Dear members of the School of Arts and Sciences community,
Each year on Thanksgiving, families and friends gather to reflect on the past year, and to give thanks for what they have and for each other.
This year, I want to extend my gratitude to for your unique contributions to the School of Arts and Sciences and commitment to making it, and our world, ever better. Each of you — from our talented students to our dedicated staff and brilliant faculty — inspires me and gives me hope for the future.
Whether you are traveling a great distance, staying close to Rochester, or remaining on campus for the holiday, I wish you a safe and joyful respite and look forward to sharing the last few weeks of the semester with you.
Warmly,
Duje Tadin, Interim Dean
SAS In Focus is the only newsletter devoted to reporting what’s happening in the School of Arts & Sciences.
In this edition . . .
SMITHSONIAN FEATURES “CHAINSAW MIKE”
The cover story of Smithsonian magazine in December is all about how new archeological finds in Bermuda led by Professor of History Michael Jarvis (pictured above) are reshaping the way we think about Colonial America.
Jarvis directs excavations at Smith’s Island, where he and his students, who affectionately call him “Chainsaw Mike,” are unearthing one of the first New World towns built by English colonizers.
“Nobody,” Smithsonian reports, “has done more to shed light on the islands’ important role in fostering the growth of Britain’s overseas realm and its American spinoff.”
The story is now live online, and filled with photos of Jarvis, some of his students, and artifacts they have unearthed. What an honor and learning experience for all involved!
PSYCHOLOGICAL POWER IMBALANCE?
Not all people with high-powered careers cheat on their spouses or significant others. But the chance that they may is a lot higher than the people who work for them.
So says a new study co-authored by Professor of Psychology Harry Reis that was published recently in the Journal of Sex Research.
“Those with a higher sense of power may feel motivated to disregard their commitment to the relationship and act on desires for short-term flings or potentially other, more novel partners if the opportunity arises,” Reis tells the University News Center.
The research was supported by the Binational Science Foundation and the Israel Science Foundation.
NEWLY FUNDED RESEARCH
Associate Professor of Physics Gabriel Landi (pictured above, left) has been named the recipient of a $500,000 grant from the Department of Energy to continue his research into fluctuations in currents in small-scale devices subject to time-dependent external drives and/or strong quantum correlations.
In typical transport experiments, the focus is usually on the current that flows through a system when it is subject to bias. These currents, however, are subject to fluctuations, which are known to carry valuable information about underlying quantum dynamics.
The outcome of his work is expected to be a transformative new theory connecting current fluctuations with the intricate correlations underlying modern quantum transport experiments.
Associate Professor of Biology Anne Meyer (pictured above, right) received a subaward of $548,424 with Florida A&M University for their project titled, “Towards In-Space Manufacturing of Engineered Living Materials.”
The project seeks to develop a platform for the biological production of self-healing, biologically-active optical materials in microgravity.
TWO ICONS LECTURE: “THIS AIN’T TEXAS”
The 2024 Two Icons Lecture, “‘This Ain’t Texas’: Cowboy Carter and Beyoncé’s Demand for Black Creative Visibility in Country and Beyond,” takes on the country music industry reckoning with its relationship with Black people.
Francesca Royster, a professor of English at DePaul University, discusses some of the historic roots of the erasure of Black creativity in country music and the interventions of Beyoncé and her collaborators and her fans in the genre.
The lecture is free and takes place Dec. 3 from 5 to 6:15 p.m. in the Hawkins-Carlson Room of the Rush Rhees Library.
The Two Icons Lecture is sponsored by the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and the Frederick Douglass Institute.
VIDEO ESSAY WORKSHOP
The Institute for Public Humanities and Creative Scholarship is offering a three-day workshop on creating scholarly video essays that allow scholars to present their research through a combination of visuals, audio, and text.
The workshop runs from Jan. 15-17 and will be led by Jason Mittell, a professor of film and media studies at Middlebury College and a pioneer in videographic criticism. The workshop can accommodate up to 15 faculty members and graduate students.
Applications are due Dec. 6. To apply, send a CV and statement of interest to Caroline Elliott-Loughney, administrative coordinator for the Humanities Center, at celliot4@ur.rochester.edu and write “Workshop Application” in the subject line.
SAS IN FOCUS TAKES A BREAK
This will be the last SAS In Focus newsletter for a while. Not forever, but for a while.
For the last year, the newsletter has been handled by School of Arts and Sciences Senior Communications Officer David Andreatta, who is leaving the School of Arts and Sciences to begin a new role in University Marketing and Communications on Dec. 1.
The newsletter will return after the search for his successor has concluded.
