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Himeka CurielJanuary 22, 20183min
  Recognize the Wesleyan faculty who have had a lasting impact on your academic and personal development by nominating them for the 2018 Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching! Juniors, seniors, graduate students and Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) are invited to nominate up to three professors for 2018 Binswanger Prizes, which will be awarded during Wesleyan's Commencement Ceremony on May 27. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 12, 2018. NOMINATE NOW. The Binswanger Prize is made possible by gifts from the family of the late Frank Binswanger Sr. Hon. ’85 and underscores Wesleyan’s commitment to its scholar-teachers who are responsible for the university’s…

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Lauren RubensteinJanuary 22, 20182min
Peter Rutland, the Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, recently spoke on a panel of political economy experts at The Gaidar Forum 2018, held at the Presidential Academy of Economics and Public Administration in Moscow. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gave the keynote address at the forum. "How can Russia get onto a more knowledge-intensive, non–resource-based economic sustainable growth path? How can it escape from the middle income trap?" asks Rutland in his talk. "You could look across the continent to China," which has been amazingly successful in recent years, he says. Russian companies do not invest at…

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Cynthia RockwellJanuary 22, 20185min
"The title character is, of course, a Wesleyan graduate," says author Heidi Mastrogiovanni ’79, of her debut comic novel, Lala Pettibone's Act Two (Amberjack Publishing, 2017). The novelist herself is also a comic actor, an animal welfare advocate and a screenwriter—and her second novel, sequel Lala Pettibone: Standing Room Only, will be available in August. To celebrate, she and a fellow Amberjack author—with similarly titled books, both with a reference to a second act—visited bookstores and venues across the country to talk about the writer's life and the ways in which a book written by a female is perceived, welcomed and marketed. In…

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Himeka CurielJanuary 22, 20182min
J. Kehaulani Kauanui, professor of American studies and anthropology, chair of American studies and director of the Center of the Americas, spent part of winter break in Qatar. She was there to present her research on “Settler Colonialism and the Politics of Occupy Wall Street: Indigeneity and the 'Other' 1%” for a panel on "Against Exceptionalism." Kauanui joined a global roster of leading scholars in American studies, Middle Eastern studies and other closely related fields who were invited to speak as part of a conference held Jan. 8–11 at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies with support from the Qatar…

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Lauren RubensteinJanuary 22, 20186min
In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Recent Wesleyan News 1. President Michael Roth publishes op-eds in The Washington Post titled, "We can't let cynics ruin college," and "What is college for? (Hint: It's not just about getting in.)." He also sat for an "On Leadership" interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2. The Conversation: "The dangerous belief that white people are under attack" Assistant Professor of Psychology Clara Wilkins writes about her research on perceptions of reverse discrimination in light of recent societal trends. 3. Marketplace: "Here comes the tax bill…

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Laurie KenneyJanuary 19, 20183min
Assistant Professor of Music Tyshawn Sorey MA '11, a MacArthur "Genius" Award-winner, and Distinguished Fellow in the College of the Environment Allison Orr, artistic director of Forklift Danceworks, have been chosen as 2018 fellows by United States Artists (USA), an organization that illuminates the value of artists to American society. Sorey and Orr will each receive a $50,000 unrestricted award as part of the honor. Read more about Tyshawn Sorey's MacArthur "Genius" Award Read more about Allison Orr's work teaching dance and movement to local children A total of 45 recipients were announced for the annual awards, which recognize achievements and innovation across nine disciplines,…

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Cynthia RockwellJanuary 17, 20186min
In this Q&A, we speak to Jasmine Cardi, who joined the Access Services staff at Wesleyan's Olin Library on Jan. 7, 2013 (“Five years already!” she says). Now the weekend and evening supervisor, she provides support to the departments of Interlibrary Loan (ILL), Olin Reference, Reserves/E-Reserves, and Olin Circulation. With her arrival, the ILL office was able to lengthen their hours until 10 p.m. some evenings, offering availability for those geared to later study nights in the library. Q: What do you like best about working for Interlibrary Loan? A: I love seeing all the books we get from around…

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Olivia DrakeJanuary 16, 20182min
In 2017, the Wesleyan Library began overseeing two programs. The Wesleyan Museum, which houses the university's archaeology and anthropology collection, has moved under the library's oversight. These materials, located in the Exley Science Center, contain a broad variety of unique items, including Middle Eastern artifacts, historical materials from 18th- and 19th- century Middletown, missionary-collected objects from South America and Native American pieces including pottery and jewelry. Jessie Cohen is the manager of the collection. The collection will eventually be discoverable through the library’s online catalog (OneSearch) so students and faculty will have the opportunity to find and physically work with…

Bill HolderJanuary 16, 20183min
Wesleyan’s operating budget in the last fiscal year included a total of $206 million in expenditures, with $210 million in revenue. Most of the university’s revenue (68 percent) comes from student charges, while the endowment, private gifts and government grants account for most of the rest. The operating budget lies behind everything Wesleyan does, and we’ve asked Nate Peters, vice president for finance and administration, to explain some of its highlights: Q: What is Wesleyan’s projected total operating expenditure in the current fiscal year, and what has been our annual rate of increase? What are the primary drivers of that…

Olivia DrakeJanuary 16, 20183min
The Office of Human Resources announces the following hires, transitions and departures for Sept.—December 2017. HIRES Kenichi Abe, postdoctoral research associate in Earth and Environmental Sciences, on Sept. 1 Jennie Setaro, psychotherapist in the Counseling Center, on Sept. 5 Katherine Williams, lab coordinator in psychology, on Sept. 5 Wesley Close '15, assistant dean of admission, on Sept. 11 Demetrius J. Colvin, director, Resource Center, on Sept. 11 Joseph Dorrer, energy manager in Physical Plant, on Sept. 18 Lauren Borghard, associate director of annual giving, on Sept. 25 Pamela Ann Mulready, alcohol & other drug specialist in Davison Health Center, on Oct. 9 LeRoy General, development…