Olivia DrakeRon Jenkins, professor of theater, was interviewed about his prison theater project for a Radio Australia program on June 24. The broadcast was aired on their pacific network in Australia, Indonesia, Cambodia and East Timor. A transcript of the interview is below: Theatre program with a difference in Bali, Indonesia The Kerobokanprison has become synonymous with the trials and convictions of Australian drug traffickers Schapelle Corby, and members of the Bali 9. But now a professor of theatre from the United States is running a theater program as part of efforts to change the atmosphere of the jail. Presenter Nasya…
Four Wesleyan women faculty members are featured in the June 30 Women in Academia Report. According to the article, "Wesleyan University, the highly regarded liberal arts institution in Middletown, Connecticut, has promoted three women to full professor. Another woman was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor." Lori Gruen, who has taught at Wesleyan since 2000, was promoted to full professor of philosophy. Her research focuses on the ethical treatment of animals. Professor Gruen holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. Magda Teter was promoted to full professor of history and named the Jeremy Zwelling Professor…
Holly Capelo, a graduate student in the Astronomy Department, wrote a contribution to "astrobites," an e-newsletter for students and others interested in astronomy. In her article, titled "Careers, Like Space Missions, are Tricky: How a Master’s Degree Can Help," Capelo writes about her experience as a M.A. student at Wesleyan: "In general the program is quite flexible: the curriculum includes a baseline number of astronomy courses and the rest of the course work is custom fit for individual students’ backgrounds and goals; often the candidates have undergraduate degrees in related fields, such as math, physics and computer science, and acquire…
Eric GershonIn a June 30 “Modern Love” column in The New York Times, Lindsay Abrams ’12 writes that she “designed my ideal boyfriend in a dorm room voodoo ceremony orchestrated by my roommate…” "…My specifications were that he be tall, scruffy and a bit older than me. I preferred that he major in math or the sciences to offset my artistic nature, and that he like to watch TV with me at night. I know that vague characteristics like height and age do not true love make, but I was warned that being too specific on a campus of only 2,900…
An article by Brian Glenn, visiting assistant professor of government, was published on salon.com July 4. In the piece, titled "What is a 'constitutional conservative' anyway?," Glenn writes, "For conservative politicians, the name signals that they are identifying as Tea Party members, which means limiting government, balancing the federal budget, lowering taxes, ending redistribution from the wealthier to the poor, assigning a central position for God in the lives of Americans, even in courthouses and public schools, and asserting the right to bear arms. While God will always be given top billing, one gets the sense that lowering taxes and…
David PesciAmong the individuals nominated for 2011 Emmy awards: Sasha Alpert ’82, producer, Project Runway, nominated for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. Bill Wrubel ’82, co-executive producer, Modern Family, Outstanding Comedy Series with 17 nominations. Shari Springer Berman ’85, co-director, Cinema Verite, Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (film is also nominated for Outstanding Movie); Matthew Weiner ’87, creator, writer, producer for Mad Men with 19 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing Jim Margolis ’93, co-executive producer, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series Matt Senreich ’96, executive producer and writer, Robot Chicken: “Star Wars Episode III,”…
Cynthia RockwellDr. Joseph J. Fins ’82, an internationally renowned medical ethicist and pioneer in the field of neuroethics and disorders of consciousness, was named the first recipient of a newly established professorship, The E. William Davis Jr. ’47 M.D., Professor of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Fins serves as chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and is a tenured professor of medicine, professor of public health, and professor of medicine in psychiatry. He is also director of medical ethics and a physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and on the adjunct faculty of Rockefeller University. His…
David LowK. C. Chan ’79, Hong Kong’s secretary for financial services and the treasury, has been raising awareness Hong Kong’s role in the global financial marketplace. Chan was recently featured in an article in China Daily, where he talked about Hong Kong as a financial center and a good offshore market for Chinese and international investors, assuming a central role in the internationalization of the yuan. Chan said, “For me, Hong Kong’s strength is definitely international connectivity. We must make sure we build on that strength. … These days I think Hong Kong is still trailing behind New York and London,…
Tim Cavanaugh of Reason.TV interviews writer Nancy Rommelmann '83 about her newest work, The Bad Mother, a short (144-page) piece of fiction set on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Wilcox. The plot follows the lives of three homeless girls—one a pregnant teen— and their friends, over the course of six months. Rommelmann, who is an award-winning journalist, makes it clear to Cavanaugh that this is entirely fictional, despite a style that seems reportorial, and a topic—the homeless who show up in the glamorous city of Los Angeles, hoping for a better life—that is not dissimilar to other stories which…
Ten years ago, Susan Petersen Avitzour ’76 lost her 18-year-old daughter Timora to leukemia, after a six-year struggle. In her new memoir, And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones (ZmanMa), Avitzour deals with a number of profound personal, philosophical, and spiritual questions which face many bereaved parents. Using both narrative and a personal and philosophical journal, she takes the reader up close to the long years of her daughter’s illness and into her own emotional, intellectual, and spiritual journey after her child’s death. She addresses topics that range from food to fun to forgiveness, from pain to purpose to prayer—and…
The recently released indie film, Fly Away, written and directed by Janet Grillo ’80, explores the question every parent faces—how to learn to let go when the child becomes a teen. However, Grillo ups the emotional ante: Jeanne (Beth Broderick) is a single mother, and her daughter, Mandy (Ashley Rickards) is severely autistic. As Grillo begins the film, it becomes clear that all the coping strategies, all the interventions that Jeanne had developed for Mandy when she was a child, are no longer effective. Released in mid-April, the film had its world premier in mid-March at the prestigious South-by-Southwest (SXSW)…
Eric M. Wetlaufer ’84 was named senior vice president, heading CPP Investment Board’s public market investments division. Prior to joining CPPIB this June, he was the group chief investment officer of the international division at Fidelity Management and Research in Boston. Previously, he was a chief investment officer at Putnam Investments, and a managing director at Cadence Capital Management. At Wesleyan, he earned his bachelor’s degree with a major in earth science. He is a chartered financial analyst.