Wesleyan in the News

Wesleyan’s intellectually dynamic faculty, students, alumni, staff, and parents frequently serve as expert sources for national media. Others are noted for recent achievements and accolades. In The Washington Post, Wesleyan President Michael Roth '78 reviews Colette Brooks' new book Trapped in the Present Tense: Meditations on American Memory. "Brooks is drawn to what she has called 'American darkness' and the seemingly bottomless capacity of our country to forget its horrific relationship with violence," he writes. (March 4) Peter Rutland, professor of government and the Colin and Nancy Campbell Chair for Global Issues and Democratic Thought, shares an op-ed titled "Putin's…

For the third year in a row, Wesleyan University was named a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Top Producing Institution for the 2021-2022 academic year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest U.S. exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program currently awards approximately 2,000 grants annually in all fields of study and operates in more than 140 countries worldwide. In 2021-22, 28 Wesleyan students and recent alumni applied for the fellowship. Of those, Ji Yoon Park '21 and Lupita Sanchez '20,…

Wesleyan’s intellectually dynamic faculty, students, alumni, staff, and parents frequently serve as expert sources for national media. Others are noted for recent achievements and accolades. Due to the recent Russia-Ukraine crisis, this media roundup will mention related content first: In Meduza, Victoria Smolkin, associate professor of history, discusses the historical claims Putin made in his speech before invading Ukraine. "Fantasy is not history, and it’s not politics. One can lament—as Putin does—that Soviet politics was not 'cleansed' of the 'odious' and 'utopian' fancies 'inspired by the revolution,' which, in part, made possible the existence of contemporary Ukraine." (Feb. 24) And…

Since Wesleyan Athletics relies on donations to account for more than 80 percent of its annual operational costs, fundraising is an important must-have to keep the Cardinals moving forward. During Wesleyan's seventh-annual Wesleyan Athletics Giving Day (WAGD) on Feb. 16, 2,153 donors made gifts to respective teams, which amounted to $411,944. The top three fundraising women's teams were golf, volleyball, and softball, and the top three men's teams were basketball, soccer, and wrestling. "While these teams have earned all-important bragging rights and supplemental budget for their most critical needs, our entire Wesleyan Athletics family are winners thanks to your support…

Between the first and fourth century CE, ancient Egyptians believed frogs symbolized fertility, rebirth, and the renewal of life. After a hibernation period, frogs would come "back to life" near the rising Nile River, which provided water and nutrients to the barren landscape in early spring. During this period, the frog not only became a metaphor for a renaissance, but it also became a popular icon. It could be seen in Egyptian artwork and sculptures, it manifested in the frog-headed goddess Heqet, and it could even be found on everyday oil lamps. These kidney-shaped "frog lamps," as they later became…

As the recipient of a Chicken & Egg Pictures award, lauded filmmaker Tracy Heather Strain will continue telling the stories of ways underrepresented people experience life in the United States. Strain, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, associate professor of film studies, and co-director of the Wesleyan Documentary Project, is one of only six documentary film directors to receive the Chicken & Egg award in 2022. The honor comes with an unrestricted $50,000 grant. "The Chicken & Egg Award makes bold investments in the personal and professional wellbeing of visionary women and gender nonconforming documentary makers,” said Chicken & Egg Pictures…

Wesleyan’s intellectually dynamic faculty, students, alumni, staff, and parents frequently serve as expert sources for national media. Others are noted for recent achievements and accolades. A sampling of recent media hits is below: In The Conversation, Robyn Autry, associate professor of sociology, responds to Whoopi Goldberg's recent controversial comments about the Holocaust. "As someone who writes and teaches about racial identity," Autry writes, "I was struck by the firmness of Goldberg’s initial claim, her clumsy retraction and apologies, and the heated public reactions." (Feb. 7) Autry also speaks to The New York Times about the popularity of Vaseline on social…

While scientific societies frequently approach diversity and inclusion efforts by supporting the professional development of historically underrepresented groups, data is lacking to evaluate the efficacy of these methods. As co-principal investigator I of a $701,000 National Science Foundation grant awarded to the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), Candice Etson, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, will help establish a network of experts who will collaboratively identify evidence-based inclusion strategies in STEM. The results will be reported and disseminated in open-access training materials and publications throughout the duration of the three-year project. The project, titled "Enhancing and Developing Biology (LED-BIO) Scientific…

Andratesha Fitzgerald exhorted the Wesleyan University community to use “power” as a way to lift each other up and honor one another. Fitzgerald, an activist, educational scholar, and international speaker, shared her personal experiences during Wesleyan's 15th annual celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Feb. 4. Wesleyan's 2022 celebration of MLK Day served as the concluding event of the second annual Equity and Inclusion Summit. During her talk, titled "Power and Empowerment: Honoring by Decision and Design," Fitzgerald explored the notions of power and empowerment that are made evident in our decisions, our designs, and our outcomes under the umbrella of…

Following WWII, droves of veterans returned home, determined to begin living "the American dream." With help of the G.I. Bill, veterans were able to purchase new homes for only $8,000 in newly-developed, sprawling subdivisions known as "Levittowns." But when Army veteran James Ladson returned from the war in 1943, he wasn't permitted to move his family to the bustling community situated on the northeast side of Philadelphia. Although he was financially qualified, there was one problem: he was Black. According to Clause 25 in Levittown’s covenant, “The tenant agrees not to permit the premises to be used or occupied by…

Wesleyan’s intellectually dynamic faculty, students, alumni, staff, and parents frequently serve as expert sources for national media. Others are noted for recent achievements and accolades. A sampling of recent media hits is below: On MSN and Yahoo! News, Marc Eisner, Henry Merritt Wriston Chair in Public Policy and professor of government, speaks on how states across the country are ramping up efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. "Much depends on funding that [Gov. Ned] Lamont can’t control (for example, resources needed to replace diesel buses with electric vehicles, the building of charging stations),” Eisner said of the Connecticut governor’s recent…

Sebastian Evans '23 believes that "being human" can't be defined strictly through science. Instead, he turns to the writings of the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca; Alexiad author Anna Komnene; and English playwright William Shakespeare to better understand "something valuable" about what it really is to be human. "In all the humanities, I see and gain a lot of value from the way that we as human beings experience and process the world, ultimately working our way toward discovering how to best live as with and as parts of it," said Evans, who's majoring in the College of Letters (COL) and Hispanic literatures…