Faculty and Staff Notes

Assistant Professor of Physics Jillian Scudder’s book, Astroquizzical, was reviewed in E&T Magazine and Times Higher Education.

Alexia Hudson-Ward, Azariah Smith Root director of libraries, was elected to a three-year term as vice-chair/chair-elect of the College Libraries Section (CLS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The purpose of ACRL-CLS is "... to advance college librarianship and encourage the development of library services in baccalaureate degree-granting institutions. CLS is a nimble, responsive section that engages in conversation, connection, collaboration, and celebration for librarians who serve primarily undergraduate and teaching-focused institutions."

Andria Derstine, John G. W. Cowles director of Allen Memorial Art Museum, received an Affiliated Fellowship from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. During her fellowship, Derstine will focus on researching training and instruction techniques at the French Academy in Rome and the Accademia di San Luca in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón's second novel, Dicen que los dormidos (2012, 2014, 2017) has been translated into the Turkish as Uyoyor diyorlar and published in Turkey by Cumartesi Kitapligi.

Marco Wilkinson, managing editor of the Oberlin College Press, has received a 2018 Ohio Arts Council Award for Individual Excellence for his writing.

Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón, assistant professor of Hispanic studies, published a non-fiction story, titled "Juego de distancias y una crónica" about Hurricane María, Puerto Rico, and friendship in the prestigious Cuban magazine, Casa de las Américas. The non-fiction story was also re-published in Universo-Centro, a Colombian monthly distributed free of charge in Colombia's major cities.

Danforth-Lewis Professor of Economics John Duca coauthored "The Impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on Small Business," NBER Working Paper No. 24501, in the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar spoke about the importance of taking risks on a podcast featuring women leaders.

Jim Walsh, professor of mathematics, gave a plenary talk at the 20th Annual Chicago Symposium Series on Excellence in Teaching Mathematics and Science: Research and Practice, held April 13 at Northeastern Illinois University/North Park University in Chicago. The symposium series has been convening math and science faculty from the Chicago area for the past twenty years with the goal of improving undergraduate math and science education in and around Chicago. Walsh spoke about his experiences teaching the mathematical modeling of climate.

Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón, assistant professor of Hispanic studies, contributed an essay on queer Puerto Rican literature to the volume Pierre Bourdieu in Hispanic Literature and Culture, edited by Ignacio Sánchez Prado and published by Palgrave. The essay, titled “Cruel Dispositions: Queer Literature, the Contemporary Puerto Rican Literary Field and Luis Negrón’s Mundo Cruel” (2010), offers an account of the rise and institutionalization of queer literature in the contemporary Puerto Rican literary field, the most important development in the island’s literary culture of the past decades.