Faculty and Staff Notes

The article “The Historiography of Feminicide in Ciudad Juárez: Critical and Revisionist Approaches” by Steven Volk, professor of history and director of the Center for Teaching, Innovation, and Excellence, was published in the September issue of Forum for Inter-American Research, the journal of the International Association of Inter-American Studies (IAS). See Volk’s article in a PDF of the complete issue on the IAS website.

Ben Fitch-Fleischmann, assistant professor of economics and environmental studies, presented his paper “The Political Economy of Aid Resources After Climate Catastrophes: Micro-level Evidence from Nicaragua” at the annual Liberal Arts Colleges Development Economics Conference (LAC-DEV) on Friday, September 11, at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. The conference schedule with a link to Fitch-Fleischmann’s paper can be seen here.

James C. Dobbins, James H. Fairchild professor of religion and East Asian studies, was recently appointed as co-editor of The Journal of Japanese Studies for a three-year term.

The Journal of Japanese Studies is the most influential journal dealing with research on Japan in the United States. It is a multidisciplinary forum for communicating new information, new interpretations, and recent research results concerning Japan to the English-reading world. Dobbins' co-editor at the Journal is Janet Hunter, Saji professor of economic history at the London School of Economics.

Holly Handman-Lopez, visiting assistant professor of dance, and Bobby Wesner, visiting instructor of dance, performed their duet "eleven years in" at the Spring to Dance Festival in St. Louis.

Their piece was selected by a panel led by Dance St. Louis Artistic and Executive Director Michael Uthoff. They shared the stage with The Joffrey Ballet, ODC/San Francisco, and Camille A. Brown and Dancers, among others.

The article “An Examination of Gender Differences in the American Fisheries Society’s Peer Review Process,” co-authored by Professor of Psychology Cindy Frantz and Grace Handley ’12, has been published in the September issue of Fisheries, an American Fisheries Society publication. According to Frantz, she and Handley found gender differences but no evidence for gender bias on the part of editors and reviewers.

Frantz also delivered the invited talk "Metaphors as Magic Bullets? Harnessing Psychological Science to Promote Sustainability" on September 7 at Davidson College.

Andrew and Pauline Delaney Professor of Mathematics Susan Colley has been appointed editor-elect of the The American Mathematical Monthly, the flagship journal of the Mathematical Association of America and the most widely read journal in the math community.

Colley will remain on the faculty throughout her year as editor-elect and subsequent five-year term as editor-in-chief, but she will reduce her teaching commitments beginning in spring 2016.

Read more on the News Center.

Roderic Knight, emeritus professor of ethnomusicology, is one of 14 authors who have published a chapter in the book The Other Classical Musics: Fifteen Great Traditions (edited by Michael Church and published by Boydell & Brewer). Knight’s chapter, “Mande Jaliyaa,” focuses on the vocal and instrumental music—played on harps, lutes, and xylophones—of the Mande people of Gambia, Guinea, Senegal, and Mali.

Professor of East Asian Studies Sheila Miyoshi Jager gave a lecture on her 2013 book Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea on August 6 at the U.S. Army War College's U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Jager was invited to give the lecture as part of the Center's Brooks E. Kleber Memorial Readings in Military History series. This public series features recent works by noted authors of history. A video of the presentation is available on the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center website.

Anne Salsich, associate archivist at the Oberlin College Archives, chaired the discussion panel "Get Their Hands On It: Teaching with Objects in Archives and Special Collections" at the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) held August 16-22 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Salsich’s panel included Oberlin College Library Special Collections and Preservation Librarian Ed Vermue and three archivists from Hamilton College, Clark University, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The session fit well with an unplanned theme that emerged from the conference: teaching with primary sources. A description of the session, can be seen here

Salsich was also on the host committee for the meeting, which drew more than 1,700 attendees. SAA annual meetings include repository tours, and Oberlin College Archivist Ken Grossi arranged a full day for 18 people that included tours at the Allen Memorial Art Museum, the Conservatory Library and Special Collections, and the main library's Special Collections and Archives.

Assistant Professor of German Gabriel Cooper delivered the invited lecture "Klezmermusik in den deutschsprachigen Ländern" (Klezmer music in German-speaking countries) on August 6 at Middlebury College's German language school. Cooper addressed approximately 100 students and faculty, including several Oberlin students studying the German language at Middlebury this summer.

Cooper also recently published the article Die lustige Globalisierung des Metals und seine zappendustere Zukunft bei der Zeichentrickserie Metalocalypse (The Funny Globalization of Metal and Its Pitch-Black Future in the Animated Series Metalocalypse). The article analyzes the portrayal of heavy metal and globalization in the pilot episode of Metalocalypse, as well as the series' immanent critique of global capitalism.