Using Theater to Ignite Conversations About Public Health and Social Issues</h1> <article> <h1>Using Theater to Ignite Conversations About Public Health and Social Issues</h1> <p>swargo — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:32:14 +0000</p> <span>Using Theater to Ignite Conversations About Public Health and Social Issues</span> <span><span>swargo</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-10-14T12:32:14-04:00" title="Wednesday, October 14, 2020 - 12:32">Wed, 10/14/2020 - 12:32</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Marjolaine Goldsmith ’14 fulfills her passion for storytelling and also has the opportunity to confront social injustices through her work with Theater of War Productions. Leading film, theater, and television actors are brought together to present dramatic readings of seminal plays—from classical Greek tragedies to modern and contemporary works—followed by town hall-style discussions designed to confront social issues by drawing out raw and personal reactions to themes highlighted in the plays.</p> <p>As both cast member and company manager, Goldsmith not only performs in the presentations but is also deeply engaged on the production side, from the ideational phase of a project to managing each element that goes into putting on an event, with an ever changing roster of stakeholders. The chance to work with and learn from such a reputable cast is not lost Goldsmith, but it is the audience that has left an indelible impression on her. “They have changed me on every level.”</p> <p>Read more about Marjolaine Goldsmith and her work with Theater of War Productions.</p> <p><strong>You studied classics at �鶹��Ƶ and were also involved in theater. How did you become involved with <a href="https://theaterofwar.com/">Theater of War Productions</a>?</strong></p> <p>I read Theater of War Productions’ founder and Artistic Director Bryan Doerries’ book <em>The Theater of War: What Ancient Greek Tragedies Can Teach Us Today</em>, and it affirmed all my formless hunches that everything I cared about was very much connected: ancient stories, acting, civic engagement, confronting a heritage of oppression, our biological need to communalize trauma, and our own ethics with storytelling. I wrote Bryan a letter in the spring of 2016 after I graduated in 2014, and he hired me.</p> <p><strong>You are both an actor and company manager with Theater of War Productions. How do you balance those roles? Is there a benefit to be able to see things from the two perspectives?</strong></p> <p>I was hired as both and see it very much as one job. Both are inextricably linked and are all in service of discussion. Especially when we moved our events in May entirely online, much of my work was making technical decisions in line with our values. Every actor’s performance changes based on what is said in the discussions, each event is iterative in that way, we believe that the audience is the translator of these plays.</p> <p>The actors and the audience are both interpreting the text, live, in the moment, so creating those conditions is central to my work as company manager and as an actor. It's the best boot camp I could imagine. Not only are we using the plays for what they are actually for—to foster discussion—but I also get to work with my heroes, and get to see so many actors—our cast is 250+ and growing—take on the same 20+ plays in rotation so I am learning so much from all the actors and the audience all the time.</p> <p><strong>The company has partnered with a wide range of institutions and organizations, from the Department of Defense and the Mayo Clinic to the Missouri Department of Corrections and the New York Public Library, to address difficult topics, including war and mental health, racism, and sexual violence. How are these productions able to help foster a deeper understanding of such complex social issues and what has the response been like from those who take in the productions?</strong></p> <p>Come and see one to find out! All of our events are free to attend, and most are open to the public. Our discussions are not accessory to the performance of the play, they are the main event. We use the plays as a shared text and experience to launch the discussion. We are able to address pressing public health and social issues because they are in the plays. We are not interested in assigning meaning to the plays but we are interested in the infinite possibility of interpretation and we have reverence for the experiential intelligence that is in every room.</p> <p>A lot of my work is dissolving the hierarchies that are physically built into most spaces: the audience is in the dark, we are acculturated to be silenced, so I am usually the mic runner and the lights are up in the audience, but now Zoom takes care of most of the conditioning that was an impediment for so long. We are all on equal footing if the stream of the experience isn’t one way, relegated to chat with a character limit.</p> <p>In our events, everyone has the chance to participate and be seen and heard. We put people with the most proximity to the issues we are addressing in the discussion on stage as our panelists, not people with degrees or on a book tour. The panelists replace the actors (who are never heard from again after they read the play). The panelists kick off the discussion and model a way of responding for the audience, using the play as a point of departure for their remarks. The responses from the audience and our panel truly blow me away each time we perform.</p> <p>I learn the most from our audiences. Even though I studied the plays at �鶹��Ƶ, and had great professors, I had no idea what these texts were actually about because I had not lived their experiences: combat, survivors guilt, exile, homelessness, domestic violence, suicide, incest, addiction, and the audience translates the plays through their own lived experience. I think sooner or later we all have proximity to these issues. It is our duty to bear witness to the truth of our fellow citizens. We have a stake in the health of the polis, and clearly practicing clinical detachment hasn’t worked so well. So I think we are a public health initiative, to communalize the impact of these issues.</p> <p><strong>After the performances are completed, they are followed by town hall-style discussions designed to confront social issues. What is one of the more poignant reactions from an audience member that has stayed with you?</strong></p> <p>There is a different one for each performance, truly. Recently, I have been really moved by EMS officers and Paramedics, and am stunned by a member of the custodial staff of a hospital in the Bronx that got hit severely by the pandemic. She interpreted Oedipus The Kingthrough the lens of her experience cleaning the rooms after patients have died from Covid19. She talked about the double plague of racial inequity and health inequity.</p> <p><strong>In your work with Theater of War Productions, you interact with a broad range of amazing cast members, including performing with Tracie Thoms and Jason Isaacs in Antigone in Ferguson. What have you taken away from those interactions?</strong></p> <p>Reg E. Cathey was a huge part of our company, and his spirit still is. I had the privilege of working with him, traveling together, during the first couple of years of my time with the company. I will be forever shaped by his presence, outrageous sense of humor, and incredible talent. While all of our actors are wonderful and incredibly talented and I learn so much from working with them, our audiences are the amazing ones. They are the arbiters of truth. They have totally changed me on every level. I will be forever grateful to each of them for their courage and candor and interpretations of the plays we perform.</p> <p><strong>�鶹��Ƶ offers many opportunities for students to explore interests outside of their major area of study. Beyond classics and theater, what course(s) at �鶹��Ƶ influenced who you are today?</strong></p> <p>Socialism Real and Imagined with Chris Howell was my freshman seminar that really set me up to see the power of fiction and theory as prisms through which to examine our own social contracts. Realism with Pat Day, which covered so many media (painting, film, books) was hugely eye opening to the many ways to capture reality and that the truth of a story is sometimes communicated better with a seemingly non-realistic approach. Hopeful Monsters and Screening Spirituality with Jeff Pence, which were each really productive in seeing cinema and books as a flexible device, a technology, for capturing a transcendent experience. I also had the opportunity to be in several student films, which became a home outside of the departments.</p> <p>Mostly, I am so grateful to �鶹��Ƶ for the proximity to the arts, the Art Rental Program is really the greatest. And the Allen Memorial Art Museum. And the music, there are more than 400 concerts a year, more than one a day, and you can see a harp concert in the afternoon, and a show at the ’Sco, or Chick Corea at Finney Chapel at night.</p> <p>The HIV peer testers program is frankly the most functional progressive public health program and positive student-run initiative I have ever encountered. It served as an empowered and confidential source of science, truth, and medical care and I hope it is super well funded and I know it was a deeply important stabilizing force for many of my fellow students.</p> <p><em>Read more about Theater of War Productions in a recent issue of the </em>New Yorker<em>: <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/can-greek-tragedy-get-us-through-the-pandemic">Can Greek Tragedy Get Us Through the Pandemic?</a></em></p> <p><br> </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-10-14T12:00:00Z">Wed, 10/14/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Scott Wargo</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=2360">After �鶹��Ƶ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</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=25261">Classical Civilization</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="/jeffrey-pence" hreflang="und">Jeffrey Pence ’88</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/william-patrick-day" hreflang="und">William Patrick Day ’71</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/classics" hreflang="und">Classics</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Marjolaine Goldsmith ’14 (bottom) in rehearsal for a performance of Doctors Without Boarders, presented by Theater of War Productions, with Frances McDormand, and Frankie Faison.</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">Marjolaine Goldsmith</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>This Week in Photos: January 22</h1> <p>ygay — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 20:30:50 +0000</p> <span>This Week in Photos: January 22</span> <span><span>ygay</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-01-22T15:30:50-05:00" title="Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 15:30">Wed, 01/22/2020 - 15:30</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Participants in this year’s LaunchU program take notes during a Boot Camp Session with Bara Watts, director of entrepreneurship. Photo credit: Osama Dawood</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>�鶹��Ƶ’s String Quartet Intensive in Kulas Recital Hall. Photo credit: Dustin Frantz</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Members of �鶹��Ƶ’s Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble engage with Berkeley High School students in California in an educational outreach program. Photo credit: Terrence McCarthy.</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>A student in the Podcasting �鶹��Ƶ News winter-term project interview Ms. Kim, owner of Kim’s Grocery & Carryout in downtown �鶹��Ƶ. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Students work on an ongoing research project involving dark matter. The project is part of the Global Network of Optical Magnetometers for Exotic Physics (GNOME) collaboration. Photo credit: Dustin Frantz</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>This course takes students through the syllabus for Greek 101. Students who successfully complete the course during this winter term may sign up for Greek 102 in the spring. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Psychology department research technician Peter Naegele teaches R for SPSS. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>A Beginning Viola Da Gamba classroom session. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Teaching Dance to Anyone students are joined by Writing for Everyone students in Warner Center dance studio. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Students in the Practicum in Exhibit Design winter-term project work on a community-informed exhibit of Alaska Native cultural objects that will be displayed in the Mary Church Terrell Library in the spring. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Assistant Professor William Parsons’s lab focuses on the development of small molecule tools to study the physiological roles of intramembrane hydrolases and better understand the biological fates of their substrates. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Rehearsal of the quirky new winter-term opera ‘‘The Wild Beast of the Bungalow’’ in Warner Concert Hall. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Student volunteers spend Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service at Franklin D. Roosevelt Academy in Cleveland. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Students take a break during winter term to enjoy polar blast snow tubing at Boston Mills/Brandywine Ski Resorts in Peninsula, Ohio. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko</figcaption> </figure> <p> </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-01-22T12:00:00Z">Wed, 01/22/2020 - 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="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2402">Winter Term</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=25286">Psychology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25261">Classical Civilization</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25411">Physics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25331">Dance</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="/will-parsons" hreflang="und">William (Will) Parsons</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/psychology" hreflang="und">Psychology</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/physics-and-astronomy" hreflang="und">Physics and Astronomy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/dance" hreflang="und">Dance</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">In this workshop, Visiting Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies and Creative Writing Joshua Sperling explores the practical skills involved in telling and analyzing popular screen narratives.</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">John Seyfried</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Q&A with “What is Sanctuary?” Panelists</h1> <p>hhempste — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 14:53:31 +0000</p> <span>Q&A with “What is Sanctuary?” Panelists</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-02-08T09:53:31-05:00" title="Thursday, February 8, 2018 - 09:53">Thu, 02/08/2018 - 09:53</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The concept of sanctuary is often part of today’s discussions about immigration, but the idea of providing sanctuary has ancient roots. Learn about the different meanings and practices of sanctuary from ancient to modern times during a cross-departmental panel, “What is Sanctuary?” on Tuesday, February 13 from 12:20 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in King 106. The event is associated with the monthlong series, Courage and Compassion, which explores sanctuary in connection to Japanese Americans during World War II.</p> <p>Responses provided by “What is Sanctuary?” panelists: Naomi Campa, classics; Meredith Gadsby, Africana studies; Shelley Lee, comparative American studies and history; Gina Pérez, comparative American studies; Elizabeth Wueste, classics; Ellen Wurtzel, history.</p> <p><strong>1. How would you describe the concept of "sanctuary"?</strong></p> <p>Sanctuary emerges in contemporary discussions around immigration, but current invocations of sanctuary and providing refuge to those fleeing state power have deep and ancient roots across the globe. According to the World Church Services’ recent report, sanctuary is “rooted in faith communities” and refers to the use of temples, churches, and sometimes cities as places of refuge for those who may or may not be innocent of crimes but who sought protection from secular authorities. </p> <p><br> <strong>2. How has the understanding and practice of "sanctuary" evolved from ancient to modern times?</strong></p> <p>Not surprisingly, the answer to this question is beyond the scope of this discussion, but one way to think of the difference between modern United States sanctuary and earlier practices is that in medieval times, for example, sanctuary was not contested as a concept because it was not seen as outside law but rather a law of the church that everyone recognized was valid. Because of the idea of multiple jurisdictions, churches had absolute rights to do these things and proclaim sanctuary, rights that were recognized by secular authorities because they wanted to be seen as protecting the power of the sacred. In practice, churches cooperated with secular authorities. Now, churches may be the property of the institution of the church, but United States law extends over that space and the people who might take refuge there. What remains in our collective memory, fed by popular culture, is this idea that churches ought to be respected; it’s still seen as a kind of violation to enter them and drag someone out against their will. We believe something is being violated, but without laws—i.e. the recognition by all parties involved that churches are spaces with particular protections—there is only a lingering unease that a boundary is being crossed. There is no shared consensus that churches play a particular role for those, innocent or guilty, fleeing laws that society might consider unjust.</p> <p>Our modern conception of sanctuary has extended beyond the church to include more forms of both legal and extra-legal protection. United States cities and states, for example, are increasingly declaring themselves as sanctuaries to immigrants. The way we use the word "sanctuary" today, however, still refers to context-specific protection from official state laws, even if faith-based communities are not involved.</p> <p><br> <strong>3. Historically, how has the city of �鶹��Ƶ participated in offering sanctuary to individuals?</strong></p> <p>Sanctuary resonates in the city of �鶹��Ƶ and is deeply embedded in its history. In January 2017, the city of �鶹��Ƶ affirmed its status as a sanctuary city, one of hundreds across the United States today. Unanimous support of this by the �鶹��Ƶ City Council reflects not only its earlier embrace of sanctuary in 2009, but it also underscores �鶹��Ƶ’s distinctive history in the 19th century. The city of �鶹��Ƶ and �鶹��Ƶ College have historically served as sanctuary to revolutionary thinkers committed to social justice while grappling with contradictions. </p> <p>Historically, the city has served as sanctuary for many. An early example of offering sanctuary is shown through the story of <a href="http://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/Kinson/Kinson.html">Sarah "Margru" Kinson</a>, who was involved in the Amistad Revolt in 1835. In the aftermath of the precedent setting Amistad Trial, in which President John Quincy Adams defended Sarah and her fellow captives before the U.S. Supreme court in March 1841, Sarah, a surviving member of the Mendi tribe from present-day Nigeria, met two �鶹��Ƶ Missionaries, William Raymond who studied at what was then called the �鶹��Ƶ Institute, and James Steele, a graduate of the Theological Department of �鶹��Ƶ Collegiate Institute. Sarah later attended �鶹��Ƶ College with the support of Raymond and Lewis Tappan in 1846, and Marianne Parker Dascomb was asked to oversee Sarah's education in what was then called the Female Department.</p> <p>The city also provided sanctuary for Lee Howard Dobbins, a four year-old boy brought here in March of 1853 by an enslaved woman named Miriam, who traveled a treacherous journey only to die of consumption in freedom. Five years later in 1858, �鶹��Ƶ offered sanctuary to John Price, a young black man abducted by the son of a wealthy �鶹��Ƶ landholder. When news of Price’s imprisonment in a hotel in Wellington, Ohio, reached �鶹��Ƶ around noon that day, a large crowd of �鶹��Ƶians, including blacks and whites, and townspeople and students, rode off toward Wellington. Included in the crowd of those who rescued Price was Charles Langston, the brother of John Mercer Langston, the first African-American lawyer in Ohio and the first African American to hold elected office in the United States. Price was hidden in the home of �鶹��Ƶ College President James Fairchild, and he was later taken across the border to Canada.</p> <p><br> <strong>4. Why is it important to have a conversation about sanctuary right now?</strong></p> <p>The current sanctuary movement has roots in the 1980s when Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees fled wars that were fueled, in large part, by United States foreign policy during the Cold War. While a great deal of attention now rightly focuses on the ways that the current administration has facilitated a rising number of sanctuary cities, sanctuary campuses, sanctuary streets and even, in the case of California, a sanctuary state, this new sanctuary movement dates back to 2007, when a number of faith-based communities came together to address and resist the impact of increased immigration raids and the now infamous 2006 Sensenbrenner bill that, among many of its draconian provisions, increased funding for the United States–Mexico border, increased penalties and detentions for unauthorized migrants, and would make it a crime for those who assist undocumented migrants. This recent history is important because it reminds us that the practices and strategies faith-based communities, cities, activists, and community leaders are engaged in have a long history, but it also invites us to understand the specificity of today—the Muslim/travel ban, ongoing attacks on birthright citizenship, an undermining of family reunification immigration provisions that are now demonized as “chain migration,”—and why sanctuary practices and the new sanctuary movement has grown across the United States. </p> <p><br> <strong>5. What do the teach-in panelists hope to accomplish through a cross-departmental discussion on this topic?</strong></p> <p>As scholars who are deeply committed to interdisciplinary work, many of whom are also trained in specific disciplines, we recognize how our scholarly work and teaching is enhanced through conversations across disciplines and departments. These cross-departmental discussions often happen in surprising contexts—for example, in Spring 2016, classics, comparative American studies and Africana studies co-sponsored a screening and discussion of Spike Lee’s <em>Chiraq</em> that invited people interested in race, urban political economy and violence, gender, and resistance to have conversations with those familiar with the classical Athenian play <em>Lysistrata</em> by Aristophanes. These conversations enrich our scholarship and our teaching and make being at �鶹��Ƶ particularly meaningful because our professional obligations often constrain our ability to create these spaces of dialogue and exchange. </p> <p>A teach-in provides us a quick, focused, and easily-accessible way to discuss nuanced issues. In less than a few hours, we can provide some interdisciplinary-context to a pressing contemporary social issue, involving faculty, students, and the community in the conversation.</p> <p><br> <strong>6. What do you hope that those who attend this program take away from it?</strong></p> <p>One of the main goals is to provide students with an historical framework for understanding modern sanctuary practices and the new sanctuary movement and to understand important differences as well as continuities. Ancient and medieval sanctuary shares with modern practices the sense that the law as it stands doesn't allow for the flexibility of real situations. Sanctuary, both then and now, is a kind of liminal space that allows a community some flexibility. Guilt and innocence are not always so clear-cut, and sanctuary allows for people the space to strategize, sometimes build their lives elsewhere, and sometimes allow (secular) law to catch up to the reality of what communities really feel about how to judge violations of laws. Sometimes this leads to new laws—such as the 1990 decision to provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees who had previously been denied asylum in the United States.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2018-02-08T12:00:00Z">Thu, 02/08/2018 - 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=2414">Faculty</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2579">Campus Dialogue</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=4821">Africana Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25261">Classical Civilization</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25311">Comparative American Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25381">History</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="/meredith-gadsby" hreflang="und">Meredith Gadsby</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/gina-perez" hreflang="und">Gina Pérez</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/ellen-wurtzel" hreflang="und">Ellen Wurtzel</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/classics" hreflang="und">Classics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</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/history" hreflang="und">History</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Downtown �鶹��Ƶ, Ohio.</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">Matthew Lester</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Medicine, Magic, and Witchcraft… Oh, My</h1> <p>anagy — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 18:44:43 +0000</p> <span>Medicine, Magic, and Witchcraft… Oh, My</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2017-04-28T14:44:43-04:00" title="Friday, April 28, 2017 - 14:44">Fri, 04/28/2017 - 14:44</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>This spring, a class of �鶹��Ƶ students is studying the history of medicine, the biology of cancer, and ancient practices of magic and witchcraft, all while immersing themselves in the culture and history of London.</p> <p>The <a href="/oberlin-in-london">Danenburg �鶹��Ƶ-in-London</a> program is an interdisciplinary study away offered each spring. It gives students the opportunity to take classes with two �鶹��Ƶ faculty from different departments while also learning about London’s history and theater.</p> <p>This year’s program is led by faculty members Maureen Peters, associate professor of biology, and Drew Wilburn, associate professor and chair of classics, with courses geared toward students majoring in life sciences and preparing for health careers. Resident Director Donna Vinter teaches the London Stage.</p> <p>“We worked hard through our advertising and networking to make this opportunity widely known to science students since they have fewer study abroad opportunities that count toward their majors,” Peters says. “We had a big turnout from the life sciences. In fact, we had to turn away some very talented applicants this year, which was hard to do.”</p> <p>Peters and Wilburn have teamed up to teach The History of Medicine: Germs, Sex, and the Brain, an interdisciplinary course that counts toward a major in biology, classics, or history. The class traces the development of scientific methods for understanding the body from antiquity to modernity. It’s full of juicy topics such as infectious diseases, epidemics, mental health and madness, and sexuality and reproductive health.</p> <p>Wilburn has previously worked in the British Museum for his research on <a href="/news/practical-magic" target="_blank">ancient magic</a>. He’s teaching a classics course that traces the history of magic and witchcraft in the United Kingdom, with a special focus on the ways in which magic has been contrasted and opposed to established religion.</p> <p>He says the material in the team course has helped him put ancient concerns into greater perspective.</p> <p>“The joint course has helped me think about how prevalent concerns about health were in the pre-modern world, where magic and religion—in addition to bleeding—were the major kinds of ‘medicine’ that most people used. I’ve realized how much has changed because of scientific discoveries. I am thinking more about how medical amulets and protections against the evil eye are related to fears about infectious disease, which could easily kill you or your young children.”</p> <p>Peters teaches genetics and researches the digestive program of <a href="/news/microscopic-worm-leads-big-opportunity">C. elegans</a> —microscopic worms that serve as model organisms to study biological processes, which can be applied to more complex organisms—using molecular genetics approaches. She says the resources in London—the museums, lectures, and site visits—have been astounding.</p> <p>The Wellcome Collection, a medical, art, and science museum that’s a 10-minute walk from �鶹��Ƶ’s remote campus, has been a second home for the group and a never-ending resource of material, Peters says. In February, the Wellcome presented the <a href="http://thesickofthefringe.com" target="_blank">“Sick of the Fringe”</a>, a series of lectures and performances on the topics of health, medical illness, and disability from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that students were able to attend.</p> <p>In their first trip out of London, the group visited the house of <a href="https://jennermuseum.com">Dr. Edward Jenner</a>, the pioneer of vaccination against smallpox, where they listened to a lecture that highlighted the contributions of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/da-henderson-disease-detective-who-eradicated-smallpox-dies-at-87/2016/08/20/b270406e-63dd-11e6-96c0-37533479f3f5_story.html?utm_term=.039d6f258b96">D.A. Henderson ’50</a>. They also visited Stonehenge, Bath, and Gloucester Cathedral, with more visits planned for Edinburgh, the Foundling Museum, and Bethlem Museum of the Mind. And at the Hunterian Museum, which is the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, they’ve browsed the massive collection of <a href="https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums-and-archives/wellcome-museum/the-collections-and-other-facilities/the-anatomy-collection/">specimens in jars</a> on permanent display.</p> <p>Peters is teaching the Biology of Cancer, a course designed especially for life sciences majors, that looks at the disease from the smallest to the largest biological perspectives. London is the home of important biomedical research centers, such as the University College London Cancer Institute and the Francis Crick Institute.</p> <p>“Our teaching center is just down the street for University College London, which is an amazing research center,” Peters says. “I have been able to go to many talks from cutting-edge researchers around the world. Many of these talks gather massive information about the genetic changes that underlie cancer cells’ ability to circumvent our bodies’ energy sources and other resources for their own benefit. While my own research area is not specifically cancer genetics, I can use these novel approaches to answer the research questions that drive me.”</p> <p>Third-year Julie Watiker, a biology major, has been researching the history of rabies at the British Library and the Wellcome Collection for her semester-long project in the History of Medicine course.</p> <p>“I found several books and pamphlets from the 18th century on how rabies was treated, and it was really interesting to be able to read the original texts on how people understood the disease before modern science,” says Watiker, who is from Scarsdale, New York, and intends to apply to veterinary school beginning this summer. “Studying the history of medicine and researching rabies, as well as the biology of cancer, has really helped me understand that going to veterinary school is the right step for me. I even took a tour at the Royal Veterinary College in London, and I plan to apply.”</p> <p>Watiker says the integration of field trips into the coursework, such as the <a href="http://oldoperatingtheatre.com/">Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret</a> in London, or a day trip learning about all the scientific discoveries to come out of Cambridge, has been an experience like no other. And because she elected to take The London Stage as her third course, the program has given her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become immersed in the city’s theater scene.</p> <p>“We see a new play every week, ranging from large stage productions with Daniel Radcliffe in the West End, to smaller, more experimental productions in the basements of town halls. Being able to read, discuss a play, and then see the plays has been an invaluable experience, and has really enhanced my time in London. I would never have the opportunity to do that outside of this program.”</p> <p>The program wraps up May 1. The <a href="/oberlin-in-london">spring 2018</a> theme will focus on the relation between nature and culture in Britain with courses taught by Janet Fiskio, associate professor of environmental studies and comparative American studies, and T.S. McMillin, professor of English.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2017-04-03T12:00:00Z">Mon, 04/03/2017 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Amanda Nagy</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=2376">Study Away</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=25251">Biology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25261">Classical Civilization</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25381">History</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="/maureen-peters" hreflang="und">Maureen Peters</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/drew-wilburn" hreflang="und">Andrew (Drew) Wilburn</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/biology" hreflang="und">Biology</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/history" hreflang="und">History</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">The group poses during a visit to the Old Operating Theater and Herb Garret in London, the oldest surviving operating theater in Europe.</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 Drew Wilburn</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Writing with Purpose</h1> <p>Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:02:25 +0000</p> <span>Writing with Purpose</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:02:25-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:02">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Nicholas Olson ’15 is spending his summer working and writing for <a href="http://www.poz.com/"><em>POZ</em></a>, a magazine that addresses the needs of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, before he begins a master’s in public policy program at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, Germany.</p> <p>“HIV/AIDS relief is a major passion of mine,” says Olson. “I have friends who are living with the virus, and it is such a complicated subject to discuss. I enjoy sharing and discussing my knowledge about HIV/AIDS because it helps reduce the stigma and social ostracism many face when they live with HIV.”</p> <p>Olson became involved with <em>POZ</em> after he brought the founder, Sean Strub, to �鶹��Ƶ in Spring 2015 to speak about his history with HIV and LGBTQ activism and the current problems with HIV criminalization laws in many states. After the talk, Strub suggested Olson come work for <em>POZ</em> for the summer.</p> <p>While at �鶹��Ƶ, Olson majored in politics and classical civilization with a minor in law and society. He says �鶹��Ƶ “challenged me to view things on an intersectional level and see how different systems and people interact. Of course, I mean this regarding social justice principles, but also academic disciplines.” Outside the classroom, Olson served as a student senator and residential assistant, and he volunteered for voting and election awareness initiatives with �鶹��Ƶ College Democrats.</p> <p>The Phoenix native says he is not sure what his future plans are after completing his master’s degree, but he is considering a PhD and says he would love to work on expanding the Affordable Care Act so more Americans have access to healthcare. He also says he “has not ruled out running for political office.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-08-20T12:00:00Z">Thu, 08/20/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Kasey Cheydleur</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=2360">After �鶹��Ƶ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2389">Young Alumni</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=25261">Classical Civilization</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25396">Law and Society</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25416">Politics</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/classics" hreflang="und">Classics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/law-and-society" hreflang="und">Law and Society</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/politics" hreflang="und">Politics</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-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Nicholas Olson</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Practical Magic</h1> <p>anagy — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:03:18 +0000</p> <span>Practical Magic</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:03:18-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:03">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:03</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="http://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/archeological_studies/faculty_detail.dot?id=21291">Drew Wilburn</a> has been teaching about the archaeology of ancient magic since he came to �鶹��Ƶ in 2005. He is one of the few researchers in his field studying the physical objects used to practice magic in the Greco-Roman world.</p> <p>While the material side of magic intersects with others’ work, “I don’t think many others are looking at it from the archaeological side,” says Wilburn, who was recently named the Irvin Houck Associate Professor in the Humanities and is chair of archaeological studies.</p> <p>“There’s a long tradition of magical practice in antiquity through literature and texts written on objects. I’m one of the few, certainly, trying to understand how the objects made magic happen. It’s the physical things that informed and actualized magical practice in antiquity.”</p> <p>His latest book, <a href="http://www.press.umich.edu/233550/materia_magica">Materia Magica: The Archaeology of Magic in Egypt, Spain and Cyprus</a>, was published in 2012. The book draws on objects excavated or discovered in three Mediterranean sites in the late 19th or early 20th century. Ancient magic was not a part of mainstream religious practice, but it was a force individuals relied on to make their lives better, particularly in times of crisis. “Magic was often a crisis response or a kind of insurance policy. One would go to a ritual specialist for solutions. In my book I find several categories of objects used for spells and protection.”</p> <p>A common example people would associate with magic today is the amulet that was thought to ward off illness or harm. Figurines (voodoo dolls are the modern equivalent), magical bones to protect livestock or other animals from illness, and curses written out on lead sheets figure prominently in Wilburn’s book.</p> <p>He says there is a substantial body of curse tablets from the ancient world, which are often in the form of strips of lead. Lead was a byproduct of silver production, and lead was also used by the Romans for water pipes. In magical practice, pieces of lead were hammered into sheets, and a magician would inscribe spells on them. The tablets could be used against opponents in court cases, rival shopkeepers, or in love spells.</p> <p>Wilburn has recently begun to examine the ancient use of magic in buildings, such as floor mosaics and protective features in door frames that were believed to keep out evil spirits.</p> <p>He has also embarked on a digital humanities project involving student collaborators to create a GIS map of the ancient site of Karanis in Egypt, excavated by the University of Michigan from 1924-1935. Ryan Reynolds ’14 and senior Miranda Rutherford have been instrumental in the mapping that will show the distribution of archaeological finds across the site. Karanis was a highly multicultural location in the first century AD. Greeks, Romans and Egyptians were all living side by side and worshipping the same gods in the local temples.</p> <p>The Michigan excavation uncovered hundreds of thousands of objects and texts written in papyrus. Karanis also has some of the best examples of preserved houses from the ancient world. “Much of this has never been published before. We’re digitally reconstructing the excavation and history of the site.”</p> <p>Rutherford taught herself some programming over the summer, and has since worked with the computer science department to take further classes to bring data onto the map and make it accessible to the rest of the world.</p> <p>Rutherford began the project with some working knowledge of HTML and CSS. She spent much of the summer learning other languages and techniques, such as Javascript, in order to display an interactive map of Karanis on the project website and to link the map with a database of artifacts found at the site. She created the database with a program called PostgreSQL, which required learning a database programming language, SQL. She also set up a server to host the project website.</p> <p>“Professor Wilburn has been hugely influential during my time at �鶹��Ƶ, and I am so grateful for his presence in the classics department and for the opportunities he has given me to help with his research,” says Rutherford, a San Diego native who has majors in religion and classical civilizations, as well as a minor in French. “Not only has he continually encouraged me to explore subjects I never would have considered (especially computer science, through the Karanis mapping project), he has taught me that the borders of the classical world do not end at Greece and Rome.</p> <p>“Projects such as the work on Karanis show that Greece and Rome did not exist in isolation, but had important connections with Egypt and the rest of North Africa, as well as the ancient Near East. Not only are these regions fascinating in and of themselves, but my work with Professor Wilburn has taught me that to truly understand Greek and Latin texts, we must also understand the culture they arose from, no matter how mundane it may seem in comparison. And sometimes, ‘mundane’ material culture really is the most exciting part of the classical world. The weird magical texts and artifacts he works with are good examples.”</p> <p>Wilburn says his collaboration with computer science faculty, including Associate Professor Ben Kuperman and Assistant Professor Cynthia Taylor, is one of the great aspects of a liberal arts community. “Miranda was able to learn new skills and immediately apply them. In the humanities, we are thought of as lone scholars. At �鶹��Ƶ, we incorporate students in meaningful ways. My students have become an integrated part of the research.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2014-12-31T12:00:00Z">Wed, 12/31/2014 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Amanda Nagy</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=2363">Academics & Research</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=25296">Archaeological Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25261">Classical Civilization</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="/drew-wilburn" hreflang="und">Andrew (Drew) Wilburn</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/classics" hreflang="und">Classics</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-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>