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Students from Introduction to Environmental Studies (E&ES 197) presented their final projects Dec. 11 in Exley Science Center. The Project Showcase involved 80 students informally presenting artists books, GIS story maps, children's stories, fictional journals and other creative explorations. “All projects are related to environmental issues in the Connecticut River,” said course instructor Kim Diver, visiting assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences. The project is associated with the Center for the Arts' Feet to the Fire initiative. Several Wesleyan scholars and staff volunteered their time to demonstrate artist books to the students including Kate TenEyck, art studio technician and visiting assistant professor of art;…

Robinson's new study explains why it can be so hard to resist alcohol, drugs or sweet treats

#THISISWHY The Office of Human Resources presented three Cardinal Achievement Awards to University Relations staff in December 2014. Charles "Chuck" Fedolfi '90, director of annual giving, was honored for his work on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 2, when the Wesleyan community joined together in an unprecedented show of support for students. Led by Fedolfi, a team of colleagues and volunteers inspired alumni, parents, faculty and staff to make 2,059 gifts totaling over $500,000 – far exceeding the original goal of 1,000 gifts (more…)

Masami Imai, professor of economics, professor of East Asian studies, is the co-author of an article titled "Attribution Error in Economic Voting: Evidence from Trade Shocks," published in the January 2015 edition of Economy Inquiry, Volume 53, Issue 1, pages 258-257. Rosa Hayes '13, currently a research analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, also is one of the paper's co-authors. This article exploits the international transmission of business cycles to examine the prevalence of attribution error in economic voting in a large panel of countries from 1990 to 2009. Masami and his co-authors found that voters, on average, exhibit…

#THISISWHY (by Christine Foster. Originally published in Wesleyan Magazine, Dec. 10, 2014) Professor of Art Tula Telfair’s epic and massive landscape paintings fill the walls of Wesleyan’s Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery. They call forth our memories of the most stunning scenic vistas—craggy mountains topped by threatening clouds; impossibly moist, green valleys; icebergs jutting hundreds of feet out of the freezing aqua waters below. From a distance, they appear to be photographs, but they aren’t. These views don’t even exist, except in Telfair’s mind and on her canvases. Still—even knowing they are imagined— the viewer is tempted to look for signs of…

Thirteen students enrolled in Professor of Art Tula Telfair's Painting I course (ARTS 439) displayed their artwork at a Painting Show Dec. 8 at Art Studio South. This introductory-level course in painting (oils) emphasized work from observation and stressed the fundamentals of formal structure: color, paint manipulation, composition and scale. Students addressed conceptual problems that helped them develop an understanding of the power of visual images to convey ideas and expressions. (Photos by Dat Vu '15) (more…)

Professor of Government James McGuire is the author of a book chapter titled "Democracy, Agency and the Classification of Political Regimes," published in Reflections on Uneven Democracies: The Legacy of Guillermo O'Donnell by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. Guillermo O'Donnell (1936-2011) was widely recognized as the world's leading scholar of Latin American politics. During his doctoral studies, McGuire worked closely with O'Donnell in both Argentina and the United States, translating from Spanish to English O'Donnell's Bureaucratic Authoritarianism: Argentina, 1966-1973, in Comparative Perspective (University of California Press, 1988). McGuire's chapter in this new volume commemorating O'Donnell's life and work argues that schemes for classifying…

On Dec. 8, approximately 1,000 students, faculty and staff participated in a Black Lives Matter March. The participants marched as a show of solidarity with national protests against discriminatory treatment of blacks in the criminal justice system and incidents of police brutality. The group started at Exley Science Center, marched across campus and proceeded down Washington Street to the intersection at Main Street in Middletown. They chanted "black lives matter," "hands up, don't shoot," and "we can't breathe." In The Hartford Courant, Abhi Janamanchi '17 said he he hoped the event would serve as a "dose of reality" about the racial issues…

Heavy precipitation and freezing overnight temperatures created an icy morning on campus Dec. 9. (more…)

On Dec. 5, the Quantitative Analysis Center (QAC) hosted its annual student research final exam evaluation event for its QAC 201 course. More than 100 students presented their projects at a poster session to fellow students, faculty, alumni and friends of Wesleyan. (more…)

In the summer of 2014, students from more than 200 countries enrolled in Professor of Psychology Scott Plous's Social Psychology "MOOC" (massive open online course). The class was offered by Wesleyan, hosted by Coursera.org, and drew more than 200,000 students. The final assignment of the course, "The Day of Compassion," asked students to live 24 hours as compassionately as possible and to analyze the experience using social psychology. (more…)

Art Books Illustrate Environmental Concerns, Lessons

Robinson Pinpoints Addiction Center in Brain

Fedolfi, Kini, Kaufman Receive Cardinal Achievement Awards

Imai’s Paper Examines the Prevalence of Attribution Error in Economic Voting

Telfair’s Imaginary Landscapes Garner Attenton from Artists, Scientists Alike

Students Showcase Art at Painting Show

McGuire Authors Chapter on Democracy, Political Regimes

Student Athletes Collect Toys for Local Children at “Stuff the Net”

Students Lead Black Lives Matter March through Campus, Middletown

Icy December Morning at Wesleyan

QAC Hosts Final Exam Evaluation, Poster Session

Plous’s MOOC Student Honored by Jane Goodall for Compassionate Act