Olivia DrakeA gaggle of geese grazed on a patch of grass March 10 on Andrus Field. Canada geese are year round residents in Connecticut. They look for wide open spaces to feed and breed. (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)
On Feb. 27, representatives from seven Wesleyan athletic teams visited Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Middletown to promote the anti-bullying message "if it's mean, then intervene" with about 300 seventh and eighth graders. The student-athletes worked with the school's RAM Pride Patrol program, which is run by seventh grade teacher and Wesleyan alumnus Anthony Albrech '08. Albrecht organized the participation by Wesleyan athletes with Jeff McDonald, assistant football coach. McDonald drafted 16 student athletes from the men's and women's lacrosse teams, men's hockey team, football, men’s tennis team, women’s basketball and men’s track to come to the school for two separate presentations.…
The Board of Trustees and volunteer leaders attended a reception Feb. 27 in the Career Center. About 100 alumni, students, faculty, staff and other guests participated in the event. (Photos by John Van Vlack) (more…)
Mateusz “Matt” Burgunder ’15 recently competed in the 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Verbier, Switzerland where the U.S. National Ski Mountaineering Team finished in 10th place overall. This was Burgunder's fourth time competing for the U.S., participating in three events. Competitors race by climbing up and skiing down mountains at a rate of approximately 3,000 feet per hour. The 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships, hosted by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, were held Feb. 6–12. More information about the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association and the 2015 World Championships can be found online. See photos of Burgunder's events below: (more…)
The student-run Wesleyan Local Food Co-op sources a large variety of fresh local foods, including Long Lane Farm produce, and distributes them on campus. Besides produce, the co-op distributes fresh dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt and butter), meat, eggs, tofu, seitan, granola, bread and coffee, all locally grown, roasted or made. The program began solely for students but is now open to staff and faculty participation in the wake of expressed interest. More than 500 members of the Wesleyan community are part of one or more co-ops. Participants pick up shares Wednesday evenings in Usdan and help once each semester…
Wesleyan's Slam Poetry Team, WeSlam, took first place at the Yale Regional Poetry Slam Feb. 28 in New Haven, Conn. Wesleyan competed against five other teams from Yale, Brown University, Columbia/Barnard, Middlebury College and Emerson College. "Our team brought important pieces about racial and religious identity, sexual violence across the gender binary, and gender roles," said former WeSlam member Mike Rosen '11, who serves as the team's advisor. Poets include Giorgia Peckman '18, Jon Logan-Rung '18, Hazem Fahmy '17, Rick Manayan '17 and Max Friedlich '17. Fahmy received a standing ovation for his poem about popular culture's portrayal of Islam. For more information on…
In its most recent meeting, the Board of Trustees promoted seven faculty members. The BOT conferred tenure on Lauren Caldwell, associate professor of classical studies; Stephen Collins, associate professor of film studies; Paul Erickson, associate professor of history; Matthew Garrett, associate professor of English; Brian Northrop, associate professor of chemistry; Julia Randall, associate professor of art; and Seth Redfield, associate professor of astronomy. The promotions are effective July 1, 2015. Brief descriptions of their areas of research and teaching appear below. Lauren Caldwell Caldwell’s research focuses on Roman social history, Roman law, and Greco-Roman medicine. Her recent book, Roman Girlhood and the Fashioning of Femininity (Cambridge University Press,…
Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship announced the winners of the 2015 PCSE Seed Grant Challenge. These student-led social ventures will each receive $5,000 in unrestricted funds as well as training, advising, mentoring, incubator workspace and other resources from the Patricelli Center. Recipients were selected from a strong pool of finalists who submitted written business plans and pitched to a panel of expert judges comprised of alumni, students, faculty and staff. Applicants were assessed on their project design, leadership qualities and potential for social impact. The 2015 Seed Grant recipients are: (more…)
While walking back to his room from Al-Faw Palace in Baghdad, Iraq, Bryan Stascavage ’18 remembers telling a friend about his plans for the future. “When I get out of the military, I’m going back to college with a vengeance," Stascavage said. “A perfect 4.0 GPA or bust. I’m not messing around and wasting this opportunity like I did my first time around.” His first time in college, which he attended right after high school, had been an "unmitigated disaster," Stascavage recalls. He only lasted three semesters with a GPA hovering around a 2.0. After taking a wide array of…
Lori Gruen, professor and chair of philosophy, professor of environmental studies, and professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, is the author of a new book, Entangled Empathy: An Alternative Ethic for Our Relationships with Animals, published by Lantern Books on Feb. 15. In Entangled Empathy, Gruen argues that rather than focusing on animal rights, we ought to work to make our relationships with animals right by empathetically responding to their needs, interests, desires, vulnerabilities, hopes and unique perspectives. Pointing out that we are already entangled in complex and life-altering relationships with other animals, Gruen guides readers through a new way…
As a 2015 Humanities Research Centre Visiting Fellow, Associate Professor Jennifer Tucker will study Victorian sustainability, photography, law and river pollution prevention reform at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia. Her appointment will be May 15-July 15. Tucker's ongoing research, tentatively titled “Science Against Industry: Photographic Technologies and the Visual Politics of Pollution Reform,” traces the historical roots of the use of visual evidence in environmental science and pollution reform. Using nearly 300 visual representations (drawings, engravings photographs, and graphs) from archives and libraries, many of which have never previously been studied, she analyzes the scientific impact of new forms of visual representation in chemical climatology and examines the…