Faculty and Staff Notes

Frederick B. Artz Professor of History Leonard Smith presented the paper "The Decolonization of Land in Algeria After Independence" at a December conference at the University of Copenhagen. In January, he presented the lecture "Legalizing the Law of the Strongest: Japan and Italy before the League of Nations, 1931-36" at the University of Kyoto.

Director of Gender, Sexuality, & Attraction Initiatives NiK Peavy attended the Creating Change conference in Washington, D.C., co-leading the daylong institute Advancing LGBTQIA+ Programs on Campus in a Challenging Climate with colleagues from Rutgers University and Northern Illinois University.

Department of Psychology Research Technician Peter Naegele developed AI tutors for his Oberlin statistics courses Research Methods 2 (PSYCH 300) and R Studio (PSYCH 021). The AI tutors use a guided-learning approach, assisting students as they work through questions without simply handing over the answers. Naegele also developed an AI tutor for the Passion-Driven Statistics platform at Wesleyan College.  

Associate Professor of Contemporary Music and Improvisation Dana Jessen served as music supervisor and bassoonist for Pastoral, featuring the Pam Tanowitz Dance Company, with music by Caroline Shaw and visual art by Sarah Crowner. The production had a three-show run at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater from January 11-13, 2026.

Professor of Psychology Nancy Darling was interviewed by the Boston Globe for a Sunday Magazine feature article on how to help adolescents clean their rooms. (Subscription required for article viewing.)

William G. Smith Associate Professor of Sociology and Comparative American Studies Alicia Smith-Tran presented the paper "Two Six-Piece Nuggets, No Sauce" at the Internatonal Association of Autoethnography and Narrative Inquiry Forum in Safety Harbor, Florida. The paper is an autoethnographic analysis about parenting neurodivergent kids that challenges age-based expectations for food consumption.

Associate Professor of Writing and Communication Cortney Smith coauthored an essay on the experiences of Yup'ik learners in the college classroom. It was published in the Western Journal of Communication.

Associate Dean for Intercultural Engagement Josh Whitson was named Trainer Corps Chair for NAFSA: Association of International Educators. This national volunteer leadership position supports the association in developing trainers who lead workshops in the areas of international student and scholar services, education abroad, international enrollment management, and teaching, learning, and scholarship.

Kathleen Abromeit compiled “Quarterly Scores List," a bibliography of recently published music scores in Notes: The Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association. Recent columns have included “Solo Works for Classical Guitar by Black Composers” (Vol. 81, No. 2), “COVID-19 Pandemic-Influenced Classical Scores” (Vol. 81, No. 3), “Operas by Black Composers” (Vol. 82, No. 1), and “Music by Indigenous Composers,” compiled with Allison D. McClanahan (Vol. 82, No. 2).

Oberlin faculty and Oberlin history were well-represented at the American Society of Church History annual conference, held in Chicago in early January. Assistant Professor of Religion William Underwood presented on “'The Establishment of New Traditions, or: Religion in the Age of Intellectual Mass Production"; Emeritus Professor A.G. Miller was part of a roundtable on "Oberlin, Ohio, as an Intentionally Christian Abolitionist Community"; and Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Religion Shari Rabin presented on "Providence and Prayer at Oberlin's Historic Elm Tree."