Jordan-and-Greg.jpeg
Mike MavredakisOctober 18, 202311min
The National Basketball Association. The pinnacle of the profession. A level that millions of people of every age and walk of life dream of being a part of. Assuredly every basketball-wielding person has put themselves there—the seemingly hour-long seconds flickering away at the end of the fourth quarter of an NBA Finals game. Few have lived the finals dream, even fewer have left winners. Both Jordan Sears ’18 and Greg St. Jean ’13 are among the few, each taking home a championship in the last few seasons. Sears won in 2021 as assistant video coordinator with the Milwaukee Bucks and…

cam_fall_drone_10282020_225-copy-760x507.jpg
Mike MavredakisOctober 11, 202320min
The Los Angeles Review of Books reviewed a book recently published by President Michael S. Roth ’78, titled The Student: A Short History—which explores what it means to be a student over the years. “[Roth’s] self-described ‘pragmatic idealism’ is hardly a battle cry, but it is exactly what we need more of,” writer Todd Shy said. Roth joined PBS Newshour on Oct. 24 for a segment on how colleges have responded to the Supreme Court’s decision to end race-based admissions. “This summer, when I read the Supreme Court opinions … I thought to myself, how could we continue this practice?…

1000x660-Bryant-2.jpg
Mike MavredakisOctober 11, 20236min
A team of scientists from different corners of the field, all with unique backgrounds and countries they call home, tucked onto a vessel in the middle of the Northwest Atlantic for two months. It could be the set up to a research-themed superhero movie, or the dream scenario for an early-career professor. For Raquel Bryant, Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, getting this experience had been a bucket list item for the past decade. Bryant once had a research mentor who had a similar experience who told lively stories of the life at sea with some of the world’s…

bassin_2023_hi-res-download_3-1280x853.jpg
Mike MavredakisOctober 5, 20233min
Attorney Ian Bassin ’98 was named a MacArthur Fellow by the MacArthur Foundation on Oct. 4. The prestigious award went to Bassin and 19 others who have demonstrated outstanding talent and creativity in their work.  Bassin is the executive director of Protect Democracy, an organization he co-founded in 2016, which aims to counter authoritarian tactics and abuses of power. The group takes a multidisciplinary approach with work in litigation, legislative reform, research and analysis, election-monitoring software, and strategic communications.  “Democracy is a rare form of government in human history,” Bassin said. “It is not something that comes about naturally or…

1000x600-WMP-LOGO.jpg
Mike MavredakisOctober 4, 20235min
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) recently reported a steep rise in beneficiary complaints regarding the way Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D programs were being advertised. Many of the complaints suggested that some advertisements for these programs were misleading consumers or using aggressive sales tactics to boost enrollment. To better understand this problem, the Wesleyan Media Project (WMP) collaborated with KFF to study how health insurers and brokers are marketing Medicare programs to the American public during the open enrollment period in 2022. “We have worked informally with KFF in the past since our core set of expertise…

Margot-Weiss-1-1280x788.jpg
Mike MavredakisSeptember 27, 20236min
Margot Weiss, associate professor of anthropology and American studies, affiliated faculty in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and coordinator of queer studies, saw a gap in the world of queer anthropology—there was no central text compiling the leading theories and ideas of the field. So, she made one—well, two. Weiss recently published Queer Then and Now, a collection of lectures given by the winners of the CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies' annual David R. Kessler Award. CLAGS, which is housed at the City University of New York, gives the Kessler Award for lifetime achievement in queer and trans studies. The…

1000x600-Research.jpg
Mike MavredakisSeptember 20, 20238min
Robyn Autry, Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life; Hari Krishnan, Professor of Dance; and Francis Starr, Foss Professor of Physics, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and Professor of Integrative Sciences, have received the 2023 award for excellence in research. The awards—going to those who demonstrate excellence in their research, scholarship, and contributions to their field—were announced at the first faculty meeting of the year, held in early September. Autry, recipient of the faculty research prize in the social sciences, is a strong voice in the study of racial identity,…

Girls-in-Science-3-1280x853.jpg
Mike MavredakisSeptember 15, 20234min
Everyone gets their start somewhere—an entry point into their eventual career path. For M.J. Renee Sher, assistant professor of physics, it was at her all-girls middle school growing up in Taiwan. For Victoria Manfredi, assistant professor of computer science, it was her father’s suggestion she take computer science classes in high school and college. “College was the first time I had any women computer science professors, and they were just amazing people,” said Manfredi, who did not seriously consider the career until college. “Because I was at a women’s college, my computer science classes were also all women. That really…

image002-1280x960.jpg
Mike MavredakisSeptember 15, 20234min
There are 600 million people globally and 80 million people in the United States living along coastal waters, and these people are endangered by sea level rise, resulting from climate change, according to Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, Emeritus, Johan Varekamp. Global sea level is expected to rise between 10 to 12 inches by 2050, potentially as much as three to seven feet by 2100 if future carbon emissions into the atmosphere are not reduced, according to a National Ocean Service study published in 2022. Coastal flooding will become more common and more severe, and storm surge heights…

1200x800-IF.jpg
Mike MavredakisSeptember 13, 20237min
There are not many places a student could go to find out about the birding scene on campus, hear about where to go to learn improv comedy, find their fellow student investors, or work to expand reproductive rights. The Student Involvement Fair on Sept. 8 on Huss Lawn was just the place to seek out each of these interests and their accompanying communities, or just try your hand at a game of chess with the chess club. To accompany the many academic events available each semester, Wesleyan is home to over 300 student-run groups, clubs, organizations, and activities. Students have…

cam_fall_drone_10282020_217-copy-760x507.jpg
Mike MavredakisSeptember 13, 202315min
Two Wesleyan alumni were hired in key roles at the White House by the Biden-Harris Administration in September. Ed Siskel ’94 started his new role as White House Counsel and Rob Wilcox ’01 joined the administration as a Deputy Director of the new Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Siskel, the nation’s top attorney, was called a seasoned lawyer who could “hit the ground running as a key leader on my team,” by President Joseph R. Biden in a statement, according to The New York Times. Siskel will be tasked with guiding Biden through an impeachment inquiry spearheaded by Speaker of the…

DSC09278-1280x853.jpg
Mike MavredakisSeptember 1, 20237min
Open trunks as far as the eye could see. Open eyes wandering all over—up into the rainy sky above, out past Andrus Field and up Foss Hill toward the Van Vleck Observatory, and down toward Usdan where Wesleyan’s newest attendees would eat their first meals as students. The new students arriving in Middletown on Aug. 30 for their first day on campus had an air of openness and curiosity about them. For many of the students moving in, it was that same openness that drew them to Wesleyan in the first place. An open-minded community, an open curriculum, being open…