Olivia DrakeRamnad V. Raghavan, a widely respected performer of the Karnatak mrdangam and long-time member of Wesleyan's music faculty, died in Chennai, India, Nov. 21 after a long illness. Raghavan came from a distinguished family of musicians that produced, among others, his brother Ramnad V. Krishnan and internationally known violinists L. Subramaniam and L. Shankar. Sri Raghavan learned mrdangam from his brother Ramnad Easwaran. He served as artist in residence in music at Wesleyan from 1970 to 1975, and again from 1987 to 2000, teaching South Indian drumming. In the years between his Wesleyan appointments he lived in Cleveland, Ohio where…
Eileen Day, 74, of Middlefield, Conn. died Nov. 22. Day was born in Rockfall, Conn. June 17, 1935. She worked at Wesleyan for 23 years, and also served on the board of Middlefield Cemetery. Day worked as an administrative assistant in the Office of Events Scheduling for first part of her career and in Physical Plant in the Student Life Facilities office at the latter end. She retired in 2003 to spend time with her family and to travel. She loved to visit family that live in different areas of the country. "Eileen was a trusted and loyal employee as well…
More than 5,000 parents, alumni and friends came to campus Nov. 6-8 to celebrate Homecoming/Family Weekend. This year's theme was "Come Home!" Event photos are posted on the HCFW website. "Every year, I hear from alumni, parents and students that Homecoming/Family Weekend gets better and better," says Gemma Fontanella Ebstein, associate vice president for external relations. "We had a terrific turnout this year and the energy was palpable across campus – in the WESeminars, athletic contests, department anniversary celebrations and other special gatherings throughout the weekend. This has become one of the highlights of the year for the Wesleyan community.” The…
For 12 weeks last summer, Lauren Valentino ’10 taught underprivileged rising 9th graders how to speak French and read Hamlet – all while most of her students were still learning English as a second language. Valentino was in Denver, Colo., working with residents who had recently moved to the U.S. from Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Kenya, Mexico and Columbia, to name a few. "One student was a refugee from the Ivory Coast and had no formal schooling until three years ago," says Valentino, a sociology and French major. "He was one of my brightest kids." As a student-teacher working at the…
Wesleyan has launched its new online look with a completely redesigned homepage. The new, image-rich homepage, http://www.wesleyan.edu/, offers rotating photographs of campus life, university factoids and departmental highlights that change when the page is reloaded. The most noticeable change to the new homepage is the open layout that emphasizes information, facilitates navigation, and refocuses content for Wesleyan's primary target audiences, including prospective students, their parents and external users. Under the images are recent headlines, upcoming events and title selections from a new, open access Community Blog. All members of the Wesleyan community can author a post, and anyone can comment…
David PesciAs the College of Letters (COL) celebrates its 50th anniversary, we asked Ethan Kleinberg, associate professor of history and letters, director of the COL, about his life in two departments, his views on interdisciplinary teaching, how this impacts his own scholarship, and the future of the COL. Q. How did you end up with a joint appointment in the College of Letters and History Department? EK: As an undergraduate at U.C. Berkeley I created my own curriculum combining philosophy, history and religion as a “Humanities Field Major.” In graduate school at UCLA I combined work in History and Comparative Literature…
Corrina KerrFrom its beginnings in 1959, Wesleyan’s College of Social Studies (CSS) has grown into a well-respected program and is celebrating its 50th year in 2009. The multidisciplinary program allows students to explore the subjects of government, history, economics and philosophy concurrently. Many attended lectures and celebrations for CSS during Homecoming/Family Weekend last weekend. The first event of the weekend was a CSS Public Lecture by John Goldberg (CSS 1983, professor of Law, Harvard Law School) on Friday, Nov. 6. His talk was titled “John Locke on Tort Reform (Really!): A CSS Parable.” John Goldberg was introduced by Brian Fay, the…
Majora Carter ’88 delivered the keynote address titled "Green the Ghetto and How Much It Won’t Cost Us" during the 17th Annual Dwight L. Greene Symposium Nov. 7 in Memorial Chapel. Carter is the founder of Sustainable South Bronx and River Heroes, host of Eco-Heroes on Sundance Channel and The Promised Land on National Public Radio. Carter founded and led Sustainable South Bronx from 2001 to 2008, and is currently president of her own economic development consulting group. The well-received presentation was preceded by Wesleyan President Michael Roth's announcement of the College of the Environment. The symposium, held in honor of…
Four weeks before the nations meet in Copenhagen to try to avert the catastrophes that global warming may bring, ABC News Correspondent William Blakemore ’65 will identify many surprising psychological factors at play as people in all walks of life deal with the latest "hard news" on climate. Blakemore will speak on "The Many Psychologies of Global Warming," during a talk at 8 p.m. Nov. 3 in Memorial Chapel. He'll explore new definitions of sanity that may pertain, and give examples displaying different "psychologies, as well as manmade global warming's place in "the long history of narcissistic insults to humanity…
During the last 50 years, humans have degraded rivers and lakes through excessive water abstraction, pollution and by over-harvesting aquatic organisms. River flow has been impeded by dams, and floodplains have been converted for agriculture and urban areas. The human population has doubled to nearly 7 billion and, per capita water availability has declined on all continents. During the past 50 years, global climate change has further impacted water resources. On Nov. 7, three climate experts will speak on "Global Environmental Change And Freshwater Resources: Hope For The Best Or Change To Prepare For The Worst?" during the annual Where…
The candidate for issue’s "5 Questions with..." is Mary Alice Haddad, assistant professor of government, assistant professor of East Asian studies. She provides some insight into the recent, dramatic change in the Japanese government. Q: What are your primary areas of study and research? MAH: My primary area of research has been on civil society and democracy with a focus on Japan. I am beginning a new research project on environmental politics in East Asia. I am particularly interested in the ways that local politics around environmental issues can lead toward greater citizen participation in democratic as well as nondemocratic…
Under beaming spotlights and surrounded by video cameras and an audience holding their breath in anticipation, Max Nussenbaum ’12 pondered a single question: "What is the one-word title of the 2009 book whose subtitle is "A History of the Propitious Esculent"? A. Nitrogen, B. Penicillin, C. Potato or D. Gold. "Obviously I have no idea … I feel like it would be something kind of funny, like a potato. That would be a clever title to a book," said Nussenbaum during a recent episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? After using two "lifelines" on the popular television quiz…