Tag Archives: CSS

EVENT
Disability Studies Senior Thesis/Essay Panel

From Sarah Kalish ’14:

about_fall_04

Curious how disability studies relates to other majors offered at Wes? Come to a panel discussion of senior theses/essays!

Although currently Disability Studies is only a course cluster here at Wes, there are many interdisciplinary applications of this field. There will be presentations by six seniors on the research they have been doing this year in a variety of departments. Presenters include: Lizzy Clayton ’14 (COL), Stratton Coffman ’14 (Science in Society), Jenna Doctoroff ’14 (Sociology), Emma MacLean ’14 (Theatre), Natalie Sacks ’14 (Theatre), and Kayla Stoler ’14 (CSS).

AND there will be snacks.

Date: TODAY Thursday, April 24th
Time: 5:30 – 6:30pm
Place: PAC 002
Cost: Free/none
Facebook Link

EVENT
The Cold War of the Middle East: Iran-Saudi Arabia Relations

Saumya Chatrath ’13 invites you to a conference:

Since tensions have been escalating recently between the two nations, with notable US involvement, this is particularly timely topic. From nuclear concerns to religious conflict, this topic features multiple facets that cannot be understood alone. Though the conflict is a complex one, we hope this day long conference will shed light onto the region’s politics and offer some insight into possibilities for conflict resolution or into the plausibility of military action. Register online for free.

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Alex Okrent ’05, Obama Staffer, Dies at Headquarters

Alex Okrent ’05 passed away Friday morning after collapsing at the Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago, where he worked. The 29-year-old alumnus of the College of Social Studies (CSS) was Paid Media and Polling Regional Director for the 2012 presidential campaign, and has worked for Obama ever since his 2004 senate campaign.

Fox Chicago reported that Okrent had been working out at the gym earlier that morning, as he did every day, before coming into work at the campaign headquarters in the Prudential Center. A report by the local ABC News affiliate adds that he told a friend he was talking to online that he wasn’t feeling well, collapsing when he went to take an aspirin. He was treated on-site by paramedics before being taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after. A massive heart attack may have been to blame, Okrent’s family believes.

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EVENT
College of Social Studies (CSS) Open House Tomorrow!

CSS/History professor Erik Grimmer-Solem commands me to plug the open house of my own major. I briefly considered creating a post that parallels the recent plug I wrote for the COL open house, but that would take too much effort. Or will it?

FRESHPEOPLE! Do you want to be the paragon of ~~literary~~ academic sophistication and verve? Do you want to be given a ~~structurally~~ socially mandated reason to study abroad? Consider, then, the prospect of ~~The College of Letters (COL)~~ The College of Social Studies. Imma take a step back and let mah homie ~~Paul Schwaber (Director of COL)~~ the CSS website take over:

The College of Social Studies (CSS) is a rigorous, multidisciplinary major focusing on History, Government, Political and Social Theory, and Economics. Founded in 1959, the CSS is reading and writing intensive, encouraging intellectual independence with weekly essays, small group tutorials, and a vibrant intellectual environment.

Like the COL, the CSS begins in sophomore year. If you would like more info, click here or go to the open house! Prof. Grimmer-Solem (+others) will wax poetic there and take questions. There is also FREE FOOD.

Date: Tuesday, Dec 6.
Time: 12.00-1.00pm
Place: CSS Lounge (4th Floor of PAC)

EVENT
Adorno and America: a Symposium

Many of the major works of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory were written in the USA during the Second World War. Critical Theory’s dislocation from its European origins is significant not only historically but also philosophically: the exiled intellectuals were convinced that an effective theory of culture and society could be realized only in America, where capitalism had reached its most advanced state. The symposium will reflect on how the American experience of the Frankfurt School’s most prominent representative, Theodor Adorno, informed the evolution of Critical Theory. Against the cliché of Adorno as a detached high-culture mandarin, the symposium will offer a more intellectually and factually accurate investigation of the American dimension of his thought.

2:15: Coffee and Cookies
3:00: Welcome and introduction (Ulrich Plass)
3:15: Adorno’s American Reception (Joshua Rayman, Savannah College of Art and Design)
3:45: No Man’s Lands: Refuse and Refuge in Adorno’s American Experience (Matt Waggoner, Albertus Magnus College)
4:15 Questions
4:30 Coffee Break
4:45 Devices of Shock: Adorno’s Aesthetics of Film and Fritz Lang’s Fury (Ryan Drake, Fairfield University)
5:15 Adorno Unplugged: The Ambivalence of the Machine Age (David Jenemann, University of Vermont)
5:45 Questions and final discussion

A symposium hosted by the Center for the Humanities and the Theory Initiative. Co-Sponsored by College of Letters, German Studies, Sociology, College of Social Studies, Philosophy, History, American Studies, and the Dean of Arts and Humanities

Date: Dec. 4
Time: 2:15pm – 6:00pm
Location: Russell House (corner of Washington and High Street)

COL, CSS Info Sessions

Freshmen, come to a CSS vs. COL get-together if you’re considering either/both majors:

Interested in learning about two of Wesleyan’s most competitive majors: CSS and COL?
Are you undecided on whether to join the fictional world of reading and writing or world of politics as a vocation?

Then you are invited to the first CSS vs. COL get together at Butt C Friday 5pm.
There will be an informational talk held by Professor Irani from COL and Professor Kilby from CSS.

Follow by snacks, games, time to socialize with the professors and Trivia competitions among the two majors. Dont miss this opportunity to join the great minds of these two majors for which applications are due soon!!

Date: Friday, February 26
Time: 5 pm
Place: Butt C Lounge

And freshmen, come to a COL open house in the COL Library (Butt C, the door after Summerfields) if you’re considering the major, have questions about the major, or just want to drink some free coffee and eat some free cookies with COL majors:

The College of Letters cordially invites all of you who have any interest in majoring in COL to attend one of our Open House receptions, which will be held this year on Monday, March 2 and Wednesday, March 4. Both gatherings will start at 4:15 p.m. in the College of Letters Library (Butterfield C-413). A number of COL students and faculty will be there to answer questions, and we will have some descriptive literature for you.

The College of Letters is an interdisciplinary major in Literature, Philosophy, and History, with a required area of foreign language concentration, and a semester in residence abroad (usually in France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Russia, or Spain). The major begins, unlike most majors, in the fall of the sophomore year, which is why application for
it must be made in the spring of your first year.

This year, the deadline for applications is Monday, March 23, the first day after the Spring vacation – it is important to apply on time if you are seriously interested. If all available places are filled by timely applicants, late applicants will automatically be placed on a waiting list.

Date: Monday, March 2nd & Wednesday, March 4th
Time: 4:15 PM
Place: COL Library – Butterfield C-413

CSS Info Session

Hey Freshman!

Interested in being a CSS (College of Social Studies) major? Come to the CSS info sessions to learn about the program and how to apply! Pizza and drinks will be provided!

Date: Monday 11/17
When: 7 p.m.
Where: The CSS lounge (4th floor of PAC)

A note about CSS, and how I chose my major

I got interested in the College of Social Studies (CSS) my freshman year because I was dating a CSS boy. As it turns out, the major was a much better choice than the boy.

Typically, if you are a freshman interested in History, Government, Economics, or Philosophy, CSS is a great multi-disciplinary way of combining all those things. For me, though, my academic interests weren’t necessarily in those areas. I just wanted to read a lot and write a lot and debate a lot about what we read and wrote, and CSS is a great way to do that too.

If you’re at all interested in becoming a part of this warm, supportive, and challenging community, please consider attending one of our weekly Monday lunches (Noon, Woodhead lounge, in Exley) or Friday social hours (4pm, CSS lounge, 4th floor PAC).

This week’s Monday lunch talk is on education and development in Rwanda, by Michael Brotchner, CSS ’95, Executive Director of Orphans of Rwanda. Again, that’s noon on Monday March 3, in the Woodhead Lounge.

More information on the CSS can be found here, and Applications are due March 28.

Photo credit: Ben Rowland Photography


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