Olivia DrakeThe Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Kappa welcomed 15 seniors into the honor society Dec. 8 at the Office of Admission. The honorees are pictured above (two were absent). Fifteen graduating seniors were elected into the Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Kappa during a ceremony Dec. 8. PBK is the nation’s oldest academic honor society. Students elected to the society must have completed Stage I and II of the General Education Expectations by the end of the junior year and have a grade point average of 93 or above. (more…)
Eric GershonWill Dubbs ’14 arrived at Wesleyan from Manhattan in September as part of the frosh class. Next month he’ll return to New York as an off-Broadway playwright. Manhattan Repertory Theater has selected Dubbs’ first and only play, “Dead Sharks,” for production as part of its Winterfest 2011 festival of original theatrical works. The first of three scheduled “Dead Sharks” performances at the Rep’s 42nd Street theater is Jan. 29. Dubbs, who is a minute older than his twin sister, Katie, a student at Princeton, wrote the one-act “Dead Sharks” for an all-freshman (more…)
"Histories of Race" is the topic of the 9th annual Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns to be held April 8-10, 2011. During this weekend retreat, participants will examine the many histories of race, both past and present, with a group of internationally renowned scholars. The Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, endowed by the generosity of James J. Shasha ’50, P’82, GP’14, is an annual forum for alumni, parents, students and friends that provides an opportunity to explore issues of human concern (more…)
This issue, we ask "5 Questions" of Elijah Huge, assistant professor of art. Huge returned to Wesleyan this fall after a sabbatical spent at the University of California-Berkeley. He teaches architecture. Q: What’s your favorite building, or group of buildings, at Wesleyan, and why? A: There are a number of outstanding buildings on campus, but my favorite group of buildings is the Center for the Arts, without question. The CFA is invested with a highly refined and clearly articulated architectural identity and reflects an amazing level of cultural ambition on the part of the university. On the one hand, the buildings…
This story has been reposted at: https://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2010/12/16/scholastic-honor-society-welcomes-15-seniors-2/
In the remote village of Gitwe, Rwanda, 6-year-old children ascend mountains, or make the journey by foot along dusty roads – more than 3.5 miles each way – to fetch water for their families. They fill plastic motor oil jugs or any other container they can find. Barefoot and often in intense heat, they lug the 40-pound containers of water back home. “The bins that the children carry are just as big as they are,” says Carina Kurban ’14, who witnessed the daily procession of thirsty children during a fact-finding missionary trip in August 2010. “And many of the children…
David Low[youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLu1ukpooyA[/youtube] Wesleyan scored a winning touchdown with a Nov. 16 benefit presentation of the new Broadway play Lombardi before a sell-out crowd of nearly 700 alumni, staff, faculty, students and friends at Manhattan's Circle in the Square Theater. The event, part of the Wesleyan on Broadway series, raised $312,000 for financial aid and athletics. View the entire Lombardi photo album online here. Directed by Thomas Kail '99, Lombardi portrays key moments in the life of legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi. Kail previously directed the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights, which was created and composed by Wesleyan contemporary Lin-Manuel…
Jane Alden raises her hands and cues members of her Collegium Musicum performance ensemble to intone the music. The sopranos and basses situated in Memorial Chapel’s choir loft allow their voices to resonate throughout the space. Alden cuts them off at measure 17. "Measure 17 is the apex because the cantus firmus is in the top voice. You need to sound like angels floating on the top with the chant,” Alden says during a Nov. 23 rehersal . “Let’s try this once more." The MUSC438 course, which explores vocal and instrumental repertories of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods of European music history, is taught…
Bill HolderOn Nov. 18, Wesleyan launched Making Excellence Inclusive (MEI), an initiative created to help identify ways to further the university’s institutional diversity and inclusion. MEI <http://www.wesleyan.edu/partnerships/mei/overview.html> draws on the Making Excellence Inclusive project of the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) that re-envisions diversity and inclusion as "a multi-layered process for achieving excellence in learning, research and teaching, student development, institutional functioning, local and global community engagement, workforce development, and more." (more…)
Rob Rosenthal, the John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology, has been appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs. It is a position Rosenthal held on an interim basis since the summer. Rosenthal has responsibility for matters relating to the recruitment and promotion of the faculty, the content of the curriculum, continuing studies, athletics and the library. He also is responsible for meeting budget targets for faculty compensation and for academic departments and programs. In the few months that he has held this position on an interim basis, Rosenthal, says Wesleyan President Michael Roth, "has quickly assumed a leadership role…
The newly-established Wesleyan Green Fund Committee is supporting initiatives that move the university forward in sustainability and environmental stewardship. On Dec. 3, the student-managed committee will finance projects that will decrease the carbon footprint of the university, decrease waste, increase Wesleyan's use of energy from renewable resources, or increase visibility of environmentally responsible practices on campus. The committee will select projects proposed by Wesleyan students, faculty and staff. Through a $15 fee, collected voluntarily from students during the Fall 2010 semester, the committee raised about $40,000. These “green funds” will be applied to several sustainability-focused projects at Wesleyan that otherwise would not…
This issue, we ask “5 Questions” of Bill Trousdale, professor of physics, emeritus. He recently lectured on “Global Warming and Energy Options" and "The Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy." Q: Professor Trousdale, you researched solid state physics at Wesleyan for 30 years, retiring in 1989. Did you always have a side interest in energy creation, consumption and global warming? A: Yes for almost as long as I can remember, in the early 1950s when I learned about the second law of thermodynamics. I was appalled by burning oil at 2,000 degrees to maintain a house at 72 degrees. That…