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 watershed moment for the Midd Solar Decathlon team on Sept. 20 as they passed final inspection on the house they designed, built and shipped to the national mall. MiddMag caught up with the crew in D.C. on inspection day, and we also caught some reaction from members of Vermont’s congressional delegation who came through on VIP Day.

  • Students opened a new art exhibition space at the Old Stone Mill on Sept. 24. The M Gallery, located on the first floor, hopes to become an in-town art hub, hosting exhibits and guest lectures. The opening exhibit is by Midd senior Ki Chan Lee.

  • Did you catch NPR’s “Only A Game” this past weekend? If so, you probably heard Middlebury film professor Leger Grindon, who was interviewed by host Bill Littlefield about his new book, Knockout, which looks at the role of boxers and boxing in American cinema.
  • Pulitzer-winning author Junot Diaz, whose book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, was the first-year common reading this year, spent a couple days on campus this past week, including a talk at Mead Chapel on Sept. 27. And in other first-year news, Middlebury’s “Voices of the Class” tradition was featured in the New York Times admissions blog, “The Choice” on Sept. 19. In this annual show, upperclassmen welcome first-year students by acting out funny and poignant scenes from Midd admissions essays.

  • If you’ve ever wondered about the amazing mirrored wall behind the Mahaney Center for the Arts, this is for you. Asst. Professor of Art History Eddie Vazquez will give a talk titled “Site/Sight: Dan Graham’s Two-Way Mirror Curved Hedge Zig-Zag Labyrinth” at the Midd art museum Friday, Sept. 30 at 12:15.

  • Here’s something we guarantee you won’t see anywhere else — at least not this weekend. The original chamber opera Lotus Lives, by Middlebury Prof. Su Lian Tan and librettist Anne Babson, will receive its world premiere on Friday, September 30, 2011 and Sunday, October 2, at the Mahaney Center for the Arts Concert Hall at Middlebury College. Lotus Lives is described as “a bold experiment in opera…incorporating elements of rap, Chinese folk music, and dance club music into its lovely, high-art classical melodies.”

  • And last, but not least, there’s surely no better way to welcome fall than the Panther football home opener this Saturday, Oct. 1, at 1 p.m. vs. Colby. The Panthers are looking to rebound after a tough 1-point loss to Wesleyan last weekend.