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On March 2, the College of the Environment Think Tank presented a multidisciplinary performance titled, "Facing Disasters: Disturbing the Human-Environment Relationship" in Memorial Chapel and Zelnick Pavillion. COE fellows and members of the Wesleyan community explored ideas of facing disasters and motivating action by presenting multiple works that engaged with the 2017–18 Think Tank theme "From Disruptions to Disasters." Presenters included Vaishvi Jhaveri '18; Paula Tartell '18, Shingo Umehara '18 Nora Thompson '15 and Ostin Pham '17. Other participants were Katja Kolcio, associate professor of dance, associate professor of environmental studies and associate professor of Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies; William Johnston, professor of…

Wesleyan faculty frequently publish articles based on their scholarship in The Conversation US, a nonprofit news organization with the tagline, “Academic rigor, journalistic flair.” Janice Naegele, the Alan M. Dachs Professor of Science, writes about the implications of a controversial new neuroscience study from the University of California, San Francisco. Naegele also is professor of biology and professor of neuroscience and behavior. Read her bio on The Conversation. Scientists have known for about two decades that some neurons—the fundamental cells in the brain that transmit signals—are generated throughout life. But now a controversial new study from the University of California, San Francisco, casts doubt…

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. (more…)

Alvin Chitena '19 has been named a 2018 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, a Boston-based nonprofit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education. The Newman Civic Fellowship, named for Campus Compact co-founder Frank Newman, is a one-year experience emphasizing personal, professional, and civic growth. Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides a variety of learning and networking opportunities, including a national conference of Newman Civic Fellows in partnership with the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. The fellowship also provides fellows with access to apply for exclusive scholarship and postgraduate opportunities. (more…)

On March 8, Women @ Wesleyan, in collaboration with the Women of Color Program House, hosted a photo campaign to celebrate International Women’s Day. Dozens of Wesleyan students and staff posed with #PressforProgress signs to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women. The event was spearheaded by Krystal-Gayle O’Neill, area coordinator for residential life. Photos of the campaign are below: (more…)

Back-to-back snowstorms hammered Wesleyan's campus on March 6–7 and again on March 13, while students were preparing for—or away for—spring break. Winter Storm Riley swept through campus on March 6–7 with blustery winds and heavy snow, and Winter Storm Skylar delivered a constant stream of flurries to Middletown on March 13. "As students and faculty were preparing for spring break (staff at Wesleyan mostly work straight through), the New England winter reminded us all that the season wasn’t quite done blanketing our campus," President Michael Roth wrote in his blog. "It’s beautiful, but it’s slippery. It’s fun to slide down Foss Hill,…

For the first time in Wesleyan's history, the Cardinals not only hosted an NCAA Division III Tournament at Silloway Gymnasium but they also won their first-ever NCAA game, with a 101–71 triumph over Southern Vermont on March 2. The Cardinals finished the season with a 22–7 overall record—the most wins in a single season for the program. The unit was anchored by three outstanding seniors—Jordan Sears, Nathan Krill and JR Bascom—who helped lead the winningest class in Wesleyan men’s basketball history. The No. 15–ranked Wesleyan University men's basketball team cut a 21-point, second-half deficit to three midway through the final half on March 3,…

In its most recent meeting, the Board of Trustees promoted eight faculty. Their promotions will be effective July 1, 2018. The Board conferred tenure to Kathleen Birney, associate professor of classical studies; Greg Goldberg, associate professor of sociology; Ruth Johnson, associate professor of biology; Melanie Khamis, associate professor of economics; Marguerite Nguyen, associate professor of English; Sasha Rudensky, associate professor of art; Victoria Smolkin, associate professor of history; and Ao Wang, associate professor of East Asian studies. Brief descriptions of their areas of research and teaching appear below: Kathleen Birney Professor Birney is a Mediterranean archaeologist whose research focuses on understanding interactions…

At its meeting on March 3, the Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition and residential comprehensive fees by 4.1 percent for the 2018-19 year. Tuition and fees for the 2018–19 year will be $54,614. The residential comprehensive fee for first-year and sophomore students will be $15,060, for juniors and seniors, $17,120. Wesleyan’s percentage increase in student charges aligns with its projected increase in total expenses. Wesleyan meets the full demonstrated financial need of all admitted students and devotes almost $60 million of its operating budget to support of scholarships. In 2017-18, 42 percent of students are receiving need-based scholarship…

In an audience question-and-answer period, featured in the video below by Jon Hendel, Hilary Jacobs Hendel explained the usefulness of core emotions—including anger—and offered suggestions for nonthreatening ways that a reader could begin to talk about emotions with family and friends:

A game show where three contestants compete for the grand prize—immediate citizenship to the U.S.A.—and the audience decides who wins. That’s the premise of American Dreams, the newest work by actor/playwright Leila Buck ’99, which just completed its world premiere at Cleveland Public Theatre on March 3rd. In this participatory theater piece, each night the contestants—a Mexican-American medic and Dreamer, a Pakistani cartoonist, and a Palestinian chef—compete in five rounds: How America Works (a buzzer-style quiz with questions from the U.S. citizenship test); America’s Favorites (audience volunteers help contestants answer questions from national surveys about Americans’ “favorite things”); Aliens with…

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. Inside Higher Ed: "Against Conformity" President Michael Roth '78 reflects on the questioning of liberal education—both in China and the United States. 2. China Daily: "Stephen Angle: Practicing the Confucianism He Preaches" A top Chinese newspaper profiles Stephen Angle, Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies, professor of philosophy, from his early embrace of Confucianism and Chinese culture through his successful academic career. He was recently named Light of Civilization 2017 Chinese Cultural Exchange Person of the Year. 3. New…

“Facing Disasters” Explored in Multidisciplinary Performance

Naegele in The Conversation: Are Neurons Added to the Human Brain after Birth?

Love of Language Learning Lies behind Upcoming Symposium

Chitena ’19 Named 2018 Newman Civic Fellow

Campus Celebrates International Women’s Day with Photo Campaign

Winter Storms Blast Campus During Spring Break

Men’s Basketball Hosts First-Ever NCAA Tournament

Board of Trustees Confers Tenure on 8 Faculty

Tuition, Residential Comprehensive Fees Increase by 4.1 Percent

Hendel ’85, It’s Not Always Depression at Wesleyan RJ Julia Author Event

Playwright Buck ’99: Quest for Citizenship as Game Show in American Dreams

Wesleyan in the News