Lauren RubensteinWriting in The Daily Beast, President Michael Roth reviewed In Defense of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakaria, a refreshing change from the scores of books published in recent years decrying the state of higher education. Roth writes: Into this atmosphere of cynicism and spleen, Fareed Zakaria offers a compact, effective essay on the importance of a broad, contextual education. Cheerfully out of step with the strident critics of higher ed, In Defense of a Liberal Education is a reminder that American colleges and universities are a powerful resource that has allowed so many young people to learn about themselves and their ability to have a positive impact…
#THISISWHY Duminda Ranasinghe, a Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry, spoke April 16 in Exley in the fourth event of the Graduate Student Speaker Series. (Photos by Hannah Norman '16.)
Beginning July 1, Marc Eisner will serve as Dean of the Social Sciences, Ellen Nerenberg as Dean of Arts and Humanities, and Joseph Knee as Dean of the Sciences and Mathematics. Eisner's appointment was announced April 17, while the appointments of Nerenberg and Knee were made at the faculty meeting in November 2014. Eisner will succeed Joyce Jacobsen; Nerenberg will succeed Andrew Curran; and Knee will succeed Ishita Mukerji. (more…)
The Office of Human Resources reported the following new hires and departures for March 2015. Newly hired Zachariah Pfeifer was hired as coordinator of Greek life on March 2. Julian Goldfield was hired as desktop support specialist and art workshops technology administrator on March 2. Pierina Cheung was hired as a research associate on March 6. Francesca Livermore was hired as digital projects librarian on March 16. Alexander Vazquez was hired as the instructional media specialist on March 23. Kera Jewett was hired as a development officer on March 30. (more…)
#THISISWHY Lisa Pinette, library assistant V, was recently presented with a Cardinal Achievement Award for her work on the Signage Task Force, creating more than 200 new and color-coded signs installed in Olin Memorial Library and the Science Library. Pinette coordinated a group effort to select sign styles that would allow for future changes as needed, solicited input from library staff, worked with University Communications on the design, and ensured that all signs were ADA compliant. Finally, she hired a company to manufacture and install the signs. “The signs look great and provide wonderful consistency and clarity from floor to floor…
#THISISWHY Cathy Lechowicz, director of the Center for Community Partnerships, was one of six people honored with a 2015 Community Service Award by the Connecticut Commission on Community Service and the Office of Higher Education. The winners--drawn from college students, campus programs and faculty and staff--were recognized at a ceremony April 14 at the Connecticut State Capitol. This was the 23rd annual awards ceremony conducted by the Connecticut Commission on Community Service. More than 50 students, faculty and staff attended the ceremony. "I am humbled by the recognition and grateful to work with an incredible team of people at Allbritton,…
When the Nobel Prize-winning German writer Günter Grass died at age 87 this week, The Wall Street Journal turned to Krishna Winston, his translator, for perspective on his life. According to the Journal's obituary, Grass was Germany's best-known contemporary writer "who explored the country's postwar guilt and in 2006 admitted to serving in one of the Nazis' most notorious Nazi military units." Winston remembered Grass as "a gregarious man who loved cooking and invited his children to sit in on meetings with translators that often lasted several days..." (more…)
Sara Seager, Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will deliver the Sturm Memorial Lecture at 8 p.m. on April 29. She will speak in CFA Hall on "The Search for Earth 2.0." Seager is a pioneer in the field of exoplanets, specifically in characterizing the atmospheres and searching for life on those distant worlds. Her talk will address the age-old question: "Are we alone?" (more…)
The following statement was sent April 13 to the campus community from Michael Whaley, vice president for student affairs. To the Wesleyan Community: Many of you have asked for an update on the aftermath of the drug poisoning incident of Feb. 22. Two of the five students arrested have been permanently dismissed from the university; the judicial process for the others, who are currently suspended, is ongoing. Wesleyan is committed to providing a learning environment in which all students can thrive. The use of illicit drugs is clearly an unacceptable detriment to that environment, and our policies in this regard…
This month, Wesleyan was one of 12 colleges and universities across the country selected to take part in a new College Food Allergy pilot program being carried out by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE). The program strives to help colleges and universities provide a safer experience for students with food allergies and offers schools "gold-standard recommendations and evidence-based resources needed to effectively manage food allergy, a potentially life-threatening disease." Associate Dean of Student Academic Resources Laura Patey has been instrumental in bringing this program to Wesleyan, and she answered questions about it. (more…)
In honor of Earth Month, Wesleyan will host a series of speakers and films beginning April 14. At 4:15 p.m. on April 14, the College of the Environment will present a talk, "The Tiger in the Smoke: The Aesthetics of Fog in Post-War Britain c. 1945-55," by Lynda Nead, the Pevsner Professor of History of Art at Birkbeck, University of London. The talk will be in 41 Wyllys, Room 112. It is cosponsored by the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life; the Mellon Fund for Lectures in Ethics, Politics and Social Issues; Art History; History; and the Science in…
MarketWatch columnist Howard Gold turned to Professor of Economics Richard Grossman for his take on reforming the Fed. Gold took issue with calls from presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul and others to "audit the Fed," but instead advocated for term limits for Fed chair-persons and changes in the pivotal Federal Reserve Bank of New York. On the matter of term limits for the Fed chair, Grossman spoke of former chairman Alan Greenspan, who stuck around nearly 19 years. (more…)