1200x660-grants.jpg
Ziba KashefSeptember 17, 20247min
Daniel Coxson ’27 spent his summer in Olney, Maryland letter writing, phone banking, and encouraging people to register to vote, among other civic engagement activities. “I made yard signs and a political pumpkin,” he said of the large fruit he painted dark blue with white letters spelling the word v-o-t-e in all caps. “That was my favorite.” Coxson is one of 24 recipients of the 2023-2024 Student Political Engagement Fund grants, funding administered by the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life to support student engagement in the public sphere. With these grants of up to $5,000 during the…

1200x660-NHJ.jpg
Sarah ParkeMay 7, 20247min
Journalists have always played a vital role in defending democracy, educating the public while holding those in power accountable for their actions. Few journalists have challenged Americans to reimagine who we are as a nation as much as Nikole Hannah-Jones. On April 25, the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life co-sponsored an event with Wesleyan’s Democracy 2024 initiative to host Hannah-Jones, a New York Times correspondent, Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard University, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning creator of the 1619 Project. Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies Tracy Heather Strain sat down with Hannah-Jones to discuss…

1200x660-KBD.jpg
Lorna GrisbyApril 2, 20244min
Khalilah Brown-Dean, award-winning scholar and author dedicated to community building and access, is Wesleyan University’s new executive director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life and university professor. “I am a community-engaged scholar and academic leader who creates spaces for collaboration and understanding. I’m passionate about confronting grand societal challenges like threats to democracy,” Brown-Dean said. “This role affords me the opportunity to tackle some of the global conflicts that we all have to contend with, while leveraging the resources of higher education.” The Allbritton Center is the nucleus of civic life at Wesleyan and is where…

Robyn-Autry.jpg
Steve ScarpaDecember 5, 20235min
Hoping to expand the diverse ways the Wesleyan community engages in public discourse, Associate Professor of Sociology Robyn Autry has been named director of the Center for the Study of Public Life, at the Allbritton Center. “Provost Nicole Stanton has trusted me to do something new with the CSPL (Center for the Study of Public Life). I am still figuring out what I want to do, but it is connected with a lot of the public writing I’ve been doing for the past few years,” said Autry, who is a critical sociologist. The new role dovetails with Autry’s research interests…

cam_spring_04222019414-copy-760x507.jpg
Editorial StaffSeptember 12, 202312min
President Michael S. Roth ’78 and Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Nicole Stanton recently announced the faculty members who, in recognition of their career accomplishments, have been appointed to endowed professorships, effective July 1, 2023: Merve Gul Emre, former distinguished writer-in-residence, received the Shapiro-Silverberg University Professorship of Creative Writing and Criticism, established in 2008. James W. McGuire, professor of government, received a John E. Andrus Professorship of Government, established in 1981. Brian Hale Northrop, professor of chemistry, received the E. B. Nye Professorship of Chemistry, established in 1908. Dana Royer, professor of Earth and environmental sciences, received the…

ToyDrive.jpg
Editorial StaffDecember 13, 20224min
For the fifth year, Wesleyan Public Safety partnered with the Middletown Fire Department and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to sponsor the Holiday Toy Drive December 5 – 9. The "Stuff a Cruiser" toy collection was held in the Huss Courtyard between 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each day. As with any successful venture, location and timing were key. By setting up during the height of daily traffic to the Usdan University Center and the Daniel Family Commons and making sure a QR code was available for online donations, over $1,000 was raised in addition to the toys that were…

MicrosoftTeams-image-5-1280x960.jpg
Steve ScarpaFebruary 25, 20226min
The panelists at Friday’s talk at Fisk Hall about the war in Ukraine were in so many ways just regular college students, studying public administration or politics, seeking ways to improve their communities and live their lives. Given recent events, no matter how much they yearn for peace, they may all end up being soldiers. “The people who are defending us are putting up a hell of a fight,” said Daria Bila, a college student speaking from Ukraine. The students joined a discussion via Zoom hosted by the Fries Center for Global Studies called "Ukraine-Russia Crisis: A Series of International…

Wesinthenews-1.jpg
Cynthia RockwellSeptember 17, 20182min
In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Recent Wesleyan News The Washington Post: "Have Parents Made Their Kids Too Fragile for the Rough-and-Tumble Life?" President Michael Roth reviews The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. While the authors make some important points, Roth is skeptical of their argument, writing, "Are students today disempowered because they’ve been convinced they are fragile, or do they feel vulnerable because they are facing problems like climate change and massive, nasty inequality?"…

Rosie-with-students2-760x507.jpg
Lauren RubensteinJune 13, 20172min
This year, students in Associate Professor of History Jennifer Tucker’s class, Seeing a Bigger Picture: Integrating Visual Methods and Environmental History, had an opportunity to share what they learned in an unusual format. They produced an hour-long radio program, which debuted on WESU 88.1 FM on Memorial Day. It will air again on the station this summer, and can be heard on wesufm.org or on SoundCloud. The course introduces students to key landmarks in the visual history of environmentalism and environmental science, from the 18th century to the recent past. The class studies the power and the limits of visual…

eve_syria_2016-0216192315-760x507.jpg
Olivia DrakeFebruary 26, 20163min
On Feb. 17, the Allbritton Center hosted a panel discussion on "The Refugee Experience," the second in a three-part series titled, "The Refugee Crisis: The Development of the Crisis and the Response in Europe." Moderated by Victoria Smolkin-Rothrock, assistant professor of history, assistant professor of Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies, it featured discussion between Steve Poellot, legal director at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP); Mohammed Kadalah of the University of Connecticut Department of Literature, Cultures and Languages, who was recently granted asylum after fleeing Syria in 2011; and Baselieus Zeno, a PhD candidate in political science at the…

Lauren RubensteinJanuary 28, 20162min
  The Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life will host a series of three panels in February and March on the refugee crisis. All events will take place in PAC 001. The first panel, The Development of the Crisis and the Response in Europe, will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 3. Moderated by Professor of Economics Richard Grossman, the panel is comprised of Bruce Masters, the John E. Andrus Professor of History; Robert Ford, former U.S. ambassador to Syria; and Marcie Patton, professor of politics at Fairfield University. The second panel, The Refugee Experience, will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 17. Moderated by…

eve_socialimpact_2015-1115104129-760x507.jpg
Cynthia RockwellNovember 16, 20154min
More than 100 alumni and other members of the Wesleyan community attended the Social Impact Summit, Nov. 13-14, on campus. The summit was sponsored by the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns. Endowed by James Shasha ’50, P’82, the seminar supports lifelong learning and encourages participants to expand their knowledge and perspectives on significant issues. The event included keynote speakers with TED-style talks on the theme "The Change I Want to See," panel discussions, and workshops, as well as networking opportunities. “Social impact and entrepreneurship are deeply embedded in Wesleyan culture, and our students and alumni are known for creating significant…