Olivia DrakeHilary Barth, associate professor of psychology, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior, is the co-author of of "Preschoolers trust novel members of accurate speakers’ groups and judge them favorably," published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Issue 67, pages 872-883, in 2014. The paper is based on work from BA '08/MA '09 student Keera Bhandari's thesis, and research by former undergraduates Kyle MacDonald '10 and Jenn Garcia '10, and former lab manager Elizabeth Chase. It is known that by age 3, children track a speaker's record of past accuracy and use it as a cue to current reliability. Through two different experiments,…
Wesleyan hosted the Academic Scholarships, Fellowships and Prizes Reception for students May 7 in Daniel family Commons. "We gather today to honor students who represent the highest ideals of Wesleyan University―intellectual curiosity, academic excellence, creative expression, leadership, and service. While celebrating these recipients of awards, prizes, and scholarships, we also honor and thank alumni and friends whose generous contributions make these prizes possible," said Ruth Striegel Weissman, provost and vice president for academic affairs. The prizes and recipients are listed below: Butterfield Prize Established by the Class of 1967 and awarded to the graduating senior who has exemplified those qualities…
Reinhold Blümel, the Charlotte Augusta Ayres Professor of Physics, and physics graduate student Yunseong Nam are the co-authors of "Robustness of the quantum Fourier transform with respect to static gate defects," published in Physical Review A, Issue 89, in April 2014. The quantum Fourier transform (QFT) is one of the most widely used quantum algorithms, ranging from its primary role in finding the periodicity hidden in a quantum state to its use in constructing a quantum adder.
Wesleyan students celebrated the end of the 2013-14 academic year during the annual Spring Fling, held May 8 on Foss Hill. Musicians included Chance The Rapper, tUnE-yArDs, and DJ S-Type. Read more about the bands in this Wesleyan Argus article. Photos of Spring Fling are below: (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)
Manju Hingorani, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, received a grant worth $324,127 from the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health on May 1
Bill Craighead, assistant professor of economics, is the author of a paper titled "Monetary Rules and Sectoral Unemployment in Open Economies" published in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of Macroeconomics. Search theory has given us a more realistic mechanism to study unemployment in macroeconomic models. In this paper, Craighead integrated search theory into an “open economy” macroeconomic model – i.e., a model of an economy that interacts with the rest of the world. One important question in open economy models is what measure of inflation should monetary policy respond to – consumer prices, which include imported goods, or producer…
The Office of Human Resources reported the following new hires, advancements and transitions, and departures for April 2014: Newly hired Ryan Launder was hired as an administrative assistant for the Green Street Arts Center on April 14. Doug Gilchrist was hired as a boiler tender in the Central Power Plant - Physical Plant on April 15. Geralyn Ternullo was hired as an administrative assistant for the annual fund on April 21. Meg O’Brien was hired as an associate director of financial planning on April 28. Promotions Jennifer Curran was appointed Director of Continuing Studies. She served as Interim Director of…
The Neuroscience and Behavior Program hosted a senior symposium/dinner on May 1. Seventeen students delivered research poster presentations and six seniors made formal presentations during dinner. The event took place in the Daniel Family Commons. Photos of the event are below: (Photos by Ryan Heffernan '16) (more…)
Five Wesleyan faculty participated in Wesleyan Thinks Big May 2 in Memorial Chapel. Students nominated their favorite professors earlier in the semester to give nine-minute lectures, without slides, handouts, or Moodle, on a topic of their choice. (more…)
Biology Ph.D candidate Sarah Kopac was invited to speak at the 2014 Spring Symposium of the Space Telescope Science Institute on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, M.D. on April 29. Kopac spoke on "Specialization of Bacillus in the Geochemcially Challenged Environment of Death Valley." Watch a video of her 20 minute presentation online here. Kopac's talk was part of a four-day interdisciplinary meeting titled "Habitable Worlds Across Time and Space" featuring speakers from around the world working in such diverse fields as biology, geology and astronomy. The focus of the seminar was on identifying places within our…
The Campus Activities Committee sponsored the 3rd Annual Taste of Middletown, an event offering samples from 15 local restaurants and hotels including Typhoon Asian Cuisine, Sweet Harmony Bakery, Lyman Orchards and more. The event took place on April 30 in Beckham Hall and included a raffle prizes. More than 225 Wesleyan faculty and staff attended. Employees were encouraged to donate non-perishable food items to Amazing Grace, a food pantry located in Middletown. "Amazing Grace is grateful to all of our employees who donated a whopping 227 pounds of food and an additional $80 in cash," said event organizer Olga Bookas, director…
Sonali Chakravarti, assistant professor of government, is the author of Sing the Rage: Listening to Anger after Mass Violence, published by University Of Chicago Press on April 23. In Sing the Rage, Sonali Chakravarti examines the relationship between anger and justice through a careful look at the emotionally charged South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Between 1996 and 1998, the commission saw, day after day, individuals taking the stand to speak—to cry, scream, and wail—about the atrocities of apartheid. Uncomfortable and surprising, these public emotional displays, she argues, proved to be of immense value, vital to the success of transitional justice and…