Faculty and Staff Notes

Robert S. Danforth Professor of History Renee Romano’s editorial, “The Trauma of Internment,” appeared in the June 25, 2018 Washington Post. The editorial compares the impact of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans to the practice of separating migrant families at the U.S. border. Romano recounts the story of Alice, a Japanese-American teenager whose parents were arrested after Pearl Harbor, who is still now affected by the legacy of her separation from them and her imprisonment in the Jerome incarceration camp. Romano learned about Alice’s story while working on “Courage and Compassion,” a public history exhibit that focused on the Japanese American World War II experience and the stories of Japanese American students who studied at Oberlin during the war.

Jody Kerchner, professor of music education, presented a conference session at the international Music in the Schools & Teacher Education Commission Seminar in Prague, Czech Republic on July 12. The paper was "What I learned from prison: Practice teaching with community-based partners." 

Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary Donica Thomas Varner was a featured speaker for a webinar that explored how to manage the risks and liabilities of student organizations. Presented by the National Association of College and University Attorneys, the conversation co-facilitated by Varner examined how to best manage risk through formal recognition systems, conduct expectations and enforcement mechanisms, and strategies for managing financial, travel, reputational, and other risks.

Visiting Professor of Environmental Studies Carl McDaniel was a speaker for Natural History Week 2018 at Star Island Family Retreat and Conference Center in New Hampshire. The conference was based on McDaniel’s published works and other writings and was themed, Building Durable Communities: Lessons for a Livable Planet. 

Evan Kresch, assistant professor of economics, presented on development economics at the June 2018 World Bank's Annual Bank Conference.

Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Comparative Literature Kazim Ali's essay,  "Jerusalem Syndrome: A Commentary on 'If Infinite Worlds, Infinite Centers' by Margaret Cavendish," will appear in the fall issue of the Ben Jonson Journal.

Professor of East Asian Studies Sheila Miyoshi Jager published a review of Travis Jeppesen's See You Again in Pyongyang (Hachette Books, 2018) in the New York Times.

Assistant Professor of Economics Paul Brehm presented his paper, “To Trade or not to Trade: Oil Leases, Information Asymmetry, and Coase” at the World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Alison Ricker, head of the science library, was invited to present at the American Library Association annual conference held June 21-26 in New Orleans. Her talk was part of the Association of College and Research Libraries Science and Technology Section program "Librarians are a Force for Science: Science Communication and Science Literacy." She was joined by panel members Lauren Young, web producer and science journalist for public radio's Science Friday, and Craig McClain, executive director of Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.

Professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies Cindy Frantz gave the keynote address on June 20, 2018 at the Nature Connections Conference at the University of Derby in Derby, United Kingdom. Frantz’s talk was titled "Connection to Nature: A Core Social  Motive Approach.”