Andrew Logan ’18Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, and James Greenwood, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, co-authored an article published in the planetary science journal Icarus. Their article, “A New Mechanism for Chondrule Formation: Radiative Heating by Hot Planetesimals” grew out of research seminars from the recently introduced Planetary Science graduate concentration and minor at Wesleyan. Their work focused on chondrules, or tiny spheres of molten rock that permeate primitive meteorites and date to very close to the beginning of the solar system. For decades, the existence of chondrules has puzzled astrophysicists and cosmochemists as no…
Lauren RubensteinProfessor of Psychology Scott Plous has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He was inducted on Feb. 13 during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., part of the association's annual meeting. Plous was one of eight fellows newly elected to the Psychology section of the AAAS this year. He was chosen "for distinguished contributions to social psychology, particularly understanding decision-making and prejudice, and for communication of psychology science to the public." Founded in 1848, the AAAS is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of all people. Fellows are…
Olivia DrakeThis month, the Association for Asian Studies honored Phillip Wagoner, professor of art history, professor of archaeology, with the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize. Wagoner and his co-author Richard Easton received the award for their book, Power, Memory, Architecture: Contested Sites on India’s Deccan Plateau, 1300-1600, published by Oxford University Press in 2014. The Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize honors a distinguished work of scholarship in South Asian Studies that promises to define or redefine the understanding of whole subject areas. The book's subject matter must deal with South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh). Power, Memory, Architecture is the first comprehensive exploration of history…
Assistant Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler and her collaborators on the Wesleyan Media Project are the authors of a new book, Political Advertising in the United States, published in February by Westview Press. The book is edited by Ada Fung '06. Fowler's co-authors are Michael Franz of Bowdoin College and Travis Ridout of Washington State University. Political Advertising in the United States is a comprehensive survey of the political advertising landscape and its influence on voters. The authors draw from the latest data to analyze how campaign finance laws have affected the sponsorship and content of political advertising, how "big data" has…
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Wesleyan will present the first-ever creative writing specialization on the Coursera platform, beginning Feb. 9. Taught by four award-winning authors, the specialization is open to anyone with a love of reading or a drive to invent a story or tell their own.
Titled “Creative Writing: The Craft of Story,” the specialization will include four courses, plus a capstone.
On Feb. 2, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joyce Jacobsen announced that Wesleyan has hired eight new tenure-track faculty in fields including African American studies, sociology and physics, among others. Wesleyan also made a senior hire, which will be announced later this semester after a successful tenure review, Jacobsen said. Nine other faculty searches are ongoing and will hopefully be completed this spring. “With 18 searches going on, we will likely have a larger than usual group of new faculty coming to campus next fall,” said Jacobsen. “We’re excited to welcome this accomplished and diverse group of scholar-teachers.” Brief…
Peter Gottschalk was named the Director of the Center for Faculty Career Development for a three-year term starting July 1. Gottschalk is currently Professor of Religion and has been at Wesleyan since 2002. He earned his BA at the College of the Holy Cross, his MA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his PhD at the University of Chicago. Gottschalk has co-edited one volume, co-authored another with a Wesleyan student, and authored three monographs, including the recent Religion, Science, and Empire: Classifying Hinduism and Islam in British India. His work has also been published in The Los Angeles Times and the OnFaith website formerly of The…
Joel Pfister, the Olin Professor of English and American Studies and chair of the American Studies Department, is the author of Surveyors of Customs: American Literature as Cultural Analysis published by Oxford University Press, 2016. Within his book, Pfister argues “that writers from Benjamin Franklin to Louise Erdrich are critical 'surveyors' of customs, culture, hegemony, capitalism’s emotional logic, and more. Literary surveyors have helped make possible—and can advance—cultural analysis.” While noting that cultural theory and history have influenced interpretations of literature, he asserts that, in fact, “literature can return the favor.” The book raises many historical, but timely questions. "When and why…
Associate Professor of Chemistry Brian Northrop and Alexander Goldberg ’15 are co-authors of “Spectroscopic and Computational Investigations of The Thermodynamics of Boronate Ester and Diazaborole Self-Assembly,” published in The Journal of Organic Chemistry, January 2016. The article is composed of Goldberg’s undergraduate thesis research.
Synform, a journal of chemistry, recently featured an interview with Associate Professor of Chemistry Brian Northrop through its Young Career Focus series. Within it, Northrop briefly discusses his research and his most important scientific achievements. "Currently, I think the greatest impact of my group’s research is more a matter of approach than a specific result. By this I mean that we approach research projects working across each of the ‘three M’s’ of chemistry: making, modeling and measuring. This complementary blend of synthesis, analysis, and theory provides my group with a deep, fundamental understanding of the chemical reactions and processes we…
Following an ISIS attack in the heart of Jakarta earlier this month, Assistant Professor of Government Ioana Emy Matesan writes on the blog "Political Violence @ a Glance" why she believes ISIS will not thrive in Indonesia. The ISIS affiliate in Indonesia remains very small, and "varies drastically from its counterpart in Syria in terms of motivations, organization, and perhaps more importantly, ability to challenge the state or claim territory." Matesan notes, "Indonesia has seen its fair share of violence, and even some earlier attempts to build an Islamic state." She provides a history of different groups that over time…