Campus News & Events

As the recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, Michaela Fisher '17 will spend a year studying cooperatives in five countries. Her project, titled "Cooperative Worlds: Exploring the Global Cooperative Economy," will take her to Spain, Argentina, New Zealand, Germany and Canada. Watson Fellows are all seniors nominated by 40 partner colleges. According to the website, “Fellows conceive original projects, execute them outside of the United States for one year and embrace the ensuing journey. They decide where to go, who to meet, and when to change course.” Fellows receive a $30,000, 12-month travel stipend and health insurance while abroad. The Thomas…

Music graduate student Suhail Yusuf Khan will be a featured guest artist at the Berklee Indian Ensemble on May 9. In addition, he will conduct a master class on Hindustani music and the sarangi, one of the oldest string instruments featured in North Indian classical music. The sarangi is the only instrument in the world that can emulate all the nuances of the human voice. Played with a bow, this instrument has three main strings and 37 sympathetic strings. Khan started to play the instrument when he was 7 years old. The grandson of the sarangi legend Ustad Sabri Khan, and nephew of…

Associate Professor of History Erik Grimmer-Solem presented a talk, "The Wehrmacht Past, the Bundeswehr, and the Politics of Remembrance in Contemporary Germany," at the meeting of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences (CAAS), April 12. Grimmer-Solem also is associate professor of German studies and a tutor in the College of Social Sciences. His expertise is in modern German history with specializations in economic history, the history of economic thought, and the history of social reform. He has also developed research interests in German imperialism, German-Japanese relations before 1918, and Germany in the two world wars. Grimmer-Solem discussed his research, which uncovered…

Jim Greenwood, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, and Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, professor of integrative sciences, have received a research award from NASA in the amount of $550,000 for a program titled “Experimental simulations of chondrule formation by radiative heating of hot planetesimals." The grant will allow Greenwood and Herbst to hire a post-doctoral fellow who will work in Greenwood’s lab in Exley Science Center to reproduce chondrules — small spherules of melted rock that formed early in the history of the solar system and hold clues to the origin of the planets.…

Wesleyan Professor of Dance and Environmental Studies Katja Kolcio traveled again to Ukraine in April, this time to work with soldiers and psychologists in the National Guard. It was her third trip to the region to teach somatic practices to those undergoing the stress of political conflict, displacement, and combat. Somatics are “mind-body practices that combine physical activity and motion with deep reflection,” she explained in “Somatics and Political Change: Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity,” (Contact Quarterly, summer/fall 2016), detailing her first trip to the region after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014. In June 2015 she had been invited to lead…

Music and French studies double major Rachel Rosenman '17 is the recipient of the inaugural Friends of the Wesleyan Library Undergraduate Research Prize. During a ceremony on April 11, Rosenman was honored for her essay titled, "'Mais la musique demeurera toujours': Repurposing the French Baroque." Rosenman’s essay describes the work she undertook in order to generate user-friendly editions of French Baroque music, adapting solo bass viol repertoire to make it playable on the treble viol, in modern notation. She includes discussion of editorial methodologies, and situates the music historically and theoretically. In addition to background information on the viol instrument family…

More than 500 admitted Class of 2021 students and their family members attended WesFest activities on campus, April 12-14. WesFest is a three-day celebration of all things Wesleyan. The Office of Admission invites all admitted students and their families to visit Wesleyan, experience university life first-hand, and explore the diverse opportunities that a Wesleyan education has to offer. During WesFest, campus visitors attend classes and academic department open houses; tour campus and academic departments; meet and interact with Wesleyan students; attend a Student Activities Fair; enjoy an all-campus barbecue picnic and live student bands; learn about liberal arts career opportunities…

On April 8, Wesleyan's men’s and women’s lacrosse teams defeated arch rival Williams College to win the Little Three Championships outright. It marked the first time in the history of Wesleyan athletics that both lacrosse programs won the title in the same season, and it was the fifth Little Three crown by a Cardinals team this season, joining football, men’s basketball and men’s ice hockey. The “Little Three” schools — Wesleyan, Amherst and Williams — first formally banded together in 1899 as the Triangular League. The League broke up briefly but reestablished competition in 1910, and has competed annually since then as…

Richard Slotkin, the Olin Professor of English, emeritus, was featured in a PBS American Experience special, "The Great War," on April 10. "It's a watershed in American history. The United States goes from being the country on the other side of the ocean to being the preeminent world power," says Slotkin in Chapter 1 of the series. In Chapter 2, Slotkin appears beginning around 15 minutes. "When Wilson declares war, the total armed trained force of the United States is less than a quarter of a million men," he says. "The British Army loses more than that in one battle." "In order…

On April 12, ethnomusicologist Mark Slobin, the Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music, Emeritus, was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is one of 228 national and international scholars, artists and philanthropic leaders who joined the 237th class. Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of the country’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers, convening leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors to respond to the challenges facing—and opportunities available to—the nation and the world. Members contribute to Academy publications and studies in science, engineering, and technology policy; global…

On April 8, more than 250 students helped raise funds for children and families impacted by childhood cancer. WesThon, a student-run philanthropy, provides emotional and financial support to affected families, and spreads awareness and ensures funding for critical research — all in pursuit of a cure. WesThon's yearlong efforts culminate with a six-hour, no-sitting dance marathon at Psi Upsilon. At this years event, WesThon participants raised more than $20,000 for the Connecticut Children's Medical Center, doubling what they raised last year. “Since this is only the second year of the event we are beyond thrilled with the result,” said Dana Mitchell…

The Connecticut Technology Council recently selected Professor Janice Naegele as a 2017 "Women of Innovation." Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior, was honored during the "Women of Innovation" awards dinner, held March 29 in Plantsville, Conn. The award recognizes women accomplished in science, technology, engineering, math and those who are involved in their community. Naegele is a developmental neuroscientist whose research seeks to identify novel treatments for epilepsy and brain damage. She has published extensively on applications of stem cell transplantation for neural repair, including articles on embryonic stem cell therapy for treating epilepsy and the synaptic mechanisms underlying seizure…

Fisher ’17 Wins Watson Fellowship to Study Cooperatives

Grad Student Khan to Perform with Berklee Indian Ensemble

Grimmer-Solem Delivers Talk at Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences Meeting

NASA Supports Planetary Origin Research at Wesleyan

Kolcio Leads Somatic Exercises for the Ukrainian National Guard

Rosenman ’17, Feldman ’17 Receive Friends of the Wesleyan Library Undergraduate Research Prizes

Class of 2021 Admits Experience ‘All Things Wes’ during WesFest 2017

Wesleyan Lacrosse Programs Win Little Three Championships

Slotkin Featured in PBS Special, ‘The Great War’

Slobin Elected Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Students Raise Funds for Childhood Cancer Research at Dance Marathon

Naegele Named a 2017 ‘Women of Innovation’ by the Connecticut Technology Council