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TOP STORIES

The shy adventurer
A new biography of Oriental Institute founder James Henry Breasted is the first to explore his life and research in detail.


Interstellar star
Takeshi Oka's multifaceted career has had a single-minded goal: understanding a molecule that could explain the gas filling the void between the stars.


Divisional liaisons
Collegiate Masters Adam Green, AB'85, and Elisabeth Clemens, AM'85, PhD'90, discuss their administrative role, one that's unique in American higher education.


CHICAGO IN THE NEWS

Christian Science Monitor (December 16, 2011)
Pre-K winners for Race to the Top contest
Early-learning programs have "much higher economic and social returns" than later educational investment, says economist James Heckman.


ScienceNews (December 14, 2011)
Walking may have had a wet start
A study by evolutionary biologists Heather King and Neil Shubin suggests that ancient fish may have taken the first steps on the sea floor.


The Economist (December 10, 2011)
There could be trouble ahead
Milton Friedman, AM'33, blamed the Great Depression on central bankers, and John Cochrane argues that New Deal spending didn’t help. What are the lessons for today?


Chicago Tribune (December 9, 2011)
The new admissions essay: short as a tweet
The long and the short of it: "We’re looking for students unafraid to talk in their own voice," says UChicago’s Evan Cudworth, AM'09.


Scientific American (December 8, 2011)
Jailbreak rat
A UChicago study finds that rodents show empathy for each other.


 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, January 13
CMA Scav Hunt with Harvard
6:30-9:00 p.m. | Cleveland, OH


Sunday, January 15
An Afternoon with Professor Bernard Harcourt
2-4 p.m. | Tucson, AZ


Sunday, January 15
The Coast of Utopia Trilogy: Voyage
3-6 p.m. | Houston

 /> See events across the country and around the world.


PERSPECTIVE

Artistic identity
Schmekel, "a raucous klezmer-core punk band made up of '100 percent trans Jews,'" featuring Divinity School graduate Lucian Kahn on guitar and vocals, performs at Mr. Transman 2011.

 Watch the video

 Read the story


FROM THE EDITORS

Missing kindergarten
If it’s true that "all you really need to know you learn in kindergarten," then Vivian Paley, PhB'47, and alumni news editor Ruth E. Kott, AM'07, are in trouble.

 Read the story