Voices of Excellence

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’”.

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.

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.

Voices of Excellence is taking a vacation until January 7. Until the new year, enjoy a discussion of Ohio State’s 150 year history: https://podcast.osu.edu/voices-of-excellence/two-million-photos-150-years-time-and-change-at-ohio-state/

Voices of Excellence is taking a beach vacation until January 7. Until then, please enjoy this podcast about holiday traditions.

https://podcast.osu.edu/voices-of-excellence/not-your-grandmothers-halloween-merrill-kaplan-on-holiday-folklore/

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”.

 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.

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.

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.