Lauren RubensteinNo matter what field of study they pursue, Wesleyan students almost inevitably find that their education provides an introduction to cultures other than their own. Whether it’s the German film, West African dance, or Latin American politics class they take; a study abroad adventure; or a new friend or classmate from another part of the world, the Wesleyan experience reaches far outside central Connecticut. To celebrate and share the global nature of a Wesleyan education—as well as the impact of Wesleyan students, faculty and alumni in countries around the world—a new International website has just been launched. The site serves…
Olivia DrakeOn Sept. 28, Wesleyan hopes to change the conversation, change the culture, and change future laws regarding gun violence in America. During a day-long conference titled, "Marching On," experts from Wesleyan and all over Connecticut will speak on gun violence prevention and ways to promote legislation change. The event is hosted by Connecticut Against Gun Violence, the Wesleyan Association of Christian Thinkers, Wesleyan's Center for Community Partnerships and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Psi Upsilon, Womanist House, Buddhist house, 200 Church residence hall and Wes Democrats. "The evidence of preventable, unnecessary gun violence in our society is…
This fall, join novelists, poets, editors, writers and a physician for the Russell House Series on Prose and Poetry. The series is presented by Writing at Wesleyan and sponsored by the Center for the Arts. All events are free and open to the public. The series kicked off Sept. 11 with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa. Komunyakaa is author of 20 books of poetry. He received a bronze star for his service as a journalist in the Vietnam War and is a professor and senior distinguished poet in the graduate Creative Writing Program at New York University. Salvatore Scibona and…
Masami Imai, professor of economics, professor of East Asian studies, is the author of a newly-published paper and a paper that just won an award. "Local Economic Effects of a Government-Owned Depository Institution: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Japan," was given the best paper award in the Journal of Financial Intermediation. The paper, originally published in that journal in January 2012, can be read here. Imai is also the co-author–with Peter Hull of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology–of a paper,"Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: Evidence from Foreign Interest Rate Movements," published in the Journal of Development Economics in July. It…
Brian KattenOn Sept. 7, Wesleyan men's and women's swimming and diving teams participated in the fourth annual Swim Across America (SAA), held in Narragansett, R.I. at Roger Wheeler State Beach to help make waves in the fight against cancer and raise money for cancer research and the Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. Wesleyan swimmers and divers raised $12,782, which almost doubled the $7,500 amount the teams raised last year. Despite not being able to swim in the event because of the jellyfish, Liyan Yao '16 from Laurel Hollow, N.Y., was Wesleyan's top fundraiser, accounting for $935. In all, a…
Manju Hingorani, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, is the author of "Distinct structural alterations in proliferating cell nuclear antigen block DNA mismatch repair," published in Biochemistry on Aug. 20, 2013. Read an abstract of the paper online here. She's also the author of "Slow Conformational Changes in MutS and DNA Direct Ordered Transitions between Mismatch Search, Recognition and Signaling of DNA Repair," published in The Journal of Molecular Biology on Aug. 20, 2013. Her former students, F. Noah Biro '09 and Christopher Doucette '11 co-authored the paper. Read the abstract online here.
The American Psychological Association's (APA) Society for the History of Psychology gave Wilbur Fisk Osborne Professor Jill Morawski the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at its annual meeting in Honolulu, HI from July 31-Aug. 4. The award is presented to individuals who have "made sustained, outstanding, and unusual contributions to the history of psychology over a career." Graham Richards was also given the award this year. At the organization's 2012 annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., Morawski was invited to deliver the Mary Whiton Calkins Address, named after the first woman president of the APA and an innovative psychologist. The address, given annually at meetings of…
Natalie Robichaud ’14The 2nd Wesleyan Hackathon Challenge took place from noon on Friday, Sept. 6 until noon on Sunday, Sept. 8. Each participating team was provided a 1 GB Linode VPS on which to host their application, which must live and operate without using additional computing resources. While brainstorming and server maintenance were allowed before and after the allotted time slot, all code writing and editing had to take place within 48 hours. A team of Wesleyan Computer Science alumni judged the submissions and named winners based on creativity (Does the app solve a problem in a novel way? Does it do…
Kate CarlisleWesleyan again ranked among the top 20 schools of its size for the number of graduates it sent to the Teach for America corps this year. Ten graduates joined TFA; approximately 7 percent of the class of 2013 applied to join the corps. Since TFA was founded 23 years ago, 177 Wesleyan alumni have taught as corps members. “TFA maintains an active presence on campus,” said Career Center Director Sharon Belden Castonguay. “They enjoy success with their recruiting efforts among Wesleyan students.” This is the sixth consecutive year Wesleyan has been in the top 20 among schools with 2,999 students…
On Sept. 10, Professor of Economics Richard Grossman participated in a Book Manuscript Workshop at Queen's University Centre for Economic History in Belfast, Ireland. He gave a talk on his forthcoming book, WRONG: Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn From Them. It will be published by Oxford University Press in October.
Hannah Norman '16 spent five weeks this summer participating in a Fiona Ayerst Underwater Photography internship in Guinjata Bay, Mozambique. The internship program introduces aspiring wildlife photographers and videographers to the art of underwater photography. As an intern, she received special training and career guidance on how to develop from an enthusiastic amateur level to a professional level, capable of producing professional work and making a paying career out of this niche. She explored the Manta Reef, a popular diving destination, and tidal flats near Inhambane, Mozambique. She also attempted to photograph whales and dolphins on an ocean safari. View…