SAS In Focus is the only newsletter devoted to reporting what’s happening in the School of Arts & Sciences. In this edition . . .
- Shakespeare’s “Othello” is in the spotlight at the Sloan Performing Arts Center.
- How Rochester physicists are decoding the mystery of “dark energy.”
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences researchers find a lot happens in the blink of an eye.
And more . . .
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ON STAGE: ‘OTHELLO’
The University of Rochester’s International Theatre Program invites you to attend its production of Shakespeare’s “Othello” in the Smith Theatre at the Sloan Performing Arts Center. Brilliantly plotted and viscerally exciting, this timeless tragedy about malevolent double-dealing explores the nexus of power and manipulation, obsession and delusion, trust and betrayal, and bigotry and transgression.
The curtain rises at 7 p.m. for performances running April 18-20 and April 24-27. Stick around for a reception following opening night. A matinee at 2 p.m. on April 21 features ASL interpretation.
Get your tickets here.
PAIR IT WITH . . . A “Shakespearean Poetry Walk” on April 19 sponsored by the Undergraduate English Council. Meet in the Stackel Room at Wilson Commons at 5 p.m. for an hourlong jaunt through the Bard’s most famous works. It’s free and open to all and a great way to set the stage for your “Othello” experience.
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IN THE NEWS
Blinking. We do it without even thinking about it.
But Brian and Cognitive Sciences researchers at the University of Rochester are giving consumers of Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, ScienceAlert, and other mainstream media something to think about after finding that a lot more happens in the blink of an eye than meets the eye.
Graduate student Bin Yang and his colleague Janis Intoy, working with BCS Professor Michele Rucci, show in their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that blinking not only refreshes the eye but acts as an information processing stage.
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RESEARCH ROUNDUP
Scientists have analyzed the first batch of data from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) — and researchers from the University of Rochester are among them.
The DESI project, which is a five-year quest to measure 40 million galaxies and the largest three-dimensional map of the cosmos ever constructed, is an international collaboration involving more than 800 scientists from around the world.
That includes a University interdisciplinary group of professors, postdoctoral research associates, graduate students, and undergraduates from the departments of Physics and Astronomy and Computer Science, and the Goergen Institute for Data Science.
The group is co-led by Regina Demina, a professor of physics; Segev BenZvi, an associate professor of physics; and Kelly Douglass, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy.
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SYMPOSIUMS
April 20: “Taylor, Dylan, and the Art of Songwriting,” 2-5 p.m., Dewey Hall, Room 1.101
This symposium sponsored by the Arthur Satz Department of Music features talks about Taylor Swift, Bob Dylan, and how artists like them manage to churn out memorable tunes with meaning. The answer isn’t blowin’ in the wind. Joining the discussion will be Stephanie Burt, an acclaimed poet and scholar from Harvard University; and music theorists Victoria Malawey and Steven Rings, from Macalester College and the University of Chicago, respectively.
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IN MEMORIAM:
MICHAEL JENSEN (1939-2024)
Michael Jensen, the former LaClare Professor of Finance and Business Administration at the University of Rochester whose pioneering research revolutionized the understanding of corporate finance and changed how companies are run, has died. He was 84.
Read his obituary here.
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GOT NEWS TO SHARE?
Send your SAS In Focus news tips to SAS Senior Communications Officer David Andreatta at david.andreatta@rochester.edu. Be sure to put “SAS In Focus” in the subject heading, and tell him about research, awards, publications, and symposiums, and whatever other news you think is fit to print.
