For some, comedy film is more than just something to watch with friends on a Friday night. Soo Hyun Lee and Hui Liu are PhD candidates in the Asian Literatures, Cultures, and Media program studying East Asian comedy cinema. They both cite their gratitude for the world-class ALL department. "I strongly desired to be a part of the department's inclusive and friendly environment," Liu says. "I feel very lucky to be a part of it."
“Every detail of a costume tells the audience something specific about the person wearing the costume,” says 2018 MFA costume design graduate Brandi Mans. She reflects on her thesis for Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room, in which she navigates the visual language of clothing to tell historical narratives of medical practice and female sexuality.
What is mathematics? Are the lines, planes, and intervals of mathematics composed of points, or are there other ways of thinking about these objects? According to Professor Geoffrey Hellman, questions like these have always posed problems for the discipline of mathematics. In two new books, co-authored with Stewart Shapiro of The Ohio State University, Hellman takes on these and other questions, seeking to clarify what is at stake in the various answers one might offer to them.
Recent graduate JT Weaver calls framing his dance major in a liberal arts context “game-changing.” His well-rounded education equipped him to explore ideas through movement and to create dance pieces that are thoughtfully crafted ideas of creative research. “The biggest takeaway from my time at the University is my level of awareness in all facets of my life,” Weaver says. “My years at the U instilled an approach to life that is highly thoughtful and perspective-driven.”
How do you find meaning in movement? Movement and change are an essential part life. Assistant Professor Somayeh Dodge works to understand why and how organisms move and migrate.
Perceptions of the homeless are often incorrect. These misconceptions leave room for ineffective policy. Eric Goldfischer, a PhD candidate in geography, is working to change the way we see homelessness. Through his work, he hopes to realign public opinion to match the reality of homelessness in our society.
The College of Liberal Arts gathered as a community to honor the creative, scholarly, and instructional work of our outstanding and internationally renowned faculty at Faculty Excellence held on Tuesday, April 17 in the Best Buy Theater at Northrop Memorial Auditorium. This annual event is held to celebrate faculty retiring from the College of Liberal Arts.
How is homophobia measured in Haiti? Cultural anthropology assistant professor Erin Durban-Albrecht has spent a decade studying LGBTQ rights in the Caribbean nation and found that there is still progress to be made.
“Traditional medicine is not just something from the past,” says cultural anthropology student Wei Ye. “It’s constantly evolving and changing.” Ye has been exploring how traditional Chinese medicine changes when it’s placed in Kenyan culture.
Professor David Chang challenges persistent narratives about Hawaii’s past. “For too long, history has been written as if Hawaiians were passive observers of their own history, isolated from and uninterested in the outside world,” he says. In his new book, Chang aims to update our perspective on Hawaii’s past by presenting it through the eyes of the people who lived through it.
Seniors Sabrina Li and Ryan Lerch participated on an analytics team for the College of Liberal Arts’ First-Year Experience, looking at how a first-year student’s demographic background affects their sense of belonging.
Mónica de la Fuente Iglesias and José Aguirre co-chaired a conference that bridged the gap between Spanish and Lusophone disciplines and provided new approaches as how to best address different kinds of emptiness in research. Read more about how the Graduate Student Conference filled voids in research.
Ana Forcinito, professor of Spanish and Portuguese studies, researches women filmmakers in Argentina (like Lisa Stantic, pictured) and their unique use of sound to tell otherwise invisible stories.
By redirecting floods on the Mississippi river in the North, we are accelerating the water downstream and increasing the threat of flooding in the South. Scott St. George, associate professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Society, writes.
David Grayson, a professor of musicology, is an expert on the late composer Claude Debussy, and is preparing the critical edition of Debussy's one and only completed opera.
Due to rising sea levels, the Pacific Islands are struggling with cultural loss as Natives are forced to relocate. To counteract the potential loss of water practices in Pacific Islander cultures, Professor Vince Diaz is working on three major canoe projects that will work in tandem to maintain and adapt their ancient traditions.
“You never know when the phone rings what you might be up to do,” says Director of the Center For Applied and Translational Sensory Sciences Peggy Nelson. What began as wind turbine research for humans took a turn when Nelson was asked to test some other subjects--ones with feathers.
How can a country’s culture and migration regulations affect an immigrant’s ability to adjust? Professor Cawo Abdi studies the diaspora of Somali people and how they’ve adjusted to their new homelands. She finds that while Somali refugees remain hopeful that they will find a sense of belonging, they face unexpected challenges when adjusting to life in a new country.
Hoping to better understand the political motivations of every American, Howard Lavine, professor of political science and psychology, and Barbara Frey, director of CLA's Human Rights Program, are assisting with research on current human rights opinions of the U.S. population.
