Wes in the News » Top Stories

Redfield On New Way to Search for Alien Life

David Pesci — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:32:46 +0000

Seth Redfield, assistant professor of astronomy, discusses a new method to use terrestrial telescopes as a way to search for extraterrestrial life. Specifically, researchers are using the measurement of the fluorescent signature of a planet’s atmosphere as a way to detect conditions which are hospitable for life as we know it. The findings were reported in The Christian Science Monitor and The Guardian UK.

Basinger on Kathryn Bigelow and The Oscars

David Pesci — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:26:13 +0000

Chair and Corwin Fuller Professor of Film Studies Jeanine Basinger comments in The Philadelphia Inquirer about “Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow, who received a Directors Guild of America award for her work on the film, and who has been nominated for an Oscar. Basinger not only discusses how rare it is for a woman to be nominated in this category, but how the director’s job has become a decidedly male domain since sound was added to motion pictures.

Swinehart on Jonathan Dee’s “The Privileges”

David Pesci — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:31:37 +0000

In The Chicago Tribiune, Kirk Swinehart, assistant professor of history, reviews the new novel by Jonathan Dee titled, The Privileges. Swinehart writes “Jonathan Dee has written, among many other things, a riveting book about the new American family and the atomizing pressures of modern life. ‘The Privileges’ may be our finest guide yet to gracious living in the 21st century,” and that the main characters, Adam and Cynthia Morey, “finally resemble no one so much as ourselves.”

McAlister Weaves the History of Haiti Through Music

David Pesci — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:01:13 +0000

Elizabeth McAlister, associate professor of religion, associate professor of American studies, associate professor of African American studies, and Holly Nicolas, department assistant V, recently appeared on AfroPop Radio WorldWide to narrate and present a program called “Music and the Story of Haiti.”

McAlister’s additional commentary on Haiti and the recent earthquake in the Caribbean country can be found here.

Braxton’s ‘Sonic Genome Project’ Premiers

David Pesci — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:13:07 +0000

The Toronto Globe and Mail gives an approving preview to the ‘Sonic Genome Project’ an eight-hour, 60- musician performance piece created and conducted by Anthony Braxton, professor of music. The piece will be performed in Vancouver on January 31 as part of the city’s Cultural Olympiad.

Hogendorn On Why Internet Neutrality Matters

David Pesci — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:00:53 +0000

Christiaan Hogendorn, associate professor of economics, is quoted in a P.C. World piece that discusses how discriminatory pricing will eliminate Internet neutrality and decrease opportunities for innovation.

Swinehart on Gordon’s “Dorothea Lange”

David Pesci — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:22:37 +0000

In The Chicago Tribune, Assistant Professor of History Kirk Swinehart reviews Dorthea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits, by Linda Gordon. Despite enduring attempts to wrap Lange in larger than life folklore and mystique, Gordon says that the pioneering photographer from the last century saw herself less as a proto feminist and “artist” and more of a working photojournalist, albeit, one who enjoyed the limelight. According to Swinehart, “In its grace, precision, and infinite subtlety, Gordon’s biography resembles Lange herself. Indeed, the whole is founded on a bedrock of human decency that Lange would have admired.”

McAlister, Ulysse on Haiti, Relief and Vodou

David Pesci — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:32:51 +0000

Elizabeth McAlister, associate professor of religion, associate professor of American studies, associate professor of African American studies,and Gina Ulysse, associate professor of anthropology, associate professor of African American studies, associate professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, both focus on Haiti and components of Haitian culture in their studies. In response to the recent earthquake in the island nation, both have been offering insights to the situation.

McAlister comments in The New York Times forum on Haiti; a radio interview for Interfaith Voices; on NPR’s “All Things Considered” Vodou’s role in Haiti, especially in the wake of the earthquake; she also discussed religion’s role in Haiti for CNN and has an OpEd for the cable news network as well she has an explanation of the Haitian artist’s work featured on the cover of the January 25, 2010 issue of The New Yorker; a piece on Pat Robertson’s controversial comments on Haiti and “Satan” in Forbes, and discusses the impact of Voodoo on the culture in the wake of the disaster in The Washington Post.

Ulysse, who was born in Haiti, has this piece for The Huffington Post saying that Haiti will never be the same, and another for NPR that discusses the situation on the ground and what it will be like weeks from now when the national news cycle has moved on to other events.

Deitch ‘74 to Head MOCA in Los Angeles

David Pesci — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:05:44 +0000

Jeffrey Deitch ‘74 has been named the new director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, California. Deitch was a studio art major at Wesleyan and has made a career as a renowned art dealer in New York City.

Ulysse on Avatar, Voodoo & White Redemption

David Pesci — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:38:22 +0000

In a recent piece for The Huffington Post, Gina Ulysse, associate professor of anthropology, associate professor of African American studies, associate professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, examines the recent film Avatar within the constructs of Voodoo and the Hollywood chestnut of white people saving the “noble savage.”