Tag Archive for Friends of Wesleyan Library

Students Receive Undergraduate Research Prizes from Friends of the Wesleyan Library

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Two Wesleyan students are the recipients of the Friends of the Wesleyan Library’s third annual Undergraduate Research Prize.

Emma Leuchten '19

Emma Leuchten ’19

Isaac Klimasmith ’20

Isaac Klimasmith ’20

Emma Leuchten ’19, an anthropology and religion double major, received the first place prize for her senior essay, “Anthropology Beyond Belief: Navigating Dreams and Reality in the Burmese Weikza Tradition.” Leuchten based the paper on fieldwork she conducted in Myanmar during a semester abroad. Her advisor was Elizabeth Traube, professor of anthropology.

The essay explores quests for power and knowledge in a contemporary Burmese wizardry tradition. Drawing from personal interviews with weikza (wizard-saints), devotees, and skeptics, Leuchten examines the tensions that have arisen between this tradition and orthodox Buddhist institutions in the post-colonial religious and political landscapes of Myanmar.

“I write against the anthropological impulse to study the symbolic or cultural value of religious figures and experiences—the tendency to explain ‘what’s really going on’ beneath a spiritual event,” Leuchten said. “Beginning with the premise that what I’m studying is real, I propose that a rigorous but open exploration of alternate ontologies can work to destabilize the dominant ontological assumptions that sociocultural discourse takes for granted.”

Isaac Klimasmith ’20, a biology major, received the second place prize for his essay, “Waters in the Wilderness and Rivers in the Desert: Irrigation Myths in the History of Early Mormon Agriculture.” Klimasmith wrote this paper while taking the class ENVS 307: The Economy of Nature and Nations, taught by Paul Erickson, associate professor of history; associate professor, environmental studies.

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Rosenman ’17, Feldman ’17 Receive Friends of the Wesleyan Library Undergraduate Research Prizes

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Jane Alden, Rachel, Dan Cherubin, Michael Meere.

At left, Jane Alden, associate professor of music, associate professor of medieval studies; Rachel Rosenman ’17; Dan Cherubin, the Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian; and Michael Meere, assistant professor of French studies, gathered to honor Rosenman for her prize-winning essay during a ceremony in the Smith Reading Room on April 11. Meere also is chair of the Friends of the Wesleyan Library. (Photo by Leith Johnson)

Music and French studies double major Rachel Rosenman ’17 is the recipient of the inaugural Friends of the Wesleyan Library Undergraduate Research Prize. During a ceremony on April 11, Rosenman was honored for her essay titled, “‘Mais la musique demeurera toujours’: Repurposing the French Baroque.”

Rosenman’s essay describes the work she undertook in order to generate user-friendly editions of French Baroque music, adapting solo bass viol repertoire to make it playable on the treble viol, in modern notation. She includes discussion of editorial methodologies, and situates the music historically and theoretically. In addition to background information on the viol instrument family in the Baroque era, Rosenman describes the mid-20th century revival,

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Olin Library Presents Panel on Digital Privacy and Government, April 11

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libraryeventOn April 11,  Wesleyan’s Olin Memorial Library will host “All Your Reading Habits Belong to Us: Digital Privacy and our Government: Catching Up with the Connecticut Four” in honor of National Library Week. The event, presented by the Friends of the Wesleyan Library, will take place 7-8:30 p.m. in the Smith Reading Room, with a reception to follow.

In 2005, the FBI, under the auspices of the USA PATRIOT Act, tried to access patron information from Connecticut libraries and issued a gag order on the librarians about the demand. The librarians, all executive members of the Connecticut non-profit cooperative Library Connection, and known in the press as the “Connecticut Four,” spent over a year fighting the order, and were successful in getting the FBI to withdraw.

Now, over a decade later, the Connecticut Four are speaking out again as new efforts are afoot to expand the FBI’s ability to require libraries to hand over private information in the absence of a judge’s order. This event celebrates all libraries’ continued fight for both access of material and the right to privacy. Two members of the Connecticut Four, Barbara Bailey and Peter Chase, will participate in a discussion with Dan Cherubin, Wesleyan University Librarian, on the history of the case, what’s changed and, in regards to our newly elected government, what we need to watch.

Barbara Bailey is director of the Welles-Turner Memorial Library in Glastonbury, Conn. She is a former president and current board member of the Library Connection, a non-profit cooperative of 30 public and academic libraries, which share an integrated library system (CONNECT) and other technological innovations. Peter Chase was director of the Plainville (Conn.) Public Library from 1981-2015. He was vice president of Library Connection in 2005 and is also the former chairman of the Connecticut Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. Both Bailey and Chase received the Paul Howard Award for Courage from the American Library Association.

The event will also feature announcement of the winners of the Friends of the Wesleyan Library Undergraduate Research prize. The candidate projects were evaluated based on the use of Wesleyan’s library collections and resources, evidence of learning about research techniques and the information-gathering process itself, and the quality of writing and research.

Middletown Mayor Delivers Annual Constitution Day Lecture

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Mayor of Middletown Dan Drew delivered the 2016 Constitution Day Lecture on Sept. 16 titled "Are We Better Than Our Predecessors? Toward a New Era of Progress." In this talk, Mayor Drew explored the erroneous assumptions that we are more advanced than preceding generations and what we can do to focus ourselves toward a future predicated on progressive social and economic advancement.

Mayor of Middletown Dan Drew delivered the 2016 Constitution Day Lecture on Sept. 16 titled “Are We Better Than Our Predecessors? Toward a New Era of Progress.” In this talk, Mayor Drew explored the erroneous assumptions that we are more advanced than preceding generations and what we can do to focus ourselves toward a future predicated on progressive social and economic advancement. The annual Constitution Day Lecture is sponsored by the Friends of Wesleyan Library.

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Wesleyan Hosts “Combat Paper” Exhibit, Workshop with Iraq War Veteran

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Combat Paper demonstrates the traditional craft of handmade paper, which uses plant-based clothing as the source material to be rendered into a pulp and finally into sheets of paper. This practice goes back many centuries and enables veterans to interpret and commemorate aspects of military service by transforming the uniforms from those experiences into paper.

Combat Paper demonstrates the traditional craft of handmade paper, which uses plant-based clothing as the source material to be rendered into a pulp and finally into sheets of paper. This practice goes back many centuries and enables veterans to interpret and commemorate aspects of military service by transforming the uniforms from those experiences into paper.

On Sept. 25-28, Wesleyan will welcome Iraq War Veteran Drew Cameron to campus to share the story of Combat Paper, the practice of hand papermaking, and how this collaborative project has become an integral part of the emerging veteran artist movement. Cameron is the co-founder of Combat Paper, a project in which veterans and the non-veteran community use traditional hand papermaking techniques to transform military uniforms into paper, prints, books, and art.

“All of our experiences are encoded within the material items we carry about. With clothing, and military uniforms, our personal geographies, memories, and accomplishments are carried in the woven threads,” he said. “Through the hand papermaking process, the clothing is deconstructed, transformed, and altered into paper sheets that accentuate those individual and collective stories.”

From Sept. 25-28, the exhibit case in Usdan University Center will feature “New Works by Drew Cameron of Combat Paper.”

From 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 26, Cameron will lead an interactive demonstration of some steps of the papermaking process on Andrus Field, including “breaking rag” using donated military uniforms and the portable paper mill. The demonstration is open to the public and is being held in conjunction with Middletown Day, which has the theme “Salute to Service, Honoring Our Veterans.” Cameron will lead another interactive workshop from 4 to 7 p.m. in Usdan Room 108 and encourages Wesleyan students and Posse Veteran Scholars to attend.

Drew Cameron

Drew Cameron

At 4:15 p.m. Sept. 28, Cameron will deliver an artist’s talk on “The Combat Paper Project” in Usdan 108. The talk is open to the public.

The Combat Paper project is co-sponsored by Wesleyan’s Department of Art and Art History, Office of Equity and Inclusion, Friends of the Wesleyan Library, and Center for the Arts.

Berger ’90 Lectures on “Birthright Citizenship” during Constitution Day

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Bethany Berger ’90, the Thomas F. Gallivan, Jr. Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, delivered the annual Constitution Day Lecture on Sept. 17 in Olin Library's Smith Reading Room. Her topic was “Birthright Citizenship on Trial — Immigration and Indigeneity.” Egged on by Donald Trump, the majority of Republican candidates have supported ending birthright citizenship. This talk looked at this 14th Amendment right, its constitutional origins, and the different things it meant for American Indians and immigrants.

Bethany Berger ’90, the Thomas F. Gallivan, Jr. Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, delivered the annual Constitution Day Lecture on Sept. 17 in Olin Library’s Smith Reading Room. Her topic was “Birthright Citizenship on Trial — Immigration and Indigeneity.” Egged on by Donald Trump, the majority of Republican candidates have supported ending birthright citizenship. This talk looked at this 14th Amendment right, its constitutional origins, and the different things it meant for American Indians and immigrants.

Berger started her research on birthright citizenship after developing an interest in the different ways the system works for native people and immigrants, and the different ways the process works for these groups—and the similarities. The topic of birthright citizenship, she observed is a topic that has become "unexpectedly open to debate," she said, referring to the Republican presidential runners. "They've opened a debate about the worth of birthright citizenship and whether we really have to do it," implying that the U.S. is the only country that offers this path to citizenship. Birthright citizenship in the U.S. came out of British Law, when British citizens immigrated to the U.S. If one was born in the U.S., you become a citizen, however this did not apply to slaves. However in 1968, the 14th Amendment was ratified and birthright citizenship became the law of the land, excluding children of Ambassadors, children of soldiers on U.S. soil (fighting against the U.S.), Native Americans and Asians. It wasn't until the 1950s that Asian and Native Americans could naturalize.

Berger started her research on birthright citizenship after developing an interest in the different ways the system works for native people and immigrants, and the different ways the process works for these groups—and the similarities. The topic of birthright citizenship has become “unexpectedly open to debate,” she said, referring to the Republican presidential candidates. “They’ve opened a debate about the worth of birthright citizenship and whether we really have to do it,” implying that the U.S. is the only country that offers this path to citizenship.
Birthright citizenship in the U.S. came out of British Law, when British citizens immigrated to the U.S. If one was born in the U.S., you become a citizen, however this did not apply to slaves. However in 1968, the 14th Amendment was ratified and birthright citizenship became the law of the land, excluding children of Ambassadors, children of soldiers on U.S. soil (fighting against the U.S.) and Native Americans. Native Americans only became birthright citizens by statute in 1924. Although Asians could be birthright citizens, those not born in the U.S. could not become citizens until restrictions on non-whites naturalizing were lifted in the 1950s.

Richard Adelstein, the Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics, introduced Professor Berger to the audience. Berger graduated from Wesleyan in 1990 with a major in government, and from Yale Law School in 1996. After law school, she became the director of the Native American Youth Law Project at DNA-Peoples Legal Services, which serves the Navajo and Hopi reservations, and later the Managing Attorney at Advocates for Children of New York. Her articles on legal history, race, gender and jurisdiction in federal Indian law have been cited in testimony to Congress and several briefs to the Supreme Court. 

Richard Adelstein, the Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics, introduced Professor Berger to the audience. Berger graduated from Wesleyan in 1990 with a major in government, and from Yale Law School in 1996. After law school, she became the director of the Native American Youth Law Project at DNA-Peoples Legal Services, which serves the Navajo and Hopi reservations, and later the Managing Attorney at Advocates for Children of New York. Her articles on legal history, race, gender and jurisdiction in federal Indian law have been cited in testimony to Congress and several briefs to the Supreme Court.

Berger showed a map of the world, highlighting the countries that do have laws in place to grant birthright citizenship. The Americas—South, Central, and North—were prominent. She asked the audience what these countries have in common. "They are immigrant nations; they are Colonial Nations," she said. "People come here and make it great, and traditional people lose land," she said, pointing out the paradoxical quality of the situation created by an influx of immigrants. In 1887, the Davides Allotment Act—divide up tribal lands, all Indians accepting a land allotment would become citizens—which started the boarding school for Indian children, so they would become "good citizens" and lose their native language.

Berger showed a map of the world, highlighting the countries that do have laws in place to grant birthright citizenship. The Americas—South, Central, and North—were prominent. She asked the audience what these countries have in common. “They are immigrant nations; they are Colonial Nations,” she said. “People come here and make it great, and traditional people lose land,” she said, pointing out the paradoxical quality of the situation created by an influx of immigrants. In 1887, the Davides Allotment Act—divide up tribal lands, all Indians accepting a land allotment would become citizens—which started the boarding school for Indian children, so they would become “good citizens” and lose their native language.

In honor of Constitution Day, all educational institutions receiving federal funding are required to hold an educational program pertaining to the U.S. Constitution. The Friends of Olin Library annually supports and coordinates the event, which is free and open to the public. Pictured in foreground is Sam Rosenfeld, visiting assistant professor of government. 

In honor of Constitution Day, all educational institutions receiving federal funding are required to hold an educational program pertaining to the U.S. Constitution. The Friends of Olin Library annually supports and coordinates the event, which is free and open to the public. Pictured in foreground is Sam Rosenfeld, visiting assistant professor of government. (Photos by Will Barr ’18)

Read more about Berger here and past Constitution Day speakers here.

Longley ’82 Speaks at Friends of Wesleyan Library Event

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Adobe Photoshop PDFOn April 21, Dione Longley ’82 spoke about her new book, Heroes for All Time: Connecticut Civil War Soldiers Tell Their Stories, co-authored by Buck Zaidel (Wesleyan University Press), in the Davison Rare Book Room at Olin Memorial Library as part of the 2015 Friends of the Wesleyan Library Annual Meeting Talk. The book uses soldiers’ letters and diaries, and written accounts by nurses, doctors, soldiers’ families, and volunteers on the home front to vividly portray the war. Hundreds of period photographs (most, previously unpublished) add to the narrative.

Longley was director of the Middlesex County Historical Society in Middletown for 20 years.  Now a public historian and writer, she lives in Higganum.

Dione Longley '82 spoke about "Heroes for All Time: Connecticut Civil War Soldiers Tell Their Stories," co-authored by Buck Zaidel, on April 21 (Photo by Dat Vu '15.)

Dione Longley ’82 spoke about “Heroes for All Time: Connecticut Civil War Soldiers Tell Their Stories,” co-authored by Buck Zaidel, on April 21. (Photo by Dat Vu ’15.)

 

Judge Gold ’77 Speaks at Annual Constitution Day Observance

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Judge Steven Gold ’77 P’09 spoke on “Imposing Sentence: The Balance Between Affording Discretion and Avoiding Disparity” at the annual Constitution Day Lecture Sept. 19. Wesleyan’s event is part of a nationwide observance the U.S. Department of Education has mandated for educational programs in all federally-funded institutions.

Judge Steven Gold ’77 P’09 spoke on “Imposing Sentence: The Balance Between Affording Discretion and Avoiding Disparity” at the annual Constitution Day Lecture Sept. 19. Wesleyan’s event is part of a nationwide observance the U.S. Department of Education has mandated for educational programs in all federally-funded institutions.

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Friends of Wesleyan Library Sell More than 2,000 Books at Benefit

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The Friends of Wesleyan Library, a group of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members, helped raise more than $4,000 for the library during its third annual book sale Oct. 2 in Olin Memorial Library. The organization sold more than 2,000 books and other media throughout the day.

YouTube Preview Image (Video by Jared Cheatham ’11)

Students browse the "Arts" and "Music" sections. The Friends collect donations of books from Wesleyan and local community members, and also sell books that are withdrawn from the library. After the sale, the Friends donated 16 boxes of books to Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn.

The sale is open to the local community and includes a silent auction, held in the Smith Reading Room. Book dealers from New York and Massachusetts attended the silent auction, which included 35 collectable titles. People could register and place bids on the books. The most popular items are art books. (Photos by Emily Brackman ’11)