The Leading Edge

Assistant Professor of Psychology Kathleen Bogart is chairing a symposium at the Appearance Matters Conference in Bath, England entitled, “Intra- and interpersonal consequences of facial movement disorders” on June 13. During the symposium, she will present a talk, “‘Rare place where I feel normal’: Benefits of support conferences for parents of and people with Möbius syndrome.”

Susan Bernardin (School of Language, Culture, & Society) is the co-editor of a new issue of Western American Literature that follows up on the Western Literature Association’s 50th anniversary conference, which she co-organized in 2015. The conference’s interlinked plenaries—entitled Genealogies, Keywords, and Methodologies—serve as the format for this journal issue which spotlights how Indigenous, feminist, queer, transnational, environmental, and visual methodologies engage the U.S. West.  

Christopher McKnight Nicols, associate professor of in the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion, was on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “Think Out Load with Dave Miller” for a news round table on June 1. You can listen to the roundtable here.

Gongdon Chen, doctoral candidate and visiting scholar, is concluding a year in Residence with OSU’s Graduate Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine. He has been awarded two fellowships while at OSU while working on his dissertation on Linus Pauling and the nature of the chemical bond. The first fellowship took him to Caltech in Pasadena where he examined records of Pauling’s students and colleagues from China. The second fellowship is from the Science History Institute in Philadelphia to examine the papers of Arnold Beckman who invented the ph meter and who worked with Pauling while the two were both at Caltech.

Professor of History Nicole von Germeten was interviewed about her book, “Profit and Passion: Transactional Sex in Colonial Mexico” for the New Books Network podcast. You can listen to the interview here.

Senior Instructor of History Steven Shay won a Teaching for Change award at the year’s 25th Anniversary Celebration of the DPD Program held on May 31.

A new article in Terra Magazine at Oregon State University features Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Geoff Barstow’s work exploring the limits of Buddhism.

Assistant Professor of Philosophy Stephanie Jenkins’ course, “Philosophy School of Phish” was recently featured in an article in the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

Assistant Professor of History Rena Lauer was recently awarded the Medieval Academy Publication Subvention Award.

Instructor of Music Ryan Biesack was recently featured as soloist on drumset in the west coast premiere of Jennifer Bellor’s “Uprising,” a 2018 composition written for wind ensemble and solo jazz drum set. The performance was in collaboration with Chris Chapman and the OSU Wind Ensemble and was held at the LaSell Stewart Center.

Instructor of Guitar Cameron O’Connor’s recording of Michael Lee’s “Unmasked” was chosen in the 2018 Ablaze Records call for scores and will be distributed by Naxos Records. “Unmasked” is one of several collaborations between Lee and O’Connor and is the winner of several other composition prizes, including the Contemporary Guitar 2018 prize and the USC Thornton School of Music Composition Award. Locally,  O’Connor was a featured performer at the Corvallis Guitar Festival, where he performed a solo recital and gave a demonstration on the evolution of guitar construction throughout the 20th century in collaboration with Tom Strini.

Recurring Events