Notes and News – Week of 11-30
ML’s Pieces
Dear Red Lions,
I hope you all had a wonderful break and are looking forward to being back in the courtyard. We thoroughly enjoyed our first Thanksgiving break in the college, cooking up a lovely holiday spread with our extended family members who drove in from Chicago and New Jersey. Our families enjoyed seeing our beautiful courtyard and feasting with our TD students and playing board games and mahjong into the night!
This week’s “photo of the week” comes from Peter “InstaPete” Wang and is titled “Sophomores in the Courtyard” featuring our own John Kaufman, April Alessandro, and Khyber Shepperd who were all here over the Thanksgiving break.
We are moving into December which means that the countdown to final papers and exams is around the corner. This year we have an unusually late semester so we have two full weeks of classes before heading into the final stretch. But I am working hard to find ways to keep morale up as the days grow shorter and colder. First, we will continue with the reading groups as requested and we have added some dinner times. Dean Mahurin and I will send out a google form sign up in another email. For now, here are the days/times we have set aside:
Thursday 12/3 12pm
Friday 12/4 12pm
Tuesday 12/8 6pm
Wednesday 12/9 6:30pm
Thursday 12/10 12pm
Friday 12/11 6pm
And you’ll see below that we have a number of seasonal activities planned including ice skating and tree trimming. And we have our eagerly awaited tea with Ambassador Wellsthis Tuesday. I think you’ll all agree that we have a great roster of programs coming up to take us to the end of the semester.
Tuesday 12/1 4:30pm Ambassador Alice Wells, “Defeating ISIL – the Challenge of US Diplomacy”
TD is honored to host Alice Wells, the current U.S. Ambassador to Jordan. Ambassador Wells will give a talk on the difficult challenges for U.S. diplomacy in confronting ISIL through the prism of US-Jordanian relations. Due to overwhelming demand, please come early to get your seat for the Tea. The dinner sign-up has closed and all students selected through the lottery have been informed.
Wednesday 12/e 9pm Holiday Decorating in TD Common Rooms
If you live in RH, you probably noticed the wonderful scent of fresh balsam coming from the beautiful tree in the Common Room. We have decorations galore to trim the tree and turn the room into a festive hangout for the holiday season. Please gather at 9pm to string lights and ornaments. And we’ll also gather to decorate the main Common Room in the TD Town Hall.
Thursday 12/3 7:30-9:30pm TD Goes Ice Skating (please note the changed date and time!)
Are lions natural born skaters??? We’ll find out when we go on our first-ever college skating trip to New Haven’s Ralph Walker Rink. Just about a mile from campus, this local ice skating rink will be ours for the evening. We’ll have wonderful goodies including hot chocolate and cookies to warm up coming off the ice. The bus will depart from the TD gate at 7:15pm and 7:45pm and return at 9pm and 9:30pm. No sign-up necessary – just come with your TD friends, dress warmly, and show up at our main gate to board the bus.
Here are our great events for next week:
Tuesday 12/8 5:15pm Harkness Tower Tour and Carillon Demonstration with TDers Lynnli Wang ‘ 16 and Jonathan Adler ‘17
The sign-up list is already full. But we can hear Lynnli and Jonathan ring the bells all the way from the TD courtyard. Judging from the list of requests it should be a fun set list!
Friday 12/11 Holiday Dinner (TD Dining Hall) and Holiday Sing-a-long (TD House)
Please join us in the TD Dining Hall for this year’s festive Holiday Dinner in the college. As soon as dinner is over, we’ll head back to the house and dust off the old caroling books and sing! And calling all good sight-reading pianists!
Saturday 12/12 Alvin Ailey in NYC
Attending a performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has been a long-standing and beloved TD tradition. This season’s performance includes a new work,Exodus, by hip-hop choreographer Rennie (Lorenzo) Harris set to gospel and house music along with poetic narration. Also on the program are No Longer Silent set to the music of Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff’s whose work was banned by the Nazis andGrace, one of Ailey’s popular works. More details will be forthcoming when we return from Thanksgiving break.
Without further ado, here is a word from Dean Mahurin…
Áshe,
ML
******
Dean’s Domain
A reminder that our reading group will resume in the weeks before winter recess, and to whet your readerly appetites, a couplet from poet laureate Natasha Trethewey:
“You can get there from here, though
there’s no going home.”
(This is especially relevant for those returning from Thanksgiving trips, who may have found that ‘home’ is not quite just as it was, just as it was left – or perhaps, rather, that we are not just as we were when we took leave of our homes and hometowns.)
TiDbits
Life Worth Living (HUMS 411) asks, “What is the god life?”
Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, Ryan McAnnally-Linz
Course application required; enrollment limited to 45 students (three sections of 15). Applications due no later than December 15, 2015: http://goo.gl/forms/TK9H68vgDSDecisions will be emailed by January 17, 2016.
What does it mean for a life to go well? What would it look like for a life to be lived well? In short, what shape would a life worth living take? We will explore these questions through comparative exploration of the shape of the life advocated by several of the world’s normative traditions, both religious and nonreligious. The class will examine concrete instantiations of these traditions through contemporary exemplars drawn from outside the professional religious or philosophical spheres. Readings will be drawn from the founding texts of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, utilitarianism, and Nietzscheanism.
Check out creative writing and journalism courses to be offered this spring (in my old home in the English department)! Several of these courses require an application, due by noon on Wednesday, December 9. Application instructions and course descriptions can be found on the English department website. In addition, the Theater Studies course, THST 322 Advanced Playwriting with Deborah Margolin may also count as an English course for majors; admission by application, with priority to Theater Studies majors. A writing sample and statement of purpose should be submitted to the instructor before the first class meeting. Questions may be directed toerica.sayers@yale.edu or jane.bordiere@yale.edu
The Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale (ISPS) is pleased to announce that applications are open for the Director’s Fellows program. The fellowship is open to Yale sophomores and juniors who are committed to working in U.S. domestic politics and policymaking. Selected Fellows will join ISPS as members of the Domestic Policy Group starting in January 2016, and over the course of one calendar year, will receive sophisticated policy training from ISPS faculty and affiliates, integrate into ISPS research activities, and test their development through real world application and feedback. To apply, please visit our webpage and click on “Application Form” at the bottom of page. Deadline for applying is December 1, 2015 at 11:59pm. Accepted fellows will be notified before the winter break.
The Yale Investments Office, which manages the $25 billion Yale Endowment, is seeking analysts. Past and current analysts possess varied academic backgrounds – we’ve hired natural science, social science, humanities, and engineering majors. We look for intelligent students eager to attack new challenges and work for a meaningful cause. Over the last 20 years, the Yale Endowment has contributed $13 billion to the University’s operating budget, contributions that have enabled Yale to maintain its place as a world-class haven for aspiring students, brilliant professors, and cutting edge research. If you are interested in learning more, you can visit our website here! We are having an information session with representatives from the Yale Investments Office team at Mory’s on December 1st at 7:30 pm, and another at our office on 55 Whitney Ave. on December 14th at 4:30 pm. We also welcome you to meet members of our office in a casual lunch setting in Commons, Berkeley, or Silliman on Wednesday, December 2nd, and in Commons or Calhoun on Friday, December 4th.
Our application opens on OCS Symplicity on December 14th, and the deadline is onFriday, January 15th at 9:30am.
Silver Scholars Program: Each year, the Yale School of Management admits a select group of college seniors to a three-year MBA program called the Silver Scholars Program. The program provides students with the unique opportunity to enter an MBA program immediately after completing their undergraduate studies and move more quickly towards their career goals. Students spend the first year completing the core curriculum; in the second year, they go away on an extended, full-time, year-long, paid internship; the third year is spent on campus, taking electives towards the MBA degree. Yale College students receive a 50% tuition discount. Students of all academic majors and professional interests are encouraged to apply. If you would like to speak with an Admissions Officer, please email us at mba.admissions@yale.edu to schedule an appointment.
SHARE Support Groups. The SHARE (Sexual Harassment and Assault Response & Education) Center will be offering support groups during the winter semester (dates and times to be set based on schedules of member). Where: SHARE Center (Yale Health, Lower Level) Please contact Carole Goldberg or Amy Meyers if you are interested in participating. Carole Goldberg: 203 432 0310, carole.goldberg@yale.edu; Amy Myers:203-436-8217, amy.myers@yale.edu
DEADLINES
December 11 Classes end at 5:30 pm; reading period begins.
Last day to convert from the Credit/D/Fail option to a letter grade.
Last day to withdraw from a full-term course or a course offered in the second half of the term.
December 16 Reading period ends.
Deadline for all course assignments, other than papers and term projects.
December 17 Final exams begin at 9 am.
December 22 Examinations end at 5:30 pm.
Deadline for all term papers and projects.
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
International Summer Award (ISA) Information Sessions
Learn all about Yale’s International Summer Award, which funds a summer experience abroad for Yale College Students on financial aid (details at www.yale.edu/isa). Bring your questions! Sessions will be held the following dates, time and locations:
Wednesday, December 9, 4:00–5:00 pm, CIPE, 55 Whitney Ave 3rd Floor, Room 305
Monday, February 1, 2016, 4:00–5:00 pm, OISS (International Center, 421 Temple Street)
Tuesday, March 8, 2016, 4:00–5:00 pm, CIPE, 55 Whitney Ave 3rd Floor, Room 305
Interested in the Yale-coordinated Domestic and International Internships?
In order to apply to these positions you must first complete our program tutorial.
Students can access the program tutorial by clicking on the ‘2016 Yale-Coordinated Internship Tutorial & Registration’ document in the Document Library (available under Resources > Document Library) in Symplicity.
If you reviewed this document last year you will need to review it once again! Students who complete the tutorial will be able to apply to positions when they are released in Symplicity on the morning of Monday, December 14.
The primary application deadline for these positions will be Tuesday, February 2, 2016.
Graduate School Application Writing Bootcamp
Thursday, December 3, 4:00pm–5:00pm, Office of Career Strategy
If you’re at any stage of the graduate school application process, from updating your resume to editing your personal statement, drop by to enjoy donuts and a quiet space to work on your application; graduate student peers will be on hand to answer your questions regarding degrees in the humanities, social sciences, or STEM fields.
The Writing Center: Personal Statement Writing Feedback
Saturday, December 5, 3:00pm–5:00pm, 35 Broadway Avenue
Working on a personal statement for your grad school application? The Writing Center is offering drop-in tutoring for personal statement writers. Come get feedback on your statement from a Yale PhD student with experience writing graduate school personal statements. We’ll work with you at any point in the writing process, from outlining to drafting to making final edits.
FELLOWSHIPS – see http://www.yale.edu/yalecollege/international/funding/fellowships/