UO Today interviews offer thought-provoking conversations
Watch UO Today interviews on the Oregon Humanities Center’s YouTube channel or listen to the podcasts on our Soundcloud channel. Oregon Humanities Center director Paul Peppis engages UO faculty, administrators, and visiting scholars in deep-diving conversations about their compelling work. Here is a list of some recent guests:
Annelise Heinz, assistant professor of History at the University of Oregon, discusses her current book project Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture.
Marcilynn Burke, the Dave Frohnmayer Chair in Leadership and Law, and the Dean of the University of Oregon’s School of Law, is the first black female dean in the Law School’s 134-year history. She talks about her endeavors to increase enrollment of Law students from underrepresented populations. Burke also discusses her service in the Obama administration as Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management for the Department of the Interior, overseeing four bureaus including the BLM.
Artist Matthew Picton discusses his cartographic sculptures in the Artist Project Space at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. The “Cultural Mapping” exhibition is on view through January 20, 2019.
Erin McKenna, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oregon, discusses her work in human/animal ethics. Her books Pets, People, and Pragmatism and Livestock: Food, Fiber, and Friends describe why it’s important to understand animals’ species-specific behaviors, breed tendencies, and individual variations in order to establish an ethic of respect when relating to animals.
Robert Guldberg, Vice President and Robert and Leona DeArmond Executive Director of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon. Guldberg discusses his work in regenerative medicine and bioengineering. He also talks about the Knight Campus facility and how it will create the intellectual infrastructure to establish Oregon as a center for both research and development.
Matt Rader, assistant professor of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, is the author of four poetry collections—the most recent titled Desecrations; and a critically acclaimed collection of short stories titled What I Want to Tell Goes Like This. Rader earned an MFA from the UO’s Creative Writing Program in 2008. He discusses his work and reads from Desecrations.
Steven Beda, assistant professor of History at the University of Oregon, discusses his research on labor movements in the timber industry and environmentalism in the Pacific Northwest during the 20th century. He talks about the tensions that arose between rural timber workers and urban industrial workers. His current book project is Strong Winds and Widow Makers: A History of Workers, Nature, and Environmental Conflict in the Pacific Northwest Timber Country, 1900–present.