Williams College Alumna Wins Prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Gates Cambridge Scholarship program has announced Williams College alumna Emily Gladden ‘07 as one of 29 Americans to receive the scholarship to study at Cambridge University in October 2010.

Eight hundred American students applied for The Gates Cambridge Scholarship this year, of whom 104 were interviewed and 29 were selected. Selection was based on their ability to meet four scholarship criteria: intellectual ability, leadership potential, a commitment to improving the lives of others, and a good fit with Cambridge.

The scholarship covers the full cost of studying at Cambridge, as well as airfare and a living allowance.

Gladden, who is from Princeton, N.J., plans to pursue an M.Phil. degree in criminology at Cambridge University’s Clare College. She is particularly interested in young and first-time offenders, reducing recidivism and improving rehabilitation efforts.

She received her B.A. Magna Cum Laude in psychology and English. At Williams, she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, founded Students Against the Death Penalty, and was a member of the varsity squash and lacrosse teams.

Gladden wrote her senior thesis on people’s perceptions of crime and reactions toward criminals.

After graduating, she worked for a year as research assistant at the John Jay School of Criminal Justice on a prospective longitudinal study on child abuse and neglect. She currently works as a paralegal supervisor for the Federal Defenders, Inc. in the Eastern District of New York, representing indigent clients charged with federal crimes.

After studying in England, Gladden plans to attend law school in the United States.

Gladden is the fourth student from Williams to be named a Gates Cambridge Scholar, following Shannon Chiu ‘08, Alan Rodrigues ‘07, and Shawn Powers ‘04.

The scholarships were instituted in October 2000, with a donation of $210 million by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the University of Cambridge. The international scholarship program enables outstanding graduate students from outside the United Kingdom to study at the University of Cambridge.
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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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