Campus News & Events

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…

At its May 24 meeting on campus, Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees elected John B. Frank ’78, P’12 as Chair of the Board for a two-year term beginning July 1, 2020. Frank, who currently serves as chair of the Board’s Investment Committee, will succeed Donna Morea ’76, P’06, who will step down in June 2020 after four years as Chair and 12 years on the Board. The Board will, once again, follow the tradition that started with Morea of choosing a Board Chair-elect a year in advance in order to provide for a smooth and successful transition period. “John Frank is…

Graduates, their families, and other members of the Wesleyan community gathered on Andrus Field for the 187th Commencement ceremony on warm, sunny Sunday, May 26. Wesleyan conferred 763 bachelor of arts degrees; 44 master of arts degrees; 22 master of arts in liberal studies degrees; and 11 doctor of philosophy degrees. (Watch the entire Commencement ceremony online here.) Saidiya Hartman ’84, professor of English and comparative literature and women's and gender studies at Columbia University, delivered the Commencement address (more…)

At the University’s 187th Commencement on May 26, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the historic Vanguard Class of 1969 and the founding of the African American Studies program at Wesleyan, Wesleyan presented three honorary degrees to Saidiya Hartman ’84, Hazel Carby, and Edwin Sanders II ’69. Hartman, a groundbreaking scholar and cultural historian, also delivered this year’s Commencement address. “I am proud to note that all three recipients have deep Wesleyan roots and distinguished careers dedicated to better understanding and improving the lives of African Americans through scholarship, creativity, and service,” Roth wrote in a campus-wide email. “They…

Saidiya Hartman ’84, professor of English and comparative literature and women’s and gender studies at Columbia University, delivered the 2019 Commencement address on May 26. A prize-winning author and 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, Hartman is renowned for her creative combinations of historical research, critical theory, and fictional narrative in exploring “the afterlife of slavery” and its negative effects on the life chances of black Americans. Her essays on film, photography, and feminism have been widely anthologized. During the ceremony, Hartman was named an Honorary Doctor of Letters for “shining a light on those whose histories have been erased and for .…

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

John Frank ’78, P’12 Named Chair-Elect of the Board of Trustees

Wesleyan Awards 763 BA Degrees at 187th Commencement

Carby, Hartman ’84, Sanders II ’69 Receive Honorary Degrees

Saidiya Hartman ’84 Delivers 2019 Commencement Address