Campus News & Events

A book written by Hari Krishnan, professor and chair of dance, received a special citation by the awards committee of the Dance Studies Association. Krishnan's Celluloid Classicism: Early Tamil Cinema and the Making of Modern Bharatanatyam (Wesleyan University Press, 2019) was honored with the 2020 de la Torre Bueno® First Book Special Citation for being an "invaluable addition to scholarship on Bharatanatyam in the crucial period between the 1930s and 1950s, offering an impeccably researched and well-argued revision of the common recounting of this phase of the dance’s history." Krishnan’s archival work "is impeccable," the citation reads, "combining interviews with…

When religion major Shayna Dollinger '22 imagined her college experience, it never involved mandatory quarantining, weekly virus testing, attending concerts—solo—in a 6-by-6-foot square space, and wearing masks at a socially distanced tashlich on Rosh Hashanah. But this was the true reality of her junior year at Wesleyan. "But weirdly enough, I don’t miss what could have been. I am proud and grateful every day for the lengths my university has gone to keep its students safe and engaged during these turbulent times," Dollinger wrote in an essay titled "My Pandemic Year in College Has Brought Pride and Purpose." The essay,…

During a virtual ceremony on Dec. 2, 15 members of the Class of 2021 were inducted early decision into the Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. The oldest scholastic honor society in the nation, Phi Beta Kappa at Wesleyan is limited to 12% of the graduating class each year. Fall-semester election is based on grades through the end of a student’s junior year and fulfillment of the General Education expectations. The minimum grade point average for the fall election is 93, and students are nominated by their major departments. “Your families, teachers, fellow students, and others at Wesleyan couldn't be…

For 19 years, Joyce Topshe took on the role of managing Wesleyan's construction services, environmental services, rental properties, and Physical Plant-Facilities. Now in her 20th year of working at Wesleyan, the associate vice president for facilities is powering through "the most challenging year of my career," she said. "As we approach the end of the fall semester during a raging pandemic, I am feeling like we almost won the World Series. My entire team has worked exhaustively to make our campus safe during the pandemic, and I am so grateful to every member of my team for staying the course…

Two books written by Wesleyan faculty have recently been translated to Russian, where they are now being distributed. Nabokov and Indeterminacy: The Case of the Real Life of Sebastian Knight was originally written by Priscilla Meyer, professor emerita of Russian language and literature, and published by Northwestern University Press in 2018. Renowned translator and Nabokov expert Vera Polishchuk translated Meyer's book, which is now available in Russian by Academic Studies Press. Nabokov and Indeterminacy shows how Vladimir Nabokov’s early novel The Real Life of Sebastian Knight illuminates his later work. Meyer explores how Nabokov associates his characters in Sebastian Knight with…

With support from the Simons Foundation, Tsampikos Kottos, Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society, professor of physics, will work on groundbreaking wave transport research, ultimately benefiting a broad range of technologies ranging from wireless communications and efficient energy harvesting, to biomedical and avionics sensing technologies. Kottos is one of 11 principal investigators (PIs) from 12 universities and research institutions across the globe to receive funding from the Simons Collaborations in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences Initiative. The group's project, "Harnessing Universal Symmetry Concepts for Extreme Wave Phenomena," is based at the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at the…

On Nov. 23, the Geological Society of America's (GSA) Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division awarded earth and environmental sciences graduate student Yu Kai Tan '20 with a student presentation award. Tan presented his poster, "Freshwater Mussels in North America: Museum Collections and Pre-Industrial Biogeography," on Oct. 29 during the GSA's annual (virtual) meeting. Andy (Dick Yee) Tan '21 collaborated with Tan '20 on the poster. Their advisors are Ann Burke, professor of biology, and Ellen Thomas, Harold T. Stearns Professor of Integrative Sciences, Smith Curator of Paleontology of the Joe Webb Peoples Museum of Natural History, and University Professor in the…

Fitzroy “Pablo” Wickham ’21 has been named the Jamaica 2021 Rhodes Scholar. The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest, and one of the most prestigious, international scholarship programs in the world. Each year, it provides about 100 fully-funded scholarships to students around the world for post-graduate study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. According to the website, the “Rhodes Selection Committees are looking for young people of outstanding intellect, character, leadership, and commitment to service.” At Wesleyan, Wickham is a double major in theater and neuroscience and behavior. At the University of Oxford under the Rhodes Scholarship, he…

Michael Meere, assistant professor of French, and Sophie Dora Tulchin '20 are the co-authors of “Filling In the Gaps: Identity, Exile, and Performance in 1962 and Babel Taxi by Mohamed Kacimi,” published in the Journal of the African Literature Association, Vol. 14, Issue 3, on Nov. 12, 2020. This article explores issues of identity, exile, and performance in 1962 (1998) and Babel Taxi (2004), two foundational plays by the Algerian-born author Mohamed Kacimi. 1962 is an autobiographical play written during Algeria’s “black decade” about the effects of Algeria’s independence on two particular characters, while Babel Taxi allegorically retells the legend…

With the holiday season approaching, Wesleyan's Pandemic Planning Committee (PPC) reminds students, faculty, and staff to remain vigilant and safe. "We have made it past the election and the Thanksgiving holiday is in sight," wrote Wesleyan's Medical Director and PCC member Dr. Tom McLarney in an email to the campus community on November 16. "As you are undoubtedly aware, the coronavirus pandemic has entered an alarming new phase, with cases rising sharply in most parts of the country and moderate increases in Connecticut. Despite the rigorous testing and safety protocols the University put in place, we are not immune from…

In this continuing series, Annie Roach ’22, an English and Italian studies major from Middletown, Del., reviews alumni books and offers a selection for those in search of knowledge, insight, and inspiration. The volumes, sent to us by alumni, are forwarded to Olin Library as donations to the University’s collection and made available to the Wesleyan community. Tejas Desai '03, The Dance Towards Death (The New Wei, 2020) In the third volume of his crime thriller trilogy The Brotherhood Chronicle, Tejas Desai delivers awe-inspiring narration that easily follows through in its mission to add a breathtaking final installment to the…

Two Wesleyan University Press music titles garnered four awards, from the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) and the American Musicological Society (AMS) this month. Wild Music: Sound and Sovereignty in Ukraine, by Maria Sonevytsky, received the 2020 Lewis Lockwood Award from the AMS. The Lockwood Award honors a musicological book of exceptional merit published during the previous year in any language and in any country by a scholar in the early stages of his or her career who is a member of the AMS or a citizen or permanent resident of Canada or the United States. Music and Modernity among First…

Krishnan’s Book Receives Special Citation from the Dance Studies Association

Dollinger ’22: Pandemic Year in College Brings Pride, Purpose

15 Seniors Elected to Phi Beta Kappa

Employees Recognized for Years of Service to Wesleyan

Books by Meyer, Smolkin Translated and Distributed in Russia

Kottos Awarded Simons Collaborative Grant to Advance Wave Transport Research

Tan ’20 Honored by Geological Society of America for Poster Presentation

Wickham ’21 Awarded Rhodes Scholarship for Post-Graduate Study

Hot Off the Press: Meere, Tulchin ’20 Explore Identity, Exile in Kacimi’s Plays

Campus Urged to Stay Vigilant; COVID-19 Testing Site Moved Indoors

“You Just Have to Read This…” Books by Wesleyan Authors Desai ’03, Logan ’16, and Savarese ’86

2 Wesleyan University Press Books Win 4 Awards