Spring 2003
Spring
2003
In a conversation with soundings, Professor John Dower discusses how his concept of cultural analysis has shifted during his career.
soundings is published by the Dean's Office of the
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at MIT
Bullets & bytes
Marantz and Ziporyn named to Sahin professorships
Junot Díaz awarded 2002 Pen/Malamud Award
Marantz and Ziporyn named to Sahin professorships
In October 2002, Alec Marantz and Evan Ziporyn were named the first holders of the Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professorships in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS). The chairs
are a result of 1963 MIT graduate Kenan Sahin's extraordinarily generous $100 million gift to the Institute in 1999, $75 million of which was dedicated to SHASS.
Marantz, head of the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, is known for his pioneering work in the field of morphosyntax, as well as the cognitive neuroscience of language. Marantz is Research Director at the KIT/MIT MEG Joint Research Lab.
Ziporyn, who became head of the Music and Theater Arts Section in January 2003, is a renowned composer, clarinetist, and world music specialist. Director of MIT's Balinese Gamelan Galak Tika, Ziporyn also records and performs regularly with Steve Reich and the New York-based "Bang on a Can All-Stars."
Photos: Donna Coveney/MIT.
Junot Díaz awarded 2002 Pen/Malamud Award
Junot Díaz, who was appointed associate professor in the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies in February 2003, received the 2002 PEN/Malamud Award jointly with Ursula K. Le Guin. Established by the family of the late Bernard Malamud, the PEN/Malamud Award honors a body of work exhibiting excellence in the art of the short story.
Díaz's work in this genre includes Drown, an acclaimed 1996 collection of short stories, as well as stories published in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and others.
For Díaz, an avid reader of Le Guin's fantasy and science fiction as a child, the award was enhanced by the chance to meet and speak with Le Guin. "She is an extraordinary person," raves Díaz, "gracious, brilliant, and piercing. I spent my whole childhood reading Le Guin, being moved and changed by her words."
The admiration is mutual. Le Guin admitted on her Web site that she was somewhat intimidated by meeting Díaz, because, "so many trendy people had praised his book and I thought he was going to be trendy too . . . but he was terrific. It was a joy to get to know him, and Drown is a joy, too."
Photo: Marion Ettlinger.
Copyright © 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology