History Professor Kate Brown has been awarded an American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Collaborative Research Fellowship to study the long-term effects of low doses of radiation on human health in the context of the Chernobyl disaster nearly three decades ago. Brown will be working with Timothy Mousseau, an evolutionary biologist at the University of South Carolina.

The two scholars, with Brown providing the humanist perspective and Mousseau the scientist perspective, will collaborate to explore how knowledge and ignorance of the impact of the disaster has been produced over the last thirty years. The project will aim to historically analyze three decades of scientific research on Chernobyl and Fukushima to highlight the known and debated impact on humans, animals, and plants from long term, low dose exposure to radiation. The research comes at a time when nuclear power is being discussed as a solution to climate change and energy independence.

The project, titled Chernobyl Revisited: An Historical Inquiry into the Practice of Knowing, will run for two years. For more information on the ACLS Collaborative Research Fellowship program, click here.

In related news, Brown published an op-ed on January 21 in Time that discussed nuclear waste cleanup at the Hanford plutonium plant in eastern Washington State. In her article, she analyzed why the cleanup has been such a prolonged, difficult problem to deal with: “…the former Hanford plutonium plant became the largest nuclear clean-up site in the western hemisphere. It costs taxpayers a billion dollars a year,” she wrote.

To read the full column titled “How the Atomic Age Left Us a Half-Century of Radioactive Waste,” click here.

Kimberly Moffitt, an Associate Professor of American Studies, appeared on twice on WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show earlier this month to discuss race and representation in film and advertising.

On January 8, Moffitt participated in an engaging discussion about the recent films Annie, Exodus, and Top Five, and her personal experience viewing the film Annie with her daughter: “This is a film that really resonates with her, and I think it has a lot to do with us listening to our children that they want to see themselves reflected in society and here is a perfect opportunity for that to happen.”

Moffitt participated in the discussion along with Ray Winbush, Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University. To listen to the full segment, click here.

On January 16, Moffitt participated in a discussion on race and representation in Selma, the Golden Globes, and other topics with Kalima Young, Director of the Baltimore Art + Justice Project.

The segment began with a discussion on Ava DuVernay, the director of Selma: “I appreciate her voice and I’m happy that she’s at the table making a stance and telling stories through her lens because it’s not a lens or a set of eyes that we often get to see films through,” Moffitt said. To listen to the full segment, click here.

Christopher Corbett, English, recently penned an essay reflecting on the harsh winter months in Baltimore Style.

In the piece, Corbett decries January as the most unloved month, calling it the season of remorse. He writes, “January is really about winter, the bleak midwinter spoken of in the poem and hymn… I do not believe anyone enjoys January. We endure it.”

Click here to read “In the Bleak Midwinter.”