The Wesleyan Connection

Priscilla Meyer, professor of Russian language and literature, was awarded the University of Southern California Book Prize by the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) during their annual conference. The prize is awarded annually for an outstanding monograph published on Russia, Eastern Europe, or Eurasia in the field of literary and cultural studies.

Meyer is the author of How the Russians Read the French.

More than 2,100 scholars attended the conference.

Pedro Alejandro (photo by Harold Shapiro for The Hartford Courant)

Pedro Alejandro, associate professor of dance, is a recipient of the C. Newton Shenck III Award for a “lifetime achievement in and contribution to the arts.”

Alejandro received the award from the Arts Council of Greater New Haven board of directors. He was mentioned in a Nov. 9 article in The Hartford Courant.

Alejandro was featured in The Wesleyan Connection in May 2008.

Richard Slotkin was featured in The Hartford Courant. He is the author of the book No Quarter: The Battle of the Crater, 1864, published by Random House. (Photo by Bettina Hansen/Hartford Courant)

Cultural historian Richard Slotkin, the Olin Professor of English, Emeritus, is featured in an Oct. 25 Hartford Courant article titled ” Wesleyan Professor Sees 1864 Civil War Battle As Microcosm Of Racial Divide.” The article focuses on Slotkin’s most recent book , No Quarter: The Battle of the Crater, 1864.

The title of the book references one of the battle’s major controversies, which Slotkin addresses unsparingly: It was Confederate policy to take no black prisoners, resulting in summary executions of POWs on both sides.

Slotkin says his fascination with the battle goes back to his interst in the Civil War.

“I’ve always seen it as the watershed in American history. It’s the event that really produces the country that we are now: big, unified, industrialized, interested in the whole question of equality, what it’s about, what race is about, what’s the power of the federal government,” he says in the article.

As part of the Grand Concourse Beyond 100 urban planning project, Angus McCullough '10 designed the MTA "Skyway." By using cameras and projectors, the Skyway renders the sidewalk transparent, enabling passengers to see the sky from the platform below or an approaching train from above.

Angus McCullough ’10 was mentioned in a Nov. 1 New York Times article titled “Grand Visions for a Faded Bronx Boulevard.”

McCullough is participating in an exhibit titled “Intersections: The Grand Concourse Beyond 100,” at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. A result of a nine-month competition sponsored by the museum and the Design Trust for Public Space, the show focuses on seven visions for the future of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx that range from urban farms to high-tech sound barriers for a nearby freeway.

McCullough’s proposal, “Live Wired,” would create video and audio installations in strategic points along the Concourse.

The article reads, “A 24-hour image of the sky would be projected onto platform ceilings in nearby subway stations so that people underground could see the weather outside — a potentially mesmerizing way to pass the time if you’ve just missed a train. Meanwhile another video of people milling around on the platforms below would be projected onto the Concourse’s sidewalks. side from its voyeuristic appeal, the system would allow pedestrians to keep an eye out for an approaching subway train.”

Read more about McCullough’s project in this Sept. 3 Wesleyan Connection article.

Several Wesleyan faculty, graduate students and alumni participated in the 2009 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting Oct. 18-21 in Portland, Ore.

Suzanne O’Connell, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, director of the Service Learning Center, presented a research poster and delivered a presentation titled “Techniques and Tools for Effective Recruitment, Retention and promotion of Women and Minorities in the Geosciences.” She spoke about the grant-funded organization Geoscience Academics in the Northeast (GAIN), which was established to build a community of academic geoscience women within a small geographic area.

Johan Varekamp, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, professor of earth and environmental sciences, presented an abstract of his research titled “Twelve Years of Element Flux Measurements at Copahue Volcano.” He spoke about measuring water fluxes and river water compositions on the volcano for the last 12 years including a magmatic eruption period in 2000.

Varekamp and Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, presented the paper “Natural and Human Impacts on the Evolution of Block Island, RI.” Sarah Gillig ‘09, Emma Kravet ‘09 and Conor Veeneman ‘09 also contributed to the paper.

Dana Royer, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, gave a talk titled “Leaf Economic Traits from Fossils Support a Weedy Origin for Angiosperms.” Royer explained how many key aspects of early angiosperms are poorly known. By studying leaf economic traits such as photosynthetic rate and leaf lifespan, Royer concludes that early Cretaceous landscapes were populated with weedy angiosperms with short lived leaves.

Royer’s former post-doc Dan Peppe and Gabriela Doria M.A. ‘09 gave a talk. McNair Fellow Sofia Oliver ‘10 attended and co-authored Peppe’s paper.

Earth and Environmental Sciences major James Rea ‘09, who currently works at the Cascade Volcano Observatory, presented his work on “Regional Magmatic Setting of Callaqui Volcano (S-Andes, Chile).” Rea samples several rocks from lava flows, scoria cones and dikes around the volcano for trace elements, mineral chemistry and radiogenic isotope compositions.

Earth and Environmental Sciences graduate student Tristan Kading presented a similar abstract titled “Copahue Volcano, Argentina: Introducing ‘Extreme Environments’ on Earth to High School Students” and “Lake Caviahue, Argentina as a Source-Sink for Volcanic Arsenic and Phosphorus.”  Kadding has spoke to local high school students about field work in the small village of Caviahue. The talks highlight the nature of geological field work while touching on some important basic concepts in earth science.

Other attendees included Peter Patton, professor and chair of earth and environmental sciences and Emma Mendelsohn ‘10.

Cem Duruöz, guitar private lessons teacher, is releasing the CD titled "Treasures of Anatolia: Guitar Music from Turkey."

Cem Duruöz, guitar private lessons teacher, will present the music of his native country, Turkey, in a CD release event at 5 p.m. Nov. 15. at the Milford Center for the Arts, 40 Railroad Avenue South in Milford, Conn. The CD is titled “Treasures of Anatolia: Guitar Music from Turkey” and is released from Tutti Music.

The program includes a guitar recital with Turkish Music, discussion of the origins and styles of Turkish Music, selections from the CD with historical and stylistic information about the pieces, a short Turkish Folk Dance class and a reception and refreshments. Tickets are $20 by calling 203-809-8445.

Willard M. McRae, co-founder of Wesleyan’s Upward Bound Program, recently received Liberty Bank’s ninth annual Community Diversity Award. The Community Diversity Award was introduced in 2001 to recognize people who build bridges between those of different races, economic backgrounds, faiths, cultures and capabilities, according to the bank.

McRae was awarded at a reception among area dignitaries at St. Clements Castle in Portland, Conn., in late October for his lifelong dedication to creating opportunities for children and adults in the areas of education, mental health and human services.

In presenting the award, Liberty Bank President and CEO Chandler Howard called attention to the increasing diversity of the Connecticut population over the past few decades. “Our community today has many different faces … many different voices,” Howard said in a Nov. 7 Middletown Press article. “The Community Diversity Award was conceived to honor a few very special people who have led the way in bringing all those different voices into harmony. These are people who look at differences, and see opportunities. They experience the unfamiliar, and feel enriched by it. They listen to disagreements, and find common ground. Willard McRae is one of those special people.”

Fred Cohan, professor of biology, delivered a presentation titled “Darwin vs. Mayr on the Origin of Bacterial Species,” during a Darwin conference, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. The event was held Oct. 29-31 at the University of Chicago. Cohan joined other evolutionary biologists, historians and philosophers who connected their work directly with Darwin. 2009 also marks the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s The Origin of Species.

As part of Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s “Day of Caring & Compassion,” Nov. 6, Wesleyan students and their families helped collect 20,000 pounds of food.

“The goal of the statewide food drive was to replenish the state’s food banks and food pantries for the holidays, especially as the number of people seeking food-assistance has increased by over 30 percent from last year,” Gov. Rell said in a Nov. 9 Middletown Press article. “I am proud to say that thousands of Connecticut residents and visitors rose to the challenge and showed how much they care about their friends, family and neighbors struggling with keeping enough food on their tables.”

Statewide, more than 25 tons of food was collected for the cause.

Connecticut Food Bank Executive Director Nancy L. Carrington called the success of the food drive a testament to the generosity of Connecticut’s residents.

“The success of this food drive has re-energized us as we approach the holiday season. The overwhelming generosity that was shown on Saturday demonstrates Connecticut’s long and proud tradition of neighbors helping neighbors,” Carrington said to the Press. “We want to especially thank Governor Rell for lending her support and calling attention to the problem of hunger in Connecticut and raising the public awareness at a critical time. The increased demand has put a great strain on our network of food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters, and we cannot feed people in need without the support of the public.”

Gary Yohe, the Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics, was quoted in a Nov. 3 New York Times article titled “Obama Administration Weighs Costs of Doing Nothing.”

The article examined the Obama Administration’s inaction on significant climate change measures and how it is “struggling to reach its own conclusion,” a stark difference from the President’s campaign rhetoric of speedy action on climate change issues. The sticking point appears to be the cost versus benefit calculations or “social costs” of deciding whether to enact specific measures.

Yohe says, in part, that the difficulty lies in objectively quantifying these costs.

“You can’t really quantify the social costs of carbon with any degree of confidence. You can get just about any number you want to, depending on the assumptions you use. That’s why EPA struggles so much,” said Yohe.