Faculty and Staff Notes

Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion Francesca Chubb-Confer delivered the lecture "Nightingales and Falcons: Iqbal, Metaphor, and the Poetic Imagination of Islamic Modernity" at McGill University's Institute of Islamic Studies. Chubb-Confer also presented the paper "World Literatures, World Religions, and the Translation of Islam" at a conference of the American Comparative Literature Association.

Conservatory Librarian Krista Mitchell wrote a chapter for Beyond Zombie Politics: The Art of George A. Romero's Cinema (University Press of Mississippi, 2025). Her chapter discusses Romero's use of music and sound to create a sense of the fantastic. This book will be on library shelves soon.

Director of Intercultural Engagement Sam Yang authored two articles in conjunction with the 2026 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Annual Conference: “Empowering API Student Success, Leadership, and Resilience Through Mentorship as Campus Infrastructure,” which examines how mentorship can strengthen belonging, leadership, and culturally responsive support; and “Burning Both Ends: A Conceptual Model for International Student Employee Burnout Prevention and Supervisory Practice in Higher Education.”

Associate Professor of Music Theory Andrew Pau published "Fauréan Correspondences: Motivic Practice and Octatonicism in Lili Boulanger's Clairières dans le ciel" in Gabriel Fauré: Influences and Influence, an essay collection edited by James William Sobaskie (Boydell Press, 2026). Pau's chapter examines intertextual correspondences between song cycles by Fauré and Boulanger.

Professor of Theater and Africana Studies Caroline Jackson Smith directed Queens Girl at Karamu House in Cleveland. The one-woman show follows the journey of a young African American woman who moves from high school in Nigeria to Bennington College from 1968 to 1972, during which she experiences powerful personal, cultural, artistic, and political awakenings.

Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy Jillian Scudder gave a public talk for the Richland Astronomical Society at its monthly meeting on March 7. The talk focused on her recent book, The Milky Way Smells of Rum & Raspberries.

Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Jillian Scudder was interviewed live on WWL radio, discussing the hunt for alien life in the universe and its practical challenges, on February 25.

Poems by Lecturer of Creative Writing Jon Conley were published in Bruiser Mag.

Assistant Professor of Cinema and Media Joshua Sperling published "Capsules of Dismay: On A.S. Hamrah’s Anti-Criticism" in the Cleveland Review of Books. Sperling and Hamrah participated in a Cinema Talk at the Cleveland Cinematheque, hosted by Bilgesu Sisman.

Head of the Conservatory Library Kathleen Abromeit presented “Three Decades of Documenting African American Spirituals: A Reference Question that Changed Everything” at the 2026 meeting of the Music Library Association.