democracy in action

Get involved locally. Find a specific problem and commit to solving it. And network every way you can. That’s how to begin a career in public service, a group of accomplished alumni said at the 30th Annual Dwight L. Greene Symposium, held November 15. The one-hour panel discussion, held on Zoom, explored the topics of authentic civic engagement, how Wesleyan encourages a life of service, the power of connecting with community, and strategies to build and sustain a career in the public sphere. For the first time in the history of the symposium, the entire panel was comprised of Latinx…

The guardians of reproductive rights in America won an important victory in Connecticut in 1972. The case of Women v Connecticut, where women from all walks of life sued to overturn the state’s onerous abortion laws, paved the way for the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v Wade decision legalizing abortion nationally. When the Supreme Court struck down Roe this year, revoking what was considered settled law, Professor of Government Sonali Chakravarti felt a need to examine the history of this important Connecticut ruling. On November 17, Chakravarti convened a panel comprised of participants in the suit and other experts to…

Election day 2022 on Wesleyan’s campus means students voting, many for the first time. Although turnout appeared light, with many local non-students walking in to cast their ballots, it didn’t mean students hadn’t voted, as many voted either early, absentee, and online, students said in interviews on Election Day. Marlen Popkin ’26 voted absentee for her first time voting this year. She wanted to make sure she voted in her local elections in Brooklyn and knew she wouldn’t be able to make it home to vote. “I wanted to vote in a local election that was relevant. I have…

Outside group advertising on television in federal races is breaking records, according to a new analysis released by the Wesleyan Media Project on October 20. Since the 2010 election cycle, the Wesleyan Media Project has provided real-time information on the extent of corporate and union spending in federal election campaigns across the country, who specifically is doing that spending, and which candidates are benefiting. The project releases a detailed report addressing the current political advertising landscape every two weeks during election season. In just the last two weeks alone, the Republican super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund, has targeted ads in 42 different…

In the United States, firearms elicit clashing perceptions. They can be sources of leisure and recreation, of livelihood and profit, of grief and fear. “Guns mean different things to different people,” said Jennifer Tucker, director of the new Center for the Study of Guns and Society at Wesleyan, “and sometimes different things to the same people.” Held over October 14 and 15, the Center’s inaugural conference brought about 150 historians, museum curators, Wesleyan students, and others to campus to explore the historical contexts around one of the most polarizing subjects in modern America. The conference, “Current Perspectives on the History…

One-hundred-and-eighteen days after the Supreme Court repealed Roe vs. Wade, a group of Wesleyan faculty and students assembled in Judd Hall for a teach-in focusing on protecting reproductive freedom across the country. The October 20 event, co-sponsored by Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Wesleyan Reproductive Advocacy and Legislation (WRAL), gave students the opportunity to learn more about abortion access, coalition work around reproductive freedom, and other related issues. Historically speaking, Connecticut has played an important role in the abortion debate. A 1965 Supreme Court decision, Griswold v. Connecticut, set the legal groundwork for the Roe v. Wade decision. And…

Involvement in Public Service Focus of 30th Dwight L. Greene Symposium

Connecticut’s Role in Quest for Reproductive Rights Explored

Wesleyan Students Vote—Absentee, Early, Online, and In Person

Wesleyan Media Project Political Advertising Update: October 20

Center for the Study of Guns and Society Explores the Histories of Firearms at Inaugural Conference

Teaching Reproductive Rights