Chérif Keïta, professor of French, recently had his film "Oberlin-Inanda: The Life and Times of John Dube" [the French version] aired on ORTM, Mali's national TV, followed by an interview with the director, and reactions from His Excellency Ambassador Terrence McCulley, who served previously as the U.S. Consul General in Durban, South Africa, and from Professor Salif Berthé, Dean of the School and Letters, Arts and Humanities at the University of Bamako. Also, on April 22, Professor Keïta has been invited to screen and discuss his film and his ongoing South Africa research as part of the University of Chicago African Studies Workshop Series.

Jerry Mohrig, Herman and Gertrude Mosier Stark Professor of the Natural Sciences, Emeritus, has received the 2008 Brasted Award for Excellence in College Teaching from the Minnesota Section of the American Chemical Society. The award will be presented at Carleton on May 20, when he will give a lecture on Achieving More Effective Learning in Undergraduate Laboratories. Jerry and eight Carleton alums, who carried out undergraduate research in his laboratory, have recently published an article in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, titled Stereochemistry of 1,2-Elimination Reactions at the E2-E1cB Interface − tert-Butyl 3-Tosyloxybutanoate and its Thioester.

Marion Cass, Charles “Jim” and Marjorie Kade Professor of the Sciences, presented an invited talk on April 7th at the 235th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans. Her talk, “A Computational Study on the Ligand Imposed Preferences for the Bailar vs. the Ray-Dutt Twists in GaL3 complexes” was coauthored with her research colleague, Professor Henry Rzepa of Imperial College, London.

Jenny Wahl, professor of economics, recently published the chapter "Andrew Jackson's Veto Message Regarding the Second Bank of the United States" in Milestone Documents in American History: Exploring the Primary Sources that Shaped America (Salem Press for the Schlager Group).

Steven Schier, Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science, chaired a panel at a recent conference on the Vice Presidency at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs in Minneapolis. The panel, entitled "Why is the Vice Presidential Nominee Important?" featured Douglas Moe, former chief of staff to Vice President Walter Mondale, Joel Goldstein of Saint Louis University Law School and Kathryn Pearson of the University of Minnesota Political Science Department. Also last month, Professor Schier presented a paper entitled "The Bush Presidency and Washington Governance" at the recent meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago. Professor Schier agreed recently to coauthor the next edition of the book, Presidential Elections, written originally by Nelson Polsby and Aaron Wildavsky, and published by Rowman and Littlefield. The next edition will be the books' thirteenth.

Jerome, Levi, associate professor of anthropology, recently published an article on "Symbols" in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.

Cathy Yandell, W.I. and Hulda F. Daniell Professor of French, recently delivered a paper in Paris at an international conference, "1553 : audaces et innovations poétiques," sponsored by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Université de Paris VII. The paper was titled "L'empreinte de la 'paillardize' : Catulle et les Folastries de Ronsard" [A Baudy Legacy : Catullus and Ronsard's Folastries] and will be published in the proceedings later this year. She is currently directing Carleton's French Studies Seminar in Paris with a group of terrific students.

Nancy Wilkie, William H. Laird Professor of Classics, Anthropology, and the Liberal Arts, recently published an article entitled "Governmental Agencies and the Protection of Cultural Property in Times of War," in Antiquities Under Siege. Cultural Heritage Protection After the Iraq War, ed. Lawrence Rothfield, (AltaMira Press, 2008) pp. 237-247.

Gao Hong, Performance Activities Coordinator in Music and Adjunct Instructor in Chinese Musical Instruments, was recently awarded an honorary Guest Professor position at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Others who have received this distinction include Yo-Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Seiji Ozawa, and Tan Dun. In addition, Gao Hong was also recently awarded a MetLife Creative Connections Grant from Meet the Composer, Inc. in New York City. This grant will support outreach events associated with the world premiere of her first choral composition, “The Coming of Spring,” by Vocalessence; concerts at Ted Mann Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; and for The St. Louis Classical Guitar Society.

Martha Paas, Wadsworth A. Williams Professor of Economics, presented a paper at an international interdisciplinary conference on Early Modern Europe at Duke University in March. Also, Professor Paas's book, The Economic History of the Kipper und Wipper Inflation has been accepted for publication by Yale University Press.

Michael McNally, associate professor of religion, presented "The Authority of Anishinaabe Eldership" at the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association meeting in Athens, GA, on April 12.

Lori Pearson, assistant professor of religion, was recently elected Chair of the Nineteenth-Century Theology Group of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). At the fall meeting of the AAR she organized and chaired a panel on "Nineteenth-Century Interpretations of Christian Origins".