by :
Linda B. Glaser
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Arts & Sciences Communications
Jennifer Maclaughlin has been named the new Assistant Dean and Director of Arts & Sciences Career Development. In her role, she will design and implement strategies to support the career development of A&S undergraduates at all stages in their education: as they engage in career planning, obtain experiential learning, consider and pursue graduate school options, and conduct job searches…
Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame have announced Georgette Kelly as the winner of the new “Hope on Stage” international playwriting contest. Her play "I Carry Your Heart" was selected from among 800 submissions. Kelly will receive a $10,000 cash prize, and her play will be presented at both the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, N.Y. (April 27–30, 2017), and at the Bootleg Theater in Los…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
Historian Mary Beth Norton has been nominated for president-elect of the American Historical Association, the principal umbrella organization for the profession. If elected, she would serve as president beginning in January 2018, for one year. The results of the on-line election are expected in July.“I am deeply honored to have been nominated, whether or not I'm selected,” says Norton, Mary…
For decades, scientists have agreed that comets are mostly water ice, but what kind of ice -- amorphous or crystalline -- is still up for debate. Looking at data obtained by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft in the atmosphere, or coma, around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, scientists are seeing evidence of a crystalline form of ice called clathrates."The structure and phase of the ice is important…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
In 1972, Nixon withdrew 70,000 troops from Vietnam -- but people on both sides were still dying. To Cornell engineering undergrad Michael Zak '75, the war was an “oozing wound” in the nation’s side. Worst of all, he realized that this long, painful war had been fought essentially over a set of misunderstandings, arising from a misinterpretation of China’s relationship with Vietnam.Zak knew…
Charles Peck, a doctoral student in music composition, was one of only four classical composers chosen to create a piece for the New York Youth Symphony in its First Music program.Peck’s piano trio will be premiered by the symphony May 2, 2017, during a concert in Carnegie Hall. The First Music program, started 33 years ago, recognizes the work of young composers under 30.“First Music has been an…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
Reunion is a time to see old friends, discover the changes on campus, visit favorite spots around Ithaca – and to catch up on what’s been happening in the College of Arts & Sciences since graduating. For those attending Reunion 2016, the College has put together a wide array of activities to tempt young and old. Here are some highlights: Jewish Studies at Cornell, Today and TomorrowJewish…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
Is language innate? How did we get language? While researchers continue to debate, a new book offers a revolutionary, unifying framework for understanding the processing, acquisition and evolution of language. The book, “Creating Language: Integrating Evolution, Acquisition, and Processing” by Cornell Professor of Psychology Morten H. Christiansen and Nick Chater (University of Warwick, UK),…
Three Cornell faculty have been awarded Simons Fellowships in Theoretical Physics for their research. Eun-Ah Kim, associate professor of physics, Dong Lai, professor of astronomy and Maxim Perelstein, professor of physics were honored with the 2016 award from the foundation, which supports scientific research related to mathematics and physical sciences, life sciences and autism, as well as…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
The mind that thinks our thoughts is a pretty special place. But is it distinct from the brain? Is there, in fact, a soul directing our thoughts or are they determined entirely by the output of our biology? Could that mouse scampering through your garden be thinking deep thoughts, or are humans really special?Before there was cognitive science, before there was neurobiology -- before there was…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
On Feb 24th, Cornell inducted its 2016 class of Phi Beta Kappa students, which included 54 seniors and 23 juniors. Parents and friends were invited to the event, which concluded with an address, “The Art of Learning,” by Phi Beta Kappa Faculty President Daniel R. Schwarz, the Frederic J. Whiton Professor of English and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow.The College invites the top 3 percent of…
Dan Schwarz, the Frederic J. Whiton Professor of English and a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, recently released a new book on undergraduate education, “How to Succeed in College and Beyond: The Art of Learning.”In the book, Schwarz reflects on his 48 years of experience as a faculty member at Cornell, his in-depth research and suggestions and comments from university and college students,…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s radio Fireside Chats reached into the homes of frightened Americans to soothe and reassure them during the Depression and World War II. The chats were made possible by newly sensitive microphones that created an emotional intimacy with the audience – but also required Roosevelt to use a dental implant to reduce the whistle caused by the microphone.Scholars in the…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
For 50 years, the Society for the Humanities has fostered path-breaking scholarship in the humanities. It has sponsored numerous internal grants, workshops and funding opportunities for Cornell faculty and graduate students in the humanities, as well as hosting over 100 annual lectures, workshops, colloquia and conferences organized by Cornell’s distinguished humanities faculty.“The Society for…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
Tanzania, Honduras, Thailand…Cornell students span the globe in public engagement projects and study abroad. Last year, students working overseas to provide safe drinking water, manage flooding, and provide support in hospitals had an extra boost from Jumpstart courses, a new kind of language program designed just for them.The one-credit, one-hour-a-week Jumpstart courses enable students going…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
Visiting Professor of Anthropology Terence Sheldon Turner, emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago, died Nov. 7 at Cayuga Medical Center of a brain hemorrhage. He was 79.“Terry was a truly eminent anthropologist and one of the most insightful thinkers of his generation,” said Adam Smith, chair and professor of anthropology in the College of Arts & Sciences. “Terry’s…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
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Arts & Sciences Communications
Cornell government professors commented on the market volatility in China and the Chinese government’s response.Jeremy Wallace, associate professor of government and faculty member of Cornell’s China and Asia Pacific Studies Program, is the author of “Cities and Stability: Urbanization, Redistribution, and Regime Survival in China.”Wallace says:“Don’t worry about the Chinese stock market collapse…
by :
Linda B. Glaser
,
Arts & Sciences Communications
The Brock Turner rape case at Stanford triggered a firestorm of criticism; an op-ed by assistant professor of philosophy Kate Manne in the Huffington Post helps to explain why.The case, she wrote, “vividly illustrates…all of the ways we collectively ignore, deny, minimize, forgive, and forget the wrongdoing of men who conform to the norms of toxic masculinity, and behave in domineering ways…
