Basinger Discusses the History of the Summer Blockbuster

How did summer get to be such a make-or-break season for Hollywood? It wasn't always this way, Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies Jeanine Basinger recently told Marketplace, from American Public Media. “In the old days, the studio system rolled out movies,” she said. “I mean, let’s take MGM. In 1952 [it] put out a feature film every week, so for 52 weeks they rolled out 52 features.” In the 1940s, 80 percent of Americans went to the movies once a week. But with television gaining popularity, attendance had plummeted by the 1970s. Until 1975, when Jaws was released around the July 4th weekend. It…

Writing in Inside Higher Ed, President Michael S. Roth responds to a recent Pew Research Center survey showing a sharp partisan divide in how Americans view higher education. While 58 percent of Republicans and right-leaning independents say colleges are having a negative impact on "the way things are going in the country," 72 percent of Democrats and left-leaning independents see colleges as positive. (more…)

Adweek named Michele Roberts ’77, executive director—and first female leader—of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), to its “30 Most Powerful Women in Sports” list, which features outstanding executives, athletes and journalists, among others. Previously an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Roberts began her career as a public defender in Washington, D.C. In the June 26 article, Adweek’s Tim Baysinger noted that Roberts would be negotiating across the table from league commissioner Adam Silver when the two worked on a new collective bargaining agreement—and Roberts would be trying to avoid a lockout, something her two predecessors were…

Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, writes in HuffPost that the Trump Administration must acknowledge and factor in the effects of climate change when it tackles American infrastructure. (more…)

"Tyshawn Sorey Defeats Preconceptions," proclaims the The New Yorker headline on a profile of Wesleyan's newest assistant professor of music, Tyshawn Sorey MA '11, who will join the Wesleyan faculty this fall. "The prodigious multi-instrumentalist and composer transcends the borders of jazz, classical, and experimental music." (more…)

Professor of Economics Richard Grossman was asked by Wales Online about his expectations for the economic impact of Brexit over the next few years. He said: "Leaving the European Union will be a drag on the British economy in the medium term. Even before Brexit takes effect, however, the economy will be hurt by two factors: expectations and uncertainty. “The expectation that the UK will no longer have free access to the European market may lead exporters to reorient production toward domestic consumption or export to non-EU regions well before Brexit comes into force. UK-based financial firms may shift operations to EU…

The Boston Globe recently published a profile of Audrey Pratt, an incoming student in Wesleyan's Class of 2021 and the winner of the inaugural Wesleyan University Hamilton Prize for Creativity. Pratt, a graduate of Needham (Mass.) High School, won a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to Wesleyan for her short fiction submission, "Thorns, Black and White." Pratt, who was accepted early decision to Wesleyan, told the Globe that when she applied for the prize, she "didn't think in a million years I'd win," but she was excited for the chance to have Lin-Manuel Miranda '02 and Thomas Kail '99 read her work. Miranda, writer/creator and former star, and Kail, the director…

Professor of Religion Mary-Jane Rubenstein was a guest on WNYC's "Studio 360" recently, in a show titled, "The Theoretical Physicist Wore a Toga." She addressed existential "what if" questions and the idea of multiple universes—an idea, she explains, which "is about 2,500 years old." "For the ancient Atomist philosophers [in Ancient Greece], the most desirable thing about what we're now calling the multiverse was that it got rid of the need for a god. If it is the case that our world is the only world, then it's very difficult to explain. How is everything so perfect? How is it that sunsets so beautiful?" she said. "What…

Ahmed Badr '20, who was born in Iraq and came to the United States as a refugee in 2008, was profiled recently on NPR. According to the story, Badr used writing to figure out what it meant to be an Iraqi-American kid: Over time, Badr realized that writing on his personal blog helped other people understand who he was and where he came from. "There was this feeling of empowerment that was just overnight, all of sudden people were interested in my story," Badr says. "... And so with that in mind, two years passed, and I thought, 'OK, well this…

Assistant Professor of Government Ioana Emy Matesan discussed the recent terror attack in Manchester, England on CBS Connecticut. Matesan said the big question on her mind is the nature of the perpetrator's connection to ISIS. At this time, not much is known about the perpetrator's background. We know from terrorism studies that there is no single profile to explain "why an individual would join a terrorist group or why they would undertake a terrorist attack, so there are so many possible paths to radicalization. That story we do not know yet," she said. "The other interesting question that we're not exactly sure…

Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, rebuts an op-ed on Fox News in which U.S. Senator Rand Paul argues for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. Writing on the site Climate Feedback, Yohe explains that Paul's opinion relies on the flawed claim that the agreement would do little to slow climate change and would cost American jobs. Yohe breaks down Paul's assertions regarding anticipated global warming—both with and without the agreement—as well as the Senator's predictions that the agreement would cost the country 6.5 million in lost jobs and $3 trillion in lost GDP. Yohe contends…

On May 11, Wesleyan President Michael Roth writes in The Wall Street Journal about the need for colleges and universities to proactively cultivate intellectual diversity on campus. While student protests over controversial speakers have dominated headlines of late, he writes: The issue, however, isn’t whether the occasional conservative, libertarian or religious speaker gets a chance to speak. That is tolerance, an appeal to civility and fairness, but it doesn’t take us far enough. To create deeper intellectual and political diversity, we need an affirmative-action program for the full range of conservative ideas and traditions, because on too many of our campuses they seldom…

Basinger Discusses the History of the Summer Blockbuster

President Roth Examines Campus Intellectual Diversity in an Age of Polarization

Roberts ’77 Makes AdWeek’s ‘Most Powerful Women In Sports’ List

Yohe Writes Infrastructure Planning Must Factor in Climate Change

The New Yorker Profiles New Wes Faculty Member Sorey MA ’11

Grossman Comments on the Economic Impact of Brexit

Inaugural Hamilton Prize Winner Featured in Boston Globe

Rubenstein Discusses Theories of the Multiverse on Studio 360

Badr ’20 Runs Website to Empower Youth to Tell Their Stories

Matesan Discusses Manchester Terror Attack on CBS Connecticut

Yohe Rebuts Sen. Paul’s Call to Withdraw from Paris Climate Agreement

President Roth Calls on Universities to Promote Intellectual Diversity