Cynthia RockwellAnita Wells MA ’96, PhD, assistant professor at Morgan State University’s Department of Psychology in Baltimore, was appointed to the state’s behavioral health advisory council by the governor. The Council was established to enhance behavioral health services in the state, with a coordinated a system of care that integrates prevention, recovery and cost-effective strategies. The council also has an advocacy component, seeking a culturally comprehensive approach to publicly funded services, including early intervention for those with behavioral health issues and their families. Wells, who earned her bachelor’s at Yale, her master’s in psychology at Wesleyan, and her PhD in clinical psychology…
Olivia DrakeTwo visiting faculty members from Wesleyan visited the Green Street Teaching and Learning Center in March to teach AfterSchool Program children about dance. (more…)
Lauren RubensteinAssistant Professor of Psychology Psyche Loui has long been interested in studying the intersection of music and emotions. In her latest study, published March 10 in Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience, she identified specific connections in the brain between the auditory processing regions and regions for social and emotional processing. The article is titled, "Brain connectivity reflects human aesthetic responses to music." Loui, who also is assistant professor of neuroscience and behavior, assistant professor of integrative sciences, has previously studied how music can cause chills, or similar strong physiological reactions in people when listening to music. Together with former thesis student…
Andrew Logan ’18Manju Hingorani, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, was featured in the “Coordinates” section of ASBMB Today, the monthly publication of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Here, Hingorani briefly reflected on her marriage and career through a haiku. Her haiku read: Home is where the lab is, was, will be, my partner he’s home too – elsewhere. She added, “I’m a professor of biochemistry, and my husband is a pharmacologist in the industry. We’ve lived under the same roof for about seven of our 19 years as a married couple. But it has been a fabulous life,…
A research paper co-authored in 1995 by Johan Varekamp, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science; Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental science; and Wesleyan alumnae Koren Nydick ’95 and Alyson Bidwell ’95 has returned to the spotlight. The paper, “A Sea-level Rise Curve from Guilford, Connecticut, USA,” originally published in Marine Geology, was cited last month in another paper on sea-level rise in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. Professor Varekamp admits that the “paper has done remarkably well, with 93 citations, not bad at all for a senior thesis-based…
A poetry collection published by Wesleyan University Press was named a Tufts Poetry Awards 2016 Finalist. The Little Edges, written by Fred Moten, was published by WesPress in 2014. The Little Edges is a collection of poems that extends Moten’s experiments in what he calls “shaped prose”—a way of arranging prose in rhythmic blocks, or sometimes shards, in the interest of audio-visual patterning. Shaped prose is a form that works the “little edges” of lyric and discourse, and radiates out into the space between them. As occasional pieces, many of the poems in the book are the result of a…
The New England First Amendment Coalition presented Wesleyan English major Jenifer McKim ’88 with a 2016 Freedom of Information Award. McKim is senior investigative reporter and trainer at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR), a nonprofit based out of Boston University and WGBH. The Freedom of Information Award is presented annually to New England journalists who protect or advance the public’s right to know under federal or state law. McKim’s award-winning series, “Out of the Shadows—Shining Light on State Failures to Learn from Rising Child Abuse and Neglect Deaths,” first published by the Boston Globe, examined the effectiveness…
“What Does It Take to Launch a Successful Career?” Two notable members of the Wesleyan community tackled that question in a career workshop titled Your Career Playbook, sponsored by the WESpeaker Series, the Athletics Advantage Program and the Wesleyan Career Center on Feb. 26. Julie Bennett ’00, former captain of the women’s basketball team and member of the Athletic Advisory Council and now in sales and trading in equity derivatives at Citigroup (her “dream job”) joined Wesleyan trustee Jim Citrin P’12, P’14, leader of Spencer Stuart's North American CEO Practice, and author of The Career Playbook: Essential Advice for Today’s Aspiring Young Professional in…
Four Wesleyan academic departments, from psychology to dance to chemistry to biology, are competing for grant funds through a new crowdfunding site specifically designed for research project fundraising. Experiment.com's Challenge Grant for Liberal Arts Colleges asked scientists to define a scientific research question for the crowd with a prize for the project with the most backers. The pilot launched on Feb. 24 and concludes March 25.During this 31-day period, the goal is to reach $4,000 in funding. If so, the team is granted the money. If not, they receive nothing and no one's pledges are charged. By backing a project, participants will receive updates, results and data from project creators. Wesleyan research include how the…
Three hundred faculty and staff filled Beckham Hall for a feast of food and drink provided by 18 vendors at the fifth annual Taste of Middletown on March 9. Offerings ranged from empanadas, a macaroni and cheese bar, salads, chicken tikka masala and vegan spring rolls to a wide assortment of pastries and desserts and a variety of beverages. Wesleyan welcomed six new vendors to the event this year, including La Piastra, Red Fox, Iguanas Ranas, Taino Smokehouse, Fiore II, Mi Argentina and Mondo. (more…)
The following employees received Cardinal Achievement Awards during the last few months for their efforts in demonstrating extraordinary initiative in performing a specific task associated with their work at Wesleyan University. This special honor comes with a $250 award and reflects the university’s gratitude for their extra efforts: Dawn Alger, administrative assistant, Theater Department Mike Conte, associate director, Physical Plant - Facilities Steven Jacaruso, art director, University Communications Darrell Lawrence, analyst programmer, Information Technology Services Kathleen Logsdon, library assistant, Olin Library Anne Marcotty, senior designer, University Communications Liz Tinker, administrative assistant, English Department Maureen Zimmer, coordinator, Academic Affairs
Students who are enrolled in the E&ES 397/398 Senior Seminar and Senior Field Research Project Capstone spent eight days conducting research in Hawaii. Pictured, the students gather on a lava tree field.