Olivia DrakeApril 22, 20142min
Matthew Garrett, assistant professor of English, is the author of Episodic Poetics: Politics and Literary Form after the Constitution, published by Oxford University Press in April 2014. In Episodic Poetics, Garrett merges narrative theory with social and political history to explain the early American fascination with the episodic, piecemeal plot. Since Aristotle's Poetics, the episode has been a vexed category of literary analysis, troubling any easy view of the subsumption of unwieldy narrative parts into well-plotted wholes. Episodic Poeticsproposes a new method of reading and a new way of conceiving of literary history. The book combines theoretical reflection and historical rigor with careful…

Olivia DrakeApril 22, 20142min
Clark Maines, the Kenan Professor of the Humanities, is the co-editor of the book Consuetudines et Regulae: Sources for Monastic Life in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, published by Brepolis Publishers in April 2014. Maines also is professor of art history, professor of archaeology, professor of environmental studies and professor of medieval studies. This volume addresses the nature and quality of the lives of monks and canons in Western Europe during the middle ages and the early modern period.  Building on the collaborative spirit of recent work on medieval religion, it includes studies by historians of the religious orders,…

Bill FisherApril 18, 20141min
With his Wesleyan undergraduate and graduate students, Assistant Professor of Astronomy Seth Redfield studies exoplanets, the local interstellar medium, and stellar and exoplanetary atmospheres. He talks about the unique opportunity offered through his exoplanet program at Wesleyan, in which students at the undergraduate level participate in cutting-edge research. [youtube]http://youtu.be/PNP5Cgc10go[/youtube] #THISISWHY

Olivia DrakeApril 15, 20141min
Professor Don Oliver received a three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) (R15) for his research titled “Mechanism of SecA-dependent protein translocation." The grant, worth $374,148, was awarded on April 15. Oliver is the Daniel Ayres Professor of Biology and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry.

Natalie Robichaud ’14March 31, 20142min
Marty Gilmore, associate professor of earth and environmental studies, will present her work with the MARS Rover missions on Tuesday, April 8 at the final Science of Screen of the year. The monthly Science on Screen events pair local scientists with screenings of popular movies. Gilmore’s presentation of her research will begin at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a screening of Mission to Mars. Gilmore’s primary research involves using images of the surface of Mars and Venus to interpret geological processes and history. For example, her research includes searching for clues regarding where and when there might have…