Solar Storms a Wake-Up Call, Redfield Says

A July NASA report that a huge solar storm narrowly missed Earth in 2012 – avoiding catastrophic damage to energy, transportation and communications systems – has caused a media stir and some worry among Earthlings. What’s more, other recent reports say that Earth is overdue for a devastating storm of the kind known as a “Carrington event” after an 1859 storm that disrupted telegraph signals and caused other damage in a still-nascent industrial world. Named for 19th-century English astronomer Richard Carrington, it was the largest of its kind on record. A similar event now, in a world dependent on digital…

Many of us have experienced an intense emotional and physical sensation while listening to a particularly moving piece of music--often described as a thrill, chill or goosebumps. In a new article published in Frontiers in Psychology, Psyche Loui, assistant professor of psychology, assistant professor of neuroscience and behavior, and psychology major Luke Harrison '14 integrate the existing multidisciplinary literature to create a comprehensive, testable model of "transcendent psychophysiological moments in music." The paper came out of Harrison's final paper in Loui's course on Music Perception and Cognition. They begin by considering the different nomenclature used in popular and academic discourse for this…

Water is the most ubiquitous fluid on Earth, and plays a foundational role in life as we know it. And yet the complexity of this seemingly simple molecule remains a vigorously debated area of scientific research to this day. Writing in the most recent issue of Nature Physics, Professor of Physics Francis Starr provides a commentary on recent research to uncover the mystery of water's unusual properties. "We all learn as children that oil and water don’t mix," Starr writes. " If there was only one fluid – say just the water – then "unmixing" should not even be a possibility. …

Lori Gruen, chair and professor of philosophy, professor of environmental studies, professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, has been elected a fellow of the prestigious Hastings Center. The 45-year-old center, an independent bioethics research institute, addresses ethics in the areas of health, medicine and the environment. “I’m delighted to be elected a fellow of the Hastings Center,” Gruen said. “The research publications (from Hastings) are cutting edge, and have been an integral part of my teaching.” Gruen is coordinator of Wesleyan Animal Studies and director of the university’s Ethics in Society project, which aims to develop and foster teaching,…

"You won't know where 'Lucky Us' is headed until, suddenly, it's there," promises the review

Rutland explores Russia's strategy in light of the recent escalation in violence

Leo Lensing, professor and chair of German Studies, professor of film studies, wrote the cover article in this week's issue of the Times Literary Supplement. The article, titled, "Pillar of Fire," is about a new biography of the Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann. The Times Literary Supplement describes the story as "How to assess the 'stations' of Ingeborg Bachmann's self-destructive life from childhood constant reader to modernist 'Fräuleinwonder'... Lensing counsels caution when dealing with Bachmann's own accounts of her experiences, including those of her childhood which 'ended when Hitler troops marched into her hometown' of Klagenfurt. Sometimes the 'primal scene' can 'look more like a scenario.'"…

John Frazer, professor of art, emeritus, died July 7 at the age of 82. "Generations of Wesleyan students knew John as a gifted teacher of students at all levels of artistic ability," said Ruth Striegel Weissman, provost and vice president for academic affairs. Throughout his career on the Wesleyan faculty, from 1959 to 2001, Frazer introduced hundreds of Wesleyan students to the art of drawing, painting and film. He taught the first filmmaking courses at Wesleyan and continued this teaching until the Film Program, which he helped found, became independent of the Art Department. His influence lives on through his endowment…

Pitts-Taylor comments on a new reality show about plastic surgery gone bad

Professor Lori Gruen is the co-editor of a new book titled Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth, published by Bloomsbury Academic in July 2014. Gruen is chair and professor of philosophy, professor of environmental studies, and professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies. She also co-coordinates Wesleyan Animal Studies. In this 288-page book, leading feminist scholars and activists introduce and explore themes central to contemporary ecofeminism. Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth first offers an historical, grounding overview that situates ecofeminist theory and activism and provides a timeline for important publications and events. This…

Ron Jenkins, professor of theater, is the author of a new book titled Saraswati in Bali: a Temple, a Museum and a Mask, published by the Agung Rai Museum of Art, Peliatan, Ubud, Bali, in July 2014. Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, through whom the Balinese symbolically link their tangible (sekala) and intangible (niskala) worlds. The Balinese celebrate Saraswati at an annual festival. In a July 7 Jakarta Post article, contributing writer Jean Couteau explains that instead of trying to “understand” Bali like anthropologists would, "often reifying it or losing themselves in abstruse concepts of dubious 'universalist' value, Jenkins presents it 'in action.' In Saraswati in…

Review: Rose's "brilliant, counterintuitive voice" shines in this literary experiment

Solar Storms a Wake-Up Call, Redfield Says

Research by Loui, Harrison ’14 on Musically-Induced ‘Thrills and Chills’ is Published

When Water “Unmixes”: Starr Commentary Published in Nature Physics

Gruen Elected Fellow of Hastings Center

Bloom’s ‘Lucky Us’ is Reviewed

Rutland on Malaysian Airlines Crash in Ukraine

Lensing Writes Cover Story in Times Literary Supplement

Professor of Art John Frazer Remembered for Teaching, Painting, Films

Botched Plastic Surgery and Victim Blaming

Gruen Edits Book on Contemporary Ecofeminism

Jenkins Explores Bali’s Saraswati Ritual in New Book

Rose’s ‘The Shelf’ is Editor’s Choice