COVID-19 – Page 5

Wesleyan remains committed to serving the approximately 250 undergraduates who remain on campus and the faculty and staff who are working on campus or remotely during the COVID-19 epidemic. Information on the many resources that continue to be available may be found on Wesleyan's Coronavirus/COVID-19 website and below: Wesleyan Libraries Olin Memorial Library and the Science Library buildings are closed, but a large and growing amount of online resources are accessible. Access content by going to the library homepage and look for a title or topic in OneSearch. Use the "available online" option under "Refine My Search." Wesleyan also offers…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wesleyan President Michael Roth ’78 announced that Wesleyan will delay its 188th Commencement Ceremony, originally scheduled for May 24, 2020. Wesleyan’s reunion gatherings, typically held during the same weekend, will be celebrated in alternate formats. “Although I’d been delaying this decision in hopes that we might still have an opportunity to gather together in late May, I’m writing now to let you know that we will have to find another time and place to celebrate the 2020 graduation. There is so much uncertainty about what the next few months will hold, and we don’t think…

To help medical personnel safeguard themselves during the coronavirus outbreak, two makerspace labs on campus are manufacturing much-needed protective masks using 3D printers. On April 1, Wesleyan donated its first set of 100 face shields to medical personnel at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, and others to Wesleyan staff who must work on campus to support the remaining students. The mask, which offers a barrier from the spray of liquids, can be used with or without additional medical masks that cover the nose and mouth. "Our 3D printers have been running at full speed," said Francis Starr, professor of physics and…

Associate Professor of Government Logan Dancey’s research and teaching interests include the United States Congress, campaigns and elections, and public opinion. We spoke to him about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. As a scholar of legislative decision-making, can you describe how the workings of the United States Congress look different during a time of crisis? It’s still early, but the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic shows that even this gridlocked and polarized Congress—which doesn’t seem to accomplish much in normal times—is still fairly quick to respond to crises. We’ve seen large bipartisan majorities agree on fairly large-scale…

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Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies Scott Aalgaard studies modern and contemporary Japan, including the experiences of Japanese-Americans during World War II, when approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent were forced into internment camps. We spoke to him about the echoes of that history in the surge in racist incidents against Asian-Americans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Aalgaard, as we think about the increase in racist acts against people of Asian descent in the United States today, can you please offer a brief history of racism faced by Asian-Americans? The first thing that I want to argue…

Frederick Cohan, the Huffington Foundation Professor in the College of the Environment, professor of biology, is a microbial ecologist whose course “Global Change and Infectious Disease” examines how human disturbance of the environment contributes to infectious disease outbreaks. He also researches the origins of diversity among both bacteria and viruses. In early February, as the novel coronavirus was beginning to spread, Cohan wrote an article in The Conversation, co-authored with PhD candidate Kathleen Sagarin and Kelly Mei ’20, titled, “A Clue to Stopping Coronavirus: Knowing How Viruses Adapt From Animals to Humans.” Cohan also was interviewed recently by The Wesleyan…

A lack of fast, reliable diagnostic testing has played a major role in the rapid proliferation of cases of COVID-19. Rahul Dhanda ’95 and his team at Sherlock Biosciences are working furiously to change that, potentially shortening the testing’s time horizon to a matter of minutes. Dhanda is co-founder, CEO, and president of the engineering biology startup based in Cambridge, Mass., which is creating two different diagnostic tests for COVID-19—one rooted in CRISPR technology, the other in synthetic biology. The hope is that the tests can be released during the course of the current pandemic, Dhanda said, each with its…

Professor of Government James McGuire is a political scientist with expertise in the association between democracy and public health. You study the relationship between democracy and population health. Does the literature find that democracy is good for population health? As a political scientist I've long been interested in democracy, and especially in its possible impact on other aspects of well-being. Many other political scientists have studied democracy's impact on economic growth and income inequality. My interest has been in democracy's impact on the risk of early death, and particularly on child mortality in developing countries. For Amartya Sen and Martha…

Assistant Professor of Psychology Royette Dubar leads the Sleep & Psychosocial Adjustment Lab at Wesleyan. She’s a developmental psychologist who studies the links between sleep and a range of indices, including emotional well-being, academic performance, quality of interpersonal relationships, and technology use, in adolescents and emerging adults. She has just launched a new study on the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents and the challenges that come with it, especially for college seniors. Your research focuses on sleep and psychosocial well-being among young people ages 15 to 29 years old. The pandemic and near-global shutdown has been extremely…

On Sunday evening, President Michael S. Roth ’78, Vice President for Student Affairs Mike Whaley, and Medical Director Tom McLarney invited the approximately 300 students who will be remaining on Wesleyan’s campus for the spring semester to participate in a video forum hosted by the University’s virtual Zoom platform. The event was aimed at communicating important information about on-campus resources during the remainder of the semester and answering participants’ questions. Although the University has temporarily transitioned to distance learning in efforts to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, students who are housing-insecure, who were unable to return to their homes, or…

The Wesleyan Resource Center is collecting food and other items to support low-income and food-insecure students who continue to reside on campus during the COVID-19 pandemic. The center will be open seven days a week. Items can be dropped off or picked up between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Suggested donations include: Pasta kits (microwaveable mac and cheese, rice meals, ramen, etc.) Canned food with pull tabs (vegetables, beans, pasta, etc.) Food in sealed individual serving cups (applesauce, vegetables, fruits) Toiletries (shampoo, body wash, soap, mouthwash, tissues) Cleaning supplies…

Services, Resources Are Available on Campus During COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 Commencement Ceremony, Class Reunions Postponed

Wesleyan Labs Create, Donate Face Shields to Local Hospital

Dancey on the Government’s Response to the Coronavirus Crisis

Wesleyan’s Campus Remains Quiet During COVID-19 Pandemic

Aalgaard: COVID-Related Incidents Part of a Long “Historical Arc of Anti-Asian Racism”

Cohan: Human Behavior Affects Virus Evolution

Startup Led by Dhanda ’95 Developing COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests

McGuire Studies the Relationship Between Democracy and Public Health

Dubar: Psychological Well-Being and Sleep Health in Troubling Times

Roth, Whaley, McLarney Host Video Forum for Students Remaining on Campus

Wesleyan Resource Center Collecting Donations for Pantry