Challenge. Change.

Music major Brenna Moore ’24 takes us inside her summer internship at Acadia Recording Company, a studio based in Portland, Maine. Moore’s audio diary guides listeners as she sets up microphones and shadows the studio’s engineer during the mixing process. On this day, Moore was able to do something unique: record herself playing violin for an artist who uses the studio.

Moore finds inspiration everywhere when writing her own music — sometimes she puts on Spotify and just starts jamming. She’d considered other majors, but after some soul searching knew music was the right choice.

“I've been singing since I was a baby,” she says. “Music is my life. It's everything to me.”

In this episode of Challenge. Change., we talk to Christopher Davey, the Charles E. Scheidt visiting assistant professor of genocide studies and genocide prevention at Clark University’s Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, about encouraging students to navigate difficult topics through discourse.

Students in Davey’s Mass Atrocity Prevention in Theory and Practice course last spring created podcasts that explored the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in detecting potential atrocity, what genocide is and how to prevent it, and the role of state vs. non-state actors in perpetuating mass violence. In this episode, you’ll hear clips from Tom Atwood ’24, Ezra Schrader ’24, Aedan Achilles ’24, Mackenzie Sullivan ’25, Penelope Kogan ’22, M.A. ’23, and Nico Resnik ’24.

Davey recommends that listeners interested in his area of research read “The Wasted Vigil” by Nadeem Aslam, a fiction work about the interconnections of war and its impact in Afghanistan; “Congo: The Epic History of a People” by David Van Reybrouck, the essential reader on Congo; and “Devil on the Cross” by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenyan fiction on the impact of capitalism post-independence.

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson and Andrew Hart for Clark University. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

It was during his undergraduate years at Clark University that Jonathan Hack '09 realized he wanted to understand the processes and behind-the-scenes conversations that lead to judicial decisions. Hack, now director of content & strategy for the Justice, Health, and Democracy Impact Initiative out of Harvard University, followed that curiosity and got a Ph.D. focused on American politics, specifically judicial behavior and decision-making. In this episode, Hack shares insight into the general categories that influence judicial decision-making and the balance needed for "good judging." The conversation comes as the country waits for a Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, following a rare leak of a draft opinion.

We want to note that views expressed by Hack in this episode are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the president and fellows of Harvard.

During this episode, Hack referenced the books "Crafting Law on the Supreme Court" by Forrest Maltzman, James F. Spriggs, Paul J. Wahlbeck and "How Judges Think" by Richard A. Posner.

Learn more about political science at Clark

In this episode, Ousmane Power-Greene, a history professor and the program director of Africana Studies at Clark University, says the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday is a good starting point, but the day must include honest and open conversations about the current state of racial and social justice in America. He also discusses his course From Black Power to Black Lives Matter, where students explored the impact of the BLM movement across the U.S.

Learn more about a concentration in Africana Studies at Clark.

Days after the deadly 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School, Peter Langman '84 found himself working with a teen who was considered a "Columbine-type risk." Since then, the psychologist has been studying school shooters and researching ways to prevent these attacks. After 19 students and two teachers were killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Langman tells us why school districts must make easy, accessible ways for students, teachers, and the public to report threats.

Find resources and learn more about Langman's work at schoolshooters.info.

At Clark University's 118th Commencement, more than 1,000 degrees were conferred to students who were urged to move forward with confidence and have the moral clarity to make courageous and meaningful decisions. Commencement speaker Mary Frances Berry, a renowned scholar and civil rights activist, told graduates they have an obligation to contribute to society. Listen to highlights of the celebration, including remarks from President David B. Fithian '87 and student speakers Erica Pellegrino '21, '22 and Julia Chun '22, '23. 

Learn more about Clark University.

Clark University economics professor Edouard Wemy is keeping a close eye on his budget, like the rest of the country. As America grapples with inflation, Wemy explains why the Fed raises the interest rate, what that means for consumers, and what factors will dictate how the economy fluctuates through the rest of the year.

Learn more about economics at Clark.

Ed Greig, a student at Clark University's Becker School of Design and Technology, explores the PAX East gaming convention with a recorder, asking game developers and Clark Professor Ezra Cove about what makes a great game. PAX East is the largest gaming convention on the East Coast and gives students a chance to elicit feedback on the games they're designing in class. Greig is a rising senior majoring in interactive media/game design & development.

David B. Fithian ’87 was formally invested as Clark University's 10th president during a ceremony at Mechanics Hall in downtown Worcester on April 30. In his inaugural address, Fithian spoke about “higher altitude” at Clark, remarking on the way the University bolsters its students, faculty, and staff to achieve goals and create change. Special guests included world-renowned philanthropist and co-founder of The Carlyle Group, David Rubenstein.

Read more about the inaugural ceremony and the academic symposium held in celebration of the weekend.

Ora Szekely, associate professor of political science at Clark, discusses Russian militaristic behaviors in the Syrian civil war and explains how studying these behaviors may provide insight into the current war in Ukraine.

Szekely's research focuses on the foreign and domestic policies of nonstate and protostate military actors (rebel groups, guerrillas, insurgents, etc.,) in the Middle East.