In the News

Norman Golb, the Ludwig Rosenberger Professor in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, who disagrees with the Qumran-Essene theory of the Dead Sea Scrolls’ origins, was quoted in an article published by the Chicago Reader in its Friday, April 21 issue. “So many scholars were deeply entrenched in the old theory,” said Golb. “In Israel school groups visit the site––it’s used to encourage Jewish national pride. Eminent professors at Hebrew University subscribed lock, stock and barrel to the theories of Father de Vaux (the leader of the original Qumran excavation)––instead of critically investigating his claims.”

Howard Sandroff, Senior Lecturer in Music and Director of the Computer Music Studio, was featured in a “Fast Track” column in the Sunday, April 30 issue of the Chicago Tribune. Sandroff discussed a recent Symphony Center performance of his musical compositions, including the premiere of … shevet achim gam yachad, which means “sitting together with my brothers” in Hebrew.

Charles Lipson, Associate Professor in Political Science, wrote in a Chicago Tribune op-ed that the tabloid-style coverage of the Elian Gonzalez story demeans the public life of Americans. “After several thousand hours, this coverage begins to demean our public life. Legitimate differences about what policy to pursue are drowned out by screaming aunts and uncles. Virtually every other issue in the United States and the world is squeezed out of the public eye,” wrote Lipson. “Just as Elian and his dad need some quiet time to be together and reflect, so do the rest of us,” Lipson concluded. The op-ed appeared Tuesday, April 25.

Martin Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Divinity School, wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Sunday, April 23 Chicago Sun-Times. Marty wrote that Americans’ faith in God and America’s religions continue to thrive; though for two or three centuries, “prophets, sages and social scientists have envisioned the waning of belief and the triumph of secularism and unbelief. Science, reason, progress, commerce, education: These all were supposed to cause religion to decline or disappear,” wrote Marty.

An essay by Sander Gilman, Professor and Chairman of Germanic Studies and the Henry R. Luce Distinguished Service Professor in Liberal Arts in Human Biology, which appears in a catalog accompanying an exhibition of the Prinzhorn Collection in New York, was praised in a New York Times article. According to the article, Gilman’s essay traces, through the 19th century, a growing interest in the art of the insane, such as the drawings and paintings of the Prinzhorn Collection gathered during the early decades of the 20th century from asylums in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

The University Pep Band appeared on Good Morning America Friday, April 28. Band members who appeared include College students Raj Nayak, John Allread, Emily Hall and Christine Minerva.

The University’s Central Javanese Gamelan Performance Ensemble was featured in a story in the Chicago Tribune. Doctoral student in music David Hunter was photographed for the story, which appeared Sunday, April 30.

Marvin Zonis, Professor of Business Administration in the Graduate School of Business and an expert on Iran, was a source for a front-page Chicago Tribune story that reported on Iran’s political troubles between conservatives and reformers. “The [1979] revolution has failed. The reality is that Iran is a miserable, failed state. The question is: How can they get out of this problem? There is a crisis in Iran that is not being addressed,” said Zonis.

John Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science, was interviewed Friday, April 28, for a BBC World Service broadcast. Mearsheimer discussed international security issues.