Campus News & Events

Wesleyan faculty frequently publish articles based on their scholarship in The Conversation US, a nonprofit news organization with the tagline, “Academic rigor, journalistic flair.” In a new article, Professor and Chair of Economics Richard Grossman analyzes the latest jobs report. May jobs report suggests a slowing economy – and possibly an imminent interest rate cut The latest jobs data suggests an interest rate cut may be imminent. The Labor Department reported on June 7 that U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 75,000 in May, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6%. This level of job creation was well below economists’ forecasts…

University Chaplain Rev. Tracy Mehr-Muska is the author of a new book titled "Weathering the Storm: Simple Strategies for Being Peaceful and Prepared," published by Wipf and Stock on April 19. The book offers simple and proven strategies to develop resilience that will be of benefit to anyone who is yearning to feel more peaceful and prepared. Mehr-Muska draws upon wisdom from different spiritual and religious traditions and from secular scholarship. "With enthusiasm and passion generated from personal experience, I present the reality that resilience is not inborn, but is instead a simple set of characteristics that can be cultivated," Mehr-Muska…

Michelle Personick, assistant professor of chemistry, has been selected by the Leadership Council of the Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists (IONiC) to participate in a National Science Foundation–funded study to develop, test, and refine a flexible, foundation-level inorganic chemistry course. As a Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource (VIPEr) Fellow, Personick joins 17 other inorganic chemists from across the country in a community of practice dedicated to improving student learning. The 2018 VIPEr Fellows are the first faculty who have been selected for this groundbreaking project. The study, titled “Improving Inorganic Chemistry Education,” is being conducted with support from the National…

Wesleyan's Center for the Arts recently received a $15,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the presentation and residency activities of dance artist Netta Yerushalmy, who will perform the work "Paramodernities" in October. The Center for the Arts is one of 977 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an Art Works grant. "Support from the National Endowment for the Arts is central to our ability to fulfill our mission to be a vibrant center for dance in the state, and to bring contemporary dance to audiences who might not otherwise be able to access it," said Sarah…

From May 28 to May 30, Associate Professor of History Victoria Smolkin attended a conference in Rome, Italy, on the “Cultures of Unbelief," organized by the Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network and the Vatican’s Council on Culture. She spoke on "The Culture of Unbelief 50 Years On," which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the original “Culture of Unbelief” conference, organized in 1969 by the Vatican’s Secretariat on Non-Believers and the University of California, Berkeley. Her copanelists included Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and Andrew Copson, president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Professor of Theology and…

Zimbabwe native Keith Mundangepfupfu '19, a College of Social Studies major and African studies minor, is the recipient of a scholarship through the Oxford-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme. The scholarship will fund full course fees and living costs at St. Antony's College at Oxford. The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarship supports "leaders of tomorrow by providing outstanding university graduates and young professionals from developing countries and emerging economies with the opportunity to pursue fully-funded graduate studies, combined with a specially created program of leadership development, long-term mentoring and networking." At St. Antony's, Mundangepfupfu will pursue a Master of Science in migration studies,…

A paper coauthored by several members of the Robinson Lab is published in the Oct. 3 issue of Behavioural Brain Research, Volume 371. The coauthors include Mike Robinson, assistant professor of psychology; graduate student Charlotte Freeland, Callie Clibanoff '19, Anna Knes '19, John Cote '19, and Trinity Russell '17. The flashing lights and celebratory sounds that dominate slot-machine gambling are believed to promote engagement and motivation to keep playing. However, these cues are often presented in the absence of reward, and previous research suggests that this reward uncertainty, which degrades their predictive value, also increases their incentive value. In their…

Wesleyan faculty frequently publish articles based on their scholarship in The Conversation US, a nonprofit news organization with the tagline, “Academic rigor, journalistic flair.” In a new article, John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy Bill Herbst and Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences James Greenwood write about the model they've proposed for how the most common kind of meteorites form—a mystery that has dogged scientists for decades. The tell-tale clue to how meteorites were made, at the birth of the solar system April 26, 1803 was an unusual day in the small town of L’Aigle in Normandy, France – it…

Although dam removal is an increasingly common stream restoration tool, it may also represent a major disturbance to rivers that can have varied impacts on environmental conditions and aquatic biota. In a paper titled "Dam Removal Effects on Benthic Macroinvertebrate Dynamics: A New England Stream Case Study, five researchers from Wesleyan examined the effects of dam removal on the structure, function, and composition of benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) communities in a temperate New England stream. The benthic—or "bottom-dwelling”—macroinvertebrates are small aquatic animals that are commonly used to study biological conditions of water bodies. The paper is published in the May 21…

On June 5, 17 high school counselors from India and the Middle East visited campus to learn about Wesleyan's distinctive liberal arts education. Over the past decade, an increasing number of students from India have chosen to pursue higher education in the United States. Wesleyan has seen applications from India increase by 70 percent over the past 5 years. “We’re hoping to expand our presence and raise our visibility in India,” said Chandra Joos deKoven, director of admission. “During our four-hour program, we wanted to give the counselors a visceral sense of what Wesleyan has to offer, what makes us…

Associate Professor of Science in Society Anthony Ryan Hatch is the author of a new book, Silent Cells: The Secret Drugging of Captive America, published on April 30 by University of Minnesota Press. The book is a critical investigation into the use of psychotropic drugs to pacify and control inmates and other captives in the vast U.S. prison, military, and welfare systems. According to the publisher: "For at least four decades, U.S. prisons and jails have aggressively turned to psychotropic drugs—antidepressants, antipsychotics, sedatives, and tranquilizers—to silence inmates, whether or not they have been diagnosed with mental illnesses. In Silent Cells, Anthony Ryan…

Wesleyan faculty frequently publish articles based on their scholarship in The Conversation US, a nonprofit news organization with the tagline, “Academic rigor, journalistic flair.” In a new article, Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies Gary Yohe writes about the economic costs of climate change, which he argues will hit our economy much sooner than many people realize. The economic cost of devastating hurricanes and other extreme weather events is even worse than we thought June marks the official start of hurricane season. If recent history is any guide, it will prove to be another destructive year thanks to the worsening…

Grossman in The Conversation: May Jobs Report Suggests a Slowing Economy—and Possibly an Imminent Interest Rate Cut

Chaplain Mehr-Muska Offers Strategies for Living with Peace and Preparedness

Personick Selected to Participate in an NSF-Funded Project

NEA Supports Dance Artist Yerushalmy’s Residency at Wesleyan

Smolkin Speaks at “Culture of Unbelief” Conference in Rome

Scholarship Supports Graduate Study at Oxford for Mundangepfupfu ’19

Paper by Robinson, Alumni Published in Behavioural Brain Research

Herbst and Greenwood in The Conversation: The Tell-Tale Clue to How Meteorites Were Made

Researchers Explore the Effects of Dam Removal on Bottom-Dwelling Aquatic Animals

High School Counselors from India, Middle East Visit Wesleyan

Hatch Authors New Book on “The Secret Drugging of Captive America”

Yohe in The Conversation: The Economic Cost of Devastating Hurricanes and Other Extreme Weather Events Is Even Worse Than We Thought