Rachel Wachman '24Luther Gregg Sullivan Fellow In Art Ilana Harris-Babou is an interdisciplinary artist whose work encompasses sculptures, installations, and videos around the themes of the American Dream and its contradictions. Harris-Babou’s work is featured in “Wholesome Fun,” her first solo institutional exhibition in Europe, which opened in Hamburg, Germany on Oct. 1. This exhibition is hosted by Kunsthaus Hamburg, a center for contemporary art in a former market building. “In her video works, collages, and sculptures, Harris-Babou combines humor and a keen critique of society, revealing racist structures and social discrepancies in the mirror of western hegemonic consumer and media culture,”…
Robyn Autry, associate professor of sociology, studies racial identity, Blackness, and memory, in addition to the politics of museum development in the United States and South Africa. She is the author of eight recent articles relating to these topics. Her work includes the following: “Historical Memory-Making in South Africa,” published in The Oxford Handbook of South African History in December 2020. “Sociology’s Race Problem,” published in Aeon in November 2020. "UNC's rejection of Nikole Hannah-Jones and the Opacity of Tenure in America," published by NBC News in May 2021. “Trump’s 1776 Commission Tried to Rewrite History. Biden Had Other Ideas,”…
Nina Hagel, assistant professor of government, is a political theorist whose research focuses on questions of freedom, recognition, resistance, and democratic belonging. She often teaches courses on contemporary political theory, the history of political thought, and feminist political theory. She is working on a book manuscript on the meanings and political value of authenticity claims. In March 2021, she gave a virtual talk called “Right-Wing Populism and the Dangers of Authenticity” at the University of Alabama as part of the Political Science Department’s Colloquium. She also presented at the Conference on Philosophy and Social Science in Prague, Czech Republic in…
In the past two years, Associate Professor of History Jennifer Tucker co-edited one book, one journal issue, two articles, two book chapters, and the headnote for a review essay, and authored eight book chapters and two articles. In addition, she has just finished a draft of her second monograph. Tucker, a historian of 19th- and 20th-century British society, focuses specifically on photographic and cinematic evidence in the fields of science, law, forensic medicine, news reporting, public trials, and the environment. Her recent work includes the following: A Right to Bear Arms? The Contested Role of History in Contemporary Debates on…
Erika Taylor, associate professor of chemistry, recently co-authored three papers and a book chapter related to (1) biomass to biofuel production and (2) development of new therapeutics to treat Gram-negative bacterial infections. Taylor's work investigates problems at the biological chemistry interface and seeks to find applications of her work to the fields of medicine and sustainable energy. Her chapter called “Lignin Enzymology – Recent Efforts to Understand Lignin Monomer Catabolism” in the book Comprehensive Natural Products III: Chemistry and Biology, and her paper “Identifying Metabolic Pathway Intermediates that Modulate Enzyme Activity: A Kinetic Analysis of the DesB Dioxygenase from Sphingobium…
J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, professor of American studies, guest-edited a 2021 special issue of Anarchist Development in Cultural Studies called “The Politics of Indigeneity, Anarchist Praxis, and Decolonization” as well as wrote an article for the issue by that same title. Kauanui’s work focuses on Indigenous sovereignty, settler colonial studies, anarchist history and activism, and critical race and ethnic studies. Among other recent publications, in 2021, Kauanui also wrote a commentary for Volume 24 of Postcolonial Studies called “False dilemmas and settler colonial studies: response to Lorenzo Veracini: ‘Is Settler Colonial Studies Even Useful?’” This past academic year, Kauanui chaired the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in…
Janice Naegele, Alan M. Dachs Professor of Science, dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division, and professor of biology, is the co-author of three recent publications. Naegele’s work focuses on stem cells and finding new treatments for epilepsy and brain damage. Naegele’s articles include the following: “Induction of temporal lobe epilepsy in mice with pilocarpine,” published by BioProtocol in February 2020. “Development of electrophysiological and morphological properties of human embryonic stem cell-derived GABAergic interneurons at different times after transplantation into the mouse hippocampus,” published by PLoS One in August 2020. “Optogenetic interrogation of ChR2-expressing GABAergic interneurons after transplantation into…
A new book written by two Wesleyan faculty explores the experience of two travelers in the land destroyed by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011. William Johnston, John E. Andrus Professor of History, and Eiko Otake, visiting artist in dance, are the co-authors of A Body in Fukushima, published June 1 by Wesleyan University Press. Johnston, a historian and photographer, accompanied Japanese-born performer and dancer Otake on five explorations across Fukushima, creating 200 photographs that document the irradiated landscape, accentuated by Eiko's poses depicting both the sorrow and dignity of the land. Johnston elaborated on the process of creating…
Melissa Stern ’80, an artist and journalist, is hosting a retrospective art show at the Lockwood Gallery in Woodstock, New York. Stern’s show is called “Stronger Than Dirt” and looks back at her past 20 years of work. A live opening took place from 5 to 7 p.m. June 12, and the exhibition will run until July 11. Over the past year, Stern has served as a visiting lecturer and guest critic through Zoom. She has virtually visited The Everson Museum of Art, Pratt Institute, NYU, The Pelham Art Center, and Indiana University, among others. In describing her art, Stern…
Peter Rutland, Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, professor of government, has recently authored and co-authored many scholarly articles and book chapters. His research focuses on contemporary Russian politics, the political economy, and nationalism. His works include: A chapter titled “Looking back at the Soviet economic experience,” published in 100 Years of Communist Experiments in June 2021. “Dead souls: Russia’s COVID Calamity,” published in Transitions Online in March 2021. “Workers Against the Workers’ State,” published by the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia in February 2021. “Poverty, Politics and Pandemic: The Plague…
The entrance to the Science Library in Exley Science Center houses a taxidermied peacock that has been restored by faculty and students in the biology department. The peacock, originally rediscovered in 2018 and put on exhibit in spring 2019, is part of a bird collection that was first displayed at the museum in Judd Hall and now belongs to the Wesleyan Museum of Natural History. The restoration team, which includes Professor of Biology Ann Campbell Burke, Yu Kai Tan BA/MA ’21, Andy Tan ’21, and Fletcher Levy ’23, recently updated the display to include new signage and fresh peacock feathers…
Peter Rutland, Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought and a professor of both government and Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, has recently authored and co-authored many scholarly articles and book chapters. His research focuses on contemporary Russian politics, the political economy, and nationalism. His articles include: “Transformation of nationalism and diaspora in the digital age,” published in Nations and Nationalism in December 2020. “Russia and ‘frozen conflicts’ in the post-soviet space,” published in Caucasus Survey, in April 2020. “Do Black Lives Matter in Russia?,” published in PONARS Eurasia policy memo in July 2020. (more…)