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On Sept. 22, the Wesleyan Student Assembly hosted its 27th annual Student Groups Fair on Andrus Field. The event provides an opportunity for students to meet with representatives of both new and established groups and network with university departments who provide annual programs. Wesleyan is home to more than 250 student organizations under the categories of activism, identity, sports, publications, visual arts, independent projects, the Office of Community Service and more. Groups include Wesleyan's pro-Israel political activism group, Cardinals for Israel; the Wesleyan Boxing Club; PINOY, the Filipino Student Association; the Basal Gang, a club for people interested in neuroscience…

Logan Dancey, assistant professor of government, and Jasmine Masand ‘15 are the co-authors of "Race and Representation on Twitter: Members of Congress’ Responses to the Deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner," published in Politics, Groups, and Identities in July 2017. This paper investigates the public responses of members of Congress to the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner and the subsequent protests and grand jury decisions. To do so, the authors examined members’ engagement with the issue on Twitter, which became a platform for public protest with such hashtags as #BlackLivesMatter and #ICantBreathe. "We find that a member’s race is a…

Joseph Knee, the Beach Professor of Chemistry and Dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division, is the author of a new article published in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP). This "Perspectives" article, which was commissioned by the PCCP editorial board and editorial office, is a high-profile look at work by Knee and his collaborators that has been going on for nearly a decade. Perspectives articles are intended to present an authoritative state-of-the-art account of a particular research field. The research by Knee and his collaborators, which is ongoing, uses experimental and computational methods to explore hydrogen bonding interactions, which are extremely important in the…

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The gridiron is the foundation where lifelong friendships are built. At Wesleyan, this bond between teammates started way back in 1881 and has only flourished since then. It would be difficult to find a better example of the friendships Wesleyan Football produces than in the three captains from the 1988 team: Mike Charlton '89, Matt Coan '89 and Jim Lukowski '89. Charlton, a Connecticut native who grew up in Detroit, played four years on the defensive line as a nose guard. As if football and academics weren't enough, he also competed on the wrestling team throughout his college tenure. "You…

For the second year in a row, a book of poetry published by Wesleyan University Press has been longlisted as one of ten nominees for the National Book Award for Poetry. This year’s nominee, In the Language of My Captor, by Shane McCrae, examines the idea of freedom told through stories of captivity. Comprised of historical persona poems with a prose memoir at its center, the book addresses the illusory freedom of both black and white Americans. “We are delighted and honored that Shane McCrae’s book is on the long list for poetry—and to be in such esteemed company," said…

Guns in American Society, this year’s Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, will be held on campus on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27-28. Made possible by a generous grant from the Shasha family, the 16th annual event will convene experts, including Wesleyan faculty and administrators, as well as alumni from across the country, to examine current debates about the role of guns in American society and discuss ways of reducing the national incidence of gun violence. According to seminar organizer Jennifer Tucker, associate professor of history and science in society and researcher in the history of technology, law and culture, guns are a topic…

A team of scientists from Wesleyan, led by Associate Professor of Astronomy Seth Redfield and graduate student Prajwal Niraula MA '18, has co-authored a paper on the discovery of three planets, or super-Earths, transiting around a nearby star, just 98 light-years away. “Super-Earths are slightly larger than Earth, and the three of them straddle the divide between the rocky planets like Earth and ice giants like Neptune,” explains Redfield. These planets were found using the Kepler Space Telescope. “Kepler has found thousands of exoplanets these last eight years, but this is the closest planetary system that Kepler has ever found, although closer planetary systems have been…

Amid the devastation wrought by recent storms, Professor of Government Mary Alice Haddad calls in The Hartford Courant for people everywhere to be better prepared to respond to natural disasters. When the next storm hits our area, she writes, "It will not be professional first-responders but rather our neighbors who will be the ones handing our child to safety, lifting our dog from his perch atop the garage or helping our grandmother stay warm. America needs to build up its civil society infrastructure. We are known for our volunteerism, our generosity and our big hearts. We now need to organize that volunteer spirit…

This month, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, will award Sumarsam, the Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music, with a Cultural and Traditional Arts Maestro Award. The honor, Satyalancana Kebudayaan, is awarded on decree from Indonesia President Joko Widodo and given to eight outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to develop and foster Indonesian traditional culture. (more…)

Nicholas "Nicky" Antonellis '17, a BA/MA student in physics, is one of 14 students in the U.S. selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship from the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS). Candidates for the award must be full-time graduate students who are interested in pursuing or are currently studying the directed energy technology areas of high-energy lasers or high-power microwaves. Antonellis is interested in using his knowledge in photonic device design and computational simulations in order to eventually improve upon medical technologies. (more…)

In response to recent signals from the Trump administration that it plans to re-visit enforcement of Title IX on college campuses, President Michael S. Roth writes in The Washington Post to reaffirm Wesleyan's commitment to support and protect the rights of survivors of sexual violence while also protecting the presumption of innocence and due process of the accused. Roth writes: "At my university, we regularly review procedures to ensure that adjudication is supportive of those who come forward with reports of being attacked, and that the process is fair in assigning any responsibility to a particular individual. We will pay close attention to the…

Student Groups Fair Showcases Wesleyan’s Broad Range of Organizations

Paper by Dancey, Masand ’15 Focuses on Congress’s Response to Deaths

Knee Co-Authors Article on Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions

Ma ’17 Exhibits Painting Thesis at Freeman Gallery

Class of ’89 Alumni Credit Wes Football for Friendships

WesPress Book Longlisted for 2017 National Book Award for Poetry

Shasha Seminar 2017 Convenes Experts on Gun Legislation Debate, Paths Forward, Oct. 27-28

Niraula MA ’18, Redfield Lead Team in Discovery of 3 Super-Earths

Haddad Calls for Development of Volunteer Force to Respond to Natural Disasters

Sumarsam Honored for Contributing, Fostering Traditional Indonesian Culture

BA/MA Student Antonellis ’17 Awarded Scholarship for Energy Technology Research

Roth Argues Colleges Must Not Turn Back the Clock on Efforts to Combat Sexual Assault