Class of 2014

Wesleyan in the News 1. The Chronicle of Higher Education: "Beware the Doyens of Disruption" In this op-ed, President Michael Roth '78 responds to predictions that COVID-19 is going to "change everything" in higher education with a reminder that "the desire of bright young people from all over the world for an on-campus education remains strong." He writes, "It’s because the connectivity among people and practices that takes place in person intensifies the learning experience." 2. HxA Podcast: "Michael Roth, Safe Enough Spaces" President Michael Roth '78 is interviewed on the Heterodox Academy's podcast about his book, Safe Enough Spaces:…

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…

Numerous students, alumni, and faculty from Wesleyan's Cognitive Development Labs recently presented their research at the 2019 Cognitive Development Society biennial meeting, held Oct. 17–19 in Louisville, Ky. The labs are led by Professor of Psychology Hilary Barth and Associate Professor of Psychology Anna Shusterman. Barth and Kerry Brew '18, MA '19 presented their poster, "Do Demand Characteristics Contribute to Minimal Ingroup Bias?" The work was done in collaboration with lab alumni Taylar Clark '19 and Jordan Feingold-Link '18. Sophie Charles '20, lab coordinator Katherine Williams, and former lab coordinator Alexandra Zax presented their poster, "The Role of Digit Identity…

Ten Wesleyan seniors and recent alumni are the recipients of 2019-20 Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships (ETA) and Fulbright Open Study/Research Awards. The English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Programs place Fulbrighters in classrooms abroad to provide assistance to local English teachers. ETAs help teach English language while serving as cultural ambassadors for the U.S. The age and academic level of the students varies by country, ranging from kindergarten to university level. Applicants for Open Study/Research Awards design their own projects and will typically work with advisors at foreign universities or other institutes of higher education. The study/research awards are available in approximately…

Johan (Joop) Varekamp, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, presented three papers during the Commission on Volcanic Lakes (CVL) program held March 18-20 in Taupo, New Zealand. The papers were coauthored by Wesleyan students, graduate students, recent alumni, and faculty. The CVL is a scientific, nonprofit organization of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI), connecting researchers that seek to understand how volcanic lakes relate to volcanic activity and their hazards. Varekamp, who also is the Smith Curator of Mineralogy and Petrology of the Joe Webb Peoples Museum of Natural History and professor of earth…

Gabriel Urbina ‘13 had been out of college for eight months when, “one day, for whatever reason, this idea for a show popped into my head.” The show manifested itself as a radio drama called Wolf 359 which, four years later and in the midst of its final season, has found itself maintaining a vibrant cult following among its ever growing fan base and a finalist in the Digital Audio Drama category of the 2017 Webby Awards. Of further note: Wolf 359 is a hugely Wesleyan collaborative effort — of the 12 cast and production members, all are Wesleyan alumni! Staff writer…

Men in the U.S. today increasingly believe themselves to be victims of gender discrimination, and there are a record number of recent lawsuits claiming anti-male bias. In a study published in March in Psychology of Men and Masculinity, Assistant Professor of Psychology Clara Wilkins and her co-authors assess the consequences of these perceptions of anti-male bias. Are men who perceive discrimination more likely to discriminate against women? How do beliefs about societal order affect men's evaluations of men and women? The article is co-authored by former post-doctoral fellow Joseph Wellman, now an assistant professor at California State University–San Bernardino, Erika Flavin '14, and…

The 74th annual Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) conference in Chicago April 7-10 was attended by several Wesleyan faculty members, students and recent alumni. The conference, held every April, is one of the largest political science conferences with more than 5,000 presenters from throughout the United States and around the world. It is traditionally held in Chicago's historic Palmer House Hilton. Assistant Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler, Assistant Professor of Government Logan Dancey, and Assistant Professor of Government Yamil Velez all presented research at the conference. They were accompanied by Joli Holmes '17, John Murchison '16, Grace Wong '18,…

Associate Professor Barbara Juhaz, Yun-Hsuan Lai '14 and Michelle Woodcock '14 are the co-authors of a paper titled "A database of 629 English compound words: Ratings of familiarity, lexeme meaning dominance, semantic transparency, age-of-acquisition, imageability, and sensory experience," published in Behavior Research Methods, 47(4), pages 1004-1019 in 2015. Juhasz is associate professor of psychology, associate professor of integrative sciences, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior. In this study, the authors collected ratings on 629 English compound words for six variables: familiarity, age of acquisition, semantic transparency, lexeme meaning dominance, imageability, and sensory experience ratings. All of the compound words selected for this study are contained…

College of the Environment major Oliver James '14 is the author and illustrator of A Field Guide to the Birds of Wesleyan, published by Wesleyan University Press in November. This 48-page book, originally published in May by the student-run group, Stethoscope Press, was slightly revised and republished. Sixteen campus birds are featured in the book. James has been an avid birder since about the age of 5. One of his earliest memories accompanying his aunt, a field ornithologist, to Bodega Bay, where she was researching the vocalizations of a type of sparrow. The book features original color illustrations by the author in mixed…

Paul Hanakata '14 was named a finalist for the American Physical Society's prestigious Leroy Apker Award, the highest prize offered in the United States for an undergraduate thesis in physics. He will compete to win the award this month. The Apker Award was created to recognize outstanding achievements in physics by undergraduate students, and thereby provide encouragement to young physicists who have demonstrated great potential for future scientific accomplishment. At Wesleyan, Hanakata received high honors for his Wesleyan thesis titled, "Cooperative Dynamics in Supported Polymer Films," under his advisor, Francis Starr, professor of physics and director of the College of Integrative Sciences. In…

Francis Starr, professor of physics, and Paul Hanakata ’14 are the co-authors of a new article published in the journal Nature Communications on June 16. The article, titled "Interfacial Mobility Scale Determines the Scale of Collective Motion and Relaxation Rate in Polymer Films,” is based off Hanakata’s senior thesis research at Wesleyan. Thin polymer films are ubiquitous in manufacturing and medical applications. Their chemical and mechanical properties make them suitable as artificial soft biological tissue and there has been intense interest in how film thickness and substrate interactions influence film dynamics. The nature of polymer rearrangements within these films determines their potential applications. However, up to now, there has been no way to readily…

Wesleyan in the News

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

Psychology Faculty, Students, Alumni Present Research at CDS Meeting

10 Wesleyan Students, Alumni Win Fulbrights

Varekamp Presents Papers at Volcanic Lakes Meeting in New Zealand, Receives Award

12 Wesleyan Alumni Receive Webby Nomination for ‘Wolf 359’ Radio Drama

Wilkins, Alumni Author Paper on Consequences of Perceived Anti-Male Bias

Faculty, Students, Alumni Attend Political Science Conference

Juhasz, Alumni Published in Behavior Research Methods

Wesleyan U. Press Publishes James’ ’14 New Field Guide

Hanakata ’14 Finalist for American Physical Society’s Apker Award

Starr, Hanakata ’14 Co-Author Paper on Polymer Films, Published in Nature Communications