Faculty – Page 37

For his accomplishments in research and scholarship, the University of Minnesota's Department of Psychology is honoring Professor of Psychology Scott Plous with a Distinguished Alumni Award. Plous graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1980 with a BA degree in psychology, summa cum laude. He later completed a PhD in psychology and a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. At Wesleyan, Plous's research focuses on judgment and decision-making, prejudice and discrimination, and the human use of animals and the environment. The University of Minnesota's alumni awards honor distinguished alumni from the undergraduate and graduate programs. Nominations are solicited from alumni, faculty,…

In this Q&A, we speak with Amy Grillo, associate professor of the practice in education studies. This spring, she is teaching Schools in Society and Practicum in Education Studies. Q: You joined Wesleyan’s faculty during the fall 2018 semester. Welcome to Wesleyan! What are your overall thoughts so far on the University? A: I keep pinching myself, which is to say that I am incredibly happy to have landed here. I’ve found the students to be lively and engaged, both with their academic work and with the world beyond Wesleyan. The staff and faculty seem similarly energetic and positive. I was…

Mark Slobin, the Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music, Emeritus, is the author of Motor City Music: A Detroiter Looks Back, published by Oxford University Press (November 2018). Slobin's book is the first-ever historical study of music across all genres in any American metropolis. According to the publisher: Detroit in the 1940s–60s was not just "the capital of the 20th century" for industry and the war effort, but also for the quantity and extremely high quality of its musicians, from jazz to classical to ethnic. Slobin, a Detroiter from 1943, begins with a reflection of his early life with his family and others,…

Karl Boulware, assistant professor of economics, presented a paper at the Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) Annual Meeting on Jan. 4. The three-day meeting was attended by more than 13,000 economists, who gathered to network and celebrate new achievements in economic research. Boulware's paper, titled "Labor Market Conditions and Charges of Discrimination: Is There a Link?" examines whether the degree of labor market conditions affects the frequency of claims of discrimination based on race, sex, age, national origin, color, and disability. "Our findings have implications for how macroeconomic policies might be used to promote equal opportunity in the labor market,"…

New poetry by John Murillo, assistant professor of English, is published in the Feb. 2019 issue (Volume 48, No. 1) of American Poetry Review. Murillo also is featured on the publication's cover page. His poem, titled "A Refusal to Mourn the Deaths, by Gunfire, of Three Men in Brooklyn,” is a nod to Dylan Thomas’s famous poem, “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London.” (more…)

Amy Bloom, the Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing, recently launched a new nonfiction writing course housed on the Coursera platform. This is Wesleyan's 21st free massive, open, online course (MOOC) offered through Coursera. Launched on Jan. 14, Bloom's Memoir and Personal Essay: Write About Yourself Specialization shows participants how to write with confidence. Taught by award-winning essayists and memoirists, this specialization provides tips, prompts, exercises, readings, and challenges that prepare students to write compelling nonfiction. Bloom, author of two New York Times best-sellers, also is professor of the practice in creative writing and professor of the practice, English. In this Q&A,…

During the Annual Meeting for the Society for Classical Studies, Michael Roberts, the Robert Rich Professor of Latin, Emeritus, served as a respondent in a session devoted to commemorating the 30th anniversary of the publication of his book, The Jeweled Style: Poetry and Poetics in Late Antiquity. The meeting took place in San Diego, Calif., Jan. 3–6, and included numerous paper and panel presentations; roundtable discussion sessions; performances by the Committee on Ancient and Modern Performance; meetings and receptions of affiliated groups; and more. In The Jeweled Style (1989), Roberts offers a new approach to the Latin poetry of late antiquity, one…

Neely Bruce, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, was named Music Ambassador for the City of Middletown in 2019. He received the honor during a reception Jan. 10 at the Municipal Building in Middletown, Conn. Bruce, a composer, pianist, conductor, and scholar of American music, was previously an artist-in-residence at Middlebury College, Bucknell University, the University of Michigan, and at Brooklyn College. He is the chorus director for Connecticut Opera and music director at South Congregational Church in Middletown. His compositions include three full-length operas; five one-act operas; works for orchestra, chamber orchestra, and wind ensemble; about 300 solo songs;…

Lewis Robertson, professor of mathematics, emeritus, passed away Dec. 22, 2018, at the age of 80. Robertson received his BS and MS from the University of Chicago and his PhD from the University of California—Los Angeles. He came to Wesleyan with tenure in 1970 after serving as an assistant professor at the University of Washington, and he remained at Wesleyan for 28 years until his retirement in 1998. Robertson’s scholarly research focused on Lie groups, topological groups, and representation theory. His PhD thesis was on algebra, influenced by topology, and that remained his primary interest throughout his career. He published 23…

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, Associate Professor of History Jennifer Tucker explores our ongoing romance with the gas lamp in connection with the new Mary Poppins film. Tucker is also associate professor and chair, feminist, gender, and sexuality studies; associate professor, science in society; and associate professor, environmental studies. In 'Mary Poppins Returns,' an ode to the gas lamp “Mary Poppins Returns” transports audiences back to 1930s London. The beloved nanny at the center of the original 1964…

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Recent Wesleyan News 1. Los Angeles Times: "As the World Warms, Deadly and Disfiguring Tropical Diseases Are Inching Their Way Toward the U.S." In this op-ed, Professor of Biology Frederick Cohan and Isaac Klimasmith '20, both in the College of the Environment, write that infectious disease is a growing threat, resulting from climate change, that humans may find hard to ignore. Cohan is also professor, environmental studies and professor, integrative sciences. 2. Hartford Courant: "Trump's Immoral Response to Climate Report" Gary Yohe, the…

Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, attended the 2018 Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden, Dec. 7–11, as a guest of William Nordhaus, the Yale University professor of economics who received this year’s Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Nordhaus was recognized for his work “integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis.” Nordhaus was Yohe’s dissertation advisor at Yale and inspired Yohe’s own decades-long career studying the economics of climate change. Yohe himself received a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate…

Plous Honored with Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Minnesota

Q&A with Amy Grillo on Education Studies

Detroit Native Slobin Pens New Book on the Motor City’s Musical History

Boulware Presents Paper on Labor Market Conditions at Economics Meeting

Murillo’s Poem Featured in American Poetry Review

Bloom Creates New Memoir and Personal Essay Specialization on Coursera

Roberts’s Book Revisited by Society for Classical Studies

Bruce Named Music Ambassador for the City of Middletown

Robertson Remembered for His Love of Mathematics

Tucker in The Conversation: In ‘Mary Poppins Returns,’ an Ode to the Gas Lamp

Wesleyan in the News

Yohe Attends Nobel Week in Stockholm