Obies Abroad
Fellow graduates residing outside the US are appearing on two programs presented by the Road to the Future Planning Committee of the Alumni Classes ’67–’72. The second of these two programs will be “Obies Abroad: Views from Africa. Europe, Canada,” at 2 PM EST on Saturday afternoon, November 8.
Three Oberlin College and Conservatory graduates will share their experiences at Oberlin that supported their choice to live abroad, what adjustments to new cultures they needed to make, what perspectives they gained, how they and others in their country view changes occurring now in the US, and of course questions posed by ourselves.
This event should be an enthralling program for all Oberlin Alumni to hear from three of our classmates who have been living abroad. All are welcome to attend!
REGISTER HERE
Here are the bios for the speakers.
Dr. Groesbeck P. Parham ('70, Sociology/Anthropology), Lusaka, Zambia
Dr. Parham is a gynecologic oncologist whose career has been devoted to transforming women’s cancer care in underserved regions across the globe. He earned his his M.D. and residency training in Obstetrics & Gynecology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and completed a fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at the University of California, Irvine. He has held major leadership roles, including Director of Gynecologic Oncology at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. While in Los Angeles, he established Southern California’s first cervical cancer screening clinic for women living with HIV.
► In 2005, Dr. Parham relocated to Lusaka, Zambia, where he pioneered a groundbreaking cervical cancer prevention model enabling nurses to screen women using household vinegar and mobile phone technology. More than two million women in Zambia have been screened through this approach, now widely adopted across Africa. He has also strengthened cancer surgery services on the continent by creating high-volume surgical training camps for African gynecologists. His research spans partnerships with traditional leaders to dispel cancer myths, use of artificial intelligence to improve cervical cancer screening accuracy, and virtual-reality surgical training. Dr. Parham recently served as Senior Clinical Expert for Cervical Cancer Elimination at the World Health Organization, where he helped develop the WHO Global Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer—the first global strategy to eliminate a cancer. He has received numerous humanitarian awards and honorary degrees, including the Doctor of Science and Humanities from Oberlin College (2014).
Noelle (Hirschboeck) Turner (’73, BM Voice Performance), Essen, Germany
Noelle received her M.M. in Voice Performance at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana. Following a season singing major roles with the National Opera in Raleigh, N.C. she was awarded a scholarship from the Rotary Foundation for a year’s study at the Opera School in Cologne, Germany. Upon completion she embarked on a singing career, specializing in Contemporary music. During her singing career she developed a strong interest in the vocal training of Musical Theatre performers, a genre new to the German theatre system. Noelle taught at the first state-funded academy for Musical Theatre in Munich and was the first Professor of Musical Theare Voice in Germany. She dedicated her work to the development of Musical Theatre since its inception in the mid-80’s, serving as vocal coach for such productions as Cats, Phantom of the Opera, We Will Rock You, Grease and Starlight Express, to name a few. Noelle has lectured and conducted Master Classes on Vocal Technique in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, the Czech Republic and Israel and ejudicates in National and International Singing Competitions.
► From 1992-2000 Noelle was Professor of Voice in the Department of Musical Theater at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany. She also taught seminars in Vocal Pedagogy and was Associate Dean of the university. Since retiring from her university position Noelle has maintained a voice studio in Essen, working with professional opera singers and Musical Theatre performers. She continues to be active in the education of vocal teachers, giving seminars and workshops in and around Germany. www.noelle-turner.de
Tim Hurson (’67, AB English), Toronto, Canada
The former president of Oberlin's Class of 1967 is now a speaker, writer and creativity theorist living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in New York City, USA. He was educated at The Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, before going to college at Oberlin. He is now a Canadian citizen.
► Hurson was a founding partner of Toronto's Manifest Communications, a company focused on social change strategy. He was its president until selling the company in 1996. After working independently for several years, he became a founding partner of ThinkX Intellectual Capital. Hurson developed a problem-solving technique known as the ThinkX Productive Thinking Model, a six-step process that builds on the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Process, combining it with more rigorous engineering-based techniques such as IDEF. His book Think Better was translated into Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, Spanish, Thai, and Polish. The English edition was re-issued with an updated preface in 2018. Hurson is a faculty member of the conference of the Creativity European Association (CREA). and co-founder regular presenter at Mindcamp Canada creativity retreat. He is a founding board member of Oberlin College's LaunchU Entrepreneurship bootcamp.
The moderators will be Gayle Pinderhuges '70, Susan Buck '72, and Paul Safyan '68.
