The Wesleyan Connection

Documentary photographer Wendy Ewald explained how photography relates to personal history during the "Eye of History: The Camera as Witness" presentation and panel Nov. 7.

“We can never really claim to have seen anything unless it has been photographed.” — Émile Zola, c. 1901, Minutes of the Camera Club of Paris

Documentary photographers, contemporary visual artists and historians grapple with issues of photographic meaning, evidence, and interpretation.

This fall, Wesleyan has hosted a series of exhibitions, talks and films that explore photography’s role in historiography, historical memory and public life. Organized by Associate Professor of History Jennifer Tucker, “Eye of History: The Camera as Witness” serves as a meeting point for people who share a common interest in photography, art and historical memory.

On Nov. 7, internationally-renowned documentary photographers Wendy Ewald, Eric Gottesman and Susan Meiselas joined acclaimed writer and critic David Levi Strauss in a panel discussion about photography’s role in the world today. (more…)

Hannah Sugarman '09 speaks on "Finding Intermediate Mass Black Holes in the Local Universe" during the 18th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium of the Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium Nov. 8.

Astronomers interested in black holes generally study small, low-mass types within our own galaxy, or super-massive black holes found in the center of other large galaxies. But during the 18th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium Nov. 7-8 at Wesleyan. astronomy major Hannah Sugarman ‘09 explained the importance of finding intermediate mass black holes in the local universe.

“Small black holes are about 30 times the mass of the sun, and the big, super-massive black holes have a mass of about a million times the mass of the sun. Intermediate mass black holes are in between these mass limits,” Sugarman says. “They are important because if super-massive black holes are made by slightly smaller ones combining, we want to be able to observe the smaller ones to see how this works.” (more…)

Arion Blas '11 and Kaishi Lee '09 listen to a talk at J.P. Morgan Chase in New York City on Oct. 27 during Wesleyan's Management and Leadership Conference.

Arion Blas ’11 learned about debt, derivatives, equity, money policy, banking and business management during Wesleyan’s first-ever
Management and Leadership Conference Oct. 24-28.

Blas and 29 other Wesleyan students learned about management from experts and executives from top companies, organizations and institutions, while participating in skill-building through lectures, hands-on workshops, case studies, and one-on-one mentoring with top Wesleyan alumni and parents from a variety of career fields. (more…)

Eli Allen '09 is a member of the U.S. Youth Network for Sustainable Development delegation. (Photo by Intisar Abioto '09)

Eli Allen ’09 will join youth leaders from across the country to represent the United States at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 14th Conference of Parties. The event will be held Dec. 23 in Poznan, Poland.

“My generation will ultimately be responsible for the effects of the decisions made at the negotiations, so it is imperative that we be involved and have representation,” says Allen, a College of Social Studies major. “I hope to express the urgency of this moment in our history, where we must realize our common responsibility to protect the most vulnerable members of our world community from the potentially overwhelming burdens of climate change.” (more…)

Wesleyan students can submit videos for the "Minute with the President-Elect" contest. The grand prize is $100 cash.

If you had one minute to speak with newly-elected President Barack Obama, what would you say?

Wesleyan undergraduate, graduate and Graduate Liberal Studies Program students are invited to video-record a response to this question with a chance to win a $100 cash prize.

As part of Wesleyan’s “Minute with the President-Elect” challenge, students can create and upload a video to Wesleyan’s YouTube site. Site viewers can log in, view the videos and rate their favorite entry. (more…)

Writer and poet Michael Ondaatje, Wesleyan's Joan Jakobson Visiting Writer, led a question and answer discussion for students Nov. 6 in Downey House. Among his best-known works are the novel The English Patient, which was made into an award-winning feature film, and a novel set in Sri Lanka, Anil's Ghost, which received world-wide acclaim, winning France’s Prix Medicis, Canada's Governor-General's Award, the Irish Times International Fiction Prize and the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize.

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Laurence H. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School, was the keynote speaker at the 18th Annual Hugo L. Black Lecture on Freedom of Expression held Oct. 22 in Memorial Chapel.

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Thirty-three members of the Wesleyan community were honored by President Michael Roth during a Service Recognition Lunch Oct. 22 in Beckham Hall. Honorees worked at Wesleyan 20 years or more.

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Six-month-old Sam Higgins, dressed as a lobster, celebrates Halloween on the Wesleyan campus with his mother, Sally Ross. Sam's father is Scott Higgins, associate professor of film studies. More than 50 children children enrolled in the Wesleyan Neighborhood Preschool walked in the annual Halloween Parade Oct. 31 on Wesleyan's campus.

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Rick Culliton, assistant vice president for the Office of Student Affairs and dean of students, receives an influenza vaccine from Registered Nurse Marilyn Leibe. The Davison Health Center and Department of Human Resources sponsored the annual Flu Clinic for students, faculty, staff and their dependents Nov. 1-4 in the Usdan University Center.

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