Internationally known artists Carrie Mae Weems and Xu Bing will join participants from across the university this fall in the Cornell Council for the Arts (CCA) 2018 Biennial.With the theme “Duration: Passage, Persistence, Survival,” the Biennial opens Sept. 27-29 on campus with a conference, public lectures by Weems and Xu, and participating faculty members and students joining artist panels and…
The Aizuri Quartet, with violinist and assistant professor of music Ariana Kim, took the grand prize May 6 at the M-Prize Chamber Music Competition held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.As the international competition’s overall winner, the New York-based quartet will receive $100,000, concert engagements, artist representation and a recording deal.“We’re still a little shell-shocked. I…
A new student-organized exhibition at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art surveys American artists’ use of landscape as the country expanded between the middle of the 19th and 20th centuries.“Shifting Ground,” curated by undergraduate members of the History of Art Majors’ Society (HAMS), includes various depictions of the American frontier, from the Hudson River School to photography of newly…
In his new book, “The Rise of the African Novel: Politics of Language, Identity and Ownership,” Assistant Professor of English Mukoma Wa Ngugi considers key questions around the critical reception of African literature and its beginnings.
The author says this book is the first “to situate South African and African-language literature of the late 1880s through the early 1940s in…
Renowned poet and legendary Cornell faculty member A.R. Ammons – “Archie” to all who knew him – was remembered by colleagues and friends at an informal reception April 9 in Klarman Hall.The occasion was twofold – to celebrate the recent publication by W.W. Norton of a new two-volume edition collecting Ammons’ complete poems, and the reinstallation of a plaque in his memory, in the current…
Professor of cell biology Anthony P. Bretscher has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, along with Catherine Lord, professor of psychology in pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.One of seven newly elected members in cellular and developmental biology, microbiology and immunology, Bretscher joined the Department of Molecular Biology and…
Two faculty members have been named among 175 scholars, artists, writers and scientists receiving Guggenheim fellowships this year.Paul Friedland, professor and associate chair of history, was awarded a fellowship supporting research for a book tentatively titled “A World Without Race: The Dream of a Universal Republic in the Revolutionary French Caribbean, 1794-1802.”Professor of music David…
The Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) is offering funding for the Cornell teaching community to implement new projects that will facilitate challenging, vibrant and reflective learning experiences for undergraduates.All faculty and full-time instructors engaged in teaching at Cornell are invited to submit proposals exploring new and emerging tools and technologies, approaches and teaching…
Famed jazz musician and Cornell A.D. White Professor-at-Large Wynton Marsalis on his approach to teaching. Cornell University. Intense. Approachable. Wise.Those were among the impressions several Cornell faculty and students have from a week spent with jazz musician and educator Wynton Marsalis, on campus March 22-28 for his first extended visit as an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large.“He…
John Hsu, the Old Dominion Foundation Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, died March 24 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was 86.Hsu joined the Department of Music in 1955 and was a member of the Cornell faculty for 50 years, retiring in 2005. He served as department chair from 1966 to 1971 and was named the Old Dominion Foundation Professor in 1976.Through the years, he gave lessons to…
The Department of Performing and Media Arts (PMA) will present the 2018 Locally Grown Dance concert March 1-3 at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts on the Kiplinger Theatre mainstage. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. nightly.Directed by dance faculty Byron Suber and Jumay Chu, the event features student dancers and musicians, and original choreography by the co-directors and PMA visiting…
Postdoctoral researcher Chih-chun Lin has an intense interest in host-microbe interactions and their impact on human health.
“A molecular understanding of interspecies interactions would not only enable us to address fundamental biological questions, but also will provide new insights into human diseases,” she said.
As one of the recently selected inaugural cohort of Cornell Presidential…
Graduate teaching assistants Stepfanie Aguillon and Aravind Natarajan have received the 2017-18 Cornelia Ye Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award.The awards were presented by Julia Thom-Levy, vice provost for academic innovation, Jan. 22 at the Eighth Annual Celebration of Teaching Excellence hosted by the Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI).“Stepfanie and Aravind exemplify great teaching at…
Kelly Zamudio, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, will analyze the effects of activity modules on classroom learning goals as the 2017-18 Menschel Distinguished Teaching Fellow at Cornell.The fellowship program gives accomplished faculty members the opportunity to develop a project that enhances Cornell’s teaching mission.“I am delighted to welcome Kelly and look…
Graduate students explored texts and artworks with themes of movement, escape and water and curated a related gallery installation as part of a fall course at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.Co-taught by Shirley Samuels, professor of English and American studies, and Nancy Green, the museum’s Gale and Ira Drukier Curator of European and American Art, Prints and Drawings, 1800-1945, the…
For Sagar Chapagain ’17, his interdisciplinary studies degree from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences completes another step toward a career in medicine and health policy.When he arrived on campus in 2015, “I was very scared, to be honest – very nervous,” he said. “I was the first in my family to attend college. I’d been in this country for only six years. English was not even my first…
President Martha E. Pollack has charged a 12-member committee of faculty from across the university to envision what Cornell’s presence in New York City might look like over the next decade.Part of the committee’s initial effort is to identify and recommend collaborative opportunities that complement, enrich and enhance the work of the Ithaca campus in educational, research and public engagement…
Pianist Andy Sheng ’20 is the winner of the 14th annual Cornell Concerto Competition, held Dec. 10 in Barnes Hall Auditorium. He performed the first movement of Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4 and will perform the piece as a featured soloist with the Cornell Symphony Orchestra in a concert March 11, 2018, in Bailey Hall.A physics, math and music major, Sheng has been studying piano for 13 years, and…
Two faculty members have been appointed to leadership roles overseeing student success, learning, diversity and curriculum initiatives at Cornell, Provost Michael Kotlikoff announced Dec. 1.
Lisa Nishii, associate professor of human resource studies, was appointed vice provost for undergraduate education. Classics professor Michael Fontaine has been named associate vice provost.
…
Across Cornell’s diverse student population, many individuals have expressed how race influences the way Cornellians make friends, socialize and affiliate on campus.A new two-credit Learning Where You Live (LWYL) course this semester on West Campus, ENGL 1605: North/West Campus Dialogue on Race, addresses that and “gives students the opportunity to learn from and with each other about issues of…
Six Cornell faculty members — including four in the College of Arts & Sciences — have been recognized by the university for excellence in their teaching of undergraduate students and contributions to undergraduate education.The newest recipients of Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellowships are Tomas Arias, professor of physics; Antonio DiTommaso, professor of soil and crop sciences; and…
Rembrandt van Rijn’s art and artistic practice have fascinated scholars and collectors for centuries. His printmaking methods, and prints from across hiscareer, are revealed as an inspirational resource for research and teaching in a new exhibition of his etchings at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.More than 60 impressions by the Dutch artist across a wide variety of subject matter – self…
The Cornell Council for the Arts (CCA) is supporting 35 projects that will be presented on campus this academic year. Through its Individual Grant Program, the CCA awarded 15 grants of $2,500 each to Cornell faculty, departments and programs, and 20 grants of $1,000 each to undergraduate and graduate students and student organizations. Recipients were selected by a panel of faculty in the arts…
Historian María Cristina García, the Howard A. Newman Professor of American Studies and Latina/o Studies at Cornell, examines the challenges and history of refugee and asylum policy in the United States in her new book, “The Refugee Challenge in Post-Cold War America.”García provides an accessible overview of U.S. policy before and after 1989 and, through interviews with refugee advocates and…
The Department of Performing and Media Arts (PMA) celebrates the reopening of Schwartz Plaza, Aug. 26 at noon in front of the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.The renovated public space, with a landscaped patio and seating, will host performances and events. The celebration features live entertainment with faculty and student performances, and opening remarks by PMA chair Nick Salvato. A…
Thirteen students participating in federally funded TRIO programs at Cornell, including two in the College of Arts & Sciencs, went to Capitol Hill June 28-29 and met with their members of Congress and legislative staff to advocate for the programs.Eleven undergraduates in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program and two high school students in the Upward Bound program…
Analyzing pigments in medieval illuminated manuscript pages at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source(CHESS) is opening up some new areas of research bridging the arts and sciences.Louisa Smieska and Ruth Mullett studied manuscript pages from Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC), dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries, using X-ray fluorescence …
Faculty experts looked at current and historical migration and refugee issues from local, national and international perspectives, and the impacts for Cornell from potential immigration policy changes, at a forum June 10 in Statler Auditorium as part of Cornell Reunion 2017.International students comprise nearly half of Cornell’s graduate and professional student population and 11 percent of the…
Vernacular language scholar John Rickford and Indian architect and educator Brinda Somaya have been named Andrew Dickson White Professors-at-Large for six-year terms effective July 1.
The appointments were approved by President Martha E. Pollack and the Cornell University Board of Trustees at their May meeting. Faculty members nominate candidates, and a faculty selection committee reviews and…
Assistant professor of English and Latino/a studies Ella Maria Diaz had never heard of the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF) arts collective before she realized she had been walking past their work for years.The northern California native only read of the collective’s work, notably their murals in Sacramento, in a newspaper article as she was on a plane from California’s capital city to Virginia to…
Cornell Orchestra members traveled to central Argentina over spring break to collaborate with musicians in Neuquén in northern Patagonia, tackling one of the most challenging works in classical music.Sixty musicians from the Cornell Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Cornell Chamber Orchestra joined La Orquesta Sinfónica del Neuquén for a concert at the Cine Teatro Español, a combined performance (with…
Students met with Caribbean residents in Brooklyn over spring break to record their life stories as part of an engaged learning course in oral history and urban ethnography.
The four-day field trip was designed for students “to observe and conduct ethnographic research and talk to as many people as possible … so the Caribbean immigrants that remain there can see themselves reflected in…
Violinist and assistant professor of music Ariana Kim found inspiration last year among a group of refugees and asylum-seekers in Italy for “Le storie di vita nel legno” (“The Stories of Life on Wood”). Combining music, visual art and architecture, the project’s U.S. premiere is April 29 at 7 p.m. in Klarman Hall.The free public presentation features a mural created by refugees and displayed in…
In politics and activism, popular culture and social media, “black girls and women are hyper-visible,” according to associate professor of Africana studies Oneka LaBennett. They are portrayed “as ‘at risk’ and as cultural trendsetters, yet simultaneously rendered invisible in public policy discourses.”LaBennett has organized an interdisciplinary symposium, “On/By Black Women/Black Girls,” April…
Cornell faculty members Stephen Coate, María Cristina García, Suzanne Mettler and Fred Schneider have been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.The 228 new academy members – accomplished scholars, scientists, writers, artists, and civic, business and philanthropic leaders – also include singer and philanthropist John Legend, actress Carol Burnett and mathematician…
Assistant professor of English Ishion Hutchinson has won the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Award for poetry for his 2016 collection, “House of Lords and Commons.”The annual awards for fiction, nonfiction, biography, autobiography, poetry and criticism were announced March 16. “House of Lords and Commons” explores the landscape of Jamaica and Hutchinson’s memories of growing up there in Port…
Astronomical imagery, a motif central to the study of art history, took on a variety of different meanings and functions among the dominant cultures of the early medieval period.In his new book, “Cosmos and Community in Early Medieval Art,” assistant professor of the history of art and visual studies Benjamin Anderson presents the first comparative study of cosmological art between 700 and 1000 A…
On Feb. 26, 1917, five young men from New Orleans stepped into the Victor Talking Machine Co.’s 12th-floor office on West 38th Street in New York City and inadvertently made history.The recording session produced what would become heralded as the first jazz record, released on March 7 that year: “Livery Stable Blues” backed with “Dixieland Jass Band One-Step.”A century to the day from that…
Fifty student musicians in the Cornell Wind Symphony (CU Winds) traveled to Haiti and the Dominican Republic Jan. 10-17 for a service-learning concert tour that was “genuinely transformative,” said James Spinazzola, director of wind ensembles.“Our students collaborated with 150 student and professional musicians in four concerts, built institutional relationships that are already leading to…
Cornell in Rome celebrates its 30th anniversary in March, gathering program alumni, faculty and friends in the Eternal City for three days. The event features tours, receptions, lunches, and panels on art, architecture and the humanities.Presenters include Peter Eisenman ’54, B.Arch ’55; former Cornell provost Don Randel and distinguished faculty from the colleges of Arts & Sciences and…
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has approved $1.1 million to extend the Mellon Collaborative Studies in Architecture, Urbanism and the Humanities (AUH) interdisciplinary seminar series at Cornell for four years.“The grant supports innovative, cross-disciplinary coursework on one of the most pressing problems of this generation: the rapid growth of global cities,” said Kent Kleinman, the Gale and…
The Cornell Council for the Arts (CCA) 2016 Biennial, “Abject/Object Empathies,” will feature 12 new projects by invited artists, Cornell faculty members and students. Most of the works will be presented on campus between Sept. 15 and Dec. 22, all on the theme of the cultural production of empathy.A video projection at various sites across campus will kick off biennial events, and artist-in…
Faculty from more than 40 East Asian universities attended the inaugural one-week session of the East China Normal University (ECNU)/Cornell Summer School in Theory (ECSST) in Shanghai.
ECSST provides an opportunity for select humanities and arts faculty to interact and explore contemporary international debates in media, literary and visual studies; art and philosophy.
The summer session, …
Across New York City, curious and motivated people from all walks of life are learning in-depth about Freud, Plato, urban design, technology studies, and other humanities and social sciences topics.The nonprofit Brooklyn Institute for Social Research (BISR), co-founded in 2012 by Ajay Chaudhary ’03, offers deep subject matter outside of traditional institutional walls, giving the local community…
Dendrochronological and radiocarbon research by an international team led by Cornell archaeologist Sturt Manning has established an absolute timeline for the archaeological, historical and environmental record in Mesopotamia from the early second millennium B.C.Manning, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Classical Archaeology and director of the Cornell Tree-Ring Laboratory, resolved how to more…
Professor Emerita of English Carol V. Kaske, who taught at Cornell for 40 years, died June 15 at Cayuga Medical Center. She was 83.A respected and influential scholar, she specialized in English literature of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. She first taught at Cornell in 1963, was named a full professor in 1992 and retired in 2003.Born Carol Margaret Vonckx on Feb. 5, 1933, in Elgin,…
Cornell dedicated Klarman Hall May 26 with a celebration featuring poetry, music, a time capsule reflecting life in 2016, and an open house, along with academic panels on the U.S. Constitution and the transformative nature of the humanities.“This building is an authentic expression of our dedication to the importance of the arts and humanities – in research, creative works and education,” said…
A week in Jamaica offered more than a vacation for a group of Cornell students this semester.As part of professor of history Edward Baptist’s course Understanding Global Capitalism through Service Learning, the class lived and worked over spring break in rural Petersfield, in Westmoreland parish, about an hour from Negril.“For hundreds of years the backbone of the community has been sugar,”…
Professor of performing and media arts Bruce Levitt is the inaugural recipient of Cornell’s Engaged Scholar Prize, Vice Provost Judith Appleton announced May 11.Administered by Engaged Cornell, the annual prize recognizes a faculty member who inspires others with innovative integration of teaching, learning and research involving public or community-based partnerships. Levitt was nominated for…
For the past two years, professor of government Andrew Mertha has led students on an intensive two-week Cambodian experience for a three-credit study abroad course over winter break – Chinese Empire and the Cambodian Experience– devised in 2014 for Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) faculty.“It matches my research interests, looking at China in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, into the present day,” said…
