David LowJune 4, 20092min
In her ethnographic account, Desi Land: Teen Culture, Class, and Success in Silicon Valley (Duke University Press), Shalini Shankar ’94 focuses on South Asian American teenagers (“Desis”) during the Silicon Valley dot-com boom. The diverse students whose stories are told are Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, from South Asia and other locations, including first- to fourth-generation immigrants whose parents’ careers vary from assembly-line workers to engineers and CEOs. Shankar analyzes how Desi teens’ conceptions and realizations of success are influenced by community values, cultural practices, language use, and material culture, and she provides a compassionate portrait of a vibrant culture…

Olivia DrakeJune 4, 20092min
J. Kehaulani Kauanui, associate professor of American studies, associate professor of anthropology, attended the first Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) conference on May 21-23 in Minneapolis, Minn. More than 600 scholars from 16 countries and dozens of tribal nations exchanged research ideas and gave each other professional support. Kauanui is a founding steering committee member and is currently acting council of NAISA. Since 1969, American Indian studies has developed across the United States and Canada. Currently there are almost 120 American Indian studies programs and departments in the North America, not counting the 32 tribal colleges; among those,…

Olivia DrakeJune 4, 20091min
The following faculty members retired from Wesleyan University in May 2009. Their names, positions at Wesleyan, and Ph.D/D.Phil institutions are below: ANTHONY ANIELLO INFANTE Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (1984–2009) Professor of Biology (1978–1984) Associate Professor of Biology (1972–1978) Assistant Professor of Biology (1967–1972) Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania PETER KILBY Professor of Economics (1976–2009) Associate Professor of Economics (1970–1976) Assistant Professor of Economics (1965–1970) D.Phil., Oxford University R. LINCOLN KEISER Professor of Anthropology (1990–2009) Associate Professor of Anthropology (1977–1990) Assistant Professor of Anthropology (1972–1977) Ph.D., University of Rochester ÁKOS ÖSTÖR Professor of Anthropology (1988–2009) Ph.D., University of Chicago JOHN…

Olivia DrakeJune 4, 20091min
Lisa Dierker, associate professor of psychology, and Jennifer Rose, research associate professor of psychology, received a grant worth $521,938 from the National Institute of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse on May 14. The grant was issued under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Dierker and Rose are researching "Individual Differences in Smoking Exposure and Nicotine Dependence Sensitivity." The grant will be applied over two years.

David PesciJune 3, 20091min
Holing Yip and Kathryn Hanna, with help from Shayna Bauchner '10 and Isaac Maddow-Zimet '09 wrote an OpEd that was published by The Hartford Courant criticizing a proposal by the Obama Administration to completely cut the funding for the "Even Start" program, which provides services to teach disadvantaged adults and children to read. The four students did extensive research on the Even Start program in Middletown and saw the positive effects first-hand.

Olivia DrakeMay 24, 20096min
Thank you faculty, President Roth, Anna Quindlen family, friends. And of course congratulations to the class of 2009. I am scared. We probably all have good reasons to be scared right now. When the nation was scared many decades ago, FDR said, “This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today.” The truth is climate change is no longer merely a distant threat, it is happening now. The truth is Social Security and Medicare will likely be insolvent before 2020. We are…

Olivia DrakeMay 24, 200915min
(The Commencement Address by Anna Quindlen P’07 also is on video.)   When I was first asked to give the commencement address to the Wesleyan class of 2009, I knew I was going to have to begin with an apology: I am not, as you can see, Barack Obama. But as the months passed between the invitation and this event, prevailing wisdom was that I was not only going to have say I was sorry for not being last year’s speaker, but for so much else. On behalf of your elders and the entire nation, I was expected to say I was…