Olivia DrakeJohn Bonin, the Chester D. Hubbard Professor of Economics and Social Science, tutor in the College of Social Studies, is the author of two book reviews. The first review is of Malcolm Cook's “ Banking in Southeast Asia: The Region’s Decisive Decade,” Pacific Affairs, Vol. 83, No. 3 (Fall) 2009, pp. 555 – 557. The other review is of Janos Kornai's “From Socialism to Capitalism: Eight Essays,” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XLVII, No. 3 (September) 2009, pp. 853 – 856. The journal is published by the American Economics Association.
Daniela Ivanova ’10, a CSS senior, has published an article on "Velvet cinema" in the web-based publication Transitions Online, for their 20 years after the Berlin wall special.
Ernest Heau P’12 and his son, Noah Heau ’12, are the authors of a novel-length fantasy adventure for young teens called The Lost Rubies of Fennwann. Ernest and Noah wrote the book together while Noah was in middle and high school. The father and son self-published the 268-page book through iUniverse, Inc. in 2009. According to the website, "Co-authors Ernest and Noah Heau are father and son. Their story-telling career began when Noah was 4, when they made up stories on the spot. Over the years they created many hand-written and hand-illustrated stories. The Lost Rubies of Fennwann is their…
Norm Shapiro, professor of romance languages and literatures, is the author and translator of the book Labiche & Co: Fourteen One-Acts by a French Comic Master, published by Performing Books. The book will be released in December 2009. Among the plays included are Bosom Friends, The Brat, A Bee or Not a Bee, It's All Relative, The Unshakeable Suitor, A Nest-Egg Well Scrambled, and A Slap in the Farce, which is currently being performed at Harvard University. In addition, Yale University Press has accepted Shapiro's recent collection of translations from the poetry of French Romantic poet Théophile Gautier to appear in…
Wesleyan University Press received a $50,000 grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, to support publication of five books in 2010, as part of a new series. The grant includes fuding for four distinct types of poetry book, including second books and translations, and for a book in any genre by a Connecticut author. Together the books will be known as the “The Driftless Series.” Driftless books for 2010 will include: Exposition Park by Roberto Tejada, Rococo and Other Worlds by Afzal Ahmed Syed, translated by Musharraf Farooqi, Elegguas by Kamau Brathwaite, A Spicing of Birds: Poems by Emily Dickinson,…
The Green Street Arts Center received an award for $9,112 from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism on Oct. 29. The one-year grant will fund Green Street's Afterschool Program.
Richard Grossman, professor of economics, was interviewed on five radio stations in November on the fiscal crisis facing states. The stations include WOOD Grand Rapids, Mich.; WHAS Louisville, Ky.; WHJJ Providence, R.I.; WCHV Charlottesville, Va. and WSYR Syracuse, N.Y.
Johan Varekamp, the Harold T. Stearns Professor in Earth Science, and Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, presented papers at the Estuaries and Coasts in a Changing World conference of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation in Portland, Ore. Nov. 1-5. Their talks were titled "Proxies for Eutrophication in Long Island Sound" and " Hypoxia in Long Island Sound - Since When and Why."
Wesleyan University was named the 2009 Most Vegetarian-Friendly College in the United States by Peta2. According to the Peta2 website, “the acclaimed liberal arts college, which has a history of social justice activism, lives up to the hype when it comes to vegan options. Some of the creative choices offered include veggie chicken red curry with steamed broccolini and organic jasmine rice, three-mushroom vegan ragu with penne pasta, and barbecue seitan. Following last year’s second-place finish, Dining Services officials pulled out all of the stops in 2009, even setting up voting stations around campus to rally support from their well-fed…
The Wesleyan Theater Department presented Caryl Churchill's The Skriker Nov. 19, 20, 21 and 22 in the Center for the Arts Theater. The play was directed by Bob Bresnick, visiting assistant professor in theater with costume designs and puppet designs by Leslie Weinberg, artist in residence in theater. Churchill describes the title character in The Skriker as a "polluted, not-believed-in nature spirit who comes up to the world to get love, attention and revenge." The Skriker tries to enlist the help of two friends: one pregnant and one who has killed her child. With tragic poetry and stunning linguistic pyrotechnics, the play…
More than 5,000 parents, alumni and friends came to campus Nov. 6-8 to celebrate Homecoming/Family Weekend. This year's theme was "Come Home!" Event photos are posted on the HCFW website. "Every year, I hear from alumni, parents and students that Homecoming/Family Weekend gets better and better," says Gemma Fontanella Ebstein, associate vice president for external relations. "We had a terrific turnout this year and the energy was palpable across campus – in the WESeminars, athletic contests, department anniversary celebrations and other special gatherings throughout the weekend. This has become one of the highlights of the year for the Wesleyan community.” The…
For 12 weeks last summer, Lauren Valentino ’10 taught underprivileged rising 9th graders how to speak French and read Hamlet – all while most of her students were still learning English as a second language. Valentino was in Denver, Colo., working with residents who had recently moved to the U.S. from Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Kenya, Mexico and Columbia, to name a few. "One student was a refugee from the Ivory Coast and had no formal schooling until three years ago," says Valentino, a sociology and French major. "He was one of my brightest kids." As a student-teacher working at the…