Natalie Robichaud ’14Wesleyan’s Cognitive Development Labs hosted Family Math Night at Edna Stevens Elementary School in Cromwell, Conn. on April 9. The event was full of games and activities for preschool children to play and get them excited about math while showing families activities that they can do at home to prepare their children for kindergarten. Assistant Professor of Psychology Anna Shusterman’s students designed the math games as part of a research methods class. (more…)
Olivia DrakeThis month, the National Science Foundation awarded Brian Northrop, assistant professor of chemistry, with a 2014 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. The CAREER awards support junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. The honor came with a five-year grant totaling $537,561, which Northrop will use on his study titled "Selective Thiol-Ene and Thiol-Yne Chemistry, From First Principles to Organic Materials.” At Wesleyan, Northrop's research focuses on the design, synthesis and analysis of new organic materials utilizing molecular…
In this issue of The Wesleyan Connection, we speak with Swetha Mummini ’14 who studied abroad last spring through the Danish Institute for Study Abroad Program. Her study abroad program hires two graduating past participants to be paid interns for the year after graduation and Mummini received the internship for the science and health programs assistant. Q: What prompted you to study abroad in Copenhagen? A: Macaroni and cheese. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but the first time I seriously considered going abroad was at the very beginning of junior year when my friend Catherine invited her friends…
Lauren RubensteinStudents, faculty and staff who exercised cultural sensitivity, helped promote diversity and inclusion, and improved the campus climate were recognized at the annual Edgar Beckham Helping Hand Awards ceremony held April 27. The event brought together generations of alumni, students, faculty and staff to celebrate the tenets that make Wesleyan "Diversity University." The keynote speaker this year was Daphne Kwok '84. The awards are sponsored by the Administrators and Faculty of Color Alliance, African American Studies Program, Alumni of Color Council, Edgar Beckham Fund, Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, and Office of Equity and Inclusion. Honored at the ceremony were: Students…
On April 18, the chemistry majors group, Free Radicals, performed some of their favorite chemical demonstrations. The audience enjoyed liquid nitrogen ice cream afterwards. Photos of the event are below: (Photos by Ryan Heffernan '16) (more…)
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Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth is the author of the book, Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, published by Yale University Press in May 2014. From Yale University University Press: “Contentious debates over the benefits—or drawbacks—of a liberal education are as old as America itself. From Benjamin Franklin to the Internet pundits, critics of higher education have attacked its irrelevance and elitism—often calling for more vocational instruction. Thomas Jefferson, by contrast, believed that nurturing a student’s capacity for lifelong learning was useful for science and commerce while also being essential for democracy. In this provocative contribution to the disputes, Roth focuses on…
Academic Affairs has named Norman Shapiro, professor of romance languages, as the university’s Distinguished Literary Translator. Shapiro is one of the country’s leading contemporary translators of French. He holds a BA, MA and Ph.D. from Harvard University, and, as Fulbright scholar, the Diplôme de Langue et Lettres Françaises from the Université d’Aix-Marseille. At Wesleyan, Shapiro teaches courses in French theater, poetry, Black Francophone literature and literary translation. His many published volumes span the centuries, medieval to modern, and the genres poetry, novel and theater. His book, The Complete Fables of Jean de La Fontaine is the recipient of the American Translators…
The colors of the Holi Festival brought the entire campus together to celebrate spring on Foss Hill on April 25. Shakti, the South Asian Student Association, hosts the event annually. View additional photos in this Wesleyan Facebook gallery. (Photos by Bill Fisher) (more…)
Bill HolderApril was Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and its observance at Wesleyan has coincided with a spirited discussion about campus climate, including a particular focus on the future of single-sex, residential fraternities. On April 20, the Wesleyan Student Assembly passed a resolution calling on residential fraternities to accept full co-education – “with a clear and swift plan of action” to become coeducational in membership and residence, and an initial co-educated pledge class in spring 2015. The purely advisory 14-12 vote, however, underscored a difference of opinion. (more…)