David PesciThe 22nd Annual Diane Weiss `80 Memorial Lecture will feature Nancy MacLean, chair of history, professor of African American Studies, Northwestern University, presenting "Ending Jane Crow: How Women's Workplace Activism in the 1970s Changed the Country," on Thursday, February 12, at Russell House 8 p.m. A reception will follow the lecture. The event is free and open to the public and sponsored by the Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program. For more information, contact Jennifer Tucker, chair and associate professor, Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies at 860-685-5389.
The Hartford Courant lauded the performance by Henry Threadgill and his band Zooid at Crowell Concert Hall on 2-6, saying it was "too expansive to fit into one genre."
Henry Threadgill and his 'Ensemble Zooids' will perform their special blend of jazz-inflected world music on Friday, February 6, 8 p.m. at the Crowell Concert Hall. An article about the event appeared in The Hartford Courant.
John M. Shapiro `74 and Shonni J. Silverberg, M.D. `76 of New York City have made a gift of $3.5 million to transform Wesleyan's creative writing programs and endow the Writing Center. The gift includes an endowed faculty position that will begin later this year. It also will establish a Writing Center in Davenport Hall, which also will be the home to the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life. The full details on the gift announcement can be seen here.
"William Manchester: Portrait of a Writer" will be presented at the Smith Reading Room of the Olin Memorial Library on Feb. 5 beginning at 7 p.m. Sponsored by The Friends of the Wesleyan Library, the free presentation will include a talk at 7 p.m. by Leith Johnson, project archivist for Wesleyan’s William Manchester Papers, and Jenny Miglus, archival assistant for the William Manchester Papers, on Manchester's writing process and career. Clare Potter, professor of history and American studies, director of the Center for the Americas and chair of the American Studies Program, gives a presentation at 8 p.m. that will…
Actress Dana Delany '78 ("Desperate Housewives," "Kidnapped," "China Beach") and producer Janet Grillo '80 ("Spanking the Monkey," "Searching for Paradise"), will discuss their paths from Wesleyan to Hollywood and show and discuss their new short film "Flying Lessons" on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. at the Center for Film Studies Goldsmith Family Cinema. The event is open to the public and admission is free.
Elizabeth McAlister, associate professor of religion and expert on the religion of Vodou, was cited in the South Florida Sun Sentinel on the recent gravitation toward Vodou by many young Haitian immigrants. The popularity of the religion, which blends ancient African religious traditions with the worship of Catholic saints, is said to be increasing because many first and second generation Haitians are looking to reconnect spiritually with their ancestral homeland.
An article in The Christian Science Monitor features the community outreach being done by 8 student mentors with Middletown youth at WESU. The program, created by Mu Abeledo '09 and Jessica Jones '08, involves mentors teaching the participants how to operate equipment, refine their on-air abilities and broadcast their own shows live on WESU.
Mount Redoubt, an active volcano southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, is giving indications that it may erupt soon (the last time was 1989-90). Johan Varekamp, Herald T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, who analyzed the ash fall created by the volcano's last eruptions discusses in The Los Angeles Times the possible environmental hazards to the surrounding landscape, people and animals that could be produced if the mountain erupts again.
President Michael S. Roth reviews a new book by Susan Buck-Morss called Hegel, Haiti and Universal History that theorizes the German philosopher Georg Hegel was "inspired by the Haitian revolution of the 1790s when developing his fundamental concept known as the master-slave dialectic." Roth explores this bold claim and the evidence and logic used to support it.