News

Some highlights of Public Humanities–affiliated faculty,
graduate students in the certificate program, and alumni:

Sylvia Ryerson, PhD student in American Studies, artist, and organizer, recently premiered Calls from Home, a documentary film about WMMT-FM’s longstanding radio show that sends messages over the public airwaves to reach those incarcerated in Central Appalachia. Ryerson's film was screened on October 13 at Yale's Humanities Quadrangle for the special event "Beyond Walls: Filmmaking for Prison Abolition," alongside What These Walls Won't Hold by filmmaker, writer, and community organizer filmmaker Adamu Chan. Matthew Jacobson moderated a post-screening conversation. Read more about the event here.

Nancy Escalante and Clara Mejía Orta, PhD students in History, organized the first Public Humanities Working Group event for the Fall 2022 semester last week. Geographer and writer Joshua Jelly-Schapiro gave a talk on Public Humanities methodologies and his ongoing work with maps and atlases. 

Laura Wexler and Elihu Rubin were among the distinguished panelists in a conversation last week on Camilo Vergara's The Pandemic Diaries. The program featured Robert Beauregard (Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation), Gregg Gonsalves (Yale School of Public Health), Camilo José Vergara (Documentarian), and Amy A. Starecheski (Oral History Program at Columbia University) for a conversation about Vergara’s ongoing documentation of the impact of COVID-19 on poor and minority communities in New York City. The program was generously sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, with additional support from the Yale Urban Media Project of the Yale School of Architecture and the Yale University Art Gallery.

Jacqueline Goldsby, the Thomas E. Donnelly Professor of African American Studies and English, received a $1.7 million grant from The Mellon Foundation to support the development of The Black Bibliography Project (BBP), an initiative that aims to revive and transform descriptive bibliography for African American and Black Diaspora literary studies. Together with co-director Meredith McGill of Rutgers University and staff from Yale Library and Beinecke Library, the BBP will offer new pathways for understanding the history of Black-published books, magazines, and newspapers. Read more here.

Laura Bozzi, Director of Programs for the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health (YCCCH) and Lecturer in Environmental Health Sciences, advised a report addressing “Energy Justice and Health in a Changing Climate." Published in July by the Yale School of Public Health’s Center on Climate Change and Health, in partnership with the Vermont Law & Graduate School and Operation Fuel, a Connecticut-based nonprofit energy assistance and advocacy organization committed to equitable energy access, the report draws from focus groups with Connecticut residents to study the health impacts of energy insecurity. The full report is available here.

Daphne Brooks, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of African American Studies, American Studies, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Music, reviewed Beyoncé's seventh album Renaissance for The Guardian, calling it "an ecstatic masterpiece that defies marginalisation." Read the full review here.

Nancy Kuhl, Curator of Poetry for the Yale Collection of American Literature at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, co-curated Points of Contact, Points of View: Asking Questions in Yale Library Special Collections, the inaugural exhibit at Sterling Memorial Library’s new Hanke Exhibition Gallery (March 14—August 14, 2022). Kuhl also recently published her fourth collection of poems, On Hysteria, with Shearsman Books.

Michael Cappello, Professor of Pediatrics, Microbial Pathogenesis, and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine, has been appointed chair of the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases (EMD). Read more on the Yale School of Public Health's website.

Thomas Allen Harris, Professor in the Practice of Film and Media Studies & African American Studies, served as a faculty expert for a Washington Post review of the film Till (2022, dir. Chinonye Chukwu). The film focuses on the story of Mamie Till, mother of Emmett Till and civil rights activist. Read the full review here.

Brad Inwood, the William Lampson Professor of Philosophy and of Classics, was a featured guest on WBUR-FM, NPR's Boston affiliate station. In a segment titled "Why the ancient Stoic philosophy is making a comeback," Professor Inwood discussed the contemporary popularity of ancient Stoic philosophical ideas. Listen to the segment on WBUR.org.

Dylan Gee, Associate Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, received Yale University Graduate School’s 2022 Graduate Mentor Award in social sciences. The award recognizes faculty members who are exceptional in fostering the intellectual, professional, and personal development of their students. Read more here.

Wai Chee Dimock, the William Lampson Professor Emeritus of American Studies and English, reviewed a trio of new environmental fiction books for The New York Times. Reflecting on Ned Beauman's Venomous Lumpsucker, Jon Raymond's Denial, and Alan Heathcock's 40, Dimock suggests that climate fiction can offer visions for enviornmental justice. Read the full review here.

As always, we welcome any news submissions from the Public Humanities at Yale community, including publications, events, career updates, and anything else you'd like to share! Send us a note at publichumanities@yale.edu.

Puzzling The Humanities

Click the "START THE PUZZLE" button below to play this month's crossword puzzle: "Bulldogs Bulldogs Bow Wow Wow!" This puzzle was created by Rachel Fabi, Yale College '11.

From The Archive

For More Information

Follow Us