With her arrival, Eve Ng, assistant professor of women’s and gender studies and media arts and sciences, has connected the two studies in engaging ways.
Ng interviewed for the position in the spring quarter of 2012, and said that Ohio University was a perfect fit for her.
“From the time of my campus interview, I was drawn to the breadth of scholarship taking place at OU, the multiple connections between different units and the university’s ties to communities locally and around the world,” Ng said in an email. “Both women’s and gender studies and media arts and studies have strengths in globally-oriented scholarship, which is also a key focus of my work.”
Julie White, program director of women’s and gender studies, and Risa Whitson, associate professor in the department, said they were equally impressed by Ng’s intelligence, organization and presentation while conducting interviews for the position.
“We loved her from the first moment we saw her,” Whitson said. “When we saw her, we were all like, ‘We have to get her.’”
In her work, Ng examines cultural and political formations of gender, sexuality, race, class and nation. She uses these factors to consider how identities and communities are defined and contested through media and culture.
“The most important lesson I hope students take from my classes is the willingness and capacity to understand complexity,” Ng said. “Too often, multi-faceted phenomena are framed as a debate between two sides; or worse, as involving one, and only one, ‘correct’ side.”
Ng hopes to show a wider picture with her lectures to her students.
“I see the more honest and productive position as acknowledging the messiness of particular situations or issues, and the challenge for students (and citizens more generally) is to not feel paralyzed by the complexity, but to be motivated to engage with it — intellectually and politically.”
Ng focuses on television and new media. She is interested in what changes in economics, culture and technology are able to open up and drive.
“(A)s a faculty member associated with both WGS and MDIA, I look forward to continuing my interdisciplinary approach to teaching and research, and working with students and colleagues on a range of projects,” Ng said. “I feel fortunate to be able to live in Athens — a vibrant college town surrounded by beautiful hills. There’s a lot here to learn about, get involved in, and enjoy.”
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