Princeton University

Princeton Weekly Bulletin April 2, 2007, Vol. 96, No. 21 prev next current

People
• Employees honored for dedication and service
• Spotlight, Staff retirements, Staff obituaries

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Editor: Ruth Stevens
Calendar editor: Shani Hilton
Staff writers: Jennifer Greenstein Altmann, Eric Quiñones
Contributing writers: Cass Cliatt, Karin Dienst
Photographers: Denise Applewhite, John Jameson
Design: Maggie Westergaard
Web edition: Mahlon Lovett

Nassau notes

Moravcsik to give second talk in President’s Lecture Series

Andrew Moravcsik, professor of politics and director of the European Union Program, will present the second talk in this year’s President’s Lecture Series on Thursday, April 5.

He will address the question “Is There a ‘Democratic Deficit’ in World Politics?” at 4:30 p.m. in McCosh 10.

Moravcsik will discuss whether multilateral institutions erode the democratic accountability and legitimacy of established national democracies. After reviewing the issues of political philosophy and social science involved in such an assessment, he will evaluate the democratic legitimacy of the European Union — considered by many the world’s most ambitious and successful international organization. In contrast to the impression left by a decade of European constitutional debate, and the rejection of a European constitution by the French and Dutch electorates, Moravcsik concludes that the EU is as democratic as the national systems it governs.

Moravcsik is the author of more than 100 scholarly publications on European integration, global human rights, transatlantic relations, U.S. and West European foreign policy, negotiation analysis, international organization, international relations theory, and defense-industrial globalization — also the subjects he teaches. His history of the European Union, “The Choice for Europe,” has been called “the most important work in the field” by the American Historical Review.

The lecture series was initiated by President Tilghman in 2001 to bring together faculty members from different disciplines. The final lecturer scheduled for this year is Elizabeth Gould, professor of psychology, on Wednesday, April 25.

The lectures will be webcast; for viewing information, visit www.princeton.edu/WebMedia.

Harry Lennix (left) and James Williams (photo: T. Charles Erickson)

August Wilson’s “Radio Golf” at McCarter

August Wilson’s “Radio Golf,” directed by Kenny Leon, runs through Sunday, April 8, at the McCarter Theatre Center before heading to Broadway later this spring. Harry Lennix (left) plays Harmond Wilks, a successful real estate developer and mayoral candidate who returns to his old Pittsburgh neighborhood with a plan to revitalize it, but is forced to confront his relationship with his heritage. James Williams (right) plays his business partner Roosevelt Hicks. “Radio Golf” is the last in Wilson’s 10-play cycle chronicling the African American experience in the 20th century. For ticket information, contact the McCarter box office at 258-2787 or www.mccarter.org.

Talk addresses high court, civil rights

Legal scholar Kenji Yoshino will deliver a lecture titled “The End of Civil Rights? The Supreme Court’s Rejection of Identity Politics” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.

Yoshino, a professor and deputy dean of intellectual life at Yale Law School, is the author of “Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights.” His book examines the human instinct to “cover” or downplay certain traits to blend into the mainstream.

Yoshino argues that in the struggle for civil rights “we must shift away from claims that demand equality for particular groups toward claims that demand liberty for us all.”

In his lecture, Yoshino will discuss how “the Supreme Court has moved in recent years away from extending protections on the basis of group membership and toward doing so on the basis of liberties we all possess. … In these cases, the court implicitly acknowledged the national exhaustion with group-based identity politics.”

Yoshino’s writings have been published in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Village Voice.

The talk is part of the James Moffett ’29 annual lecture series. It is sponsored by the University Center for Human Values, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, the Program in Law and Public Affairs, the Center for African American Studies and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center.

Xerox CEO to share leadership lessons

Leadership Lessons Learned on the Firing Line” is the subject of a talk by Anne Mulcahy, chief executive officer and chair of the Xerox Corp., set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in the Friend Center Convocation Room.

Mulcahy joined Xerox in 1976 as a field sales representative and assumed increasingly responsible sales and senior management positions before becoming president and chief operating officer in 2000. Named CEO in 2001 and chair in 2002, Mulcahy is widely credited with directing the company, traditionally known for its copiers, back to profitability and introducing new high-growth products and services.

Mulcahy’s talk is part of the “Leadership in a Technological World” lecture series sponsored by the Center for Innovation in Engineering Education.

“Ice Field” by Derek Whitworth

Visual arts senior thesis exhibition

Derek Whitworth’s “Ice Field” will be among the works on display as part of a visual arts senior thesis exhibition of Whitworth’s photographs and Christina McMillan’s mixed media and installation works.

The exhibition will run from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, April 3-13, at the Lucas Gallery, 185 Nassau St. An opening reception is set for 6 to 8 p.m. on April 3.

Math mystery in Escher’s art explored

A mathematical puzzle in the work of Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher is the subject of a lecture by mathematician Hendrik Lenstra at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, in McCosh 10.

Lenstra, a professor of mathematics at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, will speak on “Escher and the Droste Effect,” which refers to the infinite reproduction of an image within an image.

Lenstra has been fascinated with Escher and the mathematical concepts that many of his lithographs illustrated. In 2000, Lenstra focused on Escher’s “Print Gallery,” which features a man looking at a distorted picture of seaside buildings drawn on a twisted grid, with a mysterious blank patch in the center.

Using elliptic curve theory to describe the distortion necessary to create the Droste effect in Escher’s lithograph, Lenstra arrived at an exact mathematical formulation of the artist’s process. With colleague Bart de Smit and students, he was able to fill in the patch and generate a complete, mathematically precise version of the drawing. Lenstra’s lecture will describe this two-year project and show his team’s computer variations on Escher’s idea.

The talk is designated as the Louis Clark Vanuxem lecture and is sponsored by the Department of Mathematics and the University Public Lecture series.

‘Bones and Mummies’ is topic of talk

A lecture titled “Bones and Mummies: Science Revealing the Past” is set for 7 p.m. Monday, April 2, in 6 Friend Center.

Frank Rühli, head of applied anatomy at the University of Zurich’s Institute of Anatomy, will speak about his work in evolutionary medicine, which merges anthropological, archaeological and clinical sciences to trace changing human anatomy, physiology and disease patterns.

Some of the cases he will discuss include: the cause of death of “Otzi” the famous iceman of the Tyrolean Alps; the methods and mechanisms of ancient deliberate mummification; the extent of so-called civilization diseases such as atherosclerosis in ancient mummies; and pathological findings in preserved bone that support diagnoses of syphilis, tuberculosis or hyperparathyroidism in persons of historic interest.

The lecture is sponsored by the Department of Chemistry with support from Siemens Medical Solutions, the National Geographic Society, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, the Helen-Bieber Fund and the University of Zurich.

Symposium focuses on Japanese art

An international gathering of scholars will explore new perspectives on medieval Japanese artistic traditions in a symposium scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, April 14-15, in McCosh 50.

Titled “Re-presenting Emptiness: Zen and Art in Medieval Japan,” the event will include talks by scholars of history, literature, religious studies and art history from Japan, Europe and the United States. They will offer various perspectives for understanding the formal and representational uses of little-understood artifacts — robes, calligraphies, portraits, landscape paintings and poem-picture scrolls — associated with Japanese Zen monastic communities of the medieval period.

The symposium is open to the public, but space is limited and registration is required. More information, including a registration form, is available at web.princeton.edu/sites/TangCenter/zenandart/home.html. To receive symposium materials at the event, registration must be completed by Monday, April 2.

The symposium is organized by the Tang Center for East Asian Art and is cosponsored by the Department of Art and Archaeology, the Buddhist Studies Workshop, the Program in East Asian Studies and the Princeton University Art Museum. It is presented in conjunction with an exhibition, “Awakenings: Zen Figure Painting in Medieval Japan,” which runs through June 17 at the Japan Society in New York City.

Hanging scroll (shown right) by the 15th-century Japanese artist Reisai depicts the famed Zen monk Bukan. (Property of Mary Griggs Burke; photo: Sheldan C. Collins)

Nassau Swim Club seeks members

The Nassau Swim Club, located on lower Springdale Road, is accepting members for the 2007 season.

The club gives priority to University faculty, staff and students; members of the Institute for Advanced Study; and staff of the Princeton University Press.

The season runs from late May through early September at the small, family-oriented club. For more information and to download an application, visit www.nassauswimclub.org or call 430-4747.

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