Lauren RubensteinMarch 8, 20161min
The Chronicle of Higher Education has published an excerpt from a new memoir by Christina Crosby, professor of English, professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies. The book, A Body, Undone: Living On After Great Pain, is due out later this month from NYU Press. Crosby tells the story of how her life changed after a bicycle accident in 2003, just after her 50th birthday, left her paralyzed. According to the publisher, "In A Body, Undone, Crosby puts into words a broken body that seems beyond the reach of language and understanding. She writes about a body shot through with neurological pain,…

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Lauren RubensteinMarch 7, 20164min
Three social ventures started by Wesleyan students were recently awarded $5,000 seed grants in the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship's annual Seed Grant Challenge. They are Kindergarten Kickstart, TRAP House and Walking Elephants Home. The last weekend in February, all six finalists for the seed grants presented pitches for their ventures before the Board of Trustees, Patricelli Center Advisory Board and Seed Grant judges, as well as representatives of CT Innovations and the ‎State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, fellow students, and others. The event was also livestreamed. One of the other finalists, <Zim/Code>, chose to withdraw from the…

Lauren RubensteinMarch 3, 20165min
Are the liberal arts still relevant? President Michael Roth answered this question and more as a guest on "Essential Pittsburgh," a show on Pittsburgh's NPR station. As he argues in his book, Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, Roth explains, "There's an American tradition of liberal education that goes back as far as the origins of the country and emphasizes the pragmatic dimensions of broad, contextual study. It's not so much that you take Latin and Greek or that you study religion rather than, let's say, biology, it's that whatever you study, you study it in connection to other things, understanding how what you're focused on…

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Bill HolderMarch 2, 20162min
Wesleyan will present three honorary doctorates at the University’s 184th Commencement on May 22, 2016. Bryan Stevenson, a staunch advocate for racial justice who has fought against inequities in our judicial system, will deliver the Commencement address. Wesleyan will also honor Patti Smith, a legendary singer and writer celebrated for her path-breaking music and powerful memoirs, and Kwame Anthony Appiah, a philosopher known for his compelling work on cosmopolitanism, identity and ethics. The Baldwin Medal, the highest award of the Wesleyan Alumni Association, will be presented to John Usdan ’80, P’15, P’18, P’18.

Lauren RubensteinMarch 1, 20162min
In its recent meeting, the Board of Trustees conferred tenure on eight faculty members, effective July 1, 2015. They are: Associate Professor of Sociology Robyn Autry, Associate Professor of Government Sonali Chakravarti, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Amy MacQueen, Associate Professor of Music Paula Matthusen, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Rich Olson, Associate Professor of Mathematics Christopher Rasmussen, Associate Professor of Economics Damien Sheehan-Connor, and Associate Professor of Classics Eirene Visvardi. Brief descriptions of their research and teaching appear below: Associate Professor Autry is a cultural sociologist with broad interests in collective identity, memory, and visual culture. Her…

Lauren RubensteinMarch 1, 20162min
At its meeting Feb. 27, the Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition and residential comprehensive fees by 3.3 percent for the 2016-17 year. Tuition will be $50,312 for all undergraduate students. The residential comprehensive fee will be $13,950 for first-year and sophomore students, and $15,858 for juniors and seniors. For the past three years, Wesleyan has linked tuition increases to the national CPI average as part of an initiative to address affordability. That effort has been successful, resulting in very low tuition increases compared to most peer institutions. In recent years, we have seen increased pressure on our financial…

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Laurie KenneyFebruary 29, 20162min
On Feb. 26, Wesleyan honored Ellen Jewett ’81, P’17, a former trustee and incoming co-chair of the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, for her many years of service to the university with the naming of the Jewett Center for Community Partnerships (JCCP) during a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside of the center, located on the third floor of the Allbritton Center. The ceremony was part of the university’s Board of Trustees reception. The event was attended by more than 150 guests, including Wesleyan President Michael Roth '78, outgoing board chairman Joshua Boger '73, P'06, P'09, and JCCP director Cathy Lechowicz, as well as…

Bill HolderFebruary 29, 20163min
Propel Capital, a philanthropic and impact investing fund that supports innovative strategies to deploy capital for social impact, has announced a challenge grant to Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship (PCSE). Every dollar raised in gifts or pledges to the PCSE endowment by June 2017 will be matched 1:1 by Propel, up to $700,000 which will fully endow the Center. Co-founded by Jeremy Mindich ’87 and Sarah Williams ’88, Propel Capital provides grants and investments to nonprofits and social enterprises early or at critical junctures in their development. Mindich and Williams were part of a small group of Wesleyan alumni…

Bill HolderFebruary 29, 20161min
Wesleyan is one of only 12 institutions awarded a prestigious Beckman Scholars Program this year, according to Francis Starr, director of the College of Integrative Sciences and professor of physics, who directs Wesleyan’s Beckman program. The Beckman Scholars Program provides intensive research experiences and career mentoring to help Wesleyan undergraduates develop as leaders in the sciences. Up to two Wesleyan students will receive this award annually, which carries a total stipend of $18,200 plus funds to support supplies and travel. Awards are normally made to sophomores to support research during the summer through the summer following junior year. (more…)

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Lauren RubensteinFebruary 25, 20163min
Building off research she did for her work "Body in Places" at Wesleyan in fall 2015, Visiting Instructor in Dance Eiko Otake will present a major platform at Danspace Project in New York City on March 11. The free talks include those by Wesleyan faculty members William Johnson, professor of history, professor of East Asian Studies, professor of science in society, professor of environmental studies, and Katja Kolcio, associate professor of dance, associate professor of environmental studies. March 11 marks the fifth anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. A photo collective by Eiko and Johnston will be…