Current News

Danielle Marx-Scouras, French and Italian, will present "Rock the Hexagon: Popular Music and Identity Politics in Contemporary France,"in the College's eighth Inaugural Lecture of the year at 4:30 pm, May 7, OSU Faculty Club. In 1995, Zebda rocked the Hexagon with their second album "Le Bruit et l'odeur" [noise and odor]. The title song is perhaps best remembered for its sample: racist remarks made by President Chirac in June 1991. This was only one of Zebda's many songs targeting French politicians. Zebda's dream of a French society willing to recognize and accept its ethnic and cultural pluralism is not only in their lyrics, which center on discrimination and exclusion, but also in their eclectic music, which "defies all definition" (Nick Sansano). Demagogy and violence are absent from Zebda's lyrics, music, and cultural politics. Although they have often been called rappers by the French media as though the banlieues could only produce one type of music the seven Zebda musicians repeatedly insist that their music is "French" rock, even chanson. This inaugural talk will explore the ways in which popular music sheds light on identity politics, at a time when France is wrestling with the politics of memory and coming to grips with its multi-cultural identity. It will focus, for the most part, on the French, multi-cultural rock group, Zebda, who won the French equivalent of the Grammy for best song and best group in 1999, and who backed the leftist Motivé-e-s political ticket in the Toulouse municipal elections of March 2001. We shall examine how, from the early 1980s to 2004, Zebda's music and cultural politics denounced parochial notions of Frenchness from a local and national, post-colonial and transcultural context Contact: Melissa Soave, 292-1882.

Faculty and staff are invited to participate in the Humanities Alumni Society's 2^nd Annual Golf Outing on May 19 at Westchester Golf Course in Canal Winchester. Proceeds from the event benefit the Humanities Alumni Scholarship Fund which provides support to Humanities undergraduate students. For details, visit our Alumni Web pages. Contact: Shari Lorbach, 688-4532 or lorbach.1@osu.edu

Michael Les Benedict, History: "The People Themselves: The Constitutional Responsibilities of the American People," in Doshisha American Studies 43 (March 2007): 1-19.

Philip Brown, History, edited and co-translated Virtual Kyoto: Exploring the Past, Present and Future of Kyoto (Nakanishiy, Kyoto, 2007).

Harvey Graff, English and History, received a challenge grant from the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences, which was matched by the College of Dentistry, the University Libraries, the College of the Arts, and the Department of Entomology for an annual interdisciplinary public lecture for Literary Studies at Ohio State.

Julia Nelson Hawkins, Greek and Latin, has received the Virginia Hull Research Award to support her project "Medicine in Augustan Rome: Therapoetics after Actium."

Robin Judd, History, has been chosen to participate in the third class of the President's and Provost's Leadership Initiative.

Graduate student Chris LaHue, History, received an Andrew W. Mellon short-term residence fellowship for 2007-2008 from the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Graduate student John Maass, History, received a travel grant from the Society for Military History to attend the the Society for Military History Annual Meeting.

Christopher Reed, History, received a Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Grant to Taiwan for 2007-08. He will be affiliated with the Institute of Modern History at the Academia Sinica while pursuing his research on Chinese print communism.

Randolph Roth, History, was awarded the Ohio Academy of History's Teaching Award.

David Stebenne, History, received the Publication Award from the Ohio Academy of History for his book Modern Republican: Arthur Larson and the Eisenhower Years.

Franco Barchiesi, African American and African Studies, presented "Informality and Casualization as Challenges to South Africa's Industrial Unions: The Case of the East Rand/Ekurhuleni Region in the 1990s" at the International Workshop on "Informalizing Economies and New Organizing Strategies in Africa," Uppsala (Sweden), Nordic Africa Institute, April 20-22.

Sebastian Knowles, English, presented "The Pity of War: Wilfred Owen and the War Requiem," Honors Collegium Friday Forum, April 20.

Graduate student John Maass, History, presented "Nathanael Greene, Moderation and the Revolutionary Settlement in the South, 1780-1783," at the Society for Military History Annual Meeting, Frederick, Maryland, April 21.

Lee Martin, English, read from his fiction and also taught a master class in creative nonfiction at Texas Tech University. Lubbock, Texas. April 19.

Jeredith Merrin, English, read from her poetry at San Jose State University's 150th Anniversary Celebration on April 21.

Graduate student Shannon Thomas, English, presented "Sexual Politics and Women's Poetics: Redefining the Genre of American Lesbian Poetry," American Comparative Literature Association, Puebla, Mexico, April 19-22.

James Schmidt (Boston University) will present "Misunderstanding the Question: 'What is Enlightenment?,'" 4:00 pm, May 11, 20 Page Hall, for the 2007 George R. Havens Lecture. Contact the Department of French and Italian, 292-4938 and visit their Web site for more information..

Bruce Lawrence (Duke University) will present "Osama bin Laden: Situating Public Enemy No. 1 between the Media and the Academy," 4:30 pm, May 9, 100 Mendenhall Lab, in the Religion and the Academy: Enduring Issues, New Approaches Series. Contact: Program in the Study of Religions, 688-8010.

Judson Jeffries, African American and African Studies Community Extension Center, will present "Being a Professor and All That Comes with it in the 21^st Century," 11:30 am, May 16, Knight House, 104 East 15^th Avenue, in the Horizons Lecture Series (lunch by reservation only). Contact: zacher.1@osu.edu.

John Edgar Wideman (Brown University) will make a public appearance, 7:30 pm, May 16, Wexner Center Film/Video Theatre, in the African American Literary Cavalcade. Contact: Department of English, 292-6065.

Claudia Swan (Northwestern University) will present "In the Realm of the Senses: Collecting Marvels in Early Modern Europe," 2:30 pm, May 18, 90 Science and Engineering Library, in The Marvelous Lecture Series. Contact: Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 292-7495.

The Fourth Annual History of Black Columbus Conference will convene on May 19 at the African American and African Studies Community Extension Center, 905 Mount Vernon Ave. This year's focus is "The Black Church." The conference will feature panel discussions and guest presentations. Contact: African American and African Studies Community Extension Center, 292-3922.

Abril Trigo, Spanish and Portuguese, will present "A Critique of the Political and Libidinal Economy of Contemporary Culture," in the ninth Inaugural Lecture of the year at 4:30 pm, May 24, OSU Faculty Club. Contact: Melissa Soave, 292-1882.

David Brakke (Indiana University) will present "Gnostics and Other 'Heretics': Imagining the Diversity of Early Christianity," 4:30 pm, May 24, 090 Science & Engineering Library, in the Religion and the Academy: Enduring Issues, New Approaches Series. Contact: Program in the Study of Religions, 688-8010.

The Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Seminar on Literacy Studies will have a discussion of Deborah Brandt's recent work -- "Drafting U.S. Literacy," "Sponsors of Literacy," and "Ghostwriting and Shifting Values in Literacy" -- 11:30 am, May 25, Knight House. Contact white.1142@osu.edu.

Wendy Doniger (University of Chicago) will present "Putting Women, Low Castes, & History Back into the History of Hinduism," 4:30 pm, May 31, 010 Page Hall, in the Religion and the Academy: Enduring Issues, New Approaches Series. Contact: Program in the Study of Religions, 688-8010.

Faculty and staff are invited to the College's 13th annual Baccalaureate at 3:30 pm, Saturday, June 9, in 131 Hitchcock Hall. Alumnus Craig Zimpher (B.A./M.A. History) will give the Baccalaureate address. Mr. Zimpher is vice president of government relations for Nationwide. RSVP College of Humanities, 292-1882. Please encourage graduating students to participate. Visit student information on the College of Humanities Web site.

The Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing needs volunteer-tutors for 5th graders at Africentric Elementary School. Tutors work with student-tutees as they complete writing assignments using laptops. Tutoring sessions convene every Wednesday from, 3:45 - 5:15 p.m. at the Africentric School, 300 E. Livingston Avenue (614) 365-6517. Contact: Nancy Hill McClary, 688-5357 or fette.8@osu.edu if you want to share your wealth with our youth!!

The Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center is seeking volunteers to assist with the upcoming History of Black Columbus Conference on Saturday, May 19. Volunteer opportunities are available during the afternoon on Friday, May 18, and all day May 19. Responsibilities may vary but may include: preparation of registration materials, assisting with audio visual equipment, and assisting with conference set up. Contact: Marvin Mitchell, 292-3922 or mitchell.39@osu.edu.

The Next Chapter Book Club is recruiting volunteer facilitators again and needs your help! Have you been looking for a way to give back to your community? Do you have about one hour to spare each week? The Next Chapter Book Club is for you! The Next Chapter Book Club is an exciting program of the OSU Nisonger Center that promotes literacy, social connectedness, and community inclusion for adolescents and adults with intellectual disabilities. Book clubs meet weekly for one hour in bookstores and coffee shops such as Borders and Panera Bread. We are looking for volunteers to serve as group facilitators. A previous facilitator reports, "We have all become real friends and to a great extent, have positively changed each other's lives." As a volunteer facilitator, you will be provided with training and ongoing support. If you would like to volunteer or learn more about the Next Chapter Book Club, please contact Program Coordinator Jillian Ober at ober.7@osu.edu or visit their Web site.

The Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center is currently accepting applications for its Summer Residential Program for High School Juniors and Seniors, June 17-23. The theme of this year's program is "Bookmarks: African Americans in a Cultural Revolution." During this week-long program students will engage in a focused study of the remarkable achievements of African American artists from Blacks in Vaudeville to the crossover into mainstream culture. Application deadline is April 18. For more information, visit the AAASCEC Web site to download an application or contact Chauncey Beaty, 292-3922.