Lauren RubensteinWesleyan was strongly represented by faculty, undergraduates and alumni at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, the major conference in the field. The meeting was held in Philadelphia, Pa. March 19-21. Members of the Cognitive Development Labs, co-directed by Associate Professor of Psychology Anna Shusterman and Associate Professor of Psychology Hilary Barth, presented research at the conference. Former lab coordinator Jessica Taggart presented work done with Jillian Roberts '15, current lab coordinator Lonnie Bass, and Barth titled, "Minimal group membership and children's ideas of equality." This is Roberts' senior thesis project. Andrew Ribner '14 presented his senior thesis, "Preschool…
Olivia DrakeWith more than 20 vendors from throughout New England and the tri-state area selling new and used music in all formats, the 88.1 FM WESU community record fair has become a cherished tradition, attracting a diverse crowd of new and old record collectors. The WESU Spring 2015 Record Fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 28 in Beckham Hall. Browse new and used CDs, records, music-related apparel, books, WESU merchandise and more. WESU DJs will be spinning records live throughout the day to inspire your crate digging. "Each vendor will be offering their own unique mix…
The Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division is sponsoring its annual Celebration of Science Theses from 12:30 to 2 p.m. April 17 in Exley Science Center. Poster presentations will be made by NSM honors and MA students. Refreshments will be provided. The entire Wesleyan community is invited. "Come join us in appreciation of our students’ achievements," said Manju Hingorani, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry. The event is co-organized by Hingorani; Barbara Juhasz, associate professor of psychology, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior, director of the Service Learning Center; and Seth Redfield, assistant professor of astronomy.
The Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life welcomes "auto czar" Ron Bloom '77 to campus April 8. Bloom will speak on "We almost lost Detroit: A hopeful tale about cars, crises, cities and America," at 7:30 p.m. in PAC 001. After graduating from Wesleyan with a BA in history in 1977, Bloom received an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1985. After working as the assistant to the president for United Steelworkers, Bloom was appointed by President Obama be the senior advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the President’s Task Force on…
Christina Crosby, professor of English, professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, was honored at an event March 10 at Barnard College. Several Wesleyan faculty and alumnae participated in the discussion. The event, titled "Body Undone: A Salon Honoring Christina Crosby," was hosted by the Barnard Center for Research on Women and NYU's Center for Gender and Sexuality Studies. It focused on Crosby's forthcoming memoir of living with disability, Body Undone: Living on After Great Pain. The memoir will be published by NYU Press in the "Sexual Cultures" series. In 2003, Professor Crosby broke her neck in a bicycle accident. "Spinal cord injury…
Mike Robinson, assistant professor of psychology, assistant professor of neuroscience and behavior, and his students are interested in what makes individuals react differently when they catch a whiff of freshly-baked brownies or another sugary treat. These Pavlovian cues associated with junk food can trigger cravings to eat and increase the amount of food consumed. People who are more susceptible to the motivational effects of these cues may have a higher risk for over consuming readily available junk food and becoming obese. Furthermore, the overconsumption of junk food may itself heighten attraction to food cues. But what causes some people to…
Brian KattenWhen the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) announced the names this month of 939 athletes among its conference member schools who earned the distinction of academic all-NESCAC during the winter 2014-15 season, Wesleyan celebrated its largest pool ever in winter with 89 student-athletes. These student-athletes, sophomores and above, meet the criteria of being significant contributors to their teams while achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.35 or higher. The student-athletes play in the following winter sports: men's and women's basketball, men's and women's ice hockey, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's squash, men's and women's indoor track and wrestling. Some highlights from this season's group…
The NESCAC has announced the 2014-15 winter recipients of the All-Sportsmanship awards for each of the 11 member colleges. In total, eight Wesleyan athletes have been recognized with one in each of the eight winter sports (men's and women's basketball, men's and women's ice hockey, men's and women's swimming and diving, and men's and women's squash). They are James Albrecht '15 (men's ice hockey), Liz Baumgartner '15 (women's swimming and diving), Mike DeLalio '15 (men's squash), Bridget Doherty '16 (women's squash), Bryan Galvin '15 (men's basketball), Cara Jankowsi '15 (women's ice hockey), Cherkira Lashley '15 (women's basketball), Travis Williams '15…
Bryan Stascavage '18Wesleyan's vegan fare continues to impress voters and critics: collegemagazine.org has named the school the ninth best vegan campus nationwide, and Wesleyan is looking to reach the final round in the People's Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) "March Madness"-style voting contest. According to collegemagazine.org: Wesleyan not only boasts its history of social justice activism, but also a wide range of mouth-watering vegan foods. Veggie chicken red curry is just one of these fine meals. Let your senses run wild with Bon Appétit, the campus’ food supplier. Their navy bean soup, garden burger and steamed parsnips will have you running back for more. Even…
Jeanine Basinger, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, and Jeremy Arnold ’91 will hold a public talk on "Films and Facts: Whose Responsibility?" at 12:30 p.m. March 27 at the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Classic Film Festival. The schedule of the film festival can be found here. Hollywood's alleged disregard for the facts of history is year after year the subject of heated media debate. From the early days of the silent era to this year's Oscar race, charges of historical inaccuracy have fueled great conversations about factual reproduction, creative license, propaganda and audience responsibility. Jeanine Basinger and Jeremy Arnold will continue the tradition by discussing the fascinating question…
Professor of Economics Richard Grossman recently presented the keynote address at a conference held at the Austrian National Bank. The presentation, made on March 11, was titled, "Interest rate cycles and implications for the financial sector: a long-term view." A summary is available here. The conference was jointly sponsored by Austria's central bank (the Oesterreichische Nationalbank), SUERF (the European Money and Finance Forum), and BWG (the Austrian Society for Bank Research).
Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees approved a resolution Feb. 28 to consider “environmental, social or governance factors” as part of the university’s investment process. The resolution speaks to concerns that students at Wesleyan and across the country have raised regarding investments in fossil fuel companies. Coal companies have been a particular focus because the burning of coal is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. The Board action – under consideration by its Investment Committee for some time – followed a meeting between the Investment Committee and the Committee for Investor Responsibility (CIR), composed of student, faculty and staff representatives. The…