The series will be facilitated by Dr. Jared Gardner of the Ohio State Department of English.  The discussions will take place in the Mortar Board Centennial Suite of the Thompson Library, 1858 Neil Avenue, Mondays from 7 – 8:30 p.m.

The schedule is as follows:

•      January 9: Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924 by Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama

•       January 23: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

•       February 6: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

•       February 20: The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. (Love and Rockets Library, Locas Book 2) by Jaime Hernandez.

Copies of the books are available through Amazon.com, at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, and on reserve at the OSU Thompson Library.

Advance registration is required for the free reading and discussion series, which is open to interested OSU students, faculty and staff and adults in the community.  Space is limited.  To register, email Nancy Courtney at courtney.24@osu.edu or phone 614-688-8771.  Please include your name, phone number, and email address if available.

The “Immigration in Comics” series is one of several programs pertaining to the immigration issue being offered by The Ohio State University.  The Innovation Group for the OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values is leading a year-long “conversation” on immigration during the 2011-12 academic year. The conversation is involving all sectors of the University in a meaningful, productive discussion of the complex, controversial issues associated with migration and immigration.

Presented by OSUL and the Department of English presenters will be Professors H. Lewis Ulman, Scott Lloyd DeWitt, and Cynthia L. Selfe and graduate students Genevieve Critel and Julia Voss, all from the Department of English.

The project poses challenges faced by many digitized humanities projects seeking new online models and venues for scholarship, both for authors and editors.

Ohioana Book Festival: Ohioana, OSU Libraries, the Ohio Arts Council, the State Library of Ohio, WOSU Public Media, and a host of other sponsors will present  a day-long festival at the Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center celebrating Ohio’s authors and their recently published works. The festival brings together writers and readers, and encourages reading and the creative process.

Presented  by Dr. Peter Mansoor, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired), and the General Raymond E. Mason, Jr. Chair of Military History at the Ohio State University.

Dr. Mansoor has had a 26 year career in the U.S. Army that culminated in his service as the executive officer to General David Petraeus, the Commanding General of Multi-National Force-Iraq.

Dr. Glen Needham OSU Extension Entomologist in the Center for Life Science Education, will update you on the most current distribution of the tick and how to differentiate it from the more common American dog tick, which can transmit Rocky Mt. spotted fever. He will also go over disease symptoms in people and dogs, offer tips on prevention and demonstrate how to properly remove an attached tick.

Daniel J. Watkins will talk about  Isaac-Joseph Berruyer’s Histoire du peuple de Dieu and the Problems of Biblical Translation in Eighteenth-Century France.

Anna Willow, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, OSU Marion will present “Environmental Justice: Redefining Environmentalism?” Environmental Justice (EJ) is simultaneously an environmental and a social movement. Far from the distant wilderness areas and endangered species that have frequently preoccupied mainstream environmentalists, EJ activists redefine “the environment” as the places we all live, work, and play. This evening’s talk will overview the history, main principles, and unifying goals of this emerging movement. Dr. Willow will describe her experiences as a cultural anthropologist working with indigenous anti-clearcutting activists in Northwestern Ontario. She will introduce and encourage stories about environmental justice issues that have arisen much closer to home.

Anna Willow, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, OSU Marion will present “Environmental Justice: Redefining Environmentalism?” Environmental Justice (EJ) is simultaneously an environmental and a social movement. Far from the distant wilderness areas and endangered species that have frequently preoccupied mainstream environmentalists, EJ activists redefine “the environment” as the places we all live, work, and play. This evening’s talk will overview the history, main principles, and unifying goals of this emerging movement. Dr. Willow will describe her experiences as a cultural anthropologist working with indigenous anti-clearcutting activists in Northwestern Ontario. She will introduce and encourage stories about environmental justice issues that have arisen much closer to home.

Presented by Dr. Candace Stout and the Dept. of Art Education and OSU Libraries.

The Department of Art Education and OSUL will present creative literary genres of analytics and alternative expressions of researcher insights.  These examples create compelling moments of awareness about the human experiences being studied.

Dr. Stan Gehrt, Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at the Ohio State University will present Urban Coyotes - finding the truths, debunking the myths.  He will present results of his research on urban coyotes in the Chicago area, and along the way address myths and truths about this amazing carnivore. Things to be discussed will include their movements, social behavior, survival, and food habits, and what these mean for coyote/people conflicts.

More information is available at http://go.osu.edu/osusciencecafe.

OSU’s Science Cafe is sponsored by Sigma Xi-OSU Chapter, University Libraries, and the Department of Comparative Studies.

Central Ohio cartoonist The 2010 Ohioana Awards will be presented on Saturday, October 16th at the annual Ohioana Day luncheon. More information can be found at http://www.ohioana.org/ .

Central Ohio cartoonist Michael Neno will present sequences of his work for comic books, magazines and webcomics. He will talk about his artistic influences and his role in the ’80s New Wave comic movement. Displays will be included of his original art and working processes.

Diana Ruggiero, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, will present Where Did the Africans Go?  Más Allá del Fútbol: Music, Race, and Cultural Change in Ecuador’s Chota-Mira Valley.  Based on ethnographic research involving the production of a documentary film (Más allá del fútbol), Ruggiero addresses the question of cultural change among the highland black communities of Ecuador’s Chota-Mira valley through a discussion of La Bomba: a local song and dance genre of African origin.

The program will be held in Thompson Library Room 165 from 4-5 pm.  Contact Nancy Courtney, Courtney.24@osu.edu , for more information.

More information is available at http://ohioanabookfestival.org/

Professor Frederick Luis Aldama discussed his work by and about Latinos in comics and graphic novels-mainstream and alternative-that appears his book, Your Brain on Latino Comics. He discussed mainstream comic book representations of Latino superheroes from the late 1970s till today as well as how Latino author/artists working today use the visual and verbal elements of the comic book medium to affect the cognitive and emotional responses of their readers.

Frederick Luis Aldama is Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor of English at the Ohio State University where he uses the tools of narratology and research in the cognitive- and neuro- sciences in his teaching and scholarship on Latino and Postcolonial literature, film, and comic books.  He is the editor of five collections of essays and author of seven books, including most recently A User’s Guide to Post-colonial and Latino Borderland A User’s Guide to Post-colonial and Latino Borderland Fiction.

Tuesday, October 6, 7 pm
Mauricio Espinoza, Ph.D student in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, will present “Off-Color Heroes: The Emergence of Latino/a Superheroes in Contemporary U.S. Comics”.

Tuesday, October 13, 7 pm
Kenneth Goings, Professor in the Department of African American and African Studies and the Department of History, and Eugene O’ Connor, Managing Editor of OSU Press will present “They Dared to Call Their Souls Their Own: The Classics as a Tool of Resistance and Social Uplift”.

Tuesday, October 27, 7 pm
Dave Bruenger, Director of the Music, Media, and Enterprise Program, Associate Professor, School of Music will present ” Pirates, Impresarios, and Lawyers: Music and the Social Media.”

Tuesday, November 17, 7 pm
Ted Riedinger, University Libraries will share “A Mayan Classic: OSU Libraries and the Digitizing of Popol Wuh“.

OSU Libraries was pleased to present a new three part reading and discussion series Reading Comics: Krazy Kat, Gasoline Alley and Peanuts Revisited, in conjunction with the summer-long celebration of the transfer of the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection to the Cartoon Library and Museum.

The series was facilitated by Dr. Jared Gardner, Department of English and Lucy Shelton Caswell, Cartoon Library and Museum curator.

The book discussions were held on consecutive Monday evenings from 6:30-8:00pm in the seminar room adjacent to the Cartoon Library and Museum in the Wexner Center for the Arts, 27 W.17th Avenue Mall. Advance registration was required for the free reading and discussion series, which was open to interested adults in the community.

Dates and series titles were:
June 8, 2009 - Krazy Kat & Ignatz 1929-1930: “A Mice, A Brick, A Lovely Night”
June 15, 2009 - Walt and Skeezix Book. 1 (Gasoline Alley)
June 22, 2009 - The Complete Peanuts 1957-1958

The series was well attended with a full capacity registration and 20-25 participants attending each of the three sessions.

Thurber Talks Politics: an election day ReadAloud

Meg Brown from the Thurber House presented a special reading of the works of Columbus’ native son James Thurber. Meg read a few short fables with political undertones as well as a patriotic poem in celebration of what promises to be an historic election day. This lively reading was presented in collaboration with the Thurber House and the OSU Urban Arts Space.

The book discussions were held on Monday evenings from 6:30-8:00pm in the seminar room adjacent to the Cartoon Research Library in the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St. Registration was required for the free reading and discussion series, and was open to interested adults able to participate in all four discussions. Dates and series titles were:

October 6, 2008 - Persepolis I&II by Marjane Satrapi
October 20, 2008 - Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
November 3, 2008 - Epileptic by David B.
November 17, 2008 - Palestine by Joe Sacco

More information is available at http://library.osu.edu/sites/sel/sciencecafe/ .

OSU’s Science Cafe is sponsored by Sigma Xi-OSU Chapter, University Libraries, and the Department of Comparative Studies.

The day was billed as an “opportunity for people around the world to gather in community halls, classrooms, public parks, theaters, auditoriums, as well websites, email exchanges, and virtual environments to hear each other’s stories. We want this day to be especially dedicated to celebrating and promoting Life Story projects that have made a difference within neighborhoods, communities, and societies as a whole.”

Events
Digital Storytelling Showcase
9:30 –10:30 Wexner Center Film Theater
A screening of various digital stories, many made at OSU.

Theatrical Storytelling Presentations
11:00 –12:15
Wexner Center Film Theater
An hour of storytelling performances from various campus and community storytellers. Performers include Kevin Cordi, Olivia Bratich, Ruthmarie Mitsch, Tyler Termeer, Dionne Custer, Lyn Ford, Sally Crandall and more.

Panel Discussion
1:00 – 2:30 pm Wexner Center Film Theater
A Cross-Campus View of Story in Teaching, Research, and Outreach.

A lively conversation about how colleagues from across the campus use the notion of “story” to define and enhance their teaching, research, and outreach activities. Panelists included Adeleke Adeeko (English), Susan Fisher (Biology), Joe Ponce (English), Joy Reilly (Theatre), and Sabra Webber (Near Eastern Languages and Culture/Comp Studies).

Convener
David Herman, Dept. of English/Project Narrative

Welcoming Remarks
Pres. E. Gordon Gee

Co-sponsored by Project Narrative, The Digital Union, The Office of Faculty and TA Development, The Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning and Research, and Ohio State University Libraries

We were pleased to offer the community a five-part reading and discussion series called “Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature – Identity and Imagination,” which explores Jewish literature and culture though scholar-led discussions of contemporary and classic books on a common theme. The library’s series explored the theme Modern Marvels: Jewish Adventures in the Graphic Novel, and was facilitated by Steven Fink, professor of English at the Ohio State University.

The book discussions were held on Monday evenings from 7-8:30pm in the seminar room adjacent to the Cartoon Research Library in the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St. Registration was required for the free reading and discussion series, and was open to interested adults in the community were able to participate in all 5 discussions. Books for the Modern Marvels program were provided to series participants; dates and titles for discussion included:

March 31, 2008 - A Contract with God by Will Eisner. Set among 1930s Bronx tenements, four stories capture the brutal yet tender world of working-class Jews. The first “graphic novel.”

April 14, 2008 - The Complete Maus I&II by Art Spiegelman. The story of Speigelman’s parents—Jews reaching maturity in Europe on the verge of Nazism and their survival in a concentration camp. A 1992 Pulitzer Prize winner.

April 28, 2008 - Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer:Stories by Ben Katchor. A photographer documents a rapidly vanishing urban netherworld.

May 5, 2008 - The Quitter by Harvey Pekar
The author discusses the ways in his life that he quit before he could fail. The story ends with a hopeful message that it is possible to find one’s way. Explores the navy, mid-century race relations, and jazz.

May 19, 2008 - The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar. A rabbi engages his talking pet—who wants to become Jewish and have a bar mitzvah—in a debate, including topics such as spelling, parental love, and the very nature of Jewish identity.

“Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature” was made possible through a grant from Nextbook and the American Library Association with local support generously provided by Paul Watkins, OSU Friends of the Library Board member. Promotional support was provided by our local partners: Cartoon Research Library, the Melton Center for Jewish Studies and Friends of the OSU Libraries.

A long-term commitment is not necessary. Students may choose to sign up for the program on a book-by-book basis. Please visit the Reading ReMix blog for more information.

The book discussions were held on Monday evenings from 7-8:30pm in the seminar room adjacent to the Cartoon Research Library in the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St. Registration was required for the free reading and discussion series, and was open to interested adults in the community who were able to participate in all 5 discussions. Books for the Modern Marvels program were provided to series participants; dates and titles for discussion included:

October 1, 2007 - A Contract with God by Will Eisner
October 15, 2007 - The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
October 29, 2007 - Julius Knipl by Ben Katchor
November 5, 2007 - The Quitter by Harvey Pekar
November 19, 2007 - The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar

Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature was made possible through a grant from Nextbook and the American Library Association with local support generously provided by Paul Watkins. Promotional support was provided by our local partners: Cartoon Research Library, the Melton Center for Jewish Studies and OSU Hillel.

Thanks to an enthusiastic response from the community, we have reapplied for the grant in hopes of repeating Modern Marvels in Spring of 2008. To be notified about a possible future offering contact Donna Distel at letstalkmodern@gmail.com or call 614.292.2594.