Stories this week at WFU
“SHOOTING KENNEDY”: NEW BOOK EXPLORES KENNEDY PHOTOS
Forty years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a new book by a Wake Forest art professor explores famous images of Kennedy and his family and their connections to American culture. David Lubin, Charlotte C. Weber Professor of Art at Wake Forest, is the author of “Shooting Kennedy: JFK and the Culture of Images.” “The Kennedy images derive their power in good measure from their ability to activate latent memories of other powerful images in the histories of art and popular culture,” Lubin says. He draws from Hollywood films, TV sitcoms, neoclassical painting, modern art and designer fashion to show how the public came to identify personally with the Kennedys.
Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
AT WAKE FOREST, SUPERCOMPUTERS NOT JUST FOR PROFESSORS
Numerous universities across the country use computer clusters, or supercomputers, to aid in complex scientific research, but at Wake Forest, undergraduate students have access to the same supercomputer brain power as professors. Students in courses ranging from the beginning computer science class, “Fundamentals of Computer Science,” to the upper-level “Parallel Computation” use the university’s Linux cluster in their coursework. Jacque Fetrow, Reynolds Professor of Computational Biophysics, says that undergraduate students having access to such computing power is uncommon in the academic world. “We are able to teach some very unique and important courses because our students have access to this cluster,” she says. The university’s Linux cluster consists of 98 nodes and is located in downtown Winston-Salem.
Contact: Sarah S. Mansell, manselss@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
TALENT SHOW WILL BENEFIT SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL LIBRARIES
Students in Assistant Professor of History James Wilson’s African history class are hosting a Nov. 20 talent show to raise money for rural libraries in Africa. Several student performing groups will compete in the show, which will be held on Magnolia Courtyard (rain location: 401 Benson University Center). Admission is $5 and all proceeds will go to the World Library Partnership. The 27 students in the class have also written 10-15 page books to send to South African elementary school students. They will be presented to the executive director of the World Library Partnership during a reception following the show. In May, the students will travel to South Africa to deliver the books and work with the libraries.
Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
PLAYING HOUSE FOR A REAL-LIFE LESSON IN SOCIAL CLASS
Students in Angela Hattery’s sociology class “Social Inequality” are assigned roles in fictional local families, ranging from a wealthy two-parent family to a single-parent family on welfare. On Nov. 24, at 10 a.m., the students will make class presentations on the specific job, housing, childcare and school they found in Winston-Salem, based on their “families’” financial circumstances and education level. The students also shopped for a week’s worth of groceries based on the weekly income of their “family.” They will deliver the food they purchased to Samaritan Ministries – just in time for Thanksgiving. “The project is designed to illustrate social class stratification and some of its outcomes for young families,” says Hattery. “I want them to see that social class stratification affects the house you live in, the school your kids attend, the food you can afford to buy,” she says.
Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
STUDENTS TO RECOGNIZE WORLD AIDS DAY
During World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, students involved in a campus group called Student Global AIDS Campaign will have tables set up in the Benson University Food Court area with posters, pamphlets and other information to raise AIDS awareness. At 4:30 p.m., the students will release helium balloons that have written on them the names of victims of HIV and AIDS and facts pertaining to AIDS. At 7 p.m., a speaker will address the fight against AIDS. The talk will be followed by a performance by the local dance group, Otesha Creative Arts Ensemble.
Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
NEWS SERVICE CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
The News Service, along with most administrative office on campus, will be closed Nov. 27-28. Students’ Thanksgiving holiday is Nov. 26-30.
Categories: Arts & Culture, Experiential Learning, Happening at Wake
Media Contact
Wake Forest News
media@wfu.edu
336.758.5237
