Faculty and Staff Notes

Professor of Psychology Stephan Mayer's book "Transforming Psychological Worldviews to Confront Climate Change" was published by University of California Press.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Abbey Chung's book Alient Virus Love Disaster was named one of the five best science fiction and fantasy novels of 2018 according to the Washington Post.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Studio Art Grayson Earle is exhibiting alongside Ai Weiwei in an art exhibition in Switzerland. For the first time in Switzerland, Kate Vass Galerie in Zürich is presenting a comprehensive and unique exhibition on blockchain art, showcasing the most important protagonists of this movement. This art exhibition is curated by swiss digital art expert, Georg Bak.

Ann Cooper Albright, professor of dance, gave a lecture titled "Falling into Memory" for the Center for Women in the Arts and Humanities at Rutgers University.

Assistant Professor of Economics Maggie Brehm presented a paper titled "Don’t Look Back: The Effect of Federal Financing to States on Foster Care Placement" at the annual Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) fall research conference.

Professor of Hispanic Studies Sebastiaan Faber's piece about General Francisco Franco titled "Spain Digs Up Its Past" was published in Foreign Affairs.

Professor of Physics Stephen FitzGerald presented a seminar titled "Hydrogen Isotope Separation Using Metal-Organic Frameworks" at the University of California Berkeley.

Assistant Professor of Physics Jillian Scudder gave a reading of her book Astroquizzical: A Curious Journey Through Our Cosmic Family Tree at Mindfair Books. 

Professor of Economics Barbara J. Craig, on behalf of the economics department at Oberlin, was invited to the University of Minnesota for an event honoring distinguished economist Anne O. Krueger ’53, as she received an honorary doctor of science, the University of Minnesota’s highest honor, in recognition of her enormous contribution to the field of economics. Having held prestigious posts at the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and several universities (including the University of Minnesota from 1959-1982), Krueger is a world-renowned expert in economic development, international trade and finance, and economic policy reform.

Bryan Parkhurst, assistant professor of music theory and aural skills, has been honored with the Emerging Scholar Award by the Society for Music Theory. The society annually recognizes publications of the best books and articles on music-theoretical topics.

The award was presented at the society's annual meeting in San Antonio, TX on November 3, 2018 recognizing Parkhurst's article, “Making a Virtue of Necessity: Schenker and Kantian Teleology,” published in the April 2017 issue of the Journal for Music Theory.

The society's review committee praised Parkhurst's in-depth study of aesthetic and philosophical underpinnings of the theories of Heinrich Schenker as "a rigorous philosophical inquiry into the ideal of 'musical science'."