Campus News & Events

For the third year in a row, Wesleyan will welcome members of the community and Wesleyan faculty, staff, students, alumni and families to Middletown Day—a day of family fun and athletic events on campus. The theme of this year’s event, taking place Sept. 26, is “Salute to Service, Honoring Our Veterans.” “We are excited to once again welcome Middletown families to campus, and honored to partner in saluting veterans from campus and the community,” said Cathy Lechowicz, director of the Center for Community Partnerships. “It will be a celebratory day that highlights the assets of our campus and the community.”…

This fall, Wesleyan’s Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT) is offering a free training course to any Wesleyan faculty, staff or student interested in helping the campus community. Formed in September 2009, Wesleyan’s C-CERT members are trained to assist first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims, and organize volunteers at a disaster site. The 20-hour program, which is supported by a grant from the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, includes sessions such as Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety and Utility Controls, Disaster Medical Operations, Light Search and Rescue Operations, CERT Organization, Disaster Psychology, Terrorism and Disaster Simulation. All participants receive their…

A new Academy for Project-Based Teaching and Learning will encourage students and faculty to build knowledge and skills by investigating and responding to complex questions, problems and challenges within and across disciplines. Hosted by Wesleyan's Center for Pedagogical Innovation, the Academy's project-based approach includes teaching significant content at the heart of each academic discipline, and cutting edge competencies in problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity/innovation. “The Academy will help us build capacity to increase the number of courses in the undergraduate curriculum that incorporate project-based teaching and learning methods,” said Lisa Dierker, professor of psychology and director of…

On Thursdays in September and October, Wesleyan is hosting a four-part Hispanic Film Series showcasing the power and artistry of contemporary Latin American and Spanish film. All films will be shown at 8 p.m. in the Goldsmith Family Cinema, and are free and open to the public. The series is sponsored by the Thomas and Catharine McMahon Fund, the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and the Latin American Studies Program. The films being shown are as follows: Sept. 24–Relatos Salvajes (Wild Tales) Oct. 1–Mosquita Y Mari Oct. 8–La Isla Mínima (Marshland) Oct. 15–Hotel Nueva Isla More details on each film…

On Sept. 25-28, Wesleyan will welcome Iraq War Veteran Drew Cameron to campus to share the story of Combat Paper, the practice of hand papermaking, and how this collaborative project has become an integral part of the emerging veteran artist movement. Cameron is the co-founder of Combat Paper, a project in which veterans and the non-veteran community use traditional hand papermaking techniques to transform military uniforms into paper, prints, books, and art. “All of our experiences are encoded within the material items we carry about. With clothing, and military uniforms, our personal geographies, memories, and accomplishments are carried in the…

Continuing its long-standing tradition of expanding access to higher education, Wesleyan recently announced a new partnership with Say Yes to Education. Say Yes works with students from low-income and other background historically underrepresented in the nation’s colleges and universities from partner locations including Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y., Harlem, Hartford, Conn. and, most recently, Guilford County, N.C. Students have access to full-tuition scholarships as well as a wide array of supports and services—academic, social, emotional, medical and legal—to help them successfully navigate the path to college readiness. (more…)

For her outstanding contributions to Milky Way research by observational methods, Meredith Hughes, assistant professor of astronomy, received the 2015 Bok Prize in Astronomy from Harvard University. The prize, named in honor of Astronomer Bart Bok (1906–1983), is awarded to a recent holder of a PhD degree in the physical sciences from Harvard or Radcliffe who is under 35 years of age. Hughes received her PhD from Harvard in 2010, and a MA in astronomy from Harvard in 2007. Hughes is an expert on planet formation, circumstellar disk structure and dynamics, gas and dust disk evolution and radio astronomy. She studies planet formation by observing…

This fall, the German Studies Department and German Embassy in Washington, D.C. are sponsoring a three-part commemoration of "25 Years of German Unity" at Wesleyan. The series, which features discussions with a German filmmaker, a scholar from Connecticut College, and four Wesleyan faculty is made possible by a $3,000 grant from the German Embassy. The first talk, “Gorbachev, Bush, and the Unification of Germany” on Sept. 22 featured Peter Rutland, the Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, professor of government, and Douglas Foyle, associate professor of government, who spoke on the important role that Russia, Mikhail Gorbachev,…

On Sept. 11, the Center for the Arts celebrated the student music scene at The MASH. Inspired by Fete de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, this fourth annual festival highlights Wesleyan's student musicians. The event took place inside Usdan University Center, Patricelli '92 Theater and Crowell Concert Hall. More than 15 bands performed including Locus, described as “one man with psychedelic textures and experimental beats;” Mom, a funky band full of post-pubescent mystery rock; Quasimodal, Wesleyan's oldest co-ed A cappella group; Veeblefetzer, Wesleyan's finest Klezmer ensemble; Lo-Qi, a rap duo “here to denounce corporate oppression;” Sleep Kid,…

Bethany Berger '90, professor at the University of Connecticut Law School, will lead Wesleyan's annual Constitution Day Lecture on Sept. 17. The topic is "Birthright Citizenship on Trial — Immigration and Indigeneity." Egged on by Donald Trump, the majority of Republican candidates have supported ending birthright citizenship. This talk looks at this 14th amendment right, its constitutional origins, and the different things it meant for American Indians and immigrants. Berger is the Thomas F. Gallivan, Jr. Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law. She graduated from Wesleyan in 1990 with a major in government, and from Yale Law…

President Michael Roth spoke to families in Memorial Chapel on Arrival Day, Sept. 2. He urged students to explore parts of the curriculum beyond their comfort zone and to discover what they love to do, get better at it, and share it with others. "It’s an extraordinarily exciting time to be starting at Wesleyan,” he said. “There are tremendous resources across this place; there are people with extraordinary ideas.… Students should find the people from whom they can learn most deeply." Watch his remarks, which appeared on The Huffington Post homepage, below:

For the third year in a row, Wesleyan will welcome members of the community and Wesleyan faculty, staff, students, alumni and families to Middletown Day—a day of family fun and athletic events on campus. The theme of this year’s event, taking place Sept. 26, is “Salute to Service, Honoring Our Veterans.” "We are excited to once again welcome Middletown families to campus, and honored to partner in saluting veterans from campus and the community," said Cathy Lechowicz, director of the Center for Community Partnerships. "It will be a celebratory day that highlights the assets of our campus and the community." The…

Family Fun at Middletown Day Sept. 26

Help Wesleyan Community, Build Camaraderie as C-CERT Member

Center for Pedagogical Innovation Creates Academy for Project-Based Teaching and Learning

Hispanic Film Series Playing in Goldsmith Family Cinema

Wesleyan Hosts “Combat Paper” Exhibit, Workshop with Iraq War Veteran

Wesleyan Partners with Say Yes to Expand Educational Access

Hughes Recipient of 2015 Bok Prize for Astronomy

“25 Years of German Unity” Discussed at Talks, Film Screening

Student Music Scene Celebrated at the 4th Annual MASH

Immigration and Indigeneity Topic of Constitution Day Lecture Sept. 17

President Roth Speaks to Families, Students on Arrival Day

Wesleyan to Host Middletown Day, Honoring Veterans, Sept. 26