The Institute for the Arts and Humanities serves as UNC-Chapel Hill’s faculty home for interdisciplinary conversation and collaboration. The IAH supports its mission through its commitment to three interrelated areas of faculty life: scholarship, leadership, and fellowship. The IAH podcast features in-depth conversations with Fellows. The owl tops Hyde Hall, our Franklin Street home.
Institute for the Arts and Humanities (UNC-CH)
In advance of the 2024 Weil Lecture on March 25, Director Patricia Parker conducts a phone interview with speaker Judy Woodruff. During her lecture, Woodruff will speak on her reporting project, Judy Woodruff Presents: America at a Crossroads. In this podcast, Director Parker asks Woodruff about her distinguished career in journalism, the inspirations for the project, and the divisions and conversations she witnesses throughout it. Attend the Weil Lecture for American Citizenship, hosted by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, on the UNC campus on March 25. RSVP at go.unc.edu/Kd9z6 More information: https://iah.unc.edu/event/weil-lecture-2324/
Assistant professor of religious studies Hugo Mendez (FFP '22) discusses his research in his recent book projects: one exploring the role of St. Stephen in early Christian communities, and the most recent examining the biblical books of John. He also describes his fellowship experiences – at the IAH and at the National Humanities Center – and how they provided the needed time and interdisciplinary connections to work on his current book.
Andrea Bohlman is an associate professor of music who received a 2023 Summer International Collaborative Research Grant from the Institute for the Arts and Humanities. Part of Bohlman's research examined the consent and politics of sound and sound-recordings, and she collaborated with colleagues at Polish universities. In the podcast, she talks about her research and the impact of the $20,000 grant.
Historian Katherine Turk (FFP '21) discusses her new book, The Women of NOW: How Feminists Built an Organization that Transformed America (The Macmillan Group). She shares the history of the National Organization for Women, and on three leaders who helped shape the organization.
Actor and playwright Samuel Ray Gates (FFP '22) talks about his Faculty Fellowship experience, where he continued his work on his one-person show, When the Swelling Goes Down. Gates shares the themes of the show, the writing process, and the ways comedy can be used to explore and heal through difficult issues. Recorded in spring 2023.
Recorded in spring 2023, Courtney Rivard, a 2023 fellow in the Tyson Academic Leadership Program, discusses her work as Director of the digital literacy and communications lab at UNC-Chapel Hill. She also shares recent projects in digital humanities, gaming studies, and a book that she worked on during her spring 2022 Faculty Fellowship.
African, African American and diaspora studies professor Kenneth Janken received the 2022 George H. Johnson Prize for Distinguished Achievement by an IAH Fellow. On March 23, 2023, he received the award and delivered a lecture, "Bringing the Wilmington Ten to the Public's Attention: One Historian's Experience in Public Humanities.” Before his lecture, he sat down to talk about his research, public reaction to the case, and his Fellowship experiences.
Recorded in February 2023, Director Patricia Parker talks with 2023 Reckford Lecture speaker and historian Ana Lucia Araujo about her research. Watch the 2023 Reckford Lecture on the IAH website: https://iah.unc.edu/araujo-2023-reckford-lecture/
Institute for the Arts and Humanities Patricia Parker talks about the impact of public humanities engagement. She also shares her recent interdisciplinary collaborations with other UNC faculty and international partners.
Institute for the Arts and Humanities Director Patricia Parker reflects on her first year leading the IAH, and how her experiences and work in engaged scholarship prepared her for the role.
Viji Sathy, the IAH's Tyson Academic Leadership Program Director, talks about how the program helps faculty across the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, her experiences in leadership development, and the way she brings her work in inclusive teaching into the ALP seminars. (Recorded in Summer 2022.)
Assistant professor of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, Ron Williams joins The Institute to discuss his latest book project, an institutional history of the US based foreign policy organization, "Trans Africa."
Oswaldo Estrada, professor of Romance studies, discusses the Faculty Fellowship Program. After receiving a fellowship three times, Estrada returned as its program director in 2021. As he enters the second year in the role, we talk about the program, the way that it enhances faculty research, his past experiences as a Fellow, and what he's looking forward to learning from this year's cohorts.
History professor John Wood Sweet joins the podcast to talk about his new book, The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America, published by Henry Holt and Company. He talks about the experiences of researching and publishing this book, his IAH Faculty Fellowship in 2020, and why he started telling the stories of people who aren't widely known.
After the 2022 Reckford Lecture, speaker Magdalena Zaborowska joins Patricia Parker and Sharon Holland for a deeper dive into themes from her remarks, including questions about belonging and identity in James Baldwin's philosophy of Black queer humanism. She also discusses her interdisciplinary research methodologies and provides a glimpse into her future Baldwin-inspired projects.
Recorded in summer 2021, Fall 2021 Faculty Fellow China Medel talks about her work in media and performance studies, as well as her manuscript Spectral Aethestics: Alternative Media and Visibility at the US-Mexico Border, which looks at a selection of film photography, new media and installation art about the crisis of migrant death at the US Mexico border.
Assistant Professor Gwendolyn Schwinke and Artist Maya Gurantz discuss their latest collaboration, The Endurance Project. A Work-In-Progress showing of The Endurance Project will be open to the public on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in the Joan Gillings Center for Dramatic Arts, Room 102, UNC-Chapel Hill campus. People are invited to arrive as early as 4:30 to listen to the audio installation.
In February of 2018, Former IAH Director Mark Katz interviews astrophysicist and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Chris Clemens about his research of the stars, as well as his self-identified conservatism on a college campus, where liberalism is the dominant language. He discusses why different views on campus are fundamental to a higher educational experience, highlighting the UNC-Duke Philosophy, Politics, and Economics program, co-directed by Philosophy Professor and Associate Professors Program Director Geoff Sayre-McCord.
Professor Pat Parker (Director, Institute for the Arts and Humanities) interview Claire McCaskill on her career in politics and her thoughts on the current political and cultural climate of the United States.
Assistant Professor of Classics Hérica Valladares speaks with Philip on her current research project regarding the material culture of domestic Ancient Rome.
Literary Scholar and Assistant Professor of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies Petal Samuel sits down to discuss her current research project!
Geography Professor Betsy Olson, recipient of the George Johnson Prize for Distinguished Achievement by an IAH Fellow, sits with Philip to discuss her career as a scholar and campus leader.
In this episode, Philip speaks with Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature Candace Epps-Robertson. In our conversation, Professor Epps-Robertson discusses her work on a collaborative and open-sourced syllabus on the South Korean pop group BTS and their fandom known as ARMY. Follow Prof. Epps-Robertson on Twitter: @DrEppsRobertson Follow the BTS Syllabus on Twitter: @bts_syllabus BTS videos to watch (recommended by Prof. Epps-Robertson): Spring Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEeFrLSkMm8 Dynamite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdZLi9oWNZg Black Swan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lapF4DQPKQ
Helga Davis, musician, artist, Carolina Performing Arts artist in residence speaks with us on the life of an interdisciplinary artist!
Assistant Professor Ron Williams (Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies) discusses his current book project on the advocacy organization TransAfrica.
Assistant Professor of Dramatic Art Jacqueline Lawton joins us again to talk about the projects she is doing! How are her plays living on despite the pandemic? Listen to find out! Follow Professor Lawton on Twitter: @dulcia25 Follow IAH on Twitter: @iah_unc Follow Philip on Twitter: @pchollingsworth
Associate Professor Priscilla Layne talks about her latest research on Afro-German Afrofuturism in literature and theater.
Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature Rebecka Rutledge Fisher discusses her decades-long research on the work of prolific author W.E.B. Du Bois.
Associate Professor of Anthropology Jocelyn Chua discusses her current research on the use of pyscho-pharmaceuticals by active duty soldiers in the US army post 9/11.
Melody Hunter-Pillion and Corban Davis speak with Philip on the Southern Futures Initiative and the Southern Futures podcast. Learn more at southernfutures.unc.edu
Assistant Professor of Italian Maggie Fritz-Morkin speaks with us about her work in Medieval Studies!
Music Professor Michael Figueroa talks about the music of Arab America as a key component to post-9/11 racial identity formation. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!
English Professor Jane Thrailkill discusses the meaning of aging during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of humanities in health-related matters. Recorded May 14, 2020 as part of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities "Zoom Talks Series". Check out iah.unc.edu for registration information on upcoming Zoom Talks.
Recorded in September 2017, Journalist M. Clay Barnes interviews Reverend Doctor William J. Barber II, architect of the Moral Monday movement and co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.
Professor of Comparative Literature (UC-Berkeley) Judith Butler joins IAH Director Andy Perrin and English Professor Florence Dore to discuss the essential role of humanistic work during the current pandemic. She also discusses the oft overlooked considerations necessary for reopening universities in the fall. Recorded on May 20, 2020 as part of the IAH's Zoom Talks Series. Be sure to visit iah.unc.edu to register to the next talk!
Poet and Associate Professor Gaby Calvocoressi speaks with us on what made her a poet, the creative process, and possibilities for being creative in quarantine. She also does a reading of her poem "Hammond B3 Organ Cistern", published in the New Yorker. Follow Professor Calvocoressi on Twitter:@rocketfantastic
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Terry Rhodes and Senior Associate Dean for Fine Arts and Humanities Elizabeth Engelhardt speak to challenges in leadership during the COVID19 pandemic. Check iah.unc.edu or the IAH Twitter (@iah_unc) to register for upcoming Zoom Talks May 20th at 1pm - Zoom Talk with renowned scholar Judith Butler!
Assistant Professor Alexandrea Ravenelle (Sociology) discusses her research on the gig economy as well as her book HUSTLE AND GIG: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy (Univeristy of California Press).
Sociology Professor Eric Klinenberg (New York University) kicks off the IAH's "Zoom Talks" series with an insightful conversation on the new reality due to COVID-19. Recorded via Zoom on April 8, 2020 Follow Prof. Klinenberg on Twitter: @ericklinenberg Check http://iah.unc.edu to register to the next Zoom Talk!
Teaching Associate Professor Viji Sathy (Psychology & Neuroscience) talks with us about the transition of course work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Follow Prof. Sathy on Twitter: @vijisathy
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2020 Mary Stevens Reckford Memorial Lecture in European Studies with Dr. Ronald Judy (University of Pittsburgh) was held via Zoom video conference on March 31. Here is the audio from Prof. Judy's lecture, "On the Question of Beloved Community: Revisiting W.E.B. DuBois's Critique of the Teutonic Strongman". Enjoy this BONUS episode!
David Halperin, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, talks about his latest book INTIMATE ALIEN: THE HIDDEN STORY OF THE UFO (Stanford University Press). He also discusses how the current COVID-19 pandemic might give rise to new UFO sightings and interest in UFOlogy http://davidhalperin.net
R.A. Judy, Professor of English at Pittsburgh University, discusses his career in literary studies and also previews his topic for the upcoming Mary Stevens Reckford Lecture in European Studies. The lecture has been rescheduled for Monday, April 13th. Get your tickets at iah.unc.edu.
Anthropology PhD student Eric Thomas sits down with us to discuss his research in southern Chile as well as the current uprising in Santiago de Chile, where hundreds of thousands of of people are protesting their federal government.
Associate Professor Carol Magee (Art & Art History) and Associate Professor Lee Weisert (Music) discuss their latest research!
Michael Gutierrez (English & Comp. Lit, novelist) and Caela O'Connell (Anthropology) discuss human response to climate change and natural disasters in relation to O'Connell's anthropological studies and Gutierrez's current novel project.
Jacquelyn Hagan (Sociology) and Mai Nguyen (City & Regional Planning) discuss the intersections of their research. They also discuss what federal policies end up looking like at the local levels.
Professor J. Michael Terry talks about his research on linguistic bias of standardized testing.
Assistant Professor Danielle Christmas discusses her latest book project on the literature of the contemporary American white nationalist movement.
Assistant Professor, Art Historian Maggie Cao discusses her work on 19th century landscapes and her latest book project on artistic creation in the maritime world of the 18th and 19th centuries. Here's her latest book The End of Landscape in Nineteenth-Century America: www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520291423
Jacqueline Lawton, Assistant Professor of Dramatic Art, sits down with us to talk drama: teaching and writing. She also talks about the inspiration of her latest play she is writing and researching on the life of investigative journalist Marvel Cooke. Prof. Lawton has since completed the play we discussed in the interview. The play, titled EDGES of TIME, will be part of the Playmakers 2019-2020 season and premieres April 29! http://playmakersrep.org/show/edges-of-time/
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