Pokes PodCAS

60 - Passing the Test - Drs. Kathryn Weinland, Melissa Mills and Eric Howerton

College of Arts and Sciences faculty members are bringing the classroom to inmates at the Payne County Jail. Thanks to a CAS Community Engagement Grant and in a collaboration with Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma, Drs. Kathryn Weinland, Melissa Mills and Eric Howerton are volunteering their time to prepare inmates for the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) to earn high school diplomas. In this episode, the professors share how they got started, what they have been doing and what the future holds for this initiative.
You can read more about the partnership at https://okla.st/hiset-news

59 - Pointers for Pokes - Kallie Quintero and Adam Shuck

Looking for some advice on how to have a great semester? Need to know where the best bathroom on campus is? Look no further! Political science student Adam Shuck and political science alumna Kallie Quintero (who also happen to be OSU tour guides!) sat down to give their best advice for incoming freshmen. Whether it’s your first day on campus or you graduate this May, Adam and Kallie have the inside scoop on being successful at OSU and having as much fun as possible while doing it.

58 - Step in Time - Dr. Phil Vallejo and the Cowboy Marching Band

No Oklahoma State Football game day would be complete without the Cowboy Marching Band. They lead the team into Boone Pickens Stadium, entertain the crowd at halftime and hype up fans and athletes alike in between plays. In this episode of the Pokes PodCAS, we talk with 2022-23 Cowboy Marching Band director Dr. Phil Vallejo and two members of the band, Alleyn Campbell and Rosalyn Hodge, who also happen to be College of Arts and Sciences students. Phil, Alleyn and Rosalyn give us a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it’s like to be part of the Cowboy Marching Band, from auditions to rehearsals to taking the field.
Follow the band on Instagram @ostatecmb. Keep up with the College of Arts and Sciences @okstatecas. And check out the Greenwood School of Music @okstatemusic.
This episode was hosted by Elizabeth Gosney, CAS marketing and communications manager. It was edited and mixed by Jason Wallace.  
 

57 - Exploring Greenwood’s History - Dr. Brandy Thomas Wells, Nicki Hammack and Brett Smith

Dr. Brandy Thomas Wells, a professor in OSU’s Department of History, is turning her students into history detectives through research projects centered on Tulsa’s Greenwood District. In this episode of the Pokes PodCAS, we talk with Wells and two of her Oklahoma History students, Nicki Hammack and Brett Smith, about their work expanding what we know about residents of Black Wall Street. A collection of histories is currently available at blackwallstreetwomen.com, a project started by Wells and contributed to annually by her students.
This episode was recorded on OSU-Stillwater’s campus. It was hosted by CAS marketing and communications manager, Elizabeth Gosney, with editing and mixing by Jason Wallace.
Photo of Eunice Jackson courtesy of the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

56 - Two Orange Gowns, Five Majors - Jackie Harsha and Kaitlyn Taylor

Jacqueline “Jackie” Harsha and Kaitlyn Taylor have been selected as Orange Gown Graduates for the May 2023 OSU commencement ceremonies. Harsha, a triple major in geospatial information systems, geography and Spanish, will be wearing the orange gown at the College of Arts and Sciences commencement ceremony. Taylor, a double major in animal science and political science, will wear the orange gown at the Ferguson College of Agriculture commencement ceremony. If you lost count, that’s five majors between the two of them.
Recipients of this honor wear a bright orange robe — only worn by one person from each college at commencement — to acknowledge achievements they made as Oklahoma State University undergraduates. CAS communications coordinator Erin Milek and CAS student intern Allie Putman sat down with both Harsha and Taylor in the latest episode of the Pokes PodCAS. Check out the episode to hear about their OSU experiences and their plans for the future, including a big move to D.C. and becoming the first Space Force Second Lieutenant commissioned from OSU.

55 - AI Has Entered the (Academic) Chat - Dr. Rosemary Avance, Dr. Heather Stewart and Richard Sylvestre

There’s a whole lot of buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots lately — you’ve probably heard the names ChatGPT, Bing AI, Google Bard and others — and that’s no different in the world of education. We sat down with three Oklahoma State University professors to discuss this oft-times polarizing new technology, including its effects on education and the ethics of its use. We even had ChatGPT write a poem for us with the prompt, “six people doing a podcast on ChatGPT.” You don’t want to miss it.
Thanks to Dr. Rosemary Avance (School of Media and Strategic Communications), Dr. Heather Stewart (Department of Philosophy) and Richard Sylvestre (Department of English) for joining us for this episode. All three are part of the OSU Center for the Humanities, which fosters the production of new interdisciplinary projects. This episode was co-hosted by OSU senior Bella Vu and CAS marketing and communications manager Elizabeth Gosney. It was edited by Jason Wallace.

54 - All That Jazz - Tommy Poole and the OSU Jazz Orchestra

On this episode of the Pokes PodCAS, we sit down with Dr. Tommy Poole, associate professor and director of jazz studies at OSU, and OSU students Kyle Fisher and Aidan Evano. We packed a lot into our conversation, including a discussion of the OSU Jazz Orchestra (Kyle and Aidan are members, Dr. Poole is the director), the orchestra’s 2021 album Room 118, a not-so-successful trip to Orlando, Dr. Poole’s connection to Rosemary Clooney, and that all important question: What do you say to someone who doesn’t like jazz? Thanks to OSU grad and composer Dylan Shadoan for the use of his song “Dubious Dachshund” in this episode. You can listen to it and the entire Room 118 album here. Watch and listen to the OSU Jazz Orchestra on their YouTube channel and catch them live on April 8 at LowDown in Tulsa and April 9-10 at the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts in Stillwater. (This episode was recorded in January 2023.)

53 - Washington School: Then and Now – Dr. Laura Arata

Booker T. Washington School in Stillwater, Oklahoma has sat vacant for years. Several OSU departments are now collaborating to preserve and improve one of the few remaining, formerly segregated school buildings in the state of Oklahoma while offering a great opportunity for students to learn. Thanks to a donation from a *secret* donor, the history of the Washington School will remain in the Stillwater community for years to come.
On this episode of the Pokes PodCAS, OSU history professor and director of public history, Dr. Laura Arata, explains the deep history and plans for the future of the Washington School. Images of the school are available at this link.
 

52 - Alvin and the Dinosaurs - Dr. Ashley Burkett

Ever wondered what it’s like to deep sea dive, going miles below the ocean surface to collect micro fossils at the sea floor? Boone Pickens School of Geology professor Dr. Ashley Burkett gives us her firsthand experience of doing just that, including *ahem* how they use the bathroom down there. (“Down there” meaning aboard the Alvin, a deep-sea submersible owned by the U.S. Navy.) An expert in the single-celled organism foraminifera, Dr. Burkett gives us a rundown of her research with enough zeal to convince anyone and everyone to go into the field of geology. She also tells us about her Story of Dinosaurs course, where students combine creativity and the scientific method — and critique Jurassic Park.

51 - I’m doing a frog podcast - Bailee Augustino

In this episode of the PodCAS, we have special guest Bailee Augustino, one of four Honorary Graduate Commencement Marshals for Fall 2022 and the only CAS student among the honorees. Augustino is graduating with her master’s in integrative biology and has dedicated her time to researching how environmental conditions affect the structure and dynamics of communication between and among American toads. She discusses her studies with fellow College of Arts and Sciences students Bella Vu and Allie Putman, who co-host this episode.
The Honorary Graduate Commencement Marshal is the highest honor given to four doctoral or master's degree graduates who demonstrate scholarly achievement that embodies the essence of OSU’s land-grant mission.