W&L Podcast Releases New Episode Featuring Michael Hill "W&L After Class" invites listeners to join conversations with W&L's expert faculty about their teaching, research and passion projects.

By Kelsey Goodwin
April 12, 2023

Washington and Lee University invites listeners to tune into a new episode of “W&L After Class” featuring Michael Hill, professor and chair of the Africana Studies program at Washington and Lee University and the director of the University’s new DeLaney Center, an interdisciplinary academic center for teaching and research on Southern race relations, culture, and politics. In the second episode of season four, Hill connects the dots between his formative years and strong bonds to his family, his teaching and research, and his latest role as the DeLaney Center’s inaugural director in shaping its programming, research and aspirations.

“In addition to learning about the past, what we’re also trying to accomplish within the context of the DeLaney Center is a posture of civic awareness,” Hill said. “Much of the programming tied to the DeLaney Center presupposes that democratic progress will hinge upon a certain set of civic competencies. We have to have the ability to interact with each other in communities in a productive and constructive way, notwithstanding the fact that we have different outlooks.”

Listen to the full episode here.

The podcast’s fourth season launched on Feb. 14, 2023. The season’s first episode featured James Dick, W&L’s director of outdoor education and recreation, discussing his experiential education and leadership development work on campus. The “After Class” podcast series, which began in the spring of 2020, invites listeners to experience conversations with W&L’s expert faculty, giving listeners worldwide a chance to stroll the Colonnade in the comfort of their homes. W&L faculty members discuss their teaching, research and special interests. Previous topics include poetry, witches, cybersecurity, theater and free speech. The podcast is hosted by Ruth Candler, assistant director of Lifelong Learning.

Recent episodes from the podcast’s third season include:

• “Making the Strange Familiar and the Familiar Strange”: Sascha Goluboff, professor of cultural anthropology and director of Community-Based Learning at W&L, recounts her experiences of stepping into the unknown through ethnography research, working in local prisons and even improv.
• “Walks With A Noise”: In this episode with Harvey Markowitz, emeritus professor of anthropology, we talk about how Harvey first arrived on the Rosebud Indian reservation, his relationship with the Lakota people, and conversations about identity and acknowledgment in tribal communities.
• “Studied Carelessness”: In this conversation with Caleb Dance, associate professor of classics, we explore the impact of humor, improvisation and “sprezzatura” (studied carelessness) on his research and teaching. He also shares the story of his journey into classics, the importance of studying abroad and his musical endeavors, including his work with the nonprofit MIMA.

Listeners in the W&L community and beyond are invited to listen to past episodes and seasons here or wherever they listen to podcasts.