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As we kick off another academic year and say goodbye to summer, Rachel Wachman ’24, an English and French double major from Massachusetts, takes over reviewing books written by alumni and offers a selection for those in search of their next great read. The volumes, sent by the alumni authors, are forwarded to Olin Library as donations to the University’s collection and are made available to the Wesleyan community. Steve Almond ’88, All the Secrets of the World (Zando, 2022) When Lorena Saenz and Jenny Stallworth, two girls from vastly different backgrounds, are partnered together by their teacher for a…

While students were away for the summer, Wesleyan’s Physical Plant staff were hard at work on new construction and renovations across campus, projects that improve the university’s ability to offer a high-quality education. “I’m incredibly proud of the team that has accomplished so much on our campus this summer. Their efforts will improve the sustainability of our campus and will benefit many future generations of Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff. I’m grateful to the entire Wesleyan community for their help in prioritizing these critical projects and for the continued flexibility during ongoing construction projects,” said Andy Tanaka '00, Senior Vice…

Erika Taylor, associate professor of chemistry, didn’t have a single female science teacher during her academic career. The lack of female representation in the field had an impact on her journey. “I had to swim upstream the whole time. That is what it felt like,” Taylor said. In an effort to make sure other young women don’t feel the same way, Taylor and Meng-ju Renee Sher ‘07, assistant professor of physics, are working diligently to show girls that a life in the sciences is desirable and attainable. The Girls in Science program, a partnership between Wesleyan and the Middletown Public…

Kristen Cardona MPhil ’22 has always had a thirst for teaching and learning. It led her to a career as an elementary and middle school educator. It drove her to take a few classes at Wesleyan, work with the Office of Continuing Education, and attain her own Masters of Philosophy in Liberal Arts degree (with an award-winning thesis project). Now, thanks to her hard work and the encouragement of her Wesleyan colleagues, Cardona will be going on a 10-month fellowship project training teachers and teaching English in Okinawa, Japan as part of the U.S. Department of State’s 2022-23 English Language…

(Updated August 30, 2022) Peter Rutland, professor of government, spoke to Newsweek about Ukrainian efforts to retake the occupied territory of the Kherson province and about Russia’s failed efforts at air supremacy. He also spoke to the Village Voice, giving context about life in Russia currently and attention fatigue on the part of American audiences connected to the war in Ukraine. (August 30) American Artist spoke with science fiction scholar Lou Cornum, a post-doctoral fellow at Wesleyan University, about how the imagining of other worlds is so often born of dissatisfaction with present and past ones in an Art in…

The kernel for “ABCD,” the first professionally produced play written by playwright, director, and dramaturg May Treuhaft-Ali ’17, started as a 10-page class assignment the spring of her senior year at Wesleyan. “ABCD,” which premiered at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, this summer, began as part of her coursework at Wesleyan with Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes (“In the Heights”) that focused on writing historical plays. The crosslisted Theater and English course “Writing History” was an intermediate-level playwriting workshop. Treuhaft-Ali examined plays that used different dramaturgical strategies to grapple with, question, and invigorate the historical record; and…

Almost every scientist has an origin story, the moment they knew a life of scientific inquiry and research was something they wanted. “All of the faculty have that story,” said Seth Redfield, professor of astronomy, at the annual poster session held at Exley Science Center on July 28. “Almost all of them involve an experience like this one.” About 200 students representing all of the University’s scientific disciplines shared the fruits of a summer spent doing research. The summer research program is hosted by the College of Integrative Sciences. Students and faculty milled around the lobby of Exley, talking to…

Citing the urgent need for more effective and equitable health communication, researchers at Wesleyan University are collaborating with two other universities on a unique rapid response research endeavor led by Cornell communication professor Jeff Niederdeppe and funded with a newly announced $5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). “At this moment it is crucial to understand both the nature of and the potential of messaging around policies promoting racial and health equity,” said Steven Moore, assistant professor of government and an expert on race and politics. “I’m excited to be a part of this fantastic team of…

Tsampikos Kottos, the Lauren B. Dachs Endowed Professor of Science and Society, is passionate about the importance of sensors in our everyday lives and believes his most recent efforts will improve safety in fields as varied as aviation, biology, and food safety. “Nothing in this universe can work without sensing. The human body is an amazing sensor, starting from the brain all the way down to the toes,” Kottos said. “We are trying to learn from what nature has created.” Kottos, along with Rodion Kononchuk, postdoctoral physics research associate in Wesleyan’s Wave Transport in Complex Systems Laboratory, Professor of Physics…

Wesleyan’s intellectually dynamic faculty, students, alumni, staff, and parents frequently serve as expert sources for national media. Others are noted for recent achievements and accolades. (Updated July 29, 2022) Frank G. Binswanger Jr. '50, P '76, '78, GP '13, '15, former member of Wesleyan's Board of Trustees and corporate real executive, has died. Frank and his brother John ’54, P’83, GP’ 06, ’10, ’16 established the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching in honor of their father. Each year at Commencement members of the Alumni Association Executive Committee choose three faculty as recipients of the prize. (July 28) Carolyn Renzin '95…

A recent paper co-authored by Anna Shusterman, professor of psychology, shows that for deaf and hard of hearing children, immediate access to language is needed to develop abstract concepts, like numeracy. “Language is important in its own right, but it also serves as the foundation for many other domains, including social and cognitive development,” Shusterman wrote. Shusterman’s study was published in the June issue of the journal Child Development. Shusterman and her colleagues, Rebecca Peretz-Lange ’13 of SUNY Purchase (who wrote her senior thesis on the project), Talia Berkowitz of University of Chicago, and Emily Carrigan of University of North…

Seth Redfield’s delight couldn’t be more apparent on the day the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope came through. On July 11 NASA released images of the Carina Nebula; Stephan’s Quintet (a galaxy cluster), atmospheric readings of WASP-96b, a planet orbiting a distant star; and the Southern Ring Nebula. While the images were certainly dreamlike and breathtaking, showing the oldest documented light in the universe from 13 billion years ago, it was the events of day two that got Redfield really excited. It was then that he, and scientists across the country, would start receiving raw data from…

“You Just Have to Read This…” Books by Wesleyan Authors Almond ’88, Sonenberg ’82, and Vidich ’72

University Making Progress on New Construction and Renovations

Wesleyan Partners With Middletown Public Schools to Encourage Girls in Science

Love of Learning and Teaching Leads to State Department Fellowship

Wesleyan in the News, August 2022

“Take Big Risks:” Treuhaft-Ali ’17 on Playwriting and Her Premiere at Barrington Stage

Budding Scientists Share Their Research at Summer Poster Session

Rapid Response Media Messaging Research Will Promote Health and Racial Equity

New Sensor Will Help Improve Safety in Aviation, Biology, and More

Wesleyan in the News, July 2022

New Research Shows Immediate Access to Language Helps Numeracy

Wesleyan Astronomy Prof Getting First Glimpse at Webb Telescope Data