UO Today

Oregon Humanities Center

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The Oregon Humanities Center is the sole interdisciplinary umbrella organization for the humanities at the University of Oregon. We encourage scholars to articulate their ideas in language that is accessible both to scholars in other fields and to the general public. The OHC sponsors a wide array of free public programs designed to provide a forum for discussion of and reflection on important issues.

MAY 18

"When the Three Magi Serve Homer: Asymmetric Hermeneutics and Victorian Translation of Shahnameh"

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.

55 min
MAY 13

UO Today: Mérida Mehaffey, Research Notes with Gantt Gurley

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.

35 min
APR 22

UO Today: Smadar Ben-Natan; Research Notes with Michael Allan

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.

37 min
APR 17

Ada Limón: "The Unleaving: How Poetry Helps You to Not Miss Your Life"

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.

1h 27m
MAR 20

UO Today: Poet Ada Limón; Research Notes with Leah Lowthorp

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

39 min
FEB 20

UO Today: Ramón Resendiz; Research Notes with Amy Swanson

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

41 min
FEB 16

UO Today: Xan Holt; Research Notes with Nina Amstutz

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

33 min
FEB 2

UO Today: Fernando Gorab Leme; Research Notes: Jessica Vasquez-Tokos

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.

56 min

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The Oregon Humanities Center is the sole interdisciplinary umbrella organization for the humanities at the University of Oregon. We encourage scholars to articulate their ideas in language that is accessible both to scholars in other fields and to the general public. The OHC sponsors a wide array of free public programs designed to provide a forum for discussion of and reflection on important issues.

Creator

Oregon Humanities Center
Years Active

2019 - 2026
Episodes

320
Rating

Clean
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UO Today