What a summer it has been! Around the world there has been an escalation of hatred and violence — vitriol is flowing in all corners of the globe. Aggressive Russian action against Ukraine continues, and the reactions of the West, however tepid, may be leading to a new Cold War. In the Middle East the … Read more
This week we learned that a survivor of a sexual assault had filed a lawsuit against the Psi Upsilon fraternity at Wesleyan, some of its individual members and its national organization. We had not spoken publicly about this matter out of concern for the survivor’s privacy. Now that civil proceedings have commenced, on behalf of … Read more
As I concluded my time in Washington D.C. this week, I was impressed to see the following statement released by the White House. First, it quotes Vice-President Biden: Freedom from sexual assault is a basic human right. No man has a right to raise a hand to a woman for any reason — any reason … Read more
When I emerge from my seminar on photography and representation each Monday afternoon, it takes me a little while to tune in to the real world. In class we are wrestling with abstract ideas, beautiful or disturbing images, and questions concerning the representation of suffering and telling the truth. Yesterday, I had a rude awakening … Read more
Lucy+Jorge Orta: Food-Water-Life The new exhibition at the Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan gets pretty elemental. The Ortas are in the tradition of “social sculpture,” creating works of art that are meant to function, and, most importantly are meant to change the way we think about functionality. This exhibition is co-sponsored by the College of the … Read more
All colleges and universities in this country have developed policies and procedures to prevent rape and other violent crimes. But still these problems continue. No institution can afford to be complacent in this regard. At Wesleyan there have recently been a number of important conversations concerning sexual (gender) violence/prevention, and I applaud the efforts to … Read more
A year ago today, I wrote on my blog about the “sickening violence” of the massacres and kidnappings by Hamas. Little did I know that the violence would provoke a response that, while profoundly degrading Hamas’s military abilities, would kill tens of thousands of civilians and result in the destabilization of the entire region. But … Read more
This morning, CNN released the podcast conversation I had with Audie Cornish about current events on American college campuses. We talk in its second half. Below, I have included the announcement I sent to the campus community today. Dear friends, As the pro-Palestinian protests and encampment continues, we have seen students, faculty, and staff express … Read more
I’ve been writing about the situation in Israel and Gaza since October 7th when I posted a blog entry here. More recently, I have called for a humanitarian cease fire, considered issues of academic freedom, and thought about the relevance of Passover to these events. Yesterday, I sent the following message to the Wesleyan community … Read more
The Thanksgiving break couldn’t have come fast enough this year, or so it seemed to me. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza had been growing worse by the day, with thousands of Palestinians falling victim to bombings and many more living in increasingly desperate conditions because of Israel’s war against Hamas. So many children have been … Read more
