This Week in Photos: Campus Life on a Fall Day</h1> <article> <h1>This Week in Photos: Campus Life on a Fall Day</h1> <p>ygay — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:22:11 +0000</p> <span>This Week in Photos: Campus Life on a Fall Day</span> <span><span>ygay</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-10-28T13:22:11-04:00" title="Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - 13:22">Wed, 10/28/2020 - 13:22</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Students nestle themselves on tree swings and concrete columns, while others dot the campus with study circles, blanket lunches, and classes. In this photo series, we visit some of these spaces and get consumed by the beauty of the season. </p> <p>See more campus photos on a fall day on <a href="https://flic.kr/s/aHsmRGgKbZ" target="_blank">91ֱ��’s Flickr page</a>.</p> <hr> <p> </p> <div class="obj-center"> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>A study circle. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="obj-center"> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Walking through Tappan Square. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="obj-center"> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Is this an art installation? Not exactly. While one student studies, another takes a break at the Memorial Arch. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="obj-center"> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Chatting it up on a bench. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="obj-center"> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>An Indigenous People's Day screening. Photo credit: Anokha Venugopal</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="obj-center"> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Husssh. This student is studying. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="obj-center"> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>The snack break. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="obj-center"> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Swimming in fall colors. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> </div> <p> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>This Week in Photos is a selection of images and is not meant to represent a weekly timeline. Images highlight campus, community, people, and events related to 91ֱ�� College.</em></p> <p><br> <br> </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-10-28T12:00:00Z">Wed, 10/28/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Yvonne Gay</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>There’s something magical in the air at 91ֱ�� College on a fall day. The trees are filled with yellows, reds, and golds, and the crunch beneath your feet sounds like potato chips.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2379">Student Life</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2566">Wilder Bowl</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2545">Tappan Square</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2354">Campus Life</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2763">Multicultural Resource Commons</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">An outdoor class.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Yvonne Gay</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Teaching in the New Normal: Epics, Puppets and Music with Jennifer Fraser</h1> <p>hhempste — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 21:42:37 +0000</p> <span>Teaching in the New Normal: Epics, Puppets and Music with Jennifer Fraser</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-06-01T17:42:37-04:00" title="Monday, June 1, 2020 - 17:42">Mon, 06/01/2020 - 17:42</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="/jennifer-fraser">Jennifer Fraser</a>, associate professor of <a href="/ethnomusicology">ethnomusicology</a> and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/anthropology">anthropology</a>, describes how students in her course, Epics, Puppets and Music, successfully transformed what would have been an in-person final project into a highly creative, socially-distanced version. While working in different locations, students created a virtual wayang, an intricate Indonesian performance practice that uses handmade puppets and incorporates live gamelan music.</p> <p>According to rising senior and musical studies major Olivia Fink, her experience creating the piece was a collaborative and creative endeavor. </p> <p>“I think my other classmates share the same sentiment—our socially-distant wayang was a fun, creative outlet for all of us,” she says. “Each student had skills that were utilized in different ways; student Lexie Pratt is a visual artist and made individual puppets and sent them across the country to our classmates; audio-editors reworked the dialogue tracks to fit over gamelan music, editors edited, and of course our professor, Jennifer Fraser, helped in every way possible. My favorite part was the overwhelming sense of collaboration and community that I hadn't felt since I left 91ֱ��. I think our wayang performance really was something for us all to look forward to and know we accomplished it together.”</p> <p>Fraser shares the story of the original piece. Watch the full presentation below, and <a href="https://tinyurl.com/ybnmdw3o">read the program notes</a>. </p> <p>From Fraser: </p> <p>This semester, students in the course Epics, Puppets and Music (ETHN 202) were challenged to design their own wayang performance. The course took an interesting turn when in-person classes were suspended in March, and we switched to online learning. Through this all, students created something truly unique: a socially-distanced wayang. </p> <p>Not only does the final product speak to their creativity, but it speaks to the depths of their learning in truly internalizing and embodying the principles of the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic of ancient India, and its adaptation to the wayang format in Indonesia. The script they wrote embraces the ability of the art form to be responsive to the times, and it uses the Ramayana as the basis to talk about the spread of an infectious greed that traps the population inside. The only creature immune is Anoman, the monkey king, who sports a facemask for extra protection as he roams about, protected from the Covid Ogres who speak in rhyming verse. Rather than opting for recording individual scenes and stitching them together, the students decided to coordinate a performance over Zoom where the puppets meet in boxed-in screens. </p> <p>The script is not only original, but collaboratively produced. Students all took on different tasks for the final production from editing the script, to making the puppets, narrating, speaking, moving the puppets, editing the soundtrack, and editing the whole thing. We collectively wrote the program notes and most of the music comes from former 91ֱ�� students during Winter Term intensives in 91ֱ�� or Indonesia. What they have produced is a brilliant piece of creative work in response to the current crisis, and truly exemplifies deep learning through experiential pedagogies. In some ways, I doubt the production would have been quite as creative had we proceeded with an on campus performance as planned. This is all their work. I had very little to do with it, and I would love to share it with the world.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-06-01T12:00:00Z">Mon, 06/01/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>These days, the classroom has taken on new meaning for both faculty and students at 91ֱ��. In this series we are sharing stories from faculty on how they are navigating this new normal. </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2414">Faculty</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35766">Ethnomusicology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=24656">Anthropology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/jennifer-fraser" hreflang="und">Jennifer Fraser</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/anthropology" hreflang="und">Anthropology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Students were challenged to design their own wayang, Indonesian performance practice that uses handmade puppets.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id class="o-flex--video-embed"> <div class="video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div class="field field--name-field-bio-card-el-biography field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <div class="biography-card"> <figure> </figure> <div class="biography-card__content"> <h2><span>Jennifer Fraser</span> </h2> <ul class="item-list list--clean" style="margin-top: 0px;"> <li class="professional-title">Professor of Ethnomusicology and Anthropology</li> </ul> <a class="view-more" href="/jennifer-fraser">View Jennifer Fraser’s biography</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Michael Rainaldi Honored with YB Staff Award</h1> <p>hhempste — Tue, 26 May 2020 18:22:12 +0000</p> <span>Michael Rainaldi Honored with YB Staff Award</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-05-26T14:22:12-04:00" title="Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 14:22">Tue, 05/26/2020 - 14:22</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Director of International Programs and <a href="/study-away">Study Away</a> Michael Rainaldi’s leadership and dedication to students is one of the reasons he was selected for the 2020 YB Staff Award.</p> <p>The <a href="/human-resources/awards-recognition">Yeworkwha Belachew (YB) Staff Award</a> is given each year to an 91ֱ�� College staff member who has gone “above and beyond” in service to the college. The award is named in honor of the extraordinary service of Yeworkwha Belachew, or YB, as she was known to the 91ֱ�� community. The YB Staff Award was established to recognize a non-faculty, institutional employee of the college who demonstrates daily commitment and performance in advancing 91ֱ��’s strategic goals through exemplary service to the college.</p> <p>In his role, Rainaldi supports 91ֱ�� students in their pursuit of meaningful intercultural experiences. “Study away is an essential part of an 91ֱ�� education,” says Rainaldi. “My role as director overlaps with all the various areas of the liberal arts experience in a study away context. That does, of course, involve academics, but it also involves advising, housing, cultural adjustment, visas, finances and scholarship, student life, and risk management.”</p> <p>In addition to his typical work with students, Rainaldi recently navigated the difficult task of providing guidance to students studying abroad during a period of upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He explains that the past few months have been incredibly challenging, not only for him but for the students who were required to return home before the conclusion of their time abroad. </p> <p>“Supporting the transition away from those experiences was immensely challenging on an emotional and professional level,” he says. “It was heartbreaking for me, and surely more so for our 91ֱ�� students. Yet, it was also inspiring to see how well they managed this extraordinarily difficult time.”</p> <p>For Rainaldi, the most enjoyable part of his role is when students share their experiences abroad. “So much of my work involves getting students off campus,” he says. “Any time I have the opportunity to learn about their experiences motivates me to continue supporting other Obies in their pursuit of study away.”</p> <p>Receiving the YB Staff Award is meaningful for Rainaldi. He explains that Belachew embodied 91ֱ��’s commitment to overcoming challenges through education and dialogue. “Improving the world’s imperfections, including those in ourselves and here in the U.S., is one of the tenants of international education,” he says. </p> <p>While reflecting on the experiences of the students who studied away in spring 2020, Rainaldi shares words of encouragement. “Returning home from study away is challenging enough, but to have done so under these circumstances takes immense courage and resolve. It might not feel like it right now, but all of you have become stronger and more resilient as a result. If you haven’t already recognized this growth in yourselves, you soon will. This semester will be remembered for a lot of reasons, and I encourage each of you to remember it with pride and dignity.”</p> <hr> <p><br> Read what some of Rainaldi’s nominating colleagues had to say about him. </p> <p>“Mike Rainaldi is richly deserving of the Yeworkwha Belachew Staff Award. His work exemplifies the best of YB’s dedication, commitment, and care. Mike truly loves travel and study abroad and is an enthusiastic advocate for it. He maintains a student-centered office and is highly responsive to students’ questions and concerns about international study.”</p> <p>“As you know the health, safety, and well-being of our faculty, staff, and students is of paramount importance. Following the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, Mike identified 91ֱ�� students who were in the Middle East, checked in with them regarding their safety and documented a thorough emergency response protocol based on safety assessments from four different global threat assessment organizations. Mike's leadership is consistent with higher education industry standards for health, safety, and security protocol in international programs.”</p> <p>“Students deeply appreciate Mike’s counsel and direction as they make decisions on whether, when, and where to study abroad.”</p> <p>“COVID-19’s devastating impact on international travel has tested every member of the 91ֱ�� community as well as our friends and neighbors around the world. 91ֱ��’s excellent response to this unprecedented public health emergency required Mike Rainaldi’s expertise and professional judgment to ensure our students’ safety. Mike has been a leader on campus in responding to this pandemic, providing ongoing detailed information about global conditions throughout the rapidly changing circumstances.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-05-26T12:00:00Z">Tue, 05/26/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Hillary Hempstead</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2551">Staff</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2376">Study Away</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2359">Administration</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Director of International Programs and Study Away Michael Rainaldi.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of Michael Rainaldi</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Teaching in the New Normal: The Practice of Writing with Emily Barton</h1> <p>hhempste — Tue, 26 May 2020 18:12:36 +0000</p> <span>Teaching in the New Normal: The Practice of Writing with Emily Barton</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-05-26T14:12:36-04:00" title="Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 14:12">Tue, 05/26/2020 - 14:12</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="/emily-barton">Emily Barton</a>, assistant professor of <a href="/creative-writing">creative writing</a>, describes how students in her course, The Practice of Writing, successfully completed a demanding schedule of assignments even through upheaval and the move to online learning. Originally, the class final project was to be a physical book they made to house each students’ favorite piece, but with students in different locations this plan had to be rethought. Barton shares their process of creating, instead, a <a href="https://scalar.oberlincollegelibrary.org/the-practice-of-writing/index">digital anthology</a> that will live online indefinitely in the libraries’ digital archives.</p> <hr> <p>From Barton:</p> <p>The creative writing course The Practice of Writing (CRWR 195) has a simple but rigorous premise. Each week, students read two texts that approach a topic or element of craft from different perspectives. They then write five short pieces in response to prompts, engaging with and springing off from those source texts. Later in the week, they break into small-group workshops to discuss their responses.</p> <p>In any semester, writing 45 such pieces to deadline would be an accomplishment—each student had a full course load, with other classes demanding time and attention, as well as jobs, extracurriculars, and the demands of everyday life. But spring 2020 offered new challenges when we made the unprecedented mid-semester pivot to online learning. Suddenly, some students who had formerly dragged themselves out of bed for a 9:30 a.m. class were calling in from the West Coast at 6:30 a.m. For a student who had gone home to Singapore, our class started meeting at night. Working from home, often with little privacy and without their peers’ fellowship to sustain them, these students still managed to read, write their own work, and read each other’s stories with support, care, and keen eyes. I was grateful for the students’ continued commitment to each other and the work of the class and delighted to see that we could transfer our working community online.</p> <p>One challenge remained, however. Our plan at the semester’s beginning had been to hand-produce a chapbook of student work as a collaborative final project. One student volunteered to design a cover, and another offered to do the layout. We were ready to photocopy, bone fold, saddle staple, and distribute. But when we scattered to the far corners of the globe, we had to rethink this plan. Thanks to Megan Mitchell, academic engagement and digital initiatives coordinator for the <a href="https://libraries.oberlin.edu">91ֱ�� College Libraries</a>, we were able to make a digital version of our chapbook, which is now housed in the libraries’ digital archives.</p> <p>We invite members of our community to enjoy this anthology, which the students have titled <a href="https://scalar.oberlincollegelibrary.org/the-practice-of-writing/index"><em>I Have Not Adhered to the Honor Code on This Assignment</em></a>. In it, you’ll find one short piece of writing from each student in the class. The pieces represent diverse styles, subjects, and points of view.</p> <p>As much as we would have loved to give each of you a handmade zine, we are glad to have been able to produce this work, even given these extraordinary circumstances.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-05-25T12:00:00Z">Mon, 05/25/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>These days, the classroom has taken on new meaning for both faculty and students at 91ֱ��. In this series we are sharing stories from faculty on how they are navigating this new normal. Please share an <a href="mailto:communic@oberlin.edu">example or anecdote</a> that addresses one of these areas.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2384">Libraries</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25326">Creative Writing</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/emily-barton" hreflang="und">Emily Barton</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/creative-writing" hreflang="und">Creative Writing</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Students created a digital anthology that will live online indefinitely in the libraries' archives.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div class="field field--name-field-bio-card-el-biography field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <div class="biography-card"> <figure> </figure> <div class="biography-card__content"> <h2><span>Emily Barton</span> </h2> <ul class="item-list list--clean" style="margin-top: 0px;"> <li class="professional-title">Associate Professor of Creative Writing</li> <li class="professional-title">Chair of Creative Writing</li> </ul> <a class="view-more" href="/emily-barton">View Emily Barton’s biography</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>91ֱ�� Harnesses the Power of Community</h1> <p>hhempste — Wed, 13 May 2020 20:43:28 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Harnesses the Power of Community</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-05-13T16:43:28-04:00" title="Wednesday, May 13, 2020 - 16:43">Wed, 05/13/2020 - 16:43</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>What a difference one day can make. On Thursday, April 23, 2020, the 91ֱ�� College community rallied to celebrate what is truly good and beautiful about 91ֱ��. </p> <p>In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, 91ֱ�� College & Conservatory hosted All in for 91ֱ�� (AIFO), its fourth giving day. The priority of the campaign was to celebrate the 91ֱ�� College & Conservatory community, strengthen connections, and inspire donor engagement and participation, while simultaneously generating revenue vital to general operations, scholarship funding, and support for key areas of campus. </p> <p>Despite the pandemic, Obies from around the globe joined together to pay tribute to the collective power of philanthropy. Nearly 2,000 students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends donated more than $932,000, our largest fundraising total in 91ֱ��'s giving day history. John Charles ’87 shared, “Being involved in All In reminded me how important 91ֱ�� the school and 91ֱ�� the people are to me. The more I give to 91ֱ��, the more I get back in a stronger bond to the place.” </p> <p>Philanthropy is essential to the sustainability of the institution and the transformational experience of an 91ֱ�� education. Marwan Ghanem ’22 stated, “Not only does AIFO support students financially, but it also upgrades the 91ֱ�� educational and living experience. It boosts extracurricular and wellness activities to cultivate world-class Obie generations who are ready to rock the career market.”</p> <p>The college would like to thank all donors for their generosity on 91ֱ��’s fourth annual giving day and every day. Michael Grzesiak, VP of Advancement said, “We are grateful for your support and energy, which serves to strengthen our institution.”</p> <hr> <p>Note: If you missed All in for 91ֱ�� this year, you can still make a lasting impact by making your gift at <a href="http://advance.oberlin.edu/donate">advance.oberlin.edu/donate</a> now or before June 30. </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-05-13T12:00:00Z">Wed, 05/13/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Alumni, et al. come together in support of students.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2974">Conservatory Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2597">Faculty and Staff</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3346">Advancement</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Creative Writing Program 2020 Poetry Competition Winners</h1> <p>hhempste — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 22:05:44 +0000</p> <span>Creative Writing Program 2020 Poetry Competition Winners</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-04-28T18:05:44-04:00" title="Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - 18:05">Tue, 04/28/2020 - 18:05</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Each spring, 91ֱ�� students are celebrated for their writing through the <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/creative-writing">Creative Writing Program’s</a> annual poetry competition. This year, four students were honored: fourth-year Sheng Kao; fourth-year Molly Bryson; third-year Sierra Jelks; and third-year Olivia Guerriero. Watch a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=995428707520533">recording of their readings</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span>, or read the full text of their works below. </p> <hr> <p><br> <strong>Emma Howell Memorial Poetry Prize</strong></p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Molly Bryson received an Emma Howell Memorial Poetry Prize Honorable Mention </figcaption> </figure> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Sheng Kao, Emma Howell Memorial Poetry Prize recipient</figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Winner</strong>: Sheng Kao is a fourth-year biology major from Virginia. </p> <p><br> <strong>Honorable Mention</strong>: Molly Bryson is a fourth-year creative writing and art history double major from Chicago. </p> <p>“Guest”<br> By Sheng Kao </p> <p>Girls in school uniforms apply lipstick at the café. Sometimes talk becomes birdsong. I’m red with envy, though no one can tell. Muscle memory of our mouths. How do you hold an apple?</p> <p>Like this. Flesh soft on the palate, a prayer. It’s raining at the temple but we sit with the gods anyway. I’m silent as a stray cat, strange skin, all ear-twitch and hopeless eyes. I can’t speak for want of pity. I can’t speak for fear of ghosts listening in.</p> <p>They dance, spirits, in the lush dark, the lush gleam of cities that were once rice paddy. An ecosystem of unnamed bodies. Our species consisting of daylight limning fog, droplets suspended. A beautiful girl I could pass my hand through. My tongue swollen apple. I walk like light and talk like air. A guest is defined by their inevitable departure.</p> <p>Ode to jetlag: the light pooling in all my joints and refusing to leave. I’m waking up in water. You can’t cross an ocean without getting clean.<br> </p> <hr> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Sierra Jelks, Battrick Fellowship Prize recipient</figcaption> </figure> <p><br> <strong>Battrick Fellowship Prize</strong></p> <p><strong>Winner</strong>: Sierra Jelks is a third-year art history major from Denver, Colorado.</p> <p>“Surviving by the Brine”<br> By Sierra Jelks </p> <p>“We survive here by the brine of our brutish blood”–Xandria Phillips </p> <p>I.</p> <p>I’m from a brutish people—hustlers, robbers, murderers--<br> <em>If we’d kill each other what makes you think we won’t kill you?</em><br> Regardless of fleeing East, West, or North, quick deaths find us.</p> <p>I’m from a gilded people—a singular dazzling incisor or canine.<br> <em>Ladies love the gold tooth!</em><br> A flashy fang is the exceptional similarity between paternal and maternal branches.</p> <p>I’m from an ironic people—generations earlier we sprinted from the plantation--<br> <em>Maybe it’s painful, people don’t like remembering painful things.</em><br> Now we doggedly run back, tracing seeds to find roots,<br> holding tight to names that don’t belong to us.</p> <p>I’m from crafty people—corn husk dolls, frayed fabric quilts, grass baskets.<br> <em>Don’t nobody today know how to sew…</em><br> We weave narratives out of mere glimpses.</p> <p>I’m from a ravenous people—we are connoisseurs of crumbs,<br> Survived centuries by devouring scraps:<br> When the salt pork was finished, we’d eat the brine.</p> <p>II.</p> <p>We’re a quilt, one fraying at the ends--<br> Threatening to unravel patch by patch.<br> The story is pieced together, rearranged and sewn.</p> <p>When I found you it wasn’t on another continent--<br> It wasn’t Alex Haley-ian joy, dancing as the puzzle pieces fit together.<br> I found you in a crime, a side hustle, and a memory.</p> <p>I found something that wasn’t simply a census, a draft record,<br> a one line directory entry.<br> No--I found something with weight.</p> <p>I wonder if Patrolman Schroeder’s descendants have found<br> Him on the very same front page.<br> Their grandfather the raceless hero--<br> My grandfather the Negro hustler.</p> <p>Let’s treat this moment as if it is crucial.<br> We know it isn’t, but let’s act as if it is:</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;"><br> ● A bottle of whiskey and $12.10 stuffed in an empty talcum box.<br> Shiny coins contaminated and dulled by the white powder.<br> $12.10 in 1916 is worth damn near $300 today.<br> ● The excuse (or is it the truth?): A fishing trip.<br> My father, your great-grandson adores fishing.<br> If the last name and the location weren’t enough, I take this tidbit as proof I come from you.<br> ● Patrolman Schroeder, in his whiteness, was rendered raceless.<br> It was world of Black—no—Negro porters and raceless Patrolman.<br> A world of brown skin and in its absence, a consuming nothingness.</p> <p>Let me tell you that nothing about this comes as a shock or a shame.<br> I knew the state of your descendants before I knew you.</p> <p>They fled Louisiana with their pinched up cheek-bones,<br> and landed in the slums of Southern California.<br> Their sigil became a single gold tooth.</p> <p>And like you they ran into the police.<br> One killed during a robbery, she was the robber.<br> Like you, they found their paths blocked by steel bars<br> Or they live brief, violent lives.<br> </p> <hr> <p><br> <strong>Lucy Pope Wheeler Prize</strong></p> <p><strong>Winner</strong>: Olivia Guerriero is a third-year creative writing and dance double major from New Hampshire. </p> <p>“Date”<br> By Olivia Guerriero </p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Olivia Guerriero, Lucy Pope Wheeler Prize recipient</figcaption> </figure> <p>As I pick and shred and tear the hangnail<br> under the table so he won’t see, I think<br> that he must clip stray skin and hair clean<br> of his body with silver blades,<br> doesn’t pop pimples or blisters,<br> rubs bug bites with antihistamine cream<br> instead of scratching them til the red welts bleed.<br> I bet he flosses between his teeth every night<br> before brushing, then swishes mouthwash, too. I bet<br> he washes his dishes right after using them<br> and dries them and puts them away<br> and each dish has a place. He would never<br> put glasses in the cabinet with the plates,<br> never let a spoon and a knife<br> bed together in the drawer.<br> I bet he would cut my hangnail for me.<br> Sit me on the bathroom counter,<br> wash the blood from my cuticle<br> with an antiseptic wipe<br> (he has a whole box under the sink)<br> and cut the string of skin at its root.<br> Flush it down the toilet.<br> Bring my hand to his mouth and lick<br> my raw thumb<br> with his clean pink tongue.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-04-29T12:00:00Z">Wed, 04/29/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25326">Creative Writing</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/creative-writing" hreflang="und">Creative Writing</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Peters Hall</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Janine Bentivegna</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Teaching in the New Normal: Holly Handman-Lopez</h1> <p>hhempste — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 21:28:31 +0000</p> <span>Teaching in the New Normal: Holly Handman-Lopez</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-04-28T17:28:31-04:00" title="Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - 17:28">Tue, 04/28/2020 - 17:28</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In this series we are sharing stories from faculty on how they are navigating this new normal. How have you adapted instruction to a remote learning environment? How have students shifted how they learn and participate? What’s changed, what’s stayed the same, or what has come as a pleasant surprise?</p> <p>Please <a href="mailto:communic@oberlin.edu">share an example or anecdote</a> that addresses one of these areas.</p> <p>Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance <a href="/holly-handman-lopez">Holly Handman-Lopez</a> shares how, even in the challenging circumstances of these times, students have been able to find ways to express themselves and stay connected to their creative community. Through a collective screen dance project, 17 dance majors and minors continue to pursue creative projects because, “Learning how to keep going even when the ground beneath your feet is shifting—this is what artists do,” says Handman-Lopez. </p> <p>From Handman: </p> <p>Moving with other dancers, rehearsing in preparation for concerts, and performing for audiences—these are the things dancers love to do. This semester, our students lost opportunities to experience the joys and challenges of creating and performing new choreographies. Senior majors who needed to complete their capstone projects have had to revise their plans numerous times as circumstances changed. Live performances with sizable casts scheduled for various campus venues have been reimagined into screen dances and other interdisciplinary projects. One senior dance major chose to work with two small groups of students who are quarantining together; one pod has three dancers, the other has two. In this instance, what had been a sextet scheduled for performance in Fairchild Chapel will become a screen dance featuring a trio and a duet.</p> <p>In an effort to support our students and to give them a way to express themselves and stay connected to their creative community, I devised a collective screen dance project inspired by the Exquisite Corps by Mitchel Rose of Ohio State University. His project featured many superstars of contemporary dance. We are featuring superstars of 91ֱ��, 17 dance majors and minors who continue to pursue their creative projects, no matter how many times they are thwarted or redirected by our ever-changing circumstances. Learning how to keep going even when the ground beneath your feet is shifting—this is what artists do.</p> <p>Despite time zone differences, intermittent Wi-Fi, and quarantine challenges, every single student who signed on to the project persevered and contributed a unique clip to the piece. My only request was that they begin where their classmate had ended and keep it within a short timeframe. Each student designed their segment and recruited a camera person or made it work on their own. Our student editor, fourth-year Clarissa Heart, connected the clips seamlessly, and <a href="/timara">TIMARA’s</a> <a href="/tom-lopez">Tom Lopez</a> created the sound score.</p> <p>I’m excited to have it completed for International Dance Day on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, and I’m so pleased that dance can offer something to our community during this time of separation.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-04-28T12:00:00Z">Tue, 04/28/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>These days, the classroom has taken on new meaning for both faculty and students at 91ֱ��.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2372">Performing Arts</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25331">Dance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33031">TIMARA</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/holly-handman-lopez" hreflang="und">Holly Handman-Lopez</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/tom-lopez" hreflang="und">Tom Lopez ’89</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/dance" hreflang="und">Dance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/contemporary-music" hreflang="und">Contemporary Music</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Student Kierra Nguyen.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of the 91ֱ�� College Department of Dance</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id class="o-flex--video-embed"> <div class="video-embed-field-provider-vimeo video-embed-field-responsive-video"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div class="field field--name-field-bio-card-el-biography field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <div class="biography-card"> <figure> </figure> <div class="biography-card__content"> <h2><span>Holly Handman-Lopez</span> </h2> <ul class="item-list list--clean" style="margin-top: 0px;"> <li class="professional-title">Assistant Professor of Dance</li> </ul> <a class="view-more" href="/holly-handman-lopez">View Holly Handman-Lopez’s biography</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Teaching in the New Normal: Translation Symposium</h1> <p>hhempste — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 14:34:13 +0000</p> <span>Teaching in the New Normal: Translation Symposium</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-04-27T10:34:13-04:00" title="Monday, April 27, 2020 - 10:34">Mon, 04/27/2020 - 10:34</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="/kirk-ormand">Kirk Ormand</a>, Nathan A. Greenberg Professor of Classics, describes how this year’s Translation Symposium looked different than in years past—most obviously in format but also in the absence of the event’s beloved founder <a href="/news/memoriam-professor-comparative-literature-and-english-jed-deppman">Jed Deppman</a>. Ormand explains that even with these challenges, the symposium continued and student translators shone. </p> <p>Says Ormand: </p> <p>Every year since 2002, the <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/comparative-literature">comparative literature</a> program has held its <a href="/oclc/languages/translation-symposium">Translation Symposium</a>—an opportunity for students to gather and present brief translations of literary works. The range of works is always impressive, from well-known pieces by canonical authors to little-known poems by artists whose work has remained politically or poetically on the edge. Each presenter has only five minutes to do three things: read a passage in the original language, read their own, original translation into English, and then say a few words about their process of translation. Translations can be as literal or as poetically free as the translator wishes; a central principle has been the assertion that translation is itself artistic creation. The event is polyglottal, multilingual, and polyvalent, and it showcases some of the most creative work of our highly talented majors. </p> <p>This year marked a special moment in the history of the event. First, and most importantly, this year the symposium was officially named after Jed Deppman—the recently departed, much beloved, and much admired—former chair of comparative literature, who founded the event more than fifteen years ago. Jed passed away this summer, after a long battle with advanced cancer. As <a href="/stiliana-milkova">Stiliana Milkova</a>, assistant professor of comparative literature and Italian, said in her opening remarks, “This is the first time we are organizing the translation symposium without the brilliant, inspiring presence of its founder, Professor Jed Deppman…He was a remarkable scholar and an exceptional teacher worshipped by his students. And he cared profoundly about literary translation….Professor Deppman inaugurated the first Translation Symposium in 2002 and since, it has become our signature event, our annual recognition of our students’ linguistic virtuosity and creative talent. To honor Professor Deppman, we have renamed the translation symposium in his memory. In this way, he will always be part of it.”</p> <p>Second, and more obviously, this year we had to reimagine the event as a webcast. With the able help of <a href="/abe-reshad">Abe Reshad</a> of the <a href="/cilc">Cooper International Learning Center</a>, we were able to hold the event over Zoom with a simultaneous livestream over YouTube Live. The sound quality was not perfect, and the video quality is limited by each of the participants’ technology and broadband. But as always, our student translators shine in their brilliant, evocative, sympathetic, funny, and resourceful transformations of literature from eight different languages. </p> <p>Listen to a sampling of student translations from the symposium:</p> <ul> <li>Joshua Reinier translating “Au Lecteur” from Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs de Mal </li> <li>Griffin Nosanchuk translating “Sonnet IX” by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz</li> <li>Antonia Offen reading a translation done with Mumi Vélez of Jorge Drexler’s “Codo con codo” </li> </ul></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-04-26T12:00:00Z">Sun, 04/26/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>These days, the classroom has taken on new meaning for both faculty and students at 91ֱ��. In this series we are sharing stories from faculty on how they are navigating this new normal. How have you adapted instruction to a remote learning environment? How have students shifted how they learn and participate? What’s changed, what’s stayed the same, or what has come as a pleasant surprise? <a href="mailto:communic@oberlin.edu">Please share an example or anecdote</a> that addresses one of these areas.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2391">Languages & Literatures</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2567">Conference-Symposium</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2581">Cooper International Learning Center (CILC)</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25316">Comparative Literature</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/kirk-ormand" hreflang="und">Kirk Ormand</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/stiliana-milkova" hreflang="und">Stiliana Milkova</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/abe-reshad" hreflang="und">Abe Reshad</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/comparative-literature" hreflang="und">Comparative Literature</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/classics" hreflang="und">Classics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/french-and-italian" hreflang="und">French and Italian</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Griffin Nosanchuk translates “Sonnet IX” by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz during the 2020 Translation Symposium that took place virtually, on Zoom.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of Kirk Ormand</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id class="o-flex--video-embed"> <div class="video-embed-field-provider-vimeo video-embed-field-responsive-video"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div class="field field--name-field-bio-card-el-biography field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <div class="biography-card"> <figure> </figure> <div class="biography-card__content"> <h2><span>Kirk Ormand</span> </h2> <ul class="item-list list--clean" style="margin-top: 0px;"> <li class="professional-title">Nathan A. Greenberg Professor of Classics</li> </ul> <a class="view-more" href="/kirk-ormand">View Kirk Ormand’s biography</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Undergraduate Research Symposium Showcases Student Research Virtually</h1> <p>hhempste — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 19:34:54 +0000</p> <span>Undergraduate Research Symposium Showcases Student Research Virtually</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-04-24T15:34:54-04:00" title="Friday, April 24, 2020 - 15:34">Fri, 04/24/2020 - 15:34</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Despite restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 91ֱ�� College Undergraduate Research Symposium will continue—in an online format—to showcase collaborative work between 91ֱ�� students and faculty. </p> <p>Typically held as a one-day, in-person event, the Undergraduate Research Symposium is an annual conference that highlights 91ֱ�� students’ research, along with the academic and artistic work of each year's graduating class.</p> <p>This year’s online symposium spans six days. The new format makes all research broadly available through recorded video and poster presentations that may be viewed online by anyone. Research is accessible between April 27 and May 2 through the <a href="/undergraduate-research/symposia/virtual-presentations">Office of Undergraduate Research website</a> and can be viewed at any time. Authors, titles, abstracts, and Q&A information is also available on the page. </p> <p>Many student presenters will also hold live Q&A sessions on <a href="https://blackboard.oberlin.edu/">Blackboard</a>, which can be accessed by those in the 91ֱ�� community.</p> <p><a href="/leslie-kwakye">Leslie Kawakye</a>, associate professor of neuroscience and director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, says that it is vital to provide students a platform to share their projects. “By presenting their research, students can engage in the final step of the research process: sharing their newly created knowledge with the world. It's important to honor and acknowledge their hard work, their dedication, and the new knowledge that they are producing.”</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Eder Aguilar will present research that analyzes experiences of Latinx students at 91ֱ��.<br> Photo credit: Courtesy of Eder Aguilar</figcaption> </figure> <p>For senior comparative American studies major Eder Aguilar, research with Professor of Comparative American Studies <a href="/gina-perez">Gina Pérez</a> on Lantinx students has taken place over two years. His presentation of “Am I Latinx Enough?” Latinx Ethnic Identity, Belonging, and Expression of Latinidad at 91ֱ�� College” analyzes experiences of Latinx students at 91ֱ�� “through a focus of their ethnic identity formation, their feelings of belonging, and their expression of their Latindad.” </p> <p>“This research has been two years in the making,” says Aguilar. “Though these circumstances have been incredibly strenuous, I am proud of the work I have done and I am incredibly grateful for the students who participated in my research.”</p> <p>Third-year economics major Sun Moon, whose research with Assistant Professor of Economics <a href="/martin-saavedra">Martin Saavedra</a> explores the impacts Japanese internment during World War II had on life spans, says the research experience has been valuable. </p> <p>“I didn’t realize how much I would learn from engaging in the research process. I’ve discovered so many different ways and methods to explore our research question. It was rewarding to apply the knowledge I gained in the classroom.”</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/oberlin/sets/72157714013515596/">In this gallery</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span> , view some of the 2020 presenters working on research at 91ֱ�� (prior to the transition to remote classes) and at home.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-04-24T12:00:00Z">Fri, 04/24/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Hillary Hempstead</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The Office of Undergraduate Research invites everyone to an online symposium between April 27 and May 2, featuring research from 91ֱ�� of Music students.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2358">Undergraduate Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2363">Academics & Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4861">Neuroscience</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25311">Comparative American Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25341">Economics</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/leslie-kwakye" hreflang="und">Leslie Kwakye ’06</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/gina-perez" hreflang="und">Gina Pérez</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/neuroscience" hreflang="und">Neuroscience</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/comparative-american-studies" hreflang="und">Comparative American Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/economics" hreflang="und">Economics</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Charlotte Babarinsa '20 uses electroencephalography (EEG) in a study to understand the neural mechanisms that lead to decreased crossmodal temporal acuity. Study authors Babarinsa, Zoey Keeley, Kathryn Hirabayashi, Samantha Papadakis, Zoii Barnes-Scott, and Russell Jaffe will present their research in the 2020 Undergraduate Research Symposium.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Mike Crupi</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Teaching in the New Normal: Professor Sebastiaan Faber</h1> <p>hhempste — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 18:25:25 +0000</p> <span>Teaching in the New Normal: Professor Sebastiaan Faber</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-04-22T14:25:25-04:00" title="Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - 14:25">Wed, 04/22/2020 - 14:25</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Professor of Hispanic Studies <a href="/sebastiaan-faber">Sebastiaan Faber</a> describes how a chance assignment that would explore <em>The Exterminating Angel</em>, a film about contagion and confinement by surrealist Luis Buñuel, has become a fitting discussion piece for students in his senior seminar (HISP 447). Faber explains that the film displays particularly eerie parallels to the current state of the world, much of which is in a state of forced confinement. </p> <p>From Faber: </p> <p>An upper-class dinner party takes a dark turn when the guests suddenly seem unable to leave the sitting room. There is no physical barrier blocking them; some other power is holding them back every time they approach the threshold. Over the following days of compulsive confinement, base instincts inevitably break through the razor-thin veneer of civilization as the guests try to make sense of a situation they don’t understand, surviving like castaways on a desert island. Some fall victim to superstitious delusions and feverish hallucinations. Others turn into murderers or rapists. While a black bear and a couple of sheep roam the empty mansion—preemptively abandoned by the serving staff, who felt something eerie was aloft—life outside goes on. The authorities cordon off the entrance gate and mark it with the yellow flag indicating contagion.</p> <p>This is the disturbing premise of the film that my course syllabus happened to have scheduled for the weekend 91ֱ�� students spent hurriedly packing their bags, a week before Ohio declared a state-wide lockdown in response to COVID-19. <em>The Exterminating Angel</em> was shot in 1962 by Luis Buñuel, the father of surrealist cinema. Buñuel—whose son was an Obie, Class of ’57—had a knack for disturbing practical jokes. He couldn’t have come up with a better way to mark the weird and unexpected transition from in-person classes to a second module in which we’re teaching and learning in a state of forced confinement.</p> <p>Two and a half weeks into this new world, I am happy to report that neither I or my students have succumbed, as yet, to murder or delusion. Sure, teaching to a screen of fifteen video thumbnails does not compare to the energy of an in-person class. Using Zoom is awkward and uncomfortable. It unsettles habits and routines. But in a way, our subject matter has helped prepare us for this: The first six weeks of the semester, too, were often awkward and uncomfortable. It couldn’t have been otherwise.</p> <p><em>The Exterminating Angel</em> is part of a senior seminar fully dedicated to Buñuel’s work and its legacies. Although the class is taught in Spanish, the twenty Buñuel films we’re viewing were shot in Spanish, French, and English in Mexico, France, Spain, and the United States. Some of them are downright hilarious satires of bourgeois life. Others are melodramatic and mysterious. Yet they are all profoundly disturbing. If Buñuel had a single goal throughout his career, it was to use the power of cinema to confuse his viewers while undermining their beliefs about the world, humanity, religion, morality, sexuality, desire—and themselves. Having your beliefs undermined is not a pleasant experience. Discomfort and frustration reign. And to make things worse, Buñuel’s movies stubbornly resist interpretation. As he liked to say: “Nothing in this film means anything.” Not a promising point of departure for a class discussion of any kind.</p> <p>Yet in hindsight, those first six weeks we got to spend in each other’s physical company were a useful boot camp for the online experience we’re limited to now. We were able to build a community—even if it was based on shared discomfort and frustration—that has survived into our current state of confined dispersion. What has also survived is the rigorous routine of (almost) daily viewing and writing we put in place before COVID-19 changed the world (two dozen films, twenty response papers, three papers with two drafts each).</p> <p>Our virtual meetings, meanwhile, have also had some unexpectedly positive aspects. Students who watched the films together on campus now sometimes share them with their families, who become unwitting focus groups for their papers. Zoom’s panopticon effect—students don’t know when the teacher is looking at them—puts everyone on their best behavior and makes cold-calling more acceptable. Although breakout rooms frustratingly put students out of the teachers’ view, the fact that the groupings are random allows students to work with people they didn’t sit next to in class. And being able to use a shared Google doc for in-class group writing or brainstorming in real-time is useful for quickly generating—and visualizing—ideas.</p> <p>Has Buñuel’s surreal take on the world as we knew it prepared us for the surreal world we’re finding ourselves in now? “I feel I’m appreciating this quarantine differently,” a student writes. “How linear or logical is time anyway? Why do we insist on analyzing this abnormal reality with normal eyes?” “I feel like this whole pandemic could be a Buñuel film,” another tells me. “He would very much enjoy its ironies. The wealthier ‘bourgeois’ groups in our country have continued to socialize and travel, for example, while the pandemic impacts low-income communities to a much greater extent. And Buñuel would find great pleasure in critiquing religion, as religious ‘devotion’ has become a catalyst for the rapid spread of the virus. The parallels between Buñuel's films and our current state are painfully absurd, and his films seem more appropriate now than ever.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">Campus News</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-04-22T12:00:00Z">Wed, 04/22/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>These days, the classroom has taken on new meaning for both faculty and students at 91ֱ��. In this series we are sharing stories from faculty on how they are navigating this new normal. How have you adapted instruction to a remote learning environment? How have students shifted how they learn and participate? What’s changed, what’s stayed the same, or what has come as a pleasant surprise? Please <a href="mailto:communic@oberlin.edu">share an example or anecdote</a> that addresses one of these areas. </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2363">Academics & Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4796">Hispanic Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/sebastiaan-faber" hreflang="und">Sebastiaan Faber</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/hispanic-studies" hreflang="und">Hispanic Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">A screenshot of students Hispanic Studies 447 in a Zoom discussion.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Photo courtesy of Sebastiaan Faber</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div class="field field--name-field-bio-card-el-biography field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <div class="biography-card"> <figure> </figure> <div class="biography-card__content"> <h2><span>Sebastiaan Faber</span> </h2> <ul class="item-list list--clean" style="margin-top: 0px;"> <li class="professional-title">Professor of Hispanic Studies</li> <li class="professional-title">Program Director, Latin American Studies</li> </ul> <a class="view-more" href="/sebastiaan-faber">View Sebastiaan Faber’s biography</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </main></body></html>