Seven Stars in the Humanities

A Humanities Pleiad

A monthly series featuring the achievements of seven members in the College of Humanities. A Pleiad is the term for a group of seven particularly illustrious persons, after the seven daughters of Atlas, who were transformed into the Pleiades, stars found in the constellation Taurus and used for navigation since antiquity. The word derives from the Greek word πλειν, which means to sail: this month, the College of Humanities sails by the light of the Pleiad below.....

Peter Culicover.

Peter Culicover, Humanities Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics, has been named a University Distinguished Scholar for 2008. The Distinguished Scholar Award recognizes exceptional scholarly accomplishments by senior professors who have compiled a substantial body of work: such is certainly the case for Culicover, who has authored or coauthored 12 books and over 50 articles on syntactic theory, language acquisition and other topics from grammatical complexity to jazz. He has been a visiting scholar at Tübingen, Groningen, the University of Venice, MIT, and other institutions, and was the recipient of Germany’s Humboldt Research Award in 2005. The College is proud to claim him as one of our own.

Justin D'Arms, professor in the Department of Philosophy, is one of six newly promoted full professors to speak in the College of Humanities Inaugural Lecture Series for 2007-2008. His lecture, delivered on May 12, 2008, addressed the topic of “Sentiment and Sensibility,” particularly in reference to the sense, or sensibility, of humor. At issue was the question of how we reach sentimental judgments about whether something is funny, or a source of pride, jealousy, or a range of other emotions. These judgments, according to D’Arms, are frequently compromised by circumstance: what is by one’s own criteria a perfectly appropriate reaction can be occluded by external factors, such as desensitization and contagion, that inhibit the free expression of our sentiments. It was a provocative and engaging talk, followed by a lively discussion.

Jim Phelan, Humanities Distinguished Professor in the Department of English, has been awarded the University’s highest accolade, the Distinguished University Professor Award for 2008. This permanent honorific title is given to professors at the Ohio State University who have truly exceptional records in teaching, research, and service. The award recognizes Jim Phelan’s international reputation as a “towering figure in the field of narrative theory.” Already the winner of the University’s highest awards for research (OSU Distinguished Scholar, 2004) and teaching (Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2007), as well as the ASC Research Award for Exemplary Service in 2007, he is, as one external recommender put it, "an outstanding representative of your university."

Leslie Alexander, associate professor in the Department of History, has been given an Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2008. Alexander is a connector: "she really promoted how relevant history is to everyone, every day, and how current events recreate certain historical trends," one student said. She is also a leader in curriculum development: Alexander spearheaded the creation of seven new courses in African-American history in the department, for both undergraduate and graduate students, and contributed to a general redesign of many courses in the curriculum. Active in the department's Faculty of Color Caucus, she has demonstrated a commitment to recruiting and retaining a diverse student body at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and has shown herself equally committed to community outreach. This is a richly deserved award for an excellent teacher and mentor.

Elizabeth Renker, professor in the Department of English, has been given an Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2008. Elizabeth Renker brings out the best in her students, and is respected and appreciated for it. Students praise her "intense vigor and passion for the subject matter," "her high intellect, sense of humor, piercing questions, welcoming comments, and supportive caring." This is a professor who really does it all, receiving high praise at all levels of the curriculum. She was awarded the College's Rodica C. Botoman Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring in 2006; this second award confirms the general opinion that Elizabeth Renker is an exemplary teacher.

Charles Gribble, professor in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures, has been presented with the 2008 Harlan Hatcher Award for Academic Excellence in the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences. A professor of Slavic since 1961 (joining the faculty of The Ohio State University in 1975), he is one of the longest-serving professors currently working in the field of Slavic Studies in the United States. An outstanding and devoted teacher, the long-time editor of Slavica, and a tireless promoter of Bulgarian Studies, he is the very model of a Hatcher Award Winner, having served as a role model and mentor for generations of Slavicists both here and throughout the world.

Judith Mayne, Humanities Distinguished Professor in the Department of French and Italian, has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for 2008-2009. Mayne was among 190 artists, scientists, and scholars from the United States and Canada selected from more than 2,600 applicants during the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation’s 84th annual competition. Mayne’s areas of expertise are French cinema and feminist film studies, and she is the author of eight books, including The Woman at the Keyhole and Framed: Lesbians, Feminists, and Media Culture. Her work has been translated into many languages, and is often reprinted. Judith Mayne plans to use her fellowship to write a book-length study of Continental Films, the Nazi-owned company that dominated feature film production in France during World War Two.

For a complete listing of previous 'Seven Stars,' visit our archive page.