October 2026 News Archive

October 22, 2026

For the record: Week of Oct. 23, 2026

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October 22, 2026

Catching up with...Junko Ueno

Junko Ueno, professor of Japanese, grew up in Fukuoka, one of the prefectures of Kyushu Island, Japan. She loved learning English as a child, and a part-time job teaching English during her college days inspired her to study abroad after graduation. While working on her M.A. in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) and applied linguistics at Indiana University, Bloomington, Ueno started teaching Japanese as well. She found tremendous joy in teaching and relearning her native language and

October 22, 2026

Death of a textbook: 19th-century mock funerals used to mark the end of a term

Calder Baker ’29 was sorting through material in Special Collections when he discovered an old student scrapbook. Belonging to Frederick Richards, Class of 1888, the weathered book contained what one would expect for chronicling a student’s time on campus: menus, newspaper clippings and information related to his fraternity. Placed prominently at the front of the book, however, were mementos of a long-dead tradition: the burial/cremation of textbooks. This included special programs for the “Burial of Algebr

October 21, 2026

Department of Visual Arts hosts faculty and staff exhibit, “Practices”

As part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Feigenbaum Center for Visual Arts, the department is pleased to present Practices: the Visual Arts Department Faculty and Staff Exhibition. This show brings together more than 60 works across a variety of media, including painting, printmaking, photography, robotic art, sculpture, installation, and theatrical costume and set design.

October 15, 2026

For the record: Week of Oct. 16, 2026

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October 14, 2026

Peruvian caves sound the alarm for global long-term drought, a team of researchers at Union discover

Caves in the tropical Peruvian Andes hold clues amassed over the past 450,000 years, which suggest a strong possibility for an alarming reduction in rainfall across a third of the globe, according to a new study. The long-term drought is a troubling issue for the more than 2.7 billion people on Earth who depend on monsoon rains for fresh water. The research was published this week in Nature, the world’s leading journal of peer-reviewed science research.

October 8, 2026

Catching up with…Mark Walker

Mark Walker grew up on a small family farm in Iowa just as American agriculture was transitioning away from family farms to large-scale factory farming. Because he was on a farm, Walker, the John Bigelow Professor of History, wanted to go to college in a city. He ended up at Washington University in St. Louis, where he majored in math. During his junior year as an exchange student at the University of Sussex in England, he took a wide range of courses and met many international students, including becoming

October 8, 2026

For the record: Week of Oct. 9, 2026

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October 8, 2026

Union joins National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps regional hub

Union is joining the NY National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Hub, sharing its experience supporting entrepreneurship at undergraduate institutions and helping more faculty and students explore how to bring their scientific and engineering discoveries to the marketplace. The NSF I-Corps Hubs form the operational backbone of the National Innovation Network, comprising universities, NSF-funded and other researchers, established entrepreneurs, local and regional entrepreneurial communities and

October 8, 2026

Music Department presents fall concerts

The Department of Music is presenting a series of ensemble concerts this term, featuring students from across campus and all disciplines.