The Faculty Lounge

Stephen Angle

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:24:00 -0500

Steve Angle is Chair of the Philosophy Department and Associate Professor of Philosophy and East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University. He was the recipient of the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2006. His research interests revolve around various aspects of Chinese moral and political philosophy, including issues that arise when one thinks about the process of comparing Chinese ideas and traditions with the ideas and traditions of other cultures. Jeremy Finch sits down with professor Angle to talk about Confucianism, human rights in China, and the ways in which Chinese philosophy can inform western moral psychology.

Mary-Jane Rubenstein

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:26:00 -0500

Mary-Jane Rubenstein is Assistant Professor of Religion and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Wesleyan University. Her primary research interests lie in the intersections of continental philosophy and Christian theology as well as gender and sexuality studies; post-colonial Christianities; and literary and critical theory. She has published articles on Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Derrida, negative theology, and global Anglicanism, and her doctoral dissertation explores Western philosophy's foundation in, and ambivalence to, the pathos of wonder. Faculty Lounge contributor Will Blomquist '08 sits down with professor Rubenstein to talk about her background, her scholarly work and her teaching here at Wesleyan.

John Kirn

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:04:00 -0500

John Kirn is Chair of the Neuroscience and Behavior Program and Associate Professor of Biology at Wesleyan University. Professor Kirn's research focuses on the neurobiological basis of vocalization in songbirds, examining how birds learn new songs and what the potential may be for therapeutic applications to human neurodegenerative disorders. Noah Hutton sits down with Professor Kirn to discuss his research and his teaching at Wesleyan.

Bill Herbst

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:34:00 -0500

Bill Herbst is the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy and Chair of the Astronomy department at Wesleyan University. Funded since 1982 by NASA and the NSF, Professor Herbst's research focuses on star and planet formation. He has published over 200 articles related to his work, most recently in Nature. Jeremy Finch sits down with Professor Herbst to talk about his research--including the recent discovery of a "winking" star, KH 15D--his teaching here at Wesleyan, and the Van Vleck Observatory.

Katherine Kuenzli

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:30:00 -0500

Katherine Kuenzli is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Wesleyan University, specializing in 19th century painting. She has published articles in Art History and Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, and is currently completing a book on the Nabis and modernism. Jeremy Finch sits down with Professor Kuenzli to talk about the relationship between music and the visual arts, synaesthesia, and the influence of Wagner on 19th century European painting.

Laura Grabel

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:17:00 -0500

Laura Grabel is the Fisk Professor of Natural Sciences and Professor of Biology at Wesleyan University. She teaches classes in developmental biology as well as hybrid classes in science and ethics such as "Reproduction in the 21st Century." Professor Grabel also runs an active research lab on campus. Her work is at the forefront of stem cell research internationally and is funded by the CT Stem Cell Initiative and NIH. Noah Hutton sits down with Professor Grabel to talk about her work with stem cells, her teaching at Wesleyan, and ethical issues in science.

Jeanine Basinger

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:36:00 -0500

Jeanine Basinger is the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies and Chair of the Film Studies Department at Wesleyan University, as well as serving as the Founder and Curator of the Wesleyan Cinema Archives. She is the author of 10 books including her most recent work, "The Star Machine," which was published last fall. Noah Hutton sits down with Professor Basinger to discuss her scholarly work, teaching film at Wesleyan, and the state of the contemporary film world.

John Paoletti

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:11:00 -0500

In a special edition of The Faculty Lounge, Kenan Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Art History John Paoletti along with student Matthew Alie '08 join Noah Hutton for a roundtable discussion of the recent exhibition Hutton and Alie co-curated under Paoletti's guidance. The show, "Pop to the Present: New Questions, New Responses" opened in January at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT. Paoletti also discusses his teaching at Wesleyan University. The program concludes with a portion of a recent talk given by State Senator John Fonfara on the Wesleyan campus as part of a campus-wide climate awareness day sponsored by EON.

Neely Bruce; Jorge Arévalo Mateus

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:37:00 -0500

We have two special guests this week. First, Jeremy Finch sits down with Jorge Arévalo Mateus, an ethnomusicology student at Wesleyan University and a DJ at WESU who won a Grammy at Sunday's awards for his role as a producer of "The Live Wire," a rare recording of a live Woody Guthrie performance recently released for the first time by Mateus and his team. Later in the show, Noah Hutton sits down with Neely Bruce, Professor of Music at Wesleyan University. Professor Bruce has a BMU from the University of Alabama, a MMU and a DMU from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a MAA from Wesleyan University. Professor Bruce discusses his courses at Wesleyan, his compositional work, and an upcoming Ives concert.

Patrick Dowdey

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:19:00 -0500

Patrick Dowdey is an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology and East Asian Studies as well as the Curator of the Freeman Center for East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University. He got his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, his MA and PHD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Jeremy Finch sits down with Professor Dowdey to talk about his education, his lifelong interest in East Asian studies, his research experiences, and his passions as a curator.

Peter Mark

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:14:00 -0500

Peter Mark is the Director of the Center for African American Studies and a Professor of Art History at Wesleyan University. He received his BA from Harvard University, his MA from Syracuse University, his MAA from Wesleyan University and his PHD from Yale University. He is the author of "Potuguese Style and Luso-African Identity: Precolonial Senegambia, Sixteenth-Ninetheenth Centuries." Noah Hutton sits down with Professor Mark to talk about his scholarly work, his teaching at Wesleyan University, and his thoughts on the current crisis in Kenya.