11 - 18

april

2005

alumna patricia williams is 2005 commencement speaker

Patricia J. Williams ’73 will address the 600 members of the Class of 2005, their families and friends at Wellesley’s 127th Commencement on Friday, June 3, at 10:30 am on Severance Green.

Williams is a professor of law at Columbia University School of Law. A graduate of Wellesley and Harvard Law School, she also is a trustee of Wellesley and has served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin School of Law, Harvard University’s Women’s Studies Program and the City University of New York Law School at Queen’s College. She has held fellowships at the School of Criticism and Theory at Dartmouth, the Humanities Research Institute of the University of California at Irvine and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. She has received a MacArthur foundation “genius” grant.

Before entering academia, she practiced law as a consumer advocate and deputy city attorney for Los Angeles and as a staff attorney for the Western Center on Law and Poverty.

She serves on the boards of the Center for Constitutional Rights, NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Society of American Law Teachers. She has written numerous articles for scholarly journals and the popular press including USA Today, Harvard Law Review, Tikkun, The New York Times Book Review, Ms. magazine and The Village Voice. Her book, The Alchemy of Race and Rights, was named one of the 25 best books of 1991 by the Voice Literary Supplement and one of the “feminist classics of the last 20 years” that “literally changed women’s lives” by Ms. magazine’s 20th anniversary edition. She writes a column, “Diary of a Mad Law Professor,” for The Nation. Her newest book is Open House: Of Family, Friends, Food, Piano Lessons, and a Search for a Room of My Own. She often appears on radio and television shows and has been a keynote speaker at numerous conferences, including “Race: The Power of an Illusion” at Wellesley April 12-13 (see story below). For more on Commencement 2005, go to www.wellesley.edu/PublicAffairs/Commencement/index.html.

film series challenges the concept of race

The division of the world’s peoples into distinct groups—red, black, white or yellow peoples—has became so deeply imbedded in the national psyche, and so widely accepted, many would promptly dismiss any suggestion of its fallacy. Yet, that’s exactly what a provocative new three-hour film series by California Newsreel claims. “Race: The Power of an Illusion” questions the idea of race as biology, yet shows how race still matters. Even if race doesn’t exist in biology, the series notes, it still helps to shape people’s chances and opportunities in life.

This three-part documentary film series will be presented Tuesday, April 12, and Wednesday, April 13, in Collins Cinema. Highlights of the series include an address by Patricia J. Williams ’73, member of the Wellesley College Board of Trustees and professor of law at Columbia University, and a panel discussion with Williams and the three filmmakers.

On April 12 at 6 pm, the film, The Difference Between Us, will be shown followed by a discussion with director Christine Herbes-Sommers at 7 pm. At 7:30, The Story We Tell will be screened followed by a talk with director Tracy Heather Stain ’82.

On April 13, a reception will be held at 5:30 pm in Collins Café. The House We Live In will be presented at 6 pm, followed by discussion with director Llewellyn M. Smith. At 7:30 pm, Williams will present the keynote address for the film series, and at 8 pm, a panel discussion by the filmmakers will be held. The events are sponsored by the Department of Art and the McNeil Program for the Study of American Art. For more information, call x2185.

seeking peace

In Biblical times, pharaohs and their empires were the power mongers, blocking freedom and human rights. On Tuesday, April 12, at 4:30 pm in Pendleton West 212, Rabbi Arthur Waskow will talk about parallels in today’s world with a lecture titled “In Every Generation, Pharaoh and Caesar: Can Prophetic Religious Communities Face Global Empire Today?”

Waskow founded and directs The Shalom Center, providing a prophetic voice in Jewish, multireligious and American life to challenge the pharaohs in our own times and to seek peace, justice, compassion and the healing of the earth. The Shalom Center has continued to be one of the main initiators of action against U.S. military use of torture in Iraq. The lecture is sponsored by the English Department. For more information, all x2634.

wellesley summer theatre brings home the gold

Wellesley Summer Theatre has won six Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) awards for its summer productions of After Mrs. Rochester and Jane Eyre. The awards included best actress (alumna Alicia Kahn ’98), best supporting actress, best drama and best director (Nora Hussey, theatre). Hussey also received a Lifetime in Theatre Award. Melinda Lopez, an instructor in theatre, also won for best new play for her Sonia Flew and for best production.

Wellesley Summer Theatre had been nominated for IRNE awards in previous years but had never received one until winning six this year. “It’s tantamount to going to a lovely meal after having been on a diet for a long while,” Hussey told MetroWest Daily News correspondent David Brooks Andrews. “I don’t think the wheels of our van touched down on our ride home last night. We were like E.T. soaring over Boston.”

Hussey described the two plays as “highly dramatic and deeply psychological explorations.”

Jane Eyre is an adaptation of the novel by Charlotte Bronte and After Mrs. Rochester a biographical play about the author Jean Rhys who wrote a prequel to Jane Eyre.
Hussey said Wellesley Summer Theatre has a unique approach to telling a story. “Our audiences have come to expect the unexpected,” she said.

wellesley students win prestigious fellowships

Laure-Anne Ventouras and Paulina Ponce de Leon Barido are two of 50 college seniors nationwide selected to receive a 2005-2006 Watson Fellowship. The fellowship, with a stipend of $22,000, is a one-year grant for independent study and travel outside the United States.

Ventouras, a biological chemistry major, will study the science and tradition of essential oil making in China, India, Madagascar, Morocco and New Caledonia. She will observe how scent crops are grown and participate in their cultivation, beginning in Morocco for the geranium harvest and ending in Madagascar, where ylang ylang is grown.

A physics major, Ponce de Leon Barido will travel to the Dominican Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Peru and Sri Lanka for her project, “Powering Livelihoods through Appropriate Technology.”

“I have chosen to study development efforts in Peru, Sri Lanka, the Dominican Republic, Mali and Madagascar,” she said. “In each of these countries, I have identified non-profit organizations that have been successful in implementing intermediate energy technologies ... Each of these organizations and the communities with which they work will provide me with a better insight into the global effort to provide energy to the poor.”

In addition, Elizabeth Mandeville ’04 has been named a Luce Scholar. She will travel to Asia to study labor, legal, political and economic issues.

seminar tackles teens, work and social class

“Urban Adolescents’ Perceptions of Social Class and Work Entry,” a free seminar at the Wellesley Centers for Women Thursday, April 14, from 12:30-1:30 pm, will be presented by researchers Anne Noonan and Georgia Hall. Noonan, a lifespan developmental psychologist, is project director of the WCW’s Perceptions of Work Environments and Relationships (POWER), which explores how adolescents perceive, construe and navigate social class differences and the impact of these factors on their work relationships and overall work experience. For more information, call x2483.

colleagues in the news

The Economics Department has announced six new faculty members who will start this fall. New assistant professors are:
- malhar nabar, who comes from Brown University where he is completing his Ph.D. in the area of macroeconomics with a focus on economic growth, investment and productivity. This fall he will teach classes in “Intermediate Macroeconomics” and “Economic Growth.”
- stacy sneeringer, a graduate of Wesleyan University who is completing her Ph.D. at U.C. Berkeley. She works in the areas of health and environment and will teach “Econometrics” and “Health Economics.”

New visiting assistant professors are :
- joy mazumdar, who comes from Purdue University. Prior to that he was at Emory University. He did his undergraduate work at Brandeis and has a Ph.D. from Michigan. He works in the areas of international and development economics and will teach “International Finance” and “International Trade.”
- brandon dupont, who is finishing a Ph.D. at the University of Kansas this summer and who also taught at the University of Iowa. His research is in economic history, focusing on bank panics and suspensions. He will teach “Principles of Microeconomics” and “U.S. Economic History.”

New visiting instructors are:
- david johnson, who comes from Stanford. Prior to that he taught at Duke, where he received several teaching awards. A Princeton undergraduate, he did graduate work at Harvard. He will teach “Principles of Microeconomics” and “Intermediate Microeconomics.”
- bruce watson, who comes from Harvard. He was educated at University of Denver and the University of Colorado, where he also taught. He will teach finance and “Principles of Micro.”

calendar

monday april 11

bone marrow drive. For Gloria Hom ’07. 11 am-5 pm, BIL 100. $65 tax-deductible fee. Info: x2810.

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

workshop. “Basic Movements of the Classical Noh Dance.” Speaker: Akira Matsui, actor. 12:30-2 pm, Alumnae Hall Ballroom. Sponsor: Davis Fund. Info: x2800.

performance. “The Marriage of True Minds: Shakespeare and the (Jewish?) Dark Lady of the Sonnets.” With Micheline Wandor. 4:15 pm, Shakespeare House. Sponsor: Jewish Studies. Info: x4088.

calkins lecture. “Ethnic Identity Formation in a Multicultural Society.” Speaker: Jean Phinney ’55, psychology, CSU-Los Angeles. 5:15 pm, SCI 277. Sponsor: Psychology. Info: x3010.

meeting. College Government Senate. 6 pm, Academic Council Room. Info: x1181.

cws workshop. “Using the Wellesley Network.” 6 pm, GRH 441. Info: x2352.

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

lecture. “Fair Trade and Human Rights in Chiapas.” Speakers: Mexico Solidarity Network. 6-8 pm, PNE 225A. Sponsor: Anthropology. Info: x2137.

lecture. “AmerAsian School in Okinawa.” Speaker: Sonja McNeir ‘06, volunteer. 6:30 pm, PNE 122. Info: JapanClubmail@wellesley.edu.

cws workshop. “Financial Planning.” 6:30-8 pm, PNW 212. Info: x2352.

lecture. “Raising Children in Challenging Times.” Speaker: Robert Evans, Human Relations Service. 7 pm, College Club. Sponsor: Open Circle. RSVP required: x2847.

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

performance. Spring Lip Sync. 9-11 pm, Schneider. Sponsor: House Presidents Council. Info: HPCmail@wellesley.edu.

tuesday april 12

softball vs. Lesley. Double header. 3:30 pm. Info: x2003.

tennis vs. Brandeis. 4 pm. Info: x2003.

pinanski lecture. “Epistemological Development and Undergraduate Education.” Speaker: Blythe McVicker Clinchy, psychology (emerita). 4:15-6 pm, Library Lecture Room. Reception follows, College Club. Sponsor: Spanish. RSVP: x2641.

lecture. “In Every Generation, Pharaoh & Caesar: Can Prophetic Religious Communities Face Global Empire Today?” Speaker: Rabbi Arthur Waskow. 4:30 pm, PNW 212. (See story) Sponsor: Hillel. Info: x2634.

cws workshop. “Self-Assessment.” 4:30-6:30 pm, GRH 330. Info: x2352.

cws workshop. “Grad School and Fellowships.” 5 pm, SCI 377. Info: x2352.

celebration. For retirement of Gerdes Fleurant, music. 5-7 pm, Jewett Auditorium. Sponsor: Music. Info: x2045.

film series. “Race: The Power of an Illusion.” The Difference Between Us, 6 pm; Q&A, 7 pm; The Story We Tell, 7:30 pm; Q&A, 8:30 pm, Collins Cinema. (See story) Sponsor: McNeil Program/American Art. Info: x2042.

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

lecture. “Señorita Extraviada.” Speaker: Lourdes Portillo, writer. 7-9 pm, PNE 239. Sponsor: Mezcla. Info: Mezclamail@wellesley.edu.

panel. “Kashmir: A Complicated Paradise—Reconciling Conflict Resolution with the Humanitarian Condition.” 7-9 pm, Library Lecture Room. Sponsor: Wilson Fund. Info: x7759.

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

apt workshop. “Freaking Out About Registration?” 8 pm, McAfee. Info: x2641.

wednesday april 13

fair trade sale. Benefits Mercado Global. Noon-2 pm and 5-7 pm, Schneider. Info: www.mercadoglobal.org.

seminar. Computer Science Senior Series. Speakers: Seniors Victoria Derau, Olivia Sawula, Jennifer Song. 12:30 pm, SCI E111. Info: x3147.

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

disability discussion. Speaker: Jim Wice, disability services. 12:30-1:30 pm, FND 305. Info: x2434.

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

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

lecture. “Kira Muratova: Odessa’s Uncompromising Filmmaker.” Speaker: Jane Taubman, Russian, Amherst. 12:30-1:45 pm, FND 120. Sponsor: Davis Fund/Russian Studies. Info: x2448.

russian table. 1-2 pm, FND 416. Info: x3584.

lecture. “End of Judeo-Spanish Culture: Sephardi Jews of Southeastern Europe and the Holocaust.” Speaker: Aron Rodrigue, history, Stanford. 4:30 pm, FND 120. Sponsor: Jewish Studies. Info: x4088.

anime film. Gasaraki. 4:50 and 7:30 pm, FND 207. Sponsor: EALL. Info: x3226.

film series. “Race: The Power of an Illusion.” Film, The House We Live In. Reception, 5:30 pm, Collins Café. Film, 6 pm; Q&A, 7 pm. Keynote speech, Patricia Williams ’73, 7:30 pm; Q&A, 8 pm, Collins Cinema. (See story) Sponsor: McNeil Program/American Art. Info: x2042.

lecture. “Emancipation in the Caribbean: Its History and Contemporary Observance.” Speaker: Tracy Wilson, Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago. 6-8 pm, Library Lecture Room. Sponsor: Africana Studies. Info: x2563.

lecture. “Indo-Persian Miniature Painting: Techniques, History and the Artist’s Gaze.” Speaker: Ambreen Butt, Museum of Fine Arts. 6:30 pm, PNW 212. Sponsor: DMCC. Info: x2051.

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

thursday april 14

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

seminar. “Urban Adolescents’ Perceptions of Social Class and Work Entry.” Speakers: Anne Noonan and Georgia Hall, researchers. 12:30-1:30 pm, Cheever House. (See story, page 2.) Info: x2483.

cws workshop. “Job Shadow Panel.” 4:30 pm, SCI 277. Info: x2352.

lecture. “The Bells in Their Silence: Travels Through Germany.” Speaker: Michael Gorra, English, Smith. 4:45 pm, FND 120. Sponsor: German. Info: x2584.

lecture. “When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name.” Speakers: Paul Hallam and Jennifer Wallace, Student Loan Xpress. 5-6 pm, PNW 212. Sponsor: Student Financial Services. Info: x2271.

lecture. “The Growing Influence of Indigenous Public Opinion on Foreign Governments and How It Affects the U.S.” Speaker: Harold Pachios, U.S. Advisory Commission for Public Diplomacy. 5-6:30 pm, PNE 225A. Sponsor: Political Science. Info: x2194.

lecture. “Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz.” Speaker: Roger Allen, Arabic, UPenn. 5:30-7 pm, Library Lecture Room. Sponsor: Arabic. Info: x2916.

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

davis after dark. Davispalooza. 6:30 pm, DMCC. Sponsor: DMCC. Info: x2051.

apt workshop. “Got Time?” 6:30 pm, Stone-Davis. Info: x2641.

apt workshop. “Take a Registration Study Break!” 7 pm, Claflin living room. Info: x2641.

apt workshop. “Freaking Out About Registration?” 7 pm, Shafer. Info: x2641.

friday april 15

lecture. “Environmentalism Reconsidered.” Speaker: Bill McKibben, author. 12:30 pm, PNE 225A. (See story) Sponsor: WEED. Info: WEEDmail@wellesley.edu.

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

panel. “Spanish/Latin American Studies.” 4-5:30 pm, PNE 339. Sponsor: El Concilio Academico Estudianti. Info: ElConciliomail@wellesley.edu.

concert. Meg Hutchenson. 9-11 pm, Molly’s Pub. Info: x3414.

saturday april 16

golf. Spring Invitational. 8 am. Info: x2003.

workshop. “Papermaking.” 10 am-4 pm, PNE 208. Sign up in Applied Arts; WC only. Info: x2030.

lacrosse vs. Smith. 1 pm. Info: x2003.

performance. Slater International Cultural Show. 7-10 pm, Jewett Auditorium. Info: slatermail@wellesley.edu.

concert. Wellesley-Brandeis Orchestra. 8 pm, Houghton Chapel. Sponsor: Music. Info: x2028.

concert. Jam on It Festival. 8-11 pm, Alumnae Hall. Info: FreeStylemail@wellesley.edu.

sunday april 17

golf. Spring Invitational. 8 am. Info: x2003.

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

catholic mass. 4 pm, Houghton Chapel. Sponsor: Newman Catholic Ministry. Info: x2688.

meeting. Darshana. 5 pm, lower chapel. Sponsor: Hindu Community. Info: x2794.

concert. Gaelic Storm. 7:30-10:30 pm, Alumnae Hall. Sponsor: Student Activities. Info: x3715.

monday april 18

patriots’ day. No classes; administrative holiday. Boston Marathon.

apt workshop. “Registration Worries?” 6:30 pm, Stone-Davis; 9 pm, Freeman. Info: x2641.

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

ongoing

exhibit. Art from China, Japan and Korea. April 8, 2005-June 2006. DMCC. Info: x2051.

exhibit. Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the “Forgotten War.” Jewett Auditorium, through April 16. Info: x2959.

exhibit. Modernist Art. Through June 2006. DMCC. Info: x2051.

exhibits. The Reign of Terror. The “Master Prints” of Hendrick Goltzius and Mannerist Art. The Observed and Envisioned: 16th to 19th Century Indian Miniature Paintings of Mughal and Rajput Women. Through June 19, DMCC. Info: x2051.

don't miss...on the life and death of environmentalism

Thirty-five years after the first Earth Day was celebrated, the environmental movement finds itself in a changed world. Not only is the nature of environmental problems different, but so is the dialogue and the ideology. This year, WEED (Wellesley Environment and Energy Defense) is kicking off Earth Week events with a lecture by best-selling author and environmentalist Bill McKibben. He will speak about the recent and controversial article “The Death of Environmentalism” by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus and the state of the environmental movement in his lecture, “Environmentalism Reconsidered” Friday, April 15, at 12:30 pm in Pendleton Atrium. A visiting scholar in environmental studies at Middlebury College, he is the author of The End of Nature, a book about global warming. His latest book, Enough, critiques human genetic engineering, nanotechnology and other rapidly advancing technologies. “Please join WEED again Tuesday, April 19, at 12:30 pm in Pendleton Atrium for a follow-up panel discussion, ‘The Future of Environmentalism,’” said Earth Week organizer Claire Nelson ’05. Panelists include Rachel Bouvier, economics; Dan Brabander, geosciences; Flick Coleman, chemistry; Beth DeSombre, environmental studies; and Nick Rodenhouse, biological sciences. For more information, call x4747.

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