Olivia Drake(more…)
Lauren RubensteinPeter Rutland, the Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, is the author of an article, "Imagining Russia post-Putin" published by The Conversation. The article appeared in Raw Story, Houston Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications. Rutland writes that Vladamir Putin is almost sure to win re-election as president of Russia in the March 2018 election. The Russian Constitution requires him to step down after two consecutive terms, a problem Putin solved in 2008 when he moved sideways to prime minister as his protege took over as president. Putin returned to the presidency in 2012. (more…)
Andrew Logan ’18Wesleyan Professor of Dance and Environmental Studies Katja Kolcio traveled again to Ukraine in April, this time to work with soldiers and psychologists in the National Guard. It was her third trip to the region to teach somatic practices to those undergoing the stress of political conflict, displacement, and combat. Somatics are “mind-body practices that combine physical activity and motion with deep reflection,” she explained in “Somatics and Political Change: Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity,” (Contact Quarterly, summer/fall 2016), detailing her first trip to the region after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014. In June 2015 she had been invited to lead…
Randi Alexandra PlakeSasha Rudensky ’01, assistant professor of art, assistant professor of Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies, is a finalist for the New East Photo Prize. Her photos, Tinsel and Blue, explore the relationship between illusion and truth and the young people of the post-Soviet generation. Rudensky shot the photo series between 2009 and 2015 in Russia and Ukraine. An alumna of Wesleyan, Rudensky graduated with a degree in studio arts. Rudensky, who was born in Russia and moved to the United States when she was 10, feels this competition keeps her in touch with her heritage. “I am happy to…
Wesleyan welcomed more than 140 international students and U.S. citizens living abroad to campus this week. On Aug. 30, they gathered for a group photo, dinner and skits. Sixteen percent of the entire Class of 2020 hail from 34 other countries including Austria and Belgium to Tanzania, Tunisia and the Ukraine. “This is the most truly global class in Wesleyan history with students of more than 50 nationalities who bring an incredible range of international, multicultural backgrounds and experiences to the Wesleyan community," said Nancy Hargrave Meislahn, dean of admission and financial aid. After arriving on campus Aug. 27-28, the Office of…
Four Wesleyan academic departments, from psychology to dance to chemistry to biology, are competing for grant funds through a new crowdfunding site specifically designed for research project fundraising. Experiment.com's Challenge Grant for Liberal Arts Colleges asked scientists to define a scientific research question for the crowd with a prize for the project with the most backers. The pilot launched on Feb. 24 and concludes March 25.During this 31-day period, the goal is to reach $4,000 in funding. If so, the team is granted the money. If not, they receive nothing and no one's pledges are charged. By backing a project, participants will receive updates, results and data from project creators. Wesleyan research include how the…
More than 185 Wesleyan students are employed in various campus departments over the summer. Of those, about 78 are work-study eligible. Students earn money that can be contributed to the cost of their education, while learning skills that will benefit them in the classroom and beyond. Employers benefit from students' skills, insight and enthusiasm. (more…)
Associate Professor of History Erik Grimmer-Solem’s research on a celebrated German general, known as an “anti-Nazi,” is continuing to have an impact on the ground in Germany today. Over the past year, Grimmer-Solem’s findings have ignited a public debate in the country over General Hans von Sponeck’s place in history—a debate which has now turned to the matter of a commemorative stone honoring him. Since World War II, von Sponeck had been celebrated in Germany with an Air Force base, city streets and other monuments named after him. All this has changed since Grimmer-Solem’s research shed new light on the…
Peter Rutland, the Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thoughts, writes in the Mirror (U.K.) about the threat to the West by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He considers the comparison made by British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon to the Islamic State. While "Putin's people are not beheading Christians or burning captives alive," writes Rutland, Russia has nuclear weapons — lots of them. "And is willing to use them if necessary," he writes. "Deterrence only works if both sides see each other as unwilling to risk war. And [Putin] believes the West will not risk nuclear conflict over where to…
On Oct. 24, the Dance Department and Center for the Arts present "To Not Forget Crimea: Uncertain Quiet of Indigenous Crimean Tatars," a panel discussion and the Fall Faculty Dance Concert by Associate Professor of Dance Katja Kolcio. While international media and political leaders are ignoring the situation in Crimea, this event draws public attention to the widespread violation of the Tatars' human rights and the degree to which the Russian Occupation has forced them out of their ancestral homeland. The evening will begin with a free panel discussion, "Indigenous Ukrainian Perspectives of Crimea Post Russian-Invasion," from 6 to…
Q: Welcome to Wesleyan, Professor Matesan! Can you please tell us a little about your background? A: I’m originally from Romania. I came to the U.S. for undergrad in 1998, and earned a degree in economics and political science from Monmouth College in Illinois. Coming from Romania, I had no sense of differences in states. I got together with a couple friends, and we looked at the admission of international students and amount of aid for them at different colleges, and we applied to the colleges with the most aid per international student. It was very much a cost-benefit analysis.…
A mini fridge, mirror, bed linens, navy blue rug, a N.Y. Yankees decorative sign, storage tubs, a closet-full of clothes. And don't forget the guitar. "What didn't I bring with me?" said Aaron Stagoff-Belfort '18 as he unloaded and unpacked his bounty of belongings into his 113 Butts C residence Wednesday morning. "I have it all. But I only brought a couple books because I heard that [in college] you have no time to read them." Stagoff-Belfort, who hails from Montclair, N.J. is one of 757 members of the Class of 2018 who settled into their new home-away-from-home on Arrival Day,…