School Notes: Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
January/February 2011

Graduate School lectures

Debra Fischer, professor of astronomy and geology & geophysics, presented the first of this year’s “In the Company of Scholars” lectures on November 18. Her topic was “Searching for Other Earths.” Fischer has discovered more than 100 planets orbiting nearby stars. Her research makes use of telescopes around the world, including the giant 10-meter Keck telescope in Hawaii. Most of the new worlds that have been discovered are planets similar to Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune in our solar system. However, Fischer is leading an effort to find small rocky planets, similar to Earth, orbiting our closest neighbors: two stars in the Alpha Centauri system.

The next talk in the series, “The Flattened Greek Vase,” will be presented by Milette Gaifman, assistant professor of classics and the history of art, on February 24. Gaifman’s research focuses primarily on Greek religious art and the relationship between art and ritual. The final lecture in the series, “Is There the Courage to Change the American Diet?” features Kelly Brownell, professor of psychology and epidemiology & public health, and founding director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. Graduate School alumni, faculty, students, staff members, and their guests are welcome to attend these lectures.

A dozen Whiting fellows

Twelve Yale graduate students have been granted Whiting fellowships this year. Funded by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation, Whiting fellowships are given to students at seven universities in the United States that have outstanding graduate programs in the humanities, and are among the most prestigious awards given to advanced graduate students nationwide. At Yale, a faculty committee appointed by the dean selects the very best students from among those nominated by their departments for this honor. Among this year’s Whiting Fellows are four who are writing dissertations in the English department, two in comparative literature, two in both Renaissance studies and English, one in history, one in philosophy, and one studying both African American studies and history. They were honored at a dinner hosted by Dean Thomas Pollard in October.

Bringing philosophy to high school students

Not many public high schools offer courses in philosophy, but students in New Haven are luckier than most, thanks to a pair of Yale graduate students. Philosophy students Gaurav Vazirani and Arik Ben-avi created an outreach program last year at Hill Career Regional High School, where they taught an after-school pilot course funded by the Graduate School. This year they received a grant from the Squire Foundation to continue the project. They are currently teaching critical thinking skills and topics such as the ethical implications of cyberbullying. Graduate student Kelley Schiffman is working with Gaurav and Arik this year and will take over leadership of the course next year.