David LowAlex Kurtzman ’95 and Roberto Orci are the screenwriters for a new version of Star Trek, directed by J. J. Abrams, which premieres in the theaters May 8. The eagerly awaited movie has already received a large amount of advance publicity in the media, everywhere from Entertainment Weekly to the Wall Street Journal to sci-fi web sites, and advance word has been positive. The New York Times devoted a feature by Dave Itzkoff on April 26 on the upcoming film. The new version delves into the series’ mythology and takes the viewer to the origins of James Kirk and Spock…
Tracy Winn ’75 is the author of Mrs. Somebody Somebody (Southern Methodist University Press), a vibrant new collection of interwoven tales about the inhabitants of Lowell, Mass., a dying mill town. Her affecting and unsentimental stories, set from the 1940s to the present, cover a range of fascinating characters, including mill workers, a doctor, a hairdresser, a bookie, a restless wife, and several insightful children. In his review of the book in the Boston Globe, Steve Almond '88 praises Winn’s book as “a testament to the power of the short form.” He adds that her stories “carefully expose the universal…
David PesciJonathan 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.
The April 27th New Yorker has a piece that in part profiles Ron Bloom '77 who is one of two "Auto Czars" appointed by President Obama to preside over the restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler as the government attempts to bail-out both companies. Bloom had previous success helping to right U.S. Steel. There is a link to a synopsis of the story here (the full text is subscriber only).
According to CBS Sports, New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick has one major advantage over his peers in the NFL coaching community: a brilliant mind. According to the story, this is especially true when it comes to selecting and managing personnel and will be particularly advantageous as the annual NFL draft (April 25-26) approaches.
This link, provided by the Office of the University Registrar, has the location of the Monday, April 20 classes that have been relocated from Hall-Atwater.
In a oped piece for The New Haven Register, Sophie Pollitt-Cohen '09, suggests that Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd can start to re-burnish his bruised public image by, among other things, coming up with a more folksy nickname.
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.
Kennedy Odede '12 and Jessica Posner '09 are recipients of a "Projects for Peace Award" for their proposal to build a girls school in the Kenyan slum of Kiberia. The slum was Odede's home growing up and a place where girls and young women routinely become victims of violence, mistreatment, and abuse of all sorts. The students, who received $10,000 to build the school, hope that the institution will provide both a refuge and an opportunity for girls who enroll.