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.
- Jay Parini was talking about Jesus and Robert Frost last month, though not necessarily at the same time. A New York Times article included a quote from him about Frost’s eclectic tradition for personalized Christmas cards, many now collected at Dartmouth College. And on Christmas Day, he wrote a piece for CNN.com on “Seeking the Truth About Jesus.” The prolific poet, novelist, and biographer has a new book headed our way, called Jesus: The Human Face of God.
- Congratulations to the seven faculty members awarded tenure in December: Catherine Combelles (biology), James Fitzsimmons (anthropology), Eliza Garrison (history of art and architecture), Nadia Rabesahala Horning (political science), Kareem Khalifa (philosophy), Caitlin Knowles Myers (economics), and Lynn Owens (sociology).
- There are plenty of folks who already consider Bill McKibben a great neighbor and friend—especially our planet—but it’s always good to have public affirmation. The Burlington Free Press agreed and named him the 2012 Vermonter of the Year.
- Winter sports teams are off to winning start this month so don’t miss the round of home events coming up this weekend, including men’s and women’s basketball and women’s hockey on Friday and Saturday.
- The always-entertaining and ever-talented jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut is back in town Friday at 8 p.m. in the Mahaney Center for the Arts. Part of the amazing Performing Arts Series, tickets are $20 for faculty, staff, and other ID card holders, and just $6 for students.
- To kick off his four-week residency during Winter Term, Ugandan master drummer/dancer Samuel Bakkabulindi will take the lead in “Percussion and Dance Explosion” Saturday night from 8—10 p.m. in McCullough Social Space. Bring your bongos and dancing feet, and don’t be shy!
- If you’ve got questions, she may have answers. Catch affirmative action expert Susan Sturm on Tuesday, January 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Dana, where she’ll talk about institutional change, transformative leadership, workplace equality, legal education, and inclusion and diversity in higher education. Sturm is founding director of the Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School and principal investigator for a Ford Foundation grant awarded to develop the architecture of inclusion in higher education.