Faculty and Staff Notes

William G. Smith Associate Professor of Sociology and Comparative American Studies Alicia Smith-Tran was interviewed by the Guardian for an article about how the media's fixation on romantic relationships in the WNBA minimizes the players' professionalism and athleticism.

William G. Smith Associate Professor of Sociology and Comparative American Studies Alicia Smith-Tran received the 2026 Scholarly Achievement Award from the North Central Sociological Association for her article “There's the Black Woman Thing, and There's the Age Thing: Professional Black Women on the Downsides of 'Black Don't Crack' and Strategies for Confronting Ageism at Work." She was honored at the annual meeting of the NCSA in Pittsburgh on April 17.

Assistant Professor of East Asian Religions Andrew Macomber was awarded an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship. He is one of 63 scholars selected from a pool of more than 2,000 applicants through a multi-stage peer-review process. The fellowship will support research for Macomber's second monograph project, Everything Evil in You: Disease, Karma, and the Pathogen Pantheon in Medieval Japanese Buddhism.

Assistant Professor of East Asian Religions Andrew Macomber was awarded a Japanese Studies Fellowship from the Japan Foundation for the 2026-27 academic year. Together with an award from the American Council of Learned Societies, the fellowship will support research for Macomber's second monograph project, Everything Evil in You: Disease, Karma, and the Pathogen Pantheon in Medieval Japanese Buddhism.

Annemarie Sammartino was featured in the 99% Invisible podcast on the history of Co-op City, a massive affordable housing cooperative in the Northeast Bronx.

Cindy Frantz provided commentary in a Huffington Post article about Tucker Carlson's apology for supporting Donald Trump.

The second episode of the podcast The Confluence, co-hosted by Professor of Comparative American Studies (CAST) Gina Pérez and Shelley Lee of Brown University, features fellow Oberlin faculty Meredith Gadsby (Africana Studies and CAST) and Pablo Mitchell (History and CAST), as well as Pawan Dhingra of Amherst College. They discuss the institutionalization of ethnic studies, using CAST at Oberlin as a case study.

Professor of Sociology Greggor Mattson gave the invited talk "Gay Places, Queer Futures" at the Stephen O. Murray Queer Futurisms Symposium of James Madison College of Michigan State University on April 15.

Chief Human Resources Officer Joe Vitale was named a Top 50 Human Resources Professional at the 2026 OnCon Icon Awards, which recognize exemplary HR professionals globally. Honorees are selected for their positive impact on their organizations, leadership, innovation, and thought leadership. OnCon is a professional community and annual summit for top-level executives.

Visiting Assistant Professor of History Jonathan van Harmelen’s article “Preacher, Immigrant Defender, World War II-Era Rebel” was recently published in Zoćalo Public Square.