Roth on Wesleyan

Snow Has Fallen — Monday Update

Feb. 8, 2013 by mroth

UPDATE: Monday morning, February 11

Despite the heroic efforts of our Physical Plant and Stonehedge, we have decided to cancel classes for the day. I am hopeful that enough classroom buildings will be fully accessible so that we can get underway tomorrow (Tuesday). We will make another announcement at around 6 pm this evening.  

 

To the Wesleyan Community:

Wesleyan is closed Monday, and classes will not be held this afternoon. Parking on campus remains limited, and a number of buildings are not yet accessible. Only essential personnel should report to work today. We are hopeful that classes will be held tomorrow, but that depends on how much snow removal gets done today. Our crews are working tirelessly, and we are very grateful for their dedication and good work. We will provide an update this evening around 6 pm.

Heavy equipment is in use, so students should continue to exercise considerable caution outdoors. Call Public Safety for help with storm-related matters, (860) 685-2345. For emergencies, call (860) 685-3333.

Lonely Snowman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foss Hill, Morning, 2/11/13

Mathilde to the Rescue (from Kari Weil)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have been meeting to ensure that we are as prepared as possible for the heavy snow expected this evening. As I walked through the dining halls at lunchtime today at Usdan, spirits were high, and many were preparing to head to Foss Hill for some sledding. Winter in New England…

Foss Hill as seen from my office in South College

More than two feet of snow fell overnight, and it was a quiet, beautiful day when Kari and I got out of the house with Mathilde this morning. The path around Usdan was cleared already, and we talked with a Bon Appetit employee who walked miles (!!) through the snow to come into work. I am so grateful to the folks from Stonehedge Landscaping, Bon Appetit, and from our Public Safety and Physical Plant crews who are working through the storm to keep us safe and fed.

Here’s the path to my office at South College:

Path between 47 Wyllys and Usdan University Center

Looking back on College Row from base of Foss Hill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Mathilde enjoying early morning snow

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44 Responses to “Snow Has Fallen — Monday Update”

1. on 10 Feb 2013 at 4:44 pm1Carolyn Ralston

   Thanks for posting these awesome pictures of the college and Mathilde. From your online student in California’s central valley, where we’ve had dry, sunny weather for a month. Love your video lectures, am deep into reading Rousseau.

2. on 10 Feb 2013 at 4:53 pm2Mike Neale

   Excellent post-blizzard captures, Mike,…thank you for sharing!

   Here on the west-Wesleyan campus boundaries of California, we can report it is sunny and clear,…we are freezing at 52F,…;-))

   Stay warm,…wonderful images!,

   mn

3. on 10 Feb 2013 at 5:15 pm3Irma

   Teacher
   We geographic glaring differences.
   I live in a tropical country, beach and hot weather, we have harsh winters in the south, but nothing that compares to the climate of your country, which by the way enchants me, the snow can bring disasters, but it is beautiful.
   hugs Irma

4. on 10 Feb 2013 at 5:30 pm4Isabella

   Professor:

   Thanks for posting these wonderful picktures. They are wonderful for me. I life n Brazil and in Fortaleza city today we had 32º. I would like to feel that snowning sensation.
   Hugs Isabella

5. on 10 Feb 2013 at 5:45 pm5Andreea

   Hi,
   I live in Romania where, this year, we have snow higher then houses so… I really know how it is

   Br,
   Andreea

6. on 10 Feb 2013 at 5:50 pm6Yasemin

   Loved Mathilde’s happy face!!

7. on 10 Feb 2013 at 5:53 pm7JB

   I think this beautiful mess missed us intentionally. Radar showed 45 miles in either direction having snow, and our family in Newport, RI got plenty, but here in dreary Harrisburg, PA – only rain. I would have been as happy as Mathilde had we gotten our share. Enjoy!

8. on 10 Feb 2013 at 6:07 pm8Leon

   This is shining! Where is Jack Nicholson?!

9. on 10 Feb 2013 at 6:10 pm9Toula

   Nice pictures! The silence of the snow speaks a language of its own.
   Best wishes from Greece

10. on 10 Feb 2013 at 6:23 pm10Carol Colffield

    Thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures, Professor Roth. From an online student living in Brazil but not dancing Carnival. Enjoying your lectures instead.

11. on 10 Feb 2013 at 6:29 pm11Evdokimos Tsolakidis

    Thank you for sharing these beautiful pics… I was like saying “Lucky you” for all that snow (very rare here in Athens) but then I remembered that it was kind of a disaster for some areas.

    A propos… I mostly would like to thank you for the knowledge you are sharing with us through your lectures. Just enrolled for “Modern and Postmodern” and I think that’s the most precious gift I ever made to myself. You’re such an inspiring amazing teacher!

    I wish you the best for all your future plans.

    Sincerely,

    E.T.

12. on 10 Feb 2013 at 6:49 pm12Cristiane

    Hello teacher! I live in Brazil and here the climate is tropical and the heat is a characteristic of my city. One day I want to see snow, I think it should be a beautiful image of falling snow .. very poetic .. Big hug – Cristiane.

13. on 10 Feb 2013 at 8:00 pm13Stan Leavitt

    Dr. Roth:

    Thanks for the pix. We still have family in CT. Am looking forward to stretching my brain in your course. One question. We had an old friend at Wesleyan that we have lost contact with. Is Neeley Bruce still there?

14. on 10 Feb 2013 at 8:19 pm14Manuela

    Waltzing Matilda…

15. on 10 Feb 2013 at 9:00 pm15AL von buren

    Denver is surrounded by snowclouds,
    bathed in sunlight
    thank you for your cautionary suggestions on the readings
    Harder than I thought, but thought provoking.
    You are so generous to do this, for people unknown, results unknown.
    Amitiees,
    AL von Buren

16. on 10 Feb 2013 at 9:07 pm16Kawther Gasmi

    these pictures are really beautiful, well it must be freezing out there! it’s actually the same thing here in Batna Algeria i can’t go out i’m hibernating at home lol i just wanna say that i am really enjoying your class Mr. Roth looking forward to new lectures this week see you in class!

17. on 10 Feb 2013 at 11:53 pm17Ms. Sumita Jetley

    Thank you , Professor !

    This writing & sharing of instances keep us so well closer as Students , as Learners. It makes us feel part of our Teacher , our Instructor.

    Sumita

18. on 11 Feb 2013 at 1:07 am18Carla

    Nice pictures Dr.Roth, here in Florida winter is barely different from the one in my country. I’m worried about the upcoming summer though…this will my first one;)
    Lovely Mathilde!

19. on 11 Feb 2013 at 1:24 am19LEENA K R

    Hello teacher, Thank you very much for giving us an experience of Wesleyan site. I am from India, Bangalore. There is no snow fall here. Than you for the wonderful lecture also.

20. on 11 Feb 2013 at 1:54 am20Shibaji

    Nice pictures..How are you planning to remove the snow and go into your office..
    Thanks for your online class, I am on of your online students.

21. on 11 Feb 2013 at 2:11 am21Mimi

    Ha, just like here in Finland where I live Also, I am behind on reading ups…but I will do my best to catch up!

22. on 11 Feb 2013 at 2:39 am22Nona

    Hi, thank you for posting these beautiful pictures. I’m an online student from overseas, republic of Georgia. Like your lectures very much.

23. on 11 Feb 2013 at 5:34 am23Daniel

    I miss the snow in Connecticut. I`ve been living in Portugal for a few years now, besides the tallest mountain in this country (that is located about 70 miles from where I live), it is a very rare sight. Yesterday I talked with family that lives in Farmington and I`m glad to know that power failures are`nt common.
    I have a degree in European Studies taken in the Universidade Aberta in Portugal and I had this subject seen very superficially in one of the classes. I like the theme and I´m looking forward to learn more.

24. on 11 Feb 2013 at 6:53 am24Gert Piening

    Hello Professor

    Impressing pictures! Here in the Netherlands we have snowfall too but not such huge amounts! Like you lessons very much!!

    Gert Piening

25. on 11 Feb 2013 at 7:01 am25anne hauschild

    Here’s a poem for you, your wife and Mathilda, dear Michael. It is from Al Filreis’ poetry reading, who is just as awesome a teacher as you are ^^
    Enjoy and be warmed by a snowman, it is possible.
    Greetings from a frosty (but not as snowy) Northern Germany

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRvMVcbN6Xo

26. on 11 Feb 2013 at 7:39 am26Esther Haelan

    Hello, Professor Roth! I was listening to your online course on the Modern and Postmodern when I found your blog…and these pictures are simply beautiful! >.< thank you for allowing us a glimpse of winter beauty in an academic environment:)

27. on 11 Feb 2013 at 7:54 am27Ellis

    Hello, Mike! Th pictures of snow are really wonderful, and so is the smile on Mathilde’s face.
    I’m listening with great satisfaction to your Coursera lectures. For the time being they are to me what I had expected and even more. Thank you for having done immense work of highlighting the most essential and putting simply super complicated things.

28. on 11 Feb 2013 at 10:59 am28Imene Abdellaoui

    Thanks for sharing these pictures.I really like there.It is snowing too in Northern Algeria ,the mountains are all dressed in white.

29. on 11 Feb 2013 at 12:08 pm29Armine

    Amazing photos, wonderful Mathilde! From your online student from the Republic of Armenia. Thank you for advice regarding the urge to critique and that to consider. And I do love the video lectures!

30. on 11 Feb 2013 at 12:50 pm30Margaret Morrissey

    Dear Dr. Roth,

    Thanks for your pictures and sharing your and Mathilda’s experience. I am looking forward to lesion #2 as #1 has had my mind going all week. So many times I look around at our national news or just listen to my friends here in Northport and think of what Kant said and see the similarities in our worlds. I am also happy to see other students from so many other countries taking this course and wonder if their thinking is similar to ours here in NY and looking forward to discussions. You are a wonderful teacher and give much positive energy to what could be a dull subject matter. I am enjoying your course.

31. on 11 Feb 2013 at 1:04 pm31John Mihalec

    Michael, we had a similar snow-in at Wesleyan about this time in 1969. I flopped down Route 17 to pick up pizzas at a place that was somehow still open & tucked them into my jacket, leaning forward to keep as horizontal as possible. It was Winter Carnival at Dartmouth that weekend & we wondered about all the blind dates that didn’t work out, just waiting for Sunday, but now with a few more torturous snowbound days together.

32. on 11 Feb 2013 at 1:32 pm32Nicole De la Mora

    Beautiful pictures, beautiful Mathilda. I’m enjoying your lectures very much.

    Regards from Mexico City.

33. on 11 Feb 2013 at 4:44 pm33lou Bartley

    Interesting is the contrasts across the worlds weather, in Australia one half of the country is on fire the other is flooded and the snow fall in the US matching our rainfall overnight of 2 feet.

    regards Lou
    a MOOC student from Oz

34. on 11 Feb 2013 at 6:06 pm34debbie connolly

    Dr. Roth, Thank you for sharing you teaching talent and amazing knowledge. It was a dream come true to find this course on-line, and at Wesleyan! We have about 40 cm. of white stuff here in Northern Nova Scotia (Antignish-home of ST F X University)-beautiful!

35. on 12 Feb 2013 at 12:55 am35Tina Rami

    Hello! Professor Roth

    Thank you for all your knowledge, it’s snowing where I am as well! I find myself in South Korea teaching! I live in a pretty depressing town and there’s no window in my room it really sucks the life out of you! Thank you for this class! How I have missed philosophy! <3 This class itself is very enlightening! I find myself being oppressed here in so many ways (adultism, prejudice), so reading about Kant is just so refreshing! Living here and observing the relationship between the government and it's citizens it very interesting! People here seem to not critique their government and follow the status qou plus they are very close minded! Being the type of person that I am (a lover of revolutions) I can't wait until we read about Marx <3 he's my favorite! I hope that where I am currently living as well as for the rest of the world people will realize they've been living under a false consciousness. Is there anyway that we could share pictures with you? Have a nice evening! And please be careful! Enjoy the snow!

36. on 12 Feb 2013 at 3:04 am36hafsa

    Hi sir,
    nice pictures…I am a Srilankan. here we do not have snowfall season. I really enjoy this pictures. thank you.
    wish you all the best!

37. on 12 Feb 2013 at 8:18 pm37Les Winchenbach

    Thank you Prof Roth for sharing the great Pics. I received my Bachelors degree in Albany some 35 years ago and have great memories of being snowed in on campus. I am reliving some wonderful times through the eyes of Coursera and am very appreciative of your efforts in this particular course. I am now a Texan and miss the snow so much. We are having such a mild winter here, it is a bit scary, glad to hear the rest of the globe still has signs of real seasons. Now I need to look at this weeks video’s and catch up on my Rousseau readings. Can’t thank you enough for your time and hard work.

38. on 13 Feb 2013 at 6:54 pm38Haydee

    I greatly enjoy your lectures! Thank you for the opportunity. I felt very smug after hearing what you said about Rousseau’s Discourse on Arts and Sciences, because you said a lot of the things I had though, including how quick and rather unsatisfactory the conclusion was. Love your pictures too. For some reason, here in Pittsburgh we only get the fringes of the blizzards and everything is gone in a couple of days, which is actually fine with me because, in spite of having been in the US 40 years, I still miss the golden sun of Brazil.

39. on 13 Feb 2013 at 10:21 pm39John Kaseta

    Just a note to say how much I am enjoying the course having spent a couple of years studying scholastic philosophy in the seminary. I’m finally getting some use out of Britannica’ Great Books which have been collecting dust for years. Thanks for sharing the pics.
    John

40. on 14 Feb 2013 at 3:45 pm40Mila Shwan

    Despite of the heavy snow you are experiencing still you have time to enjoy with it which what I really admire. Taking pictures and sharing it through online that we are getting aware also of what’s happening unto the other side of the world. Hopefully I can go there and play with those snows.

41. on 15 Feb 2013 at 5:01 am41Feifei

    Hi Professor,
    I’m from mainland China, a country caught up in litany of monarchy succession when enlightenment took place . Thank you so much for wonderful online lectures! am reading Kant now.

42. on 16 Feb 2013 at 12:19 am42Kalpana

    Thanks Prof. Roth for sharing the photos. The sun has begun in earnest here and it is good to see the snow and feel the virtual coldness.

43. on 18 Feb 2013 at 10:41 am43Sree Lakshmi

    Dear Professor,It was mice listening to your lectures..I am filled with the thoughts of Kant and Rousseau..
    I am from India,a tropical country…lives in Hyderabad..It is winter here…but we had unexpected rains for the past two days and it has started to sunny again since yesterday..The pictures are so beautiful..very pleasing to see..so nice to share such experiences of geographical diversities..I wish to come and feel the beauty of the beautiful snowfall at the university…thanks a million for the lectures and the photos too..

44. on 19 Feb 2013 at 6:04 pm44M.C. Everson

    Hello Professor,
    Thank you for introducing us to your blog.
    Your classes are really interesting, fascinating actually, so are the recommended readings. As if it was not enough, you are a gift for the eyes!!!
    Best regards from São Paulo, Brazil.