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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.