Students

Wesleyan Team Wins Prize for “Best User Insight” at DataFest

by Olivia Drake • April 11, 2018

Students spent three days working on a complex data set during DataFest.

Seventy students from six universities participated in the annual DataFest April 6-8 at Wesleyan. Under the auspices of the American Statistical Association, the event is organized by Wesleyan’s Quantitative Analysis Center.

During the event, teams from Wesleyan, Trinity College, Connecticut College, the University of Connecticut, Yale University, and Bentley University were presented with a large, complex data set and worked over the weekend—and around the clock—to explore, analyze, and present their findings to a panel of judges.

Judges included Agbon Edomwonyi ’16, data scientist for the City of Newark, N.J.; Rich Anziano, global head of statistics for Pfizer; Melissa Mischell ’17, data scientist at CKM Advisors; and Ofer Harel, professor of statistics at the University of Connecticut. Winners were honored with a $50 cash prize, a medal, a certificate, and a yearlong membership to the American Statistical Association.

A Wesleyan team made up of Tiffany Coons ’18, Kelly Jamrog ’19, Carlo Medina ’18, and Frederick Corpuz ’20 won the prize for “Best User Insight.”

Tiffany Coons ’18, Kelly Jamrog ’19, Carlo Medina ’18, and Frederick Corpuz ’20 won the “Best User Insight” prize during the 2018 QAC DataFest. (Photos by Caroline Kravitz ’19)

Paper by Cohen ’19 Honored by Center for Jewish Studies

by Olivia Drake • April 10, 2018

Talia Cohen ’19

On April 3, the Center for Jewish Studies honored Talia Cohen ’19 with the Best Student Paper in Jewish Studies award.

Cohen’s paper, which she wrote for her Romantic Poetry class during the fall semester, examines a work by Jewish composer Isaac Nathan as a powerful response to anti-Semitism. Specifically, she considers his decision to set Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty” to a Sephardic Portuguese tune for Solomon ha-Levi Alkabez’s 16th-century mystical Sabbath poem, “Lecha Dodi.”

According to the abstract, “While Hebrew Melodies (1815), the songbook to which the musicalized version of Lord Byron’s ‘She Walks in Beauty’ belongs, was widely popular and generally held in favorable opinion at the time of its publication, several reviewers criticized the project from one of two seemingly contradictory angles: some took issue with the widespread veneration of Jewish music in a Christian society, finding the songs ‘too Jewish,’ while others complained that the music was not true to its ancient Israelite roots and therefore ‘not Jewish enough.’”

by Olivia Drake • April 9, 2018

Kate Sundberg ’20

Chemistry and environmental studies major Kate Sundberg ’20, one of 20 students nationwide who are part of the Friends Committee on National Legislation Advocacy Corps, attended the Spring Lobby Weekend on March 17–20 advocating for immigration policy with Congress.

The Advocacy Corps is a yearlong program where young adults between the ages of 19–30 organize their local communities around federal legislation.

As an organizer, Sundberg connects local activists and leaders with Congress to affect meaningful, bipartisan climate action.

by Olivia Drake • April 2, 2018

On March 28, the Archaeology Program and the Department of Classical Studies invited Ian Roy of Brandeis University to Wesleyan to discuss ways new technologies are used to study the past. Roy is the founding head of Brandeis MakerLab and director for research technology and innovation at Brandeis University’s library.

Students learned how to use a portable Artec 3-D scanner to scan a vessel from the Wesleyan University Archaeology and Anthropology Collections.

Roy first visited the Archaeometry: How to Science the Heck out of Archaeology class taught by Andrew Koh, visiting assistant professor of archaeology. There, he demonstrated how to scan objects in 3-D using an Artec Space Spyder, a tool that uses structured light to capture incredibly high-resolution scans of objects. The class produced multiple models of artifacts, including a vessel that has since been posted to Sketchfab.

“What’s so amazing is that these are just quick versions made in only 15 minutes, without any post-processing and touch-ups,” said Kate Birney, assistant professor of classical studies, archaeology, and art history.

by Olivia Drake • March 30, 2018

Brendan McGlone ’18 received a fellowship from the Paideia Institute to study and teach in Rome.

Brendan McGlone ’18, who’s on track to graduate in May with a triple major in classics, medieval studies and the College of Letters, will continue his post-Wesleyan education in Rome as a Paideia Institute for Humanistic Study Fellow.

The Paideia Institute is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to promoting the study and appreciation of the classical humanities, with a focus on Latin and Ancient Greek languages and literature.

Paideia Fellows are selected on the basis of academic merit, personality, and potential as a future teacher of classics. Fellows teach American high school students Latin, and lead them on classics-themed tours around Rome and the Mediterranean. In addition, fellows work on independent research published in the blog “Loci in Locis.”

For his senior thesis at Wesleyan, McGlone is decoding and translating a late medieval manuscript collection of sermons housed in Wesleyan’s Special Collections & Archives.

“I hope to be able to continue with the type of research I am doing for my thesis, looking at the manuscript collections held in the Vatican Libraries or elsewhere in the city,” he said. “I also hope to use the year to figure out my future plans—perhaps grad school, perhaps teaching, perhaps something totally different.”

McGlone’s love for Latin originated in high school and was fostered at Wesleyan. He’s also a practicing Catholic and found studying Latin has broadened and deepened his religious understanding and experiences.

“I took a few classes with Professors Andy Szegedy-Maszak and Michael Roberts, two of the best teachers and scholars I’ve encountered at Wes,” McGlone said.

by Olivia Drake • March 29, 2018

Zhaoyu Sun ’20

Zhaoyu Sun ’20 received an award for his essay in the Eighth Annual Consulate General of Japan in Boston Japanese Language Contest. Sun took the second place win in the College Intermediate Division.

Sun, who is from Beijing, China, is majoring in East Asian studies and government. His essay focused on the ideal U.S.-Japanese relationship.

“I discussed how military cooperation, establishing a strong relationship with other countries in East Asia, and establishing equality between the two nations will build a strong U.S.-Japanese relationship and subsequently benefit the world,” he explained.

The essay contest is open to students who are currently enrolled in a Japanese language course at a university/college or high school in New England and who did not grow up in a home where Japanese was the main language.

Sun will receive his award during a ceremony April 7 in Brookline, Mass.

Graduate Student Khan Performs at 2 International Music Festivals

by Olivia Drake • March 29, 2018

In March, the group Yorkston / Thorne / Khan, featuring Wesleyan graduate student Suhail Yusuf Khan (at right), performed in Spain and the United Kingdom.

Graduate student Suhail Yusuf Khan recently performed at two international music festivals with his group Yorkston / Thorne / Khan. The band comprises James Yorkston, a folk singer and guitarist; Jon Thorne, a jazz bassist; and eighth-generation musician Khan, a sarangi violinist and a vocalist of Indian classical music. The sarangi is a short-necked bowed string instrument from northern India, regarded as sounding similar to the human voice.

On March 19, Yorkston / Thorne / Khan performed at the International Sacred Art Festival in Madrid, Spain. The festival included 39 concerts held over five weeks.

And on March 23, Yorkston / Thorne / Khan dazzled a sold-out theater at the Science Museum in London. The concert served as part of the museum’s Illuminating India series, which commemorated 70 years of independence and was part of the British Council’s U.K./India Year of Culture. “Yorkston / Thorne / Khan is one of the most inspired and inspirational cross-cultural acts to emerge this decade,” wrote Ken Hunt in a concert review published by Pulse Connects. “Their melding of, in order, Scottish and British folk music, jazz and electro, and sarangi lore, Hindustani classical and Sufi devotional music sings of a powerful musical alchemy.”

In this video, watch Yorkston / Thorne / Khan perform the song “False True Piya” from their newest album, Neuk Wight Delhi All-Stars. “Piya is a word in the Hindi language, meaning beloved,” Khan explains on his band’s website. “The Hindi lyrics of the song were composed and written by me. They talk about a lover who is longing for a beloved, devastated by pain. A point comes when the lover starts hallucinating that the beloved has arrived and starts having conversations with this hallucination. There is a strange feeling of dark happiness: the beloved is there, but only as a hallucination.”

Alumni, Faculty, Graduate Students Make Presentations at Planetary Science Conference

by Olivia Drake • March 27, 2018

Graduate student Melissa Luna; graduate student Jordyn-Marie Dudley; Keenan Golder MA ’13; graduate student Reid Perkins; Ben McKeeby MA ’17; and Kristen Luchsinger MA ’17 recently attended the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas.

Faculty, graduate students, and alumni attended the 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference March 19–23 in The Woodlands, Texas.

Graduate student Reid Perkins

Three graduate students were awarded funds from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant that allowed them to travel to this meeting.

Earth and environmental sciences graduate student Reid Perkins presented a research poster titled “Where Are the Missing Tessera Craters on Venus?” Perkins’s advisor is Martha Gilmore, the George I. Seney Professor of Geology, professor of earth and environmental sciences.

Earth and environmental sciences graduate student Melissa Luna presented a poster titled “Multivariate Spectral Analysis of CRISM Data to Characterize the Composition of Mawrth Vallis.” Her advisors are Gilmore and Suzanne O’Connell, professor of earth and environmental sciences.

Earth and environmental sciences graduate student Jordyn-Marie Dudley presented a poster titled “Water Contents of Angrites, Eucrites, and Ureilites and New Methods for Measuring Hydrogen in Pyroxene Using SIMS.” Dudley’s advisor is Jim Greenwood, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences.

“At their poster presentations, our graduate students were engaging with the top scientists in our field, who were very interested in their work,” Gilmore said. “I was very proud to see them attending talks across a range of disciplines, asking questions of speakers and making such solid scientific contributions.”

Gilmore also presented a study at the conference titled “Formation Rates and Mechanisms for Low-Emissivity Materials on Venus Mountaintops and Constraint on Tessera Composition.” In addition, she worked with NASA scientists on issues related to Venus exploration.

The following alumni authored abstracts presented at the conference: Avram Stein ’17; Jesse Tarnas ’16; Peter Martin ’14; Nina Lanza MA ’06; Ian Garrick-Bethell ’02; Robert Nelson MA ’69; and William Boynton ’66. Keenan Golder MA ’13; Ben McKeeby MA ’17; and Kristen Luchsinger MA ’17 also attended.

Savage ’18 Awarded Princeton in Latin America Fellowship

by Lauren Rubenstein • March 19, 2018

Anna Savage ’18 will complete a Princeton in Latin America (PiLA) fellowship in the Dominican Republic.

Anna Savage ’18 has received a Princeton in Latin America (PiLA) fellowship to work with the Mariposa Foundation in Cabarete, a town on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. She will begin the fellowship after graduation in May.

Savage follows a proud tradition of Wesleyan students participating in PiLA fellowships. The Mariposa Foundation works to end generational poverty by providing a space in which girls and young women can receive high-quality academic and artistic instruction, as well as comprehensive sexual health education. The Mariposa center serves about 150 girls and places particular emphasis on musical and artistic expression, as well as on the cultivation of leadership skills.

Savage will teach music, yoga, and English at the center, where she will develop her own curriculum and instruct girls aged seven to 18 in daily classes.

by Olivia Drake • March 16, 2018

Anthony Price ’20, pictured here by the Washington Monument in Washington D.C., is half-way through a five-month internship on Capitol Hill. “The internship will be a huge asset to the rest of my studies at Wesleyan and it’s a huge stepping stone to help me pursue a career in public service, or perhaps on the Hill,” he said.

As a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation intern, Anthony Price ’20 is spending the spring semester working on Capitol Hill, where he is learning about governing institutions and the inner workings of the U.S. Congress.

The CBCF’s internship programs “prepare college students and young professionals to become principled leaders, skilled policy analysts and informed advocates by exposing them to the processes that develop national policies and implement them—from Capitol Hill to federal field offices. Program participants receive housing, a stipend, office placements, and opportunities to meet and interact with professional legislators and leaders working in all branches of government.”

“Thus far, I’ve enhanced my leadership, adaptability and writing skills immensely,” Price said. “At the end of the program, I know I will have a better understanding of our American legislative process and the work that’s being done day-to-day within the branches of Congress.”

by Bill Holder • March 15, 2018

Jessica Chen ’20 is co-organizing a language symposium titled “The Power of Language,” to be held April 6–7 at the Fries Center for Global Studies. At this two-day symposium, participants will discuss language and culture, language and identity, second-language acquisition, language and technology, and other topics. (Photo by Olivia Drake)

Jessica Chen ’20 is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, which is often spoken in her home city of Shenzhen, China. She started learning English before she entered Kindergarten.

She taught herself Korean in high school, speaks a local Chinese dialect common in her mother’s native area and is studying Italian at Wesleyan. She is not yet fluent in the latter, but hopes to be so before she graduates and possibly to pick up some other Romance languages as well.