David LowBruce Peabody ’91, a constitutional law scholar at Fairleigh Dickinson University, is the editor and one of the authors of The Politics of Judicial Independence (Johns Hopkins University Press), a new volume that gathers together a range of scholars and experts to chart and explore the importance of criticisms of courts and judges—in the United States and abroad. While contributors consider attacks against the judiciary over the past four decades, several of them are especially interested in court critiques (and their implications for judicial independence) in the 21st century. The judiciary in the United States has been subject in recent…
Bradley Galer ’83, M.D., and Charles Argoff, M.D., are the authors of Defeat Chronic Pain Now! (Fair Winds Press), a survival guide to preventing, reversing, and managing chronic pain. Galer and Argoff present hidden and little known causes of common chronic pain conditions, how to avoid misdiagnosis, and the latest treatments under development including: Myofascial Dysfunction: The real (undiagnosed!) culprit in 90 percent of back and neck pain; DMARDS and NSAIDS: Two breakthrough drugs that promise significant relief for arthritis; Nutraceuticals: The natural wonder treatment for peripheral neuropathy; Focal heat trigger-point (FHTP) therapy: The new drug-free approach to migraine relief. This…
Bossa Nova, a play by Kirsten Greenidge ’96, recently had its world premiere opening at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, where it runs through Dec.18. Greenidge’s play centers around Dee Paradis, a young African American woman who struggles to define herself under the watchful eyes of her mother and her jazz-loving white history teacher. The play moves around in time from the early 1980s to Dee’s school days a decade earlier and then back again. In her New York Times review of the play, Anita Gates wrote: “Ms. Greenidge has a lovely way with language and piercing insight…
Best-selling author James Kaplan ’73 has written an acclaimed new biography, Frank: The Voice (Doubleday), about the early life of one of America’s best known American singers and entertainers of the 20th century, Frank Sinatra, from the years 1915 through 1954. Kaplan reveals how Sinatra helped to make the act of listening to pop music a more personal experience to his fans than it had ever been before. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times recently chose Kaplan’s book as one of her Top 10 Books of 2010. In her review in the Times, she wrote that Kaplan “has produced…
Jeanne Peterson ’85 has written a new novel, Falling to Heaven (St. Martin’s Press), the story of two American Quakers who trek into Tibet in 1954. In this work of historical fiction, Emma and Gerald Kittredge leave their secure Quaker community and travel to the Tibetan city of Shigatse where they soon find companionship with their neighbors, Dorje and Rinchen, and their small family. But the arrival of Maoist soldiers shatters these characters’ quiet life. Gerald is captured by the soldiers, leaving a pregnant Emma facing an agonizing decision: flee Tibet or stay and risk imprisonment herself. Dorje and Rinchen…
Alex Kudera ’91 has published a new satiric novel, Fight for Your Long Day (Atticus Books), which takes the reader into the secret life of an adjunct college professor, Cyrus “Duffy” Duffleman who has to travel to four universities a day in Philadephia to teach. Duffy can barely afford his two-room apartment and would be thrilled to have health insurance. Then one day, Duffy’s teaching routine changes when his first class is interrupted by the cryptic mumblings of a possibly psychotic student. Next he encounters a bow-and-arrow assassination. His long day continues downhill from there as he attempts to maintain…
Dennis Waring Ph.D ’82 has created a new video titled From Trash to Tunes, designed to teach children, families and educators the craft of making simple musical instruments from items around the house. The video introduces children to the science of sound and the history of musical instruments. Detailed demonstrations show how to construct more than a dozen instruments from recycled materials. Families can organize their own band at home as they “go green.” Waring is an ethnomusicologist, educator, author, instrument maker, collector, performer, and arts consultant. He teaches world music, American music and music education courses on the university…
Frank Wood ’84 is currently starring in the acclaimed off-Broadway revival of Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize- winning play Angels in America, which has been playing to sold-out houses at the Signature Theatre in Manhattan since opening this fall and runs through March 27. Set in New York City during the mid-’80s, this epic work follows the interconnected lives of several people affected by the AIDS crisis, intense spiritual experiences, and the Reagan Administration. Wood plays the demanding role of the closeted gay lawyer, Roy Cohn. Tony Award-winner Wood (more…)
[youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLu1ukpooyA[/youtube] Wesleyan scored a winning touchdown with a Nov. 16 benefit presentation of the new Broadway play Lombardi before a sell-out crowd of nearly 700 alumni, staff, faculty, students and friends at Manhattan's Circle in the Square Theater. The event, part of the Wesleyan on Broadway series, raised $312,000 for financial aid and athletics. View the entire Lombardi photo album online here. Directed by Thomas Kail '99, Lombardi portrays key moments in the life of legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi. Kail previously directed the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights, which was created and composed by Wesleyan contemporary Lin-Manuel…
Dar Williams ’89 has released a new double retrospective CD, Many Great Companions (Razor and Tie). The first CD contains live acoustic performances that reimagine fan favorites, while the second showcases original recordings from past albums of her 20-year career. The collection features guests such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Sara and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek, Patty Larkin and the trio Motherlode. Songs Williams revisits include “As Cool as I Am,” “Spring Street,” “When I Was a Boy” and “The Babysitter’s Here.” In his recent review of the album in American Songwriter, Matt Popkin writes: “Throughout the new recordings, Williams’…
In September, Dina Kaplan ’93, co-founder and COO of blip.tv, appeared on Fortune’s list of the 2010 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs. According to Fortune, the “idea was to find the most innovative, ground-breaking, game-changing female entrepreneurs in the U.S.” Kaplan recently talked to BusinessWeek about “Making More Women Entrepreneurs.” In the Q&A, she says: “There is a very strong camaraderie emerging among women in digital media. Women founders can encourage friendships and build a support network and potential business relationships to try to create a bit of an ‘old girls’ club’ for digital media.”
Wah Do Dem, the delightful and often surprising indie film directed by Sam Fleischner ’06 and Ben Chace, is now available on DVD, after a successful theatrical tour in June. The film centers on a young man named Max (Sean Bones) who lives in Brooklyn and is abandoned by his girlfriend (Norah Jones) two days before they are set to take a cruise they won to Jamaica. Max winds up alone on the high seas navigating through crowds of grey-haired cruisers. When the cruise liner docks in Jamaica, he quickly escapes the tourist zone, loses track of time and his…