Kate CarlisleWesleyan University apologized this week to Native Americans and other indigenous peoples, and said it is launching an effort to repatriate human remains and cultural objects, collected mostly in the 19th century, which are part of its anthropology and archaeology collections. The university has adopted a repatriation policy in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. “Wesleyan University is dedicated to working in partnership with Native Nations and indigenous peoples,” the apology reads. “We welcome Native Nations to campus for tribal consultations and commit to having an ongoing dialogue with indigenous peoples about repatriation.” Here is the…
Cynthia RockwellCasey Blake ’78 is senior historian for "The Armory Show at 100: Modern Art and Revolution," an exhibition now at the New York Historical Society (NYHS) through Feb. 24, 2014. In highlighting the importance of the original exhibition—and the reason behind mounting a centennial—NYHS notes: “The 1913 Armory Show… in just less than a month … changed the way Americans thought about modern art. It has been called the most important exhibition every held in the United States.” Blake, himself, calls his work on the centennial show, “the opportunity to tell a story about New York during a period of…
Gabe Rosenberg '16In her new book Scrambling for Africa: AIDS, Expertise, and the Rise of American Global Health Science (Cornell University Press), Johanna Tayloe Crane ’93 considers the past exclusion of African countries from advancements in HIV medicine and shows how the region has transformed into a center for international research and global health programs. After conducting research in the United States and Uganda over the past 10 years, Crane traces the flow of knowledge and money between laboratories and conference rooms in America and sub-Saharan HIV clinics. Her findings reveal how global health science has paradoxically benefited from and even created…
Rayman Solomon ’68, dean of the Rutgers School of Law-Camden, was named to the newly created role of provost for the Rutgers-Camden campus. As chief academic officer, Solomon will work the Rutgers-Camden’s academic departments on achieving rigorous standards for curriculum and faculty development. Solomon will begin his new responsibilities as provost on Jan. 1, 2014, and will continue to serve as dean of the Rutgers-Camden law school, a position he accepted in 1998, until July 1, 2014. Under Solomon’s leadership as dean, the school opened a new, state-of-the-art $37 million classroom building in 2008. He also oversaw the school greatly…
Moira McNamara James '78 P’10, P’16, was named chair of the board for Landmark School, an independent, coeducational boarding and day school serving students in grades 2–12 who have language-based learning disabilities, such as dyslexia. The mission of the school also includes an extensive educational outreach program to parents and professionals, as well as a research collaboration with the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “I am honored to serve in this role,” said James in a press release. “Landmark’s Trustees are an impressive group of individuals. We all passionately believe in the remarkable and life changing work that the school…
David LowIn her new poetry collection Grains of the Voice (Triquarterly Books/Northwestern University Press), Christina Pugh ’88 reveals a fascination with sound in all its manifestations, including the human voice, musical instruments, and the sounds produced by the natural and man-made worlds. All of these serve as both the framework of poems and the occa¬sion for their changes of direction, of tone, of point of reference. The poems contain echoes—and sometimes the words themselves—of other poets, but just as often of popular and obscure songs, of the noise of pop culture, and of philosophers’ writings. Beneath the surface of her work,…
Matt Lichtash ’13 was co-author of an op-ed published in U.S. News and World Report titled “Five Steps America Must Take Now to Combat Climate Change.” Lichtash is working with Evan Weber ’13 and Michael Dorsey, who served as visiting scholar for Wesleyan’s College of the Environment for the 2012–13 academic year. The three, concerned that the United States adopt an effective national energy strategy, have developed “The Plan,” which they propose can “set our nation on a promising path towards ensuring a safer, more prosperous, and more just future for ourselves and our posterity.” The Plan is available for download…
Best-selling author Sam Wasson ’03 has published Fosse (Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), an authoritative and fascinating biography of the renowned dancer, choreographer, screenwriter, and director Bob Fosse. The only person ever to win Oscar, Emmy, and Tony awards in the same year, Fosse was a masterful artist in every entertainment medium he touched, and forever marked Broadway and Hollywood with his iconic style that would influence generations of performing artists. Wasson reveals the man behind the swaggering sex appeal by exploring Fosse’s reinventions of himself over a career that would result in his work on The Pajama Game, Pippin, Sweet…
Josh Goldin ’00, co-founder of Alliance Consumer Growth, a New York-based private equity fund, was chosen by Forbes as one of the 25 “CircleUp Kingmakers” for his work as an investor in emerging consumer and retail companies. Forbes contributor Ryan Caldbeck described the 25 Kingmakers as “men and women whose names repeatedly arise in conversations with industry experts and consumer companies large and small… connectors, brilliant thinkers, visionaries and retailers and investors-extraordinaire.” Others on the list include Mickey Drexler, CEO of J. Crew; John Foraker, CEO of Annie’s Natural Foods; and Betsy Foster, Global VP of Whole Foods. In describing Goldin, Caldbeck…
Bill HolderMary-Jane Rubenstein, associate professor of religion and chair of the Religion Department, has been appointed Wesleyan's 2013-14 Distinguished Teaching Fellow. She also is associate professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies. Established last year by the John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology Rob Rosenthal, the Distinguished Teaching Fellowship honors Wesleyan's most outstanding teachers and gives them the opportunity to teach a course outside their usual departmental offerings. The inaugural fellowship was awarded to Andy Szegedy-Maszak, Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek, professor of classical studies. "It is no surprise that Mary-Jane is Wesleyan's second Distinguished Teaching Fellow: she is known…
Lauren RubensteinPemberton discusses the new film "12 Years a Slave," considers how Hollywood treats black history
Barber discusses the importance of long-form narrative ahead of a Wesleyan conference on the subject