David LowAristotle has long been considered the father of virtue ethics. In his new book Aristotle and the Virtues (Oxford University Press), Howard Curzer ’74, MA ’76 considers Aristotle’s detailed description of the individual virtues to be central to his ethical theory. His study examines the Nicomachean Ethics virtue-by-virtue, explaining and generally defending Aristotle's claims. The book is divided into three sections: Moral Virtues, Justice and Friendship, and Moral Development. Justice and friendship are prominent in Aristotle's virtue theory. Curzer argues that in Aristotle's view justice and friendship are symbiotic. Other contemporary discussions have argued the opposite; justice seems to be…
Cynthia RockwellMusician Jack Freudenheim ’79, working in conjunction with Larson Associates and the John Cage Trust, created an app that allows one to play the sounds of John Cage's “prepared piano." It was released in time to celebrate what would have been Cage's 100th birthday. An ethnomusicology major at Wesleyan concentrating on South Indian music, Freudenheim remembers reading John Cage’s book, Silence, as an undergraduate in the course “Introduction to Electronic Music” (taught by then-graduate student Nicolas Collins). He still considers reading the book a life-altering experience. After college, he became a computer programmer—as well as a musician— “and whenever possible…
Olivia DrakeWesleyan's Program for Student College Success received a $10,000 award from AT&T Connecticut on Oct. 12. State Senator Paul Doyle was on hand to celebrate the announcement. This program replaces the former Upward Bound program, which lost its federal funding this year for the first time in 45 years. Wesleyan’s Program for College Success is a comprehensive program that supports first-generation, low-income and underrepresented students as they move through high school and into college. The program serves 100 high school students (25 in each class), helping them to make a successful transition to college. Led by a director and operated by…
(Story contributed by Lily Baggott ’15) West Coast artist Evan Bissell ’05 has a new project: "The Knotted Line." Bissell, who holds a B.A. in studio arts and American studies from Wesleyan, was previously known for his work on What Cannot Be Taken Away: Families and Prisons Project, a series of portraits depicting prisoners and their loved ones. The multimedia installation is an “interactive history of freedom and confinement in the geographic area of the United States from 1495 to 2025.” Available online, on smartphones, and in a print version, the project is designed for educational purposes in schools and…
The U.S. Department of Education awarded Wesleyan's Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program with a $1.1 million grant on Sept. 31, 2012. The award will support the McNair Program through Sept. 30, 2017. The Ronald E. McNair Program was established at Wesleyan in 2007 and assists students from under-represented groups in preparing for, entering and progressing successfully through post graduate education.
The U.S. Department of Education awarded Wesleyan's Upward Bound Math-Science Program with a $1,250,000 grant on Sept. 12, 2012. The award will be used to support the program through Sept. 30, 2018. Wesleyan's Upward Bound Math-Science and Collaborative Programs prepare hundreds of local youth (from elementary school to high school) for college and strengthen their math and science skills by providing rigorous academic summer experiences as well as ongoing academic enrichment and tutorial support, college visits, and assistance with prep school, college application and financial application processes during the school year.
David Lee Garrison ’67 is the author of Playing Bach in the D.C. Metro: New and Selected Poems, just released by Browser Books Publishing. Most of the poems are in free verse, although there are three sonnets, one triolet, and one poem in rhyming three-line stanzas. The title of the book refers to an experiment by Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten, who had concert violinist Joshua Bell, dressed as a street busker, play Bach in the D.C. Metro to see if anyone would stop and listen. Poet Colette Inez says: “In compact, deftly written poems, David Lee Garrison manages a…
The American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Law (SEER) has elected Seth Davis ’72 as its publications officer. A partner in Elias Group LLP and adjunct professor in Pace Law School’s environmental program, Davis will oversee the quarterly journal National Resources & Environment and the annual Year in Review, as well as the section’s books and newsletters. The ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources represents nearly 11,000 lawyers, serving as a forum for strategies and information and keeping its members up-to-date on development trends, court decisions, legislative initiatives and statutes. "I have been an active member…
Wesleyan's Green Street Arts Center received a $7,500 grant from the Middletown Youth Services Bureau on Sept. 27. The award will support Green Street's Arts and Science Afterschool program during the 2013 fiscal year.
The Center for the Arts received a grant worth $6,485 from the New England Foundation for the Arts to support "Voices of Afghanistan." Voices of Afghanistan was the first performance of Music & Public Life, a year-long campus and community-wide exploration of sounds, words, and the spirit of music in public.
Greg Voth, associate professor of physics, received a grant worth $300,000 from the National Science Foundation's Material Research division to support his study on "Rod Dynamics in Turbulence: Simultaneous 3D measurements of Anisotropic Particles and Velocity Fields" through May 31, 2015. In a wide range of natural and industrial situations, turbulent flows carry particulate material. For example, clouds are turbulent flows containing water droplets and ice crystals. Papermaking uses turbulent suspensions of fibers. If the particles are spheres, there are a variety of tools available for measuring their motion. But usually the particles are not spheres, and the movement and…
Wesleyan received a $10,000 grant from the Learning by Giving Foundation to support a Service Learning course titled "Money and Social Change: Innovative Paradigms and Strategies" on Sept. 18, 2012. The course is taught by Joy Anderson '89, visiting assistant professor of public policy. Students will use the $10,000 grant dollars to allocate to local organizations. The course will culminate in students writing a request for proposals based on the personal theory of change around capital and social change that they will develop throughout the course. Learn more about the class online here.