Like a train bursting out of a sleepy station, we’re out of the summer quiet and into the autumnal hum when one’s Wellesley calendar becomes a perpetual decision of trying to squeeze in as many events as one can try without a time-turner à la Hermione Granger in Prizoner of Azkaban. Concerts! Lectures! Discussions! Exhibitions! Screenings!
This week, we’re honored by a visit from international cultural theorist, critic and artist Mieke Bal, who is also a professor at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
For starters, Mieka has an incredible name. For next, she’s an incredibly accomplished, visionary person in the world of art and it’s fantastic to have her on campus.
She’s speaking at the Newhouse Center for the Humanities; offering a sneak preview of her film Madame B., an experimental interpretation of Flaubert’s classic novel of suburban discontent; commenting on Finnish artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s Olentoja (Creatures) installation at the Davis Museum; and interacting with members of the Wellesley Community.
I loved the opportunity to meet those on the cutting edge as a student and now as a staff member. Wellesley’s close-knit environment meant that musicians and writers, scientists and philosophers engage with audiences while they’re here. That’s the kind of place Wellesley is, an everyon’es-invited conversation, an intellectual potluck. It’s where you want to be.
And now, because it is Monday and I mentioned trains, here’s a look at everyone’s favorite train from when VCRs roamed the earth.
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