All News – Page 168

On Oct. 17, Wesleyan’s Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT) toured the basement level, or “tunnels” of the Butterfield complex. Built in 1965, the Butterfields encompassed 166,000 gross square feet in three separate dormitory buildings — A, B and C — which are connected by vibrant, graffiti-rich underground tunnels. Through the years, the tunnels served as passageways to student residences, classrooms, administration offices, recreational areas, restrooms, laundry rooms, study areas, kitchenettes, mechanical areas, a mailroom, photographic darkrooms and even a kosher kitchen. Skateboarders marked the ground with safe paths, noting where to stop at blind corners. Artists, poets and writers…

Brimstone and Glory is the feature-length documentary produced by Benh Zeitlin ’04, Dan Janvey ’06, Kellen Quinn ’05 and others, on the annual festival in Tultepec, Mexico, where pyrotechnics are the major industry. The weeklong celebration honors San Juan de Dios, patron saint of firework makers, and celebrates the artisans who dedicate themselves to pyrotechnics. Directed by Viktor Jakovleski, and edited by Affonso Gonçalves, the film is scored by Benh Zeitlin and Dan Romer, the two who collaborated on the Beasts of the Southern Wild score. Dubbed “Best Documentary Feature” at the San Francisco Film Festival, Brimstone and Glory opens in…

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(by Andy Chatfield) The Center for the Arts, in collaboration with the College of the Environment, invites an artist or artists from areas affected by the hurricane season of 2017 to campus for a short-term residency in April 2018. Artists working in all disciplines from Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands may propose a project that explores the evolving human relationship to water, and responds to the following questions: How can the arts address and respond to the environmental and humanitarian crises wrought by climate change? How do we redefine humankind’s evolving relationship to nature, specifically to…

President Michael Roth recently returned from a trip to China and South Korea for a round of receptions, lectures, media interviews and visits with alumni. The trip provided an opportunity to both enhance Wesleyan’s visibility in these countries and to discuss the value of liberal learning, Wesleyan style. In Shanghai, Roth met with business leaders to discuss liberal education’s role in preparing students for productive careers, and then spoke at a reception and book launch for the new Chinese edition of Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters. The reception was attended by more than 130 current parents, prospective students…

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As a first-generation college student from Scottsdale, Ariz., Caroline Liu ’18 is always aware of the many “nuanced and small ways in which my life experience differs from my peers.” These differences can be especially visible and discouraging during high-stress moments in the semester. For example, she said, students often talk about having their parents read over their school work. “As a first-generation American and low-income student, I don’t have the privilege to discuss any of my academics with my parents, much less have them check over my more theoretical work. They neither have the English language capacity nor the…

Laura R. Walker ’79, P’21, president and CEO of New York Public Radio (NYPR), has an agenda: She wants at least half of the podcasts produced to be hosted or co-hosted by women. "We're making progress," she reported at Werk It 2017, an annual festival she helped to create in 2015 to give women the tools they need to become creative forces in podcasting. Walker came up with the idea after she’d read a report on this new medium and discovered that of the top 100 podcasts on iTunes, only 20 percent were hosted or co-hosted by a woman. "Podcasting…

(By K Alshanetsky '17) Author Daniel Handler ’92 enjoys a prolific career as a celebrated novelist, best known for using the pseudonym Lemony Snicket to publish A Series of Unfortunate Events. This 13-book series about three orphaned children and their increasingly tumultuous lives—which has been adapted for film, video games and, most recently, a Netflix series—established Handler as an appealingly sinister storyteller, a writer with a penchant for narratives without happy endings. The first episode of Articulate on PBS delves into some of Handler's inspirations and how he came to develop his dark approach to children's writing. In the clip,…

"Press this button and say, 'Action!'" Sarah Lucente '21 explains to third-grader Isaiah as he intently peers into a videocamera's viewfinder. "Think about this scene. Think about doing a closeup." Isaiah is one of 10 area youth learning about filmmaking though Wesleyan Film Outreach, a program that provides school-aged children with the skills to write, film, direct and edit themselves. The class is taught by Wesleyan students as part of the YMCA's Kids' Korner, an after-school enrichment program held at MacDonough Elementary School in Middletown. Stephen Collins '96, associate professor of film studies, teaches the community-engagement class for two hours every Tuesday with Film Outreach volunteers Lucente, Caris Yeoman…

Responding to the ongoing tragedy in Puerto Rico, Wesleyan is offering a free semester of study in the spring of 2018 to students enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico. Students will be expected to pay tuition at their home institution, and Wesleyan will offer free housing and meals as needed. Many other institutions across the country are stepping up as well and the University of Puerto Rico has developed a standard framework for this project. Students enrolled at other institutions in Puerto Rico may be eligible as well, and should contact Wesleyan at gueststudent@wesleyan.edu for more information. “Opening our…

Dreams are coming true for AJ Wilson ’18, founder of the non-profit organization Dream Chasers. During the 10th annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) Conference in Boston Oct. 13-15, Dream Chasers won a Crowdrise fundraising competition and set the record for most money raised ($18,025) by any single group. For his efforts, Wilson was congratulated by Chelsea Clinton, Congressman Joe Kennedy III and former president Bill Clinton. Wilson, who grew up in Kennesaw, Georgia, created Dream Chasers to close the academic and opportunity gaps in the South and Midwest through a collection of different programs and initiatives. In five years, the team has impacted the…

C-CERT Explores Closed Butterfield Basement and Former Tunnel System

Zeitlin ’04, Janvey ’06, Quinn ’05 Produce Brimstone and Glory Documentary

Hallie Lecture Focuses on Ancient Greece and Beyond

Wesleyan to Offer Residency for Artists Impacted by 2017 Hurricanes

Roth Sees Growing Appreciation for Liberal Education in China

duCille Delivers Slotkin Lecture on “Why Racial Representation Still Matters”

First Things First Introduces First-Generation Students to Wesleyan, Each Other

WNYC’s Walker ’79 P’21 at Werk It: ‘Lean In to Podcasting’

‘Very Fortunate’ Handler ’92 Featured on PBS Series Articulate

Wesleyan Film Outreach Volunteers Teach Local Youth about Filmmaking

Wesleyan Offers a Free Semester for Students from University of Puerto Rico

Wilson ’18 Wins Fundraising Competition at Clinton Global Initiative University Conference