Faculty – Page 15

Eight faculty members were conferred tenure by the Board of Trustees at its most recent meeting. Their promotions will be effective July 1, 2022. These faculty include Claire Grace, associate professor of art history; Han Li, associate professor of mathematics; John Murillo, associate professor of English; Paula Park, associate professor of Spanish; Ying Jia Tan, associate professor of history; Jesse Torgerson, associate professor of letters; Danielle Vogel, associate professor of English, creative writing' and Joseph Weiss, associate professor of anthropology. Brief descriptions of their areas of research and teaching appear below: Claire Grace is a scholar of American and contemporary art with…

Royette Tavernier Dubar, assistant professor of psychology and director of the on-campus Sleep and Psychosocial Adjustment Laboratory, recently authored a commentary called “#NoJusticeNoSleep: Critical intersections of race-ethnicity, income, education, and social determinants in sleep health disparities,” published in Sleep Health on Feb. 1. Dubar’s work in #NoJusticeNoSleep examines the link between racial, ethnic, and socio-economic factors relating to inequality and how well people sleep. Her commentary uses the COVID-19 pandemic as a launching point for further exposing inequality in the United States and bringing it to the forefront of public discourse through social movements, with a new emphasis on health.…

As the recipient of a Chicken & Egg Pictures award, lauded filmmaker Tracy Heather Strain will continue telling the stories of ways underrepresented people experience life in the United States. Strain, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, associate professor of film studies, and co-director of the Wesleyan Documentary Project, is one of only six documentary film directors to receive the Chicken & Egg award in 2022. The honor comes with an unrestricted $50,000 grant. "The Chicken & Egg Award makes bold investments in the personal and professional wellbeing of visionary women and gender nonconforming documentary makers,” said Chicken & Egg Pictures…

Wesleyan’s intellectually dynamic faculty, students, alumni, staff, and parents frequently serve as expert sources for national media. Others are noted for recent achievements and accolades. A sampling of recent media hits is below: In The Conversation, Robyn Autry, associate professor of sociology, responds to Whoopi Goldberg's recent controversial comments about the Holocaust. "As someone who writes and teaches about racial identity," Autry writes, "I was struck by the firmness of Goldberg’s initial claim, her clumsy retraction and apologies, and the heated public reactions." (Feb. 7) Autry also speaks to The New York Times about the popularity of Vaseline on social…

Richard "Dick" T. Vann, professor emeritus of history and letters, died on Feb. 1 at the age of 90. Vann received bachelor's degrees from Southern Methodist University and Oxford University and an MA and PhD from Harvard University. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1964 and taught in the College of Letters and History Department until his retirement in 2000. “Dick was an intellectual force at Wesleyan for decades—a gentle and persistent force for creative, interdisciplinary work across the humanities and social sciences,” recalled President Michael Roth '78. “A gifted teacher, his History and Prophecy seminar was already legendary when I…

David Morgan, professor of history, emeritus, passed away on Jan. 20 at the age of 83. Morgan received his BA from Haverford College and his DPhil from Oxford University. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1966 and taught history for 37 years until his retirement in 2003. During those years he served numerous terms as the chair of history and chair of the College of Social Studies (CSS), and he served one term as dean of the social sciences. “My first memories of David Morgan are of classical music and opera pouring out of his office, with the door open, much…

It is not every day that an academic history book inspires a film by one of the world’s leading directors, especially when its author is former provost and professor emerita of history, Judith C. Brown. Brown’s widely-praised book, Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy (Oxford University Press, 1986) was recently adapted into a film, Benedetta (2021). The book tells the story of Benedetta Carlini (1590-1661), an abbess in Tuscany, who was imprisoned for claiming false visions and for allegedly having sexual relations with one of her nuns, Sister Bartolomea. Benedetta’s story remained undiscovered until Brown,…

Using high-resolution data obtained from the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, Wesleyan University Professor of Astronomy Seth Redfield can show the conditions the Sun encountered traveling through space over the past 5 million years. Redfield will present his findings Jan. 12, 2022 as part of a press conference associated with the American Astronomical Society’s previously planned annual conference. This work was a close collaboration of Redfield with Hunter Vannier ’20, and a major component of Vannier's senior thesis. Vannier is now a PhD student at Purdue University working on lunar mineralogy. By focusing on eight paths, each of…

Gertrude Hughes, professor of English, emerita, died on Jan. 5 at the age of 85. Hughes received her BA from Mount Holyoke College, her MAT from Wesleyan University, and her Ph.D from Yale University. She returned to Wesleyan as an assistant professor of English in 1976 and remained until her retirement in 2006. “Gertrude was a remarkable woman, a valued colleague, and a treasured friend,” recalled Bill Stowe, Benjamin Waite Professor of the English Language, Emeritus. “She began her academic career later than most, completing her Yale PhD under the formidable Harold Bloom while raising four children. Her book on…

When not teaching classes on agriculture, sustainability, and the environment, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies Rosemary Ostfeld ’10, MA ’12 can be found working on her sustainable food and farming startup Healthy PlanEat. Healthy PlanEat, based in Lyme, Conn., allows farmers who grow food in sustainable ways to sell their crops directly to both individuals and wholesale customers using an app and aims to increase access to healthy, local, and sustainably grown food. In November, Healthy PlanEat received a $52,000 grant through the Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) run by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). According to…

A recent Wesleyan study showed that seeking out social media for emotional succor during COVID-19 did not improve emotional well-being among emerging adult college students. The study, conducted by Royette Dubar, assistant professor of psychology; Nicole Watkins, postdoctoral fellow in psychology; and psychology major Grant Hill '20, MA '21 asked more than 600 emerging adults in college (18-to-29-year-olds) across the U.S. to complete two online surveys over a five-month period at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “COVID has had significant implications for how we interact with other people and how we think about our well-being. What we are trying to understand…

Alvin Lucier, John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, Emeritus, died on Dec. 1 at the age of 90. Lucier received his BA from Yale University and his MFA from Brandeis University. He joined the Wesleyan faculty as a visiting professor in 1968 and as an associate professor in 1972. He taught here for 43 years before retiring in 2011. A pioneering composer, Lucier was at the forefront of American avant-garde music. He lectured and performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. In 1994 Wesleyan celebrated his career with a five-day multimedia festival, Alvin Lucier: Collaborations, which included new work…

Board of Trustees Confers Tenure on 8 Faculty

Dubar Pens Commentary #NoJusticeNoSleep for Sleep Health Journal

Strain Honored with Chicken and Egg Pictures Award for Documentary Filmmaking

Wesleyan in the News

Vann Remembered for Being a Bold Thinker and Demonstrating Respect

Professor Morgan Remembered for Teaching History at Wesleyan for Almost 4 Decades

Brown’s Book on “Lesbian Nun” Inspires the Creation of Benedetta

Conditions Around the Sun 5 Million Years Ago Now Known, Wesleyan Study Says

Hughes Remembered for Teaching English, Women’s Studies Courses for 30 Years

USDA Awards Ostfeld ’10, MA ’12 Grant for Healthy PlanEat Startup

Wesleyan Researchers Explore Social Media’s Effects on Emotional Well-Being during the Pandemic

Lucier Remembered as a Groundbreaking Composer of Iconic Works