Research & Teaching Spotlight: Ruth Benander & David Freeman

by Lauren Wahman

UCBA Library’s Faculty Lightning Talks showcase faculty research and share different aspects of the research process. This year, we’re revisiting UCBA presenters, Ruth Benander and David Freeman, for an update on their research projects.   Continue reading

Library Display: Celebrate Diversity!

By Lauren Wahman

This display showcases a selection of books (print/electronic) and streaming media available through the UC Blue Ash Library and includes a range of topics and authors. The display will be available until January 29, 2021 with physical items available to request via Click and Collect. Be sure to visit the Celebrate Diversity online display. 

 book display atop bookshelves

Resources for Faculty Research

by Lauren Wahman

scrabble tiles spell out the word research

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Whether it’s discipline-specific, creative, or a classroom-based research project, we’re getting you started with a newly redesigned Faculty Research Guide. To help with specific research needs, schedule an online research consultation with your department’s library faculty liaison. Or, find research-focused online workshops through the UC Libraries Calendar and the Faculty Enrichment Center’s Program Calendar.  Finally, watch for a special 4th Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks blog post in the spring that will showcase faculty scholarship. 

Celebrating UC Blue Ash’s Artists, Authors, Editors and Composers

by Lauren Wahman and Heather Maloney

The Life of the Mind lecture and Artists, Authors, Editors & Composers combined event took place on September 22, 2020. As a follow up, the UCBA Library celebrates selected works submitted this year from UCBA faculty and staff. In case you missed it, please visit Life of the Mind for the online exhibit, bibliography, and event recording.

David Hartz | Associate Professor | Electronic Media Communications Department

Description of My Creative Process: This new body of work is titled, “Drawing Water.” This series consists of drawings of various water sources I have seen in and around Ohio. I became interested in this subject matter after seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings depicting how water moves around various objects. I am fascinated as to how water moves and how I could add values and depth to drawing this formless element. I study martial arts and this quote by Bruce Lee inspired me as well, “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless – like water.” Water forms to whatever contains it. My intention with these drawings is to give, not only shape, but also value, shadow, highlight and playfulness to moving water.

All of these drawings are created in Procreate on an iPad Pro. I love the portability of the iPad and use it with my Urban Sketching group as well. It has replaced my sketchbook and pencils in many situations. I have found that it has a feature that no traditional media has. In this digital arena, the ability to zoom way into a piece of work is remarkable. As long as the resolution is high, you can zoom way into the art and provide details that would be near impossible with traditional media. I am making use of this feature in my current drawings in this “Drawing Water” series. This is the reason that I include detail shots in the submission of these drawings. Normally a detail shot is unnecessary in a 2D drawing, however, it is quite necessary to show the full detail that are involved with these works. Each drawing has two views: one is the overall view of the water that, at first, has a photographic look. The second view is the detailed view of the work as you move in close to it and see the hieroglyphic mark making process. Continue reading

From the Virtual Desk of … Lauren Wahman

I’m Lauren Wahman, Information Literacy and Instruction Coordinator, and here’s a virtual tour of my home office spaces.

Faculty Research Lightning Talks: Meet David Freeman

The UCBA Library’s 3rd Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks on March 10, 2020 featured four presenters and their discipline-based research projects via short, 15 minute presentations. In our Meet the Presenters series, each presenter shares some insights into their research project.

David Freeman| Associate Professor of Mathematics| Math, Physics & Computer Science Department
Presentation: Geometry from Symmetry

David Freeman giving a presentation.

David Freeman discusses his research.

Research Project
My research has been focused on the concept of symmetry. Here I use the word “symmetry” to denote a way to transform an object into itself (e.g. a reflection or rotation). My goal is to understand all possible objects that admit certain types of symmetries.

Are there any opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration with your research? If already cross-disciplinary, are there opportunities to expand it?
Yes, at least to some extent. I am very interested in the philosophy of mathematics, and I am hoping to eventually contribute to the ongoing debate about the ontology of mathematical objects (such as the ones I study). I am also quite interested in mathematically-inspired artwork. I believe there are many opportunities to express mathematical ideas through visual (and other types of) art.

What are your next steps with your research?
My long term goal is to prove a conjecture that has motivated the work I’ve already been doing. This conjecture pertains to the classification of certain mathematical objects that exhibit a high degree of “coarse” symmetry. For all I know the conjecture may end up being false, but I am somewhat optimistic that it is true. I’m not sure if a proof is within reach, but I’m willing to give it a shot. In general, this is the nature of many mathematical research projects: one group of mathematicians will pose a conjecture, and then some other group will prove (or disprove) the conjecture.

Forthcoming Publication

David Freeman, Enrico Le Donne. (Forthcoming).Toward a quasi-Möbius characterization of Invertible Homogeneous Metric Spaces. Revista Matemática Iberoamericana.

 

By Lauren Wahman

Faculty Research Lightning Talks: Meet Carla Cesare  

The UCBA Library’s 3rd Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks on March 10, 2020 featured four presenters and their discipline-based research projects via short, 15 minute presentations. In our Meet the Presenters series, each presenter shares some insights into their research project.

Carla Cesare | Assistant Professor of Art History | Art & Visual Communication Department

Presentation: Networks of Design: Women at Work

Professor Carla Cesare giving a presentation

Carla Cesare discusses her research.

Research Project
Networks of Design is a research project/book proposal that looks at a body of women who were working in the emerging design disciplines in America in the 1920s-30s. It does so through the contemporary lens of design thinking which includes research, making and marketing; uncovering the breadth of work women were doing and the network they were creating, unconsciously or not. By uncovering ‘anonymous’, women are brought to the foreground of design history, not just through biographies or even the objects designed, but by linking their educational and career trajectories and reconsidering the role women have played in making our daily lives through design.

Cesare Slide showing different advertisements

A slide from Cesare’s Networks of Design: Women at Work presentation 

Are there any opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration with your research? If already cross-disciplinary, are there opportunities to expand it?
There are two areas: Women’s history and the inclusion women of the design discipline; second, I think it could be a stepping off point for people looking at the history of retail and media as the evolution of organizational structures is pretty interesting.

What are your next steps with your research?
I’m currently revising a book proposal; a publisher contacted me and they think it’s viable and a fit. So hopefully a book is next.

Additional Resources
To date I’ve primarily used archives and libraries including:  UC’s Special Collections, Purdue University, Smith College, New York Public Library, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Henry Ford Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art, University of Chicago and the Mattatuck Historical Society.

 

by Lauren Wahman

UCBA Faculty Share Research at 3rd Annual Lightning Talks

The UCBA Library hosted the 3rd Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks on Tuesday March 10.  This year’s event showcased four presenters and their discipline-based research projects via short, 15 minute presentations.  UCBA facultystaff, and students enjoyed refreshments, learned about research outside of their disciplines, and asked thoughtful questions during the Q&A’s. 

Through the end of spring semester, we’ll highlight the presenters via individual posts in our first Meet the Presenters blog series! 

lightning talk presenters

L-R: Carla Cesare, Linda Wunderley, David Freeman, Chris Gulgas

Presentations: 

Carla Cesare| Assistant Professor| Art & Visual Communication
Networks of Design: Women at Work 

David Freeman| Associate Professor| Math, Physics & Computer Science
Geometry from Symmetry 

Chris Gulgas| Associate Professor| Chemistry
Student Discovery Involving a Chemical that Changes Color Leads to a New Organic Laboratory Experiment 

Linda Wunderley| Assistant Professor, Adjunct| Business & Economics
The Real Truth About What Determines Our Professional Performance 

 

by Lauren Wahman

Celebrating Women’s History Month

women's history month display at UCBA Library

The UCBA Library is celebrating Women’s History Month and the amazing global contributions of women!  This year’s displays (located in Reference area) showcase books covering a wide range of topics in the areas of journalism, science, art, business, politics, law, activism, education, technology, as well as social issues.  There’s also a selection of recent fiction titles by women writers.

Stop by and borrow a book from the displays during the month of March! You can also browse the list of books on the Library Displays at UCBA online guide.

Additional Resources for Women’s History Month:

 

by Lauren Wahman

3rd Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks

Lightning Talk text graphic

Tuesday March 10, 2020 from 3:00-4:30 pm
Learning & Teaching Center Room (Muntz 117) 

These short presentations showcase faculty research and share different aspects of the research process. Refreshments will be provided.   

Carla Cesare
Networks of Design: Women at Work 

David Freeman
Geometry From Symmetry

Christopher Gulgas
A Student Discovery Involving a Chemical that Changes Color Leads to a New Organic Laboratory Experiment

Linda Wunderley
The Real Truth About What Determines Our Professional Performance 

 

by Lauren Wahman