Events & Deadlines
The following events are either sponsored or co-sponsored by the Obermann Center or highlight work close to that of our mission.
Feb. 11 - Visions of Beirut, a virtual book talk hosted by the Obermann Global Media Studies Working Group
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This issue:
Events & Deadlines
Obermann Center Mission Survey
Christopher Goetz's Book Ends Experience
Pop-Up Obermann Conversation Focuses on Ukraine
New Digital Machine-Learning Study Explores the Humanities
News & Accomplishments
Featured Video
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Help Us Help You to Reengage |
In a January 19, 2022 Chronicle of Higher Ed opinion piece, “The Great Faculty Disengagement,” Kevin McClure and Alisa Hicklin Fryar observe that in response to the grief, losses, inequities, and violence caused and exposed by COVID, some people are resigning, but many more are disengaging. In their research, they found that “people need to feel safe, valued, and confident that they have the resources to do their jobs.” These are the essential “conditions for people to flourish.” In the absence of these conditions, we see “less creativity, less risk-taking,” fewer “big and bold projects,” and a diversion of passion, energy, and leadership to spaces where people can find meaning in their work.
In the past two years, the Obermann Center staff have witnessed the grief and exhaustion of our colleagues. The emotional depletion is rooted in multiple sources, including COVID; systemic racism; challenging domestic responsibilities like parenting and caregiving; financial precarity; climate change; and disrupted workplaces, classrooms, and daily life. Many of you have told us you’re reassessing priorities as you reflect on these last two years.
We’re listening and hope you’ll share your thoughts about ways the Obermann Center can be a space for re-engagement—with your research and creative practice, your newly imagined projects, and with colleagues. We value your opinions about what the Center is doing well and how we could better support the many individuals and groups who have or would like to work with us. We also welcome you to suggest new kinds of funding, gatherings, and programs that would support you and serve the research mission of the University.
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Chris Goetz Reflects on His Book Ends Workshop |
Last fall, Cinematic Arts professor Christopher Goetz met with a group of seasoned scholars in his field to workshop his manuscript. The Counterfeit Coin: Videogames and Fantasies of Empowerment explores the idea that popular games and related entertainment media are best understood as fantasies—wish-fulfilling, playful structures. Goetz reconsiders a number of foundational assumptions about what games are, how they relate to other media, and what theoretical frameworks might help us best understand them. The book is under contract from Rutgers University Press.
Key to its formation was the Book Ends program, an Obermann/OVPR Manuscript Completion Workshop that engaged two leading outside scholars—Patrick Jagoda (University of Chicago) and Sheila Murphy (University of Michigan)—along with UI faculty Corey Creekmur (Cinematic Arts, GWSS, and English) and Rosemarie Scullion (French & Italian and Cinematic Arts) in a half-day workshop with Goetz. Of the experience, Goetz says, "All told, this is the most detailed and thorough feedback I have received for improving this work since I was a graduate student! It will have a profound impact on the final shape it takes."
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Ukraine and Russia: Deciphering the Current Situation |
As the news cycle continues to focus on tensions at the Ukraine-Russia border, we've reached out to three people who know the region well to help us better understand current events and what has led to this situation. In this Feb. 16, 5:00-6:00 p.m. pop-up Obermann Conversation, we'll hear from:
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Daria Kuznetsova — A PhD student in Political Science and a native of Ukraine, Kuznetsova studies democratic transitions and the survival of democracies.
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Danielle Lussier — The Department chair of Russian, Central European, and Eurasian Studies at Grinnell College, Lussier teaches courses on Russian politics, democratization, and regime change and is the author of Constraining Elites in Russia and Indonesia: Political Participation and Regime Survival (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
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William Reisinger — A UI Political Science professor, Reisinger's research concerns politics in the former communist states, especially Russia. He is at work on a book about political corruption in several countries, including Ukraine.
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WhatEvery1Says:
A New Tool to Help Scholars Advocate for the Value of the Humanities
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Led by Alan Liu (English, University of California, Santa Barbara), the WhatEvery1Says project (WE1S) provides advocates for the humanities with research-based materials and strategies for effective communication about the value of humanistic study and knowledge in today’s world—with evidence, arguments, narratives, and scenarios that advance, rather than simply react to, public conversation.
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Working with a Literary Agent — An Obermann Get It Done workshop with Meenakshi Gigi Durham & Carrie Schuettpelz
(recorded 11/15/21)
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