Lauren RubensteinDecember 2, 20154min
Four Wesleyan undergraduates and a faculty member received awards in the latest call for proposals from NASA's Connecticut Space Grant Consortium. Astronomy major Rachel Aronow '17 was awarded an Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the amount of $5,000 for her project, "Planet Formation and Stellar Characteristics in Tatooine-like Systems." She is working with Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, studying Tatooine-like systems (named after the fabled home system of Luke Skywalker), which are planet-forming disks that surround a close pair of stars that are in orbit around each other. Aronow conducted research with Herbst last summer, and these funds will support further…

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Laurie KenneyDecember 2, 20152min
Two evenings of theater will be presented by the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures this month. Both events are free and open to the public and will take place at the department's common room at 300 High Street in Middletown, Conn. Students from French 281 and Theater 291 will present three plays in French on Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.: "Tu honoreras ton père et ta mère"  or “You Will Honor Your Father and Mother," by Samira Sedira; "Ah! La belle vie" or “Oh! The Good Life," by Anne Giafferi; and “First Lady,” by Sedef Ecer. A reception will follow. The…

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Laurie KenneyNovember 25, 20151min
With $7,000 additional dollars still needed to reach its goal, WESU 88.1 FM is continuing its annual Fall Pledge Drive. Listener contributions will allow the station to continue to offer its unique blend of programming, including The Moondog Matinee, playing “oldies” every Saturday morning for nearly 40 years, as well as to support locally produced public affairs shows like Think Twice Radio, a Connecticut “watchdog” media show, and new music shows like Black Music Matters. (more…)

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Lauren RubensteinNovember 24, 20153min
The world is currently facing the largest refugee crisis since World War II. Concerned Wesleyan students are volunteering with community organizations, coordinating various speaker panels, fundraising for international NGOs and agencies, and engaging in advocacy efforts. This fall, Casey Smith ’17 and Cole Phillips ’16 founded the Wesleyan Refugee Project (WRP). Smith, a College of Social Studies major who is pursuing certificates in Middle Eastern studies and international relations, has worked with refugees since high school, advocated for refugees’ rights in Washington, D.C., and volunteered for refugee resettlement organizations. She is currently studying abroad in Jordan, where she helps refugees access…

Lauren RubensteinNovember 24, 20151min
On Nov. 17, several members of the Wesleyan community participated in the Conference for College and University Chaplaincy at Hartford Seminary. Protestant Chaplain Tracy Mehr-Muska, who is a doctor of ministry student at the seminary, worked with Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program Scott Thumma to organize the conference. Other participants from Wesleyan included Director of Religious and Spiritual Life and Jewish Chaplain David Leipziger Teva, Therapist/Sexual Assault Resource Coordinator Alysha Warren, and a student. Teva participated in a workshop on mindfulness, while Warren and the student participated in a workshop about responding to sexual assault on college campuses. More than 80 chaplains from…

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Lauren RubensteinNovember 24, 20154min
The basement of the University Organizing Center at 190 High Street is now home to Red Feather Studios, Wesleyan’s first and only student-run recording studio. Red Feather officially opened in spring 2015 after being a work in progress for a few years. “The music culture at Wesleyan is unlike any I’ve seen at other universities,” added Oscar Parajon '16, a founding member and head studio manager at Red Feather, who is majoring in American Studies. “Before Red Feather Studios, what was happening was a plethora of ‘bedroom producers’ throughout campus that did not have a platform to make their art.” According…