Six students from Professor of Biology Alexandra Purdy’s research laboratory attended the Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium on Jan. 15 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The laboratory’s work focuses on interactions between bacteria and their hosts on the molecular level, and students researching these topics presented their work at the day-long event.
Manuela Picq is a Karl Loewenstein fellow and a Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science. She attended Pierre Mendes-France University, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history. She received her doctorate degree in international studies from the University of Miami.
In a talk titled “The Trump-Putin Connect: What We Imagine and Why,” prominent Russian journalist and activist Masha Gessen spoke of the similarities between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Johnson Chapel at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26.
Gessen, who was invited by President Biddy Martin to speak at the college, was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in the former Soviet Union, and has moved several times between the United States and Moscow.
An event titled “Dr. MLK Jr. Symposium: Moving Toward Collective Liberation” brought together a panel of experts to speak on community, engagement and the role of masculinity in the current civil rights movement.
The talk was held in Johnson Chapel on Jan. 28 and was free and open to the public.
Last Friday in Buckley Recital Hall, Tomal Hossain ’17 presented his original composition, “Kundalini Rising.” Comprising of voices and electronics, Hossain’s work involved seven movements of musical material that correspond with the ethical and psychological associations espoused by each of the seven chakras. Hossain talked about the process of creating this piece and how he combined his music background with the material he’s learned while at Amherst.
Q: How would you describe your thesis and the process of creating it?
Acclaimed director Park Chan-Wook released “The Handmaiden” to great anticipation but somewhat lackluster enthusiasm. The film netted South Korea an invitation to compete in the prestigious Cannes film festival after a four-year drought, and in both premise and presentation it fulfills the promise implied by such an honor. The film finds itself amid the destitution and deprivation of Korea under Japanese occupation in the 20th century, and it follows the ambitious and admirably conceived project of a pickpocket and a conman.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush addressed the Amherst community in Johnson Chapel on Tuesday, Jan. 31, covering issues such as immigration and education reform.
The talk was free and open to members of the public, and streamed online and in Stirn Auditorium for overflow audiences.
Bush served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007 and is now the chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, an organization that works on education reform throughout the United States of America. He was also a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School last fall.
