Alumni Academy
Miss your Bobcat learning days? Ohio University is still here for you! Sign up for live, virtual sessions with OHIO faculty and alumni as part of the Alumni Association "Alumni Academy." You'll get exclusive access to faculty expertise, live Q&A, and the opportunity to build your network with other Bobcats -- all with convenient, online access no matter where you are!
What to Expect
As a member of the Fall 2022 class, you’ll access:
- Seven live virtual sessions, including time for a Q&A.
- An alumni giveaway for registering for at least three events.
- An alumni "swag" bag mailed to you if you attend ALL sessions live.
- Exclusive video recordings of the entire series in the Bobcat Network.
- Registration is required - seating is limited.
Alumni Academy Syllabus
History of U.S. First Ladies
Dr. Katherine Jellison, Professor of History
Tuesday | Oct. 25, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET
Dr. Katherine Jellison will discuss how most first ladies follow the four traditional archetypes: celebrity, controversial, reluctant, or political partner. As an expert in first ladies, Jellison frequently appears in print and on television and radio as a commentator on first ladies and their role in U.S. politics and history. She will provide her key insight on the role these women play, highlighting many of your favorite first ladies.
Katherine Jellison earned her Ph.D. at the University of Iowa, where she studied with one of the pioneers in the field of U.S. women’s history, Linda K. Kerber. She has received numerous research grants and fellowships, including awards from the Smithsonian Institution and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Jellison is the author of Entitled to Power: Farm Women and Technology, 1913-1963 (University of North Carolina Press, 1993), It’s Our Day: America’s Love Affair with the White Wedding, 1945-2005 (University Press of Kansas, 2008), and many journal articles and book chapters. She is currently working on a book about Old Order Amish women in the 1930s and 1940s. Jellison serves the Department of History as chairperson.
Supply Chains – Why your order has been delayed, again.
Dr. Ashley Metcalf, Director of Executive Education & Robert H. Freeman Associate Professor of Operations Management
Wednesday | Nov. 2, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET
The past couple of years have highlighted challenges in modern-day global supply chains. From toilet paper shortages to food supply disruptions, to delays from port congestion – we have seen it all! This session will cover current challenges in supply chains that are causing disruptions as well as strategies for mitigating supply chain risk and will include time for interaction and discussion around supply disruptions that you have experienced.
Dr. Ashley Metcalf has a background in chemical engineering with work experience in the management of high-volume manufacturing at Kraft Foods and determining the manufacturability of next-generation products in R&D at Johnson & Johnson. Prior to her position at Ohio University, Metcalf's doctoral work included process improvement in health care, specifically examining cost-reduction and value-creation process changes in hospital respiratory care services. Metcalf currently teaches courses in Operations Management and engages with hospitals nationwide on process improvement efforts.
VR, the Metaverse, and You: The Present and Future of Emerging Technologies
Dr. Charles P. ("Chip") Linscott, Associate Director of the J. Warren McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies
Wednesday | Nov. 9, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET
Charles P. ("Chip") Linscott Ph.D. teaches classes on virtual reality theory, history, criticism, and production in conjunction with the GRID Lab, at which he is also the audio specialist. His book project, Sonic Overlook: Blackness between Sound and Image, examines the ways in which sonicity intervenes in black visuality. Chip's writing has appeared in Black Camera, In Media Res, liquid blackness, ASAP/J, The Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, and the anthology At the Crossroads. Chip recently published a lengthy chapter on XR in the textbook Now Media (Routledge, 2021; a BEA 2022 Award-winning textbook) and two chapters in the book The Power of Virtual Reality Cinema for Healthcare Training (Routledge, 2022). He is on the editorial board of liquid blackness journal and has worked on VR grant projects totaling several million dollars in the last five years alone. Dr. Chip Linscott will discuss the rapid growth of virtual and augmented reality technologies. He will explain what the Metaverse is and how it appears poised to affect innumerable areas of human existence in the coming years.
Sustainable Energy and the Environment
Dr. Damilola A. Daramola, Assistant Professor; Assistant Director for Research ISEE
Tuesday | Nov. 15, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET
Dr. Damilola A. Daramola joined the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment in 2019 as the Assistant Director for Research, to execute research activity in electrocatalysis, process simulations and materials characterization. Prior to this role, he served as the Assistant Director for Business Development with the Center for Electrochemical Engineering Research for four years. In this role, he focused on developing industrial partnerships with the Center and responding to requests for proposals from governmental agencies. He is a two-time alumnus of Ohio University, obtaining both a B.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Russ College. Daramola has also been involved in leadership and mentoring activities at the Russ College serving as a Robe Leadership Institute Scholar and co-advisor of the National Society of Black Engineers (Ohio University Chapter).
Advance - The Appalachian Institute to Advance Health Equity Science
Dr. Berkeley Franz, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Community-based Health, Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O. Endowed Faculty Fellow in Population Health Science & Dr. Cory Cronin, Associate Professor, College of Health Sciences and Professions
Tuesday | Nov. 22, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET
Dr. Berkeley Franz and Dr. Cory Cornin will discuss Ohio University's new Appalachian Institute to Advance Health Equity Science (ADVANCE) which promotes research that contributes to the developing science of health equity and population health improvement through the study of health outcomes and services, as well as social factors that impact health.
Dr. Franz is a medical sociologist and health services researcher whose research and teaching focus on health disparities, child and adolescent health, population health, and substance abuse. Dr. Franz is an Associate Professor of Community-based Health at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Athens, Ohio, and Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O. Endowed Faculty Fellow in Population Health Science. Dr. Cronin has expertise in health care delivery and health care policy, with his research largely focusing on using quantitative data and administrative records to explore population health issues. He has particular interest in how health care organizations, policy, and environment promote or detract from health and health care access. In addition to teaching in Ohio University’s health services administration program, Cronin is active in initiatives to increase health care access throughout Southeast Ohio.
The Case for Ecotourism in Rural America
Dr. Bruce Martin, Department Chair, Professor, Recreation, Sport Pedagogy and Consumer Sciences
Tuesday | Nov. 29, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET
Can ecotourism play a role in revitalizing rural economies in America? Dr. Bruce Martin will examine ecotourism from a global perspective and apply knowledge learned and examples of success to rural economies, including Athens County, Ohio.
Dr. Bruce Martin holds the B.A. in History from Virginia Commonwealth University, the M.S. in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University and the M.S. in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University. He also holds the Ph.D. in Social Foundations of Education from the University of Virginia. Dr. Martin is a professor in the Department of Recreation, Sport Pedagogy and Consumer Sciences whose teaching and research interests are focused on the practice of outdoor leadership and psychosocial processes and outcomes related to adventure programming.
Behind the Scenes: Hotel Berry – A Tantrum Theater Production
Joshua Coy, Producing Director, Tantrum Theater
Tuesday | Dec. 6, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET
Join Josh Coy to learn about the development of Tantrum Theater’s newest production “Hotel Berry” which received a $10,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support a Tantrum Theater Community Commission.
This project supported the commission of a play by playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton in collaboration with the Mt. Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society of Athens and the College of Fine Arts' Tantrum Theater. The work centers on the historical experience of living within the Black community of Athens and within the Southeastern Appalachian Ohio region, and reveals the prominence of the Berry Hotel, the region's finest hotel owned by the town's only Black business owners, Edward and Mattie Berry. Coy will share about the history of the hotel, its owners, and the production of the play.
Josh Coy is an arts administrator, arts advocate, and performer whose most recent administrative roles prior to joining Tantrum Theater include Executive Director of the Wayne Center for the Arts, Executive Director of the Ohio Arts Presenters Network, and Director of Artists Programs at the Ohio Arts Council.