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Over winter break, 16 students traveled to a variety of locations around the United States to support voter registration, participate in political campaigns, and work with advocacy groups as part of the Wesleyan Engage 2020 (E2020) initiative. E2020 is a comprehensive university effort to support student learning via civic engagement and liberal arts education. On Feb. 19, students gathered in Allbritton Hall to share their reflections on their winter session E2020 experiences. Some sought to educate young people about the electoral process and mobilize them to vote; others worked on issues such as immigration, criminal justice reform, housing justice, and…

On Feb. 14, the Wesleyan University wrestling team added its newest member to the team as 14-year old Amar Champlin of Team IMPACT signed his National Letter of Intent. "It is a great day to be a Cardinal," said head coach Drew Black. "And it is a great day to be Amar and have him and his family join our team. We are all very excited as we added a great Cardinal to the program." Amar is in the eighth grade and hails from Old Saybrook, Conn. He loves sports, especially wrestling. "To be a Cardinal, you need to be…

Several students took advantage of the 60-plus degree temperatures and warming sun rays Feb. 24 on campus. While some students enjoyed outdoor study time in solitude, others rode bikes and skateboards, played with flying discs, had lunch, and enjoyed socializing under the sun. (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)

Wesleyan’s new Engage 2020 Initiative (E2020) is facilitating student educational experiences in the public sphere ahead of the 2020 elections. As part of this initiative, Wesleyan also is highlighting the contributions of higher education more broadly in promoting democracy. Over the past few months, Wesleyan President Michael Roth '78 has been speaking with other higher education leaders about the “shared responsibilities of higher education institutions for developing civically engaged citizens and contributing to the civic life of the United States.” While the particulars of this work may look different at each institution, leaders at schools around the US have registered…

Wesleyan boasts several exhibits on display this month that are open to the public and are free of charge. View a collection of architect Henry Bacon's campus plans and building designs, student artwork, professional photographs, a cardboard-art installation, an experimental musical commemoration of Beethoven's 250th birthday, and more! Be sure to check out the following exhibits as they are the best of Wes! (Photos by Olivia Drake) RING FAMILY LOBBY DISPLAY CASE: OLIN LIBRARY: (more…)

Not one, but two spacecraft mission concepts co-developed by Martha Gilmore, George I. Seney Professor of Geology and professor of earth and environmental sciences, received second-round backing from NASA's Discovery Program on Feb. 13. Both concepts—which were awarded $3 million each—would assess whether Venus was ever a habitable planet by examining its landscape, rocks, and atmosphere. NASA's Discovery Program, now in its ninth year, funds investigations to develop concept studies for new missions. Although they’re not official missions yet, the selections focus on compelling targets and science that are not covered by NASA’s active missions or recent selections. Gilmore's projects…

Aletta Brady ’15 saw the power in collective storytelling to launch social justice campaigns such as Black Lives Matters and the #MeToo movements. Knowing that these movements were successful because of the power of words, Brady connected the idea of storytelling to the climate crisis, launching a climate-justice organization that was recently recognized by the J.M. Kaplan Fund. The J.M. Kaplan Fund awarded Brady's Our Climate Voices the J.M.K. Innovation Prize for its use of digital storytelling as a new model in the environmental field. The prize is awarded biennially to 10 nonprofit and mission-driven for-profit organizations tackling America’s most…

Jennifer Tucker, associate professor of history, is the author and co-author of several new publications. They include: "A View of the Ocean, Between the Tropics (1765–1800),” published in Britain in the World: Highlights from the Yale Center for British Art by Yale University Press, 2019. “Popularizing the Cosmos: Pedagogies of Science and Society in Anton Pannekoek’s Life and Work,” published in Anton Pannekoek: Ways of Viewing Science and Society by Amsterdam University Press, 2019. (more…)

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Lack of reliable transportation can prevent patients from making it to medical appointments or accessing other health care services. In a recently published paper, lead author Eli Solomon '20 explored and analyzed existing research on nonemergency medical transportation interventions. The article, titled "Impact of Transportation Interventions on Health Care Outcomes: A Systematic Review," was published in the American Public Health Association journal Medical Care. Solomon, a neuroscience and behavior major on a pre-med path, wrote the paper based on research he conducted in summer 2018 with peers at the University of California, San Francisco. While at UCSF, Solomon worked for…

More than 85 Wesleyan students and guests attended the Pathways to Inclusive Education (PIE) professional development brunch on Feb. 8 in Beckham Hall. PIE is a collective of cohort programs whose purpose is to remove obstacles along the pathways to secondary and postsecondary education for students who come from historically underrepresented backgrounds. The program serves students in ninth grade through their senior year in college. Hosted by the Office of Equity and Inclusion, participants represented the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Program (McNair Fellows); Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows (MMUF); Wesleyan Mathematics and Science Scholars Program (WesMaSS); Upward Bound Math-Science Program (Upward…

Wesleyan in the News 1. Hartford Courant: "Jeanine Basinger, the 'Professor of Hollywood,' Is Wesleyan University's Homegrown Screen Legend" Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, Emerita Jeanine Basinger, whom this article notes has been dubbed “the professor of Hollywood” and “an iconic figure in American cinema, one of the most beloved and respected film history professors in the history of film studies” by The Hollywood Reporter, is interviewed on the occasion of her 60th year at Wesleyan, and the 50th since she created its film program. She talks about her next book on American film comedy, shares some of her favorite things,…

Students Discuss Recent Engage 2020 Experiences

Wrestling Team Drafts 14-Year-Old of Team IMPACT

Students Enjoy Spring-Like Temperatures in Late February

Engage 2020 Off to a Running Start

Best of Wes: Campus Exhibits

$6M in NASA Funding Awarded to Projects with Contributions by Gilmore

Brady ’15 Wins National Prize for Social Innovation for Nonprofit Work

Tucker Authors Several New Papers on Science in Society, Modern Science

Graduate Student McNeill Speaks on the Social, Cultural Aspects of the Black New Orleans Brass Band

Solomon ’20 is Lead Author on Paper Published in Medical Journal

Students from Underrepresented Backgrounds Attend Professional Development Brunch

Wesleyan in the News