Faculty and Staff Notes

On May 28, Associate Professor of Art History Matthew Rarey gave an invited lecture to the Afro-Amerindian Performance Studies Nucleus of the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Rarey's talk covered his 2023 book, Insignificant Things: Amulets and the Art of Survival in the Early Black Atlantic.

Professor of Jewish Studies and Religion Shari Rabin’s piece, “(1790) Enthusiastic Citizens” has been published in “Under Gods,” a digital project commemorating the 250th anniversary of U.S. Independence, from the Indiana University journal American Religion, in collaboration with the Center for the Understanding of Religion in American History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Rabin also appeared on episode 2 of “All We Have Standing Between Us: 250 Years of American Jews and Democracy,” a podcast accompanying an exhibit, on which she worked as a guest section curator, opening July 21 at the Center for Jewish History in New York.

Stephen Crowley, Robert S. Danforth Professor of Politics, wrote an article titled “On the Eve of the NATO Summit, Is Europe Rearming Against a Phantom Russia?" that appeared in The Nation.

Professor of Comparative Literature Stiliana Milkova and Max Kassoy ’27 co-authored an essay, "Ghosts of the Mother Tongue: Exophony, Trauma, Translation in Nataliya Deleva's 'Arrival'," published in the inaugural issue of the journal "The Third Wheel" (July 2026). 

Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature Anna Levett recently published the article “'I and not I': Arab Surrealism and its Postcolonial Afterlives" in the journal Middle Eastern Literatures. It explores the literary and political legacies of two little-known surrealist movements in Egypt and Syria, tracing their influence on later generations of Arab writers and intellectuals.

Executive Director of Career Exploration and Development Anthony Pernell-McGee was named among the 50 Best Pre-Law Advisors in the U.S., an honor presented annually by the admissions consulting firm Juris Education. Pernell-McGee serves as Oberlin’s pre-law advisor and career advisor for the Law & Public Policy career community and is a member of the Law & Society Curricular Committee. The complete list of honorees can be found on the Juris Education website.

Emeritus Professor of History and former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Clayton R. Koppes co-presented "The Sap of the Body Politic: HIV/AIDS and the Travail of American Democracy" with David (Jax) Kelly at the Australia/New Zealand American Studies Association conference, held in Melbourne in November 2025.

Chief of Staff and Strategy Officer David Hertz was honored by the Press Club of Cleveland and the American Jewish Press Association for his contributions to the series Impact of Hate, which was published in the Cleveland Jewish News in 2025. Hertz earned third place in the Press Club's In-Depth Report or Series category and honorable mention in the AJPA’s Writing about Antisemitism category. The story is available on the Jewish Federation of Cleveland website.

Senior Lecturer of Writing and Communication Hal Sundt wrote a feature story for Smithsonian Magazine’s 250th Anniversary of America issue about the “Thunderstorm Project,” which is also the subject of his forthcoming book.

Assistant Professor of Data Science and Computer Science Joshua Davidson recently published an op-ed in the Philadelphia Citizen with Ariel Ben-Amos of the University of Pennsylvania. Titled "The Insurance Trap Killing Philly Public Spaces," it discusses how small revisions to urban insurance policies can support experimentation to promote more vibrant public spaces.