Podcast Interview with Alexander Wendt

In this episode of Trustees Without Borders, Dr. Alexander Wendt discusses the possibility of using quantum tools for refining empirical and theoretical social science, rethinking topics such as international relations and game theory, and enhancing our understanding of human agency, relational identity and entanglement. The interview compares quantum and classical systems regarding the conceptualization of consciousness and the mind-body relationship, material and quantum constructs, and how quantum models could help to overcome the divisions between the natural and social sciences. Dr. Wendt explains how more work is needed to quantize social science research to determine if quantum is, indeed, a revolutionary opportunity.

Alexander Wendt is Mershon Professor of International Security and Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University. He received his PhD in 1989 from the University of Minnesota, and before coming to OSU in 2004 had taught previously at Yale University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Chicago. Wendt is interested in philosophical aspects of social science, with special reference to international relations. He is the author of several well-known journal articles, as well as Social Theory of International Politics (Cambridge, 1999), which in 2006 received the International Studies Association award for “Best Book of the Decade” in the field. In the 2013 TRIP survey of 1400 International Relations scholars he was named as the most influential scholar in the field over the past 20 years. Wendt's recent book, Quantum Mind and Social Science (Cambridge, 2015), explores the implications for social science of the possibility that consciousness is a macroscopic quantum mechanical phenomenon – in effect, that human beings are walking wave functions. 

Interviewers: Nada Berrada, Ph.D. candidate in ASPECT; Linea Cutter, Ph.D. student in ASPECT; and Molly Todd, Ph.D. student in ASPECT at Virginia Tech

Podcast Interview with Roger Thurow

Faculty Forum with John Tedesco

John Tedesco is a professor in the School of Communication at Virginia Tech, where he teaches courses in public relations and political communication. His research focuses on candidate-controlled messages and their effects on media content and civic engagement. John's research appears in many of the fields leading journals, including Advertising, International Journal of Press and Politics, Journalism Studies, the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, and Government Information Quarterly. He has received research funding from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. State Department, British Economic and Social Research Council, and the Hungarian-American Fulbright Association.

Podcast Interview with Elizabeth LaPrelle

Elizabeth LaPrelle explores timeless truths about people and community through music. On this episode of Trustees Without Borders, LaPrelle discusses her creative practice of animating archival materials and the legacy of old-time music.

Elizabeth LaPrelle has been performing Appalachian ballads and old-time songs since she was eleven. Raised in Rural Retreat, VA, Elizabeth attended old-time fiddlers’ conventions and sang harmonies with her family, who taught her traditional singing styles and encouraged her to sing their favorite American folk music. She has developed her repertoire from neighbors like Jim Lloyd, under the tutelage of powerful female ballad singers like Ginny Hawker and Sheila Kay Adams, and from a wealth of field recordings of legendary singers from the mountains. Elizabeth received her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary with a major in Southern Appalachian Traditional Performance, and now tours the U.S. regularly, both performing and teaching.

Interviewers: C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, an artist, cultural organizer, and master’s degree candidate in Virginia Tech’s Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre’s: Directing & Public Dialogue programs, and Garland Mason, a PhD student in Agricultural Leadership, Community, and Education

Podcast Interview with Andrea Brunais

In this episode of Trustees Without Borders, author Andrea Brunais reflects on her new book, Hillbilly Drug Baby: The Story, a nonfiction account of the relationship that she and her husband, Hal, built with a young man named Jesse-Ray who had aged out of foster care and was struggling with substance use disorder. As Andrea and Hal learned more about Jesse-Ray’s abusive past, they served as mentors and friends hoping to cultivate his writing talents and support his recovery. Such a task proved challenging, and Andrea reflects on the experience and key insights gained.

Andrea Brunais is the Director of Communications for the Office of Outreach and International Affairs at Virginia Tech. She is also an award-winning author and editor with freelance work published in outlets such as the Christian Science Monitor, TravelPulse.com, DuPont Registry, and Appalachian Voice. Her most recent book is Hillbilly Drug Baby: The Story, chronicling the relationship that she and her husband, Hal, developed with a 19-year-old named Jesse-Ray who stayed in their “safe house” for about 6 months.

Interviewers: Lara Nagle, Community-Based Learning Projects Manager, and Laura Nelson, Ph.D. Candidate in Human Development and Family Science, both with the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance

Podcast Interview with Theresa Williamson

In this episode, Dr. Theresa Williamson discusses the mission of her NGO Catalytic Communities and how she seeks to change the stigma around Favelas and their impact on the Rio de Janeiro community.

Theresa Williamson is a city planner, founder, and executive director of Catalytic Communities, an NGO working since 2000 in support of Rio de Janeiro through Favela Community Land Trusts and sustainable networks. She is an outspoken advocate for the recognition of Favelas' residency right to be fully served as equal citizens. She has published several chapters for op-eds in the New York Times and cited in dozens of publications and television. Dr. Williamson received the 2012 National Association of Housing Rehabilitation and Redevelopment Officials Award for contributions to the International Housing Debate.

Interviewers: Vanessa Guerra, PhD candidate in Environmental Design and Planning; Lehi Dowell, PhD candidate in Planning, Governance, and Globalization

Presented in partnership with the Women and Minority Scholars Lecture Series, VT Language and Culture Institute.

Faculty Forum with Emily Satterwhite

In this episode, Emily Satterwhite discusses her role as a scholar, climate justice activist, and pipeline fighter. She explores the institutional response to a recent direct action she participated in to block the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Emily Satterwhite is an associate professor and the director of Appalachian Studies in the Department of Religion and Culture. Her book Dear Appalachia: Readers, Identity, and Popular Fiction since 1878 (2011) won the Weatherford Award for best nonfiction about Appalachia and the Phi Beta Kappa Sturm Award honoring excellent work that is recognized as significant by a wider audience.

Interviewers: Lara Nagle, Master's student in Urban and Regional Planning at Virginia Tech, and Neda Moayerian, PhD candidate in Virginia Tech's Planning, Governance & Globalization program

Faculty Forum with Todd Schenk

In this Faculty Forum event, Todd Schenk discusses his current work, which falls into three overlapping areas: 1) Collaborative governance, particularly in situations with high degrees of uncertainty, complexity, and institutional ambiguity; 2) Climate change adaptation, particularly as a governance challenge; and 3) Serious games as a tool for action research.

Dr. Todd Schenk is an Associate Professor in the Urban Affairs and Planning Program of the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech. He has extensive research and consulting experience working on environmental policy and planning, and collaborative governance issues in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Dr. Schenk received both a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Planning and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Guelph. He served as the Assistant Director of the MIT Science Impact Collaborative and held a research fellowship with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Dr. Schenk has also held positions with the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe and the Consensus Building Institute.

Interviewers: Emma Martin, Master's student in Urban and Regional Planning at Virginia Tech; Catherine Cotrupi, a PhD Student in Higher Education at Virginia Tech

Faculty Forum with Jordan Lacey

In this Faculty Forum, Virginia Tech Prof. Jordan Laney and her students in the Introduction to Appalachian Studies course explore community/power mapping, discuss the relationship of Freirean pedagogy with the course curricula and connect it to community engagement projects and Jordan's research more broadly.

Jordan Laney has been an active member of CCC, and is currently a Presidential Pathways Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow teaching in the Dept. of Religion and Culture, conducting research focused on gender within bluegrass, emergent alternative economies, and qualitative methods. At VT, she designed and taught the first bluegrass music courses for the humanities and a special topics course on the music of the (global) south.

Interviewers: Garland Mason, PhD student in Agricultural Leadership and Community Education; Colie Touzel, Master's student in Urban and Regional Planning

A Podcast Interview with Lee & Art Beltrone

In this episode, Art & Lee Beltrone shared how they first came to find Vietnam era graffiti and why they decided to work to share these messages from a different time. They also discuss how physical objects can come to embody stories and meaning far beyond what was intended.

Interviewers: Alex Stubberfield, PhD student in ASPECT & Will Muscik, Undergraduate Junior