Olivia DrakeIf you want to study the life and work of Elia Kazan, "you come to Wesleyan." That's what Jeanine Basinger, chair and the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, curator of the Cinema Archives, suggests to students or film fanatics in the community. For more than two decades, screenwriter/director Kazan (1909-2003) had ties with Wesleyan, and donated photographs, scripts, personal letters, and other life documents to the university. To celebrate and honor Kazan on what would be his 100th birthday, the Film Studies Department is hosting the Elia Kazan Centennial. The semester-long retrospective includes 11 Kazan film screenings with introductions, a…
Wesleyan Writing Programs begin Sept. 23 with a faculty readings and multiple guest speakers. Lisa Cohen, assistant professor of English; Deb Olin Unferth, assistant professor of English and Elizabeth Willis, the Shapiro-Silverberg Associate Professor of Creative Writing, will read from their work at 8 p.m. Sept. 23 in the Russell House. Cohen's poetry and nonfiction have appeared in numerous journals, including Ploughshares, Lit, Barrow Street, GLQ, Fashion Theory, Bookforum, The Boston Review, and Voice Literary Supplement. She is currently completing a group biography of three early 20th century figures—the fashion professional Madge Garland, the fan and collector Mercedes de Acosta, and…
Matthew Weiner ’87, the creator of the TV series "Mad Men" won two Emmy awards at The Emmy Awards ceremony Sept. 20. Weiner won for best drama and writing. According to a Sept. 21 New York Times article, Weiner attributed the success of his show to the lack of interference from the businessmen who finance it. (AMC, a cable channel, only recently began scheduling original series.) “I may be the only person in this room who has complete creative freedom,” he said in accepting the award.
During the summer recess, amateur gardeners Sierra Bintliff ’12 and Nat Lichten ’09 seeded rows, weeded, irrigated, and tended fruits, vegetables and livestock at a small organic farm near St. Joseph's College in Standish, Maine. A bulk of the bounty was harvested for St. Joseph's dining services, managed by Bon Appétit Management Company, the same business that oversees Wesleyan dining. "I was thrilled at the opportunity to work for a company whose mission statement embodies the ideal combination of my two passions: sustainability and food," says Bintliff, who works as a Bon Appétit catering employee at Wesleyan. "While working on…
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Noah Klein-Markman ’13 learned his first lesson at Wesleyan 20 minutes after arriving on campus. "I already lost the key," he said, carrying in two armloads of belongings. "I think I left the key inside the room." Klein-Markman, of Berkley, Calif., was one of the first students to move into the Butterfield Residence Hall during the Class of 2013 Arrival Day Sept. 1. He joined more than 800 other first-year, transfer, exchange and visiting students in the class. His mother, Laura Klein '78; father Henry Markman; and brother Sam Klein-Markman assisted Noah with the early morning move. The family dog,…
VIDEOS of the Class of 2013 Arrival Day are below: PHOTOGRAPHS of Arrival Day are below: Families parked on Andrus Field and moved items into Clark Hall. (more…)
International Student Orientation was held Aug. 28-31. ISO offers sessions that address health and medical insurance issues, programs about cultural adaptation, weather adjustment, and liberal arts education, as well as informational sessions about U.S. systems that many international students are not familiar with or are very different from their home country. This program prepares international students to successfully transition to New Student Orientation. ISO concluded with a formal dinner and program on Aug. 31. Photos from the event are below. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett Drake)
In order for animals to detect food sources, avoid predators and find mates, they rely on their olfactory system, or sense of smell. The ability to detect and distinguish among thousands of environmental odorants is based on a combinatorial recognition system. A specific smell is coded in the brain by a specific combination of receptor proteins that get stimulated by the unique combination of odorant chemicals elicited by that scent. "The smell of 'lemons,' for example, would result from a specific combination of odorant receptor proteins that become stimulated upon binding the specific set of inhaled chemicals emitted from a…