Faculty and Staff Notes

The Society for the Study of Social Problems selected Assistant Professor of Sociology Alicia Smith-Tran's article, "'There's the Black Woman Thing and There's the Age Thing': Professional Black Women on the Downsides of 'Black Don't Crack' and Strategies for Confronting Ageism at Work," as Honorable Mention for this year's Kimberlé Crenshaw Outstanding Article Award.

Associate Professor of Comparative Literature Stiliana Milkova presented her new book Natalia Ginzburg's Global Legacies (Palgrave, 2024) at the 2024 American Association of Italian Studies Conference in Sorrento, Italy. In addition to presenting the book, she also gave a paper on posing and passing in translation, focusing on migrant and exophonic writing.

Assistant Dean and Director of International Student & Scholar Services Josh Whitson and International Student Program Coordinator Jackie Zubin attended the NAFSA: Association of International Educators 2024 Annual Conference & Expo. Josh cotrained the Trainer Corps Enrichment Workshop focused on adult learning and training plans as a member of the Trainer Corps Development Team, and also copresented the session Department of State Consular Affairs Current Issues. Jackie presented the poster Introducing International Education Week to a University Campus.

Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Religion and Chair of Jewish Studies Shari Rabin presented at the "Ways of Being: Evolving Religion and America" symposium hosted by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation at Jamestown Settlement in Virginia.

Professor of Politics and Chair of Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies Stephen Crowley published an article titled "Does Putin Want to End the War in Ukraine? It’s Time to Find Out" in The Nation.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies Anna Lordan presented her current work on modes of knowledge in Ukrainian writer Lesia Ukrainka at the Association for Women in Slavic Studies.

Associate Professor of Creative Writing Emily Barton publishes a 2,500-word essay on Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, the leader of Liberal Judaism in France, and on her book Living with Our Dead, newly translated into English.

Media Lecturer of Cinema Studies Joey Rizzolo's film Hot Idiot (featuring the work of alums Alba Robledo Diaz ’23, India Gray ’23, Shaina Lin Chung ’20, Olivia Bentley ’21, and Rachel Yee ’23) premiered at the Astoria Film Festival this week where it took the award for Best Comedy Short.

Professor of Mathematics Jim Walsh has accepted an invitation to participate in the Mathematics and Climate Research Network, a recently formed American Institute of Mathematics Research Community. This new research community provides intellectual support and mentoring to researchers at all career stages who are eager to identify and tackle mathematical questions raised by the urgent climate and sustainability challenges facing us.

Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Shuming Chen has recently published an article, "Intermolecular hydrogen bonding behavior of amino acid radical cations," in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. Her coauthors are two current Oberlin students, Isabella Moppel ’25 and Barbara Elliott ’26.