Campus News & Events

Situational judgment tests (SJTs) have become an increasingly important tool for predicting employee performance. In a recent study, Steven Stemler, associate professor of psychology, and two executives at pre-hire assessment firm Aspiring Minds asked current employees at several firms in India to review scenarios and then pick the “best” and “worst” choices from a set of options. The colleagues found a statistically significant correlation between job success and those who correctly identified the ‘worst’ answers to scenarios. Their results were surprising. "What we found in our research is that the ability to correctly identify the ‘worst’ response to a situation is a systematically different skill than the…

Giulio Gallarotti, professor of government, spoke on WLIS 1420 AM/WMRD 1150 AM Connecticut radio (Valley Shore program) Oct. 10 about the U.S. economy. Gallarotti also is co-chair of the College of Social Studies and professor of environmental studies. In the midst of an election campaign, Gallarotti says the American economy is doing well relative to other countries. The U.S. unemployment rate is presently 5 percent, and the budget deficit is less than 8 percent of America's Gross National Product (GNP), he reported. "I think the American economy is strong," he said during the interview. "Our deficits and debt are not as big…

A book titled Organism and Environment (Oxford University Press, 2015) by evolutionary ecologist Sonia Sultan, professor of biology, professor of environmental studies, has been shortlisted for the Royal Society of Biology Award for Best Post-graduate Textbook.The winner will be announced later this month. In addition, Organism and Environment was named a "landmark volume" in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, and reviews are forthcoming in BioScience, Ecology, Evolution and Biology and Philosophy. In November, Sultan will speak about her research on developmental plasticity at the New Trends in Evolutionary Biology: Philosophical and Social Science Implications symposium held jointly by the Royal Society and the British Academy. Sultan is…

The Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) Women's Caucus awarded Professor Victoria Pitts-Taylor with the Women's Caucus Prize in Feminist Philosophy of Science for her recent book, The Brain's Body: Neuroscience and Corporeal Politics. This prize is awarded biennially for the best book, article, or chapter published in English in the area of feminist philosophy of science within the five years prior to each PSA meeting. The winner receives an award of $500, which is presented at the PSA meeting. The Brain's Body: Neuroscience and Corporeal Politics (2016, Duke University Press) draws on feminist philosophy, feminist science studies, queer theory, and…

With support from the Office of Naval Research, researchers in Wesleyan's Physics Department are working on ways to protect optical sensors (for example, the human eye) against laser-induced damage. In August, Tsampikos Kottos, professor of physics, professor of mathematics, received a three-year grant from the Office of Naval Research to further his designs of “Reflective Microwave Limiters." Typical microwave limiters have the ability to block excessive radiation through absorption. However, absorption can lead to overheating, eventually causing the destruction of the limiter. Kottos studies reflective power limiters with his graduate student Eleana Makri and Postdoctoral Research Associate Roney Thomas. The team hopes to develop realistic designs of microwave…

Mike Singer, professor of biology, professor of environmental studies, received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation this month to support a study on habitat fragmentation. Fragmentation occurs when contiguous habitats become separated into smaller, isolated areas often caused by human activities (new roads, housing developments) or natural processes (flooding, drought). Singer and his colleagues will study the effect of anthropogenic forest fragmentation on the food web of plants, herbivores, and carnivores (tri-trophic interactions) in Connecticut. The project will focus on relationships among deer, trees, caterpillars, and songbirds. The grant, which will be awarded over three years, is shared with…

Nancy Ottmann Albert’s (MALS '94) evocative photographs of vanishing New England structures and landscapes will be featured in “Documents in Black and White,” a new exhibition opening in Olin Library on Oct. 5, 2016. The show is being presented in conjunction with the formal announcement of Albert’s gift of her papers to the library’s Special Collections & Archives (SC&A). Albert will speak about her work at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 in the library’s Develin Room. Selected by the artist, the works span the 30 years she spent documenting New England’s built environment. Inspired by Walker Evans and the 1930s Farm Security…

At Queen’s University, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Richard Grossman, professor of economics, was appointed to the International Advisory Board of Queen’s University Center for Economic History, where he will advise on the university’s many economic programs. Grossman also served as an external examiner on a PhD thesis titled, “Bears and Bubbles in Financial Markets: Essays on the British Bicycle Mania,” at Queen’s University. Grossman also presented his co-authored papers “Beresford’s Revenge: British equity holdings in Latin America, 1869-1929,” and “Long-Run Patters and Shifts in Wealth—Insights from Irish Share Prices since 1825,” Sept. 1-2 at the 6th Eurhistock Conference, a conference focusing on the history…

On Oct. 1, Wesleyan students will publicly present their research from the American studies course, Anarchy in America: From Haymarket Riot to Occupy Wall Street, taught by J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, chair and professor of American studies, professor of anthropology. The course focused on anarchism as a political philosophy and practice — a little known, aspect of American culture and society. Students examined select aspects of anarchist political thought and praxis in the United States and the ways that anarchism has been represented positively, vilified or dismissed. The course explored a range of diverse political traditions including: individualist anarchism, socialist anarchism,…

The student-run Wesleyan Local Food Co-op sources a large variety of fresh foods and distributes them on campus. The co-op offers locally grown produce, fresh dairy products (cheese, milk, yogurt, butter and ice cream), meat, eggs, tofu, seitan, preserves, bread and coffee. Sign up for the co-op online by Sept. 21 and pay from 3:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sept. 28 in Daniel Family Commons. 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…

Wesleyan’s Transportation Services Department announces the addition of a new 14-passenger bus to the Wesleyan RIDE system fleet. The RIDE is a free shuttle service with 17 stops around campus. The department also provides a free off-campus grocery shuttle service to Price Chopper and Aldi on Sunday afternoons. “Adding this bus to the RIDE program will allow us to move more people, more efficiently, and more comfortably," said Joe Martocci, transportation services manager. The RIDE shuttles are available seven nights a week, and Martocci says volume picks up on the weekends. “We move over 500 students every weekend. The idea…

Miss You Like Hell is a new musical written by the Shapiro Distinguished Professor of Writing and Theater, Quiara Alegria Hudes. Focusing on what it means to be a family in an ever-changing American society, Hudes’ work follows the story of a “whip-smart, deeply imaginative teenager and her free spirited Latina mother, as they embark on a road trip.” Commissioned by Christopher Ashley, the artistic director at La Jolla Playhouse, in La Jolla, California, the production is a new piece that embraces the idea of changing identities. Ashley states in an a broadwayworld.com article, “this is exactly the right time…

Stemler’s Study Reveals that Knowing What Not to Do Is a Critical Job Skill

Gallarotti Speaks about the U.S. Economy on 1420 AM

Sultan’s Book Nominated for Royal Society of Biology Award

Pitts-Taylor Recipient of Feminist Philosophy Prize

Office of Naval Research Supports Microwave Limiter Study in Physics Department

NSF Supports Singer’s Research on Habitat Fragmentation in Connecticut

Photographs by Albert MALS ’94 Exhibited in Olin Library

Grossman to Advise Queen’s University’s Economic Programs

Anarchist Histories and Activism Presentations Oct. 1

Wesleyan Local Food Co-Op Open to Campus Community

Transportation Services’ New 14-Passenger Bus Moves Students More Efficiently

Hudes’ New Musical Focuses on Family in an Ever-Changing American Society