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Everyone gets their start somewhere—an entry point into their eventual career path. For M.J. Renee Sher, assistant professor of physics, it was at her all-girls middle school growing up in Taiwan. For Victoria Manfredi, assistant professor of computer science, it was her father’s suggestion she take computer science classes in high school and college. “College was the first time I had any women computer science professors, and they were just amazing people,” said Manfredi, who did not seriously consider the career until college. “Because I was at a women’s college, my computer science classes were also all women. That really…

There are 600 million people globally and 80 million people in the United States living along coastal waters, and these people are endangered by sea level rise, resulting from climate change, according to Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, Emeritus, Johan Varekamp. Global sea level is expected to rise between 10 to 12 inches by 2050, potentially as much as three to seven feet by 2100 if future carbon emissions into the atmosphere are not reduced, according to a National Ocean Service study published in 2022. Coastal flooding will become more common and more severe, and storm surge heights…

Wesleyan University will be participating in a research project to explore the potential—and pitfalls--of generative artificial intelligence as a teaching and research tool. Wesleyan joins 19 other universities, including Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University, University of Chicago, University of Connecticut, Stony Brook University, Temple University, Bryant University, Duke University, Concordia University, and Yale University on the two-year research project led by Ithaka S+R, a not-for-profit organization that helps the academic community evaluate and use digital technologies. “Together the partners in the Making AI Generative for Higher Education will assess the immediate and emerging AI applications most likely to impact teaching,…

There are not many places a student could go to find out about the birding scene on campus, hear about where to go to learn improv comedy, find their fellow student investors, or work to expand reproductive rights. The Student Involvement Fair on Sept. 8 on Huss Lawn was just the place to seek out each of these interests and their accompanying communities, or just try your hand at a game of chess with the chess club. To accompany the many academic events available each semester, Wesleyan is home to over 300 student-run groups, clubs, organizations, and activities. Students have…

Two Wesleyan alumni were hired in key roles at the White House by the Biden-Harris Administration in September. Ed Siskel ’94 started his new role as White House Counsel and Rob Wilcox ’01 joined the administration as a Deputy Director of the new Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Siskel, the nation’s top attorney, was called a seasoned lawyer who could “hit the ground running as a key leader on my team,” by President Joseph R. Biden in a statement, according to The New York Times. Siskel will be tasked with guiding Biden through an impeachment inquiry spearheaded by Speaker of the…

President Michael S. Roth ’78 and Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Nicole Stanton recently announced the faculty members who, in recognition of their career accomplishments, have been appointed to endowed professorships, effective July 1, 2023: Merve Gul Emre, former distinguished writer-in-residence, received the Shapiro-Silverberg University Professorship of Creative Writing and Criticism, established in 2008. James W. McGuire, professor of government, received a John E. Andrus Professorship of Government, established in 1981. Brian Hale Northrop, professor of chemistry, received the E. B. Nye Professorship of Chemistry, established in 1908. Dana Royer, professor of Earth and environmental sciences, received the…

Wesleyan University has been selected to host a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence from India to teach new courses and to help incorporate more international perspectives into the chemistry curriculum during the 2023-2024 academic year. Prof. Pawan K. Sharma, an expert in organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry at Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh and earlier Dean of Research and Development at Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, was selected for the Fulbright award by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. The Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program brings visiting scholars from abroad to U.S. colleges and universities, helping the institutions internationalize their curricula, campuses and surrounding communities, and diversify the…

As a historian, author, and lifelong teacher, Michael S. Roth ’78, President of Wesleyan University, has dedicated much of his career to understanding how people make sense of the past, so when he was approached by his editor at Yale University Press to consider what it meant to be a student, he decided to start at the beginning—the very beginning. Beginning with the followers of Confucius, Socrates, and Jesus and moving to medieval apprentices, students at Enlightenment centers of learning, and learners enrolled in twenty-first-century universities, in his newest book, The Student: A Short History, President Roth explores how students…

Merve Emre, Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing and Criticism, believes the function of criticism is to model a passionate form of thinking. Her new lecture series will put that passion on display through a series of conversations with writers working at the top of their profession. The series, called “The Critic and Her Publics,” features writers from The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, N+1, and other leading publications. The lineup includes Andrea Long Chu, Maggie Doherty, Moira Donegan, Hannah Goldfield, Lauren Michele Jackson, Jo Livingstone, Anahid Nersessian, Sophie Pinkham, Doreen St. Felix, Parul Sehgal, Carina del Valle Schorske, and…

Wesleyan’s fire arts and performance group, Prometheus, performed on Andrus Field on Sept. 3. Prometheus, a student group established in 1997, safely shares the art of fire performance through practice and teaching.

The day after arriving on campus, the Class of 2027 gathered on Andrus Field for a celebration of embodied practice—using your body to know the world. On Thursday August 31, over 700 first year students took part in the 16th annual “Common Moment” as part of new student orientation. The celebration also included new transfer students from both the Class of 2026 and the Class of 2025. Five faculty members from the Dance Department gave new students an opportunity to learn the eclectic and diverse world dance traditions taught at Wesleyan, and then to have fun performing those energetic dances…

Wesleyan welcomes 56 new faculty members for the 2023-24 academic year. The group contains 19 new visiting faculty members, 16 assistant professors, three Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral fellows, three associate professors of the practice, three postdoctoral fellows, two university professors, two Distinguished Writers in Residence, two coaches and adjunct professors, one assistant professor of the practice, one distinguished professor, one professor, one associate professor, one Artist-in-Residence, and one teaching fellow. This group is comprised of experts in African American studies, American studies, biology, computer science, dance, Design & Engineering Studies, Earth and Environmental Studies, East Asian studies, economics, education, English, film,…

Girls in Science Camp

Varekamp Gives Lecture on His Studies of Sea Level Rise

Wesleyan to Participate in Generative AI Research Project

Wesleyan Students Flock to Fall Involvement Fair

Wesleyan in the News: September 2023

University Announces Endowed Professorships, New Faculty Leadership

Wesleyan Selected to Host Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence

Finding Freedom Through Learning, President Roth Explores the History of Being a Student

New Lecture Series Explores the Passion of Criticism

Wesleyan Moments: Prometheus

Wesleyan’s Newest Class Shares a ‘Common Moment’ with Collaborative Dance Experience

Wesleyan Welcomes 56 New Faculty Members for 2023-24 Academic Year