David PesciIn a New York Times piece examining some of General McChrystal's more austere habits, William Pinch, professor of history, discusses from a martial perspective McChrystal's habits of sleeping little, eating one meal a day, working out to exhaustion and yet maintaining the energy and focus to run the Afghanistan campaign. Pinch says such methods of "self-denial as...a cultivation of power" are consistent with the warrior ethos of the past.
Writing a piece for The Moscow Times, Peter Rutland, Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, professor of government, points out how Japan and Russia are strengthening economic ties, moving forward on a variety of partnerships, and in general acting like long-standing allies. Yet one thorny territorial issue remains that has precluded the countries from signing a peace treaty with each other dating back to the end of World War II.
"The Coach" Norm Daniels passed away early on the morning of May 11. Daniels coached five different sports at Wesleyan from 1934 to 1973 and is a member of the Wesleyan Athletics Hall of Fame.
In The Hartford Courant, William Johnston, professor and chair of history who studies the history of disease, discussed the flu epidemic of 1918-19 that swept the world killing an estimated 20 million people and how it compares to recent worldwide flu outbreaks.
Students in the multidisciplinary course "Making the Science Documentary” spent the semester learning film production and the framework of science documentaries. The students decided to focus on the nursing profession as their main subject. One of the films made in the course was premiered at the 2009 Nightengale Awards for Excellence, an annual nursing awards banquet in Connecticut. The course is a collaboration between Jacob Bricca, adjunct assistant professor of film studies and Manju Hingorani, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry.
In a new piece for The Huffinton Post, Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth discusses a recent New York Times opinion piece by Mark C. Taylor '68.
Jonathan Cutler, associate professor of sociology and an expert on labor issues, discusses the increasingly strident measures being used by the Obama administration in the bailout of Chrysler.
Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth reviews the book A Human Eye: Essays on Art in Society, 1997-2008 by Adrienne Rich in The San Francisco Chronicle. The book, a collection of essays and book reviews written by Rich during the last 12 years, displays Rich's on-going dialogue on art, politics and social justice.
Melanye Price, assistant professor of government, was a featured guest speaker for the University of Nevada's College of Liberal Arts on April 23. She was broadcast on 88.9 KNPR Nevada Public Radio. In a lecture titled "Dreaming Blackness: Black Nationalism and African-American Public Opinion," Price spoke about ways African-Americans have come to understand Black Nationalism, an ideology important to the Black Power movement of the 1960s.
Elizabeth McAlister, associate professor of religion and expert on Vodou and Haitian culture, discusses perceptions regarding zombies and Vodou as they gain attention in a new book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which is adapted from the Jane Austen classic.
Jonathan Cutler, associate professor of sociology and a labor issues expert, comments in The Washington Post on the differences between the layoffs and sales declines of Toyota versus those of General Motors and Chrysler, which have needed federal bail-out money to survive.
A piece in The New York Times discusses how applications for the Class of 2013 remained strong at the nation's most competitive colleges, despite the economy's recent economic recession. Mentioned in the article was Wesleyan which, unlike several liberal arts colleges, saw an increase in applications this year. In fact, Wesleyan's dramatic increase set a record: 10,065 applications, which is up 22% over last year's admissions cycle (which was also a record). The Times had previously written about Wesleyan's increase in applications during the November early decision application period, which was also up a record 40% over the previous year.…