Olivia DrakeThis issue, we ask "5 Questions" of Scott Holmes, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry. He received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support his research on epigenetic silencing of gene expression. Gene expression refers to the observable characteristics generated on a molecular level by a particular sequence of DNA or gene; epigenetic controls are essential in maintaining the specific patterns of gene expression that distinguish hundreds of distinct cell types in skin, muscles and other types of tissue. Epigenetic mechanisms also explain how humans can have more than 200 distinct cell types. Q: Professor Holmes,…
David Beveridge, the Joshua Boger University Professor of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, professor of chemistry, was on sabbatical last spring at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, India. He was visiting and working on research projects with Professor B. Jayaram, director of the Supercomputer Center for Bioinformatics, SCFBIO. Beveridge's former student, Becky Lee '10, was spending a year doing research in Jayaram's SCFBIO research group on a project in computational biophysics. Beveridge presented one of the thematic lectures on "Dynamic Allosterism" in a lecture series celebrating the 50th anniversary of IIT-Delhi.
Papers, articles and book chapters by Fred Cohan, professor of biology, are published in several publications including: "Community ecology of hot spring cyanobacterial mats: predominant populations and their functional potential," published in ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology, 2011; "Influence of molecular resolution on sequence-based discovery of ecological diversity among Synechococcus populations in an alkaline siliceous hot spring microbial mat," published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology 77:1359-1367, 2011; "Are species cohesive?—A view from bacteriology," published in Bacterial Population Genetics: A Tribute to Thomas S. Whittam, American Society for Microbiology Press, Washington, pages 43-65, 2011; "Species," a chapter published in…
Articles by Masami Imai, director of the Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, chair and associate professor of east asian studies, associate professor of economics, were published in two economic publications: "Elections and Political Risk: New Evidence from Political Prediction Markets in Taiwan," with Cameron Shelton, appeared in the Journal of Public Economics, 95 (7-8), August 2011. "Transmission of Liquidity Shock to Bank Credit: Evidence from Deposit Insurance Reform in Japan," with Seitaro Takarabe, appeared in the Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, June 2011.
Ron Jenkins, professor of theater, was interviewed about his prison theater project for a Radio Australia program on June 24. The broadcast was aired on their pacific network in Australia, Indonesia, Cambodia and East Timor. A transcript of the interview is below: Theatre program with a difference in Bali, Indonesia The Kerobokanprison has become synonymous with the trials and convictions of Australian drug traffickers Schapelle Corby, and members of the Bali 9. But now a professor of theatre from the United States is running a theater program as part of efforts to change the atmosphere of the jail. Presenter Nasya…
Four Wesleyan women faculty members are featured in the June 30 Women in Academia Report. According to the article, "Wesleyan University, the highly regarded liberal arts institution in Middletown, Connecticut, has promoted three women to full professor. Another woman was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor." Lori Gruen, who has taught at Wesleyan since 2000, was promoted to full professor of philosophy. Her research focuses on the ethical treatment of animals. Professor Gruen holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. Magda Teter was promoted to full professor of history and named the Jeremy Zwelling Professor…
An article by Brian Glenn, visiting assistant professor of government, was published on salon.com July 4. In the piece, titled "What is a 'constitutional conservative' anyway?," Glenn writes, "For conservative politicians, the name signals that they are identifying as Tea Party members, which means limiting government, balancing the federal budget, lowering taxes, ending redistribution from the wealthier to the poor, assigning a central position for God in the lives of Americans, even in courthouses and public schools, and asserting the right to bear arms. While God will always be given top billing, one gets the sense that lowering taxes and…
Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, is the co-author of "The Highly Dynamic Behavior of the Innermost Dust and Gas in the Transition Disk Variable LRLL 31," published in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 732, Issue 2, article id. 83 in 2011, and "Preliminary Analysis of MOST Observations of the Trapezium," published in American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #96.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43 in 2011. Herbst and his graduate student Holly Capelo are the authors of "Optical And Infrared Monitoring Of KH 15D," published in the American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #226.08; Bulletin…
Charles Sanislow, assistant professor of psychology, is the co-author of a study published in the summer issue of the Journal of Personality Disorders that reports findings from the Collaborative Personality Study. The study dissociates severity and style of trait ratings and results suggest that severity plays a key role in predicting dysfunction. The work is helping to inform the organization for classifying personality pathology in the soon to be published DSM-5. The article is online here.
Patricia Rodriguez Mosquera, assistant professor of psychology, published a Special Issue on Social Image for the European Journal of Social Psychology. The 13 papers included in the special issue reflect the centrality of social image in a wide array of psychological processes. Five major themes integrate the diverse selection of papers: (i) self-presentation of social image; (ii) culture-specific conceptions of social image; (iii) the role of social image in emotion; (iv) respect and status as reflections of social image; and (v) the influence of social image on ingroup and outgroup perceptions. The Special Issue is online here.
Margot Weiss, assistant professor of American studies and anthropology, received a $22,372 Post-Ph.D. Research Grant (with Osmundsen Initiative funding) from The Wenner-Gren Foundation, and a $6,250 grant from the Joan Heller-Diane Bernard Fellowship in Lesbian and Gay Studies from The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies. Both grants will support Weiss's ethnographic research project titled "Visions of Sexual Justice Among Contemporary Queer Activists" during the 2011-12 academic year.
Eric GershonThis issue we ask "5 Questions" of Vera Schwarcz, who spent the spring semester as a Lady Davis Fellow at Hebrew University in Israel. Schwarcz is the Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies, professor of history, professor of East Asian studies. She returns to campus this fall. Q: What will you remember most about your recent sojourn in Israel? A: What lingers most in mind is the vibrant commitment to live fully the values of Jewish tradition. In Jerusalem, each day I witnessed some act of kindness, some conscious effort to reach out to strangers in a way that pays homage…