The Institute Podcast

In this episode, IAH director Patricia Parker and former IAH interim director Elizabeth Olson catch up on each of their past academic years and look forward to the year ahead at Hyde Hall.

Music professor David Garcia joins the podcast to share about his research in ethnomusicology, and his current project, Border Crossings: Latin U.S. History We Weren't Taught. 

Note: This contains an excerpt of the upcoming podcast episode, "Battle of Los Angeles," and includes audio from protests that contain loud noises including flash bangs.

In this 2024 episode, Zachary Smith Distinguished Term Associate Professor and director of graduate admissions in the department of music Andrea Bohlman (FFP ’27) speaks about her research as well as her Summer International Research Grant.

Look out for a new episode of The Institute, featuring Robin March Hanes Distinguished Professor of Music David Garcia, coming to this podcast and iah.unc.edu soon.

Associate professor of classics Suzanne Lye (FFP '24) joins the podcast to discuss her unique career journey, her approach to teaching, and her experience leading the Institute's Faculty of Color and Indigenous Faculty Group, which is open to all.

In this 2021 episode, associate professor of classics Hérica Valladares (FFP ’21) discusses the importance of classics and her research project regarding the material culture of domestic Ancient Rome.

Stay tuned for a new interview with associate professor of classics Suzanne Lye, coming to this podcast and iah.unc.edu soon.

American studies professor Michelle Robinson (FFP ’18, ’21) returns in the latest episode of The Institute podcast. We follow up on her ongoing research on evangelist Billy Graham. Recently, she has also taught and spoken on the ethics of comedy.

Robinson connects how her research intersect – to her experiences with religious revivals as led by Graham, or experiences within comedy – are communal by nature.

In this 2018 episode, Michelle Robinson (FFP ’18, ALP ’21) discusses her book on Billy Graham and her research on stand-up comedy.

Stay tuned for a new interview with Robinson, coming to this podcast and iah.unc.edu soon.

On March 24, 2026, poet Ada Limón will deliver the 78th Weil Lecture on American Citizenship, hosted by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ahead of her visit to Chapel Hill, Limón talks about her work as the U.S. Poet Laureate and the themes of her upcoming lecture titled "The Invitation: Gathering Courage from the Natural World."

Learn more about the lecture at go.unc.edu/m5C2Z

Interim Director Elizabeth Olson interviews scholar Stéphane Gerson, who is our speaker for the 2026 Mary Stevens Reckford Memorial Lecture in European Studies.

History professor Kathleen DuVal (FFP ’13, ’22) returns to the podcast to discuss her research journey, her feature in Ken Burns' "The American Revolution" documentary, and her approach to telling historical stories.