The Institute Podcast

Episode 112: The History of Trans-Africa/Ron Williams

Assistant professor of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, Ron Williams joins The Institute to discuss his latest book project, an institutional history of the US based foreign policy organization, "Trans Africa."

Episode 123: Oswaldo Estrada on the Faculty Fellowship Program

Oswaldo Estrada, professor of Romance studies, discusses the Faculty Fellowship Program. After receiving a fellowship three times, Estrada returned as its program director in 2021. As he enters the second year in the role, we talk about the program, the way that it enhances faculty research, his past experiences as a Fellow, and what he's looking forward to learning from this year's cohorts.

Episode 122: Recovering stories from the past: The Sewing Girl’s Tale

History professor John Wood Sweet joins the podcast to talk about his new book, The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America, published by Henry Holt and Company. He talks about the experiences of researching and publishing this book, his IAH Faculty Fellowship in 2020, and why he started telling the stories of people who aren’t widely known.

Episode 121: Interview with 2022 Reckford Speaker Magdalena J. Zaborowska

After the 2022 Reckford Lecture, speaker Magdalena Zaborowska joins Patricia Parker and Sharon Holland for a deeper dive into themes from her remarks, including questions about belonging and identity in James Baldwin’s philosophy of Black humanism. She also discusses her interdisciplinary research methodologies and provides a glimpse into her future Baldwin-inspired projects.

Episode 120 Performance And The US-Mexico Border With China Medel

Recorded in summer 2021, Fall 2021 Faculty Fellow China Medel talks about her work in media and performance studies, as well as her manuscript Spectral Aethestics: Alternative Media and Visibility at the US-Mexico Border, which looks at a selection of film photography, new media and installation art about the crisis of migrant death at the US Mexico border.

Episode 119: The Endurance Project with Gwendolyn Schwinke and Maya Gurantz

Assistant Professor Gwendolyn Schwinke and Artist Maya Gurantz discuss their latest collaboration, The Endurance Project.
A Work-In-Progress showing of The Endurance Project will be open to the public on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in the Joan Gillings Center for Dramatic Arts, Room 102, UNC-Chapel Hill campus. People are invited to arrive as early as 4:30 to listen to the audio installation.

Episode 60: Chris Clemens Professor Of Physics And Astronomy

In February of 2018, Former IAH Director Mark Katz interviews astrophysicist and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Chris Clemens about his research of the stars, as well as his self-identified conservatism on a college campus, where liberalism is the dominant language. He discusses why different views on campus are fundamental to a higher educational experience, highlighting the UNC-Duke Philosophy, Politics, and Economics program, co-directed by Philosophy Professor and Associate Professors Program Director Geoff Sayre-McCord.

Episode 118: Senator Claire McCaskill

Professor Pat Parker (Director, Institute for the Arts and Humanities) interview Claire McCaskill on her career in politics and her thoughts on the current political and cultural climate of the United States.

Episode 117: Uncovering Abandoned Voices Of Antiquity With Hérica Valladares

Associate Professor of Classics Hérica Valladares speaks with Philip on her current research project regarding the material culture of domestic Ancient Rome.

Episode 116: Literature On The Politics Of Noise With Petal Samuel

Literary Scholar and Assistant Professor of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies Petal Samuel sits down to discuss her current research project!