Podcasts
Welcome to The Institute, a podcast where we profile the fascinating people connected to the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We talk with faculty about the pillars of their work in teaching, service and research. We learn the makings of successful leaders across disciplines. And we share this with you.
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IAH Podcast | Jina Valentine, Assistant Professor of Art
Jina Valentine is concerned with how art can inspire discussion. Valentine, UNC Assistant Professor of Art, discusses The Black Lunch Table, a collaboration with Heather Hart, a fellow artist based in New York. Black Lunch Table is a work of social-practice art that provides a discursive space for artists, activists, and community members to discuss critical issues. It began as a social experiment in 2005. It began with the question “what would happen if we
Jeannie Loeb, Senior Lecturer, Psychology and Neuroscience
During her Faculty Fellowship as a Chapman Family Teaching Award recipient, Jeannie Loeb worked on researching education strategies. She hopes to share her findings on best practices for organizing classes, communicating effectively, and keeping the class engaged. Loeb has a special interest in “students who are from populations which are struggling at universities: first-generation college students, transfer students and minority students.”
Christian Lentz, Assistant Professor, Geography
“The Faculty Fellowship has continued to immerse me in a scholarly community,” says Christian Lentz, who has been using his time away from teaching to concentrate on his book manuscript. He describes the project as “a story of territory as it is experienced and constructed in the Vietnamese revolution when they were fighting for independence from the French in the 1940s and ’50s.”
John McGowan, Director Emeritus 2006-2014
John McGowan is the 2016 recipient of the George H. Johnson Prize for Distinguished Achievement by an Institute for the Arts and Humanities Fellow.
Michele Berger, Director, Faculty Fellows Program
When Michele Berger is not teaching, researching and writing, she is preparing to guide faculty through their fellowships at the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
Elizabeth Engelhardt, Professor, American Studies
Elizabeth Engelhardt is looking closely at the history and culture of boarding houses in the U.S. South.
Todd Ochoa, Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Todd Ochoa is an anthropologist who focuses on religion. This semester he is teaching Introduction to Religion and Culture to 180 students as well as a graduate course, Religion in Postcolonial Americas.
Mariska Leunissen, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Faculty Fellow Mariska Leunissen discusses her unique perspective on the philosophy of Aristotle, especially his foundational text on biology. She provides insight on how we can apply his work to our modern lives by examining his morally reprehensible views in the context of the time. “I don’t want to necessarily better his picture, but I do want to understand where they come from. [Some of them] do seem to be deeply ingrained in Western culture
Andrew Perrin, Professor, Sociology
“Humanities mode of thinking is unique. It really values complexity,” says Andrew Perrin. “It’s a very different way of thinking from STEM scholars and social science scholars.” It is these mechanisms that have compelled Perrin to look at “how scholarship and humanities would contribute to democratic citizenship.” He finished a Faculty Fellowship in Spring 2016, where he researched humanities education and its impact on citizenship.
Mai Nguyen, New Faculty Program Director
City and Regional Planning Associate Professor Mai Nguyen is the New Faculty Program Director at the IAH, effective July 1. She succeeds Associate Professor of Religious Studies Todd Rámon Ochoa, who served in the position for 3 years. “My goal with the new faculty program is to help faculty integrate into the academic life at UNC and to become aware of the many professional and social opportunities available at UNC and in the Triangle Region.”
Michael Gerhardt, UNC School of Law Professor
Michael Gerhardt called it months ago. The Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law said the Republicans would choose Donald Trump as their nominee and this week Hillary Clinton is expected to accept the Democratic nomination. Gerhardt’s most memorable moments in teaching are linking world events in the classroom. “In law there are always some current issues, we just don’t know what those are going to be.”
James Moeser, Acting IAH Director and Chancellor Emeritus
“The faculty is at the heart of what we are about as a university” James Moeser said. “The administration exists to facilitate the life and work of the faculty and a student’s learning.” He served as UNC Chancellor from 2000 to 2008. Moeser recalls his first class after administrating for many years was the first-year seminar on music and culture. The fall semester was always the most exciting. Students were “very open and very receptive.”
Kathleen DuVal, History Professor
UNC History Professor and Faculty Fellow Kathleen DuVal discusses teaching and her award-winning book Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution. But DuVal really lights up when discussing Carolina students. “They are smart and well-educated and ready to learn something new,” She said. “Every semester I get so many delights.”
Jane Thrailkill and Jordynn Jack at the HHIVE
“A mingling of the health sciences with the text tools, critical techniques of the humanistic disciplines,” is how Jane Thrailkill describes the work of the Health Humanities: An Interdisciplinary Venue for Exploration (HHIVE) at UNC. Thrailkill is the director and, together with and Jordynn Jack as associate director, they work to unite faculty in students to merge health science and the humanities.
Suzanne Gulledge, Director, Academic Leadership Program
Suzanne is clinical professor of Teacher Education, Curriculum and Instruction, International and Experiential Education and former chair of the faculty in the School of Education. Effective July 1, 2016, she began as the new director of the Academic Leadership Program.