2017 – Page 35

Members of the Philadelphia-based ensemble Tempesta di Mare will perform baroque chamber music from Venice and Naples on period instruments for the Connecticut premiere of A Tale of Two Italian Cities in Crowell Concert Hall at 8 p.m., Friday, March 31. This performance by Tempesta di Mare is part of the Performing Arts Series at the Center for the Arts, and the conclusion of the 2016-2017 season. “These performances feature a wide array of world-class musicians, cutting-edge choreography, and groundbreaking theater,” explained Sarah Curran, director of the Center for the Arts. “We’re excited to include a baroque chamber orchestra this…

In the March 21 issue, the Toronto Star profiles Associate Professor of Dance Hari Krishnan in connection with his latest full-length work, "Holy Cow(s)!" Krishnan discusses the ways in which he often endures "ridiculous if non-malevolent cultural prejudices," such as assumptions that he practices yoga or doesn't eat beef due to his Indian heritage. Krishnan would prefer people to look beyond the stereotypes, beyond what he calls such false binaries as East/West, white/coloured, masculine/feminine, tradition/modernity. Says Krishnan: “I’m brown. I’m a beef-eating Hindu from Singapore and I’m proudly gay. I’m not a tourism poster.” Krishnan, an award-winning dancer/choreographer, is founder of the performing company…

“Wait, turn that up! What is that song?” If you've ever watched a commercial that became more significant the second you heard a song you just had to hear again, chances are Jonathan Hecht ’04—founder of Venn Arts—was behind its discovery. His interest in pairing music with picture was inspired by the Paul Thomas Anderson film Boogie Nights: "I realized how different some of the musical selections were, but how they all fit together to create a sound and musical character for the film.” He began to wonder if he could create a career out of this observation—which became Venn Arts,…

Albert Fry, the E.B. Nye Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, will be honored at the Electrochemical Society National Meeting in New Orleans in May. The symposium, aptly titled, “The 80th Birthday Trifecta in Organic Electrochemistry,” celebrates Fry, and his two colleagues, Professor Jean Lessard of Sherbrooke University and Professor Denis Peters of Indiana University, who will all be celebrating their 80th birthdays. “Besides having carried on research in organic electrochemistry for many years, each of us has served as chair of the organic and biological electrochemistry division of the Society, and Peters and I received the Baizer Award in organic electrochemistry,” explained…

Foss Professor of Physics Thomas Morgan has been appointed as honorary professor at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He will hold this title for the next three years. Morgan was recognized for this honor for his broad research contributions to the fields of atomic and molecular physics and plasma physics. He has published over 90 research papers, including many with international collaborators from Germany, France, Mexico and Japan. Morgan will continue his research work at Wesleyan on highly excited states of diatomic molecules, and, as an honorary professor title holder, he will have access to Queen’s University’s resources for…

Architects Newspaper praised Nathan Rich ’02 and his firm, Peterson Rich Office (PRO) for the design of a new gallery-residential building at 282 Grand Street in New York City. The building, which is located in the Lower East Side, covers 20,000 square feet and will house 20 condos, climbing to 80 feet. Aside from the two penthouses at the top level, the rest of the dwellings are 550 square-foot one-bedroom condos. The gallery space is larger than most galleries in the area, spanning 45 feet wide. Each space is highly efficient and the building features an innovative perforated aluminum rain-screen…

Elizabeth McAlister, chair and professor of religion, is the co-author of an op-ed on CNN titled, "Haiti and the distortion of its Vodou religion." Together with her co-author, Millery Polyné, a Haitian-American professor of African-American and Caribbean history at the Gallatin School–NYU, she provides an introduction to the Vodou religion—the creation of African slaves who were brought to Haiti and converted by Roman Catholic missionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries. While Vodou shares much with Christianity, and its initiates must be Roman Catholic, it departs in its views of the cosmos. Vodou teaches that there is no heaven or hell, and…

Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, was a guest on WNPR's "Where We Live" recently to discuss climate change and politics. President Donald Trump's newly released budget proposal substantially cuts the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce and other agencies that conduct research and do work on climate change. (Yohe begins speaking around 2 minutes into the program). Since the election, Yohe explains, he and others in the scientific community "have been concerned that part of the attack on science will be the eradication of scientific data scattered around all of the federal…

Associate Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler is an author of a new paper released in HealthAffairs examining the link between health insurance changes after the first Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment period and the efforts of federal, state, and non-profit sponsors to market their products. Fowler and her co-authors found that advertising worked—more ads for the ACA produced a significantly higher rate of insurance enrollment. The study, conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Minnesota (including Sarah Gollust ’01), uses advertising and television news data from the Wesleyan Media Project. It is one of the key…

Sara MacSorley, director of the Green Street Teaching and Learning Center, is the author of Super Cool Scientists, a new coloring book celebrating women in science. It features stories and illustrations of 22 women in science and technology careers. Highlighting a wide range of diversity in scientific field, background, race, and more, it aims to show all young people that science can be for them. The idea for Super Cool Scientists came to MacSorley a little over a year ago, and launched with a successful Kickstarter campaign. “I had been looking for a side project that brought more direct science…

On March 4, members of the student activist organization Sophia traveled to New York City to attend the Community Party USA Unity Rally and discussion against racism, sexism and all forms of bigotry with special guest and keynote speaker Angela Davis. Inspired by the rising necessity for constructive solidarity and community, Sophia founder and president, Posse veteran scholar Gabe Hurlock '20 created the organization to promote inclusion, multiculturalism, and personhood on the Wesleyan campus and in the Middletown community. The organization focuses on critical philosophy and conceptualization of social justice issues through community organization. The rally featured Jamaican author and poet Staceyann…

"Walking Elephants Home," a Mahouts Elephant Foundation (MEF) project launched and run by Becca Winkler ’16, has been nominated for the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) grant—and voting is open until March 23. "From many conversations with elephant owners struggling to make ends meet and who were unhappy with the conditions their elephants live in at elephant camps, I could see that we needed a new model,” Winkler said. "The forests of Thailand have been home to the Asian elephant for thousands of years; it is their birthright. 'Walking Elephants Home' is on a mission to to prove that tourists should…

CFA Performing Arts Series Concert to Feature Italian Baroque Chamber Music

Dance Department’s Krishnan ‘Slaughters’ Stereotypes

Hecht ’04 Finds the Irresistible Music for Commercial Clients

Fry to Be Honored at Electrochemical Symposium in May

Morgan Appointed Honorary Professor at Queen’s University

Architecture Firm, Owned by Rich ’02, Praised for Innovative Design

McAlister Writes Op-Ed on ‘Demystifying Vodou’

Yohe Talks Climate Change and Politics on ‘Where We Live’

Fowler, Gollust ’01 Author Paper on Insurance Enrollment, Advertising

MacSorley Authors New Coloring Book Celebrating Women in Science

Students Attend Discussion on Racism, Sexism, Bigotry in NYC

‘Walking Elephants Home’ Project by Winkler ’16 Nominated for Conservation Grant