6 - 13

december

2004

guy rogers to speak about book on alexander the great

Alexander the Great died more than 2,300 years ago, but his life remains a source of fascination and speculation to this day. The subject of a new movie, Alexander, the historical figure is also examined in a new book published by Guy MacLean Rogers, classical studies. Rogers has also written an editorial on the topic that appeared in the Nov. 24 Los Angeles Times, which is online at www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-rogers24nov24,1,6225135.story (registration necessary).

Rogers will talk about his book, Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness (Random House, November 2004), Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 4:30 pm in Pendleton East 239. The book depicts Alexander the Great as a legend—and an enigma. Wounded repeatedly but always triumphant in battle, he conquered most of the known world, only to die mysteriously at age 32.

In this new biography, Rogers sifts through thousands of years of history and myth to uncover the truth about this complex, ambiguous genius. He also uncovers a few lessons from which today’s leaders might find guidance.

“Alexander conquered all of the areas that right now are the focus of all kinds of attention, including, of course, Iraq,” Rogers said. Alexander’s empire extended from present day Turkey to central Asia and Afghanistan.

Are there lessons in what Alexander did that we can use to win the war in Iraq and fight the war on terrorism? Rogers says one such lesson is how this conqueror went beyond mere might to use the power of ideas to achieve his victories.

“What separates Alexander from all kinds of historical figures and great warriors is that Alexander understood you fight battles with weapons but you have to fight ideas with ideas,” Rogers said. “The war in Iraq and the war on terrorism are wars of ideas. Alexander had a vision of how he could be accepted as the legitimate ruler of this huge empire. That vision included adapting himself to the custom of his enemies.”

That outlook helped to assimilate his enemies into his realm, turning foe into friend. “It was not a message of domination—but a symbolic message,” Rogers said. “He accommodated himself to the cultures instead of forcing them to conform to his ways.”

betsy masiello ’03 is named a rhodes scholar

Elizabeth “Betsy” Masiello ’03 has been named one of 32 Rhodes Scholars chosen from the United States this year. A computer science major and economics minor at Wellesley, she is pursuing graduate studies in the Technology and Policy Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the ninth Wellesley College student to win the prestigious honor since women were allowed to apply in 1976.

At MIT Masiello is studying the economic and technical aspects of authentication technologies and their impact on security. In her honors thesis at Wellesley, she argued that biometric surveillance threatens to erode anonymity even though the technology does not function very well.

In addition to her academic work, Masiello excelled outside the Wellesley classroom. She was a four-time All-American field hockey player, a stand-out lacrosse player and a student liaison to the Committee on Faculty Appointments. Last year, she founded Team Up 4 Education, a volunteer organization for mentoring high school athletes at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in Cambridge, Mass.

The Rhodes scholarship will support Masiello’s study for two years at the University of Oxford. There she plans to study economics and interact with researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, a research center examining the technical, economic, social, political and legal implications of the Internet. At Oxford, she will join Wellesley alumna Heather Long ’04, who was named a Rhodes Scholar last year.

the joy of giving

The Annual Charitable Giving Campaign Raffle is the opportunity to celebrate the end of Wellesley College’s Charitable Giving Campaign and to recognize the generous contributions of the employee community.

Prizes include gift certificates, digital cameras, baked goods, tote bags, services and a variety of other items all donated by the community and its friends.

The event will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 9:30 am in the Academic Council Room, Green Hall, and refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Lynne Payson, chair of the Charitable Giving Campaign Committee, at x2208.

wintersession offers fun and learning

Wintersession will be held Jan. 5-26, offering a variety of courses and activities at Wellesley including for-credit courses for students as well as enrichment courses and other events.

Non-credit enrichment courses, open to the college community, include such titles as “Japanese Flower Arrangement,” “Malaysian Cuisine” and “How To Have a Meaningful Dialogue.”

Simran Thadani ’05, for example, will teach course on Chaucer. “Have you ever read or heard of The Canterbury Tales?” she asks. “Are you curious about the real father of English poetry? Want to discover the Med/Ren (Medieval/Renaissance) nerd within you in a comfy, relaxed, communal setting?” For more, contact Thadani on FirstClass.

Course descriptions and more information can also be found at www.wellesley.edu/Activities/Wintersession. Registration information for academic credit courses is available through the registrar’s office. For more on Wintersession, contact Stacie Allen at x3267 or sallen@wellesley.edu or look on FirstClass under Departments, Administrative Departments, Wintersession.

wellesley groups offer the sounds of music

The Wellesley Collegium Musicum will perform a concert, “Women of Spain,” on Dec. 8 at 8 pm in Houghton Memorial Chapel. “The program consists of medieval hymns to the Virgin Mary, the beautiful cycle of songs of lost love and longing known as the ‘Cantigas de Amigo,’ 16th-century love songs and Moroccan Sephardic ballads, all written from the voice of women in early Spain,” said director Tom Zajac. “The voices of the Collegium Musicum will be accompanied by viols and other bowed strings, lute and guitars, recorders, hurdy gurdy, shawm and bagpipe. The singers accompany themselves on tambourines as well.”

Isabelle Plaster of the Chamber Music Society notes two concerts will be held on Dec. 6 and Dec. 10, both at 7 pm in Pendleton Concert Salon. On Dec. 6, students will present movements from Beethoven, Dvorak, Arnold, Glinka and Mozart, and brass duos will also perform. On Dec. 10, the program will include Narvaez, Beethoven and Shostakovich. For more on concerts, see the calendar listings.

theatre students present final projects

In the culmination of a semester-long effort, the Theatre Studies 203 class presents its series of final projects Dec. 9, 11, 13 and 15 at 7 pm in the Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre. Continuing a tradition of more than a decade, this year’s Wellesley theatre students are collaborating in production companies, taking on the roles of directors, stage managers, designers, technicians and actors to create a new piece of theatre from old classics and newer works. “We invite the entire Wellesley community to join us for these exciting productions,” said Annette Adamska ’05.

On Dec. 13, for example, Elizabeth Kingsley ’08 will direct Hold On, which combines selections from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lysistrata, The Real Thing and All in the Timing to examine the often bumpy and protracted road to love. “It is comic and poignant and is sure to appeal to anyone who has traversed or even considered traversing the difficult road to ‘true love,’” Kingsley noted. Producer Chloe Woodward-Magrane ’08
noted, “Our production is called Mommie Dearest and will be showing Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 7 pm. It’s the last 203 performance.”

seqs available online dec. 2-14

The Office of the Dean of the College would like to remind students that the online SEQ system will be available from Dec. 2-14.

The SEQ conference on students’ FirstClass desktops will be used to communicate SEQ information throughout this period. Each student is required to complete an evaluation for each instructor in every course in which she is enrolled. Members of the faculty and the administration take SEQs very seriously, and student compliance with this requirement is very important. For more information, call x3583.

colleagues in the news

selwyn cudjoe, Africana Studies, has contributed to an article, “Professors Use Lil Kim, Tupac to Examine Music’s Style, Significance,” in the Memphis, Tenn., Commerical Appeal newspaper. Cudjoe teaches “Rap Music and the African American Poetical Tradition” at Wellesley, which examines the connection between rap musical artists and writers including Langston Hughes and Phyllis Wheatley. “What I tell my students is that we have always used language, whether it is literature or hip-hop, to come to grips with our reality,” he said. Other colleges offering courses featuring rap and hip hop music include the University of Memphis and Syracuse and Harvard Universities.

yu jin ko, English, has written an editorial in The Boston Globe titled, “Trojan War’s lessons for Iraq.” He referred to the recent Wellesley College Theatre performance of Euripides’s classical tragedy Trojan Women, which drew comparisons to the war in Iraq. “A classical tragedy is not a reliable basis for foreign policy, but it does remind us of the human cost of war on all sides, and in this way can inspire us to reimagine what a policy that truly countenances that cost might look like,” he wrote. “It is no revelation to say, first, that to win the war on terror, Americans will ultimately have to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Arabs, and second, that the situation of the Palestinians is experienced as a corrosive wound in the Arab world that generates hostility toward the United States and even sympathy for terrorists. Especially at this moment of transition in the Palestinian leadership, the United States must help to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in a way that does justice to both sides and shows the power of America’s decency to the Arab world.” He concluded the piece, saying, “President Bush, as the leader of the world, has the power to convert tragedy into peace.”

calendar

monday december 6

appreciation day. 9 am-5 pm, bookstore. 25% discount with college ID. (See story) Info: x2136.

ergonomics fair. 12-1 pm, Academic Council Room. Sponsor: Ergonomics Committee. Info: x3882.

italian table. 12:30-1:30 pm, Tower Court private dining hall. Info: x2616.

esl tutoring. 6-8:30 pm, PLTC small conference room. Info: x2480.

concert. Chamber Music Society. 7 pm, Pendleton Concert Salon. (See story) Sponsor: Music. Info: x2077.

meditation. 7-8:15 pm, meditation room, lower chapel. Sponsor: Buddhist Community. Info: x2793.

tuesday december 7

appreciation day. 9 am-5 pm, bookstore. 25% discount with college ID. (See story, page 4.) Info: x2136.

president’s open office hour. 12:30-1:30 pm, GRH 350.

walk with spirit. 4 pm, Chapel lawn. Sponsor: Religious and Spiritual Life. Info: x2687.

meeting. “Travel Talk: Spanish Language Destinations.” 4:15 pm, Café Hoop. Sponsor: International Study. Info: x2320.

lecture. “Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness.” Speaker: Guy Rogers, classical studies. (See story) 4:30 pm, PNE 239. Reception, 5:30, PNE 222. Sponsor: Classical Studies. Info: x2630.

sharing circle. 7-8 pm, Little Chapel. Sponsor: Unitarian Universalist. Info: x3484.

german table. 7:30-8:30 pm, Schneider loft. Info: x2584.

wednesday december 8

bodhi day. Buddhist tradition.

chanukah. Jewish tradition. (Begins at sundown; through 12/15).

workshop. “Parenting: Work/Life Planning and Balance.” Speaker: Deborah Weinstock-Savoy, Ph.D. Noon- 1 pm, Library Lecture Room. Sponsors: Human Resources. Bring lunch; cookies served. Info: sdoherty@wellesley.edu.

catholic mass. Feast of the Immaculate Conception. 12:30 pm, Houghton Chapel. Sponsor: Newman Catholic Ministry. Info: x2688.

meditation. 12:30-1 pm, meditation room, lower chapel. Sponsor: Buddhist Community. Info: x2793.

disability discussion. 12:30-1:30 pm, FND 305. Sponsor: Disability Services. Info: x2434.

french table. 12:30-1:30 pm, Bates private dining hall. Info: x2403.

spanish table. 12:30-1:30 pm, Tower Court small dining room. Info: x3571.

russian table. 1-2 pm, FND 416. Info: x2028.

meeting. Good Book Club. 6:30 pm, BIL 202. Sponsor: Protestant Christian Chaplaincy. Info: x2655.

study break. Refreshments. 7 pm, near entrances of Art and Music, Science and Clapp libraries. Sponsor: Friends of the Library. Info: dcarbarn@wellesley.edu.

concert. Collegium Musicum. Director: Tom Zajac. 8 pm, Houghton Chapel. (See story) Sponsor: Music. Info: x2077.

thursday december 9

film. Spike Lee’s She Hate Me. 8:30 pm, PNE 125. Sponsor: Ethos. Admission: Non-perishable good or monetary donation for Botswana orphanage. Info: Ethosmail@wellesley.edu.

friday december 10

last day of classes.

walk with spirit. 7:30 am, Chapel lawn. Sponsor: Religious and Spiritual Life. Info: x2687.

prayer/discussion. Muslim communal (Jummah). 12:45-1:30 pm, lower chapel. Info: x2025.

bible study. 7 pm, lower chapel. Sponsor: Asian Baptist Student Koinonia. Info: x4692.

concert. Chamber Music Society. 7 pm, Pendleton Concert Salon. (See story) Sponsor: Music. Info: x2077.

films. Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. 7-11 pm, Collins Cinema. Sponsor: Film Society. Info: FilmSociety@wellesley.edu.

concert. Blue Notes with Brandeis VoiceMale. 8 pm, Jewett Auditorium. Info: x4800.

saturday december 11

reading period begins.

films. Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. 7-11 pm, Collins Cinema. Sponsor: Film Society. Info: FilmSociety@wellesley.edu.

sunday december 12

worship service. 11:15 am, Houghton Chapel. Sponsor: Protestant Christian Chaplaincy. Info: x2655.

catholic mass. Our Lady of Guadalupe. 4 pm, Houghton Chapel. Mexican dinner/dance follows. Sponsor: Newman Catholic Ministry. Info: x2688.

meeting. Darshana. 5 pm, meditation room, Houghton Chapel. Sponsor: Hindu Community. Info: x2794.

concert. Synergy/Body&Soul. 7 pm, Molly’s Pub. Sponsor: Music. Info: x2077.

monday december 13

italian table. 12:30-1:30 pm, Tower Court private dining hall. Info: x2616.

meditation. 7-8:15 pm, meditation room, lower chapel. Sponsor: Buddhist Community. Info: x2793.

ongoing

theatre. Theatre Studies 203 projects, Dec. 9, 11, 13 and 15, 7 pm, Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre, Alumnae Hall. (See story) Info: x2029.

exhibit. Mayling and Emma: A Chinese-American Friendship. Clapp Reference Room, through Dec. 31. Info: x2128.

exhibit. Presidential Elections at Wellesley College. Clapp Library Archives, through Dec. 31. Info: x2127.

exhibit. Infinite Possibilities. Through Dec. 12. Sponsor: DMCC. Info: x2051.

exhibit. American Identities. Through Dec. 14. Sponsor: DMCC. Info: x2051.

exhibit. The Consequences of War: Poetry, Graphic Art, and Documents. Clapp Library Special Collections, through February. Info: x2129.

book sale. Clapp Library. Donations $.50 to $2. Info: x2894.

don't miss...bookstore offers college community discounts, hot cider and more

Wellesley College Bookstore will hold its Appreciation Days Celebration, Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 6-7, from 9 am-5 pm. Bookstore personnel are happy to take early book orders, suggestions and comments during your visit.

In thanks, the bookstore is offering the Wellesley College community a 25 percent discount on clothing and giftware items during these appreciation days. “Please stop by and join us for hot cider and snacks,” said Anne Parker, merchandiser. For more information, call x2136.

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Last Modified: January 25, 2005