All News – Page 141

Wesleyan has announced its 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted Friday, Oct. 19, before Homecoming. The ninth class features James Carrier '42, Philip Rockwell '65, Allison Palmer '95, Jed Hoyer '96, Flo Stueck '96, and Herb Kenny. Wesleyan’s Athletics Hall of Fame (HOF), both online and on campus, is filled with entertaining and enlightening accounts of Cardinals past. It features exciting stories of accomplishment, character, perseverance, courage, loyalty, teamwork, and generosity. The HOF was founded in 2006 through the collaborative work of the Athletics Advisory Council, the Athletic Department, and the Office of University Relations and…

This summer, three Wesleyan students and one faculty member attended a field workshop in Basilicata, Italy, where they presented research, collected data, and visited an extinct volcano containing two bubbling crater lakes. The International Summer Meeting on Volcanic Lakes, hosted by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior, took place June 25–29 and focused on the theme “Different perspectives and approaches to studying a volcanic lake." Basilicata is home to the 3,350-foot-high Mount Vulture (pronounced "Vool-tor-eh"), which last erupted 40,000 years ago. The Wesleyan attendees included Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (E&ES) graduate students Christina…

Wesleyan's campus is home to hundreds of flowers, shrubs, and trees that bloom throughout the summer. Pictured is a sampling of August's blooms. (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)

Professor of History and Letters Ethan Kleinberg is the recipient of the Reinhart Koselleck Visiting Professorship at the University of Bielefeld in Germany, a high honor accorded to world-renowned historians whose work is “of outstanding significance” for theoretical reflection and further development. Kleinberg will spend the summer term of 2019 at Bielefeld with the intention of beginning work on a project titled “Temporal Anarchy in History.” Candidates for the professorship do not apply for the honor; the Centre for Theories in Historical Research at Bielefeld selects recipients based on the example set by Reinhart Koselleck, one of the most renowned…

Four girls squint one eye and with the other eye gaze intently into a microscope. One says she sees caterpillars or string or pink spaghetti. Another says she sees small frogs. "You're actually looking at tissue that's been smashed," says Ruth Johnson, associate professor of biology. "Do you see those dark spots? Those are chromosomes." Johnson, a developmental biologist who studies how tissues and organs are shaped during development, is one of five Wesleyan faculty who taught workshops during the fifth annual Girls in Science Summer Camp, Aug. 6–10. The camp is open to all girls in grades 4, 5, and…

This summer, three Wesleyan students are helping local children prepare for a successful transition into kindergarten. Through the five-week Kindergarten Kickstart program, Cara Bendich ’19, Amy Breitfeller ’19, and Emma Distler ’19 are working with area youth at four locations to improve their school readiness skills through the research-based, high-impact, low-cost innovative and nurturing preschool program. Associate Professor of Psychology Anna Shusterman and three of her students first launched Kindergarten Kickstart in summer 2012. For the summer 2018 session, students are hosting the Kickstart program at Middletown’s Bright and Early Children's Learning Center, Town and Country Early Learning Center, and the Middlesex…

Wesleyan faculty and staff volunteers are needed for the 2018–2019 Connections Mentoring Program. This is an informal program that connects first-year students (Class of 2022) with Wesleyan staff and faculty to form casual networks of support. Although most mentors meet infrequently with their student mentees throughout the year, some mentoring pairs establish friendships and meet more frequently over coffee or lunch. Many mentors and students have characterized their experiences with the program as fun and inspirational. In addition, anyone interested in mentoring students who are the first in their families to attend college can indicate that preference on the registration…

The Office of Human Resources announces the following hires, transitions, and departures for May through July 2018: HIRES Nicole Potestivo, administrative assistant in Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies, on May 7 Lucas Fernandez, postdoctoral research associate in physics, on May 22 Alex Kavvos, postdoctoral research associate in mathematics, on May 29 Miya Tokumitsu, curator at Davison Art Center, on June 14 Lilibeth Soto, public safety dispatcher, on June 18 Edward Morehouse, postdoctoral research associate in mathematics, on July 1 Zeyad Abdulkareem, desktop support specialist in ITS User Services, on July 2 Andrew White, Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian, on July…

(By Christine Foster) Imagine being chosen to oversee a vast treasure trove, including more than a million items ranging from art and music to government documents and—oh, yes, books. Such is the job set before Andrew White, who was chosen in April to be the University’s next Caleb T. Winchester Librarian. Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Joyce Jacobsen wrote in a campus-wide email announcing White’s appointment that the search committee was drawn to his experience working collaboratively with different groups of people. The previous librarian, Dan Cherubin, died suddenly last September, after having made an outsized impact…

In this Q&A, we speak to Erika Franklin Fowler, associate professor of government. Fowler is an expert in political communication, particularly local media and campaign advertising. Q: With the midterm elections around the corner, what’s caught your interest this election cycle? A: The Trump era has brought many challenges for political communication broadly and journalism specifically to the forefront of public attention, so there are too many things to discuss, but I’ll mention two in particular. First, the politicization of news media is problematic as it erodes common understanding among the public, which makes for very interesting conversations in my Media…

A magnified image of a fruit fly's eye took first place in the third annual Wesleyan Scientific Imaging Contest in August. The Wesleyan Scientific Imaging Contest recognizes student-submitted images—from experiments or simulations done with a Wesleyan faculty member—that are scientifically intriguing, as well as aesthetically pleasing. This year, 21 images were submitted from eight departments. The contest is organized by the College of Integrative Sciences as part of the summer research program. The entries were judged based on the quality of the image and the explanation of the underlying science. The judges, a panel of four faculty members, were Brian Northrop,…

Right at the edge of campus, tucked away via a nondescript parking lot side entrance in the basement of Russell House, you’ll find the on-campus home of Israela Adah Brill-Cass, Wesleyan's first ombudsperson. Walking through the unmarked screen door can feel a bit unnerving, like trespassing unannounced or entering through a secret back entrance, but Brill-Cass soon welcomes you into the comfort of her office. It’s a small and simply decorated space with bright textile prints on the wall and soft music offsetting the quiet that comes with being the only inhabitant on the entire floor. The remote location and…

5 Alumni, 1 Coach to Be Inducted into the Wesleyan Athletics Hall of Fame

Wesleyan Group Attends Field Workshop, Gathers Volcano Samples in Italy

August Blooms and Bees

Kleinberg to Study Anarchy in History as Visiting Professor in Germany

Wesleyan Faculty, Students Teach Local Girls about Science

Wesleyan Students Help Area Kids Get a Kickstart on Kindergarten

Mentor a New Student through the Connections Mentoring Program

Employees on the Move

Staff Spotlight: Andrew White Takes on Library’s Top Job

Fowler Uses Facebook Data to Analyze Role of Social Media in Elections

3rd Annual Scientific Imaging Contest Winners Announced

Wesleyan’s Inaugural Ombuds Celebrates Her First Year