Historian Jennifer L. Morgan ’86 Wins MacArthur Fellowship</h1> <article> <h1>Historian Jennifer L. Morgan ’86 Wins MacArthur Fellowship</h1> <p>eburnett — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 15:49:16 +0000</p> <span>Historian Jennifer L. Morgan ’86 Wins MacArthur Fellowship</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-10-01T11:49:16-04:00" title="Tuesday, October 1, 2024 - 11:49">Tue, 10/01/2024 - 11:49</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Jennifer L. Morgan, a historian and professor whose work explores the lives of enslaved women and deepens our understanding of the origins of race-based slavery in early America, has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for 2024. Morgan is a 1986 graduate of �鶹��Ƶ College.</p> <p>Popularly known as the “Genius Grant,” the <a href="https://www.macfound.org/programs/awards/fellows/">MacArthur Fellowship</a> is one of the nation’s most prestigious honors, recognizing talented, creative, and inspiring people who have shown exceptional originality in a variety of fields. Each fellow receives a stipend of $800,000 with no strings attached.</p> <p>Morgan is the 15th graduate of �鶹��Ƶ to be named a MacArthur Fellow and the third in the last three years. She follows composer and pianist <a href="/news/courtney-bryan-04-wins-prestigious-macarthur-fellowship">Courtney Bryan ’04</a>, who won in 2023, and writer and educator <a href="/news/kiese-laymon-98-earns-macarthur-foundation-honor-2022">Kiese Laymon ’98</a>, a 2022 honoree.</p> <p>�鶹��Ƶ has produced more MacArthur Fellows than any other liberal arts college in the nation.</p> <p>A lifelong New Yorker, Morgan earned a BA from �鶹��Ƶ College in the self-designed major Third World Studies and a PhD in History from Duke University in 1995. She is a professor of history in the department of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, and the author of two books and numerous journal articles. </p> <p>Morgan’s first book, the groundbreaking <em>Laboring Women: Reproduction and Gender in New World Slavery</em> (2004), prompted one reviewer to compare her sensitive analysis of the meaning of childbearing and motherhood under slavery to Toni Morrison’s literary exploration of those themes in <em>Beloved</em>. Her second book, <em>Reckoning with Slavery: Gender, Kinship, and Capitalism in the Early Black Atlantic</em> (2011), won the Mary Nickliss Prize in Women’s and/or Gender History from the Organization of American Historians and the Frederick Douglass Prize, awarded by the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Specialist in early American slavery has earned acclaim for extensive research and writing on the subject.</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="2024-10-01T12:00:00Z">Tue, 10/01/2024 - 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=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2583">College of Arts and Sciences</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=25361">Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies</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/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/gsfs" hreflang="und">Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies</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">courtesy of John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation</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="obj-32153" class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-el-bq paragraph--view-mode--default"> <blockquote class="blockquote--quotemark" data-text-color-red data-text-size-giant> <p>I know that I’ve had an impact on my students. I know that I’ve had an impact on the field, but to have that acknowledged at such a huge scale just feels astonishing to me. I still can’t quite believe that it’s happened.”</p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-28167" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>Currently on leave from NYU, Morgan is a fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. She is working on <em>The Eve of Slavery</em>, a book about African women in 17th-century North America—and notably Elizabeth Key, who sued for freedom in 1656 on the grounds that her father was a free white man.</p> <p>She credits all of it—her extraordinary scholarship and her Genius Grant—to the late Adrienne Lash Jones, the first tenured Black woman in �鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="/node/3431">Africana Studies (then Black Studies) Department</a> and the third in the college’s history. Jones was celebrated for introducing an Africanist perspective to the emerging <a href="/node/3426">Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies</a> program, for her relentless pursuit of a more just world, and for her formidable presence on campus.</p> <p>Jones was “not some kind and sweet and soft mentor,” says Morgan, speaking by phone while walking through Times Square en route to her “egghead heaven” at the library. “She was hard and she was a little scary. She didn’t take any foolishness, and as a result, she made me work harder—more than any other professor that I had at �鶹��Ƶ. I wouldn’t have gone to graduate school in history. I wouldn't have thought about doing Afro-American women’s history without her. She gave me something to aspire to—this model of what was possible. And that’s what set me in motion.”</p> <p>Morgan learned of her MacArthur honor via phone call. Her initial reaction was disbelief. “I sort of yelled <em>What? What are you saying?</em> And I feel like tears just shot straight out of my head.”</p> <p>The reality of her accomplishment is still sinking in. “You know, like many academics, you see the MacArthur list and you just think <em>What a testament to the fact that your work makes a difference</em>. As a professor, as a historian who works in the early modern period, I don’t do work that’s super popular—I don’t work on the civil rights movement, for example—it’s slightly more esoteric. I know that I’ve had an impact on my students. I know that I’ve had an impact on the field, but to have that acknowledged at such a huge scale just feels astonishing to me. I still can’t quite believe that it’s happened. And I feel incredibly humbled and honored.”</p> <p>As for her stipend, Morgan is interested in using some of it to investigate other ways of telling important stories—to share the history she has uncovered about the experiences of Black women in colonial America with more people than graduate students and other historians. She wants a wider audience to know about these women, to understand “this is why what they went through is important in the history of this country—and in the way that we tell the history of this country.”</p> <p>Learn more about Morgan at <a href="http://jenniferlylemorgan.com">jenniferlylemorgan.com</a>.</p> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>3 Things with Matthew Rarey</h1> <p>eburnett — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 19:44:15 +0000</p> <span>3 Things with Matthew Rarey</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-01-31T14:44:15-05:00" title="Wednesday, January 31, 2024 - 14:44">Wed, 01/31/2024 - 14:44</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="/node/5126">Matthew Rarey</a> researches and teaches the art history of the Black Atlantic, with a focus on connections between West Africa, Brazil, and Portugal from the 17th through 21st centuries. It’s a path he first encountered in an African art history course as an undergrad at the University of Illinois.</p> <p>“I realized African art history was asking all these formative questions—about race, gender, colonialism, diaspora, and personhood—that I felt weren’t just important to the discipline; they were important to understanding the <em>world</em>,” he says.</p> <p>Chair of �鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="/node/318461">Art History Department</a> and an associate professor of African and Black Atlantic art history, Rarey is deeply focused on curating African and Black Atlantic art histories. He co-curated the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s 2019-20 exhibition <em>Afterlives of the Black Atlantic</em>, which won an Award of Excellence from the Association of Art Museum Curators.</p> <p>Now Rarey’s work is in the spotlight again: This year, he won the College Art Association’s prestigious Charles Rufus Morey Book Award for his first book, <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/insignificant-things"><em>Insignificant Things: Amulets and the Art of Survival in the Early Black Atlantic</em></a> (Duke University Press, 2023). It traces the history of the African-associated amulets made and carried as tools of survival by enslaved people from the 17th to the 19th centuries.</p> <p>We asked Rarey to share three things about how he uses art history to tell new stories about the African diaspora. Here’s what he had to say.</p> <p><strong>1) “Western” art history is deeply entangled with Black Atlantic art history.</strong></p> <p>African art and artists have always been instrumental to the development of visual culture of the so-called “West.” One great example I often teach with is at �鶹��Ƶ’s Allen Memorial Art Museum: an ivory saltcellar carved around 1500 by a Sapi artist who worked in what is now Sierra Leone. It was commissioned by Portuguese traders active on the West African coast, and its design demonstrates the artist’s strategic negotiation of Sapi and Portuguese aesthetics. The traders—some of whom eventually initiated into Sapi society—later took the saltcellar to Lisbon and displayed it as a prestige object. Keep in mind that by 1550 Lisbon also had a large, diverse Black population who forged lives at all levels of Portuguese society. Categories like “African” and “European” don’t seem helpful to me in describing the saltcellar and the worlds it moved through. Rather, I’m interested in exploring how Black art and artists routinely challenge or upend efforts to categorize them by revealing the longstanding circulations of African and European visual culture in the wider Atlantic world.</p> <p><strong>2) Black Atlantic art history demands creative, ethical approaches.</strong></p> <p>Consider the amulets discussed in my book, which I think are critical to understanding Black Atlantic art history. Often made by Africans enslaved in Brazil, these small pouches had the power to protect their users from violence. Perhaps hundreds of thousands of these amulets existed in the 1700s. Today only two known examples survive—and only because they were confiscated as part of the Portuguese Inquisition by officials who declared the amulets evil and sacrilegious. How can we look to these objects to understand the lives of their makers while also reckoning with the violent histories that made them available as objects of study? To me, these questions are what makes Black Atlantic art history exciting and important: It demands we come up with innovative ways to tell ethical stories from small, fragmentary sources.</p> <p><strong>3) Contemporary artists rewrite history.</strong></p> <p>Though my book is primarily about the 1700s, I teach and write about a lot of contemporary artists. That’s because Black artists throughout the diaspora—like María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Ayana V. Jackson, Jaime Lauriano, Fabiola Jean-Louis, and Rosana Paulino, just to name a few—all engage historical documents and archival sources in their work. Their artistry reckons with, and calls out, the dominant ways history and art history have been written to obscure Africans’ lives. And often, what the archival sources obscure—and what the artists want to help us see—are the anti-racist and egalitarian worlds that enslaved people have always fought to bring into being.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">How the �鶹��Ƶ professor uses art history to tell new stories about the African diaspora.</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="2024-01-31T12:00:00Z">Wed, 01/31/2024 - 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=2597">Faculty and Staff</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2378">Allen Memorial Art Museum</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=25301">Art History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana 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="/matthew-rarey" hreflang="und">Matthew Rarey</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/art-history" hreflang="und">Art History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">In early 2024, Matthew Rarey won the College Art Association’s Charles Rufus Morey Book Award for his first book, “Insignificant Things: Amulets and the Art of Survival in the Early Black Atlantic.”</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 '97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Going Places</h1> <p>tapplega — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 18:25:19 +0000</p> <span>Going Places</span> <span><span>tapplega</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-10-11T14:25:19-04:00" title="Wednesday, October 11, 2023 - 14:25">Wed, 10/11/2023 - 14:25</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Jasmine Mitchell knew a few things she wanted out of college, though she wasn’t sure how she would get them: She wanted to see the world, and she wanted to make a difference in it.</p> <p>“While studying abroad had always been a dream of mine, it wasn't financially feasible,” she recalls thinking.</p> <p>That changed through her experience at �鶹��Ƶ, where she completed a degree in <a href="/node/3341">East Asian studies</a> in 2021 and devoted the next two years to a cultural exchange as a <a href="https://www.shansi.org/">Shansi Fellow</a> in Japan.</p> <p>Mitchell’s practicum course in <a href="/node/3391">�鶹��Ƶ’s Politics Department</a> opened her eyes to a career in the Foreign Service. That’s also when she learned more about Shansi and the ways it could help her get a foothold abroad.</p> <p>“The Shansi Fellowship was one of the reasons I chose �鶹��Ƶ,” she says.</p> <p>Founded in 1908, �鶹��Ƶ Shansi provides opportunities for new and recent graduates to teach English in Asia in collaboration with local universities, NGOs, and other organizations. Shansi traces its roots even further—to the �鶹��Ƶ students who served as missionaries in China in the late 19th century.</p> <p>“Considering my career ambitions, the Shansi Fellowship provided me with a unique chance to enhance my cross-cultural communication skills, adapt to and connect with people from diverse backgrounds, navigate unfamiliar situations, and build resilience,” Mitchell says. It also encouraged her to deeply consider notions of national identity, engage in cultural exchanges, and lead students in their understanding of the U.S. </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Fresh off a Shansi Fellowship in Japan, former East Asian studies major Jasmine Mitchell turns her focus to a new fellowship—and a role with the State Department.</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="2023-10-11T12:00:00Z">Wed, 10/11/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Henry Hicks IV ’21</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=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3937">Afrikan Heritage House</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2397">Shansi</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=25336">East Asian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25416">Politics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana Studies</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/east-asian-studies" hreflang="und">East Asian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/politics" hreflang="und">Politics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</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">courtesy of Jasmine Mitchell</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="obj-32107" class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-el-bq paragraph--view-mode--default"> <blockquote class="blockquote--slicer" data-text-size-large> <p>“Living and working at the Afrikan Heritage House helped me solidify my commitment to pursuing a career in the Foreign Service.”</p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-27819" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>This fall, Mitchell begins a new chapter: She was selected for a prestigious <a href="https://pickeringfellowship.org/">Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship</a>, which supports her pursuit of a master’s degree in Asian studies at the <a href="https://sfs.georgetown.edu/">Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University</a>. It also offers the unique opportunity to serve in the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service program. </p> <p>“Being selected to be a Pickering Fellow, in short, is a dream come true,” says Mitchell, a resident of Herndon, Virginia.</p> <p>“These amazing experiences as a Shansi Fellow inspired me to pursue the Pickering Fellowship as a means to continue my dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in international affairs.”</p> <p>Mitchell credits her �鶹��Ƶ experience—including the support of faculty mentors such as <a href="/node/42731">Candice Raynor</a> in <a href="/node/3431">Africana studies</a> and <a href="/node/25226">education studies</a>—with preparing her for both Shansi and Pickering. Her impressive tally of on-campus experiences includes serving as a student representative for the <a href="/node/410371">Presidential Initiative on Racial Equity and Diversity</a>; as vice chair of <a href="https://oberlinreview.org/23054/news/off-the-cuff-with-henry-hicks-and-jasmine-mitchell-senate-chairs/">student senate</a>; lead organizer for campus-wide co-curricular events such as Kumba Week, Kwanzaa Celebration, and <a href="/node/33116">Black History Month</a> programming; and, notably, as program assistant and resident assistant at <a href="/node/75981">Afrikan Heritage House</a>, the on-campus program house designated as a safe space for students of the African diaspora.</p> <p>“These experiences deepened my appreciation for the power of inclusive and diverse environments in shaping meaningful connections and driving positive change,” she says.</p> <p>“Living and working at the Afrikan Heritage House helped me solidify my commitment to pursuing a career in the Foreign Service, where I can continue to promote these values on a global scale.</p> <p>“Whether it’s through diplomatic negotiations, cultural exchanges, or policy initiatives, I want to actively work toward creating a more inclusive and cooperative international community,” Mitchell says. “I am deeply committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within the field, and the Pickering Fellowship serves as a powerful catalyst to help me achieve this vision.”</p> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Aaliyah Bilal ’04 Named National Book Award Finalist</h1> <p>tapplega — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 20:47:17 +0000</p> <span>Aaliyah Bilal ’04 Named National Book Award Finalist</span> <span><span>tapplega</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-10-09T16:47:17-04:00" title="Monday, October 9, 2023 - 16:47">Mon, 10/09/2023 - 16:47</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Aaliyah Bilal ’04 has been named a 2023 National Book Awards finalist. Bilal, who earned a degree in <a href="/node/3431">African American Studies</a> and <a href="/node/3206">Spanish</a>, was nominated in the fiction category for the debut short story collection <em>Temple Folk</em> (Simon Schuster, July 2023). </p> <p>National Book Awards winners will be announced on November 15.</p> <p><em>Publishers Weekly</em> <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/92393-untold-stories-pw-talks-with-aaliyah-bilal.html">describes</a> <em>Temple Folk</em> as a book that “depicts African American Muslims exploring their faith and seeking liberation in the 1970s.” In an <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/05/1186099005/a-new-short-story-collection-showcases-the-diversity-of-the-black-muslim-experie">interview</a> with NPR’s All Things Considered, Bilal notes the community featured in the book “is a collection of African Americans who were once upon a time members of the Nation of Islam, though they have moved on to Sunni Orthodoxy. And the majority of the stories depict these individuals reflecting back on their times in the Nation of Islam, from the perch of, again, Sunni Orthodoxy.”</p> <p>Born and raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Bilal also earned a master’s degree at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. <a href="https://www.aaliyahbilal.com/">Her work</a> has appeared in <em>The Michigan Quarterly Review</em> and <em>The Rumpus</em>. She also has a forthcoming graphic memoir, <a href="https://www.cloudcountrythebook.com/"><em>Cloud Country: A Black Life in East Asia</em></a>.</p> <p>Read more about the 2023 National Book Award Finalists at the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/03/books/national-book-award-finalists-2023.html"><em>New York Times</em></a>.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Short-story collection “Temple Folk” shares reflections of former Nation of Islam members.</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="2023-10-09T12:00:00Z">Mon, 10/09/2023 - 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=2368">Alumni</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=4796">�鶹��Ƶ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=181496">Journalism</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">�鶹��Ƶ</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/journalism" hreflang="und">Journalism</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>Voice of Experience</h1> <p>tapplega — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:48:03 +0000</p> <span>Voice of Experience</span> <span><span>tapplega</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-06-27T12:48:03-04:00" title="Tuesday, June 27, 2023 - 12:48">Tue, 06/27/2023 - 12:48</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Véronique Harris ’23 chose to attend �鶹��Ƶ because of its history of progressive firsts and its deeply ingrained commitment to activism. During her time on campus, she deepened her own commitment to social justice and public service with a double major in <a href="/node/3431">Africana studies</a> and <a href="/node/3396">law and society</a>. </p> <p>Harris’ lifelong interest in public-service law has culminated in her receiving the prestigious <a href="https://www.thegatesscholarship.org/scholarship">William H. Gates Public Service Law Scholarship</a>. Named for the former prominent attorney, philanthropist, and father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the scholarship covers all expenses to the University of Washington School of Law and includes guaranteed internships for each recipient. In accepting the award, Harris has committed to working in public service for at least five years following graduation—a commitment that paves the way for her planned career as a civil rights attorney. </p> <p>“I have a lifetime of experiences that built up to this moment,” she says. “I have known that I wanted to be a lawyer since I was 14.” </p> <p>Raised in a suburb of Seattle, Harris was exposed to systemic racism and structural inequality from a young age. “I come from a family of blue-collar Black, white, and Filipino laborers,” she says. “My family is a microcosm of society’s failure to address the basic needs of BIPOC and working-class people; I grew up witnessing the impacts of these systemic failures daily.” </p> <p>Her father, a dedicated factory worker who was committed to providing for his family, was exposed to toxic chemicals in the workplace for decades. As a result, he developed an occupational lung disease, and his preexisting heart condition worsened. </p> <p>“I learned about the intersection of race, class, education—or lack thereof—as well as environmental racism and health disparities, and felt called to fight them at a young age,” Harris says.</p> <p>In high school, she devoted time volunteering, protesting, and grassroots organizing with groups such as the <a href="https://www.aclu-wa.org/">American Civil Liberties Union of Washington</a> and a local community youth council. While attending �鶹��Ƶ, she ran a successful social media campaign and petition that resulted in her former high school replacing its Confederate rebel mascot. “Parents and students alike thanked me for my perseverance, expressing that the mascot change would promote a safe and inclusive learning environment for students of color,” she says.</p> <p>Deeply affected by the death of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant at the hands of Columbus, Ohio, police, Harris raised more than $2,000 to assemble and distribute self-defense kits for Black women and femmes throughout the state. “I used the slogan ‘We protect us’ for the self-defense kit distribution because Black Americans cannot rely on police protection within a structurally racist system,” she says. Also at �鶹��Ƶ, she was a member of <a href="https://oberlinstudentsforafreepalestine.wordpress.com/">Students for a Free Palestine</a>. The club’s work, and her experiences with lawyers fighting for Palestinian human rights, further fueled her desire for a career in public-service law.</p> <p>Today, Harris is more determined than ever to dismantle systemic racism and address socio-environmental challenges. After law school, she hopes to work in the NAACP’s Environment and Climate Justice Division or another nonprofit that supports her advocacy of decolonial frameworks to counter environmental racism. </p> <p>She credits her �鶹��Ƶ professors—including <a href="/node/4981">Charles Peterson</a> in Africana studies, <a href="/node/4931">Joyce Babyak</a> in religion, and <a href="/node/384671">Amanda Zadorian</a> in politics—for shaping her academic life and her career aspirations through their formal guidance and teaching, as well as through regular chats about current events during office hours.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Véronique Harris grew up a witness to inequality. Now she’s dedicating her life to eradicating it through a career in public-service law.</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="2023-06-27T12:00:00Z">Tue, 06/27/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tyler Applegate</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=2409">Scholarships</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2392">Social Justice</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3897">Internship</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=25396">Law and Society</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="/charles-peterson" hreflang="und">Charles Peterson</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/joyce-babyak" hreflang="und">Joyce Kloc Babyak</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/amanda-zadorian" hreflang="und">Amanda Zadorian</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/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/law-and-society" hreflang="und">Law and Society</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">courtesy of Véronique Harris</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="obj-32094" class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-el-bq paragraph--view-mode--default"> <blockquote class="blockquote--quotemark" data-text-color-red data-text-size-giant> <p>I am so very grateful for all of these wonderful professors. They have truly impacted my life in more ways than they know.”</p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-27741" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>Harris praises Babyak, who also chairs �鶹��Ƶ’s law and society program, in particular. “She helped me create a plan for studying for the LSAT, sponsored my <a href="/winter-term">Winter Term</a> projects, wrote many recommendations, and encouraged me throughout the law school application process.” </p> <p>As Harris embarks on her journey in public-service law, she carries with her the experiences and lessons from her young life. </p> <p>“I eventually would like my career to have an international reach,” she says. “I am very pleased that through the Gates Scholarship, I will have the ability to complete internships in the summers of my first and second years, so that I can see how different organizations are doing this work and how I can be of most use to the cause in the future.”</p> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Summer of Justice</h1> <p>anagy — Fri, 26 May 2023 15:57:30 +0000</p> <span>Summer of Justice</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-05-26T11:57:30-04:00" title="Friday, May 26, 2023 - 11:57">Fri, 05/26/2023 - 11:57</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Darius Butler will devote four weeks this summer traveling between Washington, D.C.; Cape Town, South Africa; and Dublin, Ireland, to learn from the legacies of social justice giants who made global footprints. Now completing his third year at �鶹��Ƶ, Butler is one of 12 U.S. college students selected to take part in the <a href="https://apnews.com/press-release/pr-newswire/colleges-and-universities-pr-newswire-b05008b7606183cac68b178365825993">Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship</a>.</p> <p>“To be selected as a Frederick Douglass Global Fellow is an incredible honor and something I am blessed to be a part of,” says Butler, originally from Lewis Center, Ohio, near Columbus. “Ultimately, this fellowship will help me heighten my sense of how to advance effective and tangible social change within my community.”</p> <p>The fellowship, co-sponsored by the government of Ireland, recognizes the <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/when-emancipated-slave-frederick-douglass-met-daniel-o-connell-in-dublin-1.4685990">historic convening</a> of abolitionists Frederick Douglass of the U.S. and Daniel O’Connell of Ireland in 1845. Their meeting was a notable marker for international solidarity between movements and fueled a practice of education and exchange between movement leaders that continues today. Douglass Fellows will examine the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation in the U.S. and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. </p> <p>Butler, an <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies">Africana studies</a> and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/law-and-society">law and society</a> double major, is driven by his desire to make an impact in the lives of others. In his first three years on campus, he has assumed leadership roles in the <a href="/ahh">Lord-Saunders Afrikan Heritage House</a>, <a href="/religious-and-spiritual-life/communities">Voices for Christ</a>, and the <a href="/arts-and-sciences/resources-and-support/wap">Writing Center</a>. Away from campus, he led an annual toy drive for local children in collaboration with Mt. Zion Baptist Church. He has supported advocacy efforts as a legal intern for Columbus judge <a href="https://municipalcourt.franklincountyohio.gov/Judiciary/Judges/Judges-List/Stephanie-Mingo">Stephanie Mingo</a> and as a racial justice research fellow with the advocacy nonprofit <a href="https://www.asyousow.org/">As You Sow</a>. He plans to attend law school, continuing his passion for advancing racial equity through legal advocacy in the nonprofit sector.</p> <p>“The need for Black representation in the legal profession in the U.S. is imperative, because Black people have a lifetime of experience and perspective on what it’s like to be systematically excluded and discriminated against by institutional systems and structures,” says Butler. </p> <p>He credits �鶹��Ƶ’s Africana Studies Department for supporting his growth as a scholar and advocate, and he is particularly grateful for the mentorship of professors Candice Raynor, <a href="/charles-peterson">Charles Peterson</a>, and <a href="/yveline-alexis">Yveline Alexis</a>—just a few of the many faculty and staff advocates he has leaned on during his time on campus. Their support, he says, is critical to his success thus far and in shaping his perspectives and ambitions moving forward. His appreciation for their leadership reflects his admiration of historical organizers, journalists, and movement leaders—figures such as James Baldwin, Ida B. Wells, Angela Davis, and Fred Hampton—whom he has long viewed as titans in the quest for racial justice. </p> <p>Butler is especially moved by the life and legacy of Hampton, the late civil rights activist who was a leader of the Black Panther Party and founder of the Rainbow Coalition before being killed in 1969. “I’m in awe when I listen to his speeches or interviews because of the power of his words,” he says. “The fact that he was the same age as me, yet could do such remarkable and impactful work, is incredible.” </p> <p>Butler’s fellowship will include opportunities to learn from human rights leaders of today. One of them is Mpho Tutu van Furth, an Anglican priest and activist who is the daughter of the late Bishop Desmond Tutu. </p> <p>“This will be my first time traveling outside the U.S.,” he says, “and I know the knowledge and relationships I will build during my time in Ireland and South Africa will last for a lifetime.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Darius Butler explores human rights across three continents through a Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship.</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="2023-05-26T12:00:00Z">Fri, 05/26/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Henry Hicks IV</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=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2363">Academics & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2392">Social Justice</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3846">Engaged Liberal 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=4821">Africana Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25396">Law and Society</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/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/law-and-society" hreflang="und">Law and Society</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Rising senior Darius Butler is one of 12 students in the United States selected to participate the in Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship.</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">Jacob Strauss</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Teachable Moments</h1> <p>eburnett — Fri, 19 May 2023 16:31:55 +0000</p> <span>Teachable Moments</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-05-19T12:31:55-04:00" title="Friday, May 19, 2023 - 12:31">Fri, 05/19/2023 - 12:31</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Nicolas Zamora’s �鶹��Ƶ life became grounded in teaching and service. In four years as a Bonner Scholar with the <a href="/node/4416">Bonner Center for Community-Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Research</a>, he served as a literacy assistant, a tutoring leader for America Reads, and as a teacher of Spanish at the nearby Kendal retirement community.</p> <p>He even co-taught six semesters of an Experimental College (<a href="https://www.oberlin-exco.org/">ExCo</a>) course on astrology—beginning in his first year on campus.</p> <p>“Being a <a href="/node/55501">Bonner Scholar </a>helped me understand how to use my leadership skills and become aware of issues faced by my communities," says the fourth-year <a href="/node/3391">politics</a> major from Miami.</p> <p>Now Zamora is preparing for the next step in his journey: Over the next year, he will teach English language and lead a Model United Nations program at a high school in Madrid, Spain. It’s an opportunity made possible through a Fulbright Fellowship. </p> <p>“Being able to work in a school throughout my time in �鶹��Ƶ has given me the opportunity to help positively influence children’s minds and grow close with them,” he says. “There are children I have known for four years now and will have to say goodbye to, but I want to form that bond with the new students that I will be teaching.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Nicolas Zamora’s �鶹��Ƶ experience prepared him for the classrooms of Spain.</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="2023-05-22T12:00:00Z">Mon, 05/22/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tyler Applegate</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=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2381">Bonner Center</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=25416">Politics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4796">�鶹��Ƶ</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="/claire-solomon" hreflang="und">Claire Solomon ’98</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/politics" hreflang="und">Politics</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/hispanic-studies" hreflang="und">�鶹��Ƶ</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 '97</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="obj-32088" class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-el-bq paragraph--view-mode--default"> <blockquote class="blockquote--quotemark" data-text-color-red data-text-size-giant> <p>Spain called me, and I picked up the phone.”</p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-27725" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>For Zamora, the process of applying for a Fulbright was instrumental in sorting out his aspirations.</p> <p>“I started to think about what I wanted to do after I graduate,” he says. “The main answer I had was that I wanted to live abroad and immerse myself in a new culture—experiencing intercultural exchange has become a main life goal of mine.” Zamora got his first taste of this goal when he studied away in Amsterdam during his junior year. A year later, he accepted his Fulbright award with an opportunity to once again venture across the pond and immerse himself in that European culture he fell in love with.</p> <p>As he puts it: “Spain called me, and I picked up the phone.”</p> <p>During his time at �鶹��Ƶ, Zamora became involved with the <a href="/node/320546">Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion</a>, serving as a trainer for the Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct (<a href="/node/127941">PRSM</a>) program and helping with mandatory Title IX training for students. He completed an internship in advocacy and public policy at the Opa-Locka Community Development Corporation in his hometown, where his work involved research and creation of resources to educate low-income citizens on how to advocate for themselves and their communities. This role deeply enriched his understanding of community needs and ignited a passion for using education as a tool for empowerment.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Among Zamora's numerous �鶹��Ƶ mentors was Susan Pavlus (left), director of education outreach at the Bonner Center. (photo by Tanya Rosen-Jones '97)</figcaption> </figure> <p>Zamora doesn't have a clear vision of his career plans post-Fulbright, and he’s comfortable with the uncertainty. “I want to see if I enjoy teaching high-schoolers or if I want to pursue further education,” he says, adding that he’s interested in graduate studies in political communication or public policy. “But I hope to continue living in Europe and making new connections wherever I end up.”</p> <p>He is effusive in his thanks to the faculty and staff who supported him through his �鶹��Ƶ journey, among them professor <a href="/node/5856">Claire Solomon</a> in <a href="/node/3206">Hispanic studies</a>—one of Zamora’s two minors, along with <a href="/node/3431">Africana studies</a>—and the staff of the Bonner Center, most notably Director of Education Outreach Programs <a href="/node/31811">Susan Pavlus</a>.</p> <p>“I also want to thank my mom and all my friends,” he adds. “It takes a community, and they are mine.”</p> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Renee Romano Earns Excellence in Teaching Award</h1> <p>anagy — Thu, 18 May 2023 15:03:04 +0000</p> <span>Renee Romano Earns Excellence in Teaching Award</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-05-18T11:03:04-04:00" title="Thursday, May 18, 2023 - 11:03">Thu, 05/18/2023 - 11:03</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>�鶹��Ƶ has recognized six faculty members with <a href="/news/six-faculty-receive-2021-2022-excellence-teaching-honors">Excellence in Teaching Awards</a> for the 2021-22 academic year. The annual Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes faculty in the college and conservatory who have demonstrated sustained and distinctive excellence in their teaching at the college and conservatory.</p> <p><a href="/renee-romano">Renee C. Romano</a> is the Robert S. Danforth Professor of History and Professor of Comparative American Studies and Africana Studies. A specialist in 20th- and 21st-century American cultural and political history and in the field of historical memory, she is the author of <em>Racial Reckoning: Reopening America’s Civil Rights Trials</em> (Harvard University Press, 2014) and <em>Race Mixing: Black-White Marriage in Postwar America</em> (Harvard University Press, 2003.) She has also co-edited three collections: <em>Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical Is Restaging America’s Past</em> (Rutgers University Press, 2018); <em>Doing Recent History: On Privacy, Copyright, Video Games, Institutional Review Boards, Activist Scholarship, and History that Talks Back</em> (University of Georgia Press, 2012); and <em>The Civil Rights Movement in American Memory</em> (University of Georgia Press, 2006).</p> <p>“Professor Renee Romano has been at the forefront of deeply important curricular, pedagogical, and mentoring initiatives in undergraduate education, including the formal establishment of curricular pathways in Public Humanites at �鶹��Ƶ,” says David Kamitsuka, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Renee trains her students not only how to grapple with the most challenging social, political, and institutional issues in American history, but also to share their learning for the benefit of the broader public.”</p> <p>Romano teaches courses on a variety of topics related to political, cultural, and racial history in the modern United States, including the History of Museums, Race and Sexuality in U.S. History, and Deconstructing Disney. She is also committed to the practice of public history. She is a founder and co-director of the <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/public-humanities">Public Humanities Integrative Concentration</a> at �鶹��Ƶ, and she has been involved in numerous public humanities projects, including consulting for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, directing the �鶹��Ƶ visit of “Courage and Compassion: Our Shared Story of the Japanese American World War II Experience,” and serving as a scholarly advisor for the Kent State May 4th Walking Tour and Visitor's Center, the Brooklyn Historical Society, Eyes on the Prize Revisited, and Radio Diaries. From 2016 to 2019, Romano was a member of the Executive Board of the Organization of American Historians, and she is currently on the board of National History Day. She has also served as an �鶹��Ƶ campus mentor for the Posse Leadership Program.</p> <p>“I am humbled and gratified to be recognized with this award, especially given how many wonderful and dedicated teachers there are at �鶹��Ƶ,” says Romano. “I feel extraordinarily lucky to have the opportunity to work with �鶹��Ƶ students, whose energy, intellect, and curiosity constantly push me to experiment with new pedagogies, to create new courses, and to keep working to improve my teaching.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">A specialist in 20th- and 21st-century American cultural and political history, Romano is instrumental in establishing a public humanities concentration.</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="2023-05-18T12:00:00Z">Thu, 05/18/2023 - 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=2576">Excellence in Teaching Award</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3501">Teaching & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2377">Arts & Humanities</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=25381">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25311">Comparative American Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana Studies</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/history" hreflang="und">History</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/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/public-humanities" hreflang="und">Public Humanities</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">Jennifer Manna</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>One Big Service-Oriented Family</h1> <p>tapplega — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 16:18:37 +0000</p> <span>One Big Service-Oriented Family</span> <span><span>tapplega</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-04-27T12:18:37-04:00" title="Thursday, April 27, 2023 - 12:18">Thu, 04/27/2023 - 12:18</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>�鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="/node/55501">Bonner Scholars</a> program has been connecting classrooms to communities since 1993. Operated by the <a href="/node/4416">Bonner Center for Community-Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Research</a> and supported by the national <a href="http://www.bonner.org/">Bonner Foundation</a>, the scholars program provides four-year community service scholarships to approximately 60 �鶹��Ƶ students who are the first in their families to attend college or come from underrepresented populations. Bonner Scholars participate in intensive, developmental community-engagement experiences throughout their time at �鶹��Ƶ.</p> <p>Each year, 15 incoming first-year students are selected as Bonner Scholars. Their experience is guided by designated student leaders, who facilitate community projects and engage with the entire campus about service opportunities. </p> <p>Bonner leader Wyae’ Stewart is a third-year <a href="/node/3391">politics</a> major with minors in <a href="/node/3396">law</a> and <a href="/node/3431">Africana studies</a>. She is completing her service learning with the federal math education program <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories.html">America Counts</a> and has previously tutored local schoolchildren as a <a href="/node/56206">Ninde Scholar</a>, worked in the office of Congresswoman Nikema Williams, and with the National Society of Leadership and Success. A native of Atlanta, Stewart is committed to service in education and housing, and she’s taking the first steps to reform education across the country.</p> <p>We connected with Stewart to learn more about her work as a Bonner leader and how she fosters service at �鶹��Ƶ.</p> <p><strong>What does the Bonner Scholars Program mean to you?</strong></p> <p>The Bonner Scholar Program is a family that is not only committed to doing work with one another throughout our communities, but assisting each other on a daily basis to become better people for and with others.</p> <p><strong>How has your service with Bonner corresponded to social issues you care about?</strong></p> <p>Even though I am not working directly with educational policy at America Counts, I have interacted with students, teachers, and parents and gauged their views on how these children are being taught. In particular, I enjoy working closely with the kids, as I remember feeling how they felt when I was that age. Through this experience, I know that when I go into policy, there are aspects that I want to target to ensure that our students are safe in all aspects!</p> <p><strong>How has your service with Bonner influenced your time at �鶹��Ƶ?</strong></p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Stewart repairs a bike wheel<br> at the Ohio City Bike Co-op in Cleveland.<br> (courtesy of Wyae' Stewart)</figcaption> </figure> <p>I came to �鶹��Ƶ blindly, without a visit, and with little knowledge of the school. As soon as I arrived, the Bonner program was extremely welcoming, which made finding a service site easier. Through my service, I have found mentors who continue to support me and guide me through my �鶹��Ƶ journey.</p> <p><strong>What have you learned about the �鶹��Ƶ community through your service?</strong></p> <p>I’ve learned that �鶹��Ƶ is a tight-knit community that is very engaged. I saw this more recently while working with my on-campus organization, ABUSUA [�鶹��Ƶ’s Black Student Union], where we partnered with the Black Student-Athlete Group to sponsor a block party to welcome community members to meet and interact with students in the college. Since I work in the school system and know many students and their parents, I used that connection to get the community involved. This event turned out to be a success because a lot of the students and their parents participated! We are excited to continue this partnership through the years. I know that my service with America Counts helped sponsor this connection, and I am forever grateful for that.</p> <p><strong>Can you share a favorite Bonner memory?</strong></p> <p>One of my most cherished Bonner memories was the All-Bonner Retreat! Though this is not a regular event, it was where I bonded with so many other Bonners who I never had the opportunity to interact with outside of All-Bonner meetings. I enjoyed playing our favorite games such as Mafia and singing karaoke.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">The Bonner Scholars Program eased Wyae’ Stewart’s transition to �鶹��Ƶ. Now she’s easing the way for others.</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="2023-04-27T12:00:00Z">Thu, 04/27/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tyler Applegate</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=2381">Bonner Center</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2382">Community Service</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=25416">Politics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25396">Law and Society</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana Studies</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/politics" hreflang="und">Politics</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/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</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">courtesy of Wyae' Stewart</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>‘Rainbow’ Connections</h1> <p>tapplega — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 19:36:42 +0000</p> <span>‘Rainbow’ Connections</span> <span><span>tapplega</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-04-14T15:36:42-04:00" title="Friday, April 14, 2023 - 15:36">Fri, 04/14/2023 - 15:36</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Amara Granderson ’17 was all of 9 years old when she first took to the stage. A native of Brooklyn, New York, she’d been exposed to theater throughout her childhood on outings to the city with her family. One of those trips came in 2013, when she experienced a performance of Shakespeare’s iconic comedy<em> A Midsummer Night’s Dream</em>, staged by a director named <a href="/node/4961">Justin Emeka</a>.</p> <p>So when Granderson arrived at �鶹��Ƶ as a first-year student in the autumn, it was no surprise that she found herself drawn back to the spotlight. She selected a major of <a href="/node/3431">Africana studies</a>, but quickly started forging ties with �鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/theater">theater</a> faculty too. One of them was the same Justin Emeka who made an impression on her months earlier. Emeka has been adapting and directing plays since his own graduation from �鶹��Ƶ in 1995.</p> <p>“She has an incredible charisma on stage and a very creative sense of humor,” says Emeka, who routinely casts �鶹��Ƶ students and alumni in productions he directs. He cast Granderson—in her sophomore year—in the world premiere of Stick Fly, a play he directed in Seattle. That same year, she starred in the debut of What We Look Like, written by her good friend and fellow Obie <a href="https://oberlinreview.org/17805/arts/b-j-tindal-oc-16-playwright/">B.J. Tindal ’16</a>. In her senior year, she portrayed The Lady in Red in Ntozake Shange’s <em>for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf</em>, a choreopoem that explores the lives and challenges of young Black women in America. </p> <p>By the time commencement rolled around in spring 2017, Granderson was fully committed to performance. “I wanted to continue to better my craft, and wanted to see what I could do with more training,” she recalls.</p> <p>She continued her studies in an MFA program at the University of California, San Diego. There she overcame pandemic limitations by presenting a virtual showcase with her classmates, using clever editing to make it seem as if the performers were together—when in reality, they were filming from their own bedrooms. It captured the attention of talent agents and managers, and launched Granderson on a yearlong marathon of flights to Los Angeles for TV gigs, followed by return trips to New York to scour for stage opportunities.</p> <p>In fall 2021, she submitted an audition for a Broadway revival of <em>for colored girls</em>, directed and choreographed by Camille A. Brown—the first Broadway show in more than 60 years to be directed and choreographed by a Black woman. Granderson knew she would thrive if given the chance, and a few short weeks later it happened.</p> <p>“All my dreams came true in one phone call,” she says, recalling her first disbelieving words to her manager: “Broadway? Do you have that in writing?” The show opened in April 2022, with Granderson in the role of The Lady in Orange. </p> <p>“It felt like a perfect fit,” she says. “I knew I had to be here.”</p> <p>The production was met with immediate success, selling out each of its initial dates—including many audiences peppered with Granderson’s �鶹��Ƶ friends and former castmates—and extending an additional month. It went on to garner seven Tony Award nominations, including Best Play.</p> <p>The payoff meant everything to Granderson, who still vividly recalls her first angst-ridden visit with director Brown. “Surrounded by all these professionals, I came in doubting my own ability,” she recalls. And what has she gained since? “A confidence and intention that I did not have prior to the show in the way that I do now.”</p> <p>Recently, Granderson reconnected with Emeka in Pittsburgh, to perform in his adaptation of the same classic she saw him direct 10 years ago, now recast as <em>A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Harlem</em>. Granderson played the role of Lysandra, a gender-bent version of Shakespeare’s Lysander. </p> <p>She continues to audition and perform all over the country, with her sights set on returning to Broadway. Her message for young actors—and one she follows herself—is to “always be open to learning new things. If you expand your abilities, you’ll always have opportunities in acting.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Amara Granderson’s visions of Broadway came into focus on the stages of �鶹��Ƶ.</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="2023-04-21T12:00:00Z">Fri, 04/21/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tyler Applegate</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 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=25441">Theater</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana 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="/justin-emeka" hreflang="und">Justin Emeka ’95</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/theater" hreflang="und">Theater</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Amara Granderson (center) with her Broadway castmates.</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">Sara Krulwich, New York Times/courtesy of Amara Granderson</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>