Tonight, Wednesday, November 18, 6:00 p.m.

Usdan University Center, Daniel Family Commons

Guest Speaker: Ziomara Ramos-Moquete

Donation:

Students: $5.00

Non-students: $10.00

]]> http://classof2011.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2009/11/18/wesleyans-second-sickle-cell-dinner/feed/ 0 http://classof2011.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2009/11/13/dr-henry-lee-on-forensics-and-foreignness/ http://classof2011.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2009/11/13/dr-henry-lee-on-forensics-and-foreignness/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:58:44 +0000 ngarrett http://classof2011.blogs.wesleyan.edu/?p=960 Asian/Asian American (AAA) House presents an evening with forensic expert Dr Henry Lee, who has worked on numerous high-profile crime cases including the JonBenet Ramsey murder, the O.J. Simpson case and the reinvestigation of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Dr Lee was born in China and grew up in Taiwan, where he served in the police force. In 1965 he migrated to the US, furthering his studies and launching his career in forensic science. Today, he has helped to solve more than 6000 cases.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear about the personal and professional experiences of this renowned forensic science expert! Bring your questions, bring your friends. Reception to follow after event.

Date:   Nov. 16
Time:   7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Place:  Tishler Hall (Exley 150)

For more information about Dr. Henry Lee, please visit his personal website at http://www.drhenrylee.com

All of the talks run from noon to 1:00 p.m.

Nov. 13 – Prof. Wiliarty – Cafe in Allbritton

Twenty Years after the Wall: The German Elections of 2009

It has been twenty years since the fall of the Berlin wall. This talk investigates the legacy of the incorporation of East Germany. The influence of the former East Germany is manifested in two ways in the elections of 2009. First, the continued presence of a new party representing eastern interests is making coalition building more complicated. Second, the incumbent Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is originally from East Germany. Her identity as a female candidate interacts with her identity as an eastern candidate in ways that both help and hinder her ability to win election.

Nov. 20 – Professor Douglas Foyle – Butterfield C Lounge

October Surprises and Wagging the Dog: Do Upcoming Elections Affect Foreign Policy Decision Making?

While it is often asserted that leaders use foreign policy to domestic advantage as elections approach, the scholarly findings on this subject defy simple characterization.  My project examines the extent to which U.S. presidents adjust their foreign policies during an election run.  I contend that while elections do affect foreign policy decisions, presidents do not seek political advantage from foreign policy and instead see foreign policy only as a potential threat to their political objectives.

Dec. 4 – Professor Erica Chenoweth – Cafe in Allbritton

The Politics of Terrorism: Non-State Actors and Political Violence in the 21st Century

Chenoweth’s research program involves three general questions: why do
non-state groups use political violence, what are the alternatives to political violence, and how can states best combat non-state political violence? Currently, Chenoweth is investigating the conditions under which nonviolent resistance methods are more effective than violent methods in achieving strategic goals such as regime change, expelling foreign occupiers, or achieving self-determination.  She is also working on a project that assesses the efficacy of counterterrorism in the Middle East since in1980, and in another she is looking at how the tactical evolutions of nonviolent and violent insurgencies have affected their strategic outcomes.

Dec. 11 – Professor Anne Peters – Cafe in Allbritton

Shadow Governments: Parallel Institutions, Public Goods, and State Power in Iraq

The international system is increasingly characterized by neotrusteeship relations that link great powers to the periphery through formal and informal transfers of political authority and institutions. In contemporary Iraq, the United States has supplied a battery of “parallel institutions” that link American political authority and operational mandates to public goods provision in sectors such as security, infrastructure, and regulation. We know very little about the origins, efficiency, and implications of these institutions for state power. I argue that the US has employed parallel institutions in Iraq for the sake of short-term security and infrastructure, which would not be possible in the current political environment. However, parallel institutions are inefficient providers of public goods due to principal-agent problems , as well as their lack of accountability to local populations. Finally, parallel institutions will only weaken the Iraqi state after American withdrawal, as they provide disincentives for local political and administrative reforms that could undergird purely Iraqi public goods provision.

a music competition between the classes

February 18, 2010

Crowell Concert Hall

Guidelines:

• Eligibility: Open to all students of Wesleyan University; all entries must be original work and created during the last two years
• Submit up to three photographs to Tim Shiner by December 7 or by dropping them off on CD-Rom at 124 Usdan
• Include your name, class year, a title and a description of the photo(s)
• Up to ten photographs will be selected to display. Decisions will be made by December 15
• Selected photographs will be enlarged to 24”x36” (or largest size allowed by resolution of the original) and hung in Usdan common areas for the beginning of the Spring Semester
• At the end of the show, artists will receive their enlarged print as a prize
• Copyright: Wesleyan University reserves the right to publish winning images in Usdan University Center printed materials related to the building
• Entrants must not infringe on the rights of any other photographer or person or submit images that involve the willful harassment of individuals, wildlife or damage to the environment by the photographer

In an effort to collaborate and combine programming efforts, a new committee has been established. The Usdan Common Connections Committee is looking to work with musical performers within the Wesleyan Community to provide opportunities to showcase your talents.

These performances will take many different forms and will happen in a variety of venues. We are currently planning a series of Coffee House performances that will feature two or three artists or groups and will likely be held in the Daniel Family Commons on the third floor of Usdan. The committee is also putting together a “Last Waltz”esque jam that will happen on December 14th in the Marketplace Dining wing. This event is tentatively being billed as “Classes Ending on a Good Note”.

Our hope is that throughout the year many different performers or groups will take advantage of the opportunity to let the Usdan Common Connections Committee plan their performance event. If you have ideas for performances or would like to play in either a Coffee House or in the December jam, please contact Michelle Myers-Brown for more details.

If you, or your group, are interested in performing in Usdan at these or other events, please email Michelle Myers-Brown by 11/20/09.

We look forward to hosting performances that showcase the diverse musical styles and the musicians helping to continue the tradition of great music at Wesleyan.

Sincerely,
The Usdan Common Connections Committee

Well here is your chance to prove it. The Deans Office and The Office of Public Safety are sponsoring a “Midnite Madness” 3-on-3 basketball tournament at the Freeman Athletic Center Fieldhouse on Friday night, November 13.

The tournament will begin at 12:00 midnight. Registration is open to all current students and will be limited to the first 32 teams to sign up by November 7. Teams can consist of three or four players. Awards will be given to the top four teams.

Click here for more information and to register.

Now that you have found a home in your major, come and talk with faculty members and folks from the CRC and OIS about what happens next.

Dinner will be provided. RSVP to Dean Garrett (ngarrett@wesleyan.edu or x2774) to sign up.

Sponsored by the Deans’ Office and the Office of Residential Life

Four weeks before the nations meet in Copenhagen to try to avert global catastrophe, Mr. Blakemore will identify many often surprising psychological factors at play as people in all walks of life deal with the latest “hard news” on climate.

He’ll explore new definitions of sanity that may pertain, and give examples displaying different “psychologies”, as well as man-made global warming’s place in the long history of narcissistic insults to humanity itself.

Two new time-line graphs of rapid and dangerous climate change will give fresh global context to the psychological challenges and experiences he has observed in the five years since he began focusing on global warming for ABC News.

Computer modelers trying to project the speed and severity of global warming’s advance often say that “the biggest unknown” in their equations is not data about ice or atmosphere, carbon or clouds, but “what the humans will do.” This talk probes that field and many states of mind already engaged.

Sponsored by the Wasch Center, Department of Psychology, and the
Robert Schumann Lecture Series in the Environmental Studies Program

Follow-up discussion on Wed., Nov. 4 at 4:15 p.m. in the Wasch Center