The Wesleyan Connection

Sophia Hussain ’13

History major Sophia Hussain ’13 received a $500 grant from the Grants Award Committee of the Roosevelt Institute.

According to David Woolner, Senior Fellow and Hyde Park Resident Historian of the Roosevelt Institute, “the Roosevelt Institute does not normally grant awards to undergraduate students, but given the quality of Sophia’s proposal, which was excellent, we decided to make an exception in [her] case.”

The award is meant to assist Hussain’s research at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Scott Holmes, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, received a $5,125 National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates supplement to enhance his current grant, which supports research titled, “Epigenetic Silencing of Gene Expression in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.”

Janice Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior, received a $484,788 National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award for her work on “Stem Cell Transplation for Epilepsy” in 2013.

Ishita Mukerji, dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics division, and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, has received a $6,750 National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates supplement to enhance her current grant supporting research, “Structure and Function of Holliday Junctions Complexed With Proteins Probed by Fluorescence and UV Raman Spectroscopic Methods.”

Kim Diver, visiting assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, received an $18,500 grant from the KECK Geology Consortium on Jan. 15. The award will support an undergraduate research program on “GIS Approach to Water-Level Change: Potential Effects of Water-Level Changes on Island Ecosystems,” this summer.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving presented a $5,000 grant to Wesleyan’s Center for Prison Education program. The grant will support the center through Dec. 9, 2013. The grant was made possible through the generosity of the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation.

On Feb. 15, The Green Street Arts Center was awarded a $350,000 grant from the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts to administer Connecticut’s Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Schools Program throughout the state.

Wesleyan’s Green Street Arts Center received a $5,000 grant from the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, on Jan. 17. The award will support the center’s Arts and Science After School Program through Dec. 31, 2013. The Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Wesleyan’s Program for Student College Success received a grant of $2,500 from the Community Foundation of Middlesex County on Jan. 7. The funds will support the four-week summer session and 40 weeks of academic-year programming that help first-generation, low-income and underrepresented students successfully transition into college.

From left, Matthew Donahue ’14; Joy Anderson, visiting assistant professor of public policy; Anne Marie-Cannata, director of the Buttonwood Tree in Middletown; Jacob Eichengreen ’13 and Marguerite Suozzo-Gole ’15 gather during a “Money and Social Change” class. The class awarded the Buttonwood Tree with a $1,000 grant.

As their “Money and Social Change” class drew to a close in mid-December, 15 Wesleyan students and their professor presented four local non-profit organizations with a surprise gift for the holidays: $10,000 in unsolicited grants.

The funds were provided to the class by the Learning by Giving Foundation, established in 2011 by Doris Buffett, Warren Buffett’s oldest sister. The foundation aims to promote the study of the nonprofit sector and philanthropy by undergraduate students, giving them first-hand experience in “the art, science and business of philanthropy.”

This year for the first time, Wesleyan partnered with the foundation through the service learning course, “Money and Social Change: Innovative Paradigms and Strategies,” taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Public Policy Joy Anderson ’89. The course is part of the Center for the Study of Public Life. Anderson leads the Haddam, Conn.-based Criterion Institute, a think tank centered around shaping markets to create social and environmental good.

According to Anderson, the course asked students to explore the question, “How do you use money to change the world?” (more…)

Laura Grabel, the Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society, professor of biology, received a grant worth $10,000 from the Arts Council of Greater New Haven on Dec. 14, 2012. The award will support a project titled “Reintegrate,” an interactive, multi-media performance piece that will explore stems cells and the ethical implications of stem cell research.

The piece will investigate personal meaning and the power of metaphor in science and art. Particular focus will be placed on how individuals bring their full thoughtful and emotional selves to both scientific exploration and artistic creation.

“In the science classroom at Wesleyan, we have been experimenting with allowing students to bring emotion to their biology subject matter. This may be a jarring concept for the traditional scientist or science student, but there is a long tradition of scientists expressing affection for their work and recognizing its inherent beauty,” Grabel wrote in the “Reintegrate” proposal.

Students from Wesleyan, Arizona State and New Haven High School will contribute to the project.