David PesciMay 9, 20121min
A book by Margot Weiss, assistant professor of American Studies, assistant professor of anthropology titled, Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality (Duke University Press, 2011) is a finalist for the 24th Annual Lambda Literary Awards in the LGBT Studies category. According to the announcement nominating Weiss for the 24th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, “the Lambda Literary Award is the most prestigious book prize in the LGBT community with over 600 total nominations.”

Olivia DrakeMay 9, 20122min
Five Wesleyan staff members received a Cardinal Achievement Award for demonstrating extraordinary initiative or providing outstanding service with regard to specific tasks or events in their departments. This special honor comes with a $150 award and reflects the university’s gratitude for those extra efforts. The April recipients are: Karen Karpa, administrative assistant in the Office of Student Affairs; Marina Melendez, dean for the Class of 2014 in the Office of Student Affairs; Tanya Purdy, director of health education in Health Services; Lisa Sacks, coordinator in the Office of Academic Affairs; Alysha Warren, therapist/sexual assault coordinator in Counseling and Psychological Services. The…

Olivia DrakeMay 9, 20121min
Leith Johnson was hired as Olin Library's new university archivist and he will begin the new position on May 14. Johnson is returning to Wesleyan from the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, Conn. where he holds the position of multimedia archivist. From 2007 to 2009, he was the project archivist for the William Manchester Papers in Wesleyan's Special Collections and Archives, and he was the associate curator (later co-curator) of Wesleyan’s Cinema Archives from 1990 to 2007. Johnson holds a M.L.S. from Southern Connecticut State University and a M.A. in history, Certificate in Public History and Archival Management, and…

Lauren RubensteinMay 9, 20122min
On April 21, Wesleyan President Michael Roth spoke at the inauguration of Anna M. Wasescha as Middlesex Community College's sixth president. Roth joined Senator Richard Blumenthal, Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, Middletown Mayor Dan Drew and many others to welcome the new president. In his speech, Roth said: “Middlesex Community College and Wesleyan have common ground … literally. Last September members of our institutions stood together on Main Street Middletown to celebrate Moving Planet Day, and to join in the commitment to reduce fossil fuel use. Supporting that celebration was Wesleyan’s College of the Environment, which we have begun in the…

David PesciMay 9, 20121min
In March, John Bonin, the Chester D. Hubbard Professor of Economics and Social Science, was a discussant regarding two papers at a conference titled “China and the World Economy,” which was held at the University of Washington in Seattle. He also participated in the board meeting for the new journal China Economic Policy Review for which he serves as an associate editor. In June, Bonin will delivering the keynote address at the European Association of Banking and Financial History Annual Conference co-sponsored by National Bank of Romania in Bucharest, Romania. His address will be titled “Two Decades of Foreign Banking in…

Olivia DrakeMay 9, 20122min
To help the victims of the March 11, 2011 earthquake in Japan, Wesleyan graduate students Maho Ishiguro, Akiko Hakateyama, Ellen Loeck and Shoko Yamamoto arranged a benefit concert titled "Voices United." Students and faculty from Wesleyan's music department, and resident performers from the Middletown area, assembled at Crowell Concert Hall for an afternoon of music and dance performances. The concert was filmed and will be available on DVD this month. Eleven performances, which included different genres of music from 10 countries, were featured. Participating ensembles and musicians included Chinese Ensemble, Balinese Gender Ensemble, Carnatic Music Ensemble (Indian vocals), The Mixolydians (vocal ensemble singing Rennaisance madrigals), Slavei…

Olivia DrakeMay 9, 20121min
Lana Lana ’12 and Jessica Spates ’12 received a Baden-Württemberg–Connecticut Exchange Grant for a one-year study in Germany. The Baden-Württemberg Exchange Program offers students an opportunity to earn college credits in one of Germany’s top nine universities. Students spend the academic year at the university they choose. The Baden-Württemberg Exchange originated from a legislative partnership formed between the State of Connecticut and the German state of Baden-Württemberg in 1989. The agreement invites all students enrolled in four-year colleges and universities in Connecticut to study at any institution of higher learning in Baden-Württemberg. With nine universities from which to choose and…

Olivia DrakeMay 9, 20121min
The Center for the Arts received a $10,000 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation on April 23. The award will support "Continuing Innovation" for the CFA's Feet to the Fire project. The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people's lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child abuse, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Dorks Duke's properties.

Olivia DrakeMay 9, 20122min
Kari Weil, University Professor of Letters, is the author of the book, Thinking Animals: Why Animal Studies Now?, published by Columbia University Press in April 2012. In Thinking Animals, Weil provides a critical introduction to the field of animal studies as well as an appreciation of its thrilling acts of destabilization. Examining real and imagined confrontations between human and nonhuman animals, she charts the presumed lines of difference between human beings and other species and the personal, ethical, and political implications of those boundaries. Weil's considerations recast the work of such authors as Kafka, Mann, Woolf, and Coetzee, and such…