David LowHarvard Law School recently announced that John C. P. Goldberg ’83 has been appointed to the Eli Goldston Professorship of Law. An expert in tort law, tort theory and political philosophy, he joined Harvard Law School as a tenured faculty member in 2008 and teaches first-year and upper-level courses. Goldberg has worked closely with Professor Henry Smith to develop the Project on the Foundations of Private Law at Harvard and has co-taught with Professor Smith the Private Law Workshop, which enables students to discuss with leading scholars cutting-edge research in torts, property, contracts, restitution, and other topics. He recently served as…
Jonah Sachs ’97 is the author of Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell—and Live—the Best Stories Will Rule the Future (Harvard Business Review Press). Viral storyteller and advertising expert Sachs draws upon case studies from his own body of work and some of the most successful brands of all time to show how values-driven stories can influence and revolutionize marketing. The book suggests that marketers can take on the role of heroes with the possibility of transforming not just their craft but also the enterprises they represent. The author shares insights culled from mythology, advertising history, evolutionary biology,…
Randy Siegel ’83 has just published his second children’s book, My Snake Blake (Roaring Brook Press). In this amusing story, a boy finds friendship with an unusual pet snake, a gift from his father, much to the dismay of his mother. As it turns out, the green snake has exceptional abilities such as twisting his body into words and helping the young lad with his homework. Siegel’s entertaining tale is illustrated by award-winning artist Serge Bloch. Publishers Weekly called the book “…a loving salute to the unconventional pet heroes of an earlier era.” In his review in The New York…
Matvei Yankelevich ’95 is the author of Alpha Donut: The Selected Shorter Works of Matvei Yankelevich (United Artists Books), which brings together poems and prose texts written over the course of the first 11 years of the millennium. The volume contains a pastiche of works from the writer’s several serial projects (such as Writing in the Margin or The Bar Poems) and stand-alone poems. Many of these pieces have appeared previously in progressive literary journals and little magazines. Yankelevich comments: “Alpha Donut's title comes from an old-school coffee shop in Queens, near my first NYC apartment. I used to write…
Olivia DrakeThe Wesleyan Open Golf Association raised and donated $1,500 to the Middlesex Coalition for Children to support The Diaper Bank. The Diaper Bank supplies more than 200,000 diapers every month to young children in low-income families in Middlesex Country, New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford. The organization also raises awareness that "basic human needs" include diapers and that these needs are not being met for children living in poverty. The association raised the funds during a golf tournament July 14 at Banner Country Club in Moodus, Conn. About 75 participants payed an entry fee, which included an 18-hole round, prizes and…
J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, associate professor of American studies, associate professor of anthropology, discussed her public affairs radio show on indigenous politics during the 18th Commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The event was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Aug. 9 and focused on this year’s theme, “Indigenous Media, Empowering Indigenous Voices.” Kauanui was one of four invited panelists who spoke at the commemoration about indigenous media - television, radio, film, and social media - and its role in helping to preserve indigenous peoples’ cultures, challenge stereotypes, and influence the social and political agenda. The event's…
Lauren RubensteinThe Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Department sent three professors and six students to the international 2012 Yeast Genetics & Molecular Biology Meeting held at Princeton University recently, giving Wesleyan the largest per capita representation in the world. Attending from the department were Associate Professor and Chair Michael McAlear and his graduate student, James Arnone; Assistant Professor Amy MacQueen and her graduate students Pritam Mukherjee and Lina Yisehak, and recent alumni Sarah Beatie '12 and Louis Taylor '12; and Associate Professor Scott Holmes and his graduate student, Rebecca Ryznar. All spoke or presented on various aspects of yeast genetics, molecular biology,…
Professor of Economics Richard Grossman published an op-ed in The Hartford Courant on August 7 about the global "Libor" banking scandal. Taking a lesson from the old mob-run "numbers racket," Grossman proposes an elegant solution to fixing deficits in the Libor, and renewing public confidence in the banking system. The Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) is currently calculated by asking a group of banks to self-report the cost for them to borrow money from other banks. The highest and lowest 25 percent of submitted estimates are thrown out, and the average of the remaining submissions is the Libor. Banks are supposed to…
This summer, Mariah Schug, visiting assistant professor of psychology, traveled to the Faroe Islands where she produced a gallery exhibit on animal sexual diversity. The exhibit, titled, "What is Natural? Diversity of the North," combined Schug's scientific research and the work of Nordic artists. It was organized by LGBT Faroe Islands and funded by the Nordic Culture Fund, and ran from July 27 through Aug. 30. According to Schug, the LGBT movement in the Faroe Islands is relatively new. While supported by much of the public, it faces serious criticisms from religious conservatives. Politicians and public figures who are opposed to equal rights for the Faroese LGBT community…
Legendary folk musician and activist Pete Seeger appeared on The Colbert Report to talk about a new collection of his private writings, selected and edited by Rob Rosenthal, provost, vice president of academic affairs and the John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology, and his son, Sam Rosenthal. The book is Pete Seeger: In His Own Words. Seeger also performed a song, “Quite Early Morning,” on the show.
Rob Rosenthal, provost, vice-president for academic affairs, and the John E. Andrus professor of sociology, is the co-editor of a new book, together with his son, Sam Rosenthal. The book, Pete Seeger: In His Own Words, is a collection of the legendary folk singer's private writings—including letters, notes to himself, published articles, rough drafts, stories and poetry—spanning most of the 20th century and into the 21st. Seeger has never published an autobiography, but these documents provide the most detailed picture available of him as a musician, an activist and a family man. From letters to his mother written as a…
Rich Olson, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, received a grant worth $460,197 from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Aug. 8. The grant will support his research on "Mechanism of Cell Membrane Targeting by Vibrio cholera Cytolysin" through July 31, 2015. Vibrio cholerae cytolysin (VCC) belongs to a family of secreted toxins produced by pathogenic bacteria that allows them to evade the immune system and to colonize the human body. Understanding how bacteria and their toxins target cells is important in developing therapies against human infectious diseases.