Olivia Drake(more…)
Ania Loomba, Catherine Bryson Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania, spoke on "Four Lives, feminism, nationalism and communism in India," during the 23rd Annual Diane Weiss '80 Memorial Lecture in the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life. Photos of Loomba's talk are below: (Photos by Stefan Weinberger '10) (more…)
Q: Michelle, when did you come to Wesleyan? A: I arrived on campus in August, 2007 to work as a development officer in University Relations. Q: What department are you part of? A: Major gifts. We solicit financial gifts of $100,000 and higher. Q: How many alumni do you generally work with? A: Around 225 alumni and parents. For the most part, we do maintain relationships with the same individuals. Q: How do you encourage alumni to support Wesleyan during these economically difficult times? A: I think last year was more of a challenge than this year appears to be.…
Melanye Price, adjunct associate professor of government, coordinator of internships, is the author of the book Dreaming Blackness: Black Nationalism and African American Public Opinion, published by New York University Press in 2009. In Dreaming Blackness, Price explores the current understandings of Black Nationalism among African Americans, providing a balanced and critical view of today’s black political agenda. She argues that Black Nationalism continues to enjoy moderate levels of support by most black citizens but has a more difficult time gaining a larger stronghold because of increasing diversity among blacks and a growing emphasis on individualism over collective struggle. She…
James McGuire, professor of government, professor of Latin American studies, is the author of the book, Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America, published by Cambridge University Press, 2010. Why do some societies fare well, and others poorly, at reducing the risk of early death? Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America examines this question and finds that the public provision of basic health care and other inexpensive social services has reduced mortality rapidly even in tough economic circumstances, and that political democracy has contributed to the provision and utilization of such social services,…
Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, and Seth Redfield, assistant professor astronomy, are co-authors of the article, "Gas Absorption in the KH 15D System: Further Evidence for Dust Settling in the Circumbinary Disk," published in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 711, Issue 2, pp. 1297-1305 in March 2010. Their data supports a picture of a particular circumbinary disk as being composed of a very thin particulate grain layer composed of millimeter-sized or larger objects that are settled within whatever remaining gas may be present. Herbst also is the author of "Periodic variability in the emission spectrum of…
Articles in Newsweek and the Cleveland Plain Dealer both tackle the topic of the country’s increasing obesity rate with Newsweek calling it a “Culture of Corpulence” and the Plain Dealer worrying that “Cutting Childhood Obesity Could Involve Controversial Measures.” Both turn to William Dietz ’66, M.D., Ph.D and the director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for his insight. “If you want people to make the right choices, they need to have the right choices to make," Dietz tells Newsweek, suggesting that the availability of nutritious, low-cost food choices…
Claire Potter, professor of history, professor of American studies, wrote an Op-ed titled "Intimate Partner Violence: A Scourge Hauled Out of the Shadows," for the April 4 edition of The Hartford Courant. Potter discusses the often unreported crime of intimate partner violence and how recognition of these incidents has at least increased over the last few decades. While awareness of these incidents as crimes has increased since the 1970s, when Potter was first exposed to it, the patterns and incidents themselves remain entrenched. "Reflecting on this as an adult feminist, I think that we — several women and men —…
A translation by Norman Shapiro, professor of romance languages and literatures, will be given its world premiere on April 15, 16, 17 at Harvard University. The play, translated from Eugène Labiche's comedy, is titled "PATER OMNIPOTENS (OR A SUITOR UNSUITED)." Shapiro also will be lecturing in the Boston University Translation Seminar series on April 16 on "Tour de Farce: On Translating French Comedy."
For the next three years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will support gene expression research led by Scott Holmes, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry. On March 2, the NSF awarded Holmes a $599,832, three-year grant for his studies on "Epigenetic Silencing of Gene Expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae." Gene expression refers to the observable characteristics generated on a molecular level by a particular sequence of DNA or gene; epigenetic controls are essential in maintaining the specific patterns of gene expression that distinguish hundreds of distinct cell types in skin, muscles and other types of tissue. "I’m thrilled to get…
Ethics leader and law professor Lawrence Lessig will speak on "Speech and Independence: The Wrongs of Corporate Speech," during the 19th Annual Hugo L. Black Lecture on Freedom of Expression. The event is at 8 p.m. April 7 in Memorial Chapel. Lessig is professor of law at Harvard Law School and the director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. As director, Lessig is leading a five-year project studying “institutional corruption” relationships which are legal, even ethical, but which weaken public trust in an institution. Prior to Harvard, Lessig was a professor at Stanford Law School, where he…
Wesleyan has reached the gold standard in sustainable structures. On March 15, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded Wesleyan's newly-renovated Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life building a Gold Certification based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. LEED is an internationally-recognized green building certification system that verifies that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. "The Gold Certification demonstrates Wesleyan’s…