David PesciClaire Potter, professor of history, professor of American studies, is cited in the on-going discussion that has been churning for a few months in literary circles regarding American Enterprise Institute scholar Christina Hoff Sommers, a frequent critic of academic feminism, who believes, according to The New Yorker, that many feminist scholars are " 'impervious to reasoned criticism' (she thinks they take things way too personally, and, consumed with effrontery, are unable to correct themselves)." This included Sommers’ critique of particular scholar's assertion that abuse began with the fabled founder of Rome, Romulus and a massive digression on whether such a…
The Hartford Courant profiled the ground-breaking stem cell research of Laura Grabel, Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science in Society, professor of biology, and Janice Naegle, professor of biology, professor neuroscience and behavior, as well as the work of Gloster Aaron, assistant professor of biology, assistant professor of neuroscience and behavior. Wesleyan, along with Yale University and The University of Connecticut, has received grants from the State Stem Cell Initiative, a program that allows scientists to research human stem cell lines. Grabel, Naegele and Aaron are doing research aimed at replicating cells that would ultimately help cure a form a…
Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth reviews The Battle for America 2008 by Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson. The book chronicles the two years leading up to the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, with heavy emphasis on the candidacies of Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama.
Kennedy Odede '12 and Jessica Posner '09 are making progress on the school they are building in Kibera, Kenya. The students received a grant earlier this year to build the school. The school was officially dedicated on Tuesday, August 18.
Deb Olin Unferth, assistant professor of English, has won the 2009 Cabell First Novelist Award for her book Vacation. The award is presented by Virginia Comonwealth University and was the result of votes by readers as well as members of the Cabell award board.
Peter Rutland, Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, professor of government, discussed for Russia Today TV, some of the issues that have exacerbated the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
No Quarter, the new book Richard Slotkin, Olin Professor of English Emeritus, recounts a tragic Union blunder during the Civil War at Petersburg, Virginia, that cost the lives of thousands of soldiers. The plan and its execution was damned in part because the Union troops were "incompetently led and ill prepared." Slotkin not only explores the tactics and implementation of the plan, but the broad political implications generated in the wake of its failure. The reviewer in The Boston Globe, Michael Kenney, says the book is among" the first rank of Civil War histories."
Olivia DrakeAccording to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one out of every three black men between the ages 20 and 29 is in prison, on probation or on parole. Of these men, 94 percent are fathers. English and African American Studies major CaVar Reid '11 is curious to discover how prison affects a man's ability to be a father. "I want to ask them, 'What were your expectations about your relationships with your children when you were incarcerated? How do you think your incarceration has affected your children? How did you stay involved with your children?'" Reid says. As a 2009-11…
(more…)
Corrina KerrAnna Shusterman, assistant professor of psychology, recently received a five-year, $716,227 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study "The role of language in children’s acquisition of number concepts." Shusterman will be evaluating 3-to-5-year-old hearing children in her Cognitive Development Laboratory at Wesleyan. She also will be studying deaf and hard-of-hearing children of the same ages who are learning English to try to determine how language delays affect children's learning of number concepts. The grant, which begins this year, comes from the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program. The program is only available to non-tenured faculty. Researchers…
Lesley Xu ’11 was featured in a July 25 issue of The Eagle Tribune of North Andover, Mass. for her efforts helping the climate crisis. Xu and five of her friends from other universities have been biking across Massachusetts for eight weeks handing out literature and hosting symposiums urging people to take action for solving the climate crisis. They knock on doors and ask residents to sign a petition that calls for "100 percent clean electricity" in Massachusetts. "We want to mobilize the population and take action," Xu says in the article. The students said they and other activists want…
Garfield Lindsay Miller '99 is featured in a July 29 article titled "Dramatic Choices," published by the BC Local News North Shore Outlook section. Miller's filmmaking resume includes co-writing and producing the award-winning and Gemini-nominated documentary The Fires that Burn about Sister Elaine MacInnes and co-writing Stone’s Throw, an award-winning dramatic feature film set in Nova Scotia – among many other film credits. Most recently, Miller, who is back living in British Columbia, was voted one of the top 20 Top Canadian Film Makers by a jury of his peers. Miller’s new feature film, The Last New Year, which recently debuted…