Lauren RubensteinWesleyan has announced the establishment of a College of Education Studies, along with a new linked major in Education Studies. Rooted in a liberal arts framework, the new College will foster interdisciplinary scholarship of education studies that is connected to practice and policy. It is an opportunity for Wesleyan to integrate serious scholarship with the University’s social justice mission, according to Associate Professors of Psychology Anna Shusterman and Steve Stemler, the co-chairs of the newly formed College. A proposal to establish the College was unanimously endorsed by the Educational Policy Committee (EPC) earlier this year, and was approved by a…
Olivia DrakeDespite graduating from Wesleyan with degrees in fields such as economics or psychology, several Wes alumni went on to pursue jobs in sports and athletics. While some became professional athletes on nationally-recognized teams, others delved into coaching, refereeing, sports reporting, and team management. In this "Best of Wes" article, read about Wes alumni who turned their love of the game into a lifelong passion and career. We'll include another Alumni in Sports feature next week! (Interested in other Wesleyan-themed lists? Check out our previous “Best of Wes” pieces.) In March 2020, Rob King ’84 was named vice president and editor-at-large…
Steve Stemler, associate professor of psychology and co-coordinator of education studies, has spent two decades systematically studying the purposes of school. He is the co-author, together with Dr. Damian Bebell, of The School Mission Statement and maintains the web resource purposeofschool.com. He is the author of an op-ed recently published in The Hartford Courant that provides advice for parents who are now educating their children at home due to coronavirus-related school closures. You’ve done a good deal of research on the purpose of school, a topic on the minds of many parents these days as they’re getting an up-close look at…
Wesleyan in the News 1. CNN: "How Coronavirus Has Reshaped Democratic Plans for 2020" This article on how Democrats are politicizing the government's response to the coronavirus crisis features research by the Wesleyan Media Project, which found that this past month has seen a huge drop in campaign advertising overall. "The messaging and the attacks that we've seen on [coronavirus] do feel louder ... in part because there are fewer messages overall," said Erika Franklin Fowler, associate professor of government, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project. She notes that health care was emerging as a top issue in 2020 advertising…
Katie AberbachSteven Spinner P’15 is chairman/CEO of United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), the largest publicly-traded grocery distributor in the United States, with 59 locations in the U.S. and Canada. UNFI’s customers include natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, e-commerce retailers, and restaurants—meaning Spinner and his team have a comprehensive perspective on our food supply chain. Spinner recently spoke with us about how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting what we see (and don’t see) on grocery store shelves, and shared his thoughts on how the current situation might impact future consumer behavior. You gave an interview on Bloomberg TV in…
Norman Shapiro, Distinguished Professor of Literary Translation and Poet in Residence, formerly professor of romance languages and literatures, died April 3 at the age of 89. Shapiro arrived at Wesleyan in 1960 after receiving his BA and MA from Harvard University, completing a Fulbright Fellowship at Université d'Aix-Marseille in France, and returning to Harvard for his PhD. He stepped down from regular duties in 2017 but continued in his roles as Distinguished Professor of Literary Translation and Poet in Residence. In addition to his classes in Romance languages and literatures, Shapiro also taught American Sign Language and served as the…
When Wesleyan parents and alumni in China learned how the coronavirus pandemic was affecting the Wesleyan community, dozens worked together to raise funds and send much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) to campus. To date, the Wesleyan Chinese Parent Committee, made up of more than 70 families, has already raised $29,000 to support Wesleyan's Emergency Fund for Students, and combined, has donated more than 400 disposable gloves and 800 masks (N95 and surgical). Approximately 500 masks are being used by staff from the Davison Health Center, Physical Plant, WesStation's mailroom, the Information Technology Services Help Desk and Public Safety. "The parent…
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Wesleyan canceled all spring semester events, and courses moved to an online format. Wesleyan's Piping Performance course, however, welcomed the Wesleyan community to "attend" their midterm performances on April 7 through the Zoom platform. "Our organ class is thriving in spite of our transition to online classes," said course instructor Alcee Chriss, artist-in-residence and university organist. "It is a particular challenge to teach organ when none of your students have access to one. Many of the students have opted to give their performances on piano for this semester." Six of the 13 students wrote original…
Professor of Psychology Scott Plous is a social psychologist whose research focuses on prejudice and discrimination, decision-making, and ethical issues relating to animals and the environment. He has a long-standing interest in web-based research and teaching, and has taught a Social Psychology massive open online course (MOOC) on the Coursera platform since July 2013. We spoke to him about what social psychology can teach us in these challenging times. What are you teaching this semester, and how have you adapted your course for distance learning? I’m teaching an advanced seminar on the Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination. Because the class…
A number of Wesleyan alumni act in, write, direct, and produce popular TV programs. Earlier this month, we shared a list of those alumni and their shows, as part of our “Best of Wes” series—and today we are sharing a second installment, listing even more alumni and their shows. (Interested in other Wesleyan-themed lists? Check out our previous “Best of Wes” pieces.) Additional alumni-produced TV shows and series include: The TV mini-series Fosse/Verdon is directed and produced by Thomas Kail '99, produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda '02, Hon. '15, and written by Sam Wasson '03. Amelia McCarthy '04 worked as the…
Randi Alexandra PlakeWesleyan in the News Inside Higher Ed: "Contagious Civic Engagement" In this essay, Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth ’78 calls for a "virtuous contagion" to stimulate voting and other forms of civic engagement among young people, and writes about how this can still be possible at a time of social distancing. "The best way to attack cynicism, apathy or voter suppression is through authentic civic engagement between elections," he writes. "One of the great things about this kind of engagement is that it is contagious. As we replicate efforts to bring people into the political process, we create habits of engagement…
Throughout the month of April, the Office of Survivor Advocacy & Community Education (SACE) is hosting Survivor Solidarity Month 2020, a monthlong series of events focused on centering survivors of interpersonal violence. "The goal is to start conversations on our campus about how we support survivors in our community, and how to prevent interpersonal violence from happening in the first place," said Johanna DeBari, director of SACE. "While previously this consisted of many workshops engaging in community dialogue, we're moving to reimagine what this dialogue looks like in a world of social distancing and virtual classrooms." The month of events…