Faculty and Staff Notes

Margaret Kamitsuka, emeritus professor of religion, edited a special issue of the Journal of Religious Ethics (August 2021) with a focus on reproductive ethics. She wrote one of the seven essays in this issue, which included an essay from Oberlin alum and religion major Rebecca Epstein-Levi. 

In an article for NPR Books, Myriam J.A. Chancy cites The Immortals by Makenzy Orcel, translated by Oberlin Visiting Assistant Professor of French Nathan H. Dize, as one of four books to understand why Haiti should be hold our attention through earthquakes and tropical storms. The Immortals was one of the first novels written about the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti and one of the first of these novels to be translated into English.

The latest book by Professor of Politics Stephen Crowley, Putin's Labor Dilemma: Russian Politics Between Stability and Stagnation, is now out from Cornell University Press. The book questions the popular assumption that Russia's workers are Putin's "core supporters," and explores the challenges the Russian leadership faces between undertaking painful reforms to boost economic growth, and preventing economic grievances from leading to demands for political change.

Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Shuming Chen and Anthony Gao '21 published two research articles on transition-metal catalysis: "Mechanism and Selectivities in Ru-Catalyzed Anti-Markovnikov Formal Hydroalkylation of 1,3-Dienes and Enynes: A Computational Study" in the Journal of Organic Chemistry; and "Catalytic α-Deracemization of Ketones Enabled by Photoredox Deprotonation and Enantioselective Protonation" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The latter work was published in collaboration with Professor Eric Meggers' research group at the University of Marburg, Germany.
 

Oberlin Conservatory's multiple Grammy-nominated harp professor Yolanda Kondonassis is releasing new music on Azica Records. She performed Aaron Jay Kernis’ Elegy . . . for those we lost with Michael Sachs, Principal Trumpet of The Cleveland Orchestra, for the orchestra's Adella.live In Focus Concert Series in June 2021. That concert video—Episode 12, Celestial Serenades—is still available to series subscribers through the summer at www.adella.live. The world premiere recording on Azica will be available as a digital single on September 17, 2021.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published a short story, Mercy, in the Spring/Summer issue of Crazyhorse. 

Associate Professor of Comparative Literature Stiliana Milkova interviewed the Bulgarian-born writer Nataliya Deleva and her English translator, the Bulgarian-born Izidora Angel, about Deleva's novel Four Minutes (2021), and her forthcoming novel, written in English, Arrival (2022). In the interview, Milkova, Deleva, and Angel reflect on exophonic writing, literary translation, and the power of collaboration between women.

Recently appointed Associate Professor of French Horn Jeff Scott will have a newly commissioned orchestral work, "Paradise Valley Serenade" premiered by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Jader Bignamini, Music Director, over a three-concert series November 12-14. The work musically depicts the glorious histories of Paradise Valley and Black Bottom, Detroit. These cities were known for their significant African American entrepreneurialism and thriving cultural scene, including an unrivaled Jazz club district. By the 1960's all but a few edifices were razed to make way for highway projects and "urban renewal."

Assistant Professor of Physics Jillian Scudder published a first author paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society comparing 11 different ways of assessing the fraction of non-hydrogen gas in nearby galaxies. She found variations in how well these methods convert into each other, and determined some of the properties which influence the quality of the conversion. 

Beyond Civil Disobedience: Social Nullification and Black Citizenship (African American Philosophy and the African Diaspora), by Associate Professor of Africana Studies Charles Peterson, was published in July by Palgrave Macmillan. The book interrogates the nature and state of African American citizenship through the prism of Social Contract Theory. Challenging the United States’ commitment to African American citizenship, the book explores the idea of Social Nullification, the decision to reject, revoke and re-define the social contract with a state and society.