Last December, Middlesex’s original theatre production, the Racial Equity Project (REP), thoughtfully showed how racism can be pervasive in many everyday conversations. At the end of the play, audience members on Zoom were asked to consider and then type in an action they intended to take to combat racism, completing the phrase, “I will….” In February, as part of the…
Middlesex rounded out its observance of Black History Month on February 23 with an All-School Assembly on Zoom featuring writer and producer Peter Ray Saji, who shared his career path and reflected on diversity in Hollywood. Having been a lead writer for ABC’s hit show Black-ish for five seasons, Saji became a co-creator of the successful spinoff Mixed-ish and now…
As Black History Month began, and Middlesex students and faculty continued exploring how racism pervades everyday practices and policies, the community turned its attention to the country’s political system, taking a closer look at democracy and race through a virtual visit with Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr. on February 6, 2021. An esteemed scholar and compelling speaker, Dr. Glaude is the…
What does racism look and sound like? What happens when we ignore it? How can we better address it in the moment, rather than later? The questions seem straightforward enough – yet are typically uncomfortable ones to answer or sort out – which is exactly why an original theatre production like Middlesex’s Racial Equity Project (better known on campus as…
When the School’s gleaming, state-of-the art Kaye Theatre had to remain empty last fall – not usable given State restrictions on physical distancing and the size of indoor gatherings – Middlesex’s Performing Arts Department responded accordingly: Instead of staging one production in person, two would be presented online in the first semester. Director of Technical Theatre and Design Ryan DuBray…
As the month of November began, with a contentious election and a continuing pandemic, the time was right for Middlesex to hold Wellness Week, emphasizing the importance of attending to physical and mental health. The program began on November 2 with a Zoom presentation by Dr. Jud Brewer, an addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist specializing in anxiety and habit change. As…
When he addressed the Middlesex community in April 2016, Dr. Matt Dickinson – a professor of political science at Middlebury College – leaned toward a Clinton win in that year’s presidential election. Speaking this time via Zoom to an entirely different student audience on October 23, 2020, he discussed the factors on which such projections are based, focusing on the…
One particular highlight of this fall’s Virtual Family Weekend was that students and parents alike had the opportunity to spend an hour with a dynamic, thought-provoking, inspiring guest speaker: Julie Lythcott-Haims, author of the New York Times bestseller How to Raise an Adult and the award-winning memoir Real American. Joining Middlesex via Zoom on October 16 and 17, the former…
As part of the Middlesex community’s efforts to investigate the pervasiveness of racism in everyday practices and policies, the School welcomed a virtual visit from Dr. Damon Tweedy, who spoke to students and faculty on an evening Zoom call on September 25. An associate professor of psychiatry at Duke Medical School, a staff physician at the Durham Veteran Affairs Health…
After nearly six months of campus closure, Middlesex opened its gates to welcome back students for the start of the 2020-21 school year. To support a safe and measured opening with robust COVID-19 testing for all students, faculty, and staff, the community is returning to campus in an elongated “phased” reopening with boarding seniors and new students moving into dorms…