Benjamin TraversSeptember 30, 20111min
[youtube width="640" height="410"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW-jXRUhWTA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] Wesleyan's student-run fire arts and performance group Prometheus practices the art of fire-spinning and object manipulation. The students featured are Gabriel Urbina, Kimberly Prosise, David Foregger, Jesse Friedman, Spencer Ewall, Pei Liu and Chinh Duong. View dozens more videos on the Wesleyan YouTube Channel.  

Olivia DrakeSeptember 22, 20111min
Michaelle Biddle, collections conservator and head of Preservation Services in Olin Library, is the author of "Inks in the Islamic Manuscripts of Northern Nigeria - Old Recipes, Modern Analysis and Medicine," published in the Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 2 in July 2011. The study is online here. This study is concerned with what specific materials were used in fabricating the inks used in the surviving, largely undated Northern Nigerian manuscripts written in Arabic script. These manuscripts belong to the West African tradition of Islamic culture and scholarship, of which Timbuktu, Mali, was a key center. Technical materials analysis, recipes from ethno-cultural studies,…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20113min
At 8:50 a.m., Jimmy Albrecht '15 began lugging in boxes of clothing, canvas totes of athletic equipment, a 3.1 cubic-square-foot fridge, an X-Box, microwave, bedding, toiletries and six - make that eight - pairs of shoes, into his new student residence in Clark Hall. "Oh, there's another pair over there. And there's another pair. Jimmy, you're going to need a shoe rack," says his mother, Sharon, who drove Jimmy to Wesleyan from their home in Chicago, Ill. Jimmy's father, George, also helped with the unloading. "Our Jeep was so packed with stuff, there wasn't even room for a toothbrush back…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20113min
In attempt to increase awareness and understanding of global issues, the Wesleyan International Relations Association created a forum to allow top academics and commentators to discuss global issues with the Wesleyan community. This year, the 33-member association is hosting a conference titled “Deciphering Pakistan and U.S.-Pakistan Relations,” Sept. 30-Oct. 1. "This year we’re focusing on Pakistan because of the strategic importance of the region," says association founder and president Ali Chaudhry '12. "We feel that it is a country that most people are interested in learning about. However, many people do not have enough information about Pakistan, which often leads…