In this episode of the BG Ideas podcast, we’ll be sitting down with Dr. Bill Mullen, a renowned scholar and professor of African American Literature and American Studies. As the author of James Baldwin: Living in Fire, Dr. Mullen believes Baldwin is more than a liberal figure: he was a radical revolutionary. Listen how he explains Baldwin’s suggestion that racism and homophobia harm not only those who suffer perpetration, but also the perpetrators themselves. Finally, Dr. Mullen discusses the relationship between class and race within academia, with an emphasis on Baldwin’s thoughts on this matter. Did you know that James Baldwin taught at BGSU? Listen to this episode to find out more!

In this new episode of BG Ideas, Dr. Valeria Grinberg Pla sits down with previous ICS director Dr. Jolie Sheffer and founding director Dr. Vivian Patraka to look back on the foundation of ICS in 1996 and what ICS means today. As founding director, Dr. Patraka built ICS from the ground up and through many challenges saw how it evolved from an idea to a desk and a copy machine, to now a public humanities center. Listen along, as Dr. Sheffer shares her motivation to introduce the ICS internship program, allowing students to build research, communication, and media production skills while working for ICS. Find out how the BG Ideas Podcast fits into the mission of ICS as a public humanities center, and how both, Dr. Patraka and Dr. Sheffer envision the future of the institute.

A transcript for this episode can be found here.

In this episode of the BG Ideas Podcast hosted by Halima Lul Ali, a graduate research assistant with ICS, we’ll be sitting down with Dr. Erik Garabaya Casado, a teaching professor of Spanish at BGSU’s World Languages and Cultures department, as he discusses the future of language learning in relation to the rise of generative AI. Listen along as Dr. Garabaya explains how generative AI can help raise critical language awareness. Also, find out why he has an open mind when it comes to translanguaging. Dr. Garabaya also brings light to how teachers can navigate discussions about dialects and how they are stigmatized by English and Spanish speakers alike, as well as by Large Language Models. Finally, dive into students' surprising responses to AI’s integration into language classes and what the future of language learning will look like at the college level if generative AI continues to grow in popularity amongst teachers.

A transcript for this episode can be found here.

In this new eye-opening episode of the BG Ideas podcast we’llbe sitting down with Bowling Green State University Associate Professor of History Dr. Rebecca Mancuso as she engages in the shocking—but much needed—conversation on hazing in Northwest Ohio. Following her ICS Faculty Fellowship Public Talk, How Many Times Can You Learn That Lesson? A History of Hazing at an Ohio Public University, 1920-2000, Dr. Mancuso’s research shines a light on an issue that most want to deny and aims to prevent harm to future students.

If you would like to know more about Dr. Mancuso and her research, you can read about it here in the Sentinel-Tribune:

https://www.sent-trib.com/2026/03/15/history-of-hazing-is-faculty-fellowship-talk-topic/

A transcript for this episode can be found here.

This episode of the BG Ideas podcast features Dr. Olga Sanz Casasnovas and Dr. Pedro Porbén, professors of Spanish at BGSU’s World Languages and Cultures Department, as they discuss the significance of José Lezama Lima’s first novel Paradiso 60 years after its publication. Listen along, as they examine how the protagonist, José Cemí, breaks the mold for expectations of Cuban men at that time and how Paradiso challenges its readers with the concept of “otherness.” As the conversation unfolds, our guests also share the novel’s history of controversy and censorship due to Cemí’s exploration of his sexuality.

A transcript for this episode can be found here.

In this special episode of the BG Ideas podcast, we celebrate 30 years of the Institute for the Study of Culture and Society (ICS) and seven years of the BG Ideas podcast itself. To celebrate, ICS Director Dr. Valeria Grinberg Pla takes us back to several discussions, speakers and topics from rethinking human potential to our justice system and how individuals can spark change to capture what ICS wants to achieve: Sparking meaningful conversations and change in the communities we serve and allowing ideas to come from anywhere, not just the classroom. Stay tuned for part 2 as Dr. Grinberg Pla covers even more conversations and topics that are important to ICS’s core values and mission.

Anything we missed? Send your thoughts our way at ics@BGSU.edu and see if your suggestion gets featured on part 2.

To keep up on current ICS happenings you can follow us on:

Instagram (@ICSBGSU)

TikTok (@ICSBGSU)

Facebook (@BGSUICS)

LinkedIn (@ICSBGSU)

A transcript for this episode can be found here.

In this episode of BG Ideas, we welcome Rosemarie Poiarkov, Max Kade Writer in Residence in Fall 2025 at Bowling Green State University, where she was also featured in the Prout Chapel Reading Series. Throughout the episode we discuss how literature affects imagination and listening throughout society. Follow along, as she discusses the importance of listening in literature and the way that different perspectives can impact a story. Thinking about how we change as we grow older, she reflects on how in her different novels, youth novels and stories, she articulates that perspective shift. Rosemarie dives into the 1968 student movement in France and what that means for literature. Want to know more about Rosemarie Poiarkov’s writing and theater projects? Check out her website here.

A transcript for this episode can be found here.

In this episode of BG Ideas, we welcome Rebekah Monroe, a current Clinical Psychology PhD student at Bowling Green State University and recipient of the 2023-2024 Graduate Teacher of the Year Award. Throughout this episode, we explore the various ways religious trauma shapes identity, often producing both positive and negative effects. Listen as Rebekah discusses different forms of religious trauma, including betrayal trauma and cultural hegemony, alongside her own research on the relationship between adverse religious experiences, specifically their interpersonal dimensions. This conversation also addresses sexual harassment and trauma in relation to religion, and how these experiences can be intertwined as it is a spectrum rather than a fixed binary. Do you want to see more from Rebekah? Follow her on LinkedIn here.

A transcript for this episode can be found here.