12 Wesleyan Alumni Receive Webby Nomination for ‘Wolf 359’ Radio Drama

Gabriel Urbina ‘13 had been out of college for eight months when, “one day, for whatever reason, this idea for a show popped into my head.” The show manifested itself as a radio drama called Wolf 359 which, four years later and in the midst of its final season, has found itself maintaining a vibrant cult following among its ever growing fan base and a finalist in the Digital Audio Drama category of the 2017 Webby Awards. Of further note: Wolf 359 is a hugely Wesleyan collaborative effort — of the 12 cast and production members, all are Wesleyan alumni! Staff writer…

This month, Sebastian Junger '84 and Liz W. Garcia '99 will each feature their films at the annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Founded in 2001 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert DeNiro and Craig Hatkoff, the Tribeca Film Festival attracts nearly half a million attendees. Junger, a journalist, author and filmmaker, is co-director, with Nick Quested, of the film Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS, It follows an extended family's attempt to flee their homeland in the face of violence and tragedy. Edited down to 99 minutes from an extensive 1,000 hours of…

On March 31, Wesleyan hosted #BeTheChange, Connecticut's annual Campus Sustainability Conference, featuring former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy as the keynote speaker. Organized by the Connecticut Alliance for Campus Sustainability, the theme of the day-long conference was "Engagement and Empowerment around Climate Change: Fostering Inspiration and Action at the Local Level." About 150 students, staff and faculty from the state's public and private colleges attended the conference, which also included workshop sessions on climate and sustainability action; empowerment on campus; engaging in state policy and legislation; engaging in community and municipal action; and engaging at the grassroots level. Several…

Peter Gottschalk, professor of religion, professor of science in society, was featured in a CBS special on March 28, "Faith in America: A History." The program covered a history of Catholic, Jewish and Muslim intolerance in the U.S. "The very understanding of who is acceptable in American society goes to the very heart of who Americans are, and who Americans can be,"said Gottschalk in his opening appearance. "So issues like excluding immigrants based on a religion test, which is against various laws in our country, not only threaten those who would like to come to the United States, but it threatens those who are…

A new CNN original series, Believer with Reza Aslan, premieres Sunday, March 5, at 10 p.m. ET. Billed as a “spiritual adventure series,” in which Aslan, acclaimed author and religious scholar, will “immerse himself in the world’s most fascinating faith-based groups to experience life as a true believer.” The show employs the talents of two alumni who majored in film at Wesleyan: executive producer and show runner Liz Bronstein ’89 and director Ben Selkow ’96. Additionally, Professor of Religion Liza McAlister provided both academic scholarship and on-the-ground connections when the crew traveled to Haiti for the segment on Vodou, which…

When the news broke of Philando Castile’s tragic death at the hands of a St. Paul police officer last summer, Eduardo Medina ’00, MD, MPH, like many Americans, felt called to action. As a native of New York City and a Minneapolis resident for the past 10 years, he was familiar with a number of high profile cases of police misconduct and says that he felt compelled to address the structural racism that was the underlying cause of this tragedy. Working with colleagues Dr. Rachel Hardeman and Dr. Katy Kozhimannil, both professors in the Division of Health Policy and Management at…

With the approach of the centennial of John F. Kennedy's birth, it's fair to ask: Will his legacy endure? By Tom Kertscher Last July [2016], President Barack Obama signed a law creating the John F. Kennedy Centennial Commission, which will develop and carry out activities to mark the 100th anniversary of Kennedy’s birth on May 29, 2017. Kennedy, polls have shown, continues to be among the most highly regarded presidents. But only about a third of Americans were alive when he was assassinated in 1963. So, it’s fair to ask: Will Kennedy will remain relevant? Emily Jennett Butler ’90, a…

In June, Jan Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior, traveled to Mundgod, India to teach Tibetan monks through the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI), a program promoting "the convergence of science and spirituality as two complementary systems of knowledge," according to the Emory Tibetan Partnership. ETSI was founded as a pilot in 2006 by Emory University at the bequest of the 14th Dalai Lama. Naegele's journey, which she took together with her husband, Dr. Paul Lombroso, was described in the Winter 2016 issue of Rutland Magazine, in an article featuring many photographs provided by Naegele. (more…)

Tierney Sutton ’86 has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. The Sting Variations is a collection of Sting and Police songs reinterpreted by The Tierney Sutton Band and released on the BFM Jazz label. Sutton had previously explored the music of Bill Evans, Frank Sinatra, and most recently Joni Mitchell, with her 2013 album, After Blue. In a September interview for Billboard, Sutton told writer Melinda Newman that the choice to explore Sting's work was a natural one: “‘[Sting’s] autobiography is full of references to Miles and Coltrane and the Great American Song tradition.’” The Sting Variations includes both well known songs…

"There’s no other sound in music precisely like Mary Halvorson’s guitar, which she plays with a flinty attack, a spidery finesse and a shiver of wobbly delay," writes New York Times jazz critic Nate Chinen in a review of her recent shows around Brooklyn in October. She also released her eighth album, Away With You, on Oct.28. The album is produced by Firehouse 12, a production studio co-founded by fellow jazz musician Taylor Ho Bynum ’98 MA ’05, which has released his work, as well as the music of Halvorson's and Bynum's Wesleyan professor and mentor Anthony Braxton, whom Chinen calls…

The article in Poets and Writers begins, "From the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 program to the New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 list, many organizations make a point of recognizing young, gifted authors at the start of their literary careers. In the November/December 2016 issue of Poets & Writers magazine, we feature five debut authors over the age of 50 ... whose first books came out this past year, and who stand as living proof that it’s never too late to start your literary journey." Highlighted here was Paul Vidich ’72, whose first book, "An Honorable Man" was published in…

As part of the “A Vanished Port” series, Richard Grossman, professor of economics, presented a lecture titled, “How Rich Was Rich,” at the Russell Library in Middletown, Conn. on Nov. 9. The lecture came as part of a newly opened exhibit at the Middlesex County Historical Society. “A Vanished Port: Middletown and the Caribbean, 1750-1824,” takes objects and documents from the time period to illustrate the “culture of prosperity that grew from Middletown’s trade relationships with the slave-worked sugar plantations of the English Caribbean.” Using Middletown merchant, Richard Alsop, who died in 1776 with a huge estate that included property, possessions,…

12 Wesleyan Alumni Receive Webby Nomination for ‘Wolf 359’ Radio Drama

Junger ’84, Garcia ’99 Screen Their Work at the Tribeca Film Festival

Former EPA Chief Headlines Campus Sustainability Conference

Gottschalk Featured in CBS Special ‘Faith in America’

Bronstein ’89, Selkow ’96 join Reza Aslan for CNN Documentary Series ‘Believer’

Medina ’00, MD, MPH, Explores Structural Racism in Health Care

Butler ’90 on JFK’s Legacy

Naegele Teaches Neuroscience to Tibetan Buddhist Monks

Sutton ’86 Nominated for Grammy with The Sting Variations

Jazz Guitarist Halvorson ’02 Is “Unflinching and Full of Grace”

Vidich ’72 Celebrated in Poets and Writers as First-Time Author

Grossman Speaks on the Wealth of 18th Century Middletown Residents