Olivia DrakeJonathan Cutler, associate professor of sociology, spoke to Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia '02 about the United Auto Workers and the union's circumstance relative to the bankruptcy filings of General Motors Corp. Cutler is an expert on labor organizations. The report is online.
The following faculty members retired from Wesleyan University in May 2009. Their names, positions at Wesleyan, and Ph.D/D.Phil institutions are below: ANTHONY ANIELLO INFANTE Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (1984–2009) Professor of Biology (1978–1984) Associate Professor of Biology (1972–1978) Assistant Professor of Biology (1967–1972) Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania PETER KILBY Professor of Economics (1976–2009) Associate Professor of Economics (1970–1976) Assistant Professor of Economics (1965–1970) D.Phil., Oxford University R. LINCOLN KEISER Professor of Anthropology (1990–2009) Associate Professor of Anthropology (1977–1990) Assistant Professor of Anthropology (1972–1977) Ph.D., University of Rochester ÁKOS ÖSTÖR Professor of Anthropology (1988–2009) Ph.D., University of Chicago JOHN…
Corrina KerrBefore the internationally-known social network site Facebook existed, there was Social Psychology Network (SPN), founded at Wesleyan in 1996 by professor of psychology Scott Plous. Three years after launching his site, Plous received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to enhance SPN. Now NSF is providing a new $700,000 grant to help Plous transform the site into a full featured social networking service for visitors and its approximately 2,000 members across the world. The primary users of SPN are researchers, educators, students, and others interested in psychology. According to the site's usage page, more than 10,000 people from over 100…
Jan Naegele, professor of neuroscience and behavior, professor and chair of biology, was honored for her innovative work in bioscience by the organization “We Work For Health" overseen by the Connecticut Consortium of Independent Colleges on May 18. Congressman Joe Courtney presented a plaque to Naegele’s designee, Deborah Hall '11 at a ceremony in Cromwell, Conn.
Dante, Bolognese poetry, Leonardo and Quattrocento were among the topics addressed at the Art and History in Renaissance Italy Symposium May 1-2 on campus. The event was held in honor of John Paoletti, Kenan Professor of the Humanities, professor of art history, who is retiring in May. Paoletti is an internationally-prominent scholar in art history with much of his work focused on the Italian Renaissance. "This symposium is a unique one that honors John's 37 years of service to Wesleyan, and his foundational role in developing the university's program in Art History," says Joseph Siry, professor of art history. "The…
Manju Hingorani, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, is the co-author of "Mechanism of Cadmium-mediated Inhibition of Msh2-Msh6 Function in DNA Mismatch Repair," published in Biochemistry, March 25, 2009. Three undergraduates from three countries worked on the project in the Hingorani Lab at Wesleyan. They include Francis Noah Biro '09; Markus Wieland, an exchange student from University of Konstanz; and Karan Hingorani, Manju Hingorani's nephew from St. Xaviers College in Mumbai who did volunteer work in the lab. The project focused on how the heavy metal toxin Cadmium (found in cigarette smoke, industrial pollution, batteries, etc.) causes DNA damage…
Jelle Zelinga de Boer, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, emeritus, was cited in April 3 edition of The Hartford Courant. In an article titled " Remnants Of Old Mine In Middletown Date to Revolutionary Times," de Boer explains why an abandoned silver mine in Middletown, Conn. played a supporting role in the history of the country's industrial past. According to de Boer, the Middletown mine was originally opened to mine lead and was one of only two sites in New England that produced the metal for the Continental Army during the early stages of the Revolutionary War. The…
Errors in genomic DNA can lead to tumors and other diseases. By probing specific DNA structures, Ishita Mukerji hopes to gain an understanding of how such medical conditions can be prevented or possibly cured. Mukerji, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, studies how different proteins recognize and bind to DNA. Specifically, she examines four-stranded DNA structures, known as "Holliday junctions," which are involved in DNA repair and recombination. These are different from the common, two-stranded DNA. On April 1, Mukerji will receive a four-year grant worth $798,368 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund her research project, "Structure and…
During a "Who Done It? A DNA Investigation," elementary school aged children sported white lab coats and became "detectives" hoping to solve a crime. The students learned about DNA structure by isolating DNA from wheat germ and comparing DNA samples from a 'crime scene' with the DNA from five suspects. They learn how DNA forensics actually works – just like on the television show "CSI." (more…)
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Mary-Jane Rubenstein, assistant professor of religion, assistant professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, is the author of the book, Strange Wonder: The Closure of Metaphysics and the Opening of Awe, published by Columbia University Press, March 2009. Strange Wonder confronts Western philosophy's ambivalent relationship to the Platonic "wonder" that reveals the strangeness of the everyday. On the one hand, this wonder is said to be the origin of all philosophy. On the other hand, it is associated with a kind of ignorance that ought to be extinguished as swiftly as possible. By endeavoring to resolve wonder's indeterminacy into certainty…
Vera Schwarcz, the Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies, chair of the East Asian Studies Proggram, professor of history, professor of East Asian studies, is the author of Chisel of Remembrance, a new collection of poems that draws from roots in Jewish, Chinese, and other ancient traditions. The 76-page book of poetry was published from Antrim House Books.