
Elizabeth Poliner receives 2017 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize
The annual prize was created in 1976 to recognize American women on the precipice of promising writing careers.

Gift from Alan ’66 and Jane Batkin establishes professorship in Jewish studies
In recognition of her scholarship and teaching acumen, Nora Rubel has been named the inaugural holder of the Jane and Alan Batkin Endowed Professorship in Jewish Studies.

Quadcast: Mother of the Church
In her book Mother of the Church, Tatyana Bakhmetyeva, a lecturer with the Susan B. Anthony Institute, describes how Russian emigre Sofia Svechina rose in influence as an adviser to numerous political, social, and religious leaders of her day.

Six new faculty books for summer reading lists
The hostess of a popular Parisian salon, the role of presidential power, and bullying and aggression among teenage girls are among the topics examined in new books by Rochester faculty. Here’s a selection of recent work.

Rainbow Lecture to explore harassment in online gameworlds
In his lecture “Locker Room Talk: Pussies, Guns, and Video Gaymers,” William Cheng, assistant professor of music at Dartmouth College, will explore some of the challenges of conducting field research in online arenas such as multiplayer games and Internet threads.

Irish actor tells a story with God Has No Country
Rochester will host the U.S. premiere of God Has No Country, a one-man play written and performed by Donal Courtney. The drama tells the story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, who used his Vatican connections to harbor Jews, ultimately saving more than 6,500 lives.

QuadCast: Transparent actor, producer, academics visit Rochester
Nora Rubel, director of the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, discusses the upcoming symposium on Transparent which the institute — now in its 30th year — is hosting.

Author Mia Alvar receives 2016 Kafka Prize
On the 40th anniversary of its inception, the Janet Heininger Kafka Prize recognized a short story collection: Mia Alvar’s In the Country. The University awards the annual prize to a promising but less established American woman writer of fiction.

Bringing recognition to forgotten group of women veterans
Tiffany Miller ’00 and her family worked for years to overturn a ruling that prohibited World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots—known as WASPs—from being buried at Arlington National Cemetery. President Barack Obama signed their bill into law last week.

Scholars to discuss ‘Transparent’ at first academic conference
In December, the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies will host a conference examining the nexus of sex and gender studies, Jewish studies, American studies, and media studies themes that run through the show.