Being Human

An interview with Lee Gutkind, writer and founder of the literary journal Creative Nonfiction. The interview was conducted live at the University of Pittsburgh on July 20, 2018. It was part of the concluding event for Pitt's 2018 Summer Science Writing Workshop, organized by Lillian Chong. The event began with students from the workshop reading some of the science writing they had developed over the summer. You can read those works here: medium.com/lab-musings-summer-2018.

An interview with Robin Bernstein, Dillon Professor of American History at Harvard University. We were honored to have Professor Bernstein at Pitt to give the Humanities Center's 2018 Faculty Seminar. The interview focuses on Professor Bernstein's life and career, particularly her work on childhood and performance studies.

An interview with Rob Nixon, professor of English at Princeton University. The interview focuses on Professor Nixon's life and career, particularly his work in environmental criticism and public humanities. You can find his book Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor here: www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674072343. The essay we discuss, How to Read a Bridge, can be found here: www.environmentandsociety.org/perspectiv…ead-bridge.

An interview with Judith Peraino, professor in the Department of Music at Cornell University. The interview focuses on Professor Peraino's life and career, particularly her work on connections between music and queer sexuality.

An interview with Rhodessa Jones, co-artistic director of the performance company Cultural Odyssey and creator of the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women. Rhodessa Jones was at Pitt for a month-long residency in February, 2018. During her residency, she worked with students to create a theatrical performance, offered performances of her own work, and gave lectures. The interview focuses on Rhodessa's life and career, particularly the social impact of her work.

An interview with Fred Moten, professor in the Department of Performance Studies at NYU. The interview focuses on Professor Moten's life and career, particularly his recent volume of criticism called "consent not to be a single being." The Nathaniel Mackey poem "Destination Out," which Moten references at the end of the conversation, is available here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/articles/70124/destination-out. 

An interview with Anne Knowles, McBride Professor of History at the University of Maine. The interview focuses on Professor Knowles's life and career, particularly her work with geographical information systems. Stay tuned for a link to the map we discuss at 31:15.

An interview with Christopher Fynsk, professor and dean of the Division of Philosophy, Art, and Critical Thought at the European Graduate School. The interview focuses on Professor Fynsk's life and career, particularly his 2004 book "The Claim of Language: A Case for the Humanities."

An interview with author John Edgar Wideman. The interview focuses on Wideman's life and career, particularly connections between his writing and the various communities of which he has been a part. The conversation also features Leon Ford, a social activist in Pittsburgh. Ford was shot by police in 2012 and is paralyzed as a result. He currently works for social justice in Pittsburgh, and has developed a relationship with Wideman based on their mutual investment in writing. For more on Leon's story see here: http://www.leonfordspeaks.com/. 

An interview with Tommie Shelby, Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies and of Philosophy at Harvard University. The interview focuses on Dr. Shelby's life and career, particularly his work on race and justice.

An interview with Janet Marstine, Academic Director of the Art Museum and Gallery Studies program at the University of Leicester. The interview focuses on Dr. Marstine's life and career, particularly her work on museums and ethical practice. For information on Theaster Gates' piece "To Speculate Darkly," see here: www.chipstone.org/exhibitionframe.…peculate-Darkly/. Robert Fontenot's "Recycle LACMA": www.robertfontenot.com/new-page-1/. Ansuman Biswas's "Manchester Hermit": www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/…ticle/?id=4711.

An interview with Eric Dorfman, director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. The interview focuses on Dr. Dorfman's life and career, particularly the his thoughts on the roles that natural history museums can play in communities. The website for the conference we discuss at the end of the interview is here: 2017.icom-nathist.org/.

An interview with Jay Aronson, professor of science, technology, and society at Carnegie Mellon University. The interview focuses on Professor Aronson's life and career, particularly his recent book Who Owns the Dead? The Science and Politics of Death at Ground Zero.

In the final episode of Imprints, media fellow Matt Moret interviews Julie Beaulieu, a lecturer in Pitt's Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies program. The conversation focuses on the program's new major and ways that educational institutions can become more diverse, inclusive spaces.

An interview with Rudolph Ware, professor of history at the University of Michigan. The interview focuses on Professor Ware's life and career, particularly his recent book The Walking Qur’an: Islamic Education, Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa. The novel we discuss during the conversation is Ambiguous Adventure, by Cheikh Hamidou Kane.

Rafael Campo is an award-winning poet and professor of medicine at Harvard University. This interview focuses on Professor Campo's life and career, particularly his belief that poetry has an important role to play in providing effective medical care.

In the second episode of Imprints, Humanities Media Fellow Matt Moret features a panel discussion titled "More Just Communities--From Stories to Action." The panel was part of the 2017 Pittsburgh Humanities Festival, and featured Lindsay Houpt-Varner, director of Greater Carlisle Heart and Soul, Chris Ivey, documentary filmmaker and director of the East of Liberty series, and Jason Schupbach, who oversees placemaking partnerships with the NEA.

An interview with Mabel Wilson, architect, designer, and professor of architecture at Columbia University. The interview focuses on Professor Wilson's life and career, including her 2012 book "Negro Building: Black Americans in the World of Fairs and Museums." The website for Who Builds Your Architecture?, which we discuss in the interview, can be found here: whobuilds.org 

In the first episode of Imprints, Humanities Media Fellow Matt Moret profiles the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and how it is working to revitalize some of Pennsylvania's most vulnerable communities.

Jane Ward is a professor of gender and sexuality studies at the University of California, Riverside. The interview focuses on Professor Ward's life and career, particularly her newest book, "Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men" and the controversy it's caused since it's publication in 2015.