Olivia DrakeWesSukkah, designed and built by Wesleyan's Architecture II research-design-build studio, was dedicated Oct. 3 on Foss Hill. The sukkah is used by Wesleyan’s Jewish community during the festival of Sukkot. For eight days, students studied, socialized, mediated, ate, and occasionally slept in the religious structure. WesSukkah was honored with a 2009 "Faith and Form" Award for art and architecture from the American Institute of Architects. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett Drake and Steve Rowland P'11. Rowland travelled from Seattle, Wa. for the dedication Oct. 3. His son, Cameron Rowland '11, is one of the architecture students who designed WesSukkah)
Jill Morawski, director, Center for the Humanities, professor of psychology, and Don Moon, dean of the Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Programs, the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Professor in the College of Social Studies, professor of government and tutor in the College of Social Studies; received a $142,000 Mellon Foundation grant on Oct. 2. The award will fund the John E. Sawyer Seminar on "Comparative Study of Cultures."
Suzanna Tamminen, director of the Wesleyan University Press, received a grant worth $4,000 from the J.M. Kaplan Fund. The award, presented July 24, will fund publication of a book by Ann Cooper Albright titled An Artist Inspired: Abraham Walkowitz on Isadora Duncan.
Wesleyan's Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software project (HFOSS) was featured in New Scientist magazine Oct. 3. In June, students from Wesleyan and Trinity College in teamed up with representatives from municipal and volunteer agencies including the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and Catholic Charities USA to design a virtual emergency response center named Collabbit. The system could be used by relief agencies to coordinate their aid efforts in the aftermath of a disaster when speed is crucial. Collabbit is the handiwork of HFOSS. It acts as central repository for information, sending out project updates to workers via RSS…
Michaelle Biddle, head of preservation services, presented a lecture titled "Saving Nigeria's Islamic Manuscript Heritage" Sept. 17 at Columbia University. Biddle has studied Islamic manuscripts all over the world. In March 2008, Biddle went on a five-week sabbatical under a U.S. Ambassador's Cultural Preservation Fund Grant to survey Northern Nigerian private and public collections of Islamic Manuscripts. These manuscripts are similar to those in Timbuktu, a World Heritage Site. Her survey resulted in recommendations for the preservation and conservation of the manuscripts. She returned to Nigeria in August 2008 training two local conservation teams: one in Sokoto, the home of…
Rich Olson joined the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry as an assistant professor. Olson is an expert on X-ray crystallography and biophysical characterization of soluble/membrane proteins. He specifically studies the structure and function of membrane proteins in the nervous system, immunological molecules in the nervous system and structural biology of pathogen virulence factors. This semester, he is teaching a course titled "Receptors, Channels, and Pumps: Advanced Topics in Membrane Protein Structure and Function," and an individual undergraduate research tutorial. When applying to Wesleyan, Olson says he was looking for an institution that would provide a balance between teaching and…
Q: Jen, when did the ITS Print Shop move to the Usdan University Center and what were the benefits of this move? A: The ITS Print Shop closed on July 16 and opened on July 17 with a new name. We are now Cardinal Print and Copy. We have enjoyed a very loyal following with many of the departments across campus but new customers always seemed surprised to discover who we were and what we could do. Our new location solves that problem and is more convenient for most members of the Wes community. Q: What are your thoughts on…
A service in tribute to Stanley Lebergott, the Chester D. Hubbard Professor of Economics and Social Sciences, Emeritus, who passed away on July 24, will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 18. The service will be in the Daniel Family Commons in the Usdan University Center and will be followed by a reception. The Lebergott family invites friends and colleagues who may have photographs or remembrances of Stan to bring them to the service. Lebergott began his career as a public servant, working for 20 years in the U.S. Department of Labor, the International Labor Office, and the U.S.…
Every October, Wesleyan's Jewish community dwells in a temporary structure built for the festival of Sukkot. For eight days, students study, socialize, mediate, eat, host events and occasionally sleep in the religious building. This holiday, the Jewish students will celebrate the Israelites 40-year journey to the Holy Land inside an airy, five-mound curving structure of carbon-steel clad in bamboo. Designed by 15 students enrolled in Architecture II, a research-design-build studio, the "WesSukkah" provides a sacred space that adheres to a complex, medieval Rabbinic building code. "The students have crafted something which is both compelling and meaningful for Wesleyan's campus," explains…
Wesleyan welcomes 19 newly-hired tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty and adjunct faculty for the 2009-10 academic year. Robyn Autry joined the Sociology Department as assistant professor. She studies the sociology of race and ethnicity, political sociology, comparative historical sociology, institutions, sociology of science and technology and cultural sociology. Autry has a Ph.D. and Master of Arts from the University of Wisconsin, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Javier Castro-Ibaseta joins the History Department and the College of Letters as assistant professor. Castro-Ibaseta studies early modern Spanish history, early modern political culture and cultural/poetic analysis of political…
Marwa Aly, Muslim Chaplin, spoke to Islam Online Radio about her role as a Muslim chaplain for a Sept. 16 story. She discussed her role integrating religious leadership into the campus community.