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Annie RoachSeptember 17, 20203min
In this continuing series, Annie Roach ’22, an English and Italian studies major from Middletown, Del., reviews alumni books and offers a selection for those in search of knowledge, insight, and inspiration. The volumes, sent to us by alumni, are forwarded to Olin Library as donations to the University’s collection and made available to the Wesleyan community. Makenna Goodman ’06, The Shame (Milkweed, 2020) In a letter to her children that she writes in case of an untimely death, Makenna Goodman’s protagonist Alma muses, “My great fear, which has kept me up nights for years, is that you will have…

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Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20204min
Following a carefully coordinated return to campus and an initial period of remote learning during Connecticut's mandated two-week quarantine, just two students and three employees at Wesleyan have tested positive for COVID-19 to date this fall. The low positivity rate, well under 0.1% of the entire campus population and tracked regularly on Wesleyan's COVID-19 dashboard, reflects the care and planning that have gone into preparing the campus for the fall semester, as well as commendable adherence to safety protocols by the Wesleyan campus community. More than 15,000 tests have already been conducted. "Our positivity rate on campus is lower than…

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Olivia DrakeSeptember 14, 20204min
When the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted in-person classes last spring, several faculty found innovative and creative ways to adapt to online teaching and learning. In the second of a fall-semester series, we'll be highlighting ways faculty from various departments are coping with teaching during a pandemic, and showcase individual ways courses are thriving in an online or hybridized environment. In this issue, we spotlight Peter Rutland from the Government Department. Peter Rutland, the Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, professor of government, is teaching GOVT 157: Democracy & Dictatorship and GOVT 278: Nationalism this fall. He's…

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Olivia DrakeSeptember 14, 20201min
On Sept. 11, members of the Wesleyan community remembered the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. In 2002, a September 11 Memorial Garden was planted in front of North College and honors those who "gathered at this place to console one another, to remember those lost, to share and learn, to pray for peace." Wesleyan's grounds crew annually decorates the garden with fresh flowers and flags during the annual commemoration. (Photos by Simon Duan '23)

Olivia DrakeSeptember 8, 20201min
Several remote teaching and learning "success stories" are now published on the Office for Faculty Career Development's (OFCD) Teaching Matters website. "We hope the stories inspire others to make changes and make it clear to everyone that it was possible to make the transition well," said Mary Alice Haddad, the John E. Andrus Professor of Government and director of the OFCD. The stories are based on surveys administered by Academic Affairs last spring. Although there were many courses that went well in spring 2020, Haddad selected to present a diversity of courses drawn from different class sizes, pedagogy styles, synchronous/asynchronous…

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Olivia DrakeSeptember 8, 20203min
When the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted in-person classes last spring, several faculty found innovative and creative ways to adapt to online teaching and learning. In the first of a fall-semester series, we'll be highlighting ways faculty from various departments are coping with teaching during a pandemic, and showcase individual ways courses are thriving in an online or hybridized environment. In this issue, we spotlight Naho Maruta from the College of East Asian Studies; Alison O’Neil from the Chemistry Department; and Ron Jenkins from the Theater Department. Naho Maruta, associate professor of the practice in East Asian studies, chose to teach her…

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Olivia DrakeSeptember 8, 20206min
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university community was under a quarantine period from Aug. 24 to Sept. 6. Students were asked to take a COVID-19 test prior to leaving home, were tested again upon arrival, and will be tested twice a week as the semester gets underway. Through multiple platforms, including Zoom and Moodle, faculty taught all classes remotely during the first week. Following the quarantine period, faculty have the option to teach courses entirely online, in-person, or through a hybrid system through the Thanksgiving break, after which all faculty are prepared to return to distance learning.  

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Olivia DrakeSeptember 5, 20202min
Starting last March, Information Technology Services and the Center for Pedagogical Learning began offering a number of workshops to assist faculty in the transition to remote teaching. Wesleyan is using Zoom, a cloud-based video and online chat platform ideal for distance education, and Moodle, an open-source learning management system for the majority of online teachings. Workshop topics include how to schedule and start a Zoom meeting, meeting controls, sharing a Zoom recording, managing Zoom breakout rooms, and using Moodle. The training workshop videos are online here. In addition, this fall 30 faculty are participating in the newly established Remote Teaching Cohorts.…