Olivia DrakeBill Craighead, assistant professor of economics, is the co-author of a paper titled, "As the Current Account Turns: Disaggregating the Effects of Current Account Reversals in Industrial Countries," published in the December issue of The World Economy. An abstract is available online here. In the paper, Craighead examines "current account reversals" which occur when a country significantly reduces its international borrowing and its trade deficit. "While there has been quite a bit of study of these episodes in economics, most of it has looked at the impact on the overall economy. What we did was look at how these episodes…
Ethnomusicologist Sumarsam, University Professor of Music, is the author of two new articles published in 2013. “Past and Present Issues of Javanese-European Musical Hybridity," was published in Recollecting Resonances: Indonesian-Dutch Musical Encounters by Leiden: Brill, pages 87-108. Soon after the introduction of European music in Java in the 18th century, Java-European musical hybrids emerged. In his article Sumarsam asks the following questions: how do we explain the incorporation of European sounds into the indigenous gamelan ensemble? Is this incorporation a kind of Javanese-European intercultural sonic dialogue, a subversive act of European authority, or the domestication of an exotic sound? Sumarsam addresses these…
David LowMarc Eisner, the Henry Merritt Wriston Chair in Public Policy, professor of government, professor of environmental studies, is the author of The American Political Economy: Institutional Evolution of Market and State, published by Routledge in 2014. Policy debates are often grounded within the conceptual confines of a state-market dichotomy, as though the two existed in complete isolation. In this innovative text, Eisner portrays the state and the market as inextricably linked, exploring the variety of institutions subsumed by the market and the role that the state plays in creating the institutional foundations of economic activity. Through a historical approach, Eisner situates the study of…
Tony Connor, professor of English, emeritus, is the author of The Empty Air, published by Anvil Press Poetry in 2013. Connor’s 10th collection is framed by military encounters. In the first poem a young man grapples with a malfunctioning machine-gun, while the author grapples with the poem he is making from this event, memory or fantasy. In the surrealistic sequence that ends the book, a strange army invades a country collapsing into societal and semantic dissolution. Connor’s abiding preoccupations continue into his eighties: his own life and the lives around him, passing time and its traps, poetry and its transfiguration…
The historical scholarship of Erik Grimmer-Solem, associate professor of history, was discussed at length by Klaus Wiegrefe in a Dec. 21 issue of Germany's largest-circulation news weekly, Der Spiegel. As reported by the magazine, Grimmer-Solem uncovered evidence that a general currently honored as an anti-Nazi by the German Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) was involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity during the German invasion of the Ukraine in 1941. In an article published in the military history journal Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift, Grimmer-Solem revealed the close cooperation between units of the Wehrmacht commanded by General Hans von Sponeck and the SS in atrocities committed against Jews in the southern…
An exhibit curated by Emma Rothberg '15 is on display at the Middlesex County Historical Society in Middletown. In "Juxtaposing Likeness: Fashion Accessories from the Collection of the Middlesex County Historical Society," museum volunteer Rothberg presents about two dozen items from the late 18th century to the early 20th century, including jewelry, hats, spectacles, a silk parasol, fans and a man's leather billfold from just after the American Revolution. The items are displayed in two glass cases inside the museum. Rothberg's exhibit also was featured in a December 2013 issue of The Hartford Courant. Her exhibit statement reads: "Clothing, potentially more than…
Wesleyan students returned from winter recess to blizzard-like conditions on Jan. 14-15. (more…)
For the students, faculty, staff and visitors on campus this winter, it's been a wild weather ride, with temperatures ranging from below zero to the 50s, and precipitation of all varieties. Jan. 15 brought fog. (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)
During the 13th annual Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, Wesleyan faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends have the opportunity to explore issues of global concern in a small seminar environment. This year's topic is "The Novel." The Shasha Seminar will take place April 5-6 on Wesleyan's campus. Fourteen speakers, including several award-winning novelists and authors, will offer readings from their own work and lead forums on "My First Novel," "Beyond Genre," "The Small Press," "Crime Novels," "The State of Publishing," "Great New Writers" and more. View the full program online here. "This conference on 'The Novel' — in all of…
Anti-racist activist Tim Wise will deliver the keynote address at Wesleyan's Celebration of the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 31. His talk begins at 3:15 p.m. in Memorial Chapel. A reception and book signing will follow in the Zelnick Pavilion. Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. Named one of “25 Visionaries Who are Changing Your World,” by Utne Reader, Wise has spoken in all 50 states, on over 800 college and high school campuses, and to community groups across the nation. Wise is the author of seven books,…
Kate CarlisleThe Center for the Arts has received a grant of $200,000 to support the Muslim Women Voices Project during its 2014-2015 season. The project, part of the Creative Campus initiative, will present theater, music and dance performances by women from nine different countries. The award, announced Jan. 10, is from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, a national service and advocacy group. APAP distributes the grants (Wesleyan’s CFA is one of six organizations chosen this year), which are funded through the Building Bridges program of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. Building Bridges…
Ethnomusicologist Sumarsam, University Professor of Music, received a Henry Luce Fellowship grant worth $5,000 from the American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS) in January 2014 for his research on “Expressing and Contesting Java-Islam Encounters in the Performing Arts.” Since 2001 due to global geo-politics, issues of religion and culture have been highlighted, especially within Muslim cultures that were repositioning in non-normative ways. "This adjustment, the popular if historically flawed perception of Islam as 'against performing arts' has made for significant dialogue about performing arts," Sumarsam said. "Inserted in a taking its cue from global dialogue between wahabi Islam and westernized global…