Campus News & Events

David Rabban '71 will speak on “Free Speech, Academic Freedom, and the American University” during Wesleyan's annual Constitution Day Lecture. The event will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 in the Smith Reading Room inside Olin Memorial Library. The lecture, hosted by the Friends of the Wesleyan Library is free of charge and open to the public. This talk will cover the judicial treatment of free speech and academic freedom at American universities from the 1950s to the present. It will explore the First Amendment rights of professors, students and universities as institutions, and the tensions that arise when these rights conflict. (more…)

Over the past decade, a new approach to the study of mobilities has emerged involving research on the combined movement of peoples, animals, objects, ideas and information. This can be viewed through the lens of complex networks, relational dynamics, and the redistribution or reification of power generated by movement. This fall, Wesleyan's Center for the Humanities will offer 10 lectures on the theme of "Mobilities" as part of its lecture series. Five of the speakers are from Wesleyan. All talks begin at 6 p.m., are open to the public, and are held at Daniel Family Commons. The dates, topics and…

Assistant Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler, Project Manager in the Government Department Laura Baum, and four students presented a paper titled, "A Messenger Like Me: The Effect of Ordinary Spokespeople in Campaign Advertising" at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association Conference, Aug. 30 in Washington, D.C. The student authors are P. Marshal Lawler '16, Michael Linden '15, Eliza Loomis '15 and Zachary Wulderk '15. The paper considers the effects of using non-elite spokespeople (ie. "the everyman") in political advertising. The authors draw upon the Wesleyan Media Project's vast database of political advertising, as well as original…

The work of Keiji Shinohara, artist-in-residence of art, artist-in-residence of East Asian studies, will be exhibited at a gallery in Plantsville, Conn., Oct. 4-31. The exhibition at Paris in Plantsville Gallery, titled, "Whispers of the Infinite: The Art of Keiji Shinohara," represents the first time that Shinohara's monotypes will have been exhibited in the United States. An opening reception will be held Oct. 4 from 6-9 p.m. Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Shinohara trained for 10 years as an apprentice under the renowned artist Keiichiro Uesugi, and became a Master Printmaker. Shinohara then moved to the U.S., and has…

This summer, 13 students had an opportunity to work closely with a faculty mentor to conduct research, as well as get a leg up in the grad school application process, through the McNair Program. For 10 weeks, they studied topics in psychology and neuroscience, earth and environmental science, biology, physics, and science in society. The McNair Fellows, all rising juniors and seniors, are either low-income, first-generation college students or members of a group traditionally underrepresented in graduate school. The fellows may be engaged in research in any field, though the vast majority focus their studies in the sciences. This summer, eight fellows were fully…

Jean Redpath, a Scottish-born singer who delighted audiences worldwide and was described by The Boston Globe as “something very close to Scotland’s folk singer laureate,” died Aug. 21 at age 77. She brought her musical talent and extensive knowledge of Scottish history to Wesleyan and the Middletown community as an artist-in-residence in the 1970s. According to her official website, Redpath arrived in the United States in 1961 with $11 in her pocket. (more…)

Registration is open through Sept. 12 for Family Weekend, Sept. 27-28, when Wesleyan families are invited to attend classes and WESeminars, take in concerts and sporting events, enjoy meals, tour campus and learn about student programs and services. Breaking from tradition, this year Family Weekend will be separate from Homecoming Weekend, because Homecoming occurs during Fall break. Register for Family Weekend here. A full schedule of the weekend’s events is available here. Highlights include a South Indian vocal performance as part of the Navaratri Festival at the Center for the Arts; the 22nd annual Dwight L. Greene Symposium, featuring a movie screening…

Steven Greenhouse ’73, P’08, will bring his years of experience in journalism back to Wesleyan this semester as the Koeppel Journalism Fellow. The longtime New York Times reporter, who covers labor and workplace issues, will teach “Journalism, Nonfiction Writing and the Search for Truth.” “It's an honor to be invited to teach at Wesleyan, but it also feels a little daunting because I've never taught a full course before,” Greenhouse said. “But I imagine that I've learned a thing or two about journalism and writing and editing since once upon a time, when I was editor of the Argus eons…

Two graduate students and two faculty attended the 248th national meeting of the American Chemical Society Aug. 10-14 in San Francisco, Calif. Chemistry graduate students Duminda Ranasinghe delivered a poster presentation on her research titled "Efficient extrapolation to the (T)/CBS limit" and an oral presentation on "Density functional for core-valence correlation energy." Chemistry graduate student Kyle Throssell presented two poster presentations on "Potential curves of selected radical thiol double additions to alkynes" and "Assessing weak interactions in small dimer systems with PM7." The students were accompanied by George Petersson, the Fisk Professor of Natural Science, professor of chemistry; and Michael…

Two drawings by James McNeill Whistler, part of the Davison Art Center’s collection of more than 100 Whistler works, will be shown in a new documentary on the life of the painter. The sketches, one in pencil and one in pen and ink, will be seen in “James McNeill Whistler & The Case for Beauty,” premiering September 12 on PBS. They represent just a small part of Wesleyan’s extensive holdings of works on paper by Whistler, one of the most important American artists of the 19th century. “Whistler was crucial in making the connection between the Impressionists and British art,…

Oneiry, in sixth grade and 11 years old, liked the tie-dye experiment, where learning about the light and color also resulted in cool take-home T-shirts. Genesis, a nine-year-old fourth grader, really enjoyed the liquid nitrogen demonstration, especially the ice cream she got to make with it. And Julia, at 10 in fifth grade, had a good time making "gak," a substance that's not quite solid and not quite liquid - and slimy and fun. They were among 10 Middletown girls between fourth and sixth grade who participated in a girls' science camp sponsored by the Green Street Arts Center Aug. 4-8. The session,…

Wesleyan welcomes 12 new faculty members this fall. They are: Amanda Belichick, adjunct assistant professor of physical education, head coach of women's lacrosse. Karl Boulware, assistant professor of economics. Janet Burge, associate professor of computer science. Claire Grace, assistant professor of art history. Roger Grant, assistant professor of music. Laura Grappo, assistant professor of American studies. Kerwin Kaye, assistant professor of sociology. David Kuenzel, assistant professor of economics. Ioana Emilia Matesan, assistant professor of government. Victoria Pitts-Taylor, professor and chair of feminist, gender and sexuality studies. Jesse Torgerson, assistant professor of letters. Camilla Zamboni, adjunct instructor in Italian.

Rabban ’71 to Deliver Constitution Day Lecture Sept. 17

Center for the Humanities Explores “Mobilities” in Fall Lecture Series

Fowler, Baum, Students Present Paper at Political Science Association Meeting

Shinohara’s Monotypes to be Exhibited at Plantsville Gallery

McNair Summer Fellows Perform Research, Prepare for Grad School

Former Artist-in-Residence Redpath Remembered for Teaching Folklore

Registration for Family Weekend Open Through Sept. 12

New York Times‘ Steven Greenhouse ’73 Teaching Journalism as Koeppel Fellow

Graduate Students, Faculty Attend American Chemical Society Meeting

Two Whistler Drawings from DAC to Be Featured in PBS Documentary

Middletown Students Get Taste of STEM at Wesleyan

Wesleyan Welcomes New Faculty