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Lauren RubensteinMay 14, 20153min
Wesleyan faculty members played key roles in StemCONN 2015, Connecticut's stem cell and regenerative medicine conference, held April 27 in Hartford, Conn. Janice Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior, director of the Center for Faculty Career Development, served on the conference's organizing committee for the second time this year. Gloster Aaron, associate professor of biology, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior, spoke at the conference on "Investigating how transplants reduce seizures: brain slice electrophysiology and ontogenetic stimulation of transplanted cells." He discussed the collaborative work being done by his lab and those of Naegele and Laura Grabel, the Lauren B. Dachs…

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Laurie KenneyMay 13, 20153min
Erika Taylor, assistant professor of chemistry, assistant professor of environmental studies, has co-authored a paper published in FEBS Letters, an international journal established for the rapid publication of final short reports in the fields of molecular biosciences. The paper, which is an expansion of her lab’s work on the enzyme Heptosyltransferase I, is titled "Cloning and Characterization of the Escherichia coli Heptosyltransferase III: Exploring Substrate Specificity in Lipopolysaccharide Core Biosynthesis," The paper is co-authored by her former graduate student Jagadesh Mudapaka. FEBS Letters is published by Elsevier on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Taylor also is the co-author of “Improving Alternate Lignin Catabolite Utilization of LigAB…

Lauren RubensteinMay 12, 20152min
The Hartford Courant turned to Erik Grimmer-Solem, associate professor of history, tutor in the College of Social Studies, for perspective on the sinking of the ocean liner R.M.S. Lusitania, one century later. "The British were very effective in using the sinking of the Lusitania as a propaganda tool, portraying the Germans as beastly and dastardly," he told the Courant. "But [Woodrow] Wilson was in a tough spot. The United States had a significant German population, who were certainly not in favor of war." Grimmer-Solem said the German government naturally viewed the horror of the Lusitania quite differently. He said the British…

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Lauren RubensteinMay 12, 20151min
Charles Sanislow, associate professor of psychology, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior, is the co-author of a new paper published in the journal Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment. The paper is titled "Personality Disorder Risk Factors for Suicide Attempts over 10 Years of Follow-Up." The findings in the paper are from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), on which Sanislow has been an investigator since it began in 1996.

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Lauren RubensteinMay 5, 20151min
On May 2, the Wesleyan Symposium on Risk brought together faculty and students for an interdisciplinary discussion of risk. The event was sponsored by American Studies, the Center for the Humanities, the College of Letters, Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, the Neuroscience and Behavior Program, the Science in Society Program, and the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies support funds. (Photos by Hannah Norman '16) (more…)

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Laurie KenneyMay 5, 20152min
On May 2, The Female Voice in Politics Conference brought notable and accomplished female politicians and leaders together at Daniel Family Commons in Usdan University Center to discuss the underrepresentation of women in U.S. politics and other issues facing women in the political arena today. Speakers included Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut; Connecticut State Sen. Toni Boucher; Dominique Thornton, former mayor of Middletown; Susan Bysiewicz, former Connecticut Secretary of State; Sidney Powell, attorney and author of Licensed to Lie; and Sarah Wiliarty, director of the Public Affairs Center, associate professor of government, tutor in the College of Social Sciences. The event was organized by Darcie Binder '15 and Kevin Winnie…

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Bryan Stascavage '18May 4, 20154min
On April 24, the Green Street Teaching and Learning Center celebrated its 10th anniversary at an event that brought together students, teachers, supporters, and advocates to celebrate the past decade. Speakers at the event included Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew; Connecticut State Senator Paul Doyle; Pamela Tatge, director of the Center for the Arts; Robert Rosenthal, director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life; and Sara MacSorley, director of the Green Street Teaching and Learning Center. Students from Wesleyan and Middlesex Community College spoke about the impact that working at Green Street has had on their college experiences. The attendees also watched a performance by…

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Lauren RubensteinApril 30, 20151min
On April 28, Krishna Winston, the Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Language and Literature, spoke on a panel at the CUNY Graduate Center on Nobel Prize–winner Günter Grass, one of Germany's best-known contemporary writers, who died earlier this month. Winston, Grass's translator, is also professor of German Studies, professor of environmental studies, and coordinator of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. She spoke alongside Professor Friedrich Ulfers of New York University and Breon Mitchell, professor emeritus at Indiana University, Bloomington. The event, which was standing-room only, was moderated by Ralph Bunche Institute Director John Torpey, a professor at the CUNY Graduate…

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Bryan Stascavage '18April 29, 20152min
Hari Krishnan, assistant professor of dance, recently received the Choreomundus Scholars in Residence Award, which will support a three-week residence at the University of Roehampton in London, beginning May 18. During his residency, Krishnan will teach and mentor Choreomundus students who are working on their final project. Krishnan expressed excitement over his award: "I am delighted and honored to be one of two recipients of the prestigious Erasmus Mundus grant for visiting scholars to the "Choreomundus International Masters in Dance Knowledge, Practice and Heritage" at the University of Roehampton’s Department of Dance in London." (more…)

Lauren RubensteinApril 28, 20151min
Peter Rutland, the Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, has won an $85,000 grant from the Leverhulme Trust to serve as a visiting professor at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom in 2016. There, he will be working on a research project titled, "Visualizing the Nation" with Manchester professors Vera Tolz and Stephen Hutchings. The Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Manchester is a leading institution in the study of Russian television and mass media. Rutland is also professor of government, professor of Russian and Eastern European studies, tutor in the College…

Lauren RubensteinApril 28, 20152min
Manju Hingorani, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, was awarded a grant of $408,609 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the structure and mechanisms of DNA repair proteins responsible for fixing errors in the genetic code and preventing carcinogenesis. The three-year grant will fund PhD and undergraduate students' research on DNA mismatch repair (MMR). MMR corrects base mismatches and loops in DNA, and is therefore a critical guardian of genetic and cellular integrity. Defects in this essential, evolutionarily conserved DNA repair process cause high levels of mutations in the genome, which in turn lead to cancer. In humans, MMR…