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:

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Facebook (@BGSUICS)

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A transcript for this episode can be found here.