Olivia DrakeMathematics major Joel Specter ’11 is ahead of the program. Despite only finishing his junior year at Wesleyan, he’s already completed all first-year graduate courses for the department’s Ph.D. program. “When discussing mathematics with him it becomes clear that he is already thinking like a mathematician in a very serious way that one rarely sees in students until well into their graduate careers,” says Specter’s advisor David Pollack, associate professor of mathematics. For Specter’s achievements in mathematics, he was awarded with a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the 2010-11 year. Congress established (more…)
Recent graduate Anne Rosenthal’s years of taking French and environmental science classes will come in useful next year as she studies Belgium’s efforts to stimulate market demand for environmentally friendly products. Rosenthal '10 is one of four Wesleyan alumni selected to participate in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program in 2010-11. Fulbright scholars conduct research abroad or teach English in foreign countries. Rosenthal, who double majored in French studies and environmental science, will enroll in graduate-level environmental management courses at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), while examining Belgium’s role within the European Union framework for green product certification, and Belgium’s promotion of…
Although Japan lacks large national environmental advocacy organizations, it has one of the best records of environmental policymaking in the world. Japan is one of the top producers of clean energy technology and hosted the global Kyoto Protocol that has set the standard for climate change policy worldwide. For the next 12 months, Mary Alice Haddad will use Japan’s experience of environmental activism to build a broader theory of civic participation. She will test and refine a theory through the examination of environmental politics and civic participation in China, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. Her research is supported by the…
For two years, music graduate student Garrett Field will live in Sri Lanka studying the lives, music, poetry and writing of three composers who influenced Jatika Gi, the Sinhala nationalist poetry-song. As a 2010 recipient of a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) fellowship, Field will have the opportunity to complete his dissertation on Sunil Santha, W.D. Amaradeva, and Ananda Samarakone - whose careers, music, and poetry articulated different strands of Sinhalese nationalist thought. The fellowship comes with a $26,000 award. “The Jatika Gi artists played a significant role in the development of Sinhala cultural nationalism and thus served as…
David PesciDana Royer, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, has been awarded the Donath Medal by the Geological Society of America (GSA). The Donath Medal is presented to "a young scientist (35 years or younger) for outstanding achievement in contribution to geologic knowledge through research which marks a major advance in the earth sciences." Royer's research interests include global change, paleoclimatology, carbon cycle, paleoecology, paleobotany, plant physiology and light stable isotope geochemistry. He has done extensive studies which have established evidence on how plants affected ancient ecosystems, drawing parallels and evidence from current plant life and conditions. The presentation of the Donath…
The Greek Titan Metis was considered the goddess of wisdom and deep thought. Her name in Greek also means “wisdom combined with cunning,” a highly desirable personality trait to the ancient Athenians. This year, a group of Wesleyan students with a knowledge and interest in Classical studies, released their own collection of “cunning wisdom” in a publication titled Wesleyan Metis. The Metis editorial board draws on the abilities and creativity of Wesleyan students to showcase their best examples of undergraduate Classics writing. “Classical studies go far beyond ancient languages and, as evidenced by the essays in the journal, include studies…
Address by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper '74 '80 M.A,, on the 178th Commencement at Wesleyan University, May 23, 2010: Well, first I want to thank Wesleyan for inviting me. I want to thank President Michael Roth. Rarely do you see an individual, in his third year, who is the right person at the right time for the right institution. This is one of the great universities in America, and we have a great, great president. Board Chair Joshua Boger and University Marshall Suzanne O'Connell, and certainly all the family and friends who've supported these students through their college careers. This…
Address by Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth '77 on the 178th Commencement at Wesleyan University, May 23, 2010: Members of the board of trustees, members of the faculty and staff, distinguished guests, new recipients of graduate degrees and the mighty class of 2010, I am honored to present some brief remarks on the occasion of this commencement. It is thrilling for me to stand here before you in such distinguished company. I am joined today by the very honorable Mayor John Hickenlooper, who has an undergraduate and a graduate degree from Wes. This gives me an occasion to remind all…
Latasha Alcindor ’10, delivered the following Senior Class Welcome at Wesleyan's 178th Commencement Ceremonies on May 23, 2010: Today is the first day of my presentation. Today is the first day of your presentation. Today is the first day of our presentation. (more…)
"Senior Voices" Address by Jonna Humphries '10, delivered at Memorial Chapel during the 178th Wesleyan University Commencement: How I Have Changed Because of My Experience at Wesleyan. When I was younger, perhaps around 10 years old, my Mom would always ask my brothers and I at the end of a school day “What did you learn?” We’d give her responses filled with details on topics ranging from what happened on the playground between so-and-so to a full recap on the letter in cursive we’d learn to master that day. We did this until one day, my older brother Alexander, completely…
"Senior Voices" Address by Rebecca Lee '10, delivered at Memorial Chapel during the 178th Wesleyan University Commencement: I would like to talk today about communities. The village I grew up in, on the outskirts of Cambridge, England, was an international community composed of families affiliated with the university. The children of these expatriate families, including myself, led a blissful childhood, playing street hockey and holding water fights in our neighborhood. At the end of each day the families gathered for a potluck dinner of cuisines from all (more…)
"Senior Voices" Address by Satrio Wicaksono ‘10 as delivered at Memorial Chapel on the morning of Wesleyan University's 178th Commencement ceremonies, May 23, 2010: It all started more than four years ago, when a big red envelope sent via FedEx arrived at my boarding school, a modern madrasah, in the suburbs of Jakarta, Indonesia. Inside the envelope was a congratulatory note from the Dean of Admissions at Wesleyan University, saying that I had been selected to receive the Freeman Asian Scholarship to attend Wesleyan. The Freeman Foundation decided to send a group of incoming Freeman Scholars, myself included, to attend…