News

Byline: Anna Carmichael

English

English major wins poetry award

A&S Communications

English major Yvette Ndlovu ’19 was recently honored with West Chester University of Pennsylvania’s Myong Cha Son Haiku Poetry Award. Along with a monetary prize, Ndlovu was invited to read her haiku at an award ceremony to take place at the university.“The Haiku form, while it aesthetically looks very simple, can be challenging to execute,” Ndlovu said. “While the Haiku is a traditional form, you can really do lots of great things with it and take it to new directions.”

Reunion

A&S plans host of events for Reunion 2018

A&S Communications

Events focus on everything from astronomy to physics to public service.

English

In a Word to explore writing ‘beyond the human’

A&S Communications

How can we speak from the vantage of animals, vapors, cells, corporate or collective persons? What resources might writers of lyric poems and novels have to imagine alternative perspectives?On May 2, associate professors of English Joanie Mackowski and Elisha Cohn will explore how to write beyond the human at “In a Word.” The conversation, at 4:30 p.m. in G70 Klarman Hall, is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in the English Lounge, 258 Goldwin Smith Hall.

Performing & Media Arts

Play documents Chicago's LGBTQIA+ communities

A&S Communications

The Association of Graduates in Theatre is collaborating with The History Center of Tompkins County and Ithaca’s Civic Ensemble to present a staged reading of “The Loneliness Project” April 19-21.The documentary was co-written and co-directed by Cornell doctoral candidate Caitlin Kane, along with colleagues Kelli Simpkins, Reed Motz, Al Evangelista and Patrick Andrews and uses testimony to document the LGBTQIA+ activist history in Chicago.

Latina/o Studies

Artist visits campus in conjunction with Urban Representations Lab course

A&S Communications

Ana Teresa Fernández, an artist whose public art, paintings, and films explore the intersections of geopolitical borders and boundaries of identity will visit campus April 25 for a lecture, “Magic Informalism: [re]drawing solutions to alternative truths.”

Student experiences

Educational trip brings students to UN to appreciate complex world

A&S Communications

UNITED NATIONS, New York City — A diverse group of undergraduates, graduate students, academic fellows and staff from Cornell took a trip to the city last month to tour the United Nations, learn more about disarmament issues and talk about career prospects with the global organization.

Performing & Media Arts

Student playwrights and screenwriters honored March 23

A&S Communications

The winning stage and screenplays from this year’s Heermans-McCalmon Writing Competition will be showcased Friday, March 23, at 4:30 p.m. in the Class of ’56 Dance Theatre at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

Music

Cornell Symphony Orchestra offers annual young person’s concert

A&S Communications

Young musicians from Ithaca High School Chamber Orchestra, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra’s Youth Orchestra and the Cornell Synphony Orchestra will come together to perform a concert for the Ithaca community on Sunday, March 11.

Latina/o Studies Program

Alumna explores colonialism in Puerto Rico in aftermath of Maria

A&S Communications

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico this past fall, and the slow recovery has left scholars and politicians wondering how to best help. On March 5, alumna Rosa Ficek ’03 will explore colonialism in Puerto Rico after this destructive hurricane in a public lecture, “Infrastructure, Colonialism and the State of Puerto Rico after Maria.” The talk, at 3:30pm in Cornell’s Morrill Hall, is free and open to the public.

Poster for Criminalizing Immigrants conference
Center for the Study of Inequality

Conference explores impacts of the criminalization of immigration

A&S Communications

Today, 245 million people live outside of the countries where they were born, many escaping economic conditions, political suppression, or wars. But despite their circumstances, many are unwelcome in their new countries.

Creative Computing Club

New club combines computer science and creativity

A&S Communications

Michael Lucido ’19 is studying computer science and is minoring in film. Last fall, he searched for a club to join that would appeal to both of his interests.“There were either film clubs that did shooting or CS clubs that did programming,” he said, “There weren’t a lot of technology and creative clubs – they weren’t talking to each other.”

Radio producers Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett standing together in black and white
Media studies

NPR’s “The World According to Sound” comes to Klarman Hall

A&S Communications

Radio producers Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett, co-creators of the 90-second NPR radio show, “The World According to Sound,” will be on campus to offer a presentation at 7 p.m., Oct. 25 in the Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium in Klarman Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Jewish Studies Program

Harbingers and Echoes of the Shoah

A&S Communications

Concentration camps existed before World War II and still exist, as Andrea Pitzer will explore in her Oct. 17 lecture, “Harbingers and Echoes of the Shoah.”

English

Alumni wins chapbook contest

A&S Communications

In her recently published chapbook, "Chinatown Sonnets,” Dorothy Chan ‘12 reflects on her experiences growing up and the influence she felt from Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood, nearby her hometown, and Chinatowns all over the world.

Physics

Speaker to advocate for “Shut Up and Calculate!” in physics

A&S Communications

Nima Arkani-Hamed is one of the leading particle physicists in the world. On September 25, he will be presenting the lecture, “Three cheers for ‘Shut up and Calculate!’ in fundamental physics,” in his last public talk as an A.D. White Professor-at-Large. The talk, at 7:30 p.m. in Cornell’s Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall, is free and open to the public. There will be a pre-lecture reception held outside of Schwartz Auditorium from 6:30-7:30pm.

English

Morgan receives award for newest novel

A&S Communications

“Chasing the North Star,” the new novel by Robert Morgan, Kappa Alpha Professor of English, was recently chosen by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), for the Southern Book Award in the category of historical fiction.

Awards and Notables

Doctoral student named Newcombe fellow

A&S Communications

Doctoral candidate Emiko Stock is one of 21 students to be named a Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellow for 2017 by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

Neurobiology and Behavior

Just say know! talk describes effects of drugs on the brain

A&S Communications

Ronald Harris-Warrick, the William T. Keeton Professor of Biological Sciences in the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, spoke to students April 12 as part of the Bethe Ansatz “Building a Life Worth Living” series. His lecture,  “Just say know!

Mathematics

Alum's work honors best writing in mathematics

A&S Communications

Mircea Pitici PhD '15, created "The Best Writing on Mathematics" series after discovering there was no such series.

Information Science

Young alumna starts 3D modeling company

A&S Communications

Valerie Mack '16, now an MPS graduate student here, is creating a company to make 3D printing more reliable.

Music

Alum visits composers forum

A&S Communications

James Matheson DMA‘01, said that during his time at Cornell, “I learned how to think like a composer.”

Faculty honors

History prof. wins award for book

A&S Communications

Associate Professor of history Russell Rickford’s book, “We Are an African People: Independent Education, Black Power, and the Radical Imagination,” has received the 2017 Liberty Legacy Foundation Award from the Organization of American Historians, given to the best book by a historian on the civil rights struggle.  

Alumni

Alumna shares career path with pre-vet students

A&S Communications

“I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career when I first came to college, and began taking a variety of classes,”  Elizabeth Bodner ‘80 explained when she spoke with students during a  Feb. 3 visit to campus as part of a Career Conversations event hosted by the College of Arts & Sciences Career Development Center. 

Performing and Media Arts

Winners of playwriting contest honored Friday

A&S Communications

Winners of the Heermans-McCalmon Playwriting Contest will be showcased Friday during an event at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.Staged readings of first-place winner Molly Karr’s ‘18 screenplay “Whole Hearted” and Aleksej Aarsaether’s ‘17 play, “The Diary of an American Girl” will be presented at 4:30 p.m. in the Class of ‘56 Dance Theatre. Aarsaether also won an honorable mention in the screenwriting category.

Anthropology

Understanding the mind of an Olympian

A&S Communications

Alum Andy Arnold '13 spent six months in Kenya on a National Geographic Young Explorers Grant researching the country's elite runners.

Student Services

Peer advising program eases transition to college

A&S Communications

Upperclass students help first-year students navigate the social and extracurricular avenues of Cornell.

College Prep

Prefreshmen Summer Program gives students opportunity to build skills for college

A&S Communications

Most students head to college at the end of August, however students participating in the Prefreshmen Summer Program (PSP) at Cornell arrived June 21 and will spend seven weeks on campus. 

Undergraduate Research

Undergraduates ponder ethical questions in research workshop

A&S Communications

A summer workshop helped undergrads consider the challenges of responsible research.

Outreach to High School Students

A&S departments share career options with high school students

A&S Communications

“I’ve always been really interested in astronomy, so I was curious what kinds of careers there might be in the field,” said Sophia Delpapa, a high school senior from Ontario County who attended the recent 4-H Career Explorations event on campus, sponsored by the state 4-H foundation, part of Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Government

Interning at Federal Court

A&S Communications

Chistopher Arce '19 is spending his summer interning at the U.S. Federal Court.

Student research

College Scholars showcase research projects

A&S Communications

For students who have many interests across diverse disciplines, the College Scholar Program in the College of Arts & Sciencs may fit their needs. This year’s graduating class of College Scholars recently presented their final research projects, focused on topics such the anthropology of food and China’s naval development.

Music

Tonia Ko wins BMI Student Composer Award

Doctoral student Tonia Ko was one of nine classical composers to win a Student Composer Award May 16 from Broadcast Music, Inc.  The awards are given to composers age 15-27 who are recognized for their superior musical compositional abilities. The students are awarded scholarship grants, which help them with their musical education.

Archaeology

Archaeology students try their hand at creating artifacts

A&S Communications

Students in an archaeology class tried their hand at creating some of the pottery they normally dig up and study.

MUSIC

Randel honored by American Musicological Society

A&S Communications

Professor Emeritus of Musicology Don M. Randel was named an honorary member of the American Musicological Society (AMS) during its recent annual meeting in Louisville. This award is to given to scholars “who have made outstanding contributions to furthering the Society’s mission and whom the Society wishes to honor.”

HISTORY OF ART

History of Art prof edits new volume on South Asian artist

A&S Communications

Iftikhar Dadi, associate professor in the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies, is the editor and a contributor to the recently-released “Anwar Jalal Shemza” (Ridinghouse, 2015).

"I realized that Cornell provided everything I needed."

Emma Borden '15Major: College ScholarHometown: Ithaca, NYWhy did you choose Cornell?

"I have valued the freedom that Arts and Sciences gives."

Devon McMahon '15Major: College Scholar, Biological Sciences, Asian StudiesHometown: New York, NYWhy did you choose Cornell?I was originally unsure about Cornell, given its large size. However, during Cornell Days I was awed by the myriad of research and academic opportunities available to undergraduates. I also fell in love with our beautiful Ithaca campus, and have not looked back since. 

Jeremiah Grant '17

"I began to see what was between the world and me."

A&S Communications

Jeremiah Grant '17Major: Africana Studies with a concentration on the Caribbean.Hometown: Queens, NYWhy did you choose Cornell?

Music & the Brain

Explaining music's 'chill' effect on the brain and body

A&S Communications

“Why is your music important to you? How much time do you spend listening to music per day? How many songs per day do you listen to? How important is your music to you?”

Career Advice

Alumni offer career advice to physics students

One of the pressures college students face daily is what to do after graduation, especially with the amount of options available today. The physics department hosted a Physics Career Day on October 24, which brought together successful physics alumni, graduate and undergraduate students to explore what paths are available for students with a physics degree.

Career Conversations

Alum’s adventures lead to Met costume collection

A&S Communications

Nancy Aronson Chilton ’82 told students to be willing to take risks, during a recent campus visit.

ALUMNI AND ACTIVISM

Young alums' play focuses on human rights issues in Darfur

A&S Communications

What began as a project for two Cornell students working on an event for Human Rights Month has transformed into a play that will be previewed this weekend in Ithaca before moving to an off-Broadway theatre.