Gleissner Reflects on Emphasis on Literacy in Former Soviet Bloc

Philip Gleissner, Assistant Professor in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, specializes in the study of the culture and communication of former socialist Eastern Europe states. Gleissner discusses his latest monograph, “Soviet Circulations: A History of the Socialist Literary Journal,” and the emphasis placed on literacy as a vehicle of social mobility in parts of the former Soviet Bloc.

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

Isis Barra Costa is an Assistant Professor in Contemporary Brazilian Cultural and Literary Studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese with research interests in Brazilian literature and culture, cyber literature and art activism in the Americas performance studies, and Latin American cinema, among others. Her research started with the question of how religious men and women from different parts of the African continent would explain what happened historically in the new world and how it changed expressions like sacred oratory. On this week’s Voices of Excellence, she discusses with host David Staley how to gain recognition for the best parts of the culture that are not recognized by historiography or in literature.

Dana Kletchka: Are Museums For Objects or People?

Dana Carlisle Kletchka, Assistant Professor in the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy, studies the history, theory, and philosophy of art museum education. Her research has examined museum practices and how art educators are treated in large institutional contexts. In addition, she looks at the surprisingly different roles and intentions of art educators and art historians in museums.

“Our Annual Conference is Like the Bar in Star Wars,” Says Peter Mansoor

Peter Mansoor, Professor and General Raymond E. Mason, Jr., Chair of Military History, researches modern U.S. military history, World War II, the Iraq War, and counterinsurgency warfare. He discusses his most recent research on the 1944-1945 liberation of the Philippines, the five types of military history, and the surprising breadth of attendees at military history conferences on this week’s Voices of Excellence.

How Do People Make Difficult Decisions? Dana Howard Has Decided on an Answer.

Dana Howard, Assistant Professor of Philosophy with an appointment in the Ohio State Center for Bioethics, researches medical care, often in palliative and internal medicine, to discover how information is shared and decisions reached. She shares her research with David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence.

Scott Swearingen: It’s More Than Gunning Down Zombies

Scott Swearingen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Design, studies game design, collaborative gaming, and animation, and worked as a game designer on award-winning games and franchises, including Medal of Honor, The Simpsons, and The Sims. He talks with David Staley about how games define our culture and why he values face-to-face interactions that games can engage.

The Ethical Significance of Reading, According to Prof. Ashley Hope Pérez

How readers engage with what they encounter in reading has ethical significance, says Ashley Hope Pérez, Assistant Professor of Comparative Studies. In addition to having written three novels, she researches fiction with an eye to how it shapes the way that readers respond to others in the real world.

Gina Osterloh On the Pressure of Looking

Gina Osterloh, Assistant Professor of Art, sees her photographic practice as embodying the printed image, drawing, film, and performance as it explores the resonances between the physical body and its representational imprint, trace or stand in. She offers insight into the role of looking and vision in creating one’s identity, as well as being a site of tremendous pressure and pleasure.

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

An Assistant Professor in the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy, Shoshanah Goldberg-Miller researches arts and cultural entrepreneurship and creative economic development, among other areas. She argues that, like Toronto did a few years ago, Columbus is ready to implement a cultural plan to guide its development.

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

Thomas Wood is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science who has worked on political campaigns such as Jeb Bush’s presidential run. He studies data use in campaigns and advertisement and shares with David Staley that the fact that a consumer has bought a mail order steak is more valuable than the actual steak sale, since this data can be sold to businesses that target this population.

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

Ohio State University Professor of Physics Nandini Trivedi works in the area of theoretical physics, specifically on quantum Monte Carlo simulations, condensed matter theory, and cold atoms. She joins David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss how the rules of physics change when the scales get very small in quantum physics. Dr. Trivedi will also be the featured speaker at the December 1 Science Sundays event: https://artsandsciences.osu.edu/research/science-sundays

Jim Fowler Sees Math Everywhere

“It encompasses practically everything I do in some capacity or another,” Jim Fowler tells David Staley on the Voices of Excellence podcast. Fowler, an Assistant Professor of mathematics at The Ohio State University College of the Arts and Sciences, researches geometry and topology and uses computational techniques to attack problems in pure mathematics. 

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

An Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, Chris Orban specializes in computational physics and uses video games like Asteroids and Angry Birds to demonstrate coding and physics to his freshman classes at the Marion campus.

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

Going through an airport security checkpoint calls for people to enact the same physical movements. The Bord(hers) improvisational dance project created by Lucille Toth, assistant professor of French at The Ohio State University Newark campus, aims to explore these motions and ask how borders impact immigrants.

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

L. Robert Baker is an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences. He is a recipient of a US Department of Energy Early Career Award and researches ways to make a fuel from CO2.

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

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.

Abraham Badu Looks for Affordable Diagnostic Tools

Professor Abraham Badu-Tawiah is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Ohio State University where he studies photochemistry in droplets and disease diagnosis. He’s a recipient of an Early Career Award from the Department of Energy, an Eli Lilly Young Investigator Award in Analytical Chemistry, and most recently an American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Arthur F. Findeis Award for Achievements by a Young Analytical Scientist.