David PesciNovember 30, 20094min
Russell Perkins ’09 was awarded a 2010 Rhodes Scholarship. Perkins, from Evanston, Ill., graduated with high honors from Wesleyan University in May. He majored in the College of Letters (COL) with a senior thesis titled “Violence in Adornian Aesthetics and the Art of Anselm Kiefer;” his advisor was Khachig Tölölyan, professor of English, professor of letters. Perkins co-founded Wesleyan’s Center for Prison Education which offers Wesleyan courses at Connecticut’s Cheshire Correctional Institution. In addition to offering education for selected inmates, the program provides research and volunteer opportunities for Wesleyan students and faculty. Perkins entered his name into the Rhodes competition,…

David PesciNovember 30, 20092min
Wesleyan University will be hosting an interactive panel on admissions that will be webcast live and co-produced by Unigo and The Wall Street Journal through their partnership WSJ on Campus at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 2, in the Usdan University Center’s Daniel Family Commons. The panel will feature the chief admissions officers from Wesleyan University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Williams College, Bryn Mawr College, Marquette University, Grinnell College, and the University of Vermont. They will discuss trends and current issues in admissions. The event will also feature interactive participation from viewers on the web, as well as…

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20093min
Nineteen students are enrolled in a new grant-funded pilot program that provides classes taught by faculty volunteers and is administered by two graduate students. What makes this program different from any other outreach initiative by Wesleyan is that the students are incarcerated. "The mission of Wesleyan's Center for Prison Education" program is to practice Wesleyan's civic engagement by offering college courses to incarcerated individuals, in order both to enrich the lives of those who are systematically denied access to educational opportunities and to enhance Wesleyan’s academic community," explains program manager Cathy Crimmins Lechowicz, director of community service and volunteerism. The…

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20091min
This summer, students will have the opportunity to complete semester-long courses in a period of five weeks. Twenty-five courses, taught by Wesleyan faculty, will be offered during the 2010 Summer Session. Classes begin June. 7. "These courses include some highly popular courses that always have more interested students than space during the regular academic year, as well as some new and advanced courses, and some new thematic institutes," explains Joe Bruno, vice president for Academic Affairs and provost. Highlights include three two-course institutes on different themes: neuroscience and psychology, computer programming and computer music, and visualizing (more…)

Corrina KerrNovember 30, 20093min
This issue we feature 5 Questions with... J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, associate professor of American studies, associate professor of anthropology. Q. How did you become interested in your area of study? JKK: My area of study is related to researching the history of U.S. imperialism in the Pacific Islands. Researching indigenous issues in Hawai`i, I found it necessary to study how the U.S. government has treated Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) in light of its U.S. federal policy on American Indians and Alaska Natives. The policy is convoluted. The U.S. government has alternately classified Kanaka Maoli, as well as other Native Pacific…

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20091min
As an undergrad, John Shapiro '74 dreamed of writing the great American novel. But two things kept him from doing so. "Talent, and discipline," Shapiro says. "So recognizing that eventually, I decided that if you can't do, you can enable." In 2008, Shapiro and his wife, Shonni Silverberg, M.D.'76 made a $3.5M gift to fund a writing center at Wesleyan. And on Nov. 20, the Shapiro Creative Writing Center, located on the top floor of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, was dedicated with a ribbon cutting ceremony. "It's my feeling that by catalyzing this effort, and…

Corrina KerrNovember 30, 20092min
American history has almost completely edited out Henry Roe Cloud from its story, even though this full-blood Winnebago was one of the most accomplished and celebrated American Indians in the first half of the twentieth century.  Joel Pfister's The Yale Indian: The Education of Henry Roe Cloud corrects this omission. Pfister, chair of the English Department and the Kenan Professor of the Humanities, and former chair of the American Studies Program, began exploring American Indian archives when he was a Yale doctoral student in the 1980s and started his research on Yale’s Roe Cloud letters in 1995.  Very little has…