Olivia DrakeIf you had one minute to speak with newly-elected President Barack Obama, what would you say? Wesleyan undergraduate, graduate and Graduate Liberal Studies Program students are invited to video-record a response to this question with a chance to win a $100 cash prize. As part of Wesleyan's "Minute with the President-Elect" challenge, students can create and upload a video to Wesleyan's YouTube site. Site viewers can log in, view the videos and rate their favorite entry. (more…)
David PesciA paper co-authored by Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and enviornmental sciences, titled "Trends, rhythms, and aberrations in global climate 65 Ma to present," published in Science, 292, in 2001, has been identified by Thomson Reuters Scientific's Essential Science Indicators as one of the most highly cited papers in field of geosciences, and has been designated as a "Current Classic" for October 2008. For more information go to: http://sciencewatch.com/dr/cc/08-octcc/'Article.
The Wesleyan community is invited to go "Backstage at Information Technology Services" during an open house Nov. 12. Self-guided and guided tours for faculty, staff and students will be ongoing from 1 to 4 p.m. Raffle prizes will be awarded. Also, during this time, ITS will host three "acts." "ITS is hosting an open house to provide an opportunity for the community to visit our staff members in their environments, to learn about what they do, and in some cases to put a face with a person to whom they have either spoken on the phone or emailed," says Ganesan "Ravi"…
Come Home!" was the theme of Wesleyan's Homecoming/Family Weekend (HCFW) Oct. 17-19. "I chose Come Home! as the theme for this event because I believe that Wesleyan is a family that grows stronger by engagement at regular gatherings such as Homecoming/Family Weekend," says Wesleyan President Michael Roth. "Many things in our lives change year to year, but we can always come back to Wesleyan and feel we belong." The event featured 21 WESeminars, several athletic events, campus tours, an all-college dinner, (more…)
Corrina KerrFailure to adapt in certain military maneuvers or assignments can lead to fatal errors. To help prevent grievous mistakes, the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense has asked psychologists to study adaptability. Assistant Professor of Psychology Steven Stemler was awarded a $60,000 subcontract via the University of Central Florida to study the concept and develop tools to measure adaptability. (more…)
It's a dog-gone good month for Laurenellen McCann ’09. After spending her entire summer working for an independent television production company, the government major's work was finally broadcast Oct. 11 on the network, Animal Planet. As one of three associate producers for the new series Dogs 101, McCann was at the front line of creative thought for each episode. She was responsible for researching the information to be disseminated in every episode, including details about the dog breeds featured and the best stories to make them stand out. (more…)
Sonia BasSheva Mañjon, vice president for diversity and strategic partnerships, will investigate two partnerships between higher education institutions and urban communities during a conference at Trinity College Oct. 23. The day-long event, titled “Cultural Identity through the Arts in Urban Communities,” will pursue how academic institutions can develop new and innovative collaborative projects with diverse communities in urban settings. (more…)
Celebrated fiction writer and poet Michael Ondaatje, winner of the British Commonwealth’s highest literary award, the Booker Prize, is this year's Joan Jakobson Visiting Writer. Ondaatje will read from his prose at 8 p.m. Nov. 5 in Memorial Chapel. The event is free of charge and open to the public. "Michael Ondaatje's works are haunting, seductive stories and his prose is stunning," says Anne Greene, director of writing programs. "This is a rare chance to hear Ondaatje's own voice." Born in Sri Lanka of Indian/Dutch ancestry, Ondaatje went to school in England and then moved to Canada. Among his best-known…
By Intisar Abioto '09 The current Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery exhibition Framing and Being Framed: The Uses of Documentary Photography, challenges the traditional space between the artist, the subject and the viewer. The exhibition of two-dimensional photographs, photo installations, video and web-based works features art by Ann Messner, Perry Bard, Matthew Buckingham, Wendy Ewald, Susan Meiselas, An-My Lê, Emily Jacir, Alfredo Jaar, Eric Gottesman and Kota Ezawa. Curator Nina Felshin planned this exhibition after meeting with Jennifer Tucker, chair and associate professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, associate professor of history, associate professor of science in society, several years…
When Frank, Angela, and their two children are evicted from their New York City apartment, they have no choice but to move into a homeless shelter. After a few difficult months, an apartment becomes available in a nearby housing project. There’s only one catch: Frank needs a job in order to qualify or the apartment will get rented to someone else. While the rest of the city prepares for Christmas, Frank and his 10-year-old stepson, Justin, roam the cold streets of New York trying to find a job by day's end. While this is the story line for the feature…
During a session on algebraic topology, graduate student Weiwei Pan spoke to dozens of mathematical scholars from around the world on "Categorified Bundles and Classifying Spaces." Pan was one of 220 speakers who presented math-related talks during the 2008 Eastern Sectional Meeting of the American Mathematical Society held Oct. 11-12 at Wesleyan. More than 300 participants registered. "One of the best things about being a mathematician is that there are people all over the world who share your interests, and that mathematics (more…)
Physicists, predominately from New England and Europe, will convene Oct. 26 at Wesleyan to discuss topics related to mesoscopic systems. The one-day event, coordinated by the Physics Department's Complex Quantum Dynamics and Mesoscopic Phenomena Group, will be the first-ever New England Mesoscopic Systems Symposium. The mesoscopic scale lies between microscopic and macroscopic, which is visible to the human eye. (more…)