Olivia DrakeTsampikos Kottos, assistant professor of physics, and physics and mathematics major Gim Seng Ng '08 are co-authors of "Avalanches of Bose-Einstein condensates in leaking optical lattices," published in New Journal of Physics, 11, 073045 in 2009. The paper is about novel properties of Bose-Einstein condensates (ultra-cold atoms) in open systems. This project constituted a large part of Ng's senior honors thesis in physics.
A book published by Wesleyan University Press is a 2009 National Book Award Finalist in the poetry category. Versed, by Rae Armantrout, offers readers an expanded view of the arc of the author's writing. The poems in the first section, “Versed,” play with vice and versa, the perversity of human consciousness. They flirt with error and delusion, skating on a thin ice that inevitably cracks. In the second section, “Dark Matter,” the invisible and unknowable are confronted directly as Armantrout’s experience with cancer marks these poems with a new austerity shot through with her signature wit and stark unsentimental thinking.…
Leo Lensing, chair and professor of German studies, professor of film studies, is the editor of the book, Peter Altenberg: The Self-Invention of a Poet. Letters and Documents 1892-1896, published by the Wallstein Verlag (Goettingen) in Germany. The 210-page book, published in September, documents the beginning of the literary career of the Viennese writer Peter Altenberg (1859-1919). The book received positive reviews in a Sept. 28 issue of The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, whose arts pages are the most prestigious in the German-speaking world.
Kit Reed, resident writer in the English Department, participated in the 17th Annual Festival of Reading in St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 24. Reed was one of dozens of authors who spoke to the community about a particular book. According to the St. Petersburg Times Festival author biography, Reed is "One of our brightest cultural commentators. " Often anthologized, her short stories appear in venues ranging from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Asimov's SF and Omni to The Yale Review, The Kenyon Review and The Norton Anthology of American Literature. During the festival, Reed spoke about her book, Enclave.
The Chemistry Department received a $125,000 grant from the George I. Alden Trust of Worcester, Mass. on Oct. 21. The funds will be used to replace, reconfigure, and add fume hoods in a teaching lab used for introductory chemistry courses.
More information on the Management Leadership Conference is online at http://www.wesleyan.edu/mlc/2009/
A father whose 17-year-old son died while driving in 2006, and who went on to take a leadership role in a statewide task force that advised the state legislature on rewriting Connecticut's teen driving laws, has launched a national blog for parents on safe teen driving. Tim Hollister '78, a West Hartford, Conn. resident and attorney, lost his son Reid in a one-car accident on Interstate 84 in Plainville, Conn. in December 2006. During 2007-08, as a member of Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell's Safe Teen Driving Task Force, Hollister immersed himself in the issue of why driving is the leading…
Wesleyan employees can help strengthen lives and improve community conditions in the 15 towns in Middlesex County by participating in the 2009-10 Middlesex United Way Campaign. Wesleyan has set at a goal of raising $130,000 through its annual workplace campaign, which supports the building blocks of life - education, income, health and housing. Through the agencies it funds, United Way hopes to increase children's readiness to learn by school entry; increase economic self-sufficiency of individuals and families; reduce the rate of risky behaviors among youth and adults; and increase the ability of individuals and families to attain affordable housing. The…
Q: Sarah-Jane, you came to Wesleyan as the artistic and education coordinator at the Green Street Arts Center in July. Is this a new position? A: The position was created as part of a restructuring, but primarily replaced the artistic director position. My position is overseen by the Center for Community Partnerships at Wesleyan, and fits wonderfully with the service learning and outreach components of the mission of the university. All of the classes, events, workshops, private lessons and community partnership programs that happen at Green Street come under my position. Q: Cite some examples of recent artistic- and education-related…
Alvin Lucier, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, is featured in an Oct. 23 article titled "Alvin and the experimentals: Alvin Lucier comes to town as a Queen’s visiting artist and special guest for Tone Deaf 8" published by The Journal of Queens University. According to the article, Queen's Tone Deaf 8 festival "brings an experimental sound adventure to campus through the genius of experimental composer Alvin Lucier and some of his critically-acclaimed students." Lucier teaches music composition, an experimental music course, as well as a freshman course on the Orpheus Myth at Wesleyan, where he’s been teaching for…
Zak Kirwood ’12, a volunteer with Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, was awarded the 2009 Planned Parenthood Federation of America Young Volunteer of the Year award. During his senior year at Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge, Conn., Kirwood volunteered for Planned Parenthood and was recruited for the organization's Students Teaching About Responsible Sexuality (S.T.A.R.S.) peer education program. S.T.A.R.S. educators speak to members of their communities about sexual health issues. "I would act as a resource in my high school - handing out condoms, and information about sexual health and rights," Kirwood said during his award acceptance speech in Houston, Texas.…