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.
UO Today: Micah Jones; Research Notes with Colin Koopman
Micah Jones is an assistant professor of History and Black Studies at the University of Oregon. She talks about her book project, "The Price of Freedom: Race, Consumption, and the Long Black Freedom Struggle, 1915-1970," which places Black shoppers at the center of histories of consumption, racial formation, and the Civil Rights Movement.
Research Notes:
Colin Koopman is a professor of Philosophy at the University of Oregon. He talks about his latest book "Data Equals: Democratic Equality and Technological Hierarchy," which argues that current data technologies fail to create equality because they are built on a flawed understanding of it, often exacerbating social divisions instead of bridging them.
NYT piece: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/20/magazine/colin-koopman-interview.html
18 May 2026
"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.
13 May 2026
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.
Who has been a guest on UO Today
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Emily Moore
Mahala Ruddell
Abigail Fine
Leah Middlebrook
Lowell Bowditch
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3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 76 / 100
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90
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YouTube
86
Engagement
68
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