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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,…

Since the arrival of Vice President for Equity and Inclusion/Title IX Officer Alison Williams ’81 six months ago, the Office for Equity and Inclusion (OEI) has made several updates and changes and is celebrating noteworthy successes. "As we are cognizant of the many societal challenges we face, we continue to work in partnership with (other campus offices and programs) to ensure that our community strives to be free from discrimination, harassment, and obstacles that prevent everyone from being successful at Wesleyan," Williams said. Among the office's recent updates are: Pathways to Inclusive Education The Pathways to Inclusive Education (PIE) programs…

The Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) recently announced that Wesleyan is included on the list of United States colleges and universities that produced the most 2019–2020 Fulbright U.S. Students. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program. Not only is Wesleyan a top Fulbright producer nationwide with its seven grantees, but it also has more winners than any other liberal arts institution in Connecticut. “We are delighted to see that the colleges and universities we are honoring as 2019–2020 Fulbright top-producing institutions reflect the geographic and institutional diversity of higher education…

Anthony Ryan Hatch, chair and associate professor of science in society, is the author of Silent Cells: The Secret Drugging of Captive America, published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2019. The book offers a critical investigation into the use of psychotropic drugs to pacify and control inmates and other captives in the vast US prison, military, and welfare systems. According to the publisher: Anthony Ryan Hatch demonstrates that the pervasive use of psychotropic drugs has not only defined and enabled mass incarceration but has also become central to other forms of captivity, including foster homes, military and immigrant…

Kerwin Kaye, associate professor of sociology, is the author of Enforcing Freedom: Drug Courts, Therapeutic Communities, and the Intimacies of the State, published by Columbia University Press in December 2019. According to the publisher: In 1989, the first drug-treatment court was established in Florida, inaugurating an era of state-supervised rehabilitation. Such courts have frequently been seen as a humane alternative to incarceration and the war on drugs. "Enforcing Freedom" offers an ethnographic account of drug courts and mandatory treatment centers as a system of coercion, demonstrating how the state uses notions of rehabilitation as a means of social regulation. Situating…

Justine Quijada, associate professor of religion, is the author of a new book titled Buddhists, Shamans, and Soviets: Rituals of History in Post-Soviet Buryatia, published by Oxford University Press in 2019. The book recently won the first Honorable Mention for the Geertz Prize from the Society for the Anthropology of Religion (SAR). Named in honor of the late Professor Clifford Geertz, the Geertz Prize seeks to encourage excellence in the anthropology of religion by recognizing an outstanding recent book in the field. SAR awards the prize to "foster innovative scholarship, the integration of theory with ethnography, and the connection of…

$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

Office for Equity and Inclusion Celebrates Recent Successes

Wesleyan Named a Top Producer of Fulbright U.S. Students

Hatch Pens Book on the Secret Use of Drugs to Control Captives

Kaye’s New Book Offers Critical Perspective of Criminal-Justice Reform

Quijada’s Book on Post-Soviet Buryatia Wins Prize from Society for the Anthropology of Religion