classes

Students taking the CCIV/ARCP 153: Single Combat in the Ancient World course learned how to cast their own bronze sword and arrowhead during class on Oct. 24. The process is a modern-day method of how weapons would have been crafted during the Late Bronze Age (3000 to 1200 BC). The two-hour workshop was taught by Connecticut bladesmiths Barbara Wechter of Wechter Arms and Matt Berry of Hopkins Forge. Berry is a former contestant on History Channel's "Forged in Fire." While Berry heated molten bronze (copper and tin) to 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit, Wechter demonstrated how to build a mold from oil-based…

On Sept. 20-21, core members of the Grammy-nominated Haitian "roots" band Boukman Eksperyans, along with the band leaders’ son Paul Beaubrun (band leader of Zing Eksperyans), engaged with several groups on campus. Boukman, founded in 1978, is one of Haiti’s best-known bands and performs traditional Vodou rhythms with pop, reggae, and blues. After learning that the group was touring between Brooklyn, N.Y., and Montreal, Canada, faculty from African American Studies and the Music Department invited and coordinated their visit at Wesleyan. On Thursday, band members led a workshop for students enrolled in the West African Music and Culture course, taught by John Dankwa, adjunct…

On May 7, the DANC 354 course, Improvisational Forms, performed a roving improvisational performance on campus as part of their final assignment. The group started at Exley Science Center, traveled to Olin Library and the Public Affairs Center, and finished at Usdan University Center. During the performance, the students explored campus architecture with their bodies and movements. They traveled in interconnected clumps, and also as individuals, and interacted with objects and passersby. Throughout the semester, students explored various approaches to dance improvisation and studied movement vocabulary; increased compositional awareness; developed their creative thinking and observational skills; and sharpened their performance presence. Students learned about improvisation exercises, structured…

Five groups of students enrolled in the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Service Learning Laboratory course E&ES 324 presented their semester-long research Dec. 1 in Exley Science Center. Fellow students, faculty, staff, community members and community partners attended the presentations.

On Oct. 7, students enrolled in the course HIST 269: Notes from a Small Island — Modern British History, 1700 - Present, visited the Yale Center for British Art. The class, taught by Alice Kelly, visiting assistant professor of history, toured the center's two current exhibitions, "Sculpture Victorious: Art in an Age of Invention, 1837–1901" and "Figures of Empire: Slavery and Portraiture in 18 Century Atlantic Britain." "Seeing history through a different lens — art and sculpture — really aided their understanding of some of the class readings, and we were able to find a number of similarities, particularly in the…

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This January, Winter at Wesleyan will offer students an opportunity to get a jump-start on the new year by taking a short, intensive course for credit or participating in programs at the Career Center. The Winter Session courses may be of particular interest to students seeking a lighter course load in a future term, or those working to graduate in three years. The faculty has approved four immersion-style courses, to begin Jan. 8: "Introduction to Computer Programming" (taught by Associate Professor of Computer Science James Lipton); "Sex, Drugs and Shopping: Decadence and Desire in Post-War American Fiction" (by Associate Professor…

As their “Money and Social Change” class drew to a close in mid-December, 15 Wesleyan students and their professor presented four local non-profit organizations with a surprise gift for the holidays: $10,000 in unsolicited grants. The funds were provided to the class by the Learning by Giving Foundation, established in 2011 by Doris Buffett, Warren Buffett's oldest sister. The foundation aims to promote the study of the nonprofit sector and philanthropy by undergraduate students, giving them first-hand experience in “the art, science and business of philanthropy.” This year for the first time, Wesleyan partnered with the foundation through the service learning…

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Last summer, Wesleyan students journeyed to the Louisiana Gulf Coast as part of their College of the Environment class, ENVS 380, a scientific and artistic inquiry into the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The class was led by Barry Chernoff, the Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies and Chair of the Environmental Studies Program. [youtube width="640" height="418"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Uv1x5d7Qw[/youtube]

Baltimore native Esther McCready grew up in segregated, discriminatory world and was denied admission to the University of Maryland School of Nursing. At that time, the school did not admit "Negros." With help from NAACP civil rights leaders like Thurgood Marshall, she sued for admission to the university, and in April 1950, McCready won her right to attend classes. In the spring semester course "Making the Science Documentary," molecular biology and biochemistry major Christopher Doucette '11 had the opportunity to interview and film McCready about being the first African American woman to attend Maryland's School of Nursing. He also interviewed…

Classics/Archaeology Class Learns about Ancient Bronze Casting from Local Bladesmiths

Haitian Musicians Lead Drumming Workshop, Performance for Students

Improvisational Forms Class Offers Roving Performance on Campus

GIS Service Learning Class Shares Field Research, Projects with Community

British History Class Takes Field Trip to Yale’s British Art Center

Students’ Graphic Design on Display in Usdan

Government Class Visits Local Court, Speaks with Clerk, Judges

Intensive Courses, Career Training Offered during Winter at Wesleyan Session

Money and Social Change Class Awards Grants to 4 Non-Profits

Peter Yarrow Sings with Dar Williams’ Music Movements Class

ENVS Class Makes Scientific, Artistic Inquiry of Gulf Oil Spill

Students Explore Nursing Profession Through Documentary Film Course