Safety Net or Source of Conflict?
Susanna Fioratta (Anthropology) is writing her dissertation on what happens when migrant remittances become a source of social insecurity. Despite national poverty and the threat of political crisis, many people in the West African Republic of Guinea have managed to survive with the help of remittance money sent from relatives who have migrated to Europe, North America, Asia, North Africa, Central and Southern Africa – wherever they can find work or business opportunities. But disputes between Guineans at home and abroad over diverging understandings of Islam have sometimes transformed the remittance safety net into a source of social conflict.  |
Using Robots to Study
Self-Awareness
In the Social Robotics Lab at Yale, Justin Hart (Computer Science) uses robots to study human behavior, specifically the way babies develop early social skills. Working with an upper-torso humanoid robot named Nico, Justin studies the process by which infants first learn about their sensory and physical abilities, where their bodies end and the rest of the world begins, and how they can use their eyes and hands to interact with the environment. These are the earliest forms of self-awareness to develop. |
Analyzing Cuneiform Communications
Mary Frazer (NELC) studies correspondence written in cuneiform on clay tablets, purportedly by rulers of the Assyrian and Babylonian states, which were located in what is now Iraq. The tablets, between 2200 and 2900 years old, are dispersed in museums around the world. Because of her research interests, she was invited to attend an Advanced Seminar in the Humanities on the island of San Servolo in Italy last fall. Several of the talks at the seminar in Venice touched on topics that relate closely to her research: royal letters from the ancient city of Ebla in modern Syria and Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions. |
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Kudos
Christopher Bartley (MD/PhD, Neurobiology), Doug Chung (Management), Kenise Lyons (Italian), and Jedidah Isler (Astronomy) were inducted into the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society at the ninth annual Bouchet Leadership Conference on Diversity in Graduate Education, held at Yale in March. The honor is named for Bouchet (PhD 1876, Physics), the first African American doctoral recipient in the United States. |
| Justin Sider (English) has written an article that will appear in Studies in English Literature. The essay, “‘Farewell farewell farewell’: Ruskin’s Valedictory Gestures,” focuses on a lecture delivered in 1868 by the writer at a point in his career when he thought his professional life was over. |
| Ryan Christensen (Cell Biology) has published a major paper in the journal Development describing his experimental studies using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. His research, in Daniel Colon-Ramos’s lab, revealed a new molecular mechanism important for nerve cell development, which is in turn important for neural circuit formation during brain development. |
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Anderson Wins Fellowship to Study Architecture of the Brain at Stanford
Michael Anderson (PhD 1996, Philosophy), assistant professor of psychology at Franklin & Marshall College, has been selected as a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He plans to work on a book on theories of brain architecture, building on his groundbreaking, controversial research on the evolution of cognitive functions. His work offers a new understanding of the evolution and development of the brain, arguing that regions of the brain interact, rather than specialize in specific tasks, and that the brain is not the sole organ used to gain knowledge. |
Insdorf Publishes New Book on Prizewinning Film Director
Annette Insdorf (PhD 1975, English), director of Undergraduate Film Studies at Columbia University and a professor in the Graduate Film Division of Columbia’s School of the Arts, has published a new book on the work of director/filmmaker Philip Kaufman. Philip Kaufman (University of Illinois Press), explores Kaufman’s work, which includes The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Right Stuff, and Hemingway & Gellhorn (starring Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen), which will premiere on HBO on May 28. Insdorf has interviewed Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day-Lewis, and many other film actors and directors at Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y. |
Boyle Honored for Founding Yale Entrepreneurial Institute
James Boyle (PhD 1994, Engineering & Applied Science), co-founder and director of the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI), was honored with a Yale University Seton Elm-Ivy Award. The YEI helps students develop and launch their own innovative businesses in and around New Haven. Since its inception in 2007, YEI has helped foster over 45 student-founded ventures which have raised a total of $37 million of investment capital and created more than 130 full-time jobs. Seton Elm-Ivy Awards are given annually by the University and the City of New Haven to recognize outstanding contributions by members of the community. |
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Graduate Student Assembly Update
As another academic year draws to a close, members of the GSA continue to work on new and existing initiatives to improve graduate students’ experiences at Yale. Here’s a round-up of the year's progress. In an effort to encourage and support graduate student mentoring, the Academic and Professional Development Committee has launched the “Common Grounds” program, providing students with vouchers to take a Yale faculty member out for a free coffee or tea at designated cafés on campus. In addition, committee members have produced and submitted a document summarizing the responses to Dean Pollard’s reports on graduate education. The Transit and Security Committee has been advocating for safer and more bike-friendly routes in New Haven, and the Facilities and Healthcare Committee has been working with the Office of the General Counsel and the New Haven County Bar Association to get access to affordable legal services for graduate students. |
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Please contact Gila Reinstein with news items.
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