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Olivia DrakeNovember 25, 20192min
Megan Glick, associate professor of American studies, is the recipient of the Alison Piepmeier Book Prize for her book, Infrahumanisms: Science, Culture, and the Making of Modern Non/personhood (Duke University Press, 2018). Awarded by the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA), the Piepmeier Book Prize honors the author of a groundbreaking monograph in women, gender, and sexuality studies that makes significant contributions to feminist disability studies scholarship. The award comes with a $1,000 prize and honors Alison Piepmeier, an active member and leader of NWSA whose scholarship examined the intersection of feminist and disability studies, with a particular emphasis on reproductive decisions…

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Olivia DrakeNovember 25, 20192min
A team from Wesleyan took first place in the 2019 CSAW Policy Competition, the most comprehensive security competition in the world. Hosted by the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and NYU School of Law Center for Cybersecurity on Nov. 6–8, the U.S.-Canada policy competition challenged contestants to think about the big picture of cybersecurity policy, economics, law, and governance. The purpose of the competition is to encourage students who are interested in the nexus of policy and emerging technology issues to think critically about major policy issues affecting society and to impact the cyber industry by presenting their…

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Olivia DrakeNovember 19, 20193min
More than 50 students attended an alumni conversation on "Careers in Public Policy and Criminal Justice Reform" Nov. 13 at the Gordon Career Center. Each of the panelists: Sarah Cassel '13, James Jeter (who earned his degree in 2016 while incarcerated through Wesleyan's Center for Prison Education), Lexi Jones '17, Aaron Stagoff-Belfort '18, and Nina Stender '16 are working in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York, analyzing and impacting policies dealing with inhumane jail conditions, policing, housing inequality, and issues around incarceration. Stagoff-Belfort and Jim Kubat, associate director for job and internship development at the Gordon Career Center teamed up to…

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smccreaNovember 18, 20197min
In the sixth of this continuing series, Sara McCrea ’21, a College of Letters major from Boulder, Colo., reviews alumni books and offers a selection for those in search of knowledge, insight, and inspiration. The volumes, sent to us by alumni, are forwarded to Olin Library as donations to the University’s collection and made available to the Wesleyan community. KK Ottesen ’94, Activist: Portraits of Courage (Chronicle Books, Oct. 8, 2019) Ranging in age from 12 to 94 years old, the activists photographed and recorded in Activist: Portraits of Courage will inspire you to “dissent, disrupt, and otherwise get in the…

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Olivia DrakeNovember 18, 20193min
John Robert Kirn, professor of biology, died on Nov. 10 at the age of 67. Kirn was born in Columbus, Ohio, and received his BA from the University of Denver, his MA from Bucknell University, and his PhD from Cornell University. Arriving at Wesleyan in 1994, he went on to teach courses on animal behavior, hormonal systems, and the neurobiology of learning and memory for the next 25 years. Kirn was a vital member of the biology department and a pillar of the neuroscience and behavior program (NS&B). He served as the director of graduate studies from 2005–2010, as the…

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Olivia DrakeNovember 18, 20194min
Human rights advocate Christopher Swain '90 returned to Middletown last week, carrying an Olympic-style torch during what will be a nearly 5,000-mile journey to the spot where the US-Mexico border begins at the Gulf of Mexico, and then on through the border states to San Diego. Swain, a parent of two, is participating in a March for the Kids, honoring the memory of the six children known to have died in federal custody. He is hoping to bring awareness of the children who have been separated from their families and imprisoned and lost at the border; to advocate for all…

Cynthia RockwellNovember 18, 20192min
Gilbert Parker ’48, a retired literary agent who represented many of the country’s most influential playwrights over the span of nearly half a century, died Oct. 29, 2019. He was 92 and had served in the US Navy during World War II. The first theater major at Wesleyan, he earned his degree with honors and distinction. Beginning his career at Liebling-Wood, Inc., as the assistant to Audrey Wood, the renowned agent who represented Tennessee Williams and other significant playwrights, Parker later joined the William Morris Agency, retiring in 2000. Parker was noted as an adviser and mentor to many young…

Olivia DrakeNovember 18, 20194min
At the 2019 ALL IN Challenge Awards Ceremony held to recognize colleges and universities committed to increasing college student voting rates, Wesleyan received a gold seal for achieving a student rate between 40% and 49%. A full list of seal awardees can be viewed here. "Wesleyan University is proud to receive this national recognition for our efforts," said Rob Rosenthal, interim provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs. "It is a core part of our educational mission to develop bold and rigorous practical idealists, thoughtful and brave participants in the public sphere. Our faculty, staff, administrators, and students are…

Olivia DrakeNovember 18, 20192min
Hilary Barth, professor of psychology; Andrea Patalano, professor of psychology; Joanna Paul '18; and former postdoctoral fellow Chenmu (Julia) Xing are co-authors of a paper titled "Probability range and probability distortion in a gambling task," published in Acta Psychologica in June 2019. Barth and Emily Slusser, a former postdoctoral fellow, are the co-authors of a paper titled "Spontaneous partitioning and proportion estimation in children’s numerical judgments," published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology in September 2019. Barth; Patalano; Slusser; Alexandra Zax, visiting scholar in psychology; and Katherine Williams, lab coordinator; are the co-authors of a paper titled "What Do…

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Cynthia RockwellNovember 18, 20195min
Jennifer Tucker, associate professor of history, is the author of two chapters in recently published texts. Additionally, a paper she wrote on early responses to chemical pollution was published in the journal International Labor and Working-Class History. With academic affiliations in feminist, gender, and sexuality studies, environmental studies, and Science in Society, Tucker’s work highlights her wide-ranging scholarly interests. She is also the co-editor of A Right to Bear Arms?: The Contested Role of History in Contemporary Debates on the Second Amendment published by the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. Tucker’s chapter, “James Forbes (1749–1819): A View of the Ocean, Between…