Wes in the News » Alumni

Perkins ‘09 Awarded 2010 Rhodes Scholarship

David Pesci — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:41:12 +0000

Russell Perkins ‘09 was awarded a 2010 Rhodes Scholarship. Perkins, from Evanston, Ill., graduated with high honors from Wesleyan University in May. He majored in the College of Letters (COL) with a senior thesis titled “Violence in Adornian Aesthetics and the Art of Anselm Kiefer;” his advisor was Khachig Tololyan, professor of English, professor of letters. Perkins co-founded Wesleyan’s Center for Prison Education which offers Wesleyan courses at Connecticut’s Cheshire Correctional Institution. In addition to offering education for selected inmates, the program provides research and volunteer opportunities for Wesleyan students and faculty. A classical pianist and avid cyclist, he taught a small discussion workshop in philosophy at the Cheshire prison as an undergraduate. Russell plans to do the B.Phil. in philosophy at Oxford University.

Roth on Breger’s ‘A Dream of Undying Fame’

David Pesci — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:13:31 +0000

Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth reviewed the new book by Louis Breger A Dream of Undying Fame: How Freud Betrayed His Mentor and Invented Psychoanalysis for The Los Angeles Times.

Student-Created Prison Education Program Featured

David Pesci — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:46:58 +0000

A grant-funded prison education program created by two Wesleyan graduate students, Molly Birnbaum ‘09 and Russell Perkins ‘09, while they were undergraduates, was profiled in The New York Times. Administered in Connecticut’s Cheshire Correctional Facility, the program provides Wesleyan-level courses for selected members of the prison’s population. The inmate-participants must meet rigorous entrance requirements.

Benjamin ’93 on Searching for “Whitopia”

David Pesci — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:41:04 +0000

Rich Benjamin ’93 talks about his new book, Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America, in Time. Benjamin discusses how “Whitopias” in America threaten to create a form of racial Balkanization within the country.

Roth: “Remember the Maine Elections”

David Pesci — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:36:11 +0000

In a recent piece for The Huffington Post, Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth shares a heartfelt story about the vote on Maine’s gay marriage initiative.

Laskey ‘82 Curates Opening at Holon

David Pesci — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:22:40 +0000

Julie Lasky ‘82 will be one of the exhibit curators at the opening of the new Design Museum Holon in Tel Aviv, Israel. According to The Jerusalem Post, the museum will be dedicated to design and will highlight Israeli artists.

Blakemore ‘65 at Memorial Chapel Nov. 3

David Pesci — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:11:51 +0000

ABC News Reporter Bill Blakemore ‘65 will deliver a presentation titled “The Psychologies of Global Warming” in Memorial Chapel at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. Blakemore has been reporting on climate change for the last several years. His talk will include “examples displaying different ‘psychologies, as well as manmade global warming’s place in the long history of narcissistic insults to humanity itself.’”

Roth on Goldhagen’s ‘Worse Than War’

David Pesci — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:10:04 +0000

Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth reviewed Daniel Goldhagen’s Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the the Ongoing Assault on Humanity recently for The San Francisco Chronicle. In the book, Goldhagen attempts to show that “that genocide is an extension of the politics of ‘eliminationism,’ which is decisively shaped by political leaders and fueled by profound and widely shared hatred. However, Roth found Goldhagen simple-minded in many of his conclusions and proposed solutions.

Hoyer ‘96 Named San Diego Padres G.M.

David Pesci — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:26:01 +0000

Jed Hoyer ‘96 has been named general manager of the San Diego Padres. According to a piece in The San Diego Union Tribune, Hoyer, who had been the assistant general manager of the Boston Red Sox, impressed the ownership of the MLB team immediately during his initial interview. In a separate story in the Union Tribune, Mark Woodworth ‘94, Wesleyan’s baseball coach and former teammate of Hoyer, is quoted at length about what Hoyer brings to the Padres. At the ceremony, the Padres owner gave Hoyer a Padres shirt with 11, the number Hoyer wore for Wesleyan, on the back. More background on Hoyer is available on the Athletics Website and in a feature about Hoyer in a 2006 issue of the Wesleyan Magazine.

Odede ‘11, Posner ‘09 on Kenyan School They Built

David Pesci — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:56:28 +0000

WNPR News featured a story on Jessica Posner ‘09, Wesleyan Writing Fellow, and Kennedy Odede ‘11 and the school for girls they built over the summer in Kibera, Kenya. The school, which the two students built using a Projects for Peace Grant, is up and running.