Our regular recap of goings on at the College and a look ahead to events on the horizon. As always, we hope to call your attention to items that captured ours and alert you to events that you won’t want to miss. If you have a news item that you think we’d be interested in, drop us a line at middmag@middlebury.edu.

• The fossil fuel divestment issue continues to heat up. This week we heard different views from a student panel, and the Socially Responsible Investment Club released a new video featuring interviews about divestment with several Middlebury faculty members.

• Middlebury lost a friend near and dear to our hearts last week. Read about the remarkable life of 106-year-old philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis.

• Major League Baseball may be in full swing, but Middlebury senior Ryan Moores is thinking NFL. The 6-6, 315-lb. Panther offensive lineman was invited to the Atlanta Falcons rookie camp this weekend, where he’ll vie for a coveted spot on the preseason roster.

• If you missed the Middlebury TEDx talks this year, you missed some incredible speakers — like Natalie Randolph, the first female varsity football coach in Washington, D.C., or Derek Amato, who had a major concussion, then suddenly discovered a virtuosic ability to play piano. The good news is that all those Middlebury TEDx talks are viewable online!

• Harvard professor of government Eric Nelson will give this year’s Fulton Lecture, “The Lord Alone Shall be King of America: Hebraism and the Republican Turn of 1776,” on Thursday, May 2, at 4:30 p.m. in Dana Auditorium. It’s free and all are welcome.

• The theatre program opens its spring production of Howard Barker’s The Castle, on Thursday, May 2. Set in the 13th century, the historic drama also reflects contemporary themes.

• Looks like it will be a beautiful weekend to watch some lacrosse, and the Midd men’s team will host the NESCAC championships starting Saturday, May 4, at noon.

Our regular recap of goings on at the College and a look ahead to events on the horizon. As always, we hope to call your attention to items that captured ours and alert you to events that you won’t want to miss. If you have a news item that you think we’d be interested in, drop us a line at 

• Assistant Professor of Biology Catherine Combelles has received the Perkins Award for Excellence in Teaching. Combelles, who specializes in reproductive biology, will be honored at a ceremony and reception open to the College community on Thursday, April 4, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 104 of McCardell Bicentennial Hall.
• Last week Middlebury announced it had offered admission to 1,750 students, who will make up the class of 2017, out of an applicant pool of 9,112 — a 19% acceptance rate. The new admits come from 44 states and 73 countries.
• Forbes online raised Middlebury up as an example of how colleges can promote the idea of a “bridge year” between high school and college to help students avoid burnout and further prepare for their academic road ahead.
• The Solar Decathlon ’13 team kicks off their spring construction season this Thursday, April 4, at 4:30 with a ceremonial celebration at their building site in the Ridgeline parking lot, just west of campus on Route 125. All are welcome.
• Davis Projects for Peace recipient Jihad Hajjouji ’14 started an “entrepreneurship boot camp” in Morocco. On Friday, April 5, at 12:30 p.m., she’ll give a public talk about her project at the Axinn Center, Room 219.
• Middlebury College Affiliate Artist Mary Rowell will perform music for violin, viola, and electronics in a free concert on Friday, April 5, at the Mahaney Center for the Arts. Rowell has earned international acclaim as a performer and proponent of new music.
• Cellist Sophie Shao, a perennial favorite in the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series, returns with her piano quartet on Saturday, April 6, at 8 p.m. in the Mahaney Center for the Arts.
• Finally, if you’re planning to attend the New Play Festival, “Undressing Cinderella,” next week, you’ll get some interesting insight at a Behind the Scenes lunch and discussion on Monday, April 9, at 12:30.

]]> http://sites.middlebury.edu/middmag/2013/04/03/things-that-happened-things-to-do-week-of-april-1/feed/ 0 http://sites.middlebury.edu/middmag/2013/01/30/things-that-happened-things-to-do-week-of-january-28/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/middmag/2013/01/30/things-that-happened-things-to-do-week-of-january-28/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:13:56 +0000 Stephen Diehl http://sites.middlebury.edu/middmag/?p=11003 Our regular recap of goings on at the College and a look ahead to events on the horizon. As always, we hope to call your attention to items that captured ours and alert you to events that you won’t want to miss. If you have a news item that you think we’d be interested in, drop us a line at middmag@middlebury.edu.

• Two rising stars in the world of social entrepreneurship headlined the Middlebury Center for Social Entrepreneurship’s second annual symposium last week. MiddMag was there to catch the talks by Billy Parish and Majora Carter.

• Seven Days took note of an artistic milestone at Middlebury this week, featuring a story about the Dance Company of Middlebury’s 30th anniversary celebration, and its upcoming performance tour.

• Middlebury’s Jay Parini, enjoying an increasingly rare cold snap, penned a thoughtful reflection for CNN.com about returning from balmy Key West to a frigid Vermont.

• J-Term ’13 is winding down, which can only mean one thing: It’s Feb celebration time! The annual cap & gown ski-down is coming Saturday, along with lots of other festivities.

• Audio artists from the J-Term course Sound & Story will play their works at a special gathering on Wednesday, January 30, starting at 8 p.m. Billed as a must for storytelling fans, these radio documentaries will feature “rich stories of reclusive local craftsman, portraits of bike makers, ferrymen, zombies AND humans, and campus mysteries solved.” Who could resist?

• Middlebury men’s hockey hits the ice with special meaning this weekend, donning camouflage jerseys to raise money and awareness for the Wounded Warriors Project, which serves severely injured members of the U.S. armed forces. The jerseys will be auctioned off through silent auction during the games.

Our regular recap of goings on at the College and a look ahead to events on the horizon. As always, we hope to call your attention to items that captured ours and alert you to events that you won’t want to miss. If you have a news item that you think we’d be interested in, drop us a line at middmag@middlebury.edu.

• With the startling resignation of General David Petraeus and ensuing scandal, national security is back in the spotlight. Last week Middlebury’s Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs hosted a talk by Philip Murphy, assistant professor of International Policy Studies at the Monterey Institute, on mapping the evolution of a major terrorist network in Indonesia. A video of Murphy’s talk is available online.

• Is it possible that, despite the limitless new ways technology helps us connect with one another, we’re feeling lonelier than ever? In her blog post this week, Dean of the College Shirley Collado explores this and several other issues related to our over-dependence on technology versus face-to-face conversation.

• Last weekend was filled with highlights and heartbreak for Panther sports. In NCAA tournament action, field hockey ended their 17-0 season with an overtime loss to DePauw and women’s soccer also had an abrupt end to their season with a 1-0 loss to Misericordia. In happier news, both cross country teams are headed to NCAA championships and the football team ended their strong season at 7-1 with a 35-13 win over Tufts.

• The Woodin Colloquium series welcomes John Seager, president of Population Connection for a talk on the population, the environment, and social equity on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 12:30 in the Orchard Room of Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest.

• November in Middlebury can be a dark, cold month. What better antidote than Shakespeare at Wright Theatre? The College’s department of theatre and dance presents “As You Like It,” opening Thursday, November 15 at 8 p.m. Director Cheryl Faraone set this show in the World War I era, with period music (directed by Carol Christensen) playing an important role.

• And it’s a big weekend for music at Middlebury, featuring concerts by Alexander Twilight Artist in Residence François Clemmons, the Sound Investment Jazz Ensemble, the Middlebury College Orchestra, and the Middlebury College Community Chorus. Details for all of these and more are online.

Our regular recap of goings on at the College and a look ahead to events on the horizon. As always, we hope to call your attention to items that captured ours and alert you to events that you won’t want to miss. If you have a news item that you think we’d be interested in, drop us a line at middmag@middlebury.edu.

• It was a big week in spring sports: With huge weekend wins, women’s lacrosse heads to the final four; men’s golf is off to NCAAs; and track & field teams were strong at New England championships. The news wasn’t so great for tennis teams, both of which were ousted in regionals — men by Johns Hopkins and women by Bowdoin.

• A very large gift box with a cryptic tag appeared in the Davis Family Library lobby.
• Sociology professor Margaret Nelson was interviewed on the syndicated public radio program, “Here and Now” this week to discuss parenting trends in light of a provocative recent cover on Time Magazine.
• In an Associated Press story, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman praised the leadership of Midd alum Tom Stillman ’74, who led a team of local investors in purchasing the St. Louis Blues hockey team. “I know he won’t rest until the players are hoisting the Stanley Cup,” Bettman is quoted as saying.
• It’s a quiet week as finals begin, but for those in need of a study break, check out the country, rockabilly, bluegrass blend of Lila Mae & The Cartwheels on Thursday at 8 at 51 Main at the Bridge. And the Cynthia Baren Band takes the stage at 51 Main Saturday night from 9-12.

Our regular recap of goings on at the College and a look ahead to events on the horizon. As always, we hope to call your attention to items that captured ours and alert you to events that you won’t want to miss. If you have a news item that you think we’d be interested in, drop us a line at  middmag@middlebury.edu.

• For the second week in a row, Michael Geisler, VP language schools, graduate programs and schools abroad, has popped up in the national media — this time in an interview on the Marketplace Mid-Day Report from American Public Media. In other media news, economics professor Jon Isham penned an op-ed article titled “Lessons from the Lorax” for the Burlington Free Press, and in the Washington Post professor of religion James Calvin Davis used Rush Limbaugh’s recent slur against a Georgetown law student to make the case for improving civility in public discourse.

• Sweet victory and agonizing defeat were in evidence last weekend when several Panther teams competed in national tournaments. The women’s hockey team lost a heart-breaker to Plattsburgh State in the NCAA quarterfinals, while the men’s basketball team, having trailed most of the game against Scranton, tied things up with five seconds to go, then lost on a 3-point buzzer shot by Scranton. In much brighter news, the alpine ski team took home the division III title and boasted two all-Americans on the final day of competition, and in track and field, the women’s distance medley relay team took home the NCAA title.

• Professor Pundits Matt Dickinson and Bert Johnson returned to the table this past week for a post-Super Tuesday analysis. And if you can’t get enough of presidential politics, be sure to catch Fox News contributor Andrea Tantaros in a special lecture on who will challenge Obama, Thursday at 4:30 in Dana Auditorium.

• It’s a big week for dance-related events. Bessie Award-winning dancer and choreographer Kyle Abraham will offer a master class and lecture on technique on Thursday, followed by performances on Friday and Saturday evenings. And on Thursday afternoon there will be a panel discussion titled “Women Who Write About Dance” (co-sponsored by the Dance Department and Abernathy Lecture Series) at 4:30 in the Davis Library periodicals area.

• The week ahead is packed with music too. A few things to consider: Francois Clemmons’s annual St. Patrick’s Day concert at the Mahaney Center Friday at 8 p.m. 51 Main is featuring Afro-Fusion 5 p.m. Friday and the funk duo Soule Monde on Saturday night, starting at 9. Chinese musical prodigy Gao Hong will give a free concert with her Asian fusion classical ensemble at the Mahaney Center on Saturday night at 8 p.m. And the Middlebury College Orchestra will perform Sunday night at 7 in the Mahaney Center concert hall.

Our regular recap of goings on at the College and a look ahead to events on the horizon.

• Middlebury people popped up in some prominent places this week. Bill McKibben was featured in the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. Meanwhile, Avner Cohen, of the Monterey Institute, was cited in Newsweek/The Daily Beast for the “scary question of the week”: What if Iranians start killing scientists? And Professor Nick Muller co-authored a research paper in the journal Science on climate change, health and food security.

• Men’s hoops held on to both their perfect record and number one ranking with wins against Plattsburgh, Hamilton, and Castleton State. They face 13th ranked Williams this Saturday at 4 p.m.

• In their latest video, Middlebury’s professor pundits Matt Dickinson and Bert Johnson ask whether Newt Gingrich is upending political science wisdom.

• It’s a big week at Middlebury’s new Center for Social Entrepreneurship. A kick-off symposium starts Wednesday with events through Friday. Keynote speaker Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, will speak Thursday night at 7:30 in Mead Chapel. Bill Drayton, founder and CEO of Ashoka, will give the opening address tonight at 7 p.m. in McCullough. Professor Jon Isham, faculty director of the new center, gave a great description of their mission to Vermont Public Radio.

• Imagine climbing Mount Everest with no sherpa, no radio, no oxygen, and, by the way, on a never-before-attempted route. Ed Webster did it in 1988 and will talk about his experience on Thursday at 8 p.m. in Bi-Hall 220.

• If you didn’t get tickets to the J-term musical Hairspray, you’re out of luck — the show sold out in 48 hours. But check back at MiddMag for an upcoming video story about how the music department stages a full-blown musical in just three weeks. In the meantime, there are plenty of great events coming up this weekend including sports events, the opening of Environment and Object in Recent African Art at the College art museum and performances by the college orchestra and Dance Company of Middlebury.