Bill HolderSean Patch ’02 knows how to beat the morning rush—he paddles across the Hudson River to his Manhattan teaching job in a kayak. The New York Post caught up with Patch, a former Wall Street trader who started boating to work this past summer to save money after the cost of a ferry ride nearly doubled. "Patch, a 29-year-old high school math teacher, unties the 17-foot kayak he keeps at a dock on the Weehawken waterfront," said the Post. Pulling on an orange life jacket, he grabs a foghorn, a safety light and a drybag holding his laptop and his…
David LowBooks William Evans Jr. '40 Is a Figure in World War II Book A new book by Robert Mrazek, A Dawn Like Thunder (Little Brown, 2008), tells a little known story of 35 men in the almost forgotten U.S. Navy Torpedo Squadron Eight that helped change the course of history at the epic World War II battles of Midway and Guadalcanal. These men displayed acts of courage, loyalty, and sacrifice and went on to become the most highly decorated American naval air squadron of the war. Williams Evans Jr. ’40 was one of the heroes in the squadron, and his…
David PesciJeanine Basinger, Chair and Corwin-Fuller Professor of film studies reviews, Michael Sragow's Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master. Fleming directed such Hollywood classics as The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind and yet remains curiously "forgotten" by most in the business according to Sragow.
Scott Plous, professor of psychology, is quoted in this Washington Post piece that has the writer wondering if there is a way to make a "friend" of indecision.
Olivia DrakeMark Slobin, professor of music, received honorable mention for the Fenia and Yaakov Leviant Memorial Prize in Yiddish Studies Dec. 2 by the Modern Language Association of America. Slobin and was honored for his work on Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, published by Wayne State University Press. The prize is awarded each even-numbered year and is awarded alternately to an outstanding translation of a Yiddish literary work or an outstanding scholarly work in English in the field of Yiddish. Slobin will receive a certificate for the achievement Dec. 28 during the Modern Language Association of America's annual convention…
Jeanine Basinger, Chair and Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, comments in USA Today on whether Frank Capra used the upstate New York town as a model for Bedford Falls in It's a Wonderful Life.
Jonathan Cutler, an associate professor of sociology, wrote this OpEd for the L.A. Times that says that by failing to unionize workers of foreign car companies in the U.S., the UAW has "cut its own throat."
A recent article posted by Fox News discussing this year award-winning films identified by the National Board of Reviev (NBR), Director-Actor Clint Eastwood lauded NBR member Jeanine Basinger, Chair and Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, who is a champion of Eastwood's work and has secured his work for the Wesleyan Film Archives, "You don't say no to Jeanine Basinger."
Elvin Lim, assistant professor of government, offers brief reivews for The Wall Street Journal of five notable books on presidential rhetoric.
In a Los Angeles Times article, Jeanine Basinger, Chair and Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, discusses television shows that focus on characters and plots revolving around financial scandals and greed.
A story by Tamar Lewin in The New York Times examines the increase in early decision applications at several colleges and universities, highlighting Wesleyan, which has seen a near 40% increase over last year.
Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth wrote a blog entry for The Huffington Post that discusses, among other things, how a liberal arts education could be an effective and ideal undergraduate experience for this century.