Presenters
Lisa Jackson-Schebetta, Theater
鈥淩elational Movements/Relational Space: F煤tbol and Peace-building in Colombia 鈥�
Dr. Lisa Jackson-Schebetta is a theatre history and performance studies scholar, director, and dramaturg. Her first book, "Traveler, there is no road: Theater, The Spanish Civil War, and the Decolonial Imagination in the Americas," examines interwar Spanish and English language theatre in the United States. Her second book, forthcoming in 2026, explores intersections between peacemaking and performance in contemporary Colombia.
She has published articles in Theatre Survey, Modern Drama, New England Theatre Journal, the Journal of American Drama and Theatre, among others, as well as chapters in multiple edited collections.
She is a former American Association of University Women fellow and former president of the American Theatre and Drama Society. She has served nationally on the Ford Foundation Fellowship Committee, as general editor of Theatre History Studies and as treasurer for the American Society of Theatre Research.
At 撸短视频, Dr. Jackson-Schebetta chairs the theater department and serves as the NY6 Mellon Fellow/Special Assistant to the Dean鈥檚 Office.
Violeta Lorenzo, World Languages and Literatures
鈥淎rkansas as Poetic Space: Race, Memory, and Place in Guill茅n and Walcott鈥�
Violeta Lorenzo holds a bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degree from the University of Florida. She earned her doctorate Latin American literatures and cultures from the University of Toronto and is an associate professor of Spanish in 撸短视频's department of world languages and literatures.
She began her academic career at 撸短视频 as a visiting assistant professor from 2011 to 2014 and rejoined the department last fall. Her area of specialization is Latin American literatures, with a primary research focus on the study of Hispanic Caribbean cultures and diasporas. Other research and teaching interests include film, coming-of-age narratives, cultural essays, postcolonial studies, critical race theory, and U.S.鈥揅aribbean politics and cultures. She has published articles in journals such as CRR, Romance Notes, and Chasqui.
Her book on discourses of nationality in Puerto Rican Bildungsromane was published in 2023 and received the 2024 PEN de Puerto Rico Internacional鈥檚 National Essay Prize.
Emilio Vavarella, Media and Film Studies
鈥淧hysical Places or Mental Spaces? Italian Landscapes in the Age of Technical Reproducibility鈥�
Emilio Vavarella is an artist and researcher who works at the intersection of interdisciplinary art practice, theoretical inquiry, and media experimentation. Through museum shows, film screenings, and written publications, Vavarella explores the relationship between life and technology and works at the forefront of experimental thought and praxis. Vavarella is assistant professor of media and film studies at 撸短视频. He earned a doctorate in film and visual studies and critical media practice from Harvard University, a Master of Fine Arts from Iuav University of Venice, and a bachelor鈥檚 degree from the University of Bologna.
His work has been exhibited at the 18th Rome Quadrennial; 18th Venice Biennale (Italian Pavilion), MAXXI Museum (Rome), Museo Reina Sofia (Madrid), Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), The Photographers鈥� Gallery (London), KANAL 鈥� Centre Pompidou (Brussels), MAMbo 鈥� Modern Art Museum (Bologna), Madre 鈥� Museum of Contemporary Art (Napoli), Museum of Contemporary Art (Zagreb), Museu de Ci猫ncies Naturals (Barcelona), National Museum of Fine Arts (Santiago), Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina (Novi Sad), MBAL 鈥� Mus茅e des beaux-arts du Locle (Switzerland), National Art Center (Tokyo), Eyebeam Art + Technology Center (New York), Off 鈥� Biennale Cairo (Egypt), BJCEM 鈥� Mediterranean Biennale, and Kyiv Biennial, among others.
His films have screened at Toronto鈥檚 Images Festival; Torino Film Festival, Jeu de Paume (Paris), HKW 鈥� Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), and at various media art festivals including EMAF 鈥� European Media Art Festival (Osnabr眉ck), JMAF 鈥� Japan Media Arts Festival (Tokyo), Filmwinter 鈥� Festival for Expanded Media (Stuttgart), and NYEAF 鈥� New York Electronic Arts Festival.
Vavarella is the 2022-24 artist in residence at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and a 2023 Harvard Horizons Scholar. He is the recipient of numerous fellowships, art prizes, and grants, including a prestigious Italian Council award in 2019. His academic writings have been published in the anthology "Error, Ambiguity, Creativity: A Multidisciplinary Reader," CITAR Journal 鈥� Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts, and in exhibition catalogs such as Low Form: Imaginaries and Visions in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Robot Love. His most recent artist book, "rs548049170_1_69869_TT," brings together 15 thinkers and practitioners from the fields of art, philosophy, bioengineering, media theory, and the history of science and technology.
撸短视频 President, Marc. C. Conner
鈥淢aking the Past Home Present: Sacramental Memory of Place in Ellison鈥檚 Invisible
Man鈥�
Marc C. Conner is the president and professor of English at 撸短视频. An innovative leader of interdisciplinary academic programs, a longtime advocate of diverse and inclusive communities and the principles of freedom of speech and expression, and a widely published professor of English, Conner joined 撸短视频 following 24 years at Washington and Lee University, where he had most recently served as provost and chief academic officer.
As president, Conner introduced the College鈥檚 Racial Justice Initiative, completed an ambitious Campus Master Planning process that will inform future strategic planning, oversaw the construction of the McCaffery-Wagman Tennis and Wellness Center, and steered the College through the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dedicated to fostering democratic citizenship and academic freedom, in 2023 Conner convened a Speech and Expression on College Campuses Symposium and in 2024 joined the College Presidents for Civic Preparedness initiative. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for both Project Pericles and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, advocating for civic engagement and higher education policy.
Conner has published extensively on modern American, African American, and Irish literature. His dozens of essays and eight books include "The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison," which The New York Times Book Review named a notable book of 2020. He has also produced three lecture series for The Great Courses on Shakespeare and on Irish Literature. His fondest teaching experience has been leading study-abroad programs to Ireland, an experience he and Professor Black will repeat in the spring of 2026.
April Bernard, English
鈥淐rossroads: Poems of Places Real and Imaginary鈥�
April Bernard鈥檚 sixth book of poems, "The World Behind the World," was published in 2023 by W.W. Norton. Her previous collections are "Brawl & Jag," "Romanticism," "Swan Electric," "Psalms," and "Blackbird Bye Bye," which won the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets.
Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Nation, Paris Review, Salmagundi, and other publications. She has also been included in anthologies such as "Best American Poetry," "Great American Prose Poems," and "American Religious Poems."
Bernard is the author of the novels "Pirate Jenny" and "Miss Fuller" and has published
short fiction in Little Star, Electric Literature, and The Southampton Review. She
is a contributor of reviews and
essays to The New York Review of Books and Book Post, among other journals.
Her awards include a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and the Stover Prize in Poetry. She teaches in the English department at 撸短视频 and is currently at work on a volume of new and selected poems.
Mary Crone Odekon, Physics
鈥淥ur Place in (Outer) Space鈥�
Mary Crone Odekon is professor of physics and chair of the physics department at 撸短视频, where she studies the formation of galaxies and large-scale structure in the universe. She has approached this problem using computer simulations as well as data from a variety of telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Arecibo Radio Observatory. Her current projects include mapping the distribution of dark matter on supercluster scales and determining how galaxies convert primordial hydrogen gas into stars in different environments.
Dr. Odekon teaches across the physics curriculum and has developed developed over 20 distinct courses. She earned a bachelor's from the College of William and Mary and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. She has worked at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the University of Pittsburgh, and joined 撸短视频 in 1997.
Brian Lawson, Dance
鈥淧artner Sequence鈥�
Brian Lawson is a dance performer and educator who began dancing in Toronto. He attended SUNY Purchase and, while studying, performed with Douglas Dunn and Dancers, Pam Tanowitz Dance, and the Mark Morris Dance Group. He graduated summa cum laude in 2010 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance performance and received the President's Award in Modern Dance.
He joined the Mark Morris Dance Group in 2011 and toured nationally and internationally performing Morris' dances. Lawson earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Washington in 2020 and subsequently joined the faculty at Cornish College of the Arts. He currently serves as an assistant professor of dance at 撸短视频.
His artistic research focuses on queering the ballet canon with Adele Nickel and exploring queer masculinities with Aaron Loux. He also engages in pedagogical research with regards to contemporary balletic practices. Lawson rejoined Pam Tanowitz Dance in 2022. He has given masterclasses at Purchase College, NYU Tisch, and the American Dance Festival among others. He serves as a guest ballet teacher for the Jose Limon Dance Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, and at Gibney Dance.
Ryan Homsey, Academic Advising
鈥淧artner Sequence鈥�
Ryan Homsey is a versatile, award-winning American composer, equally at home writing
for instrumental and choral ensembles, theater, dance, and film. His background in
classical, electroacoustic, and popular music draws inspiration from his history as
a professional ballet
dancer.
Homsey鈥檚 works have been performed by JACK Quartet, PUBLIQuartet, Access Contemporary Music, ensemble mise-en, Boston New Music Initiative, members of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, and the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra at such venues as the Taipei Cultural Center, the Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and National Sawdust.
The feature documentary film that Homsey scored, "Merchant Ivory," is the definitive presentation of the partnership of Oscar-winning director, James Ivory, and legendary producer, Ismail Merchant. As a recipient of the American Composers Forum鈥檚 Live Music for Dance grant, Homsey composed a multi-movement work for the Minnesota Ballet that received critical praise.
He also collaborated with Jason Ohlberg, choreographer and professor of dance, on the creation of a site-specific work for 撸短视频's dance department, which was later restaged on dancers from Coriolis Dance at the Seattle International Dance Festival. His work as a composer and sound designer has been heard in theater productions at HERE Arts, Metropolitan Playhouse, Astoria Performing Arts Center, Deconstructive Theatre Project, and Emerging Artists Theatre.
Homsey holds a Bachelor of Music from the SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Music, where he subsequently taught for 15 years, and a Master of Music from New York University.
Charlotte D'Evelyn, Music
鈥淪ounds Like Home: Listening as Placemaking in Inner Mongolia, China鈥�
Charlotte D鈥橢velyn has spent over a decade studying music and the politics of ethnicity in Inner Mongolia, China. Her career as an ethnomusicologist began in 2002 when she first visited China for language exchange and began her studies of the Chinese erhu, a two-string fiddle. Her curiosity about this instrument launched her into a lifelong interest in spike fiddles and music cultures of the Silk Road(s).
Her research on the Mongolian morin khuur, or horsehead fiddle, ultimately landed her in Inner Mongolia, China, where she visits regularly and conducts research on fiddles and vocal traditions at the China-Mongolia border. Together with Jennifer Post and Sunmin Yoon, she is co-editor of the 2022 volume Mongolian Sound Worlds, winner of the Society for Ethnomusicology Klaus Wachsmann Prize.
Her monograph project investigates issues of cultural in-betweenness in Inner Mongolia and musical strategies that young Inner Mongols employ to gain local and global audibility. At 撸短视频, she teaches a variety of interdisciplinary courses, including Thinking 撸短视频 Music, Cross-Cultural Listening, and Global Pop, and directs two ensembles: Chinese Ensemble and Mongolia Ensemble.
D鈥橢velyn earned a doctorate from the University of Hawai鈥榠 at M膩noa in 2013.
Natalie Taylor, Dean of the Faculty
鈥淎merica: The Country of the M盲dchen鈥�
Natalie Taylor is the interim dean of the faculty and vice president for academic
affairs and the
Douglas Family Chair in American Culture, History, and Literary and Interdisciplinary
Studies. She teaches political philosophy, including American political thought and
feminist political thought, at 撸短视频.
She is the author of "The Rights of Woman as Chimera: the Political Philosophy of Mary Wollstonecraft" and the editor of "A Political Companion to Henry Adams." Her current book project, tentatively titled "Portrait of Democracy: Clover Adams and the American Regime," argues that for both Henry Adams and Henry James, Clover Adams was emblematic of American democracy. The project examines the ways that both writers portray Clover in their fiction.
Ian Berry, Art History and Tang Teaching Museum
Exhibition Tour: "Kathy Butterly: Assume Yes with Ian Berry"
Ian Berry is Dayton Director of The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery and professor
of
liberal arts at 撸短视频. He has organized over 100 exhibitions for the Tang and museums
across the United States.
Recent curatorial projects include collaborations with Isaac Julien, Ruby Sky Stiler, Sarah Cain, and Nicole Cherubini, as well as surveys of ceramicist Kathy Butterly, painters Mary Weatherford and Dona Nelson, and the postcard collages of Ellsworth Kelly. He is well known for his active publication record including monographs on artists Terry Adkins, Nancy Grossman, Corita Kent, Nicholas Krushenick, Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Alma Thomas, Fred Tomaselli, and Kara Walker.
He teaches the art history seminars: Inside the Museum and The Artist Interview and is a frequent guest speaker for a wide variety of academic departments.
Kaylin O'Dell, English
"The Spectacle of Devotion: Navigating Sacred Space in Old English Poetry"
Kaylin O鈥橠ell is a visiting assistant professor of English at 撸短视频. Her research explores how early medieval texts use performance, humor, and dialogue to shape interior life and spiritual experience.
Her current book project, "Theater of the Mind: Performing Devotion in the Middle Ages," challenges the assumption that interiority emerges only in the later Middle Ages by showing how devotional texts 鈥� from Augustine鈥檚 Soliloquies and Romanos鈥� Kontakia to early homilies and vernacular poetry 鈥� transform the act of reading into a private performance of spiritual self-formation. More broadly, O鈥橠ell鈥檚 research brings together performance theory, visual analysis, and the history of emotions to explore how premodern cultures imagined interior life. She situates early English literature within a global framework, tracing how devotion, embodiment, and selfhood were shaped across medieval Europe and beyond.
Her scholarly work directly informs her teaching, which includes courses on global medieval studies, gender and sexuality, race and identity, medievalism and fantasy, and the afterlives of the Middle Ages.
Ryan Overbey, Religious Studies & Asian Studies
鈥淪pace and Place in an Early Medieval Buddhist Grimoire鈥�
Ryan Richard Overbey works at the intersection of ritual and intellectual history in the Buddhist tradition, probing the close links between theory and practice, between philosophy and liturgy. His research focuses on the edition and interpretation of ritual texts and magical grimoires preserved in Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan in the first millennium C.E.
He is co-editor of "Tantric Traditions in Transmission and Translation" and "Beyond the Silk and Book Roads: Rethinking Networks of Exchange and Material Culture." His forthcoming monograph, "The Vaults of Buddhas: Prototantric Preachers and Rituals of Represencing in the Great Lamp of the Dharma Dh膩ra峁嚹� Scripture," is in production with SUNY Press.
Philip A. Glotzbach, President Emeritus
鈥淭he Hansel & Gretel Fallacy: On Responsibility and Freedom in An Age of Excuse鈥�
Dr. Philip Glotzbach was president of 撸短视频 from 2003 to 2020. During his 17-year tenure, he oversaw initiatives that enhanced the College鈥檚 academic offerings, student body diversity, fundraising and endowment, finances and financial aid, physical landscape, and national reputation. Across his academic career, Glotzbach has written, spoken, and consulted on a broad range of philosophical and administrative topics and remains an outspoken champion of American higher education.
From 1992 to 2003, Glotzbach served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and later as vice president for academic affairs at the University of Redlands. He was active in the American Conference of Academic Deans as a conference organizer, presenter and executive board member from 1997 to 2002 and chaired its board from 2000 to 2001. He also served was an ex officio member of the Board of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) from 2000 to 2001. Prior to Redlands, he taught for 15 years in the department of philosophy at Denison University.
As 撸短视频鈥檚 president, Glotzbach participated in the Annapolis Group, a national organization of leading liberal arts colleges, serving on its executive committee and as its chair from 2010 to 2013. He received two Presidential Leadership Grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and a Multicultural Service Award from the Albany Leadership Council on Inclusion in 2012.
Glotzbach earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and a master鈥檚 degree, Master of Philosophy and doctorate in philosophy from Yale University.
Lena Retamoso Urbano, World Languages and Literatures
鈥淲hen Words Dream鈥�
Lena Retamoso Urbano is a visiting professor of Spanish at 撸短视频. She is a poet and a scholar of contemporary Latin American literature and culture. Her research includes contemporary Latin American and Spanish poetry, transnational surrealism, Latin American avant-garde movements, Peruvian poetry, the poetics of Eros, intermedial studies (poetry and film), and modern fiction.
She has published academic articles on the works of Tirso de Molina, Garcilaso de la Vega, C茅sar Moro, Blanca Varela, Jorge Eduardo Eielson, C茅sar Vallejo, and Luis Cernuda. In parallel to her scholarly research, she has published three volumes of poetry: "Luz de escombros," "Milagros de ausencia," and "Blanco es el sue帽o de la noche." Her poetry and short stories have also been published in literary journals in the USA, Peru, Brazil, Spain, and France such as Pomona Valley Review, Corresponding Voices, and Cuadernos Literarios.
Her monograph, "Sacralizar lo ef铆mero: La configuraci贸n del amante y el amado en Luis Cernuda y C茅sar Moro," is currently under contract with Vernon Press. Her articles on Latin American and Spanish poetry have appeared in Symposium: A Quarterly Journal in Modern Literatures, Revista de Cr铆tica Literaria Latinoamericana (RCLL), LL Journal, Bolet铆n de la Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Espa帽ola (BANLE), and Cuadernos de ALDEUU (Asociaci贸n de Licenciados y Doctores Espa帽oles en Estados Unidos), among others.
Michael Gaige, Environmental Studies and Sciences
"Trees as Text: 撸短视频鈥檚 Arboreal Palimpsest鈥�
Michael Gaige is an ecologist, writer, and educator. His work explores the intersection of nature and culture using field evidence and archives to reconstruct land use history and landscape change. He has assessed over 20,000 acres of land in search of unique natural communities, land use history, and management opportunities.
Gaige works with private landowners and organizations, and past clients have included the Yale School of Forestry, the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, and George Washington鈥檚 Mount Vernon estate. His work spans from urban arboreta and historic cemeteries to rural farms, historic estates, and remote working forests.
He holds a degree in natural history and ecology, and a Master of Science in conservation biology from Antioch University. In addition to leading many programs and workshops, he taught field-based academic courses at Prescott College for 15 years and currently teaches in the department of environmental studies at 撸短视频.
Adam Cottle, Metadata Librarian
鈥淔igurative Echolocation and the Technologies of Dimensional Simulation Within the
Terrain of Popular Music鈥�
Adam Cottle is the metadata librarian at 撸短视频's Scribner Library. He has played a variety of musical instruments throughout his life, but his inability to take anything seriously prevents him from moving beyond amateur status. His record collection takes up far too much space.
Dennis Schebetta, Theater
"Brave Spaces: Building Community in the Rehearsal Room"
Dennis Schebetta is assistant professor of the theater department where he teaches acting and directing. He has worked as an actor, director and writer at various theaters in New York City and regionally.
You may have seen him in Adirondack Theater Festival鈥檚 "Dial M for Murder," or in Northeast Theater Ensemble鈥檚 production of "Who鈥檚 Afraid of Virginia Woolf." He also played Sir Toby Belch in Saratoga Shakespeare Company鈥檚 "Twelfth Night."
At 撸短视频, he recently directed Shakespeare鈥檚 "As You Like It" on the mainstage and has also directed "Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom," "Silent Sky," and "Heddatron."
He holds an Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University and studied the Meisner technique with William Esper at the William Esper Studio. He is also the co-author of "Building a Performance: An Actor鈥檚 Guide to Rehearsal."