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In Brief
A monthly update of publications, recognitions and accomplishments
Recent News and Awards
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Against Amnesia: LaToya Ruby Frazier
LaToya Ruby Frazier believes life is not to be "belittled or squandered"— both one's own life and the lives of others. The first work of Frazier's I encountered was "The Notion of Family," I felt this commitment then (the same is true for her body of work at large), as I did again with intense and moving clarity when I was lucky enough to attend her talk organized by the Tanner Humanities Center. I invoke the word luck because it is not every day that you meet an artist who means and owns all her utterances, imbued with both intention and care.
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Utah College Media Collaborative
PBS Utah, in partnership with Amplify Utah, is proud to announce a historical cross-campus collaborative bringing together student-led newsrooms from four public Utah universities and colleges.
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Humanities Radio Presents: Lance Olsen
Lance Olsen, Professor Emeritus of English, discusses his novel, “Always Crashing in the Same Car,” a fictional exploration of David Bowie’s consciousness and interactions in his final months battling liver cancer.
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Uncertainty on an Uninhabitable Earth: David Wallace-Wells Reflection
David Wallace-Wells is not a writer known for his optimism; his book, after all, is called, “The Uninhabitable Earth.” He is known for a bluntness sometimes read as alarmist, a direct engagement with the definite and potential harms climate change will impose that often feels pessimistic, almost antagonistic, if not towards us as readers than at least towards our shared wishful delusions about climate change as it is and will be.
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Humanities Radio Presents: Avery Holton
Avery Holton, professor of communication, discusses two of his upcoming books examining journalist burn-out and well-being titled, “The Paradox of Connection: How Digital Media Is Transforming Journalistic Labor” and “Fostering a Culture of Well-Being in Journalism.”
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1852 Legislative Session: This Abominable Slavery
Nov. 29, 2023 – During the1852 Utah legislative session, a passionate debate ensued over voting rights for Black men. Legislator and Latter-day Saint apostle Orson Pratt argued that Black men should be allowed to vote, while territorial governor and Latter-day Saint president Brigham Young strongly disagreed.
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Humanities Radio Presents: Jake Nelson
Jake Nelson, assistant professor of communication, discusses his book, “Imagined Audiences: How Journalists Perceive and Pursue the Public,” that examines the role that audiences have traditionally played in journalism, how that role has changed and what those changes mean for both the profession and the public.
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Student Success Hub Grand Opening
On Oct. 18, 2023, the College of Humanities held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new Student Success Hub inside the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities building and recognize the generous donors whose support and partnership brought the vision to life. The event was vibrant, featuring live classical guitar music, student-guided tours led by humanities student ambassadors, and light refreshments. Donors had the chance to explore the new space, interact with students and career success coaches, and witness the impact of their support
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Humanities Radio Presents: Jay Jordan
Jay Jordan, professor of writing and rhetoric studies, discusses his book, “Grounded Literacies in a Transnational WAC/WID Ecology: A Korean-U.S. Study,” that describes and theorizes the intellectual, social and material complexities of cross-border educational efforts.
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Edna Anderson-Taylor Communication Institute Opening
On Oct. 10, 2023, the College of Humanities hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the culmination of an extraordinary journey made possible by a transformative $1 million gift by Alumna Edna Anderson-Taylor and Jerry Taylor. In recognition of their unparalleled generosity and unwavering commitment to the future of communication and journalism, the college named the Communication institute – housed in the department of Communication – in her honor, officially unveiling the Edna Anderson-Taylor Communication Institute.
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By popular demand, Great Books 2 – “Great Science Books”
The College of Humanities’ new Great Books course has been a hit, according to faculty and students. “I’ve loved teaching in Great Books, a chance to hear other professors and actually talk across disciplines with students,” said Scott Black, professor of English. “It’s like being back in college.”
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New Partnership with the Great Salt Lake Collaborative
The University of Utah’s College of Humanities and the Department of Communication are partnering with the award-winning Great Salt Lake Collaborative to give students hands-on, community-engaged journalism experience working with professional media organizations across northern Utah.
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LaToya Ruby Frazier: Portrait of Humanity
Frazier is a multimedia artist and 2015 MacArthur Fellow whose work spans genres and disciplines but often includes themes touching on environmental racism, industrial, family, personal narrative, and interdisciplinary connections. Her work has been featured in many prestigious museums, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Bronx Museum of New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, among many others
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Art and Social Justice Through the Lens of Visual Storyteller LaToya Ruby Frazier
Hosted by the University of Utah’s Tanner Humanities Center, Frazier will give the Gardner P. Lecture in the Humanities and Fine Arts at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. Tickets are free and open to the public but must be reserved in advance.
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Retired U of U professor shares memories in Utah researching Black history
As Seen On - SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — In the 1970s, Dr. Ron Coleman — a retired history professor at the University of Utah — was presented with a huge opportunity.
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David Wallace-Wells Discusses Climate Change Uncertainties on National Climate Action Day
As on the Daily Utah Chronicle: On October 24, 2023, David Wallace-Wells visited the University of Utah to give the annual Tanner Lecture on Human Values. The Daily Utah Chronicle reporter, Libbey Hanson, attended the event and wrote a detailed account of the lecture given by the New York Times science journalist.
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“A Mind Can Be a Haunted House”: Carmen Maria Machado Visits the University of Utah
The first story I ever read by Carmen Maria Machado was not "The Husband Stitch" or "Especially Heinous." It was not her excellent and essential memoir “In the Dream House,” a book I’ve read and re-read and been in love with and also a little bit angry at for how good it is. It was not even the one-sentence story I regularly teach my students, “Mary When You Follow Her.” The first story I ever read by Carmen Maria Machado was initially published in Lightspeed Magazine in 2014. It’s a story formatted and organized as a Kickstarter, one that works with a premise both darkly funny and sad. The title is “Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead.”
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Middle East Center focused on education during crisis in Israel and Gaza
University of Utah’s Middle East Center will be leading a series of campus discussions and other events in the coming weeks to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict and ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip.
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New York Times Science Journalist David Wallace-Wells Speaks at the U on International Day of Climate Action
The Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah is honored to host Wallace-Wells, author of "The Uninhabitable Earth," for the Tanner Lecture on Human Values at the Marriott Library Gould Auditorium, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, at noon. A book signing hosted by The King’s English will follow with copies for purchase.
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David Wallace-Wells: Insights on Climate, Science, and Society
Bestselling author and current New York Times science journalist David Wallace-Wells will speak at the Marriott Library Gould Auditorium on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, at noon as part of the Tanner Lecture on Human Values Series.
In Brief
October 2022
- Joy Pierce, associate professor of writing and rhetoric studies, published a chapter Studies in Symbolic Interaction. The special issue: “Festschrift in Honor of Norman K. Denzin: He Knew His Song Well” includes world-renowned qualitative research scholars. Pierce’s chapter is titled “Fishing with the GOAT: Honoring Norman K. Denzin.”
- Brandon R. Peterson, associate professor (lecturer) of philosophy, published an article, “Rahner and the Cross: What Kind of Atoning Story Does He Tell?” in the latest issue of Philosophy & Theology.
- Maile Arvin, associate professor of history, created a podcast, Relations of Salt and Stars. Our ancestors traveled through salt and stars, and so do contemporary Pacific Islander communities today. Relations of Salt and Stars is a new podcast produced by the Pacific Islands Studies program at the University of Utah, and hosted by faculty members Arvin (Native Hawaiian) and Angela Robinson (Chuukese).
November 2022
- Kevin Coe’s (professor of communication) book, “The Ubiquitous Presidency: Presidential Communication and Digital Democracy in Tumultuous Times” (coauthored with Joshua Scacco, University of South Florida) received the 2022 Roderick P. Hart Outstanding Book Award from the Political Communication Division of the National Communication Association.
- Jeff McCarthy, director of Environmental Humanities, organized a climate change roundtable at the Modernist Studies Association Conference titled "Modernist Salvage / Salvaging Modernism."
December 2022
- Hollis Robbins, dean of the College of Humanities, published “Examining Phillis Wheatley” in the LA Review of Books.
- Joy Pierce, associate professor of writing and rhetoric studies, was nominated, then chosen to participate as part of the inaugural cohort in the Leadership Institute for a New Academy 2023 (LINA), a new ACLS initiative made possible by the Mellon Foundation. The 2023 spring semester-long initiative will conclude with a four-day meeting in New York this July.
- Joy Pierce, associate professor of writing and rhetoric studies, has been invited to conduct a half-day workshop (solo) on digital qualitative research with an emphasis on data collection and ethics for the International Qualitative Research Network at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus. The workshop will take place in June 2023.
- Eric Herschthal, assistant professor of history, published a review-essay in The New Republic titled, “How the Right Turned 'Freedom' Into a Dog Whistle.”
- Nadja Durbach, professor of history at the University of Utah, along with Tammy M. Proctor of Utah State University will serve as co-editors of the Journal of British Studies. Their five-year term will begin July 1, 2023.
- Alexis M. Christensen, associate professor/lecturer of Classics in world languages & cultures, is starting a new archaeological field school – the Libarna Urban Landscapes Project (LULP) – in conjunction with Professor Katherine V. Huntley of Boise State University. The field school is an opportunity for students to get hands-on archaeological experience at the site of a Roman colony. Libarna (2nd century BCE - 5th century CE) was an important settlement in northwest Italy where Gallic, Etruscan and Roman cultures came into contact. In the summer of 2023, LULP will begin excavations exploring part of the city occupied by private houses and workshops.
January 2023
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Danielle Endres, professor of communication, quoted in Newsweek, “Putin’s Poseidon and the Radioactive Tidal Wave of Death.”
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Avery Holton, professor of communication, interviews on Fox 13, “Do You Know Who’s Writing your News?”
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Isabelle Freiling, assistant professor of communication, gave an invited talk, “Communicating science in a social media world: The risk of (not) intervening against “misinformation,” German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment.
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Chrisoula Andreou, professor of philosophy, published “Choosing Well: The good, the bad, and the trivial” with Oxford University Press.
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Jeff McCarthy, director of Environmental Humanities, published an Op-Ed in the Salt Lake Tribune titled “The Climate Crisis and the Threat to Democracy.”
February 2023
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James Tabery, professor of philosophy, published “Victims of Eugenic Sterlisation in Utah: cohort demographics and estimate of living survivors,” in The Lancet Regional Health Americas, Feb. 15, 2023
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Cindi Textor, assistant professor of world languages and cultures, with co-translator Lee Soo Mi, published a volume of four novellas by Korean-Japanese author Lee Yangji. “Nabi T'aryŏng and Other Stories” is available from Seoul Selection as part of a series of English translations of Korean literature in diaspora.
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Joy Peirce, associate professor of writing and rhetoric studies, received the James McCune Award of Veneration at the U’s 2023 Black Faculty and Staff Awards.
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Rachel Griffin, associate professor of communication, received the Malcolm X Award of Social Justice at the U’s 2023 Black Faculty and Staff Awards
- David Roh, professor of English, was awarded an Honorable Mention in Litarary Studies by the Association for Asian American Studies for Minor Transpacific: Triangulating American, Japanese, and Korean Fictions (Stanford)
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Blair Bateman, adjunct professor of world languages and cultures, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Utah Foreign Language Association "in recognition of a lifetime of service to our profession, our students, and our multilingual world."
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Jackie Osherow, distinguished professor of English, published her ninth collection of poems, “Divine Ratios,” was published by LSU Press, Feb 15, 2023
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Chris Low, assistant professor of history, had the Turkish translation of his book, “Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and the Indian Ocean Hajj” (Columbia University Press, 2020), published by Telemak Kitap (Istanbul) in February 2023. It was the winner of the Middle East Studies Association's Albert Hourani Book Award.
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Chris Low, assistant professor of history, delivered the Paul A. and Marie Castelfranco Lecture for the Department of Religious Studies at University of California-Davis. The talk title was: "Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and the Indian Ocean Hajj."
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Jeff McCarthy, director of Environmental Humanities, presented a paper at the Conference on Environmental, Cultural, and Social Sustainability at the University of Ljubljana titled “The Climate, the Possibility, and the Environmental Humanities.”
March 2023
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Isabelle Freiling, published “Science and Ethics of “Curing” Misinformation,” in the AMA Journal of Ethics, March 2023
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Hugh Cagle, director of the International Studies program and associate professor of the history of science, won a fellowship at the National Humanities Center where, during the summer of 2023, he will be conducting research for his next book, an environmental history of the Brazilian Amazon.
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Jeff McCarthy, director of Environmental Humanities, edited the essay collection “The Anthropocene Ocean” along with USC law professor Robin Craig, and it will be published in March by the University of Utah Press.
June 2023
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Joy Pierce, associate professor of writing and rhetoric studies, was invited to give a workshop at The Qualitatives Annual [pre]Conference in conjunction with Couch-Stone Symposium in British Columbia, Canada.