Olivia DrakePaul Karl Haake, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, emeritus, died on Dec. 3 in Middletown, Conn. He was 79 years old. A memorial service was held Dec. 7 at the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty. In the true spirit of the liberal arts and the Wesleyan tradition of service, Professor Haake was particularly proud of the popularcourses he taught to students outside the sciences and of his participation in community issues. In 1975, Governor Grasso appointed Professor Haake to the Connecticut’s Nuclear Power Evaluation Council, a commission concerned with the safety of nuclear power. Professor Haake completed his A.B.…
Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, philosopher, psychoanalyst and public intellectual, died suddenly on Dec. 1 at the age of 65. She served on the Wesleyan faculty for nearly two decades, joining the College of Letters in 1974, after earning her Ph.D. in Philosophy at the New School, where she studied closely with Hannah Arendt. In 1982, Young-Bruehl published what is still considered the definitive biography of Arendt, Hannah Arendt: For Love of the World (Yale University Press, 1982; Second Edition, 2004), a text for which she received the Harcourt Literary Prize in Biography and Memoirs. Six years later, in 1988, she published an intellectual…
Below is a video featuring WILD Wes (Working for Intelligent Landscape Design at Wesleyan). WILD Wes is a Wesleyan student group working to transform fossil-fuel-intensive lawns into food-producing, ecologically-regenerative landscapes. WILD Wes is currently working on its first project: a 3/4 acre courtyard situated in a cluster of West College. The video was created by WILD Wes member Erin O'Donnell '12 and Ofer Levy '12, who were enrolled in the "Documentary Advocacy" class. Jacob Bricca, adjunct assistant professor of film studies, taught the FILM 150 course last fall. [youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT3pDlO0WKw&feature=youtube_gdata[/youtube]
Wesleyan's Green Street Arts Center received a $75,000 grant from the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA) on Nov. 22. The grant will support Green Street's After School Program in 2012. CHEFA's mission is to enhance the welfare and prosperity and improve the health and living conditions of the citizens of the State of Connecticut by providing access to tax-exempt financing and other financial assistance to institutions of higher education, healthcare institutions, childcare providers and nonprofit organizations.
Erika Taylor, assistant professor of chemistry, assistant professor of environmental studies, is the co-author of "Lipopolysaccharide Biosynthesis without the Lipids: Recognition Promiscuity of Escherichia coli, Heptosyltransferase I," published by the American Chemical Society in Nov. 2011. The abstract is available here.
Ron Cameron, professor of religion, is the co-editor of the book Redescribing Paul and the Corinthians. The 340-page book was published by the Society of Biblical Literature in 2011. This second volume of studies by members of the SBL Seminar on Ancient Myths and Modern Theories of Christian Origins reassesses the agenda of modern scholarship on Paul and the Corinthians. The contributors challenge the theory of religion assumed in most New Testament scholarship and adopt a different set of theoretical and historical terms for redescribing the beginnings of the Christian religion. They propose explanations of the relationship between Paul and…
Kit Reed, resident writer in the English Department, is the author of the book, What Wolves Know, published in spring 2011. The collection of stories includes tales of mothers who are monstrous in their maternalness, families on the brink of implosion, children mutated by parental pressure in every dream home a dystopia. The title story is about a boy raised by wolves who struggles to adapt to the modern world. Read more about this story collection and others at http://www.kitreed.net/.
The new Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship will offer students an opportunity to serve the public good by developing innovative social ventures. Wesleyan dedicated the center during a ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration Nov. 5 in the Allbritton Center. The Patricelli Center is supported by a $2 million leadership gift from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation. Robert "Bob" Patricelli ’61, chairman and chief executive officer of Evolution Benefits and of Women’s Health USA, and his wife, Margaret Patricelli, president and chief executive officer of the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation, were honored at the dedication ceremony. "The Patricelli…
More than 2,200 students, alumni, parents, friends and family attended Homecoming/Family Weekend activities Nov. 4-6. Campus guests participated in numerous academic, cultural and athletic events while reconnecting with Wesleyan and with each other at a host of special seminars and social gatherings. Key events this year included the homecoming football game against Williams College; a celebration of Alvin Lucier, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, emeritus; a Randy Newman P’14 benefit concert; a Homecoming Day Lunch, Fall Harvest Brunch and All-College Dinner; an Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony; Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship Ribbon Cutting; the 19th Annual…
At 1 a.m. on Nov. 15, the New York Police Department began clearing Manhattan's Zuccotti Park of all Occupy Movement protestors. About 70 protesters and eight credentialed journalists were arrested that morning. From his dorm room in Lo-Rise Residence Hall, sociology major Ben Doernberg '13, followed the police raid through Twitter and various news sites. For eight hours, he tracked the story online. Although he was 100 miles away from Zucotti Park, Doernberg, an active supporter of the Occupy Movement, served as a "citizen journalist" from his laptop at Wesleyan. He used the new social media site Storify to re-post…
For 40 years, Alvin Lucier, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, emeritus, has pioneered music composition and performance, including the notation of performers’ physical gestures, the use of brain waves in live performance, the generation of visual imagery by sound in vibrating media, and the evocation of room acoustics for musical purposes. On Nov. 4-6, the Music Department and Center for the Arts celebrated Lucier’s remarkable musical career and contributions. Lucier retired in June 2010. Photos of the event are below. (Information provided by Andy Chatfield, press and marketing manager for the CFA) (more…)
Campus takes on a whole new look after 5 p.m. Here are photos taken Dec. 1: (more…)