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Micah Jones is an assistant professor of History and Black Studies at the University of Oregon. She talks about her book project, "The Price of Freedom: Race, Consumption, and the Long Black Freedom Struggle, 1915-1970," which places Black shoppers at the center of histories of consumption, racial formation, and the Civil Rights Movement. Research Notes: Colin Koopman is a professor of Philosophy at the University of Oregon. He talks about his latest book "Data Equals: Democratic Equality and Technological Hierarchy," which argues that current data technologies fail to create equality because they are built on a flawed understanding of it, often exacerbating social divisions instead of bridging them. NYT piece: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/20/magazine/colin-koopman-interview.html

Work-in-Progress talks with Hessam Abedini, PhD candidate, Comparative Literature and 2025–26 OHC Dissertation Fellow. This project examines how to translate the Persian epic Shahnameh (AD 1010) without imposing Western literary conventions on it. Previous English translations have compared the Persian poet Firdausi to Homer, distorting the epic’s unique cosmological framework that blends pre-Islamic Iranian traditions, Islamic theology, and Neoplatonic philosophy. The research proposes translation methods that preserve Iranian concepts like divine glory and cosmic order, allowing readers to encounter this masterwork on its own cultural terms rather than through Western frameworks. 025–26 OHC Dissertation Fellow. This project examines how to translate the Persian epic Shahnameh (AD 1010) without imposing Western literary conventions on it. Previous English translations have compared the Persian poet Firdausi to Homer, distorting the epic’s unique cosmological framework that blends pre-Islamic Iranian traditions, Islamic theology, and Neoplatonic philosophy. The research proposes translation methods that preserve Iranian concepts like divine glory and cosmic order, allowing readers to encounter this masterwork on its own cultural terms rather than through Western frameworks.

Mérida Mehaffey is an interdisciplinary scholar based in Brooklyn, New York. She is currently a master’s student at Bard Graduate Center, where she studies museum ethics, curatorial practice, and Native American material culture. Mérida graduated from the University of Oregon in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies and History. She returned to campus on May 7th, 2026 to deliver the keynote address for the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Research Notes: Gantt Gurley is an associate professor of Scandinavian in the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages at the University of Oregon where he is also a faculty fellow in the Clark Honors College and a faculty affiliate in Folklore and Public Culture, Judaic Studies, and Medieval Studies. He talks about the research he has been conducting on the Jewish legend of the golem.

Smadar Ben-Natan is an assistant professor of Global Studies in the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages at the University of Oregon. Originally from Israel, her research focuses on human rights, international law, Palestine/Israel, armed conflict, criminal justice, incarceration, and colonialism. Research Notes: Michael Allan is an Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and program faculty in Cinema Studies, Arabic Studies, Comics and Cartoon Studies, and Middle East and North African Studies. He discusses his new book "Cinema before the World: The Global Routes of the Lumière Brothers" published by Fordham University Press in 2026.

At a time when social media and our societal structures demand our constant attention to the rigged algorithm, we’ve stopped paying attention to what really matters, the world around us. Using poetic examples and stories from real life, poet Ada Limón invites us to remember that we are alive and will help us reconnect to what matters. According to Limón, “Poets often are very good at the myopic and being present, deeply looking, paying attention. But I think we’re also good at the long view, expanding outward, thinking about the planet itself, thinking about what happens when neither you nor I are here. So I think that it’s about witnessing, paying attention, and being curious about who we are as individuals and as a collective.” Ada Limón is the author of seven books of poetry, including Startlement: New & Selected Poems; The Hurting Kind, which was a finalist for the Griffin Prize; The Carrying, which won the National Books Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award; and Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Award. Limón is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was named a 2024 Time Magazine Woman of the Year. She is the author of two picture books, In Praise of Mystery as well as And, Too, The Fox, and was the editor of the anthology You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World. She served as the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States.

Ada Limón is the former U.S. Poet Laureate. She reads a poem and discusses her work. On April 8, 2026, Limón will give a talk titled "The Unleaving: How Poetry Helps You to Not Miss Your Life" at the University of Oregon. Research Notes: Leah Lowthorp, assistant professor of Anthropology and Folklore, discusses her book "Deep Cosmopolitanism: Kutiyattam, Dynamic Tradition, and Globalizing Heritage in Kerala, India." Show notes: David Shulman Heike Moser Walter Mignolo Charles L. Briggs unesco.org/en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifo0xb3uLyc

Ramón Resendiz is an assistant professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon. He discusses his work as a Visual Anthropologist and documentary filmmaker focusing on borderlands and Indigenous voices. Research Notes: Amy Swanson is an assistant professor of Dance Studies, Theory, and History in the School of Music and Dance at the University of Oregon. She discusses her book "Dancing Opacity: Contemporary Dance, Transnationalism, and Queer Possibility in Senegal' published by University of Michigan Press in 2025. https://press.umich.edu/Books/D/Dancing-Opacity2 https://www.dancestudiesassociation.org

Xan Holt is an assistant professor of German and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Oregon. He talks about his work on German literature, film, and television; and his project focused on environmental humanities. He also talks about his teaching and the importance of language study for students. Nina Amstutz is an associate professor of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Oregon. She discusses her ACLS-funded project "A Multispecies Framework for Art: The Bowerbird Across Disciplines, Cultures, and Time." "The Avian Sense for Beauty: A Posthumanist Perspective on the Bowerbird" Art History, 2021 "Rethinking the Animal in Art History: Charles Darwin, Karl Woermann, and the Bowerbird" Leuven University Press, 2025 "A multispecies framework for art: the bowerbird across disciplines" in "Methods for ecocritical art history" Edited by Olga Smith and Andrew Patrizio, Manchester University Press, 2026

Fernando Gorab Leme is an assistant professor of Classics at the University of Oregon. He talks about his research on the significance and wedding songs in Greco-Roman antiquity and talks about the classes he teaches. Research Notes: Jessica Vasquez-Tokos, professor of Sociology and Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies at the UO, talks about her new book "Burdens of Belonging: Race in an Unequal Nation" (NYU Press, 2025). The book is based on interviews with people in Oregon from various racial groups, and brings multiple racial groups’ opinions together to weigh in on the ways in which race contours national belonging and affects sense of self, everyday life and wellness, and aspirations for the future. This book highlights the value of inquiring how people from various racial backgrounds perceive their fit in the nation and reveals how race matters to belonging in multifaceted ways.

A Books-in-Print talk with author Joyce Suechun Cheng. In this talk, Cheng focuses on chapter 4 "The Surrealists as Ethnographers: Possession, Aesthetics, Subjectivity" which explores the idea of possession as a form of performative mask, utilizing Michel Leiris's ethnographic study of Ethiopian Zars in the 1930s. Joyce Suechun Cheng is an associate professor of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Oregon. She is joined in conversation by Edgar Garcia an associate professor of English at the University of Chicago.

Patricia Caicedo is a soprano, musicologist, and physician. Her work redefines the canon of classical vocal music by centering Latin American and Iberian art song. She has authored sixteen books, including the landmark "The Latin American Art Song: Sounds of the Imagined Nations" and "We Are What We Listen To: The Impact of Music on Individual and Social Health." As a performer, Caicedo has established herself as one of the leading interpreters of Iberian and Latin American art song. She talks about her background and the repertoire she aims to elevate in the world of music. Caicedo was artist-in-residence at the UO's School of Music and Dance January 20-22, 2026. She shared her expertise in Latin American and Iberian vocal music with lectures, performances, and a masterclass.

Colin Williamson is an Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Oregon. He is a historian of animation, special effects, and nontheatrical film. He specializes in early cinema’s place in international histories of art, science, and technology. Colin is the author of "Hidden in Plain Sight: An Archaeology of Magic and the Cinema" (Rutgers University Press, 2015) and "Drawn to Nature: American Animation in the Age of Science" (University of Minnesota Press, 2025). He is Associate Editor at Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal. He talks about his research and the classes he teaches at the UO. Research Notes: Whitney Phillips is an Associate Professor of Information Politics and Media Ethics and the John L. Hulteng Endowed Chair in Media Ethics and Responsibility in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. She talk about her new book "The Shadow Gospel: How Anti-liberal Demonology Possessed U.S. Religion, Media, and Politics" co-authored with Mark Brockway.

Jazz musician Christopher Brown talks about his approach to music and education. He and his band will give a presentation/performance "Beyond the Buzz: Finding the Signal in a Noisy World" on January 29, 2026. https://blogs.uoregon.edu/oregonhumanitiescenter/multimedia/news/christopher-brown-grabs-our-attention-with-jazz/

Isabel García Valdivia, assistant professor of Sociology, speaks about her interest in older immigrants and their families. She also talks about the importance of mentorship. Research Notes: Katya Hokanson, professor of Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, talk about her recent book "A Woman’s Empire: Russian Women and Imperial Expansion in Asia" published by the University of Toronto Press in 2022. Show notes: "Russia's Empires" (2016) Valerie A. Kivelson and Ronald Grigor Suny "Russian Colonial Society in Tashkent, 1865-1923" (2010) Jeff Sahedo "Muslim Women of the Fergana Valley" (2016) Marianne Kamp, ed. "Diary of a Russian Lady: Reminiscences of Barbara Doukhovsky" (1917) Undergraduate Perspectives: John Knutson, B.A. English, UO 2025; and 2025 Humanities Undergraduate Research Fellow

The “Attention” series explores the dynamics of how, why, and what we focus on shapes our reality and creates our purpose. Also known as concentration, alertness, focus, notice, awareness, heed, regard, and consideration—Attention is the fundamental cognitive ability to sustain one’s energy on a specific pursuit or thought. The OHC’s 2025–26 Robert D. Clark Lectureship features three UO faculty members discussing, from their own perspectives, how attention connects us to others and allows us to experience the world around us. Santiago Jaramillo is an associate professor in the Department of Biology and the Institute of Neuroscience. His lab studies auditory cognition—how the brain helps us hear the world (recognize sounds, pay attention to sounds, remember sounds, etc). Their research is performed on mice so advanced techniques can be utilized to measure individual neurons of different classes and change their activity with high precision. While their work focuses on the healthy brain, rather than any specific disorder, their studies can help others understand and address disorders related to hearing (tinnitus, auditory processing disorders, age-related hearing loss, etc) and inspire better artificial hearing systems. Kate Mondloch is a professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory. Her research interests focus on late 20th- and early 21st-century art, theory, and criticism, particularly as these areas of inquiry intersect with the cultural, social, and aesthetic possibilities of new technologies. Her research fields include media art and theory, installation art, feminism, new media, science and technology studies, digital humanities, human flourishing, and mindfulness in higher education. She is especially interested in theories of spectatorship and subjectivity, and in research methods that bridge the sciences and the humanities. Forest Pyle is a professor of English and Cartoon and Comics Studies. His interests include 19th-century British Literary Studies, Literary and Critical Theory, Poetry and Poetics, Postmodern and Contemporary Literary Studies, and Visual Culture. His current research project explores the persistence and extensions of Romanticism in some of the more adventurous forms of contemporary music, art, film, and literature.