Faculty and Staff Notes

Professor of Politics Stephen Crowley gave a talk on his research and recorded a podcast at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Russian & East European Studies.

Associate Professor of Sociology Greggor Mattson gave an invited lecture at the University of Kentucky's Geography Department on February 7, 2020. Titled "Queer Places Without Queer Politics: Small City Gay Bars," the talk drew upon Mattson's research on recent changes in American gay bars, a project that has included several Oberlin undergraduate research assistants.

Christa Rakich, visiting professor of organ, has released a new CD on the Loft label. The recording is a tribute to her teacher Yuko Hayashi, and is the premier recording of the Richards-Fowkes organ in Goodson Chapel at the Duke University Seminary. It includes works of Bach, Mendelssohn, Johanna Senfter, James Woodman, Carson Cooman, and her own transcription of Cécile Chaminade's Concertino for Flute and Orchestra, featuring flutist Wendy Rolfe '74.

Professor of Physics Yumi Ijiri attended the American Physical Society Leadership meeting and Congressional Visit Day in Washington, D.C. on January 29-February 1. She was invited in her role as secretary/treasurer for the topical group on magnetism and was a member of the Ohio/New Jersey group advocating for issues in science.

Professor of Medieval Art History Erik Inglis presented a paper titled "The Later Medieval Reception of Earlier Medieval Manuscripts" on January 22 at Yale University's Medieval-Renaissance Forum.

Kirk Ormand, Nathan A. Greenberg Professor of Classics, published the article, "Atalanta and Sappho: Women in and out of Time," in a volume titled Narratives of Time and Gender in Antiquity, edited by Esther Eidenow and Lisa Maurizio. Ormand's article deals with a recently discovered poem of Sappho (the Cologne papyrus, published in 2004, which supplements the previous fr. 58). He argues that in this poem, Sappho conceives of an ongoing poetic present tense that approximates, but does not achieve, an immortal experience of time.

Kenneth Allen '09, visiting assistant professor of psychology, was recently interviewed by the New Republic magazine for a piece on the destructive nature of "eco-" tourism.

Leonard V. Smith ’80, Frederick B Artz Professor of History, published an article titled: "Sovereignty under the League of Nations Mandates: The Jurists' Debates," in the December 2019 issue of Journal of the History of International Law. The article argues that mandates after World War I were never "colonies" in a traditional legal sense and that jurists were never able to agree on just what they were instead.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Chie Sakakibara discusses indigenous efforts and epistemologies to cope with stresses and plights induced by global climate change in an article published in the journal Environmental Philosophy. Informed by a variety of humanistic perspectives from marginalized communities, the authors examine how indigenous peoples, especially those of North America and northern Pacific Rim, process climate change through their cultural values and social priorities to cultivate resilience. Article coauthors Elise Horensky ’17 and Sloane Garelick ’17 were enrolled in Sakakibara's course Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change (ENVS315), which served as the foundation of this work.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Chanda Feldman published the poem, "They Ran and Flew From You," in the Southern Review, winter 2020 issue.