Faculty and Staff Notes

Barker Professor of Music Theory Jared Hartt has published a monograph, The Dorset Rotulus: Contextualizing and Reconstructing the Early English Motet. Co-authored with Margaret Bent and Peter Lefferts, the study is the first in over 35 years devoted to the motet in England. Spurred by the recent discovery of an exciting new source of medieval polyphony, the book provides reconstructions and performable transcriptions of several early fourteenth-century motets—some previously unknown—and offers a new evaluation of the richness of the English repertory on its own terms.

Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón’s novel, Los días hábiles, has recently been reviewed in Puerto Rican magazines 80grados and El Roommate.

On September 3, Stiliana Milkova, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, co-organized and participated in "Elena Ferrante's Lost Daughters," a round table discussion at the 2021 Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on the occasion of the premier of the 2021 film "The Lost Daughter" starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. The event was part of the cultural association Isola Edipo.

Associate Professor of Sociology Greggor Mattson was a featured guest on KERA Dallas Public Radio discussing why gay bars matter, how they have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and what their vulnerabilities and resilience tell us about their future.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies Jennifer Blaylock has published the article “‘Who wants a BlackBerry these days?’ Serialized new media and its trash” in the journal Screen. In the article, she looks at seriality and its connection to racial capital by discussing the Nigerian film series BlackBerry Babes (2011-12).

Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Rob Thompson gave testimony in front of Ohio’s Redistricting Commission on August 27 at Ohio State University, Mansfield. Thompson has been active with Fair Districts Ohio (www.fairdistrictsohio.org) and has presented to many groups about reapportionment, redistricting, and gerrymandering. The full statement can be found on the commission’s website.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission will draw the state’s House and Senate district maps, while the Ohio Legislature will draw the Congressional map. A citizens’ rally for fair districts is planned for Tuesday, September 21, at the State Capitol in Columbus. 

Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies Shari Rabin and Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies Matthew Berkman both had pieces published in the journal American Jewish History’s new special issue on antisemitism.

Professor of Philosophy Todd Ganson has published a review of the book Representation in Cognitive Science in the journal Mind.

Margaret Kamitsuka, emeritus professor of religion, edited a special issue of the Journal of Religious Ethics (August 2021) with a focus on reproductive ethics. She wrote one of the seven essays in this issue, which included an essay from Oberlin alum and religion major Rebecca Epstein-Levi. 

In an article for NPR Books, Myriam J.A. Chancy cites The Immortals by Makenzy Orcel, translated by Oberlin Visiting Assistant Professor of French Nathan H. Dize, as one of four books to understand why Haiti should be hold our attention through earthquakes and tropical storms. The Immortals was one of the first novels written about the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti and one of the first of these novels to be translated into English.