Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life

In honor of Earth Month, Wesleyan will host a series of speakers and films beginning April 14. At 4:15 p.m. on April 14, the College of the Environment will present a talk, "The Tiger in the Smoke: The Aesthetics of Fog in Post-War Britain c. 1945-55," by Lynda Nead, the Pevsner Professor of History of Art at Birkbeck, University of London. The talk will be in 41 Wyllys, Room 112. It is cosponsored by the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life; the Mellon Fund for Lectures in Ethics, Politics and Social Issues; Art History; History; and the Science in…

This month, the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life is presenting three linked panels in its Right Now! series titled "Drugs, Harm and the Campus." Drug Use @ Wes At 4:30 on April 7, Michael Whaley, vice president for student affairs, will moderate a panel discussion, "What are we doing about drugs at Wes and why?" Tanya Purdy, director of health education at WesWELL; Beth DeRicco, higher education outreach at Caron Treatment Centers; and Ashley Fine '15 will discuss education, support and policies at Wesleyan. The event will be held in PAC 002. (more…)

The Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life welcomes "auto czar" Ron Bloom '77 to campus April 8. Bloom will speak on "We almost lost Detroit: A hopeful tale about cars, crises, cities and America," at 7:30 p.m. in PAC 001. After graduating from Wesleyan with a BA in history in 1977, Bloom received an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1985. After working as the assistant to the president for United Steelworkers, Bloom was appointed by President Obama be the senior advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the President’s Task Force on…

Wesleyan’s Center for Community Partnerships celebrated its 10th year anniversary on April 8. The CCP, located inside the Allbritton Center, serves the development of both the individual and the community and is guided by principles of mutual respect and shared responsibility. The different offices that combine to constitute the CCP are the Service-Learning Center, the Office of Community Service and Volunteerism, the Office of Community Relations, the Green Street Arts Center/PIMMS, and the Center for Prison Education. Each office within the CCP connects Wesleyan to surrounding communities. The Service-Learning Center integrates experiences outside the classroom with an academic curriculum taught…

Rob Rosenthal, the John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology, will serve as Director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life for a three-year term, beginning July 2014. Rosenthal has a distinguished history of initiating programs to integrate public life into the Wesleyan curriculum: He was the founding director of the Center for Service Learning, founding co-director the Center for Community Partnerships, and as Provost he instituted the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship and developed new programming within the Allbritton Center including the year-long "music in public life" initiative. Rosenthal served as provost from 2010-2013 and oversaw Wesleyan's reaccreditation process. Immediately…

The Center for the Study of Public Life's profiled a range of Wesleyan senior thesis research projects on topics related to the study of public life on April 26. The inaugural event featured 10-minute presentations by Wesleyan seniors whose 2012-13 thesis research represents an undertaking to pursue knowledge about public life in its broad definition. Three students spoke about the topic "Regionalism, Nationalism, Infrastructures and Identity." Government major Katherine James spoke on “Policy and Planning for Large Water Infrastructure Projects in the People’s Republic of China,"a study of three water projects – the South-to-North Water Transfer Project, the Three Gorges…

Jennifer Tucker will serve as interim director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, beginning immediately through the end of the fall 2013 semester. Tucker has accepted this position in order to enable the faculty and the university to formulate a vision for the Allbritton Center that will engage the curriculum and faculty scholarship, and enhance the intellectual life of the university. Her work this year will provide a framework for strategic planning and guide the search for a new director. Tucker is chair and associate professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, associate professor of history,…

Amy Bloom ’75, a distinguished writer of novels, short stories, nonfiction, and projects for television, has been named the Kim-Frank Family University Writer in Residence at Wesleyan University. Her appointment takes effect July 1. Bloom will enhance Wesleyan’s curricular offerings in writing by offering two courses per year, and she will serve as a senior thesis advisor. She will have an office in the Shapiro Creative Writing Center. “Amy Bloom is one of the most accomplished writers in the United States today,” says President Michael S. Roth. “Her insight, her creativity, and her deep understanding of the craft of writing…

Ania Loomba, Catherine Bryson Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania, spoke on "Four Lives, feminism, nationalism and communism in India," during the 23rd Annual Diane Weiss '80 Memorial Lecture in the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life. Photos of Loomba's talk are below: (Photos by Stefan Weinberger '10) (more…)

Wesleyan has reached the gold standard in sustainable structures. On March 15, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded Wesleyan's newly-renovated Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life building a Gold Certification based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. LEED is an internationally-recognized green building certification system that verifies that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. "The Gold Certification demonstrates Wesleyan’s…

Melanye Price, adjunct associate professor of government, has been appointed to coordinator of internships for the Center for the Study of Public Life. This half-time position will be focused on developing new internship opportunities for Wesleyan undergraduates. Housed within the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, the appointment complements Price’s continued teaching and scholarly work in the Department of Government. She assumed this new role in January. Price will be working with members of the Career Resource Center to develop the program, and to coordinate with the Educational Policy Committee and academic departments. She also will be consulting with peer institutions and…

With a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 2, Wesleyan unveiled a facility that enables Wesleyan to focus resources, encourage curricular innovation, original research and scholarship, and foster greater public understanding and responsibility. The Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, which occupies the renovated Davenport Campus Center, will emphasize its academic engagement with the public sphere. The center continues Wesleyan’s commitment to preparing students for lives as active citizens and for leadership. It seeks to support Wesleyan’s tradition of the scholar-teacher by encouraging faculty research in a manner that directly benefits and enhances student learning. The Center reflects changes that have…

Earth Month Activities Include Speakers, Films

Allbritton Center to Present Three Panels on “Drugs, Harm and the Campus”

Obama’s “Auto Czar” Rob Bloom ’77 to Speak on Campus April 8

Center for Community Partnerships Celebrates 10 Years

Rosenthal to Direct Allbritton Center 2014-17

13 Seniors Present Theses at Study for Public Life Presentation

Tucker to Serve as Interim Director of Allbritton Center

Bloom ’75 Named to New Writer-in-Residence Position

Feminism, Nationalism in India Topic of Diane Weiss Lecture

Allbritton Center Honored with Gold Certification for Sustainable Practices

Price Appointed Coordinator of Internships

Allbritton Center Unveiled at Ribbon Cutting Ceremony