Cynthia Rockwell

On Nov. 1, Professor of Art David Schorr’s Flying Carpets—New Paintings by David Schorr opened at Wesleyan’s Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery with a standing-room-only reception and gallery talk by the artist. This solo exhibition and the site-specific installation, Flying Carpets, revisits Schorr’s childhood days spent playing on his grandmother's Persian rugs. A few days earlier, on Oct. 29, Schorr had previewed this opening in an WESeminar for Family Weekend. In his remarks, Schorr shared the artists’ process through which the series came to be. “One of the questions my students ask is, 'Where do ideas come from?'” he began.…

The Chicago Cubs—with Wesleyan’s Jed Hoyer ’96 at the helm as executive vice president/general manager—won the seventh game of the 2016 World Series on November 2 to claim the team’s first World Series title since 1908. After trailing the Cleveland Indians three games to one in the best-of-seven series, the Cubs won the seventh and final game by a score of 8-7, in 10 innings. The title puts an end to the team’s 108-year drought—the longest in baseball history. Hoyer is now a member of three World Series teams: the 2016 Cubs, 2007 Red Sox and 2004 Red Sox. In…

The 24th Annual Dwight L. Greene Symposium, held on Oct. 29 during Family Weekend, featured a panel of alumni ranging over three decades, speaking about the opportunities and challenges in higher education. C. Andrew McGadney ’92, vice president and secretary at Colby College, moderated. Previously McGadney had served at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., where he was vice president for university advancement, He had begun his career in University Relations at Wesleyan, serving as a director of development. Antonio Farias, vice president for equity and inclusion/Title IX officer, welcomed the speakers and attendees. The panel featured Tracey Gardner ’96, deputy chief of staff…

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, “The Battle of Chosin,” a documentary produced and directed by Randall MacLowry ’86, aired nationwide as part of the PBS American Experience series. In the film, MacLowry told the story of this pivotal 1950 Korean War battle—the first major military clash of the Cold War—through the eyewitness accounts and archival footage of heroic survival despite freezing temperatures and bloody battle. A film major as an undergraduate who counts Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies Jeanine Basinger as a seminal mentor, MacLowry is an award-winning filmmaker whose work spans more than 25 years. His previous film for American Experience…

Three Wesleyan alumnae returned to campus Oct. 26 to speak to junior and senior earth and environmental science majors about “What to do with an E&ES Degree After Wes?” The panel included Lori Oakes-Coyne ’92, senior recruiter for Environmental Resources Management, Inc. in Boston; Maria Osorio ‘92, assistant commissioner of operations for New York City; and Emma Kravet ’09, education director for the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. Professor of Earth and Environmental Science Suzanne O’Connell organized the program to assist students in preparing for post-Commencement life. "Our alumni are incredibly loyal,” she notes, “And one way they help the…

The 13th Annual Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, held Oct. 14-15, offered panels and discussions on "The Role of the University in the Era of Mass Incarceration." Experts and activists from across the country, as well as members of the Wesleyan community, considered practical and philosophical responses to the current situation, placing it in a historical perspective that began with slavery. Additionally, Wesleyan's Center for Prison Education (CPE) program alumni gave individual testimony to the imperative they placed on access to learning within the penal system. Keynote speaker Michael Romano ’94, who teaches at Stanford Law School, is the co-founder and director of the…

Bloody handprints smeared the glass doors to Usdan, the clue to Mysterium attendees that they had arrived at the scene of their conference on Oct. 8. Red footprints led them to the sign-in table and the schedule, which boasted a cohort of award-winning mystery writers and those in publishing—including Wesleyan alumni. Hosted by Amy Bloom ’75, the Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing at Wesleyan, the day-long event opened with a keynote with Laura Lippman—a New York Times bestselling author of detective fiction including the Tess Monaghan series—and brought alumni, parents, as well as mystery writers and readers to campus for panel…

Jan Hasselman ’91, a staff attorney with Earthjustice’s Northwest office in Seattle, serves as counsel for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in their efforts to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. An article in The Atlantic "The Legal Case for Blocking the Dakota Access Pipeline," asks "Did the U.S. government help destroy a major Sioux archeological site? The article is one of several in the media that highlight the work of the legal team and the questions they raise. At this time, the issue ongoing. Atlantic Associate Editor Robinson Meyer writes in his Sept. 9 article: "As part…

Dream On, the newest documentary by Roger Weisberg ’75, will air on PBS at 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7. (check local listing). The film is the 32nd documentary written, produced and directed by Weisberg, who heads Public Policy Productions. Dream On has already appeared in 19 international film festivals, garnering four top awards. Weisberg's earlier works have won more than 150 awards, including Emmy and Peabody awards, as well as two Academy Award nominations. Dream On asks the question: “Is the American Dream still alive and well?” Are we still optimistic that hard work will raise our standard of living—for…

A Body in Fukushima, the collaborative work of Wesleyan artist-in-residence Eiko Otake P’07, ’10 and Professor of History and East Asian Studies William Johnston, will be on view at the Cathedral of St, John the Divine in Upper Manhattan as part of a larger exhibition The Christa Project: Manifesting Divine Bodies from Oct. 6 through March 12. Otake, who serves as an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral and a co-curator with Wesleyan senior Hannah Eisner ’17 for this project, will offer a short performance for the opening reception, which is open to the public. The exhibition includes works by many notable artists…

Former student-athlete Jack Mackey ’16 was named a recipient of the Sport Changes Life Victory Scholar Program. Victory Scholars are “driven young athletes who spend a year mentoring young people through sport in communities in Northern Ireland and Ireland, while studying for their Masters degree and continuing to play the sport they love.” This year, 23 scholars will embark on a life-changing experience of community outreach initiatives, and academic and athletic fulfillment to help mold the lives of young people and enable them to develop a global perspective. With the help of The Rory Foundation, the Victory Scholars program will…

A Connecticut dance event offered Associate Professor of Dance Katja Kolcio an additional way to explore her ongoing dance/movement project highlighting the effect of political forces at work in Ukraine. Last summer, Kolcio invited colleague and Associate Professor of Dance Nicole Stanton to join with two other dancers, both with ties to Ukraine, to create a dance. This event, Dance for Peace, was sponsored by Artists for World Peace, an organization founded and led by Wendy Black-Nasta P’07, with music director Robert Nasta MA ’98, P’07. Kolcio, who holds a doctorate in somatics, places the dance they created, “Steppe Land,”…

Schorr’s Flying Carpets Exhibition Explores Childhood Memories, Creative Process

Cubs GM Hoyer ’96 Celebrates World Series Win

Dwight L. Greene Symposium: Alumni Speak on Opportunities, Challenges in Higher Ed

Director MacLowry ’86 on the Making of PBS Documentary, “The Battle of Chosin”

Alumnae Speak to Students about Careers in Earth and Environmental Science

Shasha Seminar Sparks Dialogue on Universities’ Response to Mass Incarceration

Mysterium Conference Draws Writers, Readers

Attorney Hasselman ’91 Represents Standing Rock Sioux Against Dakota Access Pipeline

Award-winning Documentary ‘Dream On,’ by Roger Weisberg ’75 Airs on PBS, Oct. 7

Johnston, Eiko Exhibit A Body in Fukushima in Manhattan

Mackey ’16 Recipient of Victory Scholar Program

Kolcio, Stanton Create, Perform “Steppe Lands” as Freedom Dance Ukraine