Photo right: Garden triclinium (outdoor dining benches) at the Casa dell’Efebo, a wealthy house in Pompeii. Paintings of Egyptian landscapes decorate the sides of the benches where people once reclined to dine, and an artificial canal once flowed between the benches. (Photo by Caitlín Barrett)
The Cornell community is invited to celebrate the retirement of Henry Crans, director of facilities for the College of Arts and Sciences, after 50 years at Cornell. The drop-in reception will be on Tuesday, June 25, 1-4 pm in the Groos Family Atrium in Klarman Hall.
Brightly colored crocheted hyperbolic planes spread across tables in the Mathematics Library, welcoming alumni and their families to a talk with Daina Taimina on her signature method of tactile exploration of hyperbolic geometry and the new second edition of her book, “Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes: Tactile Mathematics, Art and Craft for All to Explore.”
This summer, London’s famed National Theatre is staging Githa Sowerby's 1912 play Rutherford and Son, which is on the Theatre’s list of the top 100 plays of the 20th century. Prior to the play’s opening, the National Theatre invited J.
The 2019 Free Summer Events Series at Cornell features a diverse lineup of local and international musicians, speakers and performers on campus every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from June 28 through Aug. 2. All events are at 7 p.m. and are open to the public.
Just 10 taxis equipped with mobile sensors can survey a third of Manhattan’s streets in a day, inexpensively gathering valuable data about factors such as air quality, street conditions and bridge stability to provide an accurate and timely snapshot of a city’s health, according to a new study.
Adorned with feathers, strings of (faux) pearls and false mustaches, College of Arts & Sciences staff celebrated the end of the year with a “Great Gatsby”-themed picnic on the Arts Quad.
Former national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley ’69, right, in conversation with former Rep. Steve Israel, left, director of Cornell’s Institute of Politics and Global Affairs, at the Olin Lecture June 7 in Bailey Hall.
by :
Kate Blackwood
,
Alumni Affairs & Development
Folk musician Peter Yarrow ’59 played solo during his Reunion 2019 concert, but his voice was not the only one filling Call Auditorium, not by a long shot.The crowd joined Yarrow, formerly a member of the trio Peter, Paul and Mary, in several familiar tunes from the 1960s. The hour-long sing-along was based on the same theme that has driven his career: using music to make the world a better place.
Nic Ceynowa feels lucky to live a dual life. In addition to his job as a DevOps Engineer for Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, he teaches and choreographs dance in the Department of Performing and Media Arts (PMA).
Four collaborative, cross-disciplinary faculty projects have received funding support through the New York City Visioning initiative. The projects were selected by President Martha E. Pollack from a group of finalists recommended by the President’s Visioning Committee on Cornell in New York City. The awards, totaling $265,000, were announced June 6 by President Pollack.
Government Professor Jill Frank was recently honored with the David Easton Award from the Foundations of Political Thought section of the American Political Science Association for her book “Poetic Justice: Rereading Plato's Republic”
Following 10 years working in Cornell’s telecommunications department, Henry Crans has been the director of facilities in the College of Arts and Sciences for 40 years, overseeing the construction of buildings from conception to occupancy. He especially is proud of Klarman Hall, which he considers one of the most beautiful buildings on campus. Crans has also worked part time with Cornell Outdoor Education teaching rock climbing, wilderness camping and cross-country skiing.
Cheryl Finley, associate professor of history of art, has won the 2019 Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Book Prize from the Bard Graduate Center for her book, “Committed to Memory: The Art of the Slave Ship Icon.”
Eighteen Cornell doctoral students have received 2019-20 Engaged Graduate Student Grants totaling $269,397, which will support community-engaged research relevant to their dissertations.
Cornell assistant professor Song Lin, a Howard Milstein Faculty Fellow, was among 25 scientists selected from more than 260 applicants to receive Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program (YIP) awards, which support early-career academic scientists and engineers.
The play, which featured an original musical composition by Ellie Cherry ’19, was sponsored by the Department of Classics in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Ancient Theater Performance Group of Cornell University.
Nearly 30 faculty members gathered recently to share what they’ve learned about teaching in Canvas, Cornell’s new learning management system.Many of the reasons Cornell chose to switch from Blackboard to Canvas – its streamlined interface, student-centered design and ease of integrating outside tools – were highlighted in faculty presentations as well as a student panel, held May 15 in the Biotechnology Building.
As an environmental activist and lobbyist, Rafe Pomerance ’68 played an early, pivotal role in raising awareness about the threat of climate change in the late 1970s. He connected scientists with government policymakers and the media, efforts that led to congressional hearings.
New York apple farmers, wastewater treatment facilities, new energy technologies, rural-urban systems and leopards in Nepal all stand to get a sustainability boost from the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future’s 2019 Academic Venture Fund (AVF) awards.
Laws of nature versus man. Misogyny and elitism. Dissent as a crime. These themes and more are explored in Antigone by Sophocles, adapted by Cornell University Department of Performing and Media Arts professor David Feldshuh and recently produced at Baltimore Center Stage to sold-out audiences in March 2019.
Erin York Cornwell has been awarded the 2019 Robert and Helen Appel Fellowship for Humanists and Social Scientists, and Ananda Cohen-Aponte and Khena Swallow have been awarded the 2019 Robert A. and Donna B. Paul Academic Advising Award. They were among the Arts & Sciences faculty honored at a May 25 trustee-faculty dinner recognizing university-wide teaching and advising.
Just two weeks after classes end and students disperse for the summer, alumni and their families will return to campus for Reunion 2019. This year’s event – from Thursday, June 6, through Sunday, June 9 – is on track to set a new record for attendance, with more than 7,000 alumni and their guests registered.
The research of psychology professor Melissa Ferguson, also senior associate dean of social sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, is featured in this opinion piece on CNN with co-author Jeremy Cone, assistant professor of psychology at Williams College. The piece focuses on the role of tech companies in the spread of fake news and misinformation.
Cornell’s Class of 2019 is entering one of the most extraordinary times in human history, William S. Nye ’77 told graduates at Senior Convocation, urging them to stay optimistic as they tackle unparalleled challenges.
iyawat Louilarpprasert is a doctor of musical arts student from Bangkok, Thailand. After attending the College of Music at Mahidol University in Thailand and the Royal College of Music in London, England, he chose to pursue music composition at Cornell.
This Curiosity Daily podcast series features Vivian Zayas, associate professor of psychology and director of the Personality, Attachment, and Control Laboratory at Cornell. In this episide, Zayas talks about her new research into the implicit attitudes people have in close relationships with others.
As students began to line up for Cornell’s 2019 Commencement May 26, the morning skies that threatened rain gave way to rays of sunshine wriggling between the clouds. Families noshed on bagels, cream cheese and coffee in Collegetown before heading to Schoellkopf Field for the pomp and circumstance.
Marsha Jean-Charles was 15 years old when she read a novel that would start her on the path to making Cornell history.“Breath, Eyes, Memory” is a semi-autobiographical novel by Edwidge Danticat. Like Jean-Charles, Danticat is Haitian-American and grew up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, a neighborhood known as Little Haiti.
Tyler Barr learned about leadership under pressure while attending a summer program at officer candidate school as a midshipman in the Marine Corps ROTC program at Cornell.He called it “by far the most difficult six weeks of our lives,” as he recounted sleeping and eating very little while being pushed to his physical limits.
The arc of educational continuity and inspirational teaching was celebrated May 22 at the 31st annual Merrill Presidential Scholars convocation in Willard Straight Hall. Thirty-four seniors – among the very best of the Class of 2019 – honored beloved, guiding-light high school teachers and inspirational Cornell faculty members.
Thirty-three university staff members were recognized for earning academic degrees at the 23rd annual Staff Graduate Reception, May 20 in the Hall of Fame Room in Friends Hall.Two Cornell staff members are receiving bachelor’s degrees from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Nineteen are receiving Cornell master’s degrees, two are receiving doctorates, and 10 are receiving degrees in higher education from other colleges and universities.
Meredith Chagares ’19 began her senior thesis in history, literally, with a footnote – one that led her to do investigative work for “Anatomy of a Cover-Up: How and Why the United States Covered Up Japanese World War II Biological Warfare Experiments.”“I discovered about Japan’s experiments via a footnote while researching Nazi experiments,” she said.
One of the true treasures of the college experience is the freedom to follow your curiosity and see where it takes you. In no major is this more encouraged than for College Scholars in the College of Arts & Sciences, who, as sophomores, propose a project that combines their varied interests and craft their college curriculum to follow those pathways.
Jessica Chen Weiss, associate professor of government, offered insights into China’s digital authoritarianism – and its surveillance, influence and political control – in testimony May 16 before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
As a child, Maria Cristina Garcia’s family left Cuba for the United States to enjoy new freedoms that were lacking there. One of her first road trips as a new American was to see the Statue of Liberty and many of her photos from that trip show the statue in the background.
Active learning strategies transformed what could have been a class of slides and lectures this past semester into one in which students debated, created and thought critically about what statues mean, from antiquity to today.
Keith Taylor, professor of Asian Studies, celebrates his 50th anniversary as a U.S. Army veteran this Memorial Day, service to the country that determined his academic career.
Writer Toni Morrison, M.A. ’55, has been chosen to receive the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ highest honor for excellence in the arts. Three Cornell architecture alumni have also been named to receive 2019 Architecture Awards.Morrison earned the Gold Medal for Fiction. Two Gold Medals, in rotating categories in the arts, are awarded each year to those who have achieved eminence in an entire body of work.
Noliwe Rooks, professor of Africana Studies, American Studies and Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies, writes in this NY Daily News piece that New York City schools have not achieved the dream of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka.
Anna Haskins, an assistant professor of sociology in the College of Arts & Sciences, recently received a research grant of $350,000 from the William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Program for her work on parental involvement in education.
Cornell student and faculty researchers and their community partners will use this year’s Engaged Cornell research grants to study Cornell’s socio-economic impact on Tompkins County, whether mobile research labs effectively engage underrepresented populations, and whether farmer-led research in Malawi influenced student learning and development.This year’s grants, 15 in all, were announced earlier this month by the Office of Engagement Initiatives.
Fresh off winning a Guggenheim fellowship, democracy scholar Suzanne Mettler, Ph.D. ’94, has just received another honor: a Radcliffe Institute fellowship.
Sociologist Mabel Berezin writes in this China Post opinion piece that populism has been a feature of modern politics for some time, especially in Europe.
Jessica Chen Weiss, associate professor of government, writes in this Washington Post opinion piece that even though China is rolling out nationalist propaganda in reaction to increased U.S. trade sanctions, Chinese leaders may actually be willing to find creative solutions for the current trade impasse.Still, she says, there are signs that anti-U.S. protests could begin.
