Cliff Weber, Professor Emeritus of Classics
1969 to 2003
“I published my swan song in January.  Two months later, my wife and I moved to metropolitan Tokyo. I tell people that we are living in the Japanese Brooklyn. The language is impossible, but I'm making some progress.  Even if my mailing address has changed, my e-mail address has not."

Peter Rutkoff, Professor Emeritus of American Studies
1970 to 2020
"I would have liked my final and 50th year of teaching at Kenyon to have ended with the same satisfaction as the previous ones; but this thief called covid has stolen so much from us, from ever close student friendships and continued affection and appreciation for so much that Kenyon has allowed me to experience doing the one thing I have loved--teaching remarkable and wonderful students. Still, I've used this past year of relatively silent isolation to continue my work as a community activist and neophyte novelist first as a member of KARE, (Knox Alliance for Racial Equity) a group I helped to create, and also as a  student of baseball literature-look for a new novel, Pinstripes in about a year. It's been a remarkable ride and so many from Kenyon have contributed to its wonder."

Martin Garhart, Professor Emeritus of Art
1972 to 2017
"Appreciate your reaching out to all we long time agos. I have a couple shows coming up next year but they are in the Summer and Fall so I will give you detail for the Spring edition.
Again, thanks for the thought."

Royal Rhodes, Donald L. Rogan Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus
1979 to 2018
“I gave an online talk at the Gund Gallery on Dali's illustrations for Dante's Commedia. The Gallery is lucky to have a set of all 100 illustrations. I have also completed a collaborative art/poetry project with Prof. Claudia Esslinger, Studio Art, and there will be an exhibition in 2022.  On October 1st I presented a ZOOM talk and led a discussion, entitled: In a Pandemic -- An Outbreak of Poetry. It included alumni reading poems related to the Pandemic. One of my poems about my reaction to the virus was posted online in an international poetry journal, and two other poems on other topics are scheduled for online distribution. Poetry remains for many a way for our hearts to speak to each other despite the separations.”

Fred Baumann, Professor of Political Science
1980 to present
“I've been enjoying teaching in a tent this year, dressed like a Dalek.  So far so good; also the weather, so far so good.  We Will See.  The students are terrific and, as in the past, a joy to teach. Other than that, I'm pretty much out of things here.  It's always a pleasure to hear from alums.”
 
Edward Schortman, J. Kenneth Smail Professor of Anthropology
1981 to present
“I have been enjoying working with Kenyon student workers who are organizing to form a union.  I am especially heartened that these undergraduates are acting responsibly and intelligently as they seek the College's permission to form a union and thus have a say in their working conditions.  Their initiative exemplifies the best of Kenyon, combining critical thinking with an ability to communicate effectively, seek the common good, and negotiate with those in power.”

Miriam Dean-Otting, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies
1984 to 2019
“I became an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist (OCVN) in October 2018.  Since my retirement I have been volunteering in the regional parks in Knox County and at the BFEC, monitoring bluebird nest boxes and butterflies and working with a group that is managing invasive plants. I am also part of a team that studies macroinvertebrates on one stretch of the Kokosing to determine stream quality.  When I'm not roaming the county, I'm reading eclectically and highly recommend Isabel Wilkerson's new book, Caste: the Origins of our Discontents.”
 
Camilla Cai, Professor Emerita of Music
1986 to 2005
“My husband Michael Field and I are living (and sheltering) in Farmington, Maine, where we have been since I retired in 2005. I have so many fond memories of teaching in the Music Department and of the students I got to know and care about. Music remains the center of my life and we attend as many concerts as we can. (Well, we did. Now they are mostly virtual.) I would encourage all of you to support the arts and the artists these days. We need them all, whatever their style, to brighten and enlighten our lives. Greetings to everyone.”

Tim Shutt, Professor of Humanities
1986 to present
"I am scheduled to retire in five weeks after thirty-five years at Kenyon, for the most part very happy and rewarding years.  All best, now and forever, to all of my students, of whom there are somewhere between seven and nine thousand---more, as I believe, and this is about the only honor I can claim, than any other teacher at Kenyon ever, and by a pretty wide margin.  About a fifth of the students enrolled while I was here. Blessings to them all.  And as the Romans used to say, “Ave atque vale---" Hale and be well.  TBS"

P.F. Kluge, Writer in Residence
1987 to 2020
“Yes, I am retired. But I remain at home in Gambier and close to Kenyon. I am easy to find and happy to welcome visitors.”

Joseph Adler, Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies and Religious Studies
1987 to 2014
“My wife and I are still living in Gambier. (She is Ruth Woehr, a former College Counselor.) Since retiring I've mostly been writing. The Original Meaning of the Yijing: Zhu Xi's Commentary on the Scripture of Change came out early this year from Columbia University Press. The Yijing: A Guide will come out next year from Oxford University Press. No plans after that, except I'm pretty sure they won't involve the Yijing.”

Ric Sheffield, Professor of Sociology & Legal Studies
1989 to present
 “As a consequence of my appointment to the Peter M. Rutkoff Distinguished Teaching Professorship, I am teaching a new course titled Diversity in the Heartland that looks at the experiences of "others" in Knox County.  One project is examining "social justice" movements and organizing (e.g. Black Lives Matter) in rural America, using Mt. Vernon as a case study.  In addition to the class' focus upon narratives of rural diversity, we are also looking to construct oral histories about "difference" at Kenyon.  Toward that goal, we have undertaken projects exploring the founding of the College's affinity groups, the experiences of multiracial and multicultural students, and members of the College community who come here from rural regions.  Students interested in these topics and willing to be interviewed are encouraged to contact me directly at sheffier@kenyon.edu.” (A side note to the editor from Mr. Sheffield: “I wear many hats: Professor of Legal Studies and Sociology; Director of the Law & Society Program; Director of the John Adams Summer Program in Socio-legal Studies; Chair, American Studies Department.  Alums will know me through one or more of these roles over the past 30 years.”)

Paula Turner, Professor of Physics
1992 to present
Professor of Physics Paula Turner is spending her sabbatical this year making repairs and upgrades to the Miller Observatory on campus.

Sarah Blick, Professor of Art History
1994 to present
"It's been a complex few years punctuated by sad deaths of colleagues and friends, Kristen Van Ausdall and Andrew Niemiec. Happier events, the retirement of Eugene Dwyer and Melissa Dabakis, means I am now the old lady of the Art History Department. I am surrounded by bright, energetic junior colleagues who will and are transforming the departments. It's exciting to be part of that.

Research-wise, I published an article on The Production, Iconography, and Domestic Use of Late-Medieval Devotional Objects by Ordinary People, in Religions (2019) and have an article on Complex Iconography and the Survival of Late-Medieval English Font Covers (forthcoming). 18 years and still going strong, editing Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art & Architecture."

Karen Snouffer, Professor Emerita of Art
1998 to 2018
“Before fully retiring from Kenyon, I had the incredibly good fortune to teach in the Kenyon in Rome Program in 2016 and 2018, both of which were fantastic experiences for the Kenyon professors and students. I do miss teaching art students a great deal, but am now fully immersed in my studio work, having opportunities to exhibit installations and mixed media work in regional galleries and venues in Miami, Florida.  Recently, my work was purchased by David Horvitz's and Francie Bishop Good's Girls Club Collection. My studio in Gambier is certainly a gift during this time of isolation, as is staying connected to alumni on Instagram!”   

Carolin Hahnemann, Professor of Classics
1998 to present
Carolin Hahnemann is trying to translate the skills she acquired over two decades of teaching very smart but sometimes lethargic Kenyon students into training the very smart but crazily hyperactive terrier she adopted last year. They can be seen on the beautiful bike path every day.

Wade Powell, Professor of Biology
2000 to present
“Research in the Powell lab group is regaining its footing since our dispersal in March and subsequent cancellation of the Kenyon Summer Science Scholars on-campus program. Sophomores are emerging as precocious leaders this semester in the absence of their older colleagues.  Be sure to look in the December 2 issue of General and Comparative Endocrinology for our most recent journal article, with Sarah Kazzaz '18 as first author.”

Balinda Craig-Quijada, Professor of Dance
2000 to present
"2020 begins my 20th year as a fulltime Professor of Dance at Kenyon College--a big virtual, socially-distanced hug to all the students who have enriched my teaching, helped me grow as an educator, and sparked my creativity at Kenyon! Julie Brodie and I are very proud of how the dance program has grown and flourished. Over the past few years, my research and pedagogy have increasingly focused on collaborative projects that seek to add a global dimension to the teaching of dance in liberal arts institutions. Globally-connected dance courses have taken place between Kenyon and the American University of Athens, FLAME University in India, and University of San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador. 

Music professor Reginald Sanders and I enjoy co-teaching The Union of Music & Dance and I still cherish rehearsal time in the studio collaborating on new works with students and colleagues. The pandemic continues to challenge our thinking of what it means to dance together apart and how to create vibrant spaces of creativity through the computer screen. The pandemic shelter-at-home also made me a compulsive online exercise fanatic and sourdough bread baker! My son Felix just turned 15 and started 9th grade and he seems to be very interested in WWI European history (an interest sparked by some sort of videogame, I'm sure!) Felix & my tortoises are big and thriving. I have an upcoming sabbatical that is still in the planning stages-- but I hope that I'll be able to connect with many alums-- get your guest room ready!   Please keep in touch. Come visit during reunions or anytime you're passing through Ohio!  Stay active. Stay safe."

Noah Aydin, Professor of Mathematics
2002 to present
"The second volume of Professor Aydin's major translation project is in press now. It will be published in December 2020 by Springer/Birkhäuser. Professor Aydin, along with collaborators including a Kenyon student (now an alumnus), has been translating Miftah al-Hisab (Key to Arithmetic), one of the most important mathematics books of the medieval Islamic Civilization.  As soon as it came to the attention of modern researchers in the middle of the 20th century, Miftah changed some of the misconceptions and misattributions of certain topics in the history of mathematics. Miftah contains 3 major topics: arithmetic, geometry, and algebra. Each volume in the project covers one topic. Volume 1 on arithmetic was published in 2019. https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783030149499.  Volume 3 on algebra is expected to come out in 2021 or 2022."

Yang Xiao, Professor of Philosophy
2003 to present
“I've been enjoying a new philosophical life, which is reflected in the new courses I've been teaching since 2016: "Hannah Arendt", "Simone Weil", "Republicanism", "Political Philosophy in an Age of Crisis", "Authority in Crisis", and "The Anthropocene as a Philosophical Problem".

Stephen Volz, Associate Professor of History
2004 to present
 “I have been continuing to teach various courses on African history. Last spring I offered a special-topic seminar called "Roots of Wakanda" on African intellectual responses to colonial conquest. Based partly on research that I did during my sabbatical in 2018-19, I hope to perhaps write a book on the topic in the coming years.”

Yutan Getzler, Associate Professor of Chemistry
2004 to present
“The paper I wrote during my sabbatical about a plastic recycling (Chemical recycling to monomer for and ideal, circular polymer economy, http://rdcu.be/b3zjb) was published in Nature Reviews Materials and my daughter and I made a live-edge table from a maple tree of ours that had to be cut down.”

Travis Landry, Associate Professor of Spanish
2008 to present
“After the uncertainty and extensive preparations over the summer, I was eager to return to teaching this fall, and my experience with two amazing in-person classes this semester has reaffirmed why. Helping new arrivals, in particular, navigate the transition to Kenyon has been the most gratifying part of the job thus far. Additionally, chairing MLL through this moment has been rewarding, as we've had to address remote registration and a range of considerations related to off-campus study, programming changes, and peer teachers in the KILM program. Students and colleagues have come together to make it all work, and I feel fortunate to have had a role in the process. It reflects a collective investment in safeguarding the future of the College, which, to me, says a lot about our heartfelt commitment to weathering this storm in a united and "Kenyon strong" way. I've also written a new article - and, last but not least, have a family at home with lots of surprisingly complicated decisions to make about day-to-day living in 2020. Keeping many balls in the air takes some coordination, no doubt.”

Alexandra Bradner, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy
2012 to present
“Hello from the philosophy department in Ascension, or really from our home offices, where we're holding our usual back-and-forth discussions of The Republic et al via Zoom during the Covid-19 epidemic. I hope you and your families are well, and that this test of resilience is passing through your lives in not-too-disorienting, not-too-maddening ways. With the changes to school, the election, our governmental distractions, the isolation, and the pandemic all co-occurring, the cognitive load on the current students, and I'm sure on recent graduates as well, has been, well, a LOT. I am chugging along, replacing Joel this year, and teaching intro, symbolic logic, and the Jr/Sr epistemology seminar, with social epistemology and intro logic to come in the spring. I feel very fortunate to be employed, admire the toughness and perseverance I'm seeing in my students, and live with the Humean hope/anxiety that anything can happen in the very next moment.”

Jacqueline McAllister, Associate Professor of Political Science
2014 to present
“I was awarded tenure this past spring!  We also adopted my father's West Highland Terrier, Rex, who is friends with Moxie and a fan of human rights seminars.”

Natalie Wright, Assistant Professor of Biology
2017 to present
“I welcomed my second child into the world on June 25, a daughter named Elaenia. She is named for one of my favorite birds, a type of flycatcher.”

Rima Sadek, Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic
2018 to present
“It was a scary time when the pandemic hit and Kenyon had to close the campus and transition to online teaching. However, if there's a more positive side to the uncertainties of the times being, as a new faculty, I was able to get work done and submit two articles for publication. Spending the summer in Gambier, proved to be very productive. Gambier and Kenyon were quiet during the summer, but also they felt safe and looked very beautiful and I remember feeling fortunate I got to spend my summer on the Hill. We forget how important it is too slow-down and spare time for self-reflection. Also, transitioning to online teaching and taking part in several workshops on this topic has helped me grow as a teacher. I learnt new technologies and strategies I plan to implement in my future classes whether in person or online. It was also very rewarding to see a student of mine who completed her honors capstone project in Arabic get her dream job in DC and start what is promised to be a very successful career.”