Scholarly work by faculty members doesn’t stop just because it’s summer break. For some, it’s just a chance for a change of scenery.
A number of faculty swapped their K-card for a passport and an opportunity to teach or study abroad, temporarily continuing their academic pursuits in places like Iceland, Great Britain, France and Spain.
Here are some messages sent from them over the summer and photos highlighting their important work in fascinating locales.
Dear Kenyon,
I led and participated in an academic writer’s retreat for a week at Harlaxton Manor in England this summer. There, I collaborated in real time with my two co-authors to submit a manuscript on deadline(!). We analyzed a census of all published legal cases involving trans inmates suing for being denied gender-affirming care while incarcerated. We found that state-level anti-transgender legislation emerged as a predictor of judicial decisions denying trans plaintiffs access to gender affirming care while incarcerated.
— Maggie
Greetings from the UK!
Eric and I just spent a wonderful week at a writing retreat at Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, England. Away from everyday distractions and fueled by pub crawls and evening walks through the English countryside, I finally cracked a number-theoretic proof that had been stumping me for months. Apparently, complicated mathematics is much easier to solve in a grand 19th-century stately home! Eric was busy prepping his geographic information science course and applying GIS spatial analytical tools to the surfaces of fossil specimens as part of a joint research project with Summer Science Scholar Aidan Dunfee ’28. Now we are in Edinburgh, trading manors for castles, closes and cafes. Of course, Eric is enjoying the rocks everywhere we go. We look forward to returning to campus soon!
— Judy and Eric
Dear Kenyon,
Hello from Japan!! I am here with two Kenyon interns — one works with me at Up&Coming gallery in Tokyo and the other works at ANOMALY, a commercial gallery in Tokyo! I am exhibiting a group show titled “Motherhood” with other artists who are also mothers and show artwork to reflect realities that emerge between being a mother and being an artist. I also visited Kijimagaira, Nagano, Japan and went through a whole process of traditional papermaking, Uchiyama washi! I will teach papermaking at Kenyon next semester with a visiting artisan, Satoko Ueno! So excited to share this experience with Kenyon students!
— Manami
Dear Kenyon,
Greetings from Iceland! I’m working with human remains from 10th-12th century Christian cemeteries in the Skagafjörður region of North Iceland. My work is part of a larger multidisciplinary project funded by the NSF project exploring life in the Viking Age and medieval times. We’re a team of scholars from Iceland and the United States with permissions from descendant communities and the Icelandic government. I’m currently writing about what human teeth can tell us about diet and daily life. The take-home message is that lots of dairy and fewer carbs lead to very few cavities, but lots of calculus! Stay tuned for our future publication!
— Kimmarie
Dear Kenyon,
Greetings from Durham, England! I am visiting Durham University to study quantum optics, or the optics of single photons. We cool atoms to near absolute zero and excite their electrons to huge orbits. These massive atoms can store and manipulate single photons. We can even make two photons interact, a strange phenomenon that may enable a new type of ultrafast computer operating on the principles of quantum physics. I’ve also enjoyed travel with my family. We met two Kenyon parents while hiking — one along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England and one in Flam, Norway. The Kenyon connection is truly global!
— Aaron
Dear Kenyon,
Greetings from Madrid! Thanks to the generosity of Kenyon alumni, we were thrilled to take 15 rising sophomores and juniors to Spain for eight days in May! The students had just finished the intensive introductory Spanish course last academic year and were eager to try out their Spanish in real situations! They also found they loved Goya's black paintings, Islamic architecture, croquetas and the Eurovision song contest as we tried to challenge their concepts of what is normal and what is merely cultural. Kenyon students are the best and made the most of this amazing opportunity!!
— Dan and Kate
Dear Kenyon,
This summer, I visited our collaborators at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland for three weeks. We studied damage and recovery of the peripheral nervous system in zebrafish and collected beautiful images using their powerful microscopy systems. I was joined by three Kenyon Summer Science students, Beija Waltmunson ’27, Lex Kelly ’28, and Shoshana Marcus ’28. We had fun with our host, Prof. David Lyons, both in the lab and out!
See you in the fall,
— Sarah
Dear Kenyon,
This is me after a long, hot week at the Biennial New Chaucer Society conference in Freiburg! Temperatures were in the high 90s, and none of the academic buildings were air-conditioned. I discovered to my delight that the locals head to the river in the evenings and sit with their feet in the water, chatting and picnicking while they cool off. Instant refreshment!
My paper at the conference was about AI-generated poetry and whether Kenyon English majors can tell the difference between poems written by humans and poems written by machines. (Spoiler alert: results are mixed.) I saw fascinating papers on the post-medieval history of Chaucer's Tabard Inn, Chaucer's Wife of Bath as an "enchanted subject," and, from Kenyon's own Laurie Finke H’23 P’09 (professor emerita of gender and sexuality studies), a wonderful paper on medieval heritage tourism and the restoration of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
— Rosemary
Dear Kenyon,
I have been in Paris at the Institut de Paléontologie Humaine studying Neanderthal stone tools. The picture is the entrance to the institute with a bas relief of the La Chappelle-aux-Saints Neanderthal skull found in 1908. I have been analyzing 90,000-year-old tools for residues related to use. Among other things, I have found evidence of fish processing as well as possible evidence of string and weaving. Don’t underestimate those Neanderthals!
— Bruce