Campus News & Events

The Green Street Teaching and Learning Center has received a second round of funding from the State of Connecticut Department of Education to expand its K-8 Math Institute to three new school districts over the next two years. The $428,479 Math and Science Partnership Award will allow Green Street offer the program to 90 teachers from the Hamden, Vernon and New Haven school districts in programs being offered this summer and next. Green Street works closely with district math coordinators to select teachers to participate. “In Connecticut and all over the country, there are issues with math education—students aren’t achieving…

The Broadway musical sensation Hamilton claimed a Grammy Feb. 15 for Best Musical Theater album, and the show’s creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, rapped his acceptance speech. Miranda and the cast of Hamilton (directed by Thomas Kail ’99) also performed for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony live via satellite from the show’s home at the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York. In addition to Miranda and Kail, the show’s Wesleyan connections include album co-producer Bill Sherman ’02 and Atlantic Records’ head of A&R Peter Ganbarg ’88, who helped sign the album to the label. “This has been an amazing…

On Feb. 13, Wesleyan student athletes welcomed local girls to campus and recognized the courage, confidence, and character women and girls gain as they participate in sports. February marks the 30th anniversary of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, an event created to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of women and girls in sports. The Wesleyan Athletics Department celebrated by hosting a day of fun-filled sports activities for girls, ages 5-12. Participants took part in sports clinics, had lunch and discussions with Wesleyan's female student-athletes and coaches, and cheered on the women’s basketball and ice hockey teams during their home games. "In…

Professor of Psychology Scott Plous has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He was inducted on Feb. 13 during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., part of the association's annual meeting. Plous was one of eight fellows newly elected to the Psychology section of the AAAS this year. He was chosen "for distinguished contributions to social psychology, particularly understanding decision-making and prejudice, and for communication of psychology science to the public." Founded in 1848, the AAAS is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of all people. Fellows are…

WESU, one of the oldest college radio stations in the country, kicked off its new spring season this week with new and old shows, hosted and produced by more than 100 dedicated community members and Wesleyan students. This season, the station will host several events for the community, including the annual Spring Record Fair in April. WESU also is celebrating many birthdays this year: “Caffe Italia,” which plays Italian music, news and culture, is turning 10 this year and airs from 7 to 8 a.m. every Saturday. Also, “The Vault,” featuring techno music with DJ Anton Banks, is turning 20 this year and is airing every from 9:30 to…

Ann Cvetkovich of the University of Texas–Austin will deliver the 28th annual Diane Weiss '80 Memorial Lecture on Feb. 25. Her talk, titled, "Archival Turns and Queer Affective Methods," will be held at 7 p.m. in PAC 001. Cvetkovich is the Ellen Clayton Garwood Centennial Professor of English and professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Mixed Feelings: Feminism, Mass Culture, and Victorian Sensationalism (Rutgers, 1992); An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures (Duke, 2003); and Depression: A Public Feeling (Duke, 2012). She co-edited (with Ann Pellegrini) “Public Sentiments,” a special issue of The…

This month, the Association for Asian Studies honored Phillip Wagoner, professor of art history, professor of archaeology, with the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize. Wagoner and his co-author Richard Easton received the award for their book, Power, Memory, Architecture: Contested Sites on India’s Deccan Plateau, 1300-1600, published by Oxford University Press in 2014. The Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize honors a distinguished work of scholarship in South Asian Studies that promises to define or redefine the understanding of whole subject areas. The book's subject matter must deal with South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh). Power, Memory, Architecture is the first comprehensive exploration of history…

Barbara Fields, professor of history at Columbia University, will deliver the third annual Richard Slotkin American Studies Lecture Series from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Feb. 17 in Russell House. Fields' lecture will draw on the intellectually transformative book she published with her sister, Karen Elise Fields, titled Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life (Verso, 2012). "Her lecture—her thinking about how the forms of racecraft and how racecraft is pulled off—could not be more timely and urgent," said Joel Pfister, the Olin Professor of American Studies and English, chair of the American Studies Department. “Her work on the category of ‘race’ offers…

Wesleyan will present the first-ever creative writing specialization on the Coursera platform, beginning Feb. 9. Taught by four award-winning authors, the specialization is open to anyone with a love of reading or a drive to invent a story or tell their own. Titled “Creative Writing: The Craft of Story,” the specialization will include four courses, plus a capstone.

During Winter Storm Lexi on Feb. 5, campus received more than 6 inches of snow. In blizzard-like conditions, students still enjoyed the winter weather and attended classes. Photos of the storm are below and in this Wesleyan Facebook gallery. (more…)

On Feb. 2, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joyce Jacobsen announced that Wesleyan has hired eight new tenure-track faculty in fields including African American studies, sociology and physics, among others. Wesleyan also made a senior hire, which will be announced later this semester after a successful tenure review, Jacobsen said. Nine other faculty searches are ongoing and will hopefully be completed this spring. “With 18 searches going on, we will likely have a larger than usual group of new faculty coming to campus next fall,” said Jacobsen. “We’re excited to welcome this accomplished and diverse group of scholar-teachers.” Brief…

At a time when many are decrying the demise of liberal arts colleges, Wesleyan has received its largest application pool ever for the Class of 2020. As of Feb. 1, 12,026 students had applied, marking a 22 percent increase over the previous year and a 10 percent increase over the previous all-time high three years ago for the Class of 2017. “We’re very pleased by not only the sheer number of students who can see themselves at Wesleyan—amongst the highest of any liberal arts college—but also by the highly talented and diverse nature of the applicant pool,” said President Michael Roth. “I’d like…

Green Street Receives Grant to Expand K-8 Math Institute

Hamilton Wins Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album

Wesleyan Athletics Hosts Girls, Women in Sports Day

Plous Named Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science

Italian News, Talk Shows and Techno on WESU’s Spring Season

FGSS Presents 28th Annual Diane Weiss ’80 Memorial Lecture, Feb. 25

Wagoner’s Book Receives Association for Asian Studies Award

Inequality, Concept of Race Topics of American Studies Lecture

Wesleyan Launches First-Ever Creative Writing Specialization on Coursera

Winter Wonderland at Wesleyan

Wesleyan Hires 8 New Tenure-Track Faculty

Wesleyan Receives Record Number of Applications for Class of 2020