Faculty and Staff Notes

Visiting Assistant Professor of French Nathan H. Dize was recently featured on the Nèg/Fanm Mawon Podcast to talk about translating Haitian literature, Haitian Creole and French, and the creative process. He discusses his 2020 translation of Makenzy Orcel's The Immortals with host Patrick Jean-Baptiste.

Associate Professor of Neuroscience Patrick Simen was on the Space Cave podcast discussing his research for a general audience. 

Professor of Viola Peter Slowik served as judge at the prestigious Johansen International Competition in Washington, D.C., March 22-24. The triennial competition attracts over 150 competitors from all over the globe, competing for nearly $70,000 of prize money.

Professor of East Asian Studies Sheila Miyoshi Jager published a chapter in The Cambridge History of America and the World, a 4-volume collection published in early March by Cambridge University Press as part of their Cambridge Histories series. The four-volume reference work will cover a 500-year period in chronological order: 1500 to 1812, 1812 to 1900, 1900 to 1945, and 1945 to the present. Jager's chapter, "Competing Empires in Asia," appeared in Volume 3 (1900-1945) and discussed the history of the rivalry between the United States and Japan in Asia-Pacific that began at the start of the 20th century and ended with World War II. The entire series along with other Cambridge histories is digitally accessible through the Oberlin College library system under "Cambridge histories."

Professor of Politics Stephen Crowley co-wrote with Hardy Merriman '21 “How the Russian people can end Putin's war” for The Hill. Crowley also participated in a “Ukrainathon,” a 24-hour marathon of expert lectures in support of Ukraine. He gave an extended interview about Russia and Ukraine to the Archipelago, a radio program (and podcast) based in Athens, Greece.

Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies Yveline Alexis delivered a talk about Womyn Fighters during the U.S. invasion of Ayiti for the University of Buffalo. She also educated young scholars at a middle school about this heavy topic. Finally, she engaged with LatinX/Caribbean scholars for their Haiti Week program as a keynote speaker on the subject of resistance in the Americas.

Gerald Cannon has been appointed associate professor of jazz bass at Oberlin Conservatory after a two year stint as a visiting professor. The multi-talented sideman, leader, composer, recording artist, and painter has taught in master classes across the United States and Europe, and has served on the faculties of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, the New School, Long Island University, the Conservatory of Maastricht in Holland, and the Juilliard School. He performed with the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble and Oberlin's complete roster of jazz faculty in a special performance at Finney Chapel on March 28.

James O'Leary, Oberlin Conservatory’s Frederick R. Selch Associate Professor of Musicology has been awarded the 2022 Virgil Thomson Fellowship from the Society for American Music. This competitive award aids scholars whose research interest is focused on the history, creation, and analysis of American music on stage and screen, including opera. O’Leary will use the award to continue working on a book about Stephen Sondheim that he started during the pandemic. This summer, O’Leary will be speaking about Sondheim at the Transnational Opera Studies Conference in Bayreuth, Germany.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde had her debut novel Eleutheria reviewed by the LA Times. “Allegra Hyde’s climate-fiction narrator is the post-cynical heroine we need,” reads the review. “This is cli-fi even when it turns intimate, with the first kiss between lovers or the failures of addict parents. Individual tensions generate unexpected crackle, but everyone’s caught in the same toxic knots, their environment collapsing around them.” Additionally, Town & Country highlighted Eleutheria, calling it “A climate change novel, yes, but also a tale of searching for hope in dark times.” And BookPage wrote, “Fast-paced and dramatic, Eleutheria is a love story that plays out against the backdrop of a planet in trouble.” Electric Literature published an excerpt of Eleutheria in their “Recommended Reading Series,” with an introduction from the writer Lydia Conklin.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Chanda Feldman has a new poem, "Time for Open Air," in the latest issue (Spring 2022, Issue 34) of the University of Colorado Denver literary journal, Copper Nickel.