Frederic Wills '19WESU 88.1 FM recently kicked off its 2016-2017 season with a new and improved fall program. With a mixture of both new and old radio shows, the fall programming boasts a diverse blend of news and public affairs from NPR, Pacifica, and other independent and local media sources. Changes to their fall programming include, the addition of a much anticipated daily public affairs program from Pacifica called “Rising up with Sonali,” which brings progressive news coverage, rooted in gender and racial justice, to a wide audience. They also will pay tribute to Jim Mascia, a cherished, late co-host of “Best of Living Naturally,”…
Michael O'BrienOn Sept. 10, Wesleyan's football team welcomed its newest member to the program, 10-year old Michael from Team IMPACT. Michael, from Cromwell, Conn., was born with an immune dysfunction and is blind in one eye. He also suffers from cardiac issues, developmental delays and cognitive impairments. Michael started speaking at 4 1/2 years old and took his first step at 2 1/2. He now walks independently and has scoliosis in his spine. Because of his immune deficiency, he is very susceptible to getting sick. Partnering with Team IMPACT, whose focus is to improve the quality of life for children facing life-threatening…
Cynthia RockwellA Connecticut dance event offered Associate Professor of Dance Katja Kolcio an additional way to explore her ongoing dance/movement project highlighting the effect of political forces at work in Ukraine. Last summer, Kolcio invited colleague and Associate Professor of Dance Nicole Stanton to join with two other dancers, both with ties to Ukraine, to create a dance. This event, Dance for Peace, was sponsored by Artists for World Peace, an organization founded and led by Wendy Black-Nasta P’07, with music director Robert Nasta MA ’98, P’07. Kolcio, who holds a doctorate in somatics, places the dance they created, “Steppe Land,”…
Olivia DrakeFrederick Cohan, professor of biology, professor of environmental studies, presented his research poster, "Genetic Sweeps by Whisk Brooms and Garage Brooms — the Role of Ecology" at the 16th annual International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, held Aug. 21-26 in Montreal. Cohan presented his models on the origins of bacterial species, in particular that the rate a bacterial group forms new species is determined by the foods it consumes. Microbial ecology is the study of microbes in the environment and their interactions with each other. The International Society for Microbial Ecology is the principle non-profit scientific society for the burgeoning field of microbial ecology and its…
The new school year ushers in a wide array of emotions for both new and returning students – from feelings of excitement over leaving home for the first time among first-year students, to anxiety and nostalgia over post-graduation plans among seniors. Amidst those emotions, students will face challenges in balancing their academic workload, socializing with friends, participating in extra-curricular activities, and maintaining family relationships — all within limited financial and time constraints. As the school year progresses, it may become increasingly challenging for students to strike a healthy balance across these various aspects of their university life. The unfortunate result for…
This fall, Wesleyan welcomes 55 new faculty including 15 new tenured and tenure-track faculty, 33 visiting faculty and seven fellows. They come from top PhD programs throughout the country with expertise ranging from private protocols for computer networks to sleep and psychosocial adjustments to intersectionality of body size, race and gender. Three tenure-track faculty also are Wesleyan alumni. The 2016-17 group represents the most diverse class of new faculty to date. (more…)
Wesleyan welcomed more than 840 new, transfer, international and exchange students and their families to the Wesleyan community on Aug. 31. Nick Ticali ’20 left home in Long Island, N.Y. at 5:30 a.m. to make it to Wesleyan early. His sister, Allana, and father, Vinny, helped Nick move his belongings into his West College student residence. "I'm really excited about Wesleyan's interdisciplinary, cross-curriculum majors, because I want to study biology and theater," he said. Nick played varsity soccer in high school and may play club soccer at Wesleyan. Nancy Auerbach helped her daughter Dalia ’20 move to her room in Bennet Hall on Arrival Day. The…
Wesleyan's Student Academic Resources Peer Advisors are sophomores, juniors and seniors who assist new students with Wesleyan's faculty advising program and enhance student access to academic resources beginning with New Student Orientation and continuing throughout the year. Peer Advisors receive training, provide individualized peer advice and facilitate workshops for groups of students regarding metacognitive learning strategies, time management, public speaking, study and exam preparation strategies. In combination with other important advising resources (e.g., registration materials sent in the summer, the on-line advisee guidelines, residence hall meetings, etc.), Peer Advisors assist new students in preparing for their individual meetings with their faculty advisors. In addition,…
Wesleyan, in partnership with PrestoSports, has launched a new athletics' website, http://athletics.wesleyan.edu. The platform will serve as the home for all news, information, scores and schedules for the college's 29 varsity athletics teams. PrestoSports has crafted a website that features not only a modern look, but also improved fan amenities. The website host has designed and built over 2,000 successful websites for college athletics, conferences, high schools and other sports organizations. The new website will provide fans, parents, alumni and media with easy access to game stories, press releases, video features, live statistics, photos and email sign-up, as well as…
Jennifer Tucker, associate professor of history, is organizing a conference titled "Firearms and the Common Law Tradition" to be held at the The Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C., Sept. 14-15. Topics will include "The Uses of Guns," "Laws Regulating Carriage of Guns," "Guns and the Supreme Court: The Influence of History," and "Guns and Constitutional Rights." Focused on the ways in which historical arguments have become important for the judicial debate about guns in America, the discussion will feature Darrell Miller, professor of law at Duke University School of Law and Eugene Volokh, the Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law at the UCLA…
The list of athletes who ran on Elmer Swanson's teams over the 30 years he served as Wesleyan's track and cross-country coach "reads like a 'Who's Who' in elite running," observed Hartford Courant Sports Columnist Lori Riley. She remembered Swanson, who died Aug. 12, at the age of 92, in an piece rich with comments from some of his well known—and fleet-footed —alumni. Riley's roundup notes: "He coached [Amby] Burfoot [’68], who won the Boston Marathon in 1968, his senior year, and went on to become the editor of Runners World magazine. He coached Bill Rodgers [’70], who won four Boston marathons and…
Laurie KenneyThis fall, the Office for Equity and Inclusion will coordinate five Wesleyan cohort programs: the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, the Wesleyan Math and Science Scholars Program (WesMaSS), the Upward Bound Math-Science Program, and the Posse Veteran Scholars Program. The initiative is called Pathways to Inclusive Excellence (PIE). "It makes sense organizationally to place these programs under the same umbrella, in order to increase a sense of community amongst students, faculty and staff,” said Antonio Farias, vice president for equity and inclusion/Title IX officer. “Our vision is to increase the flow of students in grades 9…