Olivia DrakeNorm Shapiro, professor of romance languages and literatures, translated and edited the book Preversities: A Jacques Prevert Sampler, published by Black Widow Press, September 2010. Jacques Prevert (1900-1977) was a poet and screenwriter who actively participated in the Surrealist Movement as well as the Rue du Chateau group with Raymond Queneau and Marcel Duchamp. His poetry is taught in schools in France and his works appear in countless anthologies throughout the world. This comprehensive anthology, drawing from all time periods of his work, is the first in English to present a picture of the whole of Prevert's poetic achievement. Shapiro…
Angel Gil-Ordóñez, director of Private Lessons, Chamber Music and Ensembles, director of the Wesleyan Orchestra and Concert Choir, adjunct professor of music, was featured in the Sept. 27 Washington Post. Gil-Ordóñez also directs the Washington D.C.-based Post-Classical Ensemble. The orchestra performed a program titled "The Russian Gershwin" at the Clarice Smith Center. "Gershwin is overdue for a fresh look, and that's the ensemble's specialty: turning familiar music on its head, providing context and fresh perspectives and generally pulling the rug out from under listeners," the article states. "Pianist Genadi Zagor opened the evening with an introspective and elegant improvisation on…
Cem Duruöz, private lessons teacher on guitar, will perform at the Weill Recital Hall in New York at 8 p.m. Oct. 28 in a concert sponsored by D'Addario Foundation and Alhambra Guitars. The program will include Turkish music, Brazilian Bossa Nova and Tangos from Argentina. The program will include solos and duos with guitarist Philippe Bertaud. A frequent soloist, Duruöz has appeared with more than 10 orchestras regularly performing Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez among others, under the batons of such conductors as Wesleyan's Angel Gil-Ordóñez. In January 2008 he gave the world premiere performance of Concierto Anatolia, a guitar concerto featuring Turkish melodies…
Khachig Tölölyan, professor of letters, professor of English, founder and editor of Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, was interviewed by the French weekly publication L’Express about Thomas Pynchon on Oct. 6. The article is online, in French.
Beverly Hunter-Daniel, director of the Wesleyan Public Schools Collaborative for the Upward Bound Program, received a Educational Incentive Challenge Grant worth $8,000 from the City of Middletown Youth Service Advisory Board.
Victoria Smolkin-Rothrock, assistant professor of history, instructor of Russian and Eastern European studies, has several forthcoming publications: “The Voices of Silence: The Death and Funeral of Alexander Blok” in Petersburg/ Petersburg: Novel and City, ed. Olga Matich (University of Wisconsin Press, 2010); “Cosmic Enlightenment: Scientific Atheism and the Soviet Conquest of Space” in Into the Cosmos: Space Exploration and Soviet Culture in Post-Stalinist Russia, eds. James T. Andrews and Asif A. Siddiqi (University of Pittsburgh); and “The Contested Skies: The Battle of Science and Religion in the Soviet Planetarium” in Cosmic Enthusiasm: The Cultural Impact of Space Exploration on the Soviet…
[youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Il2H7XxxHk[/youtube] (Video by Nam Anh Ta '12) (more…)
Fernando Degiovanni, associate professor of romance languages and literatures, associate professor of Latin American studies, was awarded the prestigious Alfredo Roggiano Prize for his Los textos de la patria: Nacionalismo, politicas culturales y canon en Argentina (2007). This prize is awarded every three years by the International Institute of Ibero-American Literature to the author of an outstanding scholarly book on any phase of Latin American literature or culture. The International Institute of Ibero-American Literature is the oldest association of scholars devoted the study of Latin American literature and culture in the United States.
[youtube width="640" height="480"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBlX-CsFVJQ&f[/youtube] After three years of engineering, implementing structural and electrical upgrades, and navigating the FCC, Wesleyan’s listener supported community radio station WESU 88.1FM, is now broadcasting at a newly assigned power of 6,000 watts of effective radiated power (ERP). “This is a major milestone for WESU since we have been broadcasting at a power of 1,500 watts for the past three decades,” explains station general manager Ben Michael. “This ‘once in a generation’ power upgrade makes our radio signal available to twice as many potential listeners in Connecticut and Massachusetts.” Michael estimates the potential listening audience of close…
This fall, students have the opportunity to work towards one of four certificates, in addition to their degree. The new certificate programs include South Asian Studies; Middle Eastern Studies; Writing; and Social, Cultural and Critical Theory. “These are outstanding endeavors by the faculty to keep the curriculum fresh and innovative, and to help students study across the disciplines but with a road map for curricular coherence,” says Karen Anderson, associate provost. South Asian Studies Certificate Wesleyan already offers courses and resources for all students interested in studying the cultures of Bangladesh, (more…)
Q: Kristine, when did you come to Wesleyan? A: I started working at Wesleyan in January of 2006, originally as an AA in University Relations. Q: What are your main job responsibilities? A: My job responsibilities are wide and varied. My job is to provide support to the Romance Language Department, including 23 faculty members and five foreign teaching assistants. Specifically, that can mean anything from supervising student workers and organizing information to planning events and travel, as well as accounting for more than 50 accounts, and troubleshooting any manner of old building (more…)