Olivia DrakeWesleyan welcomes 13 new faculty to Wesleyan this fall. They include: Rachel Ellis Nyera, assistant professor of English. Megan Glick, assistant professor of American studies. Cameron Hill, assistant professor of mathematics. Daniel Licata, assistant professor of computer science. Psyche Loui, assistant professor of psychology. Nadezda "Nadya" Potemkina, adjunct assistant professor of music. Lily Saint, assistant professor of English. Olga Sendra Ferrer, assistant professor of romance languages and literatures. Joslyn Trager, assistant professor of government. Laura Ann Twagira, assistant professor of history. James Greenwood, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences. Marcela Otéiza, assistant professor of theater. David Nelson, adjunct assistant…
Natalie Robichaud ’14As part of the Connecticut NPR affiliate WPKT’s program, Where We Live, Daniel Sterner ’97, author of a book about historic downtown Hartford, recently discussed historic buildings that have disappeared and what has taken their place. Program host John Dankosky, observed, “Every city changes over time. But Hartford’s downtown seems to be slowly disappearing.” Sterner points out that all cities are always in flux; older buildings are always being replaced by newer ones. He describes any typical city block, even the one on Trumbull Street from which the program was broadcast, as “layered:” Some buildings date back to the 1800s,…
Norm Shapiro, professor of romance languages and literatures, spoke about poetry translation during Summer Festival 2013, held June 23 at the Longfellow House National Historical Site in Cambridge, Mass. Shapiro is the author of dozens of books on French culture, literature and poetry. He recently translated most of New Orleans poet Jules Choppin’s poems for New Orleans Poems in Creole and French. The book presents a bilingual collection of forgotten treasures of 19th century francophone American literature. In 2010, he was decorated as Officier de Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Minister of Culture and Communication in France. The Ordre was established in 1957 to recognize eminent…
Sara MacSorley, the new director at Green Street Arts Center, is featured in the Aug. 12 edition of The Middletown Press in an article titled, "Green Street Art Center's newest director takes lead on combining arts, math and science." MacSorley, who joined Green Street in January 2013 after working at the University of Rhode Island, brings to Green Street her combination of interest in science and math and also the arts and education. Green Street’s programs include an after-school program, private lessons and professional development along with various classes including things such as yoga, videography, digital photography, hip hop and…
Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the co-author of "Surviving rapid climate change in the deep-sea during the Paleogene hyperthemals," published in the June 4 issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, No. 23. Read the paper's abstract online here. Thomas also is the co-author of "Paleoenvironmental changes during the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) and its aftermath: the benthic foraminiferal record from the Alano section (NE Italy)," published in the May 15 issue of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 378, 22-35. Read the paper's abstract online here. She also co-authored a book titled, The…
A geology book featuring a chapter co-authored by Ellen Thomas received a PROSE Award from The American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in 2013. Thomas is a research professor of earth and environmental sciences. She co-authored a chapter titled, "Carbon Isotope Stratigraphy," in the book, The Geologic Time Scale 2012, published by Elsevier in July 2012. The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in over 40 categories. Judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals since 1976, the PROSE Awards are extraordinary for…
In the Aug. 13 edition of The Huffington Post, Suzanna Tamminen, editor-in-chief of Wesleyan University Press, was named one of the "Top 200 Advocates for American Poetry." WesPress publishes between four and six poetry titles a year. Among the authors are John Ashbery, Michael Davidson, Reachel Blau DuPlessis, Kenneth Goldsmith, Susan Howe, Heather McHugh and Kevin Young, among others. "Many of those who bring new people to an appreciation of poetry, and/or more people into conversations about how to re-centralize (if not re-popularize) poetry in American culture, are either genre-hybridic authors (e.g., poet-editors, poet-critics, poet-essayists, or poet-scholars) or in fact…
Writer and performer Leila Buck ’99 shared the latest exploration of her play, "HKEELEE (Talk to Me)," a work-in-progress, at New York City’s Culture Project on Monday, July 29 as part of the Women Center Stage Festival. The solo, personalized play resonated with the audience members who stayed for an in-depth discussion after the show. In the piece, Buck ties together moments that are specific to her life in the context of universal themes. She addresses her Lebanese grandmother’s memory loss; French and Arabic; music and dance as sometimes competing, sometimes complimentary markers of her Lebanese heritage and its complex…
Bill FisherBack on campus for Reunion & Commencement weekend in May, in this video, alumni of class years from 1953 to 2008 share stories of how Wesleyan shaped their lives. [youtube width="640" height="420"]http://youtu.be/E18u2RBSKEc[/youtube]
Jeanine Basinger, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, is a guest speaker featured in the new HBO documentary, "Casting By." The documentary premiered Aug. 5. Jeff Bridges, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Robert Redford and others make appearances in the film. "Casting By" explores the unsung hero of Hollywood: a casting director. The story focuses on Marion Dougherty, known for pioneering the casting business, long before the Casting Society of America or the Directors Guild of America existed. Dougherty gave actors including James Dean, Glenn Close, Al Pacino, Bette Midler, Warren Beatty, Jon Voight and Diane Lane…
Laura Patey joined the Office of Student Affairs as an associate dean on July 1. Nathaniel Lerner joined the University Events and Scheduling Office as an assistant director on July 1. Jelisa Adair joined the Center for Community Partnerships as a civic engagement fellow on July 1. Zachary Fischman joined the Center for Community Partnerships as a center of prison education fellow on July 1. Ashleigh Corvi joined the Office of Admissions as an assistant dean on July 1. Geraldina Muzik joined the Health Services Department as a medical office manager on July 8. Thomas McLarney joined the Health Services…
Two faculty members and two graduate students co-authored a paper published in the July 18 edition of the academic journal, Biochemistry. Erika Taylor, assistant professor of chemistry, assistant professor of environmental studies; Manju Hingorani, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry; chemistry graduate student Daniel Czyzyk; and molecular biology and biochemistry graduate student Shreya Sawant wrote the paper, "Escherichia coli Heptosyltransferase I: Investigation of Protein Dynamics of a GT-B Structural Enzyme." It appears online here. Biochemistry is a publication of the American Chemical Society.