Olivia Drake – Page 7

Wesleyan's organic farm, an eco-friendly clothing store, and a clean water supplier in New Jersey are the recipients of the 2021 Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship Seed Grants. 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. On April 2, a pool of finalists pitched their projects, virtually, to a panel of expert judges. Applicants were assessed on their project design, leadership qualities, and potential for social or environmental impact. Seasoned Seed Grant judge and Patricelli Center Advisory Board member Syed Ali '13…

A film written, directed, and produced by College of Film and the Moving Image faculty Randall MacLowry and Tracy Heather Strain explores the life and times of author L. Frank Baum, the creator of the beloved classic American narrative, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. MacLowry is assistant professor of the practice in film studies and Strain is associate professor of film studies. Together they direct the Wesleyan Documentary Project. Titled American Oz, the documentary depicts how Baum continued to reinvent himself—working as a chicken breeder, actor, marketer of petroleum products, shopkeeper, newspaperman, and traveling salesman—while reinterpreting his observations through films,…

On March 28, Victoria Smolkin, associate professor of history and chair, Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies, was featured on the radio station Echo of Moscow. Smolkin spoke on Soviet atheism on Irina Prokhorova's program "Culture of Everyday Life." The podcast is available in Russian online here. Smolkin is the author of A Sacred Space Is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism, which was recently translated into Russian. Atheism prevailed in Soviet ideology, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. However, religion never fully disappeared from the life of Russia and the Soviet republics. In the broadcast, Smolkin and fellow panelists…

Richard Grossman, professor of economics, recently co-authored an article titled “Before the Cult of Equity: the British Stock Market, 1829-1929” in European Review of Economic History, published on March 24, 2021. According to the paper's abstract, the co-authors "analyze the development and performance of the British equity market during the era when it reigned supreme as the largest in the world. By using an extensive monthly dataset of thousands of companies, we identify the major peaks and troughs in the market and find a relationship with the timing of economic cycles. We also show that the equity risk premium was…

As a recipient of a Fulbright Specialist Award, Professor Lisa Dierker hopes to connect with academic partners across the world sharing her expertise and excitement in support of data analytics. “High quality, accessible and manageable data have never been so critical to the well-being of people around the world,” Dierker said. “Increasing capacity to identify, gather and analyze relevant data is a key pathway for better-informed decision-making and will create a larger, more diverse workforce.” Dierker, Walter Crowell University Professor of Social Sciences, professor of psychology and education studies, is a co-creator of Wesleyan's "Passion-Driven Statistics" model, a data-driven, project-based…

Several Wesleyan faculty, students, alumni, parents, and staff have recently been featured in the news: March 23 The Island Now - Earth Matters - A Brief History of Long Island Sound. Mentions that in 1892, 23 students at Wesleyan came down with typhoid, with four deaths, from eating contaminated oysters. Morning Star via PR Newswire - College Consensus Publishes Aggregate Ranking of the 100 Best Colleges & Universities for 2021. Mentions Wesleyan. Sugarcane Magazine - Incarcerated Poets Laureate: Recognizing Unseen Creators in Florida. Mentions that through his nonprofit, O, Miami, P. Scott Cunningham '00 builds community through literature. March 24…

Wesleyan students welcomed a two-day study hiatus during spring break, held March 23–24. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students remained in Middletown during the recess. Students continue to wear masks while participating in any indoor or outdoor activity. For more information, visit Wesleyan's Keep Wes Safe website. (Photos by Willow Saxon '24) (more…)

When Emily McEvoy '22 began her college career at Wesleyan in 2018, she felt a deep sense of detachment from the local environment. At a campus in the middle of her home state, how could this be? The insularity, she says, was jarring, and she decided to dedicate her time to combat this issue. McEvoy immediately became involved with several local organizations, including Middletown's North End Action Team, and the student cohort of volunteers who helped staff their office. Most recently, McEvoy has been an organizer with the Middletown Mutual Aid Collective, which has raised close to $70,000 to support…

Several Wesleyan faculty, students, alumni, parents, and staff have recently been featured in the news: March 10 EIN Presswire - AcademicInfluence.com Announces the Top-Ranked Private Graduate Schools in the U.S. for 2021. Mentions Wesleyan. March 11 The Middletown Press - Wesleyan University: COVID tests essential for return to in-person learning. Focuses on Wesleyan employees' efforts in creating the COVID-19 testing site. Market Screener - Safari Energy Reaches 500th Commercial Solar Project. Mentions that Safari Energy's first project was a small, three-kilowatt (kW) solar system installed at Wesleyan and how "that project was quickly expanded with the addition of a 92…

On March 18, the Center for the Arts presented "A Conversation with Theater Artist Miranda Haymon ’16." Haymon, visiting instructor of theater, is Wesleyan's inaugural Breaking New Ground Theater Artist-in-Residence, a new residency that brings early-career Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) theater artists to campus. The discussion was led by Sam Morreale ’19. During the conversation, Haymon discussed artistic processes, Blackness, queerness, Brechtian analysis, the impacts of the pandemic on artmaking, and ideas for the future. Haymon compared a theater performance to a "living document" in which the performance, audience, and actors are constantly changing. "The work changes, and…

During the 65th Biophysical Society Annual Meeting held virtually Feb. 22–26, Shawn H. Lin ’22 was honored with an Undergraduate Poster Award for his work on "Elucidation of Interactions Between Integration Host Factor and a DNA Four-Way Junction." Lin, a Wesleyan Freeman Scholar, is among only six undergraduate students internationally to receive the award. Lin's advisors are Ishita Mukerji, Fisk Professor of Natural Science, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, and Candice Etson, assistant professor of physics. Lin's poster is below (click to enlarge):

On March 15, a panel of Wesleyan faculty and staff experts discussed the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine during a campus-wide webinar titled "Why Get Vaccinated?" Speakers included Dr. Thomas McLarney, medical director of Davison Health Center; Donald Oliver, Daniel Ayres Professor of Biology, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry; Ishita Mukerji, Fisk Professor of Natural Science, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry; William Johnston, John E. Andrus Professor of History; and Frederick Cohan, Huffington Foundation Professor in the College of the Environment, professor of biology. Janice Naegele, Alan M. Dachs Professor of Science, professor of biology, and Dean…

Students Awarded $5,000 Seed Grants for Socially-Good Ventures

American Oz by MacLowry, Strain to Premiere April 19

Smolkin Speaks about the History of Soviet Atheism on Moscow Radio Station

Grossman Co-Authors Article on British Stock Market

Dierker to Teach Passion-Driven Statistics As Fulbright Specialist

Wesleyan in the News

Students Enjoy Spring Break Safely on Campus

McEvoy ’22 Named 2021 Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellow

Wesleyan in the News

Haymon ’16, Morreale ’19 Discuss Theatermaking

Lin ’22 Wins Biophysical Society Poster Award

Wesleyan Experts Explore Benefits of Vaccination