Lauren RubensteinClara Wilkins, assistant professor of psychology, is interested in research showing that whites are increasingly likely to see themselves as victims of racial discrimination, despite persistent gaps in income and other forms of inequality between blacks and whites in the U.S. Perceiving bias against whites is even more pervasive in white young adults than in the population as a whole, with 58 percent of whites aged 18-24 agreeing that, “discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against blacks and other minorities.” In a new study, Wilkins and Joseph Wellman, postdoctoral fellow in psychology, investigated how whites react…
Kate CarlisleWesleyan’s friends and neighbors in the community are invited (along with students, staff and faculty) to enjoy Middletown Day on campus Sept. 21. A menu of family activities is planned for the afternoon, leading up to the first night football game in the NESCAC, as the Cardinals face the Tufts University Jumbos in the season’s first contest. From 2:30 until about 4:45 p.m., Freeman Athletic Center will be the scene of games, live music, poster-making and balloon art, a bouncehouse for small visitors and various farmers’ market vendors. Free popcorn and beverages will be offered as well. At afternoon’s end,…
Olivia DrakeFrom Sept. 18-26, Wesleyan's Jewish community will observe the holiday of Sukkot by living, studying, holding classes, meditating, eating and socializing in a structure made completely of bamboo and steel rods. On Sept. 9-11, four members of Wesleyan's Physical Plant staff worked full days to assemble the massive temporary structure on the lawn of Olin Library. (more…)
There are nearly 3 million post-9/11 veterans in the U.S., many wishing to attend college and pursue bachelor’s degrees. Unfortunately, liberal arts colleges and universities often struggle to recruit these veterans, and retention and graduation rates are low. In an effort to dramatically increase the number of veterans it enrolls, Wesleyan is entering into a new partnership with The Posse Foundation, Inc. Since 1989, The Posse Foundation has helped colleges and universities to recruit exceptional public high school students who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Through its newest initiative, the Veterans Posse Program, the foundation identifies talented…
Ted Shaw '76 will speak on “Looking Backwards; Looking Forward: The Persistence of Race in 21st Century American Life” during Wesleyan's annual Constitution Day celebration Sept. 17. Shaw is Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University Law School and counsel at the international firm of Fulbright and Jaworski. He served as director-counsel and president of the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 2004 through 2008 and as a Wesleyan Trustee for 15 years. Shaw's talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in Olin Library's Smith Reading Room. Wesleyan’s Constitution Day event is part of a nationwide observance the U.S. Department of Education has…
The smack of the football in a receiver’s hands, the percussive thud of runners’ feet on the straightaway, the roar of spectators as the tape is broken or the ball goes through the uprights: these things don’t change. Other things do. Wesleyan athletes returning to campus this month were greeted by a sparkling new artificial turf field and track, glistening almost in Technicolor behind Freeman Athletic Center. The $1.6-million facility, funded by more than 100 generous supporters, will be home not just to track meets and everyday runners, but will serve as a practice surface for the football and other…
Aharon Barak, former president of the Israeli Supreme Court Interdisciplinary Center, in Herzliya, Israel will deliver the 23rd annual Hugo L. Black Lecture on Freedom of Expression at 8 p.m. Oct. 8 in Memorial Chapel. His talk is titled, “Human Dignity and Free Speech." Barak served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Israel from 1978 to 1995 and as president of the Court from 1995 to 2006. Earlier, he was Attorney General of the State of Israel and Dean of the Law Faculty at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1978, Barak traveled to the United States as…
No matter what field of study they pursue, Wesleyan students almost inevitably find that their education provides an introduction to cultures other than their own. Whether it’s the German film, West African dance, or Latin American politics class they take; a study abroad adventure; or a new friend or classmate from another part of the world, the Wesleyan experience reaches far outside central Connecticut. To celebrate and share the global nature of a Wesleyan education—as well as the impact of Wesleyan students, faculty and alumni in countries around the world—a new International website has just been launched. The site serves…
On Sept. 28, Wesleyan hopes to change the conversation, change the culture, and change future laws regarding gun violence in America. During a day-long conference titled, "Marching On," experts from Wesleyan and all over Connecticut will speak on gun violence prevention and ways to promote legislation change. The event is hosted by Connecticut Against Gun Violence, the Wesleyan Association of Christian Thinkers, Wesleyan's Center for Community Partnerships and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Psi Upsilon, Womanist House, Buddhist house, 200 Church residence hall and Wes Democrats. "The evidence of preventable, unnecessary gun violence in our society is…
This fall, join novelists, poets, editors, writers and a physician for the Russell House Series on Prose and Poetry. The series is presented by Writing at Wesleyan and sponsored by the Center for the Arts. All events are free and open to the public. The series kicked off Sept. 11 with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa. Komunyakaa is author of 20 books of poetry. He received a bronze star for his service as a journalist in the Vietnam War and is a professor and senior distinguished poet in the graduate Creative Writing Program at New York University. Salvatore Scibona and…
Masami Imai, professor of economics, professor of East Asian studies, is the author of a newly-published paper and a paper that just won an award. "Local Economic Effects of a Government-Owned Depository Institution: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Japan," was given the best paper award in the Journal of Financial Intermediation. The paper, originally published in that journal in January 2012, can be read here. Imai is also the co-author–with Peter Hull of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology–of a paper,"Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: Evidence from Foreign Interest Rate Movements," published in the Journal of Development Economics in July. It…
Brian KattenOn Sept. 7, Wesleyan men's and women's swimming and diving teams participated in the fourth annual Swim Across America (SAA), held in Narragansett, R.I. at Roger Wheeler State Beach to help make waves in the fight against cancer and raise money for cancer research and the Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. Wesleyan swimmers and divers raised $12,782, which almost doubled the $7,500 amount the teams raised last year. Despite not being able to swim in the event because of the jellyfish, Liyan Yao '16 from Laurel Hollow, N.Y., was Wesleyan's top fundraiser, accounting for $935. In all, a…