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About Alexis Boylan

Alexis L. Boylan is the director of academic affairs of the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute (UCHI) and an associate professor with a joint appointment in the Art and Art History Department and the Africana Studies Institute

Alexis L. Boylan is the director of academic affairs of the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute (UCHI) and an associate professor with a joint appointment in the Art and Art History Department and the Africana Studies Institute

NBN Episodes hosted by Alexis:

Why We Argue April 6, 2023

Seeing Truth in Physics

A Conversation with Professor of Physics Stephon Alexander

Stephon Alexander

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Stephon Alexander talks about a better way of thinking about the interconnections between music, physics, and creativity and how as someone often seen as “outside” the field, he has found …
Why We Argue March 23, 2023

Seeing Truth in the Climate Crisis

A Conversation with Artist Alexis Rockman about Art and the Environment

Alexis Rockman

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Feeling bad about the environment? You should. Artist Alexis Rockman talks about his art, the potential for real change, and his ongoing relationship with the American Museum of Natural History …
Why We Argue March 9, 2023

Seeing Truth in the Lab

A Conversation with Professor Max Liboiron on Taking Control and Leveraging Science for Justice

Max Liboiron

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Max Liboiron founder of Environmental Action Research (CLEAR), a feminist, anti-colonial laboratory talks about making better science and how they aren’t interested in dismantling the masters house (because who cares …
Why We Argue February 23, 2023

Seeing Truth in Photographs

A Conversation with Artist Penelope Umbrico about Democracy, Tyranny, and Pinterest

Penelope Umbrico

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Artist Penelope Umbrico talks about her work, images as currency, and how technology and various platforms herd images. And is photography tyrannical? Umbrico has some thoughts. Learn more about the …
Why We Argue February 9, 2023

Seeing Truth in the Archives

A Conversation about the AMNH and What Gets Saved with Joel Sweimler

Joel Sweimler

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Joel Sweimler, Exhibition Specialist at the American Museum of Natural History, talks about his career at the museum, working on Seeing Truth, and what his favorite object in the collection …
Why We Argue January 26, 2023

Seeing Truth in Museums

A Conversation about the Legacy and Future of Museums with Chris Newell

Chris Newell

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Feeling down about museums? We have so many reasons to, but Chris Newell, Tribal Community Member-in-Residence at UConn and Director of Education at the Akomawt Educational Initiative, gives a dose …
Why We Argue January 12, 2023

Seeing Truth in the Speculative

A Conversation with Dexter Gabriel

Dexter Gabriel

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Historian and author Dexter Gabriel talks about his relationship to truth and memory in his fiction and non-fiction writing. Come for his thoughts on what truth we can find in …
Why We Argue December 29, 2022

Seeing Truth in Picturing the Pandemic

A Conversation about Sight, Archives, and Shaping Memory with Sarah Willen

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Professor Sarah Willen talks about her part in creating the Pandemic Journaling Project and how that has morphed into a series of visual exhibitions that emphasis how we all can …
Why We Argue December 15, 2022

Seeing Truth in Variability, Creativity, and Building Biological Collections

A Conversation with Bernard Goffinet and Eric Schultz

Bernard Goffinet and Eric Schultz

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
In this episode, scientists speak back to ideas about collection building, knowledge making, and the role of art and creativity in research. Bernard Goffinet and Eric Schultz, professors in the …
Why We Argue December 1, 2022

Seeing Truth in Plant Humanities

A Conversation with Romita Ray

Valerie Hegarty

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Art historian Romita Ray has long puzzled power, visual culture, and how knowledge moves globally. Currently writing about tea, we talk with Ray about botany, picking tea, archives, and the …
November 17, 2022

Seeing Truth in Making and Unmaking Art

A Conversation with Valerie Hegarty

Valerie Hegarty

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Artist Valerie Hegarty like to rip things up, twist them, distort them, and then leave audiences to ponder the results of her violence against imagery. Join us for a conversation …
Why We Argue November 3, 2022

Seeing Truth in Collections, Memory and Death Studies

A Conversation with Jane Wildgoose

Jane Wildgoose

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Jane Wildgoose claims she just expanded a beachcomber’s collection but in fact her Wildgoose Memorial Library is a subversive infiltration into the nature of display, memory, knowledge building. Join us …
Why We Argue October 20, 2022

Seeing Truth in Data

A Conversation with Wendy Chun

Wendy Chun

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Wendy Hui Kyong Chun sees value in the truth, but worries what data we might be looking at to find it. Chun discusses her new book, Discriminating Data (MIT Press …