Olivia DrakeJohn Steele '14 was named one of three finalists for the 2014 Men’s College Squash Association’s Skillman Award. The Skillman Award is given annually to a senior men’s squash player who has demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship during his entire college career. This award is named for former Yale coach John Skillman, who led the Bulldogs to multiple national titles in over 40 years leading the team. Players are evaluated based on their on-court poise and demeanor, skill level and ability in the game of squash, team play, contributions to intercollegiate squash, leadership, and cooperation with players, coaches, and tournament officials. The Award Chair…
Randall MacLowry '86, visiting instructor in film studies, co-produced, directed and wrote an episode for the PBS history series American Experience. Titled "The Rise and Fall of Penn Station," the hour-long episode premieres at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18. Pennsylvania Station, a monumental train terminal in the heart of Manhattan, finally opened to the public on Nov. 27, 1910. Covering nearly eight acres, the building was the fourth largest in the world. By 1945, more than 100 million passengers traveled through Penn Station each year. But by the 1960s, what was supposed to last forever was slated for destruction. In…
Three Wesleyan employees participated in the Penguin Plunge, held Feb. 8 at Hammonassett Beach State Park in Madison, Conn. The team raised $585 to benefit Special Olympics Connecticut. Team members included Nate Peters, associate vice president for finance; Christine Daniels, executive assistant to the vice president for finance and administration; and Sherri Condon, accounting specialist for auxiliary operations and campus services.
Dr. Larry Antosz, a psychotherapist with Wesleyan's Counseling and Psychological Services, spoke to parents about children's needs at the Cobb School, Montessori in Simsbury, Conn. on Jan. 24. Dr. Antosz joined Paul Assaiante, squash coach and author from Trinity College, and John Kniering, director of career services at the University of Hartford, to encourage parents to "guide your children, then let them fly." "Dr. Antosz took time out of his busy day to talk with Cobb School parents about what children really need. He sat on a panel and shared his thoughts on parenting and education and everything in between.…
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Paul Erickson, assistant professor of history, is the co-author of How Reason Almost Lost Its Mind: The Strange Career of Cold War Rationality," published by the University of Chicago Press in 2013. In the United States at the height of the Cold War, roughly between the end of World War II and the early 1980s, a new project of redefining rationality commanded the attention of sharp minds, powerful politicians, wealthy foundations, and top military brass. Its home was the human sciences—psychology, sociology, political science and economics, among others—and its participants enlisted in an intellectual campaign to figure out what rationality…
Magda Teter, the Jeremy Zwelling Professor of Jewish Studies, professor of history, professor of medieval studies, is the co-editor of a book titled, Jewish-Christian Relations in History, Memory, and Art: European contet for the paintings in the Sandomierz Cathedral, published in Polish by Wydawnictwo Diecezjalne, Sandomierz in 2013. A large painting known as Infanticidium on the western wall of the Cathedral church in Sandomierz, Poland depicting scenes of Jews killing Christian children, has been frequently viewed as an example of Polish anti-Semitism and a troubling symbol of Jewish-Catholic relations. The painting became a site of memory (lieu de mémoire), crystalizing…
A book written by Joe Siry was named a finalist for the 2013 National Jewish Book Award in the visual arts category. Siry is professor of art history, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of the Humanities and chair of the Art and Art History Department. The Jewish Book Council announced the winners of the 63rd Annual National Jewish Book Awards on Jan. 15. Beth Sholom Synagogue: Frank Lloyd Wright and Modern Religious Architecture was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2011. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2007, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Beth Sholom Synagogue was one of Wright’s last…
This month, more than 40 Wesleyan students completed a semester-long class in less than two weeks. As part of Wesleyan's first Winter Session, held Jan. 8-21, students took advantage of a quieter campus and a long winter break to focus intensively on just one course. "During Winter Session, students can connect more closely not just with the topics they're studying, but also with their instructor and classmates," said Jennifer Curran, interim director of Continuing Studies. During this pilot session, Wesleyan offered four courses: “Introduction to Computer Programming," taught by James Lipton, associate professor of computer science; "U.S. Foreign Policy," taught…
Which professor has made the biggest impact on your Wesleyan education? If you're a junior, senior, graduate student or Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD), then you're eligible to nominate your favorite faculty member for the prestigious Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching honor. The Binswanger Prize was inaugurated in 1993 as an institutional recognition of outstanding faculty members. These prizes, made possible by gifts from the family of the late Frank G. Binswanger Sr., HON ’85, underscore Wesleyan’s commitment to its scholar-teachers, who are responsible for the university’s distinctive approach to liberal arts education. Prize winners are announced at…
For 75 years, 88.1 FM WESU has provided a platform for the enjoyment of underground music and under-represented genres generally absent from commercial airwaves. The year 2014 will mark WESU’s 75th Anniversary, and "we’ve got a metric boatload of events and special programming to celebrate," said DJ "Cheshire Cat" Bryan Skowera '99. "Rather than air just our selections, we want our listeners and friends to contribute to our playlist by helping us pick the songs." This month, WESU is broadcasting “75 Years of Socially Conscious Music," a program that features listener and staff suggestions that reflect both socially conscious music and WESU’s…
Seven films, all with English subtitles, will be screened during the annual Israeli Film Festival this spring. The festival aims to educate and explore the richness, diversity and creativity of Israeli culture as witnessed through the flourishing of contemporary Israeli cinema. Each film screening is followed by a guest speaker or Wesleyan faculty who comments on the film from a particular perspective. FIlms this year include Fill the Void, Wherever You Go, Welcome and our Condolences, Zaytoun, By Summer’s End, Six Million and One, Back by Popular Demand: Eyes Wide Open. Films run every Thursday at 8 p.m. from Jan. 30 to March 6 in the Goldsmith…