David PesciWesleyan President Michael S. Roth reviews the book A Human Eye: Essays on Art in Society, 1997-2008 by Adrienne Rich in The San Francisco Chronicle. The book, a collection of essays and book reviews written by Rich during the last 12 years, displays Rich's on-going dialogue on art, politics and social justice.
The April 27th New Yorker has a piece that in part profiles Ron Bloom '77 who is one of two "Auto Czars" appointed by President Obama to preside over the restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler as the government attempts to bail-out both companies. Bloom had previous success helping to right U.S. Steel. There is a link to a synopsis of the story here (the full text is subscriber only).
According to CBS Sports, New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick has one major advantage over his peers in the NFL coaching community: a brilliant mind. According to the story, this is especially true when it comes to selecting and managing personnel and will be particularly advantageous as the annual NFL draft (April 25-26) approaches.
A piece in The New York Times discusses how applications for the Class of 2013 remained strong at the nation's most competitive colleges, despite the economy's recent economic recession. Mentioned in the article was Wesleyan which, unlike several liberal arts colleges, saw an increase in applications this year. In fact, Wesleyan's dramatic increase set a record: 10,065 applications, which is up 22% over last year's admissions cycle (which was also a record). The Times had previously written about Wesleyan's increase in applications during the November early decision application period, which was also up a record 40% over the previous year.…
Award-winning, best-selling author Anna Quindlen P'07, pioneering entrepreneur and philanthropist Azim Premji P'99, and two dedicated members of the Middletown community, Mark Masselli and Jennifer Alexander ’88, will be the honorary degree recipients at the 177th Wesleyan Commencement on May 24, 2009. Quindlen will also give this year's Commencement Address.
Brad Karsh '87 and Michael Sciola, director of Wesleyan's Career Resource Center, are both quoted in a piece in The Wall Street Journal titled "Graduating with a Major in Go-Getting." The article discusses a variety of strategies up-coming graduates may want to consider for their first post-commencement job search.
Lin Manuel Miranda '02 and Bill Sherman '02 can add a Grammy to the awards and accolades they've received in the last 12 months for the Broadway musical 'In the Heights.' Miranda and Sherman were among a team of producers and performers on the production who were awarded a Grammy on Sunday, February 8, for "Best Musical Show Album." The play was first performed as a student play at Wesleyan when Miranda was a student.
President Michael S. Roth reviews Denis Dutton's new book The Art Instinct,examining the author's proposition that art arises out of humanity's biology as much as our intellect.
John M. Shapiro `74 and Shonni J. Silverberg, M.D. `76 of New York City have made a gift of $3.5 million to transform Wesleyan's creative writing programs and endow the Writing Center. The gift includes an endowed faculty position that will begin later this year. It also will establish a Writing Center in Davenport Hall, which also will be the home to the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life. The full details on the gift announcement can be seen here.
Actress Dana Delany '78 ("Desperate Housewives," "Kidnapped," "China Beach") and producer Janet Grillo '80 ("Spanking the Monkey," "Searching for Paradise"), will discuss their paths from Wesleyan to Hollywood and show and discuss their new short film "Flying Lessons" on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. at the Center for Film Studies Goldsmith Family Cinema. The event is open to the public and admission is free.
President Michael S. Roth reviews a new book by Susan Buck-Morss called Hegel, Haiti and Universal History that theorizes the German philosopher Georg Hegel was "inspired by the Haitian revolution of the 1790s when developing his fundamental concept known as the master-slave dialectic." Roth explores this bold claim and the evidence and logic used to support it.
In his most recent essay for The Huffington Post, Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth '78 reflects on President Obama's 'brilliant, deeply felt Inaugural Address' and echos on President Obama's call to "choose our better history." Roth discusses this and how we need to we actively start "rejecting the policies of recent years that undermined our constitution and our community."