Olivia DrakeThe Office of Human Resources reported the following new hires and departures for September 2014: Newly hired Janani Iyer was hired as a research assistant/lab coordinator in the Psychology Department on Sept. 2. Ilona Bass was hired as a research assistant/lab coordinator in the Psychology Department on Sept. 2. Paul Wilson Cauley was hired as a researcher in the Astronomy Department on Sept. 8. Franklin Huynh was hired as a senior budget analyst in the Office of Financial Planning on Sept. 15. Michael Schramm was hired as assistant director of the Wesleyan Fund on Sept. 15. Luigi Solla was hired an associate…
On Oct. 24, the Dance Department and Center for the Arts present "To Not Forget Crimea: Uncertain Quiet of Indigenous Crimean Tatars," a panel discussion and the Fall Faculty Dance Concert by Associate Professor of Dance Katja Kolcio. While international media and political leaders are ignoring the situation in Crimea, this event draws public attention to the widespread violation of the Tatars' human rights and the degree to which the Russian Occupation has forced them out of their ancestral homeland. The evening will begin with a free panel discussion, "Indigenous Ukrainian Perspectives of Crimea Post Russian-Invasion," from 6 to…
Brian KattenIt's a long rivalry. Wesleyan and Amherst have played nearly every year since 1913, missing just three seasons during World War II. They first met on the gridiron in 1882, with Wesleyan prevailing. The teams will battle for the 120th time during Wesleyan’s Homecoming, Oct. 18. A webcast of the game is available here. One aspect of the game is unmistaken. It represents the second straight year both teams bring identical 4-0 records into the encounter. A Wesleyan triumph would add significant historical perspective to the proceedings. Having ended an 10-year skid versus Amherst last season with a 20-14 road…
Gina Athena Ulysse, associate professor of anthropology, participated in "Imagining and Imaging the Caribbean,” the inaugural conference of Columbia’s Greater Caribbean Studies Center, on Oct. 18. Ulysse discussed "Writing in the Caribbean Diaspora" with fellow panelists Cuban writer and artist Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo (Brown University) and Kittian-Brittish novelist Caryl Phillips (Yale University). Other topics included "The Greater Caribbean as a Geo-Historical and Cultural Region," "Writing about the Caribbean from National Perspectives" and "Photographing the City in the Greater Caribbean." The event concluded with a Caribbean concert.
Vera Schwarcz, the Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies, professor of history, is the author of a new book titled Colors of Veracity: A Quest for Truth in China, and Beyond, published by the University of Hawai'i Press in November 2014. In Colors of Veracity, Schwarcz condenses four decades of teaching and scholarship about China to raise fundamental questions about the nature of truth and history. In vivid prose, she addresses contemporary moral dilemmas with a highly personal sense of ethics and aesthetics. Drawing on classical sources in Hebrew and Chinese (as well as several Greek and Japanese texts), Schwarcz…
On Oct. 7, students enrolled in the course HIST 269: Notes from a Small Island — Modern British History, 1700 - Present, visited the Yale Center for British Art. The class, taught by Alice Kelly, visiting assistant professor of history, toured the center's two current exhibitions, "Sculpture Victorious: Art in an Age of Invention, 1837–1901" and "Figures of Empire: Slavery and Portraiture in 18 Century Atlantic Britain." "Seeing history through a different lens — art and sculpture — really aided their understanding of some of the class readings, and we were able to find a number of similarities, particularly in the…
Kate CarlisleSen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., came to Wesleyan Oct. 6 to hear students’ concerns about sexual violence, survivor support and penalties for perpetrators. This was one of a series of listening sessions the senator is conducting around the state. In his discussions with students he shared details of legislation he has proposed to provide better frameworks on campuses for handling sexual assault cases. Under the bill, colleges and universities would be required to identify confidential advisors and implement minimum training standards. Financial penalties would be imposed on schools that do not comply. The listening session was held just days after the…
For the second year in a row, Wesleyan will welcome its neighbors to campus for fun, food and football during Middletown Day, Oct. 18. Starting at 11 a.m., the public can enjoy family entertainment (face painting, balloon art, a bounce house for little visitors, and a DJ), along with free popcorn and food for sale from Wesleyan athletic teams. Plenty of Wes alumni also are expected at Andrus Field for the Homecoming football game versus Little Three rival Amherst College. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. and Middletown residents will be admitted to the game for free with ID. The mighty…
One of Davison Art Center’s most important works – an early 19th century Francisco Goya lithograph – will be shown in a major art exhibit in Boston this fall. The print, a portrait of the printer Cyprien-Charles-Marie Nicolas Gaulon, was made at the end of Goya’s life, between 1825 and 1826, and is one of only two known “first state” copies of the work (the other is in France's Bibliotheque Nationale). Gaulon taught Goya lithography during the artist’s senescent exile in Bordeaux. “It’s a portrait of a friend, the man who taught him this technique, towards the end of his life,"…
Wesleyan students at Long Lane Organic Farm are preparing for the annual Pumpkin Fest, hosted by the College of the Environment on Oct. 25. The event celebrates the annual fall harvest at the farm. This month, students are harvesting pumpkins, eggplant, tomatoes, lettuce, turnips, potatoes, squash, herbs and many more vegetables. (more…)
Lauren RubensteinVisiting Writer Charles Barber, director of The Connection Institute for Innovative Practice, will be the principal investigator, along with David Sells of Yale University, on a study peer mentoring of prisoners, thanks to a $295,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The study is a two-year randomized trial involving 110 ex-offenders in New Haven, Bridgeport and other Connecticut cities — 55 will receive mentors, and 55 will not. "We will recruit clients from prisons, where mentors— who are former prisoners themselves, with at least five years of stability behind them — will meet with them two to three times, pre-release. Mentors will then…
Alex Gilvarry, visiting writer in English, was named a "5 Under 35" award recipient from the National Book Foundation. Gilvarry is the author of From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant, published by Viking/Penguin Group in January 2012. He was selected for the award by 1993 National Book Award Finalist Amy Bloom, the Distinguished University Writer-in-Residence and Director of the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing. Gilvarry was born in Staten Island, N.Y. in 1981. He holds an MFA from Hunter College and has been a Norman Mailer Fellow and a visiting scholar at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin. His first novel,…