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Mike MavredakisMarch 27, 20248min
From book bans to restrictions on teaching, in recent years, there have been clear infringements on First Amendment rights in the U.S. and the problem may be more widespread than people realize. There was, for example, a 33 percent increase in book bans in the 2022-23 school year from the 2021-22 school year, largely targeting books about race, racism, and gender issues or featuring on LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color. Meanwhile, more than 300 gag order bills have been introduced across 46 state legislatures restricting the discussion of gender and racial identities, censorship of teaching materials, and, in some…

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Andrew ChatfieldMarch 25, 20247min
Loren Yuehan Wang ’25 is one of four student-curators whose projects about the history of student artistic practice at Wesleyan, “SUM OF ITS PARTS,” are on display in the Class of 1928 Vitrines, located on the first floor of the Library through April 21. And Wang’s mixed media artwork is on display in the exhibition "Exploding and Netting: A Somatic Archive of Transpacific Movement" in the College of East Asian Studies Gallery at Mansfield Freeman Center through May 25. “These two feel quite connected,” Wang said of their work in the two archives. “It’s a new possibility for the future.”…

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Steve ScarpaMarch 25, 20246min
As jazz albums go, Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue represents a high-water mark. The record came at a time of profound musical innovation: bebop had given way to hard bop, a more soulful version of jazz, but Davis wanted to simplify the music and send it in a new direction. The triumvirate of Miles, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans pushed the boundary of what musicians could do, creating a work of hushed magnificence, said James Kaplan ’73. Kaplan is the author of 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool, a book…

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Mike MavredakisMarch 13, 20245min
The climate change Earth is experiencing today is similar to that during a period of rapid and intense global warming it experienced some 56 million years ago. Understanding the similarities can help scientists evaluate what is happening in today’s warming world, according to Ellen Thomas, Harold T. Stearns Professor of Integrative Sciences, Emerita. Key to that understanding is figuring out how much oxygen was dissolved in large swaths of the oceans during that period of rapid warming, called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum or PETM, when average temperatures increased by 5-8o Celsius or 9-14o Fahrenheit in a few thousand years, Thomas…

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Mike MavredakisMarch 13, 20245min
Co-directors of the Wesleyan Media Project Erika Franklin Fowler, professor of government, and Michael Franz, professor of government and legal studies at Bowdoin College, served on the ABC News’ Election Night Decision Desk for its Super Tuesday coverage on March 5. The pair contributed to the statistical team that helps the network confirm when statewide races can be called for candidates, a key role in election coverage. Franklin Fowler was interviewed for a segment in a Marketplace on campaign spending ahead of Super Tuesday on March 5. “If you’re just strong partisan, you’re going to get a lot of fundraising…

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Sarah ParkeMarch 13, 20247min
In this continuing series, we review alumni books and offer a selection for those in search of knowledge, insight, and inspiration. The volumes, sent to us by alumni, are forwarded to Olin Memorial Library as donations to the University’s collection and made available to the Wesleyan community. Tyler Anbinder ’84, Plentiful Country: The Great Potato Famine and the Making of Irish New York (Little, Brown and Company) In 1845, a fungus began to destroy Ireland’s potato crop, triggering a famine that would kill one million Irish men, women, and children—and drive over one million more to flee for America. By…

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Editorial StaffFebruary 28, 20245min
By Rose Chen ’26 A long running campus tradition during Black History Month, students, faculty, and other community members came out for Jubilee, Wesleyan University’s celebration of Black art and talent. “I knew that Jubilee was an event I wanted to plan because the legacy of Black expression through music is really important to me,” Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality Intern for the Resource Center Alise Mackey ’24, who was the student liaison for the Black History Month planning committee, said. “Through playing music on campus I’ve been able to experience amazing community and meet great friends. Music has also had…

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Mike MavredakisFebruary 28, 20246min
Wesleyan’s open curriculum lets students forge their own paths to the lives and careers they want, whether through continuing education or direct employment following graduation. A plethora of on-campus resources and a wide-ranging alumni network are available to students seeking their desired careers. “The world and the workplace are changing at a faster pace than any specific form of preparation will get you ready for,” Dean of Arts and humanities Roger Grant said after Humanities in Action Week, Feb. 12 to 16. “Instead, I’d encourage you to dig deep, find out what speaks to you, and devote your time to…

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Editorial StaffFebruary 28, 20247min
By Rose Chen ’26 “The Cry Is Always the Same: We Want To Be Free,” held in the Daniel Family Commons was this year’s Black History Month event organized to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Featuring protest songs and discussions about the civil rights issues that affect Black people today—and other groups across time—the Feb. 21 gathering was a participatory workshop that brought students and faculty together. The Resource Center, the Office for Equity and Inclusion, the Department of African American Studies, the Center for African American Studies, and Olin Memorial Library sponsored “The Cry is Always…

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Lorna GrisbyFebruary 21, 202413min
Wesleyan students, faculty, alumni, and members of the broader university community came together with education, political, and media thought leaders Feb. 16 to 17 for critical discussions about the roles universities and students can play in defending a democracy, especially a vulnerable one. The goal of the two-day, on-campus convening, Democracy in Action—part of the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns—was to inspire people, especially Wesleyan students, to get involved and do the work necessary to save what many believe is the nation’s faltering democracy. From lingering false claims of widespread voter fraud to book bans and voter suppression laws, the…

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Editorial StaffFebruary 21, 20247min
By Rose Chen ’26 Wesleyan University’s Democracy in Action convening kicked off Feb. 16 in the John B. Frank Public Affairs Center with a media literacy workshop.  Led by Associate Professor of Government Logan Dancey, the session was designed to teach participants to laterally read and ask questions when consuming content. Dancey’s tutorial of government students helped attendees—students, other professors, and community members—fact-check claims across a variety of sources, determine the credibility of claims, and critically engage with political media. During the session, Dancey and those students, Julia Armeli ‘25, Sophie Fetter ‘25, and Rory McClenahan ‘24 discussed a selection…