Olivia Drake – Page 53

New Student Orientation for the Class of 2022 concluded Aug. 31 with the annual Common Moment, an event where members of the incoming class are brought together through music and performance. This year, the students worked with choreographer Heidi Latsky to create her installation ON DISPLAY, a performance art investigation of the body and the gaze. In a large-scale, participatory version of Latsky’s touring work, the first-year students performed the roles of both seer and seen on Andrus Field and discussed their personal experiences of these roles. Students were challenged to commit to the exercise without judgment, to trust both…

This fall, Wesleyan welcomes 71 new faculty, including 15 tenure-track faculty, 10 professors of the practice, 1 adjunct, and 45 new visiting faculty. "Academic Affairs, in conjunction with a number of departments and centers, ran successful searches for a number of new professor of the practice positions this year in order to expand the curriculum in particular areas such as writing, education studies, physics, and others, where these faculty could be of great value," explained Joyce Jacobsen, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Bios of the new ongoing and full-time visiting faculty are below: Anthropology Joseph Weiss, assistant…

Wesleyan's Center for the Arts announces the highlights of the 2018–2019 season, including two world, two New England, and four Connecticut premieres. "This season we are taking a cue from CONTRA-TIEMPO, whose new work 'joyUS justUS' posits that the expression of joy is the greatest act of resistance,” said Sarah Curran, director of the Center for the Arts. "During the 2018–2019 season, we claim joy and expressive freedom, through which we represent, create, and expand our community. We are particularly excited about presenting the first solo exhibition in New England by up-and-coming multimedia artist Kahlil Robert Irving, including a number…

David Kuenzel, assistant professor of economics, is the coauthor of a new paper published in the September 2018 Journal of Macroeconomics titled, “Constitutional Rules as Determinants of Social Infrastructure." In the paper, Kuenzel and his coauthors, Theo Eicher from the University of Washington and Cecilia García-Peñalosa from Aix-Marseille University, investigate the link between constitutional rules and economic institutions, which are a key driver of economic development and economic growth. Kuenzel and his coauthors find that the determinants of economic institutions (or social infrastructure) are much more fundamental than previously thought. In addition to constitutional rules that constrain the executive, highly detailed…

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On Aug. 29, members of the Class of 2022 said farewell to their families at an emotional gathering and later gathered on Denison Terrace for a class photo. Wesleyan President Michael Roth '78; Vice President for Student Affairs Mike Whaley; and student orientation leaders taught the first-years the Wesleyan fight song and emphasized the song's "Go Wes!" ending. (Photos by Olivia Drake) Prior to the farewell, President Roth “A good liberal education empowers you to figure out what you love to do, learn how to do it better, and then how to share that talent with the rest of the world.”…

Peter Gottschalk, professor of religion, and history major Gabriel Greenberg ’04 are the coauthors of Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Sentiment: Picturing the Enemy, Second Edition, published in July 2018 by Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. The duo released Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy in August 2007. Islamophobia explores anxieties surrounding anti-Muslim sentiments through political cartoons and film. After providing a background on Islamic traditions and their history with America, it graphically shows how political cartoons and films reveal a casual demeaning and demonizing of Muslims and Islam from both sides of the political aisle. Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Sentiment offers both insights into American culture’s…

On Aug. 29, in temperatures hovering around 90 degrees, 810 new students from the Class of 2022 moved into their new residence halls on New Student Arrival Day. Wesleyan received a record-breaking 12,788 applications for a spot in the Class of 2022, of which 2,219 were admitted. Of those, 810 matriculated and another 44 students transferred into Wesleyan. After settling into their home-away-from-home and saying farewell to their families, the new students participated in an array of New Student Orientation social activities involving group sessions with orientation leaders, academic forums, autobiographical monologues written and presented by current students, a neon space party,…

Throughout high school, Naranchimeg Altai of Mongolia favored the subjects of math and physics and had dreams of becoming an engineer. “I was a science person,” she said. “But then I started doing some research on schools and discovered liberal arts … and Wesleyan seemed to be a good fit. I wanted a large community with small classes and many options. I like physics, but I also like English and education.” Altai applied, was accepted, and on Aug. 26, she took her first steps on American soil. She joins 116 other new international students at Wesleyan who come from locations…

Members of Wesleyan's Gamelan Ensemble participated in the 2018 International Gamelan Festival in Solo, Java, Indonesia, Aug. 9–16. The annual festival is sponsored by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture and the Provincial Government of Solo and features various programs honoring gamelan—not only for music but also as historical and cultural artifacts. During the conference, Sumarsam, the Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music, delivered a keynote address titled “From Texts to Mantra: Imparting Meaning to Javanese Wayang Puppet Play.” He also led a discussion about his new book, written in Indonesian, titled Imparting Meaning to Wayang Puppet Play and Gamelan: Java-Islam-Global Intersection. Artist-in-Residence I.M.…

Wesleyan earth and environmental sciences major Eduardo Centeno ’19 was honored for presenting the "best undergraduate talk" at the 6th Polar Marine Diatom Workshop (PMDW), held Aug. 6–10 at Iowa State University. The honor also earned him a featured appearance on Iowa Public Radio. Centeno, a McNair Scholar, discussed his research titled "Environmental Interpretation of the mid-Pliocene at Site 697." For this study, Centeno examined the diatoms (fossils of algae) off of the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula using a marine sediment core drilled at a location known as Site 697. "Diatoms are really important microscopic plants that have been estimated to…

Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), a grassroots nonprofit organization directed by Kennedy Odede ’12 and Jessica Posner ’09, has been awarded the 2018 Conrad N. Hilton Foundation's Hilton Humanitarian Prize. Selected by a distinguished panel of independent international jurors, SHOFCO will receive $2 million in unrestricted funding, joining 22 other notable organizations that have received the Hilton Humanitarian Prize over the last two decades. Based in Kibera—one of the largest slums in Africa—SHOFCO was founded by Odede as a teenager in 2004 with 20 cents and a soccer ball. The organization describes its mission as catalyzing large-scale transformation in urban slums…

Students Go “ON DISPLAY” During Common Moment

Wesleyan Welcomes 71 New Faculty in 2018-19

Center for the Arts 2018–2019 Events Feature Urban Latin Dance, Court Dancers and Musicians of Yogyakarta

Kuenzel Coauthors Paper in the Journal of Macroeconomics

Peer Advisors Offer Advice, Answer Questions from New Students

Class of 2022 Gathers for Group Photo, Says Farewell to Families

Gottschalk, Greenberg ’04 Release Second Edition of Islamophobia

Wesleyan Welcomes 810 Students to the Class of 2022

International Students Hail from 37 Countries

Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble Participates in Indonesian Festival

Centeno ’19 Honored in Iowa for Undergraduate Environmental Research

SHOFCO Recipient of Hilton Humanitarian Prize