Benjamin Elman, the Gordon Wu '58 Professor of Chinese Studies and professor of East Asian studies and history, focuses on re-examining how the history of East Asia has been told. He is pursuing this work through international collaborations, allowing for the possibility of a "shift in perspective" not only regarding the history of East Asia, but world history.
Featured Story
Elman sparks regional-global approach to East Asian history
By Karin Dienst · Posted May 14, 2012; 12:00 p.m.
Princeton University scholar Benjamin Elman has studied the history of East Asia for most of his intellectual life. Instead of getting easier, it has become more complicated — which for him is a good thing. Elman's ongoing interest is to re-examine our understanding of China and Japan by rethinking how the history of East Asia has been told, especially in the West, but also in China, Japan and Korea.
Read Story | All Featured Stories
Other Current Stories
Four faculty members honored for excellence in mentoring graduate students
By Michael Hotchkiss · Posted May 14, 2012; 03:10 p.m.
Four Princeton University faculty members have been named recipients of the Graduate Mentoring Awards by the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning and will be honored during the Graduate School's hooding ceremony Monday, June 4, on Cannon Green.
Honoring past computer science great, Schmidt looks forward
By John Sullivan · Posted May 11, 2012; 03:41 p.m.
Computer science is among the most forward-looking of disciplines, and in an address at Princeton University on Thursday evening, May 10, Eric Schmidt paid tribute to Alan Turing, one of the giants of the field, by looking ahead to an almost unimaginable future.
Class snapshot: 'American Environmental History and Thought'
By Carol Peters · Posted May 14, 2012; 12:00 p.m.
Deborah and Frank Popper, who are both visiting professors of civil and environmental engineering and at the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) at Princeton University, are teaching the course "American Environmental History and Thought," which allows undergraduates to explore the links between environment and development in the United States.
Graduate School applications reach record high
By Martin Mbugua · Posted May 11, 2012; 10:51 a.m.
Princeton University's Graduate School offered admission to 1,226 of the record 12,077 applicants who applied for the 2012-13 academic year, with the school's global reputation and strong financial aid program contributing to a continued increase in applications, particularly among international students.
Princeton alumnus and trustee Katzenbach, leading figure in U.S. civil rights history, dies
By Eric Quiñones · Posted May 9, 2012; 06:33 p.m.
Nicholas Katzenbach, a Princeton University alumnus and trustee emeritus who was a towering figure in U.S. civil rights history, died of natural causes Tuesday, May 8, at his home in Skillman, N.J. He was 90.
Canaday forges new understanding of history of sexuality
By Ushma Patel · Posted May 10, 2012; 12:00 p.m.
Margot Canaday, an assistant professor of history who will be promoted to associate professor July 1, is a political and legal historian who studies gender and sexuality in modern America. In addition to her undergraduate course "Gender and Sexuality in Modern America," she regularly teaches a graduate seminar on the history of sexuality in America and courses on the American state, gender and work, and approaches to American history.
Schmidt Fund awards support transformative technologies
By Catherine Zandonella · Posted May 8, 2012; 10:00 a.m.
A nitrogen sensor that can monitor environmental change, a "no-frills" quantum computer and a laboratory small enough to fit inside a single cell are the three technologies selected to receive support this year at Princeton University from the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund.
Oates and Pagels receive Behrman Award
By Staff · Posted May 7, 2012; 05:06 p.m.
Princeton professors Joyce Carol Oates and Elaine Pagels have received the University's Howard T. Behrman Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities.
Cancer collaboration could someday help dogs and their humans
By Catherine Zandonella · Posted May 7, 2012; 12:00 p.m.
In pursuing cancer treatment for her dog, Olga Troyanskaya, a computational biologist at Princeton University, started a research collaboration with canine oncologist Karin Sorenmoto with the potential to learn more about cancer, possibly leading to new treatments for dogs and humans as well.
New Global Collaborative Networks projects selected
By Michael Hotchkiss · Posted May 3, 2012; 09:00 a.m.
Princeton University's Council for International Teaching and Research has selected four faculty proposals to receive funding for the creation of global network initiatives.
Construction to begin this summer on new graduate student housing complex at Hibben-Magie site
By Ushma Patel · Posted May 2, 2012; 12:00 p.m.
Construction will begin this summer on the Lakeside graduate community, which will replace the Hibben and Magie apartments with new apartment buildings, townhomes, common areas and a parking structure that are designed to meet graduate students' needs and Princeton University's planning and sustainability goals.
Day named director of news and editorial services at Princeton
By Eric Quiñones · Posted May 2, 2012; 10:00 a.m.
Daniel Day, a veteran media executive and journalist who has significant experience in emerging and traditional forms of communications, has been appointed director of news and editorial services in the Office of Communications at Princeton University. His appointment is effective May 14.
New website for Class of 2016 available
By Emily Aronson · Posted May 1, 2012; 01:21 p.m.
Incoming freshmen and their families can find important information about attending Princeton, as well as interact with University staff and students, via the new website Your Path to Princeton. The site enhances and replaces the previous welcome site for incoming freshman classes.
University adopts proposed fraternity, sorority rush policies
By Staff · Posted May 1, 2012; 10:00 a.m.
Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman has adopted the recommendations of the Committee on Freshmen Rush Policy for administering and enforcing the prohibition on freshmen from affiliating with a fraternity or sorority during their freshman year, and on students soliciting the participation of freshmen in a fraternity or sorority. The new policy will take effect as of Sept. 1.
Plans for dams on Mekong River could spell disaster for area fisheries
By John Sullivan · Posted April 30, 2012; 12:07 p.m.
A massive expansion of hydropower planned for the Mekong River Basin in Southeast Asia could have a catastrophic impact on the river's fishery and millions of people who depend on it, according to a new study by researchers including scientists from Princeton University.
Fleming named valedictorian, Butterworth selected as salutatorian
By Staff · Posted May 6, 2012; 04:48 a.m.
Nathaniel Fleming, a psychology major from Eugene, Ore., has been selected as valedictorian of Princeton University's Class of 2012. Elizabeth Butterworth, a classics major from Auburn, Mass., has been named the Latin salutatorian.
Toni Morrison receives Presidential Medal of Freedom
By Jamie Saxon · Posted April 27, 2012; 04:59 p.m.
Toni Morrison, the renowned author and the Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities Emeritus at Princeton University, was named by President Barack Obama a 2012 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
With 'Power in a Box,' Princeton students win national competition
By Steven Schultz · Posted April 27, 2012; 04:07 p.m.
Converting a standard shipping container into a sustainable source of energy for remote or disaster-torn regions, a team of Princeton University students took top honors in an 18-month national competition that culminated April 21 and 22 on the Washington, D.C., Mall.
Expectation of extraterrestrial life built more on optimism than evidence, study finds
By Morgan Kelly · Posted April 26, 2012; 09:00 a.m.
Princeton University researchers have found that the expectation that life — from bacteria to sentient beings — has or will develop on other planets as on Earth might be based more on optimism than scientific evidence.
In designing robots, students learn to drive a project
By Jeanne Jackson DeVoe · Posted April 24, 2012; 04:18 p.m.
An initiative to add a project management component into one of Princeton's core engineering design courses aims not just to teach students better time-management skills but also to help keep them safe in their laboratory work.
Yeast cell reaction to Zoloft suggests alternative cause, drug target for depression
By Morgan Kelly · Posted April 24, 2012; 10:00 a.m.
Princeton University researchers have observed a self-degradation response to the antidepressant Zoloft in yeast cells that could help provide new answers to lingering questions among scientists about how antidepressants work, as well as support the idea that depression is not solely linked to the neurotransmitter serotonin.
PPPL scientists propose a solution to a critical barrier to producing fusion
By John Greenwald · Posted April 23, 2012; 05:00 p.m.
Physicists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have discovered a possible solution to a mystery that has long baffled researchers working to harness fusion. If confirmed by experiment, the finding could help scientists eliminate a major impediment to the development of fusion as a clean and abundant source of energy for producing electric power.
University submits Arts and Transit project to Planning Board
By Staff · Posted April 23, 2012; 10:00 a.m.
Princeton University has submitted its Arts and Transit project to the Regional Planning Board of Princeton for the site plan approval that is necessary to begin construction. The University hopes to begin work on the $300 million project early in 2013.
Devising a 'silver bullet' for measuring water use by plants
By John Sullivan · Posted April 25, 2012; 12:00 p.m.
Princeton civil and environmental engineering major Ida Posner's senior thesis project focuses on the development of a filter to allow scientists to quickly measure water use by plants, which is critical for understanding how ecosystems are affected by drought, development or climate change.
Two Dale winners to explore new settings through baseball, public health
By Laura Donovan · Posted April 20, 2012; 09:00 a.m.
Princeton seniors Zachary Newick and Shivani Sud will explore minor league baseball in the United States and rural health clinics in India, respectively, over the next year as the 2012 winners of Princeton's Martin Dale Fellowship.
University will use Coursera to explore online class materials
By Emily Aronson · Posted April 18, 2012; 09:00 a.m.
As part of efforts to employ technology to enhance the Princeton academic experience and enable faculty to extend their teaching beyond the physical borders of the campus, the University will explore the development of online class materials via the new educational platform Coursera. According to Coursera, Princeton will join Stanford University, the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania in developing Web-based course materials from a variety of academic fields.
A.J. Stewart Smith to be named VP for PPPL, search for new dean for research to begin
By Eric Quiñones · Posted April 17, 2012; 03:00 p.m.
A.J. Stewart Smith, who has served as Princeton University's first dean for research since 2006, will assume a newly created position as vice president for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) to serve as the University's primary liaison with DOE. Smith is expected to begin his new role on Jan. 1, 2013. A national search for his successor as dean for research will begin immediately.
Persisting in a search for new cancer treatment
By Morgan Kelly · Posted April 18, 2012; 12:00 p.m.
Molecular biology major Kristan Scott focused his senior thesis on a mutant gene linked not only to colorectal cancer but also to the cancer’s ability to resist chemotherapy. Working with special yeast cells created in the lab of his thesis adviser, Senior Lecturer Alison Gammie, Scott helped figure out the combination of cancer treatments that restored sensitivity to chemotherapy — a result that suggests a potential new chemotherapeutic approach for treating certain cancers.
UPDATE: Princeton's Tracy K. Smith wins Pulitzer Prize for poetry
By Jamie Saxon · Posted April 16, 2012; 07:45 p.m.
Princeton University professor Tracy K. Smith has been awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for poetry for her collection "Life on Mars."
FACULTY AWARD: Four Princeton faculty elected to National Academy of Sciences
By Staff · Posted May 7, 2012; 10:30 a.m.
Four Princeton University faculty members are among the 84 new members recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences for noted and ongoing achievement in original research: William Bialek; Pablo Debenedetti; John Groves; and Nai Phuan Ong.
FACULTY AWARD: Three Princeton faculty elected members of the American Philosophical Society
By Staff · Posted April 27, 2012; 10:30 a.m.
Princeton University faculty members Bonnie Bassler, Brent Shaw and Christopher Sims were among 35 new members recently elected to the American Philosophical Society (APS), the nation's oldest scholarly organization.
FACULTY AWARD: MacMillan, Bassler among 2012 Royal Society fellows
By Morgan Kelly · Posted April 23, 2012; 09:00 a.m.
Princeton University professors David MacMillan, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry and chair of the department, and Bonnie Bassler, Squibb Professor of Molecular Biology, were among the noted scientists elected as fellows of the Royal Society in 2012.
Admission Dean Rapelye has 'Conversation With…' students on Facebook
By Cass Cliatt · Posted October 25, 2010; 12:00 p.m.
More than 100 students posed questions to Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye, the first featured host for Princeton's interactive "Conversation With…" video series on Facebook. Visitors to the Facebook page post questions to the comment thread after watching an introductory video, and then return to Facebook to view responses in a follow-up video.
FACULTY AWARD: Eight named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
By Staff · Posted April 17, 2012; 05:07 p.m.
Eight Princeton faculty members have been named fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. They are among 220 leaders in scholarship, business, the arts and public affairs elected this year in recognition of their contributions to their respective fields.