Northwestern Poet Plays with Fire Awakening the Nation's Taste Buds
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY WEINBERG COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES NORTHWESTERN POET PLAYS WITH FIRE AWAKENING THE NATION’S TASTE BUDS THE FULBRIGHT: GATEWAY TO THE WORLD FALL/WINTER 2006/2007 THE MAGAZINE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES VOLUME 7, NUMBER 2 7 Will Butler: Poet and Rock Star By Nancy Deneen NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Photo by Mary Hanlon FROM THE DEAN WEINBERG COLLEGE OF ARTS 10 Fulbrighters in AND SCIENCES DEPARTMENTS the Field: What They Learned, common sentiment expressed to stu- Many students are deeply concerned with the 1 What they Gave COVER PHOTOS, CROSSCURRENTS IS dents, from freshman welcoming ethical dilemmas posed by the “big issues.” From the Dean FROM TOP: PUBLISHED TWICE addresses all the way to commencement These talented young adults have the intellectual by Nancy Deneen A YEAR FOR ALUMNI, A speeches, is that we—faculty, administrators, flexibility, the openness to new ideas, the won- 2 FROM THE ARCADE FIRE’S ALBUM, PARENTS, AND FUNERAL FRIENDS OF THE alumni, parents (in short, “adults”)—look to derful tendency to question our assumptions, that Letters COVER ART BY TRACY MAURICE JUDD A. AND MARJORIE today’s students (the “next generation”) to make we expect will enable them to find ways to bridge 16 WEINBERG COLLEGE FRANK JONES IN A STORY IN OF ARTS major contributions in resolving the complex the divide on the most challenging issues: stem 3 The Far-Reaching Impact THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC AND SCIENCES, issues we face as a society. cells and cloning, free trade and the protection of of the Center for Faculty Awards PHOTO BY DAVID WALLACE NORTHWESTERN It is not just the adults who hope that the next jobs, immigration, national security, preservation International Economics UNIVERSITY. generation will resolve thorny societal issues; of civil liberties. We are eager for our students 21 FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR KAVITHA and Development SIVASHANKER (LEFT) AND FRIEND WE’D LIKE TO HEAR students themselves eagerly seek to make a dif- to engage directly with these knotty issues, and The Wilson Society with Bo Nielsen AT FUSHIMI INARI SHRINE, FROM YOU. ference in the world. Even while they focus on we are working to provide them with intellectual KYOTO, JAPAN SEND LETTERS AND theoretical matters in the classroom, our students frameworks to help them tackle these issues well 25 STORY IDEAS TO 18 ON THIS PAGE, BELOW: NANCY DENEEN, relish debating challenging issues and contribut- into the future. Admission Trends: Frank Jones WILL BUTLER AND THE ARCADE FIRE CROSSCURRENTS, ing their time and energy through involvement in Evidence pours in every spring from our Office and Bon Appétit 2004-2006 AT LOLLAPALOOZA CHICAGO, 2005 WEINBERG COLLEGE, worthwhile causes. They want to dive into real of Fellowships that our students are highly suc- PHOTO BY ADAM TRAVIS AT ADDRESS ON BACK by Lisa Stein COVER, BY FAX TO problems, and they want to be taken seriously. cessful in winning awards that foster post-gradu- (847) 491-4289, At Northwestern, we have actively promoted ate engagement with real world issues. From the OR BY E-MAIL TO avenues for students to explore national and past year alone, award winners from the College CROSSCURRENTS@ NORTHWESTERN.EDU world issues, and encourage them to work as include 4 out of the 40 Gates Cambridge Scholars colleagues with faculty in researching potential selected nationwide and 15 Fulbright scholars. solutions. Our Global Health Studies program For a story about how life-altering the Fulbright requires study and work abroad at partner institu- experience can be—for both the scholars and tions in Mexico, China, South Africa, or France. those whose lives they work to improve—please Although in only its second year, it has rapidly see page 10 in this issue. attracted an amazing number of students. Our If you have additional suggestions or comments program in Environmental Policy and Culture on how our students can engage in today’s press- is three years old, and has developed in tandem ing issues, please write me at [email protected] with a cross-school restructuring of the programs western.edu. in Environmental Science and Environmental Engineering. We can now help students with very different strengths collaborate on environ- mental problems. Finally, following a report from a faculty committee last year, we are revamping our International Studies Program to expand opportunities for students, especially in applying social scientific methods to world problems. WEINBERG LIFE SCIENTISTS IN THE NEWS RICHESON IS THE KOUPREY KAPUT AS A SPECIES? WINS orthwestern biologists and a Cambodian conser- MACARTHUR N vationist have presented convincing DNA evidence that the FOR NEW LOOK AT kouprey, the mysterious national animal of Cambodia, is actually an RACIAL DYNAMICS imposter as a wild, natural species. Amid much fanfare in 1937, the Photo: Stephen Anzaldi “forest ox” with deer-like grace LETTERS and impressive horns became the FACULTY AWARDS last of the wild Asian cattle to be loved reading about the im- business. It’s great being near the few weeks since receiving that phone other empirical methods. In a landmark study in portant and interesting work school and my three kids always call and social psychologist Jennifer 2003, Richeson and colleagues showed through I that Doug Medin is doing at enjoy visiting the campus and class- A Richeson says the news has not really brain scans that social interaction with members Menominee. I am a member of the rooms. sunk in yet. She was taking a day off in the city of a different race might be stressful enough to Keshena family and an enrolled to celebrate her 34th birthday when an official affect how people perform afterwards on cogni- member of the Tribe. My mom’s Sean P. Harte ’87 from the MacArthur Foundation called her cell tive tests. Among the implications of her work maiden name is Keshena. My phone to inform her of the $500,000 “genius are that true diversity cannot be achieved by recognized as a new species. For great, great, great grandfather was ongratulations on the won- grant.” As a MacArthur fellow, she is part of a simply grouping individuals of different races Keshena. He was a Chief along derful issue. My favorite years, it has been the subject of scientific study and conservation distinguished and eclectic group of 25—among the together but by tending to the quality of their with Oshkosh and they were sign- article was about Doug C efforts via forays into the region’s others, a naturalist, a jazz violinist, a deep sea interactions. ers of Treaties of 1848 and 1852 Medin and his innovative thinking jungles. explorer, and a country doctor—who received the She doesn’t subscribe to the “genius” designa- ceding much of Wisconsin and the on culture and learning. My hus- But, in a paper published by no-strings-attached award for 2006. tion but views the award as a blessing. With that Upper Peninsula of Michigan to band and I have traveled extensively the Journal of Zoology (London), “I’m in the midst of all the buzz about the blessing comes a responsibility, she says, not only the U.S. government. I grew up through Mexico and the Yucatan the scientists concluded that award, so it still feels pretty new,” she says. to continue doing her best work but to somehow in Chicago but spent summers on and Oaxacan areas as well as Chi- the kouprey may not be a wild The calls, e-mails, and requests for interviews, use the award to foster racial harmony. the reservation visiting family and apas and parts of Guatamala. He species at all, but is more likely a including this one, have been almost non-stop. Where are we now in the national dialogue friends. Growing up my family is an architect and enjoys studying domestic hybrid—between banteng (an authentic wild ox) and zebu “My family is thrilled,” she says. “They’re prac- about race, she is asked. “What dialogue about was also pretty involved with the the ruins and I enjoy the people and cattle—that later became wild, Indian Center here in Chicago and culture. tically passing out flyers on the street.” race?” she counters. “There really isn’t one. probably in the political turmoil Northwestern shares their excitement. Many people are afraid to talk about race, so it my family was active in working As an art consultant for the Mar- of the 19th century. The kouprey to restore the Menominee’s tribal riott hotel here in the Coralville/ is thought to be extinct in the Richeson, an associate professor of psychology just doesn’t happen. “ status. Iowa City area, [my] emphasis wild today, although a few may and African American studies, was recruited to “Maybe this would be a good use for the I feel fortunate to be a part of the is on Iowa artists and we have exist in domesticated form. The our faculty in 2005. She is also a fellow at the money,” she adds, “creating programs, such as Northwestern community and was included a major hallway dedicated researchers compared a published University’s Institute for Policy Research. She intergroup dialogue workshops, that bring people an economics major, class of 1987. to the area’s Meskwaki Nation and DNA sequence from a kouprey received her undergraduate degree at Brown of different backgrounds together. However, I with sequences from two living University and her master’s and PhD at Harvard want to think about how best to achieve this goal Northwestern has opened so many its culture. I found absolutely fas- Cambodian banteng. Their doors for me and I am grateful that cinating Medin’s thoughts on these prediction, based on its anatomy, and taught at Dartmouth before coming to before making a firm commitment.