Office of Advancement

Social Sniffers: Decoding smell in ants and unlighted fireflies

Smell is the most important sense in the life of an insect. It drives critical behaviors such as foraging for food, finding a mate, and locating an egg-laying site. But ants living in a colony also need to communicate with their sisters! And some fireflies have gone to the “dark side” and no longer produce dazzling courtship displays at night. Our current research fueled by Middlebury students aims to understand how these powerful sensory systems evolved.

Who’s Responsible for Our Health? The limits of public health paternalism.

Trauma and the Brain: How extraordinary events change how we look at the world

Of the many commodities carried on Dutch East and West India Company ships in the 17th and 18th centuries, textiles were by far the most numerous. Not only valuable trade items, textiles were also potent signifiers in an increasingly global world, where clothing played a critical role in shaping identities in colonial and European circles. Although extant examples of these textiles are scarce, painted images and archival documents hint at their social and economic importance.

Precolonial Ethnic Violence: The roots of Hindu-Muslim conflict in India

Is ethnic violence in the non-Western world a legacy of colonialism or the precolonial period? Professor Verghese evaluates these competing perspectives using the influential case of Hindu-Muslim violence in India. He has constructed a new dataset of all conflicts between Hindu and Muslim states from 1000 to 1850 AD and finds that historical violence began around 1700 AD—before the British ruled the subcontinent.

Same but Different is a dance-theater performance created and performed by Christal Brown and Lida Winfield. The scholar-artists explore their similarities and differences in a cultural commentary on race, age, and gender. In this webinar, the artists will share excerpts of the work and discuss how it is a reflection of their lived values, artistic practice, and communal existence.

Is the Snow Bowl getting higher? How recent tectonic events have shaped the New England landscape

Digging beneath the surface of something very familiar can be richly rewarding. Such is the case with Old Chapel. Beyond its importance to Middlebury College, this structure recorded in the Historic American Building Survey and listed on the National Register of Historic Places has connections that transcend its accumulated local associations. Prof.

Nineteenth-century Americans often saved or exchanged locks of hair as mementos, constructing elaborate items of jewelry or keepsake wreaths that embodied familial relationships and kinship networks. These tokens could serve memorial purposes or solidify friendships. This material, crafted from the body, was often worn on the body, near the heart, or displayed within the intimate space of the home. In more recent decades, hair has become a potent political medium for artists highlighting feminism and ethnic or racial identity.

Conspiracies and Disinformation: New Challenges or Sources of Timeless Turmoil?

Jason M. Blazakis will discuss the international security challenges posed by conspiracies and disinformation and how these have manifested during the COVID-19 pandemic. He will also share some observations from his own research and that of the Middlebury Institute Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism.