All News – Page 243

Mateusz “Matt” Burgunder ’15 recently competed in the 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Verbier, Switzerland where the U.S. National Ski Mountaineering Team finished in 10th place overall. This was Burgunder's fourth time competing for the U.S., participating in three events. Competitors race by climbing up and skiing down mountains at a rate of approximately 3,000 feet per hour. The 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships, hosted by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, were held Feb. 6–12. More information about the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association and the 2015 World Championships can be found online. See photos of Burgunder's events below: (more…)

Writing in Tikkun Magazine, government major Rachel Unger '15 offers a first-hand account of Israeli-Palestinian relations she witnessed during her two trips to the region, and how these experiences shaped her views of a "two-state solution" to the ongoing conflict. Unger describes watching "religious Jews marching through the Muslim quarter of the Old City celebrating the 'reunification' of Jerusalem while the authorities blocked Palestinians from the streets with barricades and prevented an old man from taking the bus to his home. I witnessed police knocking a Palestinian man to the ground while hordes of young Yeshiva boys cheered and sang 'Am Yisrael Chai!'" She…

The student-run Wesleyan Local Food Co-op sources a large variety of fresh local foods, including Long Lane Farm produce, and distributes them on campus. Besides produce, the co-op distributes fresh dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt and butter), meat, eggs, tofu, seitan, granola, bread and coffee, all locally grown, roasted or made. The program began solely for students but is now open to staff and faculty participation in the wake of expressed interest. More than 500 members of the Wesleyan community are part of one or more co-ops. Participants pick up shares Wednesday evenings in Usdan and help once each semester…

This month, Wesleyan's men's basketball team was crowned NESCAC champs and played in the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time in history. However, the team came up short at Nationals after losing to Skidmore in a first-round game March 6. The field of 62 teams in the NCAA championship was announced March 2. Wesleyan’s team claimed the NESCAC title after defeating Amherst 74-70 in overtime on March 1. Wesleyan led most of the game but had to fend off several Lord Jeff rallies to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. In that game, Jack Mackey ’16 broke…

At its meeting Feb. 28, Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition and residential comprehensive fees by 2.1 percent for the 2015–16 year, reflecting the third year of linking tuition increases to the rate of inflation. The increase is based on the three-year national CPI average of June 30, 2014, the latest full fiscal year available. As a result of this policy, Wesleyan’s student charges for first-year students and sophomores currently rank 14th among a peer comparison group, compared to 1st in 2011. A further decline is anticipated. “We remain committed to keeping Wesleyan affordable for all students,” said…

Wesleyan's Slam Poetry Team, WeSlam, took first place at the Yale Regional Poetry Slam Feb. 28 in New Haven, Conn. Wesleyan competed against five other teams from Yale, Brown University, Columbia/Barnard, Middlebury College and Emerson College. "Our team brought important pieces about racial and religious identity, sexual violence across the gender binary, and gender roles," said former WeSlam member Mike Rosen '11, who serves as the team's advisor. Poets include Giorgia Peckman '18, Jon Logan-Rung '18, Hazem Fahmy '17, Rick Manayan '17 and Max Friedlich '17. Fahmy received a standing ovation for his poem about popular culture's portrayal of Islam. For more information on…

In its most recent meeting, the Board of Trustees promoted seven faculty members. The BOT conferred tenure on Lauren Caldwell, associate professor of classical studies; Stephen Collins, associate professor of film studies; Paul Erickson, associate professor of history; Matthew Garrett, associate professor of English; Brian Northrop, associate professor of chemistry; Julia Randall, associate professor of art; and Seth Redfield, associate professor of astronomy. The promotions are effective July 1, 2015. Brief descriptions of their areas of research and teaching appear below. Lauren Caldwell Caldwell’s research focuses on Roman social history, Roman law, and Greco-Roman medicine. Her recent book, Roman Girlhood and the Fashioning of Femininity (Cambridge University Press,…

Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship announced the winners of the 2015 PCSE Seed Grant Challenge. These student-led social ventures will each receive $5,000 in unrestricted funds as well as training, advising, mentoring, incubator workspace and other resources from the Patricelli Center. Recipients were selected from a strong pool of finalists who submitted written business plans and pitched to a panel of expert judges comprised of alumni, students, faculty and staff. Applicants were assessed on their project design, leadership qualities and potential for social impact. The 2015 Seed Grant recipients are: (more…)

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While walking back to his room from Al-Faw Palace in Baghdad, Iraq, Bryan Stascavage ’18 remembers telling a friend about his plans for the future. “When I get out of the military, I’m going back to college with a vengeance," Stascavage said. “A perfect 4.0 GPA or bust. I’m not messing around and wasting this opportunity like I did my first time around.” His first time in college, which he attended right after high school, had been an "unmitigated disaster," Stascavage recalls. He only lasted three semesters with a GPA hovering around a 2.0. After taking a wide array of…

Lori Gruen, professor and chair of philosophy, professor of environmental studies, and professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, is the author of a new book, Entangled Empathy: An Alternative Ethic for Our Relationships with Animals, published by Lantern Books on Feb. 15. In Entangled Empathy, Gruen argues that rather than focusing on animal rights, we ought to work to make our relationships with animals right by empathetically responding to their needs, interests, desires, vulnerabilities, hopes and unique perspectives. Pointing out that we are already entangled in complex and life-altering relationships with other animals, Gruen guides readers through a new way…

Lori Gruen, professor and chair of philosophy, discussed her new book, Entangled Empathy: An Alternative Ethic for Our Relationships with Animals, with University of Colorado Professor Emeritus Mark Bekoff in The Huffington Post. Bekoff calls the book "a wonderful addition to a growing literature in the transdisciplinary field called anthrozoology, the study of human-animal relationships." Gruen defines "entangled empathy" as "a process whereby we first acknowledge that we are already in relationships with all sorts of other animals (humans and non-humans) and these relationships are, for the most part, not very good ones. We then work to figure out how to make them better and that…

Burgunder ’15 Competes in Ski Mountaineering World Championships

Unger ’15 Writes about “Coexistence and its Discontents” in Israel, Palestine

Co-Op Provides Local, Sustainable Food Options

NESCAC Win Sends Cardinals to NCAA Championship

Wesleyan Sets 2015–2016 Student Charges

WeSlam Poetry Team Takes Victory at Regional Slam

7 Faculty Promoted, Awarded Tenure

PCSE Awards Seed Grants to Student-Led Ventures

Jewish Community Makes Hamantaschen Cookies to Celebrate Purim Holiday

War Veteran, Posse Scholar Stascavage ’18 Pursuing Degree in Economics

Gruen’s New Book Explores Human-Animal Relationships

Gruen Discusses Her New Book Entangled Empathy