Olivia Drake(more…)
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Q: Liz, what attracted you to Wesleyan and the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty? A: I so enjoy working in higher ed, Wesleyan seemed like a good place to start. When I learned about the position at the Wasch Center, I immediately thought it would be a good fit since I worked closely with faculty in my last job. Q: Please describe your role as an administrative assistant. A: The days can vary greatly. Lately I’ve been busy preparing for the upcoming semester for WILL (the Wesleyan Institute for Lifetime Learning). This entails overseeing the printing and mailing of brochures and managing course…
Cathy Lechowicz, who served as the director of the Office of Community Services and Volunteerism for the past eight years, has taken on a new role, director of the Center for Community Partnerships (CCP). "Cathy’s charge is to support the University’s liberal arts mission by collaborating with departments to engage faculty, staff, and students to weave civic engagement into the fabric of Wesleyan’s academic, community, and student endeavors," wrote Rob Rosenthal, provost and vice president for academic affairs, in an all-campus e-mail. The CCP combines the resources of Service-Learning Center, the Office of Community Service and Volunteerism, the Office of…
Joel Pfister, the Kenan Professor of the Humanities, chair of the English Department, is invited to serve as one of two American faculty members in the West-China Faculty Enhancement Program in American Studies. The program, which will take place in July in Xi'an, China, is sponsored by the Ford Foundation and China Association for the Study of American Literature. Pfister will present 10 intensive, two-hour lectures on American literature to faculty from universities in western China that have poor rural students. He'll also conduct a seminar session on American studies pedagogy. "The aim is to better equip these university teachers…
Wesleyan welcomes six new employees in 2012. Charlotte Coulter was hired as the assistant director of university events and scheduling on Dec. 1, 2011. Kirby Hawkes was hired as an application specialist in Information Technology Services on Dec. 12, 2011. Lauren Rubenstein was hired as an editor/ new media writer in University Communications on Jan. 3. Quatina Frazer was hired as an administrative assistant for Graduate Liberal Studies Program on Jan. 3. Gretchen Streiff was hired as an assistant director of student activities and leadership development on Jan. 17 Patricia Cluney was hired as an administrative assistant for University Relations on…
Cynthia RockwellTwo Wesleyan alumni, separated by a decade, crossed paths recently in a most unusual way. Robert Gillette ’59 was riveted by the snippet of conversation his daughter-in-law overheard and recounted. It had been between a guest at the Hyde Farmlands Bed and Breakfast in Burkeville, Va., and a young waitress: “What are those log buildings all in a row in the back yard?” asked the guest. “Those are the Jew huts. There were these people called Jews who lived there,” the waitress replied. As Gillette writes in the introduction to The Virginia Plan: William B. Thalhimer and a Rescue From…
David LowIn Share, Retweet, Repeat (Prentiss Hall Press), John Hlinko ‘89 shows readers how to take their ideas, causes, and products, and craft marketing campaigns around them that create buzz—in a quick and cost effective way. In the world of constant communication using new technologies, the average consumers of information have become micro publishers of information as well. Hlinko has been involved in the realm of viral marketing for most of the last 20 years, working with a range of Fortune 500 companies and helping lead MoveOn.org and DraftObama.org. In his book, he shares his expertise on how to create spreadable…
What do Osama Bin Laden’s death, April’s deadly tornados in the southern US, the “Arab Spring,” and recent comments from the US Coast Guard and others about the Deepwater Disaster all have in common? They all are examples of what leaders can learn from Consilience Leadership (Inflection Point Press), a new book by Gary Cook ’64, which demonstrates how lessons learned from Highly Reliable Organization theory, behavioral economics, neuroscience, and other disciplines are helping us understand how to better deal with terrorism and Katrina-like disasters, and better anticipate and avoid political and other disasters. Read more about the book Cook,…
In his book The Buddha Walks Into a Bar …: A Guide to Life for a New Generation (Shambhala), Lodro Rinzler ’05 shows how Buddhist teachings can have a positive impact on every little nook and cranny of your life—whether you’re interested in being a Buddhist or not. These teachings can help inspire individuals to make a difference in themselves and in the world. The book explores the four dignities of Shambhala (the tiger, lion, garuda, and dragon) and the three yanas, or vehicles, of traditional Tibetan Buddhism. Rinzler writes in his book's introduction that the volume is “about taking…
Ariel Rubissow Okamoto ’81 is co-author (with Kathleen M. Wong) of the fascinating Natural History of San Francisco Bay (University of California Press), which also explores its human history and how each affects the other. While the bay is home to healthy eelgrass beds, young Dungeness crabs and sharks, and millions of waterbirds, it also is marked by oil tankers, laced with pollutants, and crowded with 46 cities. The guide explores a number of subjects relating to this unique body of water—including fish, birds and other wildlife, geography and geology, the history of human changes, ocean and climate cycles, endangered…
A book written by Deb Olin Unferth, assistant professor of English, was named a 2011 finalist in the National Book Critics Circle. Olin Unferth's Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War (Henry Holt) is one of five finalists in the autobiography category. In the memoir, Unferth describes the year she ran away from college with her Christian boyfriend and followed him to Nicaragua to join the Sandinistas. Winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards will be announced at the awards ceremony on March 8 at the New School’s Tishman Auditorium in New York.…