authored with David Melamed and Ronald Breiger, and shares insights from interviewing ethnographers about their fieldwork in Turkey. Additionally, he reflects on his own journey to sociology from a background in viola performance and philosophy.

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Dominik Stecula: How Media Influences Public Vaccine Use

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Dominik Stecula, Assistant Professor of Communications, discusses his research on political and science communication, focusing on where the public gets its information and the impact of various media types on public attitudes and behaviors. He studies the evolving landscape of media from traditional news to social media, the influence of podcasts such as “The Joe Rogan Experience,” and the phenomenon of canine vaccine hesitancy. Dr. Stecula also shares insights from his research on COVID-19 misinformation and how modern media, including podcasts, can shape political landscapes and public health behaviors.

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Jada Wiggleton-Little: Whose Pain Is Believed?

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Dr. Jada Wiggleton-Little, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, discusses her extensive research on pain communication. She explores subjects like social biases and perceptions of pain, pain as a bodily command, and the implications of pain communication in the management of pain in medical and personal settings. Wiggleton-Little shares insights from her own life and education that prompted her to make this her area of study.

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Trevon Logan and Benton Wishart: How Involved Were White Women in the Slave Trade?

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 Trevon Logan, the ENGIE-Axium Endowed Professor of Economics, and Benton Wishart, a recent Ohio State economics alumnus and Dr. Logan’s research assistant, discuss their research into white women’s involvement in the slave trade during the antebellum era. Their work, titled Her Property Transactions: White Women and the Frequency of Female Ownership in the Antebellum Era, shows that white women were involved in 30% of slave transactions as buyers and sellers. Logan and Wishart analyzed data by assigning gender to 30,000 names, revealing the impact of laws that granted women property rights exclusive to enslaved people. This groundbreaking research challenges past misconceptions about women’s roles and highlights the importance of data in historical research.

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Jaime Sabel: Scaffolding to Success

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Jaime Sabel, Associate Professor in Molecular Genetics and Director of the Center for Life Sciences Education (CLSE), discusses the CLSE’s role in housing the biology major and collaborating with other life sciences departments. Her FRAMER and MASTER educational scaffolds support students’ metacognitive skills to enhance their understanding of complex biological concepts. Sabel also highlights her STEM Ambassadors program which aims to bridge the gap between scientists and high school students, fostering better public communication of science. She concludes by sharing her journey from developmental genetics to biology education research and outlining future research directions for her lab.

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Pranav Jani: The Continuing Impact of the 1857 British India Rebellion

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Pranav Jani, Associate Professor of English, researches the literatures, cultures and history of current and formerly colonized people. His current book project examines the 1857 Rebellion in British India, and he describes the historical context of the rebellion, its depiction as the Sepoy Mutiny by imperialist narratives, and provides an in-depth analysis of the underlying causes. He highlights the rebellion’s historiographical journey, notably its impact on Indian nationalism, and how it evolved in Indian consciousness from a mutiny to the First War of Independence. Jani discusses with host David Staley the rebellion’s influence on current ideological frameworks.

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Drink in the Cosmos with Paul Martini

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Dr. Paul Martini, a Professor of Astronomy and Physics at The Ohio State University, joins host David Staley to discuss the expanding universe, dark energy, and the role of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project in advancing research. Dr. Martini also talks about the importance of custom-built instruments in astronomy, the use of machine learning in data analysis, and his personal journey to being an astronomer. To hear more about his research on cosmic acceleration, you can catch Dr. Martini at the Science Sundays series on February 2nd or watch a recording of the event here.

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Ellen Mosley-Thompson and Lonnie Thompson: What Can We Do about Climate Change (Part Two)

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Side by side image of Profs Ellen and Lonnie Thompson

Paleoclimatologists Ellen Mosley-Thompson and Lonnie Thompson continue their discussion with host David Staley on the imminent challenges and possible solutions to climate change. They emphasize the importance of collective action, innovative technologies, and political will in combating environmental issues. They highlight practical actions individuals can take, such as voting and reducing energy consumption, and discuss the role of global cooperation and investment in science. Drawing from their extensive fieldwork, they share personal experiences and stress the need for a multidisciplinary approach, integrating sciences and liberal arts, to address the multifaceted impacts of climate change. Despite short-term pessimism due to current inaction, they express long-term optimism that humanity will rise to meet the crisis.

Listen to Part One

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Ellen Mosley-Thompson and Lonnie Thompson: Ancient Ice Cores Tell Us the Future (Part One)

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Renowned paleoclimatologists Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Distinguished University Professor of Geography, and Lonnie Thompson, Distinguished University Professor in Earth Sciences, discuss their groundbreaking work in studying ice cores to understand Earth’s climate history. Join host David Staley to learn how they extract climate data from ice cores, the logistical challenges of their fieldwork, and the importance of preserving ice core samples for future research. The Thompsons emphasize the significance of addressing climate change, the technological advancements in their field, and the need for greater investment in science and renewable energy. They also discuss the potential consequences of rising global temperatures and the crucial role of young people and international collaboration in combating climate change.

Listen to Part Two

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Paul Reitter: A Capital Idea

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Paul Reitter, a Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Ohio State University, discusses his recent translation of Volume 1 of Karl Marx’s Capital with host David Staley. Reitter discusses the nuances and challenges of translating Marx’s work, the intricacies of Marx’s theories on value and capitalism, and how Reitter’s translation aims to preserve Marx’s original meaning and literary style. Staley and Reitter also cover the broader implications and significance of translation studies, the historical undervaluation of translation in academia, and Reitter’s future projects on translating the remaining volumes of Capital.

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Erin Lin Discusses When the Bombs Stopped: The Legacy of War in Rural Cambodia

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Erin Lin, Associate Professor of Political Science, and author of When the Bombs Stopped: The Legacy of War in Rural Cambodia discusses her research. She focuses on the the enduring impact on Cambodian agriculture and economic development of unexploded ordnance from US secret bombings during the Vietnam War. The bombs remain dangerous, contributing to injuries and deaths, while severely affecting agricultural productivity and household incomes. She describes the extensive efforts required for de-mining and the socio-political challenges faced by farmers, such as land grabbing.

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Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin: Artisanal Quantum Research

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Professor of physics Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin studies quantum information science and engineering (QISE), a combination of quantum mechanics and information technology, and its applicability in computing, networking, and sensing. He describes the foundational concepts of quantum mechanics, magnetism, and the physical properties of materials to host David Staley. Halperin explains how classical electromagnetism cannot fully account for the behavior of magnetic materials, emphasizing the necessity of quantum mechanics. Halperin also describes his innovative research on quantum sensors and nanomaterials and a new technique his lab developed to integrate molecular systems with solid-state devices for quantum sensing applications.

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Stephen Gavazzi: Shaping Public Policy with Data

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Steve Gavazzi, Director of the College of Arts and Sciences’ CHRR and professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology, joins host David Staley to discuss Gavazzi’s research on public higher education. Gavazzi and Staley coedited Fulfilling the 21st Century Land Grant Mission: Essays in Honor of The Ohio State University’s Sesquicentennial Commemoration. Gavazzi emphasizes the importance of the good relationships between universities and their communities and shares insights from longitudinal studies run by CHRR, such as the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY). The discussion also touches on the American Population Panel and CHRR’s role in housing secure, accessible data repositories for long-term research. Gavazzi also discusses the upcoming 60th anniversary of CHRR.

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Jeffrey Cohen: “I Can’t Do Work on Them if I Don’t Eat Them, Right?” The Scholarship of Eating Grasshoppers

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Some people look at a grasshopper and see an insect. 

Anthropology professor Jeffrey Cohen sees a snack. 

Cohen’s research spans migration, development, and nutrition, interests that have taken him from Project Panchavati, which addressed the digital divide in the Bhutanese community in Central Ohio during the pandemic, to his new book Eating Grasshoppers, which explores the cultural and economic significance of grasshopper consumption in Oaxaca, Mexico. Cohen describes the process and benefits of entomophagy (insect eating) and its potential role in human diets, despite the “yuck factor,” which host David Staley overcomes to enjoy the chapulines offered during the interview. 

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I am a Storm Chaser: Jana Houser and the Study of Tornados

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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.

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Not Your Grandmother’s Halloween: Merrill Kaplan on Holiday Traditions

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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…

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Simone Drake: Opening Up History That’s Been Shutdown

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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.”

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Exploring Shakespeare’s London with Christopher Highley

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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.

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Elizabeth Renker: Discovering and Recovering Sarah Piatt

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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.

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Andréa G Grottoli: Will Coral Reefs Survive?

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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.

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“Who Was Your Favorite Guest?”: ASC Podcasters Talk Shop

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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.

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Julia Applegate: Creating a Film or Preserving History?

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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.

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Christo Sevov: Pushing the Limits of Catalysis

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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.

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Michael Ibrahim and the Impact of the Timashev Donation

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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.

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Robert Baker: From Laser Tag to Laser Lab

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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.

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Robert Ward: Celebrating 150 Years of The Ohio State University Glee Club

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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.

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Carmen Winant: The Art of Labor

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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.

Carmen Winant transcript

Lisa Florman: Moving the Arts Forward at Ohio State

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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.

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Kevin McClatchy, Ohio State’s Artist Laureate Works from the Heartbeat

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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.

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Adélékè Adéẹ̀kọ́: Why Would Anybody Write an Ode to Palm Trees?

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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.

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Anna Willow: No Such Thing as Distant Objectivity

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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.

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Anna Dobritsa: Pollen – It’s More than Just an Allergen

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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.

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Sean Downey: The Significance of Indigenous Knowledge

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Sean Downey headshot

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.

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Cynthia Young: Making Universities Accountable, Accessible, and Relevant

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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.

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Angus Fletcher: How to Hack the GRE and Get into Yale

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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

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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.

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Christopher McKnight Nichols: Can Those Who Know History Avoid Repeating It?

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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.

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Dorothy Noyes: Folklore, Exemplarity and Politics

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Dr. Dorothy Noyes

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.

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States-in-Waiting: Professor Lydia Walker on Decolonization and Untold Histories

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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.

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OPEEP: Empowering Incarcerated Voices with Mary Thomas and Tiyi Morris

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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.

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Sara Butler: Medieval Myth Buster

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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.

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Schlingman Talks Skeptics, the Las Vegas Sphere, and the 2024 Eclipse

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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.

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Randolph Roth: “When You’re a Historian, You See the Civil War Everywhere”

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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.

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Professor Shiyu Zhang: “I Love Making New Molecules”

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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”.

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OSU Going Overseas: Breyfogle and Elmore Discuss Dubai and COP 28

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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.

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How Does Vladimir Kogan Spend His Free Time? School Board Meetings, Of Course

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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”.

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“A Hip Hop Dissertation is a Community Body of Work:” Dr View Describes His Research

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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.

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Brian Skinner Talks Physics, From Basketball to Quantum Entanglement

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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.

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Bart Elmore: Will Genetically Engineered Food Help Us Feed a Hungry Planet?

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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.

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Chris Knoester Discusses Research on Impact of Sports in Daily Life

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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. 

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Gleissner Reflects on Emphasis on Literacy in Former Soviet Bloc

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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.

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Start Dancing With Devils, Says Michelle Wibbelsman

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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.

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Categories Keep Us Alive, Says Vladimir Sloutsky

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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.

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David Brakke Explains How the Gnostics Influenced “The Matrix”

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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.

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How To Be Curious, With Doug Alsdorf

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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.

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Jesse Fox: Virtual Reality Mythbuster

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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.

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Siri, Which OSU Researcher Is On This Week’s Voice of Excellence? “It’s Michael White”

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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

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Mindfulness Meditation Can Improve Mental and Physical Health, Says Ruchika Prakash

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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.

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Making Sense of African-Brazilian History, With Isis Barra Costa

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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.

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Examining the Complexity of Ethics With Tristram McPherson

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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.

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What Can Minions Reveal About Child Language Acquisition? John Grinstead Explains

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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.

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Virginia Rich Looks At How the Earth’s Biosphere Will React to Climate Change

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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.

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“History Is Detective Work,” Says Historian Sam White

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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.

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David Steigerwald Asks, “How In Control Are You of Your Life?”

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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.

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Richard Samuels On “Why Are We Able to Count?”

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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

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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

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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

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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?”

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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?

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Are Your Political Views Hereditary? Skylar Cranmer’s Brain Scan Research Suggests It Is

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

What Makes Us Sick? Daniel Wozniak Looks at the Causes

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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!

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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?”

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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

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“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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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”

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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“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.

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Prof. Piperata Looks at the Impact on Health of Adapting to Your Circumstances

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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.

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Finding a Celestial Needle in a “Haystack” of Similar Needles: Scott Gaudi’s Dilemma

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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.

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Making App-ropriate Dance: Hannah Kosstrin Describes the KineScribe Program

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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.

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Morality is a Product of Our Emotions, Says Justin D’Arms

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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.”

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The Impact of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the Greek Crisis on Greek Self-Identity

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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.

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“Columbus Is Perfectly Poised Right Now to Do Something That Toronto Initiated” Says Shoshanah Goldberg-Miller

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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.

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Do You Form a Mental Image of a Podcast Host? Kathryn Campbell-Kibler Has Research For You

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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.

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What Popular Soft Drink Gets its Caffeine from Waste Tea Leaves and Coal? Bart Elmore Knows

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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.

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Which Supreme Court Justice Did Executive Dean Gretchen Ritter Interview?

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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.

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When Proteins Go Wrong: Amanda Hummon’s Cancer Research

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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.

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Susan Melsop Describes How to Turn a Bridge Into a Community Resource Center

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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.

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From Hammer to Nutcrackers to Pins: The Increasing Sophistication of Math with Roman Holowinsky

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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.

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The Data About Your Steak Purchase Is More Valuable Than the Steak: Thomas Wood

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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.

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Nandini Trivedi: How To Make Electrons Flow (Nearly) Forever

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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

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Theodora Dragostinova: “We Realized Change Might Be Possible Because the Tanks Did Not Show Up”

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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.

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Anna Gawboy on Realizing a Revolutionary Symphonic Vision From 1910

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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.

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Amy Youngs Wants You to Get Inside of Photographs

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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.”

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Two Million Photos, 150 Years: Time and Change at Ohio State

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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.

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Michael Poirier Wants to Know: Why Are Some Genes Used and Others Aren’t?

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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.

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Statistical Modeling Can Coax More Information Out of Medical Studies, Says Elly Kaizar

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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.

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Do You Laugh or Cry When a Character Cries on Screen? Asks Laura Podalsky

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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. 

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Studying Cell Communication Offers Insight into Development of Embryos and Cancer, Says Susan Cole

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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. 

Studying Cell Communication Offers Insight into Development of Embryos and Cancer, Says Susan Cole_otter_aiDownload

Can We Teach Hope? Jennifer Cheavens Says “Yes”

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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. 

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“Are Longer Commutes Necessarily Inefficient?” Morton O’Kelly Says Not Necessarily

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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.

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United States Nearly as Politically Polarized as Post-Civil War Mozambique: Paul Beck

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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.

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Prof. John Beacom: Science Is Not About Trying to Memorize What’s in a Book

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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. 

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Professor David Horn on Cultural and Historical Studies of Science

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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.

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Why Are We Fascinated by Horrifying or Sad Stories? Michael Slater Has Some Thoughts

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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.

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The Foundation of All Universities Is in Arts and Sciences, Says Professor Janet Box-Steffensmeier

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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.

The Foundation of All Universities Is in Arts and Sciences, Says Professor Janet Box-Steffensmeier_otter_aiDownload

Diaspora, Beyoncé, and Law School: Prof. Simone Drake’s Academic Journeys

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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.

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Jim Fowler Sees Math Everywhere

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“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. 

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Asteroids Isn’t Just Fun to Play; It Has Great Physics, Says Professor Chris Orban

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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.

Asteroids Isn’t Just Fun to Play; It Has Great Physics, Says Professor Chris Orban_otter_aiDownload

What’s French? Prof. Danielle Marx-Scouras Moves Us Beyond Paris

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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.

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Karen Hutzel Describes the Making of Art and Cultural Policy

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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.

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Hearing Loss Can Slow Learning to Read, Says Prof. Gail Whitelaw

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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. 

Hearing Loss Can Slow Learning to Read, Says Prof. Gail Whitelaw_otter_aiDownload

The Case of the Murderer Caught by Speech Scientist Robert Fox

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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.

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Screening Trafficking: Yana Hashamova Describes Media Depictions of Human Trafficking

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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.

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Why Do Viewers Find TV Mobsters So Attractive? Prof. Dana Renga Has a Theory

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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.

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How Did U.S. Supreme Court Justices Divide Along Party Lines? Lawrence Baum Knows

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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.

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Controlling Your Microbes: Michael Ibba

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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.

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Professor Barry Shank Says Musical Beauty Builds Community

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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.

Professor Barry Shank Says Musical Beauty Builds Community_otter_aiDownload

Provost: Ohio State Should Be In ‘The Room Where It Happens’

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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.

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How Did Precious Lapis Lazuli End Up on the Teeth of a Medieval Nun? Alison Beach Has Some Ideas

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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.

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Professor Osei Appiah Describes How We Move Beyond Racial Prejudice to Form a More Perfect Union

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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.

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Cultivation of Corn Caused Problems for Early Humans, Says Clark Larsen

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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.”

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What Do Spanish, Quechua, and DACA Have In Common? A Linguist Named Babel

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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.

What Do Spanish, Quechua, and DACA Have In Common? A Linguist Named Babel_otter_aiDownload

Can’t Make Decisions? Prof. Ellen Peters’ Research Can Help You Understand Why

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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.

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Bord(hers) Around Bodies: Professor Lucille Toth Describes the Power of Dance

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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.

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Harvey Miller Uses New Mobility Data to Understand Cities and Transportation

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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. 

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Jennifer Schlueter: Making Found Text into Theatrical Events

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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.

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What Should You Do During a Bank Run? Professor Peck Gives Advice

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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. 

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Scientific Curiosity Is in the Blood Says Irina Artsimovitch

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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.” 

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Sarah Iles Johnston Sees Stories As Creating Meaning and Beliefs

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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. 

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Claudia Buchmann Looks At Gender Reversal In Higher Education

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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.

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Professor Mytheli Sreenivas Asks: “Are Families Primarily Economic or Emotional Units?”

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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.

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Wendy Smooth On the Impact of Race and Gender on Legislators’ Power

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“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.

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What’s the Intersection of War and Math? It’s Where Bear Braumoeller’s Research Happens

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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.

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Not Your Grandparents’ English, Says Janice Aski

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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.

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Trailblazing Female Dance Giants Get New Attention Thanks to Harmony Bench

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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.

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One Cool CATalyst: Robert Baker Works to Convert CO2 to a Fuel

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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.

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Hannah Shafaat Looks Deep into the Oceans and Gets Answers

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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.

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Yuan-Ming Lu Describes the Surprising Connection Between the Avengers’ Thanos and Condensed Matter

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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.

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Paloma Martinez-Cruz Seeks New Philosophers

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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. 

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Ann Hamilton’s Creativity Secret? Work Comes from Paying Attention

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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.

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Steve Quiring Keeps an Eye on Temperatures Across the Globe

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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.

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Ann Cook Identifies the Most Pressing Continent for Global Change (It’s Not What You Think)

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Ann Cook portrait

School of Earth Sciences Assistant Professor Ann Cook aims to fill in the gaps in the scientific understanding of natural gas hydrates.

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Abraham Badu Looks for Affordable Diagnostic Tools

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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.

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Frederick Luis Aldama Takes Comics Seriously

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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.

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