News

The Big Eleven Fills the Screen

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…

Overcoming Anxiety, Undoing Harmful Habits

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…

Predicting the President

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…

How to Raise Hope for a Better Future

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…

Examining Race and Medicine

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…

A Welcome Return to Campus

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…

Introducing New Colleagues

While each June marks the retirement or departure of several Middlesex faculty and staff members as they move on to new ventures, every September brings new colleagues to the School, revitalizing the community with different ideas, approaches, and experiences. Peter Sullivan has returned to New England to teach both math and economics. Previously an assistant professor of economics at the…