Ping Institute Projects
The Ping Institute runs many ongoing initiatives that promote the Humanities their engagement with other disciplines both on campus and within our wider community, and it works to develop new projects in pursuit of these goals.
One of the Institute鈥檚 greatest successes was the creation of the Bruning Teaching Academy, which it founded with the help of a grant from the Konneker Fund. In the Teaching Academy twelve untenured faculty are paired with 12 award-winning faculty to discuss the teaching of undergraduates. The directors of the Academy are Drs. Bill Condee, Linda Rice, and Raymond Frost. The pairs of faculty members visit each other鈥檚 classes and meet weekly to discuss specific issues. The entire group meets in a focused plenary session every three weeks where they also have the opportunity to talk about issues of interest to the whole group.
Another primary goal of the Institute is to support high school teachers by offering each year a program of one-day workshops that bring teachers to campus to discuss subjects relevant to the teaching of the Humanities. For each workshop, the Ping Institute recruits a member of the University faculty to offer a workshop in their area of expertise. When possible, these workshops coincide with events on campus, such as larger conferences or theater productions. The workshops provide teachers with engaging seminar-style discussions with top faculty, opportunities to connect with other teachers in the region, and provide contact hours to support teacher accreditation. A selection of recent Ping Institute Workshops includes
- Spring 2014 鈥 鈥As You Like It in Performance鈥 with Samuel Crowl, Jill Ingram, and Shelley Delaney
- Fall 2014 鈥 鈥淟andscape and Community: Utopian Approaches to Healing鈥 with Katherine Ziff and Jessica Cyders
- Spring 2015 鈥 鈥淭he Case of the Novel Novelist: One Mystery Writer鈥檚 Journey鈥 with Andrew Welsh-Huggins
- Fall 2015 鈥 鈥Much Ado About Nothing in Performance鈥 with Samuel Crowl
- Spring 2016 鈥 鈥淔rom Page to Stage: The Process of Writing Plays鈥 with Charles Smith and Erik Ramsey
- Fall 2016 鈥 鈥淐oal and Culture in Appalachia鈥 with Geoff Buckley
- Spring 2017 鈥 鈥淭olkien鈥檚 Middle Ages鈥 with Mary Kate Hurley
- Fall 2017 鈥 鈥淯nelected Leaders: America鈥檚 First Ladies鈥 with Katherine Jellison
- Spring 2018 鈥 鈥淛ulie Taymor鈥檚 Film of A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream鈥 with Samuel Crowl
- Fall 2018 鈥 鈥淭alk the Walk: Using Positive and Strengths-Based Language鈥 with Ashwini Ganeshan and Geneva Murray
- Spring 2019 鈥 鈥淭he Literature, History, and Propaganda of Women鈥檚 Suffrage鈥 with Carey Snyder and Katherine Jellison
- Spring 2019 鈥 鈥Romeo and Juliet in Performance鈥 with Samuel Crowl
- Fall 2020 鈥 鈥淢ingling of Tragedy and Triumph: True Tales from Within and Beyond the Heartland鈥 with Linda Rice
- Spring 2020 鈥 鈥淪ettling Ohio: First Nations and Beyond鈥 with many professors hosted by Brian Schoen
In addition to its program of one-day workshops, each summer the Ping Institute offers a three-day Summer Institute for high school teachers. These events provide high school teachers with opportunities to explore Humanities-based interdisciplinary topics in greater depth, often with two or more University faculty. Teachers usually stay in Athens for the event, providing them opportunities to connect with other high school teachers, engage in seminar-style discussions with top University faculty, and acquire contact hours to support their teaching accreditation. Recent summer institutes include:
- Summer 2014 鈥 鈥淩emembering Nazi Germany: Two Women鈥檚 Memoirs鈥 with Lois Vines and Marie Claire Wrage
- Summer 2015 鈥 鈥淭he Mahabharata: India鈥檚 Great Epic鈥 with Brian Collins and Vishwa Adluri
- Summer 2016 鈥 鈥淎 Global Perspective on Islam鈥 with Loren Lybarger, Linda Rice, and Assan Sarr
- Summer 2017 鈥 鈥淏ook History from Gutenberg to Google鈥 with Miriam Intrator, Joe McLaughlin, and Nicole Reynolds
- Summer 2018 鈥 鈥淩emembering the Great War鈥 with Nicole Reynolds, David Curp, and Cyrus Moore
- Summer 2019 鈥 鈥淭eaching (with) Video Games鈥 with Edmond Chang
The Ping Institute also promotes opportunities for 51社区 faculty to come together to engage in interdisciplinary discussions to build connections across departments. In addition to regular receptions where faculty can come together for informal events to meet their colleges and build bridges across disciplines, the Institute hosts a Faculty Seminar each year, in which a prominent figure involved in the Humanities is invited to campus to discuss a text with a group of 20-25 University faculty members. Recent faculty seminars have included:
- March 2014 鈥 鈥淪creen Adaptations: Hamlet鈥 with Samuel Crowl of 51社区.
- Nov. 2014 鈥 鈥淓ducation, Justice and Democracy鈥 with Danielle Allen of Princeton University.
- Nov. 2015 鈥 鈥淎frican Healing and the Intellectual History of the Atlantic World鈥 with James Sweet of the University of Wisconsin.
- March 2017 鈥 鈥淧ublic Theologies of Belonging and Governance鈥 with Nukhet Sandal of 51社区.
- March 2018 鈥 鈥淎n Evening with Appalachian Novelist Robert Gipe鈥 with novelist Robert Gipe of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College.
- April 2019 鈥 鈥淭he Humanities in Everyday Life鈥 with Michael Levenson of the University of Virginia.
Looking to the future, the Ping Institute seeks to maintain its current initiatives while generating ideas for new ways to support the Humanities both on campus and in the community. Those interested in the Humanities are encouraged to watch the webpage or find the institute on social media to keep updated as new initiatives are developed and introduced.