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On Sept. 29–Oct. 1, Assistant Professor of Government Ioana Emy Matesan traveled to Switzerland to participate in a research workshop that brought together an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars working on conflict and violence, as well as in a meeting with policymakers. Matesan was one of only six researchers from five different countries invited to attend the meeting with policymakers—primarily from the Human Security Division within the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs—which was organized by the Folke Bernadotte Academy (the Swedish government agency for peace, security, and development), the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, the Center…

Molecular biology and biochemistry graduate student Brandon Case and Manju Hingorani, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, are coauthors on a study published in Nucleic Acids Research in October 2018. The paper, titled “Coordinated protein and DNA conformational changes govern mismatch repair initiation by MutS,” reports new findings on how the Mutator S (MutS) protein repairs mistakes in the DNA sequence, which is essential for maintaining the accuracy of the genetic code. The collaborative effort from researchers at Wesleyan, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University employed single molecule and ensemble kinetic methods to…

A four-part documentary directed by Joseph Sousa '03 will be released on Oct. 23 on PBS. Native America, produced by Providence Pictures, weaves history and science with living indigenous traditions. The series travels through 15,000 years to showcase massive cities, unique systems of science, art, and writing, and 100 million people connected by social networks and spiritual beliefs spanning two continents. Sousa and his fellow producers and film crew were provided access to Native American communities, going behind the scenes at special events, including a pilgrimage to ancestral ruins at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, a trek across lost territories in…

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In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Recent Wesleyan News Inside Higher Ed: “Career Path Intervention–Via a MOOC” An open online course by Gordon Career Center Director Sharon Belden Castonguay, which helps young people explore their interests and career options, is featured. 2. NPR: “Midterm Election Could Reshape Health Policy” Associate Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, explains why Democrats are “laser-focused on health care” this election season. Fowler also recently was quoted on advertising in the midterm elections in The Washington Post and USA Today, and interviewed…

Two faculty and an alumna celebrated the publication of their new books during a gathering Oct. 11 at the Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore. All three books focus on Russian literature and culture. (more…)

Wesleyan has received a two-year $165,699 grant under the U.S. Department of Education’s Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) program to support the teaching of Hindi and Urdu, the research of STEM faculty and students in India, and the increase of cultural programming related to South Asia. “This grant will allow Wesleyan to become one of a very small number of liberal arts institutions in the country with classroom instruction in Hindi and Urdu,” said Stephen Angle, director of the Fries Center for Global Studies. “We are excited about the ability this grant will give us to support STEM…

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Recent Wesleyan News The New York Times: "Why Half a Degree of Global Warming Is a Big Deal" Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, comments on a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group with which he was involved from the early 1990s through 2014. 2. Avant Music News: "Tyshawn Sorey Residency at the Kitchen" On Oct. 21–23, Tyshawn Sorey MA '11, assistant professor of music; assistant professor, African American studies;…

Muzzy Rosenblatt ’87; David Jones ’70; Phoebe Boyer ’89; Sharon Greenberger ’88, P’19; David Rivel ’83; and Alan Mucatel ’84 were recently honored for their contributions to social services and nonprofit organizations in New York with their inclusion in “The 2018 Nonprofit Power 50,” representing a strong showing by Wesleyan alumni in the 50-person list. The list was produced by City & State New York, a self-described nonpartisan media organization that covers New York’s local and state politics and policy. “...The nonprofit and philanthropic sectors tend to go unnoticed and are all too often unheralded,” the publication wrote. “But behind…

Richard Slotkin, Olin Professor of English, Emeritus, is the author of a new book, Greenhorns: stories, published Oct. 10 by Leapfrog Press. Slotkin writes more personally in Greenhorns than in his past nonfiction books, in a series of linked semifictional stories based on his ancestors' immigration from Eastern Europe early in the 20th century. A kosher butcher with gambling problems; a woman whose elegant persona conceals unspeakable horror; a Jewish Pygmalion who turns a wretched orphan into a “real American girl”; a boy who clings to his father’s old-world code of honor on the mean streets of Brooklyn; the “little man who wasn’t there,”…

J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, professor and chair of American studies, recently presented her research at a conference in Loughborough University on Decolonizing Anarchisms. The gathering was the fifth annual conference of the UK Anarchist Studies Network. The purpose of the conference was “to stimulate discussion of colonialism and racism as forms of oppression that anarchists oppose, but which continue to be felt in anarchist organizing; and to welcome individuals, groups and communities who have not previously participated in ASN events. By recognizing the legacy of non-western and anti-colonial thought and action in the anarchist tradition, we want to strengthen the ties…

The United Nations has named Ahmed Badr ’20 to the 17 Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), class of 2018. The UN Young Leaders, a flagship initiative of the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, recognizes young people for their exceptional leadership and contributions to a more sustainable world. “It's an absolute pleasure and privilege to be selected for this program,” said Badr, who is the second youngest UN Young Leader ever and the only Iraqi and American in this year's class. “It's an immense honor and responsibility to be a representative of these multiple identities and…

Matesan Speaks at Meeting with Policymakers in Switzerland

Case, Hingorani Coauthor Study on DNA Repair

Sousa ’03 Produces, Directs Native America Documentary for PBS

Kiman Speaks on Klezmer Music during Graduate Speaker Series

Wesleyan in the News

Faculty, Alumna Celebrate the Publication of Their New Russian Literature Books

Wesleyan Receives Major Grant to Teach Hindi and Urdu, Expand South Asian Programming

Wesleyan in the News

6 Wesleyan Alumni Named to Top Nonprofit Leaders List

Slotkin Authors New Book of Semifictional Stories

Kauanui Presents Paper at Decolonizing Anarchisms Conference

Badr ’20 Named UN Young Leader for Sustainable Development Goals