UO Today

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 is a education podcast hosted by Oregon Humanities Center, with 321 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Oregon Humanities Center hosts UO Today, a education show with 321 episodes published.

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  UO Today

  UO Today: Micah Jones; Research Notes with Colin Koopman

  May 26, 202640 minS0

  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...

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  UO Today

  "When the Three Magi Serve Homer: Asymmetric Hermeneutics and Victorian Translation of Shahnameh"

  May 18, 202655 minS0

  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 Persia...

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  UO Today

  UO Today: Mérida Mehaffey, Research Notes with Gantt Gurley

  May 13, 202635 minS0

  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 fell...

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  UO Today

  UO Today: Smadar Ben-Natan; Research Notes with Michael Allan

  Apr 22, 202637 minS0

  Smadar Ben-Natan is an assistant professor of Global Studies in the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages at the University of Oregon. Originally from Israel, her research focuses on human rights, international law, Palestine/Israel, armed conflict, criminal justice, incarceration, and colonialism. Research Notes: Michael Allan is an Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and program faculty in Cinema Studies, Arabic Studies, Comics and Cartoon Studies, and Middle East and North African Studies. He discusses his new book "Cinema before the World: The Global Routes of the Lumière Brothers" published by Fordham University Press in 2026.

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  UO Today

  Ada Limón: "The Unleaving: How Poetry Helps You to Not Miss Your Life"

  Apr 17, 20261h 27mS0

  At a time when social media and our societal structures demand our constant attention to the rigged algorithm, we’ve stopped paying attention to what really matters, the world around us. Using poetic examples and stories from real life, poet Ada Limón invites us to remember that we are alive and will help us reconnect to what matters. According to Limón, “Poets often are very good at the myopic and being present, deeply looking, paying attention. But I think we’re also good at the long view, expanding outward, thinking about the planet itself, thinking about what happens when nei...

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