On October 31, 2023, Angela Jackson joined the University of Cincinnati as associate to the dean and university librarian. Angela has been a part of the University of Cincinnati and UC Health organization since 2015, providing executive support to physicians and executive leadership within the College of Medicine for UC Health. Prior to accepting this role, Angela was the executive assistant to the SVP, chief operating officer, and vice president of Physician Network within the Ambulatory administration for UC Health.
Angela is a native of Cincinnati, and in her spare time loves to spend quality time with family, binge watching episodes of HGTV and taking long walks outside while listening to music from the 80’s and 90’s.
UC Libraries’ RESPECT (Racial Equity Support Programming to Educate the Community Team) is hosting a book club featuring “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We can Prosper Together” by Heather McGhee starting in January ’24 with monthly online discussions concluding with in an in-person talk in April.
The first 50 people to request a book will receive a physical copy.
In “The Sum of Us:”McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Maine to Mississippi to California, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm—the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country—from parks and pools to functioning schools—have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world’s advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.
Penguin random house
Beginning in January, the book club will meet via Zoom to discuss the text over a series of three Fridays from 10:00-11:00am, January 26, February 23 and March 22. These meetings will culminate in a final wrap-up discussion on Friday, April 5 in-person and facilitated by Sinclair Community College’s Chief Diversity Officer Michael Carter.
To sign up to participate and be sent more information, fill out this form. The first 50 people to request a book will receive a physical copy. Physical copies and ebook access are also available to check out through UC Libraries. For any additional questions, e-mail Nimisha Bhat at nimisha.bhat@uc.edu.
The University of Cincinnati Libraries is hosting the traveling exhibit “Unmasked: Black Heroes in Comics.” On display on the fourth floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library through December 8, the exhibit was curated by the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center and on loan from the Ohio History Center.
The museum describes the exhibit as:
Unit 1 of the exhibit starts in the 1930s with the legendary Jackie Ormes, the first Black woman cartoonist. It, and other panels featuring creators includes photos of the artist and examples of their work. Comics highlighted include, All-Negro Comics (1947), the first all-Black created comic book, Ohioan Jay Jackson, who arguably created the first Black superhero ever and Gene Bilbrew, who only recently has had his story revisited. The last panel goes into detail about the current controversy around the first Black superhero and where the research is currently pointing.
Unit 2 covers comics that impacted the Civil Rights Movement and then highlights Black creators entering the mainstream at Marvel and DC. It starts with Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story and Youth in the Ghetto and the Blueprint for Change, two of the rarest comics related to the topic. Billy Graham, the first Black artist at Marvel is covered, along with Trevor Von Eeden, the first Black artist at DC Comics. The display ends with Black Women in Comics and the growing independent comics movement.
For more…
Attend the panel “From the Page to the Public Arena: How Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Superheroes shape the American Experience” on Thursday, Nov. 9, 4pm, Digital Resource Commons in the Walter C. Langsam Library.
The traveling exhibit and corresponding events, is co-sponsored by Central State University and the University of Cincinnati: Academy of Fellows for Teaching and Learning, African American Cultural & Resource Center, Center for Studies in Jewish Education and Culture, Charles Phelps Taft Research Center, College of Arts & Sciences, College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology, Department of Africana Studies, Department of History, Department of Sociology, Office of the Provost, University Honors Program and the University of Cincinnati Libraries.
Drop by the Walter C. Langsam Library Room 462 on Wednesday, Nov 15 from 3-4pm for an opportunity to celebrate the fall season. Grab a snack, take a study break and reflect on fall holiday traditions. There will be giveaways, activities and free food.
Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.
In this issue of Source, Liz Kiscaden, dean and university librarian, writes about Creating a shared vision for UC Libraries, and in an interview we learn more about her professional background, immediate goals for the new position and her early impressions of UC Libraries, as well as how she is having fun exploring Cincinnati.
Read these articles, as well as past issues, on the website. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.
At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, November 1 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their original work:
Alecia Beymer – poet and educator whose work has appeared in The Inflectionist Review, Sugar House Review, SWWIM, Rust & Moth, Radar Poetry, among others. She was a finalist for the Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize for Poetry for her poem, “Tree Surgeon,” which appeared in Bellevue Literary Review. She was also a semi-finalist for the Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers from Nimrod Journal. She won second place in the Wisconsin People & Ideas contest; first place in the Kay Saunders Emerging Poet Award through The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets and was a runner-up in the Ohio Writer’s Contest through Gordon Square Review. Alecia has worked at the Center for Poetry at Michigan State University, as an assistant editor at Autumn House Press, and as an assistant editor in Poetry for Fourth River. Several of her articles discussing variations on poetics, pedagogy, and methodology have published in English Education, Art/Research International, English in Education, Research in the Teaching of English among others. She graduated with her PhD in Curriculum, Instruction and Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Currently, she is assistant professor – educator in the Department of English at the University of Cincinnati.
Kristen Renzi – associate professor of English at Xavier University, where she teaches classes in Victorian and Transatlantic Literature, feminist and queer theory, and poetry. She has published a critical monograph, An Ethic of Innocence (Suny Press 2019) and two books of poetry, The God Games (Main Street Rag press, 2017) and Saudade for a Breaking Heart (Dos Madres, 2022). She’s working on a new critical project involving Victorian-era love letters and a poetry collection on motherhood. She loves to create artist books and zines in her spare time.
Violeta Orozco – author of three poetry collections in English, The Broken Woman Diaries (Andante Books 2022), Stillness in the Land of Speed (Jacar Press 2022) and Atlas of An Ancient World, available for preorder by Black Lawrence Press. An internationally multi-award-winning writer from Mexico City, Violeta Orozco is a bilingual Latina poet and fiction writer who has earned an honorific mention by the Academy of American Poets, The Latino Book Award, and The Rising Stars Award. Her first nonfiction collection in Spanish was published this year in Mexico City. She is currently studying her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Latinx Literature with a creative writing concentration at the University of Cincinnati.
A power outage is scheduled for UC’s primary Data Center beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, October 6, and lasting as late as 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 8. Electrical maintenance will be performed in the Data Center during this time.
More information, and a list of UC services that will be affected during the outage, can be found in this news post.
The University of Cincinnati Libraries website (libraries.uc.edu) will remain up and available during the outage; however, some parts of the website will be unavailable.
The parts of the site that will be unavailable during the outage are:
• Browzine integration with Summon
• The staff directory
• The student employment application
• Some Contact Us forms
• The “Journals” and “Books” search tabs on homepage
• My Library Record
In addition, the following library sites/services will be unavailable during the outage:
Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from September 15th to October 15th to honor the contributions and influences of Hispanic and Latinx cultures of America. A new exhibit on display on the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library presents information about this month and features books from the collections of UC Libraries.
Origins:
In 1968, President Johnson introduced National Hispanic Heritage Week in the United States. In 1988, President Regan expanded the celebration to last a month in the U.S.
Why is it Important?:
The celebration is designed to recognize the positive impact that Hispanic Americans have left on the country. As of 2020, the Hispanic population in the U.S. is 65.3 million—the largest minority group in the country—and is projected to reach 111 million by 2060, according to the U.S. Census.
The exhibit was curated by Madison Hershiser, resource sharing assistant in the Collection Development Services and Engagement Department. It was designed by Jakob Elliott, communication design co-op student. A bibliography of the books on display is available at the exhibit.
At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 4:30pm, three poets will read original works.
Elijah Guerra is a poet and collage artist whose poetry is forthcoming in DREGINALD and Permafrost and whose collages appear in The Spectacle. They received their PhD in English from University of Missouri, Columbia. They teach rhetoric and composition at University of Cincinnati.
Rebecca Griswold’s debut collection of poems, “The Attic Bedroom,” is out now with Milk & Cake Press (2022). Her poems have appeared in Cimarron Review, Superstition Review, Blood Orange Review, Revolute, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, among others. She is an MFA candidate at Warren Wilson, and she was a finalist for the River Styx International Poetry Contest. She’d describe herself as equal parts Valentine’s Day and Halloween. She owns and operates White Whale Tattoo alongside her husband in Cincinnati.
Asher Marron is a PhD student in poetry at the University of Cincinnati. They hold an MFA from San Francisco State, where they were a William S. Dickey Fellow. Asher’s chapbook, “We were alone together. I forget the rest.”, was the winner of the 2020 San Francisco Pandemic Chapbook Contest. Their book, “Unbind(ing),” was published in 2018 through Conviction 2 Change Press. Their poems appear in journals including 14 Hills and Transfer Magazine, and the Enfleshed anthology, Held: Blessings for the Depths.
The mission of Poetry Stacked is to celebrate poetry and raise awareness of the collections of both UC Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room.
Each reading engages audiences via exposure to contemporary poetry and increases appreciation for both the talents of UC and community poets, as well as for poetry itself. Poetry Stacked is free and open to all to attend. Following each reading, guests are invited to tour the Elliston Poetry Room.
The intent of the series is to enrich and engage the UC campus and Cincinnati communities in accordance with the Libraries’ Strategic Framework and the Next Lives Here Strategic Directions in support of Academic Excellence and Community Engagement. It aligns with the Libraries’ vision as the globally engaged, intellectual commons of the university – positioning ourselves as the hub of collaboration, digital innovation, and scholarly endeavor on campus and beyond.
Can’t make it to Poetry Stacks in person? It will be live streamed via the Elliston Poetry Room’s Instagram. And look for information soon about the November 1st Poetry Stacked.
