Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's Acorn Man.
If you've been on campus recently, you surely have noticed "Colossal AcornHead," the five-foot-long bronze acorn with a human face lying under a tree just outside of Tisch Library. You can hear artist Leslie Fry talk about her work by calling 617-449-7520, ext. 202. From the artist:
In my art, the natural world connects with the human-made world. As a narrative, I imagine that ColossalAcornHead is longing to be a real acorn—to be released from its state of artistic abstraction and to return to nature. For me, this sculpture is about human consciousness rooted in nature—that our heads and the earth are inseparable and symbiotic. Our heads have done great damage to our earth, and I think Colossal AcornHead is a good reminder of our essential connectedness.
Colossal AcornHead is just the beginning of a public art initiative that will feature other pieces campus-wide. You can read more here.
Big Speakers on Campus in April
April is quickly becoming a big month on the Tufts campus, with a slew of high profile speakers visiting. Kicking things off next week, the Tufts Democrats are bringing former Democratic National Committee chairman and current treasurer of Massachusetts, Steve Grossman, as well as former Ohio governor Ted Strickland on April 17th. Three days later, Muhammad Yunus comes to Tufts. Yunus was the winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and is widely known as “the father of microfinance.” Before Yunus arrives on campus, students will be treated to a showing of a documentary about him, including a question and answer session with the film’s director, Gayle Ferraro. The Tufts Energy Conference then starts on April 20th, featuring a long list of high-profile speakers, including Elin Suleymanov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States. The month culminates in the Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism, when the anchor of NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams, addresses campus. It's...
Professor Dennett wins Erasmus Prize
Tufts' own Professor of Philosophy, Dan Dennett, has won the Erasmus Prize for "a person or institution which has made an exceptionally contribution to culture in Europe." From the announcement:
Daniel Dennett is a strong advocate for the power of thinking. He has taken up the major cultural questions of our time, questions that have defined our self-image, such as: where do we come from and what is consciousness? As a philosopher he has addressed these fundamental questions and has added new and groundbreaking insights to other fields of study. Daniel Dennett has chosen a wide range of themes in his work, from religion and Darwinism to consciousness and artificial intelligence.
Professor Dennett is teaching two classes this semester, one just for freshmen and sophomores, A Toolkit for Thinking, and one for philosophy and cognitive and brain studies majors, Artificial Agents and Autonomy.
You can watch Professor Dennett give a lecture on his specialty, Charles Darwin:
Reading List for Winter Break
If you're looking for something to read while on winter break, look no further than Tufts on Facebook. Members of the community submitted their top reading picks for the New Year, which include:
- Astrid and Veronika, by Linda Olsson
- The Blue Death, by Robert D. Morris
- The Battle for Christmas, by Stephen Nissenbaum
- Catherine the Great, by Robert Massie
- The Cat’s Table, by Michael Ondaatje
- Emily, Alone, by Stewart O’Nan
- The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, by Siddhartha Mukherjee
- The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1944–1945
- Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle, byThor Hansen
- Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen
- Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
- Habibi, by Craig Thompson
- The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL, by Eric Greitens
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
- The Lessons, by Joanne Diaz
- Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson
- Pulp and Paper, by Josh Rolnick
History Professor Hosts Annual Boston Tea Party Reenactment
Associate Professor of History, Ben Carp, is this year's host of the annual Boston Tea Party reenactment at the Old South Meeting House. Professor Carp recently published a seminal book on the Tea Party, the event in 1773 that helped trigger the American Revolution.
One of the great things about being so close to Boston is the ability to connect what's happening in the classroom to the city's history, museums, government, labs, libraries, and internship opportunities. Professor Carp teaches a course called "Revolutionary America," and, in about 20 minutes on public transportation, his students can be at the site of the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, or the Battle of Bunker Hill. Professor Carp's role at the Old South Meeting House puts him in the very building where Bostonians rallied against the British government in 1773.