Faculty and Staff Notes

Fairchild Professor Emeritus of Religion and East Asian Studies James Dobbins is teaching at Leiden University in the Netherlands during the spring semester 2024 as the Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies.

Professor of Dance Ann Cooper Albright won a 2024 Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. She was recognized in the Criticism category for work that included an excerpt from her forthcoming book about the postmodern artist and dancer Simone Forti. The grant recognizes accomplishments by artists spanning a variety of disciplines and encourages further creative exploration. It marks the eighth time Albright has been honored by the OAC.

Assistant Professor of Art History Ana Cristina Perry has contributed three new essays on Latinx Art to the online Art History textbook Smarthistory. The essays are on Freddy Rodríguez's "Paradise for a Tourist Brochure", María Magdalena Campos-Pons' "Spoken Softly with Mama," and Raphael Montañez Ortiz's "Duncan Terrace Piano Destruction Concert: The Landesmans' Homage to 'Spring can really hang you up the most'."

English Emeriti Professor Sandra Zagarell gave a lecture on Dunbar-Nelson's unpublished "The Grievances of the Books" to Women Writing Women's Lives (CUNY/NYC), February 5. Zagarell also co-conducted a workshop for teachers on Phillis Wheatley Peters for Humanities Texas on February 8.

Professor of Politics Stephen Crowley wrote "Pass Ukraine aid, but make it conditional on ending the war" for Responsible Statecraft.

Oxford University Press has commissioned four chorale preludes from Organ Professor Christa Rakich. The pieces are based on hymn tunes Melita, O quanta qualia, Faithfulness, and Hendon. They will appear this spring in two anthologies, Oxford Hymn Settings for Organists, volumes 8 and 9.

Assistant Professor of Writing and Communication Cortney Smith's article "Making the grade: Student perceptions of labor-based contract grading" was recently published in the journal Communication Teacher.

Associate Professor of Politics David Forrest has an essay in the most recent issue of Qualitative and Multi-Method Research. The essay is about philosopher Charles Taylor's contributions to interpretive social science.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Writing and Communication Hal Sundt ’12 wrote for The New York Times Magazine about living in the Hotel at Oberlin and watching QVC.

Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Lisa Ryno has recently published an article with student coauthors. “Constitutive Activation of RpoH and the Addition of L-arabinose Influence Antibiotic Sensitivity of PHL628 E. coli” was published in Antibiotics with Jenna Frizzell ’23 and Ryan Taylor ’23.