2020 – Page 4

Angie Makomenaw, mental health education and prevention coordinator, joined Wesleyan's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) in January 2020. She talks about her goals in this new position, the uniquely challenging circumstances affecting students' mental health, and how CAPS is reaching and supporting students during the pandemic. You are Wesleyan’s first mental health education and prevention coordinator. Please tell us about your role and what needs on campus you were hired to address. This position was created out of an understanding of the importance of prevention in mental health. I am accountable for organizing initiatives for the Wes community in the…

Wesleyan video producer Patrick Bohan flew a drone over campus Oct. 26, documenting a bird's-eye view of campus—and Middletown—this fall. (more…)

As a lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, the Jewett Center for Community Partnerships is sponsoring an Engage 2020 (E2020) Speaker Series featuring an array of public figures from diverse backgrounds, all with compelling messages about the urgency of this moment, and the power of students and young people to affect change. Topics for this ongoing series include voter education and registration in battleground states; elections under threat; post-debate conversations with Wesleyan faculty; religion, diversity, and democracy; strategizing politics; discussing the election and staying friendly; young voters; criminal justice and the 2020 elections; and more. The E2020 Speaker Series is…

On Oct. 26, Matthew Arkin '82 interviewed author Heidi Mastrogiovanni '79 on his YouTube show "Creative Conversations." Mastrogiovanni is the author of the comedic novel Lala Pettibone’s Act Two (finalist for the Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards) and the sequel, Lala Pettibone: Standing Room Only. The prequel in the trilogy, Lala Pettibone: Curtain Up, will be released next year. As a graduate of Wesleyan, Mastrogiovanni chose to have all of the protagonists in her novels be alumni of her alma mater. With James Napoli (The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm), Mastrogiovanni is co-host of the “Movies Not Movies” comedy podcast.…

Wesleyan welcomes 14 new ongoing faculty to campus this fall, including five professors of the practice. They include: Charles Barber, associate professor of the practice in the College of Letters, is a nonfiction author who writes about mental health and criminal justice issues, for both popular and scholarly audiences. He has previously taught at Wesleyan for eight years as a visitor, primarily as Writer in Residence in the College of Letters, and also in the Psychology and English departments, and Allbritton Center. He has written three books: Songs from the Black Chair: A Memoir of Mental Interiors, Comfortably Numb: How…

This fall, Wesleyan welcomes 17 visiting faculty members to campus. They are: Christopher Bell, David Scott Williams Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology, received his BA in English literatures and cultures from Brown University and his MA and PhD in psychology from the University of West Georgia. His research explores the processes and outcomes of psychotherapy; his dissertation, Psychotherapeutic Subjectivities, examined the subjective experiences of individuals in psychotherapy, analyzing these experiences in terms of different psychotherapeutic techniques. He has published on projection and memories of projection as well as Lacanian psychoanalysis, and his projects advocate a contextual approach to psychotherapy research.…

This fall, Wesleyan welcomes nine postdoctoral fellows to campus. They include: Sierra Eisen, postdoctoral fellow in psychology, joins the Psychology Department for two years. She received her PhD from the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia, where she was a researcher in the Early Development Lab. Eisen studies how children interact with and learn from different forms of media. Her research mainly focuses on how children think about and learn from touchscreen devices and educational apps. At Wesleyan, she will conduct collaborative research with students and faculty in the Cognitive Development Laboratories, directed by Anna Shusterman and Hilary…

When the GOVT: 296 Japanese Politics class was learning about environmental policy, course instructor Professor Mary Alice Haddad brought her students out of the Hogwarts Classroom and to the Center for the Arts Green for their Oct. 22 class. "Using our environment to learn the material was particularly appropriate," said Haddad, John E. Andrus Professor of Government, chair and professor of East Asian studies. With social distancing in mind, Haddad taught the lesson through kinesthetic learning—learning with your body. She learned about this technique from her experience with Wesleyan's Creative Campus Initiative, which pairs performance artists with non-performance faculty for…

Three Wesleyan faculty were honored with the Wesleyan Prize for Excellence in Research in October. The third annual prize is similar to the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching, but is presented to members of the faculty who demonstrate the highest standards of excellence in their research, scholarship, and contributions to their field. Each recipient received a plaque and citation as well as research funds for their award. This year's recipients include: Division I, Sumarsam, Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music; Division II, Lori Gruen, William Griffin Professor of Philosophy; and Division III, Bill Herbst, John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy.…

Students enjoyed an afternoon of fall splendor on Oct. 22, when temperatures reached 70 degrees. (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)

Philosophers in the ancient world, in both the East and the West, typically viewed the practice of philosophy as an activity aimed at changing one's orientation to the world and, thus, how one lives one's life. Some of these thinkers developed views that still appear to have contemporary relevance, but many of them also held beliefs that we recognize today as not only outdated but also deeply misguided. Given these blind spots in their thinking, should ancient philosophy be "canceled"? That was the question up for consideration in a midterm debate held on Oct. 22 as part of PHIL 210:…

For her exemplary contributions to research in the geological sciences and for being an instrumental mentor to young people of color, Professor Marty Gilmore received the 2020 Randolph W. “Bill” and Cecile T. Bromery Award from the Geological Society of America. Gilmore, George I. Seney Professor of Geology, professor of earth and environmental sciences, and co-coordinator of Wesleyan's Planetary Sciences program, was nominated for the award by Jim Head, the Louis and Elizabeth Scherck Distinguished Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University. "Few individuals have done more for expanding diversity in the geosciences than Dr. Gilmore," Head said. She "leads…

Makomenaw Focuses on Resilience Building, Prevention in Student Mental Health

A Bird’s-Eye View of Wesleyan’s Campus in Fall

Watch Engage 2020 Speaker Series Recordings

Arkin ’82 Interviews Mastrogiovanni ’79 on “Creative Conversations” Series

Wesleyan Hires 14 New Ongoing Faculty in 2020–21

Wesleyan Welcomes 17 Visiting Faculty

9 Postdoctoral Fellows Join Wesleyan in 2020-21

Students Explore Japanese Politics through Movement

Sumarsam, Gruen, Herbst Honored with Faculty Research Prizes

Students Enjoy Wesleyan’s Fall Splendor

Philosophical Debate Serves as Living a Good Life Course’s Midterm

Gilmore Receives Bromery Award from the Geological Society of America