Olivia DrakePosted 05/15/08 Students who received academic prizes, fellowships and scholarships were honored at a reception May 6 in Beckham Hall. The awards and the student recipients are: George H. Acheson and Grass Foundation Prize in Neuroscience Established in 1992 by a gift from the Grass Foundation, this prize is awarded to an outstanding undergraduate in the Neuroscience and Behavior Program who demonstrates excellence in the program and who also shows promise for future contributions in the field of neuroscience. Jacob Mirsky '08 Alumni Prize in the History of Art Established by Wesleyan alumni and awarded to a senior who has…
Wesleyan's softball team hosted the NESCAC Tournament May 3-5. Posted 05/15/08 Coming off a team-record 21-15 season in 2007, one that featured a first-ever trip to the NESCAC tournament, Wesleyan's softball team came into the 2008 campaign with realistic hopes of repeating last year's success. Our goal this season was to get better every day, said seventh-year head coach Jen Shea. We knew we had a lot of talent but we needed to see how it would come together. Come together was just what the team did, equaling the team record for wins, three of those coming during…
Posted 05/15/08 Associate Professor of History Magda Teter has received a $14,000 grant from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University to help with the operating costs of the sixth annual Early Modern Workshop (EWM) in summer 2009. The workshop will explore the topic of History of Reading across Cultures: The Jewish Book and Its Readers in Early Modern Europe. The workshop seeks to form collaborative interaction between scholars of Jewish history, early modern history and literature and to facilitate cross-fertilization of ideas between them. Workshop participants will be examining how Jewish readers coped with the advent of…
Posted 05/15/08 Robert H. Whitman, professor of Russian emeritus, died recently in Berkeley, Calif. He was 78 years old. Professor Whitman was trained as a linguist. He earned a bachelor of arts from Hamilton College and a Ph.D from Harvard University and joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1959. He left Wesleyan in 1963 and spent a year in the USSR, then returned to teach and continue his research at Cornell University, the University of Indiana, and the University of California at Berkeley, before returning to Wesleyan in 1971. He was a visiting professor at Yale for one semester, served as…
Posted 05/15/08 A Navajo sacred ceremony recording by the late David McAllester, professor of music and anthropology, emeritus, was accepted into the 2007 National Recording Registry. The recording, titled Navajo Shootingway Ceremony Field Recordings representing the David McAllester Collection (Recorded by David McAllester 1957-1958), was one of 25 new additions to the registry, announced May 14. The registry is online at http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/. McAllesters recording is listed among such luminaries as Fiorello LaGuardia, Michael Jackson, Ronald Reagan, and Kitty Wells, says Alec McLane, music librarian and director of Wesleyans World Music Archives. It may be the only record of a deeply…
Karen Hook, associate director of financial aid, says her office helps 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students find Financial Aid programs. Posted 05/15/08 Q: Karen, when did you come to Wesleyan? A: Ten years ago I relocated from Burlington, Vermont to work at the Financial Aid Office. I started as the assistant director of loans and student employment. Five years ago I became associate director.Q: What is your main role as associate director of financial aid?A: Im the keeper of the calendar." In that capacity, I work with everybody to be sure we are where we need to be at…
Posted 05/15/08 For 25 years, Elizabeth Betty Muir, has provided gentle care and thoughtful instruction for the children of many Wesleyan employees and Middletown community members. On May 29, Muir will retire from her role at Wesleyans Neighborhood Preschool and will be celebrated at a potluck party at 5 p.m. at 115 High Street in Middletown. Betty is better than Mary Poppins, says parent Stephan Angle, associate professor and chair of philosophy, associate professor of East Asian studies. Angles daughters, Samantha, now 12, and Rachel, now 9, both spent ages 3 and 4 at the preschool under Bettys care. She…
At right, Lori Gruen, associate professor and chair of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, associate professor of philosophy at Wesleyan, spoke on Environmental Justice as a Feminist Issue during the Environmental Justice Curricular Workshop at Malcom X House May 9. Posted 05/15/08 In 1982, the State of North Carolina chose to dump 60,000 tons of PCB-contaminated soil into a landfill in Warren County. Residents felt the state had chosen their county because it was predominately black and one of the poorest in the state. As a result, the landfill became the focus of accusations of environmental racism, or racial discrimination…
Posted 05/01/08 Richard l. Berke, assistant managing editor for news at The New York Times, will be the keynote speaker at a conference titled Make Democracy Work, on Saturday, May 3. The conference will run from 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and is being presented by the Wesleyan University Chapter of the Roosevelt Institution. The conference also features panel discussions and workshops designed to highlight important components of democracy that are often overlooked or taken for granted and give them both local and national perspectives. We wanted to raise awareness about what democracy means and how it functions and fails…
Dining Services employee Vicky Ambro discovered a Wesleyan University Bulletin from 1893 at a flea market in Middletown. The issue announces the opening of the new gymnasium, later named the Fayerweather Gymnasium. Posted 05/01/08 While browsing through a flea market recently, Vicki Ambro came across a tanned paper publication with the words Wesleyan University across the top in an archaic gothic font. It turned out to be a Nov. 1893 issue of The Wesleyan University Bulletin, issue no. 13. I couldnt believe it. It was one of Wesleyans old newsletters and it was in such good condition, says Ambro, who…
Pedro Alejandro, chair of the Dance Department, associate professor of dance, works with students for the production No Eggshells/ Outside, which premiers at 8 p.m. May 5 and 6 on the CFA Terrace. Alejandro is choreographing the performance. Posted 05/01/08 For two days, Pedro Alejandro will convert the Center for the Arts concrete- and limestone-walled terrace into a green, grassy soft space. Alejandro explores the theme of eco-aesthetics in an upcoming performance titled No Eggshells/ Outside. The performance begins at 8 p.m. May 5 and 6 on the Center for the Arts Terrace (Rain date May 8). All participants…
Jeffrey Butler, professor of history emeritus, died on April 22 in Middletown. He was 85 years old. Professor Butler was born and raised in Cradock, South Africa. He saw active duty in World War II and was wounded outside of Florence in 1944 resulting in the loss of his left arm. After the War, Professor Butler completed doctoral studies at Oxford University and came to the United States in the late 1950s. Professor Butler joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1965 and served with distinction until his retirement in 1991. He was twice chair of the History Department and was a…