Arts & Humanities

When artist Chris Domenick stood in the monumental Main Gallery of the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, he observed the way light from the building’s windows worked with his new installation. “It's so cavernous and incredible and the light is so amazing,” he said. The moment marked a milestone—his first solo institutional exhibition, Private Figure, a show that combines floor- and ceiling-based lamps with wall works by the artist. The Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University’s home for contemporary art since 1973, is known for encouraging artists to take risks that may not be as welcome at more traditional gallery spaces. For…

A film adaptation of Associate Professor of Theater Edwin Sanchez’s play Unmerciful Good Fortune has begun production with Concord Studio. Actress Rosario Dawson will play a lead role and is a producer on the project, according to Deadline. “I think it's about the quality of life versus the quantity of life and who gets to decide that,” Sanchez said. “And how sometimes the people we love need more from us than maybe we're ready to give.” Unmerciful Good Fortune is a story about a high-profile lawyer, Maritza Cruz, who is pulled into a peculiar case of a young waitress, Fatima,…

By: Phuc Ngo ’27 Sixty countries are represented in Wesleyan’s community, and over 70 languages spoken. This rich diversity of language and culture is the focus of the third annual Power of Language Week (POL) at Wesleyan. From Feb. 13 to 21, the Fries Center for Global Studies, in partnership with the Office of International Student Affairs, the Resource Center, and several academic departments, is hosting a series of events that celebrate the history of language and multilingual students—from language learners to heritage speakers to international students. “Language is something that we use not only to communicate, but to convey…

By: Rose Chen ’26 In the summer of 2024, Oleksandra Volakova ’27 received a Wesleyan Summer Grant to travel to Poland, where she documented the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and interviewed refugees from the war. She then returned to her hometown of Kremenchuk in eastern Ukraine, and decided to continue the project by travelling around the country and hearing from other survivors throughout the region. On Feb. 5, Volakova shared her research “Three Years of Full-Scale War: How Ukrainians Continue to Resist and Stay Hopeful” during a talk at the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty. “As a…

The Africana Research Collective, a group of faculty, students, and recent alumni, journeyed to Southern Louisiana for a hands-on research experience focusing on the intellectual and cultural history of the African diaspora. This was the collective’s second ever trip after an inaugural research excursion to the Dominican Republic in 2022. This particular trip was organized around the theme of “agency,” which can be tentatively defined as “someone’s or something’s capacity to produce an intended or unintended effect,” said Assistant Professor of African American Studies Garry Bertholf. This four-day, cross-institutional research collaboration brought together undergraduate fellows from Wesleyan’s Bailey College of…

Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts (CFA) continues to explore the capacity of art to reflect and transform the world this season with a spring semester featuring exhibitions and live performances of commissioned works by visiting artists, and convenings with the campus community led by this year’s artist in residence Anna Deavere Smith Hon. '97. CFA Director Joshua Lubin-Levy ’06 said this academic year that the Center for the Arts has been thinking about how art creates assemblies—a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. “We continue that work this spring with a wide range of special…

A month after one of the most momentous national elections in recent memory, the Wesleyan Media Project hosted their 2024 Post-Election Conference at the Frank Center for Public Affairs on Dec. 6. The all-day event featured four panels, moderated by Government department faculty members: Associate Professor of Government Logan Dancey, Associate Professor of Government Alyx Mark, Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler, and Assistant Professor of Government Justin Peck. More than a dozen scholars from institutions across the country presented their research to the audience of faculty and students. The topics of panel presentations ranged from political advertising in 2024…

Playwright, actor, and educator Anna Deavere Smith Hon. '97 launched her yearlong residency at Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts (CFA) on Oct. 27 with the first public staged reading of her new work This Ghost of Slavery. The cast featured 15 actors, including Associate Professor of Theater, African American Studies, and English Rashida McMahon, along with students Connor Wrubel ’25 and Raimi Bagwell ’26. First published in The Atlantic, the work blends contemporary interviews with activists and social justice workers with her research into the archives of American slavery, revealing how historical trauma shapes present-day behavior. The play depicts events…

Legendary director Charles Burnett paved the way for generations of African American filmmakers in his work, including director Shaka King who made the recent Academy Award-nominated film Judas and the Black Messiah. Burnett and King spoke and screened their work at Wesleyan during the 2024 Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, titled “Black Voices and Visionaries in Cinema,” on Nov. 8 and 9. The two filmmakers were joined by international film producers Ama Ampadu and Tamara Dewit for presentations and a panel discussion. Endowed by James Shasha '50, P'82, the Shasha Seminar supports lifelong learning and encourages participants to expand their…

At the age of 27, Valentina Ramia received an urgent call from a friend in Ecuador, where she was born, to join a newly formed government. With her master’s degree in public policy analysis and management, Ramia left her work at a think tank in New York to return home and assist with governing in the new administration. The year was 2007. In her role as an under secretary, Ramia was put in charge of social policy in a newly formed department, and asked to help resolve a crisis in the prison system. Working with the prisoners’ unions and other…

Artist Glenn Ligon '82, Hon. '12 spoke with Associate Professor and Program Director for Art History and Associate Professor of American Studies Claire Grace on Nov. 1 in the Frank Center for Public Affairs during Homecoming and Family Weekend 2024. The exhibition, Reading Signs: Jasper Johns and Glenn Ligon in Print, which features etchings and lithographs by both artists as well as screenprints by Johns from the Davison Art Collection, is on display at the Pruzan Art Center in the Goldrach Gallery through Dec. 11. In her introduction to the conversation, Grace noted that Ligon’s work has been at the…

Wesleyan students  Akhil Joondeph '26 and Tanvi Navile '25 performed during the Indian Dance Showcase as part of the 48th anniversary Navaratri Festival at Wesleyan on Oct. 12. Each dancer demonstrated a different classical dance style. The students were invited to perform at the festival by Hari Krishnan, professor of Dance, Global South Asian Studies, and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. They were joined by Connecticut-based choreographers Sarada Nori Akella, who performed South Indian Kuchipudi dance, and Rachna Agrawal, performing North Indian Kathak dance. Navile and Joondeph had previously taken Krishnan’s South Indian Bharatanatyam dance class together. “At Wesleyan, there's such a rich cultural history of the Indian…

Chris Domenick, Parker Ito Reimagine Painting in Zilkha Gallery

Film Adaptation of Sanchez Play in Production

Preview – Power of Language Week 2025

Ukrainian Student Shares Stories of Survival

Africana Research Collective Visits Louisiana

CFA Spring Preview: Exploring How Art Creates Knowledge

Post-Election Conference Probed Impact of Political Ads, Messaging

Anna Deavere Smith Starts Yearlong Artist Residency

Celebrated Filmmakers, Producers Share Insight into Black Cinema at Shasha Seminar

Narratives of Fear: An Anthropologist’s Research with Asylum Seekers

Glenn Ligon ’82, Hon. ’12 Talks Career, Work at Pruzan Art Center

Students Perform During Annual Celebration of Indian Music and Dance