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Cynthia RockwellFebruary 20, 201710min
A new CNN original series, Believer with Reza Aslan, premieres Sunday, March 5, at 10 p.m. ET. Billed as a “spiritual adventure series,” in which Aslan, acclaimed author and religious scholar, will “immerse himself in the world’s most fascinating faith-based groups to experience life as a true believer.” The show employs the talents of two alumni who majored in film at Wesleyan: executive producer and show runner Liz Bronstein ’89 and director Ben Selkow ’96. Additionally, Professor of Religion Liza McAlister provided both academic scholarship and on-the-ground connections when the crew traveled to Haiti for the segment on Vodou, which…

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Olivia DrakeFebruary 20, 20173min
For the first time in the history of Wesleyan athletics, the football, men's basketball and most recently, men's ice hockey team, won the Little Three title in the same academic year. The "Little Three" schools — Wesleyan, Amherst and Williams — first formally banded together in 1899 as the Triangular League. Since 1910, the teams have annually competed in the Little Three intercollegiate athletic conference. Although men's hockey lost to Trinity 7-2 during its Feb. 17 game, Amherst defeated Williams 1-0 on the same day, giving the Cardinals their first outright Little Three title in 30 years. The Cardinals are led by head coach Chris Potter. Football won…

Frederic Wills '19February 20, 20172min
Frederick Cohan, professor of biology, professor of environmental studies, has recently been elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE). Set to be inducted during the 42nd Annual Meeting and Dinner on May 22, 2017, Cohan will join 23 others as “Connecticut’s leading experts in science, technology, and engineering,” and the academy’s newest members during their ceremony at the University of Connecticut. In line with CASE’s mission to honor those “on the basis of scientific and engineering distinction, achieved through significant contributions in theory or application,” Cohan’s work has led to the “development of a comprehensive new theory…

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Andrew Logan ’18February 20, 20175min
When the news broke of Philando Castile’s tragic death at the hands of a St. Paul police officer last summer, Eduardo Medina ’00, MD, MPH, like many Americans, felt called to action. As a native of New York City and a Minneapolis resident for the past 10 years, he was familiar with a number of high profile cases of police misconduct and says that he felt compelled to address the structural racism that was the underlying cause of this tragedy. Working with colleagues Dr. Rachel Hardeman and Dr. Katy Kozhimannil, both professors in the Division of Health Policy and Management at…

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Andrew Logan ’18February 20, 20174min
It turns out that Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 is not the only Wesleyan alumnus presenting history through the sounds of hip-hop. Just upstream from Wesleyan, in Amherst, Mass., Michael Lawrence-Riddell ’98 has worked to bring hip-hop music from the stage into the classroom with the help of several other Wesleyan alumni. So far, this middle school language arts teacher has written and recorded more than a dozen original songs, each intended to engage students while offering context and analysis of literature and history. Some historical topics mentioned in his work include the Harlem Renaissance, Hurricane Katrina and the Stono Rebellion. His…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 19, 20172min
Sheila Gaudon, professor of romance languages and literatures, emerita, died on Feb. 19 at the age of 83. Born in Liverpool, England, Gaudon received a BA from Manchester University, and a “Docteur de l’Université des Sciences humaines de Strasbourg.” She joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1970 and taught French literature courses in the Romance Languages and Literatures Department for 23 years. She served as director of the Wesleyan Program in Paris several times and as department chair. Gaudon was an active scholar whose research focused on Victor Hugo. She worked extensively with the National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS) in Paris…

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Olivia DrakeFebruary 17, 20172min
Two Wesleyan alumni and two students who have experience working for global management consulting firms Deloitte Consulting and McKinsey & Company visited Wesleyan's Gordon Career Center on Feb. 17 to speak with undergraduates about "Management Consulting 101." The alumni, Michele Drossner ’14 (Deloitte) and Winston Soh ’14 (Deloitte), and students Cindy Horng ’17 (Deloitte) and Asad Hassanali ’17 (McKinsey) advised the students to prepare themselves for internships and full-time recruiting. The event concluded with a Q&A session. Drossner majored in economics and psychology and works with clients in the life sciences, business model transformation and strategy. Soh majored in the College of Social Studies…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 17, 20172min
Three faculty and one graduate student co-authored a paper titled “Statistical Coupling Analysis combined with all-atom Molecular Simulation Postulates Dynamical Allosterism in the MutS DNA Mismatch Repair Protein,” published in the March issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry - Biophysics, published by The American Chemical Society. The authors include David Beveridge, the Joshua Boger University Professor of the Sciences and Mathematics, professor of chemistry, professor of integrative sciences; Manju Hingorani, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, professor of integrative sciences; Kelly Thayer, visiting assistant professor of computer science; and molecular biology and biochemistry graduate student Bharat Lakhani. This project is…

Lauren RubensteinFebruary 17, 20172min
Wesleyan has just partnered with Merit, an online service that helps colleges and universities celebrate and share students’ accomplishments. More than 300 institutions now use Merit, including many of our peers. Each student will have a Merit page, a verified professional profile that outlines their accomplishments at Wesleyan—from research and academic awards to study abroad, volunteer work and co-curricular activities—and can be shared with prospective employers, graduate schools and others. Students don’t need to do anything to maintain their Merit pages, but they’ll have the ability if they wish to enhance them with photos, bios, other activities or work experience.…