Faculty and Staff Notes

Charis Stanek ’18 and Greggor Mattson published the results of her Sociology Honors Project in Deviant Behavior. Her mixed-methods study investigated if individuals in high-resource, low-stigma environments experience any benefits from disclosing their mental illness. Data included a survey (N = 384) and 50 in-depth interviews about stigma on campus, mental illness disclosure, and students’ social capital. Charis is the Clinical Research Coordinator at Nationwide Children's Hospital and is starting the Joint MSW-Ph.D. Program in Social Work at The Ohio State University in the Fall.

In June, Jill Greenwood and Ellis Lane from the Education Department at the Allen Memorial Art Museum presented at the national conference for the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG). Greenwood and Lane partnered with Yale University for a panel on museum accessibility and creating pathways for student involvement. In late August, Lane will present again at the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) conference in Boston.

Frederick B. Artz Professor of History Leonard V. Smith published two articles continuing his research on the history of international law: “State Sovereignty,” in Peter Jackson, William Mulligan, and Glenda Sluga, eds., Peacemaking and International Order After the First World War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023), and “International Law and the Greek-Bulgarian and Greek-Turkish Population Exchanges,” in Jonathan Conlin and Ozan Ozavci, eds., They All Made Peace—What is Peace?: The 1923 Lausanne Treaty and the New Imperial Order (London: Ginko Library, 2023).

Professor of Hispanic Studies Sebastiaan Faber has coauthored an analysis of Spain's parliamentary elections, which took place on July 23, for the Nation magazine. He also appeared on CNBC International and was quoted in articles on the topic in Vox, the Miami Herald, Montréal's La Presse, and the Dutch venue Nu. The second, revised edition of Prof. Faber's book Exhuming Franco: Spain's Second Transition is due out with Vanderbilt University Press in November.

Oberlin jazz faculty member and legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz was named a 2024 Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran says, “Gary Bartz's saxophone has blazed trails with his dynamic phraseology and iconic tone for decades—he is representative for the truth in music.” Bartz joins the ranks with fellow Oberlin faculty member Billy Hart, a 2022 NEA Jazz Master.

The Cleveland Arts Prize has announced the 2023 winners of their 63rd edition of the awards. Bassoonist Dana Jessen, Oberlin Conservatory of Music associate professor of contemporary music and improvisation, won an award for mid-career artists. A soloist, chamber musician, improviser, and new music specialist, Jessen has presented dozens of world premiere performances throughout North America and Europe with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Dal Niente, Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Orchestra, S.E.M. Ensemble, and the Amsterdam Contemporary Ensemble. 

The Cleveland Arts Prize (CAP) promotes creativity in northeast Ohio by honoring artists for artistic excellence and recognizes community leaders who help regional arts flourish. CAP winners will be honored at an October 26 awards event at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Jessen joins a long roster of Oberlin College and Conservatory faculty and alumni who have been honored with Cleveland Arts Prize awards including Baroque oboist Debra Nagy BM ’00 & MM ’02, harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell ’90, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, writer Dan Chaon, African American music and jazz studies professor Wendell Logan, conductor Louis Lane, art historian Ellen Johnson, harpist Alice Chalifoux, painter John Pearson, and composers H. Leslie Adams, ’55, Margaret Brouwer ’62, Lewis Nielson,  Dennis Eberhard, Edward Miller, Walter Aschaffenburg, and Herbert Elwell.

Conservatory Associate Dean Chris Jenkins’ first book, Assimilation v. Integration in Music Education, was published in late July by Routledge and the College Music Society. In it, he writes about issues of diversity in classical music education.

Professor Jason Stalnaker coauthored a paper, "What Can a GNOME Do? Search Targets for the Global Network of Optical Magnetometers for Exotic Physics Searches," in Annalen der Physik with former Oberlin undergraduates Sun Yool Park ’19, Perrin C. Segura ’20, Dhruv Tandon ’22, and Heather Pearson ’23.

Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Jillian Scudder's most recent book, The Milky Way Smells of Rum and Raspberries, was reviewed by Foreword Reviews: "Her explanations of complex information—as about how black holes use jets of fast-moving energy to blow bubbles—are clear, following the step-by-step processes of discovery in easy-to-understand terms. The book’s biggest message is to be amazed, because the universe is an amazing place and its mysteries are endless. Aiming to intrigue general readerships about astrophysics, The Milky Way Smells of Rum and Raspberries is full of the energy and excitement of discovery."

Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Jillian Scudder published "The Shiniest Planet Has Clouds of Metal and Glass" in Nautilus, exploring a recent paper describing a very reflective exoplanet.