UChicago writer Ling Ma received 2024 MacArthur Fellowship
Ling Ma, AB’05, an award-winning University of Chicago fiction writer renowned for prose that highlights the similarities between the fantastical and the everyday, has been awarded a 2024 MacArthur Fellowship.
Given each year by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the prestigious grants recognize individuals from across disciplines who show “exceptional originality in and dedication to their creative pursuits.” Fellows receive $800,000 stipends to use as they see fit.
“I am amazed that strangers who have read my work decided to nominate or recommend my fiction,” Ma said. “For someone who spends most of their days alone, that's pretty unbelievable.”
Meet the Staff: Margot Browning
More than 100 staff members work in the Division of the Humanities. We’ll introduce you to our staff in this continuing series.
Margot Browning
Associate Director, Franke Institute for the Humanities
Lecturer, Humanities Collegiate Division
What do you like most about your job?
I like the diversity of it. First of all, it is the many departments in the Humanities Division, and the widely ranging specializations in each department, like a continuously moving kaleidoscope of ideas and activities. And second, I enjoy the diversity of projects at the Franke Institute—from the Franke Fellows and Grants to Every Wednesday to the Bulletin to the website. At the core of these projects is providing arenas—in person or online—where people and ideas mix.
What was the last good book you read?
The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values by Brian Christian, who's a computer scientist as well as a poet and philosopher. Christian interviewed dozens of current AI researchers who have developed new AI capabilities—and then find themselves trying to solve unanticipated problems that emerge. For example, it turns out that the datasets that are used to train AIs are biased, so the AI outputs are biased too—reflecting the racism and sexism of our human world. How can we define and communicate human values, so that machine learners are aligned in their problem-solving to novel outcomes that are truly beneficial?
You might work with me if...
Your department has a faculty member or graduate student awarded a Franke Fellowship, or they're developing a proposal for a Franke grant, or they've received a Franke grant. Or about a course in the Big Problems capstone curriculum (a collaboration between the Franke Institute and the College), we might exchange information for the Registrar or the College catalog.
What topic could you give an hour-long presentation on with little to no preparation?
Prof. Philip V. Bohlman to address complexity of "doing good" through music during Humanities Day keynote
A pioneering ethnomusicologist, Prof. Philip V. Bohlman seeks to reveal how music helps human beings deal with critical ideas and look at crucial problems in migration globally. He uses a multidisciplinary approach in which ethnography, historical research and music performance intersect. His work in ethnomusicology spans multiple languages and continents.
“Ethnomusicologists study world music, which often occurs in places where human societies are in danger such as borderlands for migrants,” said Bohlman, the Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor and artistic director of the New Budapest Orpheum Society in the Department of Music at UChicago. “Music crosses borderlands and can connect people.”
New human rights track offers MA students new opportunities for learning
With deepening conflicts in the region, human rights are central to the study of the modern Middle East. As a result, the UChicago Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) has added a new track for the study of human rights to its two-year master’s program in partnership with the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights, starting in 2024‒2025.
“At this moment in the political landscape, no one can discuss the Middle East without talking about human rights,” said Kathleen Cavanaugh, executive director of the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights and senior instructional professor in the College at UChicago.
Acclaimed UChicago composer's new orchestral composition debuts at the New York Philharmonic
During her lessons, Thomas discusses her students’ work and offers her thoughts such as “this chord is fantastic,” or “the rhythmic syntax needs to be different because the tension dips.” She describes every lesson with her students as different but extremely engaging.
“We often discuss the way incredibly detailed moments can impact the entire formal trajectory of a piece, and vice versa,” said Justin Weiss, a UChicago PhD student in Music. “In her music, I feel such a strong sense of formal trajectory and clarity, yet each note is so clearly crafted.”
Meet the Staff: Hyeonjin Schubert
More than 100 staff members work in the Division of the Humanities. We’ll introduce you to our staff in this continuing series.
Hyeonjin Schubert
Center Administrator
Center for East Asian Studies
What do you like most about your job?
I enjoy working with amazing colleagues every day and the lively environment at UChicago. I also love interacting with our faculty and students through the various public events, conferences, and seminars we organize on campus year-round. I have the opportunity to travel and support the Center at the Association for Asian Studies annual conference. These experiences not only help me grow as a professional administrator but also keep my workday interesting and fulfilling
What was the last good book you read?
A good friend of mine recommended a book called Pachinko, so I borrowed the book from her and read it in one sitting. The novel, written by Korean- American author Min Jin Lee, starts with the line, "History failed us but no matter." It follows several generations of a Korean family living in Japan from the early 20th century to the 1980s. While you can watch it as a TV drama on Apple TV, I highly recommend reading the book first. It’s profoundly moving and inspirational, and I found myself deeply empathizing with the immigrants' struggles depicted through the main and supporting characters.
You might work with me if …
If you’re a graduate or undergraduate student interested in East Asian studies or are doing any research related to East Asia. I’m here to help connect you with the right people for our film library, outreach opportunities, grants and fellowships, and East Asian-related resources on and off campus in Chicago. I also work closely with the university’s payroll and HR departments to hire and place student workers and process payments and reimbursements.
What is your favorite holiday, and how do you usually celebrate it?
Robyn Schiff's epic poem 'Information Desk' draws critical acclaim
When Prof. Robyn Schiff sat at the information desk at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, she felt as if, “I was living my life at the center of the world.” Nearly 30 years later, Schiff transformed her experiences into an epic poem, expertly weaving its collections of visual art and connections to the world into her life’s journey, material world and imagination.
For "Information Desk: An Epic" (2023), Schiff recently received the 2024 Four Quartets Prize from the Poetry Society of America. The international Prize celebrates multipart poems, with the winner receiving $20,000. Previous recipients of the Four Quartets Prize include Courtney Faye Taylor, John Murillo and Dante Micheaux.
The valuable role video games play in the classroom
Do video games belong in the classroom?
It may sound counterproductive to learning, but experts say the right games can help students stay engaged and learn about history, science, math and more.
A 2019 study from Carnegie Mellon University found that nearly 75% of teachers have used digital game-based learning in their lesson plans.