The Common Hour

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The Common Hour is a series of presentations during which Wilson College faculty share their research, fostering inquiry and conversation across the campus community about pressing issues and big questions.

Talks are open to all students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the College. All sessions are held on the second Friday of the month at noon via Zoom, with presentations followed by an opportunity for questions.

Join virtually via Zoom Meeting: Use this Zoom link for all Common Hour events.
https://wilson.zoom.us/j/95215627508
Meeting ID: 952 1562 7508

Fall 2026

Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, at noon 
At the Mercy of the Flies: A Poetry Reading 
Matt McBride
Associate Professor of English
Matt McBride will read from his latest collection, At the Mercy of the Flies, released in April 2026. At the Mercy of the Flies renders the mundanity of daily life as a series of dislocations. What emerges is a record of survival written in the margins of collapse. Anchored in the author’s experiences with depression and the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, the book charts the cartographies of a life and a nation in freefall. No party lasts forever, not even America.

Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, at noon
The Surprising Role of Occupational Therapy: Transforming Reading, Writing, and ’Rithmetic
Dr. Penny Stack,
Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Doctoral Capstone and Research in the Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program
When most people think of occupational therapy, they rarely think of reading, handwriting, or mathematics. Yet these activities are essential to occupations such as education, leisure, and work, relying on complex cognitive, visual, motor, and sensory processes that occupational therapists are uniquely trained to evaluate and support. Join Dr. Penny Stack, assistant professor and coordinator of doctoral capstone and research, and co-author of Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, & Dyscalculia in Pediatric Occupational Therapy: A Practice Resource, as she shares how occupational therapy is transforming the way we understand and support learning differences. Discover why occupational therapy is becoming an essential member of the interdisciplinary team and how this emerging area of practice is changing outcomes for children, families, and schools.

Friday, November 13, 2026 at noon
Dispatches from Earthwatch: Exploring the World as a Citizen Scientist
Thanks to the generous support of alumna Joan M. Thuebel '52, Wilson students have the opportunity to pursue education beyond the classroom through the Joan M. Thuebel '52 Earthwatch Prize. The award supports participation in Earthwatch research expeditions around the world, allowing students to submit proposals for the expedition of their choice and engage in uniquely hands-on learning experiences. The following students will share their experiences from their Earthwatch expeditions:
Matt Browning ’26, “Killer Whales and Their Prey in Iceland”
Amanda Monico ’27, “Amazon Rainforest along the Amazon River”
Grace Dickinson ’28, “Sea Turtle Conservation in Costa Rica”

Spring 2027

Friday, February 12, 2027 at noon
Playing Comparative Politics: Teaching with Simulations
Ela Rossmiller
Associate Professor of Political Science
The result of Rossmiller's Drusilla Stevens Mazur Research Professorship, Playing Comparative Politics, is a collection of 12 simulations for teaching and learning about comparative politics. These simulations help students understand how political choices are shaped by interests, institutions, economics, and strategic interaction. Students build skills in cost-benefit analysis, negotiation and bargaining, coalition-building, securing commitments, and more, while applying core concepts to practical problems.

Friday, March 12, 2027 at noon
Using Evolutionary Computing to Explore Strategies in Tabletop Wargames
Thomas Sarachan
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Computer science is very good at building "players" of games with no randomness, such as chess and checkers. However, the programming techniques that make a great computer chess player do not work as well when the results of a move depend on how dice fall. This presentation shows how evolutionary computing, a mix of computer science and biology, can be used to distinguish good and bad strategies in a game where every move is subject to chance.

Friday, April 9, 2027 at noon
The Invisible Islanders: Asserting Local Identity at the Sanctuary of Apollo on Delos
Bonnie Rock-McCutcheon
Associate Professor of History
Delos, a small, unassuming island in the Cyclades, was famed across the ancient Greek world as the mythical birthplace of the god Apollo. By the sixth century BCE, it was home to a vibrant Panhellenic sanctuary that attracted visitors from across and even beyond the Greek world. It is this Panhellenic role that has drawn the attention of ancient writers and modern scholars alike, at the expense of the polis of Delos and the people who lived there. This talk looks at what we can recover about the Delians themselves, who they were and how they maintained a sense of local identity at a sanctuary whose prestige depended on its openness to Greeks from everywhere.

*Opinions expressed are those of the presenters and do not represent the official position of Wilson College.