A trombone orchestra conducted by Neely Bruce, professor of music, that played in the rotunda of the Guggenheim in New York City, was named one of the year’s 10 Most Memorable Performances by Alex Ross of The New Yorker. There is a video link within the Ross piece that allows readers to hear a portion of the performance. The orchestra, consisting of 80 trombones, played Henry Brandt’s “Orbits” as part of the “Make Music” festival in New York City this summer.
Faculty
Collins Judge in National Science Competition
by David Pesci •
The New York Times reports that Karen Collins, chair and professor of mathematics, served as a judge in a national science and math competition that awarded $100,000 to high school students. Collins comments on the quality of the students and their entries here.
Yohe: What Can be Accomplished in Copenhagen
by David Pesci •
Gary Yohe, Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics, and senior member of the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), discusses in The Los Angeles Times the possibilities at the U.N.’s Climate Change Conference In Copenhagen, Denmark.
Swinehart on Paul’s ‘Unlikely Allies’
by David Pesci •
In a review published in The Chicago Tribune, Kirk Swinehart, assistant professor of history, praises Unlikely Allies, the new book by Joel Richard Paul. Swinehart says Paul’s book breaks new ground detailing stories of little-known spies from the American Revolution and yet it also contains the “menacing atmospherics of an Allen Furst novel, and the intellectual verve for which Furst’s spy thrillers are justly admired.”
Foyle on Dodd’s Slipping Position in the Polls
by David Pesci •
In a recent article in The Hartford Courant, Douglas Foyle, Douglas J. and Midge Bowen Bennet Associate Professor of Government, discussed Connecticut Senator Chistopher Dodd’s sinking popularity, even among liberal Democrats in the state. It is the first time the five-term Democratic Senator has experienced significant disenchantment with his performance among a large percentage of the electorate.
Roth on Breger’s ‘A Dream of Undying Fame’
by David Pesci •
Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth reviewed the new book by Louis Breger A Dream of Undying Fame: How Freud Betrayed His Mentor and Invented Psychoanalysis for The Los Angeles Times.
Swinehart on Friend’s “Cheerful Money”
by David Pesci •
Kirk Swinehart, assistant professor of history, reviews the new book by New Yorker staff writer Tad Friend titled, Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor. Writing for The Chicago Tribune, Swinehart says Friend” has written the memoir of the season–and one for all time. ‘Cheerful Money’ doubles as a bittersweet family portrait and deceptively subtle ethnography.”
Yohe: Indicators Worsening for Warming
by David Pesci •
In an article in Science, Gary Yohe, the Sysco/Woodhouse Professor of Economics, discusses how the risk factors for global warming and adverse climate change have increased significantly in recent years. The story cites a recent paper for The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) which Yohe co-authored.
Roth: “Remember the Maine Elections”
by David Pesci •
In a recent piece for The Huffington Post, Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth shares a heartfelt story about the vote on Maine’s gay marriage initiative.
Yohe: Costs of Climate Change Efforts
by David Pesci •
Gary Yohe, Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics, is quoted in a New York Times piece on Obama Administration’s assessment of costs versus benefits of climate change action – or inaction. Yohe is also quoted in a USA Today story saying that most economists recognize that humans are to blame for global warming and that inherent risks increase if it is not addressed.
Roth on Goldhagen’s ‘Worse Than War’
by David Pesci •
Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth reviewed Daniel Goldhagen’s Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the the Ongoing Assault on Humanity recently for The San Francisco Chronicle. In the book, Goldhagen attempts to show that “that genocide is an extension of the politics of ‘eliminationism,’ which is decisively shaped by political leaders and fueled by profound and widely shared hatred. However, Roth found Goldhagen simple-minded in many of his conclusions and proposed solutions.
Potter: Obama’s All Male Hoops ‘Non-Issue’
by David Pesci •
Claire Potter, professor of history, professor of American studies, is quoted through her blog in a piece from The Week on President Obama’s all male basketball games. Potter says who the president plays pick-up basketball with has nothing to do with women or women’s issues and castigates The New York Times for legitimizing this issue by doing a story on it.
