Campus News & Events

Wesleyan’s Passion Driven Statistics curriculum introduces students to statistics by allowing them to ask and answer statistical questions that they care about. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Passion Driven Statistics model has been successfully implemented through the Applied Data Analysis course at Wesleyan, created by Lisa Dierker, professor of psychology, director of pilot programs for the Center for Pedagogical Innovation. The course is taught by several faculty from Wesleyan's Quantitative Analysis Center. "What I want is for students to do when get out of this course is to encounter data in the world and say, 'I can't wait to do something with it,' and to have…

The 13th Annual Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, held Oct. 14-15, offered panels and discussions on "The Role of the University in the Era of Mass Incarceration." Experts and activists from across the country, as well as members of the Wesleyan community, considered practical and philosophical responses to the current situation, placing it in a historical perspective that began with slavery. Additionally, Wesleyan's Center for Prison Education (CPE) program alumni gave individual testimony to the imperative they placed on access to learning within the penal system. Keynote speaker Michael Romano ’94, who teaches at Stanford Law School, is the co-founder and director of the…

Bloody handprints smeared the glass doors to Usdan, the clue to Mysterium attendees that they had arrived at the scene of their conference on Oct. 8. Red footprints led them to the sign-in table and the schedule, which boasted a cohort of award-winning mystery writers and those in publishing—including Wesleyan alumni. Hosted by Amy Bloom ’75, the Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing at Wesleyan, the day-long event opened with a keynote with Laura Lippman—a New York Times bestselling author of detective fiction including the Tess Monaghan series—and brought alumni, parents, as well as mystery writers and readers to campus for panel…

On Sept. 14-15, Jennifer Tucker, associate professor of history, organized a conference titled “Firearms and the Common Law Tradition," which was held at The Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. In this Q&A, Tucker discusses the significance of the conference: Q: What was distinctive about the Firearms and the Common Law Conference? A: As far as we are aware, it was the first time that most of the historians and legal scholars involved in the debate over the Second Amendment and common law traditions relating to firearms have been in the same room and exchanged their views face to face and in pre-circulated papers.…

As the temperatures begin to cool this October, students are starting to sport sweaters, hoodies and jackets. Wesleyan's many maple trees are bursting into color. Fall is in the air.

(By Jim H. Smith) For more than 30 years, Joseph Siry, the Kenan Professor of the Humanities, professor of art history, has had a love affair with Wesleyan’s iconic Center for the Arts, one of the great modernist architectural achievements in New England. “For me, it has been exceptionally helpful, psychologically, to work in and be around these buildings,” Siry said. The 11 modernist limestone buildings were little more than a decade old when he joined the faculty. Designed and built by the prominent Connecticut architectural firm Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, the Center was Wesleyan’s first major building to…

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…

Wesleyan’s Passion Driven Statistics Curriculum Taught at Yale

Shasha Seminar Sparks Dialogue on Universities’ Response to Mass Incarceration

Mysterium Conference Draws Writers, Readers

Tucker’s Conference Encourages Dialogue between Historians, Legal Scholars on the Topic of Firearms

Fall is in the Air at Wesleyan

Siry Recalls the Design and Construction of Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts

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