Lauren RubensteinA book by Stephen Angle, the Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies, was recently published in Chinese translation by Jiangxi People's Press. Titled, "Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy: Toward Progressive Confucianism," the book was originally published by Polity in 2013. The Chinese version includes a new preface. According to the blurb for the English-language version: Confucian political philosophy has recently emerged as a vibrant area of thought both in China and around the globe. This book provides an accessible introduction to the main perspectives and topics being debated today, and shows why Progressive Confucianism is a particularly promising approach. Students…
Writing in the The Washington Post, President Michael Roth questions the predominant media narrative painting college students as "pampered with coddled minds." Roth argues that such denigration of young people by older generations is an age old tradition, dating back to the founding fathers shaking "their heads about dueling and drinking on campus." He writes: When I look around my campus and visit others, I don’t find pampered students with coddled minds. I find math majors in the gym every day preparing for a soccer match or a swim meet. I find writers pulling all-nighters to finish a project working side by…
David LowJeanine Basinger, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, appears in an interview about internationally renowned film actress Ingrid Bergman in the new documentary Ingrid Bergman—In Her Own Words, directed by Stig Bjorkman, which recounts the life of the cinema luminary through the subject’s home movies, photographs, diary entries and letters to family and friends. The director had access to these materials from the Ingrid Bergman Collection at the Wesleyan Cinema Archives, making ample use of them in the film. The documentary also features interviews with Bergman’s daughter, actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini, as well as other relatives and actresses Liv…
Olivia Drake(By Fred Wills '19) A composition by Assistant Professor of Music Paula Matthusen will debut in the U.S. on Nov. 21. Her work, “on the attraction for felicitous amplitude,” will be performed by the string quartet, Brooklyn Rider, in Crowell Concert Hall. Join Matthusen for a pre-concert talk at starting at 7:15 p.m. In addition, on Dec. 3, violinist Todd Reynolds will perform a composition written by Matthusen at CFA Hall. Matthusen returns to Wesleyan this fall after being named a 2014-2015 Rome Prize recipient. Through a fellowship awarded by The American Academy in Rome, she received the opportunity to expand upon her own professional and…
In an op-ed written for Inside Sources (and appearing in Las Vegas Sun and other newspapers), Assistant Professor of Government Ioana Emy Matesan questions whether the swift French military response to the recent ISIS attacks on Paris will be effective in preventing future attacks and improving security for civilians. Matesan, who studies contentious politics and political violence in the Middle East, considers different opinions on ISIS's strategic logic and what each would mean for the repercussions of a military response. She concludes that the most likely logic is one of provocation. She writes: [Provocation] is a strategy beloved by al-Qaida and many other extremist groups,…
Ron Jenkins, professor of theater, will participate in an international simulcast on Nov. 27 to celebrate Balinese language and Indonesia’s cultural and linguistic diversity. The simulcast will take place at the Indonesian Embassy in Washington where Jenkins will be helping to celebrate Saraswati Day by reading from his new book, Saraswati in Bali. Saraswati Day is the Balinese day set aside for honoring wisdom, knowledge and culture. The celebration will be streamed simultaneously to Indonesian diplomatic missions in New York, Tokyo, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Australia. The program also will include live simulcasts of a reading of a…
Laurie KenneyOn Giving Tuesday, Dec. 1, the Wesleyan community will join together to support Wesleyan students. This will be Wesleyan’s third year participating in the global giving campaign, which encourages people to give back by supporting their favorite causes during the holiday season. Last year Wesleyan doubled its initial goal of 1,000 donors, with more than 2,000 members of the Wesleyan community giving a total of more than $500,000 in support of students at Wesleyan. This year, Wesleyan’s goal is 3,000 gifts between Nov. 20 and the end of the day on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 1. “The Wesleyan community is known for its generosity…
The Muslim Coalition of Connecticut honored Wesleyan's Center for the Arts on Nov. 15 for its "outstanding contributions and standards of excellence in advancing higher education," according to a proclamation from Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman. The awards dinner in Hartford was attended by Center for the Arts Director Pam Tatge, Associate Provost Mark Hovey, and faculty, staff and students from the advisory committee and Wesleyan's Muslim Students Association. View the event's photo gallery online. The honor recognized the CFA's Muslim Women's Voices series during the 2014-15 academic year. The series explored and celebrated the complexity of Muslim women today, and the historical and cultural context from…
Two members of the Wesleyan community participated in a discussion on WNPR's Where We Live focused on "Confronting Social Injustice." Bashaun Brown, a former student at Wesleyan's Center for Prison Education who spent more than six years incarcerated at Cheshire Correctional Institution, is now pursuing an entrepreneurial venture called TRAP House. "All prison experience is pretty bad, but thanks to Wesleyan, I was able to transform my prison space. My prison experience was one of educating myself, and trying to get better and make sure I never make the types of mistakes that I made to get into that situation in the first place.…
University Relations hosted Thank a Cardinal Day Nov. 16 in Usdan University Center. More than 400 students wrote brief thank you notes to alumni, parents and friends who’ve donated through the Wesleyan Fund in 2015. All the gifts raised by the fund count in Wesleyan’s THIS IS WHY fundraising campaign promoting access, inquiry and impact across the university.
Cynthia RockwellMore than 100 alumni and other members of the Wesleyan community attended the Social Impact Summit, Nov. 13-14, on campus. The summit was sponsored by the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns. Endowed by James Shasha ’50, P’82, the seminar supports lifelong learning and encourages participants to expand their knowledge and perspectives on significant issues. The event included keynote speakers with TED-style talks on the theme "The Change I Want to See," panel discussions, and workshops, as well as networking opportunities. “Social impact and entrepreneurship are deeply embedded in Wesleyan culture, and our students and alumni are known for creating significant…
On Nov. 6, four Wesleyan seniors spoke to members of the Wesleyan community about their thesis topics and research. The event, “Celebrating Seniors: Research Excellence at Wesleyan and Abroad" took place in Judd Hall, and was moderated by the Class of 2016 Dean David Phillips. The student presenters were Tahreem Khalied ’16, Claire Wright ’16, Simon Chen ’16 and Kate Cullen ’16, and their projects varied widely. (Story by Margaret Curtis '16, photos by Rebecca Goldfarb Terry '19) (more…)