Richard Nau, Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, Emeritus; and Sharol Nau ’83, presented a paper titled “The Math and Art of Folded Books” and associated artworks at Bridges 2016  in Jyväskylä, Finland in August. The paper has been published in the proceedings and the art has been selected for a show that will be touring in Finland and Hungary.

Susan Jaret McKinstry, Helen F. Lewis Professor of English, presented her paper on Dante Rossetti, William Morris, and Victorian Labor at the ESSE conference in Galway, Ireland, August 22 through 26. She also exhibited her short film, Life’s Work, at the ACM Digital Storytelling Workshop at St. Olaf on September 17.

Justin London, Professor of Music and Cognitive Science, with his colleagues Emily Carlson (first author), Birgitta Burger, Marc Thompson, and Petri Toiviainen at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, recently published an article, “Conscientiousness and Extraversion relate to responsiveness to tempo in dance,” in Human Movement Science. The study shows that people who rated highly in terms of conscientiousness were more sensitive to tempo changes in music, as did introversion, though to a lesser degree. Surprisingly, empathy ratings did not have an effect on peoples sensitivity to tempo change, suggesting that dance movements to music may reflect personalities through both conscious and preconscious processes.  

Gao Hong, Director of the Chinese Music Ensemble and Senior Lecturer in Chinese Musical Instruments, had a busy summer in China. She was invited by Harbin’s mayor to perform at the famous Summer Music Festival on behalf of Harbin’s sister city, Minneapolis. Hong was awarded a Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation USArtists International Grant to perform at this prestigious festival. She also gave a lecture and masterclass at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music where she also received an honorary Guest Professorship. Hong, the Carleton Chinese Music Ensemble, and the World Music Ensemble, were featured in many major Chinese newspapers and on major TV stations including People’s Daily, MV-China, CCTV and others.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Andrea Mazzariello, has been awarded a $5,000 “Established Artist” grant from The Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) for his new musical project, “Plant Another Flower.”

With the SEMAC grant, Andrea will develop a new piece of music and words to perform himself, centered on drums, keyboards, voice, and electronics played simultaneously. He will premiere this “one-person band” work—which merges his experience playing rock music with his experience writing concert music—at the Northfield Arts Guild in March 2017.

Rob Hardy, Research Associate in Classics, had an essay titled “‘Deceit only was forbidden’: A Brief Literary Biography of Richard Henry Wilde,” appear in the summer 2016 issue of the…

Ross Elfline, Assistant Professor of Art History, recently presented a paper titled “Dropping Out: Rethinking Design Labor in the 1960s and 1970s,” at the conference Aquarius Redux: Rethinking Architecture’s Counterculture…

Jason Decker, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science; Andrew Flory, Assistant Professor of Music; and Daniel Groll, Associate Professor of Philosophy; as well as Mike Fuerstein from St Olaf, are members of the band, The Counterfactuals, which released their second, self-titled album on June 10. The album, which recently got some air play on The Current, is available for sale. If you would like a copy, however, you should e-mail Daniel directly to avoid shipping costs. Pick up a copy on CD or vinyl today!