Provost's Office

Sarah Henstra is the author of “We Contain Multitudes,” the 2021 Vermont Reads Book of the Year. Henstra is a professor of English at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, and the author of two previous novels, Mad Miss Mimic and The Red Word, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award in Canada.

All animals have visual systems that allow them to process relevant visual stimuli to inform their behaviors. In mammalians, these systems are very complex and often show the presence of retinotopy, a mechanism by which specific regions of the retina (the light-sensitive part of the eye) are mapped onto corresponding locations in the brain, helping preserve spatial information about the visual stimulus. But what about fruit flies? How do they process visual stimuli?

Behind the Scenes at the Tokyo Olympics: The View from the Interpreter’s Booth

Dean Laura Burian, Andrea Hofmann-Miller, and Chiyo Mori from Middlebury Institute’s Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education will share their experience of interpreting for the Tokyo 2020+1 Olympics.

Embracing Tradition, Memories, and Reconciliation for Intercultural and Cross-Generational Empowerment

Ata Anzali
How was the Qur’an complied?

Professor Anzali will first share the most commonly accepted view among Muslims regarding the process by which the Qur’an came to be the book that it is now. He will then compare and contrast this view with the latest academic theories that have been developed to shed light on the intricate process that led to the formation of the most sacred source of Islamic faith, the Qur’an.

Emily Bartels, Beverly Moss, and Tom McKenna
Teaching and Learning across Difference: The Bread Loaf Teacher Network (BLTN)  

Louisa Burnham
The Loneliest Heretic

Limoux Negre struck out on his own in the early 14th century. Calling the Church a bunch of cheaters, he rejected orthodox beliefs and replaced them with a heretical hodgepodge that astonishes us as much as it horrified the contemporaries who burned him at the stake. Mary was a surrogate mother, Jesus was a murderer, and the world was created from coagulated urine. In an age of intolerance, Limoux espoused equal salvation for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Who was Limoux Negre? What stories lay in his past?
 

Paratexts: What they are and what they can teach us about Arabic literature in translation

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.

Come celebrate fall with BOLD! Enjoy music, merch, and food from Sabai Sabai, Taste of India, American Flatbread, and Two Brothers.

Open to all - see you there. Be BOLD!