Faculty and Staff Notes

Drew Wilburn, associate professor of classics, archaeology, and humanities, gave two invited lectures in London during May 2017. At the British Museum, he presented his research on the archaeological findspots of magical papyri in Egypt, entitled "Investigating the Magical Papyri as Artifacts." This work is part of a larger project related to archaeological context and spell manuals that were used by specialists during the late Roman and early Christian periods (3rd-6th centuries CE). He also gave a public lecture at Treadwell's Bookshop, entitled "Archaeology of Spells: A Case Study from Karanis, Egypt." This lecture presented Drew's research on a magical love spell and a cache of more than 80 inscribed bones found during the University of Michigan's excavations at the Roman period site of Karanis.

Assistant Professor of Economics Evan Kresch was a discussant at the Liberal Arts Colleges Development Economics Conference that took place September 8-9, 2017. 

Sandra Zagarell, professor of English, presented a paper "Alice Dunbar-Nelson's Archive and the Places of Regionalism" at the American Literature Association's Symposium "Regionalism and Place in American Literature" on September 9, 2017.  

Greggor Mattson, associate professor of sociology, presented about the decline of gay bars on a panel at the Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference in London. Mattson examined the characteristics of bars in small cities as a corrective to research that overwhelmingly focuses on LGBTQ places in large metropolises with gay neighborhoods. Based on site visits and interviews with bar owners, he shows how these bars' successes provide insights for those other bars which are a small minority of the total number of gay bars. Read the abstract of his talk and slides.

Outreach & Programming Librarian Eboni A. Johnson ’97 edited a book called Librarian as Mentor: Grow, Discover, and Inspire which was published in July 2017. Librarian as Mentor explores, in a highly readable fashion, the many ways mentoring can be an effective tool in recruiting, retaining, supporting and developing a diverse workforce in any library setting. Johnson assembled 14 librarians to share personal experiences on career positive outcomes from being a mentor as well as a mentee. Topics include peer mentorship, intentional mentoring, mentoring the new generation, and mentoring community advocates.

More information about this book, and other titles in the Peak Series, is available on the Mission Bell Media website.

Assistant Professor of Economics Chris Cotter was invited to participate in an Aspen Institute program on integrating liberal arts and business with Lori Young, director of the career development center, and Bara Watts, director of LaunchU. 

Professor of Classics Kirk Ormand had a small role in a multi-lingual dramatic production at the site of ancient Messene (Greece). The play, Μεσσηνιακά· Εἰρωονεῖες τοῦ Πολέμου (The Messenian Affair: Ironies of War) was written by Giannis Lignadis, based on book four of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponesian War, and was directed by Giannis Panagopoulos. The play was the second in the series Thucydides Dramaticus: The Theater of War, and was produced by the Hellenic Education Resource Center (HERC) in conjunction with ΔΙΑΖΩΜΑ, the Deme of Messene, the Ephoreia of Messenian Antiquities, and with support from the Greek Archaeological Service. Performances took place on August 12 and 13 in the ancient Messenian theater, which was built in the early 4th century BCE and excavated in the late 20th century by Professor Petros Themelis of the Greek Archaeological Service, to whom the play was dedicated.

A much larger and more important role was played in the drama by fourth-year Tara Wells, who had lines in ancient Greek and was a member of the women’s chorus.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics Naomi Campa had a small role in a multi-lingual dramatic production at the site of ancient Messene (Greece). The play, Μεσσηνιακά· Εἰρωονεῖες τοῦ Πολέμου (The Messenian Affair: Ironies of War) was written by Giannis Lignadis, based on book four of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponesian War, and was directed by Giannis Panagopoulos. The play was the second in the series Thucydides Dramaticus: The Theater of War, and was produced by the Hellenic Education Resource Center (HERC) in conjunction with ΔΙΑΖΩΜΑ, the Deme of Messene, the Ephoreia of Messenian Antiquities, and with support from the Greek Archaeological Service. Performances took place on August 12 and 13 in the ancient Messenian theater, which was built in the early 4th century BCE and excavated in the late 20th century by Professor Petros Themelis of the Greek Archaeological Service, to whom the play was dedicated.

A much larger and more important role was played in the drama by fourth-year Tara Wells, who had lines in ancient Greek and was a member of the women’s chorus.

Professor of East Asian studies Sheila Miyoshi Jager talked to Neal Conan, host of the program Truth, Politics and Power that is broadcast on NPR around the country, about the history of the unending Korean War.  The episode aired on August 17, 2017.

Associate Professor of Economics Ron Cheung was interviewed by City Lab, a publication of the Atlantic, about the history of homeowners associations in "When the City Sells Your Street."