Faculty and Staff Notes

Professor of Classics Kirk Ormand delivered the John and Mary McDiarmid Lecture in Classics at the University of Washington on January 23. Ormand's talk was titled "Bodies and Social Class in Archaic Greek Invective." The McDiarmid lecturer is chosen each year by graduate students in the U-W Department of Classics.

On February 17, Frederick B. Artz Professor of History Leonard Smith delivered the annual Senior Fellow Lecture at the Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. The topic was "The Law of the Land: The Public Domain in Texas and French Algeria in the 19th Century."

Circulation Coordinator Gwendolyn Oeseburg, Librarian for Learning and Access Services in the Conservatory Library Krista Mitchell, and Stacks Manager Kyler Decker presented at the 2026 Music Library Association annual meeting. Their talk, titled "Navigating an ILS Migration: A Public Services Perspective," covered support and training of student workers as Oberlin transitioned to a new library system last summer.

Senior Lecturer of Writing and Communication Hal Sundt signed a deal with Counterpoint Press to write his second nonfiction book, The Thunderstorm Project: The True Story of the Storm-Chasing Pilots Who Sought to Master the Sky. It follows the early inventors, bureaucrats, balloonists, and swashbuckling flyboys of the WWII-era who conquered stormy skies, advanced meteorological and atmospheric science, and gave rise to today’s commercial airline industry.

Associate Professor of Music Theory Andrew Pau published the chapter "The Franckist-Wagnerian Strain (Duparc, Chausson, Chabrier)" in The Cambridge Companion to French Art Song (Cambridge University Press, 2026), edited by Oberlin Conservatory alumnus Stephen Rumph. The chapter examines the mélodies of late-19th-century French composers who were influenced by the music of César Franck and Richard Wagner.

Assistant Professor of History Caroline Wood Newhall received the John H. Jenkins Research Fellowship in Texas History for 2026-27. The fellowship is awarded annually for the best research proposal having to do with Texas history; it will support Newhall's research into enslaved people's acts of war across several communities in the decades prior to the American Civil War.

Associate Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies Paul Brehm, Professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies Cindy Frantz, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology John Petersen, and David Orr Professor of Environmental Studies Md Rumi Shammin published a paper in the Journal of Positive Psychology titled “Perspective Taking Through Model Building: A Path to Open-Mindedness and De-Polarization?” Funded by the National Science Foundation, this interdisciplinary work demonstrates that building mental models from multiple perspectives on a controversial issue can increase open-minded thinking.

Assistant Professor of Violin Francesca dePasquale will present “Understanding and Navigating Hypermobility for String Students and Educators” at the 2026 American String Teachers Association National Conference in San Francisco. To learn more, read recent interviews with dePasquale on the topic via Presto Music and The Strad.

Emeritus Professor of Anthropology Jack Glazier’s acclaimed book, Anthropology and Radical Humanism, recently published in paperback by Michigan State University Press, includes a new foreword by Grant Arndt highlighting the inventive person-centered narratives of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) and African Americans born into slavery. Originally collected by anthropologists Paul Radin and Andrew Polk Watson, the narratives disclose a universal creative imagination, further supporting the longstanding anti-racism of American anthropology. 

Associate Professor of Theater Marya Sea Kaminski directed Amy Herzog’s Tony-nominated adaptation of An Enemy of the People, assistant-directed by Oberlin senior Evelyn Walker, in Pittsburgh. Ibsen’s explosive classic feels strikingly contemporary, confronting truth, power, and public responsibility in ways that resonate today. The production was hailed for its urgency and bold performances.