FRS: Pondering the differences between minds and machines
by Kitta MacPherson
Princeton neuroscientist Asif Ghazanfar is asking students in his freshman seminar to do nothing less than rethink the way the brain and body interact and to deeply consider a new science underlying what he calls “the biology of thought.”
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BP and Princeton renew partnership to tackle climate problem
by Kitta MacPherson
Energy company BP has committed to a five-year renewal of a joint research partnership with Princeton that identifies ways of tackling the world’s climate problem. It will support Princeton to at least its current level of funding for the years 2011 to 2015.
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Tilghman assumes new role as AAU chair
by Cass Cliatt
President Tilghman has been named chair of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a nonprofit organization representing 60 of the nation’s leading public and private research universities, as well as two major universities in Canada.
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Transportation and parking goals focus on sustainability
by Ruth Stevens
One goal of the Sustainability Plan adopted by the University in February is to decrease by 10 percent the number of cars commuting to campus on a daily basis by the year 2020 in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease impervious ground cover on campus.
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FRS: Freshmen form bonds in seminars
Princeton’s first-year students are learning about relationships and building their own through the Freshman Seminar Program. Freshman seminars stress close interaction with faculty members in small-group settings, with an emphasis on inquiry that will set the course for the students’ years at Princeton. Some 450 students are enrolled in 36 seminars this fall; another 41 seminars will be offered in the spring.
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FRS: Finding a world of connections
by Karin Dienst
“Where are you from?” is a question that many new Princeton students ask each other. It has particular import in the freshman seminar “Growing Up Global: Novels and Memoirs About Transnational Childhoods,” in which 15 freshmen from across the country and around the world are homing in on issues of identity and belonging.
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FRS: Exploring conflict and consensus in political life
by Jennifer Greenstein Altmann
A news clip from late August filled the screen in a Wallace Hall classroom, where Amin Ghaziani’s freshman seminar was meeting. Fifteen students watched closely as a news anchor recounted a dispute between two Democratic delegates at their convention. An African American delegate from Illinois reportedly accused an African American woman of being an “Uncle Tom” for supporting Hillary Clinton instead of Barack Obama.
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FRS: Weighing universities’ role in the ‘common good’
by Eric Quiñones
A year ago, Princeton’s current freshmen were entrenched in the college application process, seeking the best fit for their own aspirations. This semester, 15 of those students are continuing to scrutinize colleges and universities in a new freshman seminar that focuses on higher education’s broader value to society.
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Managing editor: Eric Quiñones
Assistant editor: Jennifer Greenstein Altmann
Lead designer: Maggie Westergaard
Designer: Shani Hilton
Calendar editor: Shani Hilton
Contributing writers: Emily Aronson, Cass Cliatt, Karin Dienst, Kitta MacPherson, Ruth Stevens
Photographers: Denise Applewhite, Brian Wilson
Web edition: Mahlon Lovett
Subscription manager: Elizabeth Patten
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