Olivia DrakeRon Jenkins, professor of theater, was interviewed about his prison theater project for a Radio Australia program on June 24. The broadcast was aired on their pacific network in Australia, Indonesia, Cambodia and East Timor. A transcript of the interview is below: Theatre program with a difference in Bali, Indonesia The Kerobokanprison has become synonymous with the trials and convictions of Australian drug traffickers Schapelle Corby, and members of the Bali 9. But now a professor of theatre from the United States is running a theater program as part of efforts to change the atmosphere of the jail. Presenter Nasya…
Four Wesleyan women faculty members are featured in the June 30 Women in Academia Report. According to the article, "Wesleyan University, the highly regarded liberal arts institution in Middletown, Connecticut, has promoted three women to full professor. Another woman was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor." Lori Gruen, who has taught at Wesleyan since 2000, was promoted to full professor of philosophy. Her research focuses on the ethical treatment of animals. Professor Gruen holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. Magda Teter was promoted to full professor of history and named the Jeremy Zwelling Professor…
Holly Capelo, a graduate student in the Astronomy Department, wrote a contribution to "astrobites," an e-newsletter for students and others interested in astronomy. In her article, titled "Careers, Like Space Missions, are Tricky: How a Master’s Degree Can Help," Capelo writes about her experience as a M.A. student at Wesleyan: "In general the program is quite flexible: the curriculum includes a baseline number of astronomy courses and the rest of the course work is custom fit for individual students’ backgrounds and goals; often the candidates have undergraduate degrees in related fields, such as math, physics and computer science, and acquire…
An article by Brian Glenn, visiting assistant professor of government, was published on salon.com July 4. In the piece, titled "What is a 'constitutional conservative' anyway?," Glenn writes, "For conservative politicians, the name signals that they are identifying as Tea Party members, which means limiting government, balancing the federal budget, lowering taxes, ending redistribution from the wealthier to the poor, assigning a central position for God in the lives of Americans, even in courthouses and public schools, and asserting the right to bear arms. While God will always be given top billing, one gets the sense that lowering taxes and…
Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, is the co-author of "The Highly Dynamic Behavior of the Innermost Dust and Gas in the Transition Disk Variable LRLL 31," published in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 732, Issue 2, article id. 83 in 2011, and "Preliminary Analysis of MOST Observations of the Trapezium," published in American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #96.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43 in 2011. Herbst and his graduate student Holly Capelo are the authors of "Optical And Infrared Monitoring Of KH 15D," published in the American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #226.08; Bulletin…
Charles Sanislow, assistant professor of psychology, is the co-author of a study published in the summer issue of the Journal of Personality Disorders that reports findings from the Collaborative Personality Study. The study dissociates severity and style of trait ratings and results suggest that severity plays a key role in predicting dysfunction. The work is helping to inform the organization for classifying personality pathology in the soon to be published DSM-5. The article is online here.
Patricia Rodriguez Mosquera, assistant professor of psychology, published a Special Issue on Social Image for the European Journal of Social Psychology. The 13 papers included in the special issue reflect the centrality of social image in a wide array of psychological processes. Five major themes integrate the diverse selection of papers: (i) self-presentation of social image; (ii) culture-specific conceptions of social image; (iii) the role of social image in emotion; (iv) respect and status as reflections of social image; and (v) the influence of social image on ingroup and outgroup perceptions. The Special Issue is online here.
Naomi Kamins, assistant director for student services with Graduate Liberal Studies Program, is retiring on July 29. Over the past 24 years, Naomi has worked in many areas of the program, and most recently has worked very closely with Graduate Liberal Studies students, ensuring that they progress through the program as smoothly as possible. Kamins also has been a GLS student herself, and is, and plans to remain, a regular at many campus cultural events. She has always been deeply involved with the Middletown community, and will continue to be as she is currently serving as the president of Congregation…
For more information on the eesmarts program, go to http://www.wesleyan.edu/pimms/
Margot Weiss, assistant professor of American studies and anthropology, received a $22,372 Post-Ph.D. Research Grant (with Osmundsen Initiative funding) from The Wenner-Gren Foundation, and a $6,250 grant from the Joan Heller-Diane Bernard Fellowship in Lesbian and Gay Studies from The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies. Both grants will support Weiss's ethnographic research project titled "Visions of Sexual Justice Among Contemporary Queer Activists" during the 2011-12 academic year.
Through a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Wesleyan Hughes Summer Research Program supports undergraduate education in the life sciences. This summer, Wesleyan is hosting 43 Hughes Fellows and approximately 65 Hughes Associates. Hughes Associates are not funded by Hughes, but they participate in Hughes activities. The program runs from May 25 to July 29 and is open to freshmen, sophomores and juniors currently enrolled at Wesleyan. Fellows receive a $4,000 stipend and are expected to work full-time on their research. Wesleyan faculty members serve as mentors in the Hughes Summer Research Program. The Summer Program also includes…
The Society of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society, welcomed 87 members to the Gamma of Connecticut Chapter May 21. Election to the society is based on fulfillment of eligibility requirements, including a grade point average of 90 or above and the satisfactory completion of general education requirements prior to commencement. Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776, during the American Revolution. The organization’s Greek initials signify the motto, "Love of learning is the guide of life." The students join the ninth oldest Phi Beta Kappa chapter in the United States—founded in 1845. During the ceremony, Wesleyan…