WSU - Humanities

Mysoon Rizk, Department of Art, University of Toledo, Ohio, Spring-Summer 2007
Dr. Rizk is an Associate Professor of Art History visiting Wayne State as our current visiting scholar until May 31. While here, she will work on her book Animal Tracks: The Art and Life of David Wojnarowicz. The book examines the life and work of the artist David Wojnarowicz, who died in 1992 from AIDS-related causes, through various non-human animal and human-themed sections. Dr. Rizk's articles and chapters on the artist are widely published and she is considered to be the foremost scholar in her field on Wojnarowicz. She has also published articles, chapters of books, and encyclopedic entries on a wide variety of art; she was also the consultant curator to Make Art/Stop AIDS at UCLA's Fowler Art Museum.

Roberto Barbanti, Department of Fine Arts, University of Paris, France, Spring 2007
Dr. Barbanti was a visiting scholar for Spring, 2007. He is an expert on art multimedia theory and history as well as the philosophy of technology. While here, he worked closely with Dr. James Michels, Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Department. His current research focuses on the ethical impacts of the aesthetic on the environment through an examination of three different forms of art: literary, visual, and musical. Dr. Barbanti is the co-founder and President of the Center for International Study and Research, Art and Science: PHAROS (PHilosophy, Art, Olis, Science) in Italy.

Mary Paquette-Abt, Independent Scholar, Fall 2006
Dr. Paquette-Abt was in residence Fall, 2006. She is a musicologist with research interests in historical and cultural practices of Italian and American music. Dr. Paquette-Abt has presented papers at the annual meetings of the American Musicological Society, the Society for Seventeenth Century Music, and the Renaissance Society of America. She has served as a visiting professor at Michigan State University, Indiana University, Louisiana State University, and the University of the South. Her research interests include historical and cultural practices in early seventeenth century Italian music, and in American music. While in residence at the Humanities Center, she researched music performance in Detroit from 1800 to 1960 and how musical practices in Detroit participated in larger cultural trends in the U.S. as a first step toward a social and cultural history of music in Detroit.

Coreen Jacobs-Chester, Lecturer, University of Guyana, Summer 2005
Ms. Jacobs-Chester was in resident for three weeks, June 1 to 23, during the summer of 2005. While in residence, she observed classes at Wayne State University's English Language Institute (ELI) as well as sitting in on English as a Second Language classes at the College of Education. Ms. Jacobs-Chester studied how the ELI conducts English as a Second Language classes for non-native speakers of the language. She also interviewed WSU professors and collected data for her research in these areas.

Ida Stamhuis, Department for the History and Social Studies of Science, Vrije University, Amsterdam, Summer 2004
Dr. Stamhuis was in residence from June 8 to July 9, 2004. The Center collaborated with the department of Interdisciplinary Studies and CULMA to sponsor this visit. Dr. Stamhuis’s research focuses on both the history of genetics and statistics and the role of women in these fields.

Deryck M. Bernard, Dean, School of Education and Humanities, University of Guyana, Spring 2004
Professor Deryck M. Bernard was our Visiting Scholar for Spring, 2004. Professor Bernard’s fields of interest include geography, social and educational policy development, and Guyanese indigenous folk music traditions. Professor Bernard is Dean of the School of Education and Humanities at the University of Guyana, where he teaches Human Geography and Development Theory and Management, and is also a member of parliament in Guyana. Professor Bernard was in residence at the Humanities Center from March 14 to April 30, 2004. During his visit he worked on two different projects including the basis of a cultural policy as a basis for facilitating patriotism, tolerance, and national confidence in the solution of Guyana’s political and economic dilemmas as well as a lecture which aims to describe the origins and variety of the indigenous music traditions of the Afro Guyanese community.

Wanda Chesney, University of Guyana, Summer 2003
Wanda Chesney, a visiting professor from the University of Guyana, was at Wayne State from May 1 through July of 2003. The Center was pleased to be able to bring Chesney to Michigan. Chesney examined the effects of internet culture on interpersonal relationships of couples, and also looked at gender differences in online communication. Chesney presented her work at a public lecture.

Eyovi Njwe, Linguistics, University of Dschang, Cameroon, Winter 1999
Eyovi Njwe's research while at the Humanities Center focused on tonal languages, which use pitch to create meaning. Across Africa to South East Asia, most languages fall into this category. Dr. Njwe focused on the differences between tonal and non-tonal languages, and primarily on how pitch functions to change the lexical and grammatical value of words from the language of Ngwo, a western grassfields bantoid language of the Niger-Kordofonian, Niger-Congo family spoken in Cameroon.