faculty achievements

During the 2015-16 school year nearly 10 percent of Connecticut public school children met the criteria for being chronically absent. The disruption COVID-19 wrought on education only exacerbated the problem. The Connecticut State Department of Education launched the Learner Engagement and Attendance Program (LEAP) in April 2021 to help address these issues. In 15 school districts throughout the state, school officials and representatives from local non-profit agencies conducted home visits with almost 9,000 students who were considered chronically absent. School officials often assisted families with food, job placement, or just general support to remove any external barriers to school attendance.…

The Center for Religion and the Human at IU Bloomington announces Professor of Religion and Science in Society Mary-Jane Rubenstein’s Worlds Without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse (Colombia University Press, 2014) as winner of the third annual Iris Book Award. Jurors for the Iris Book Award praised Worlds Without End as “a delightful tour of a topic that was once esoteric, but now is hovering on the edges of science fact: that we do not exist in a universe, but rather in a multiverse,” and called the book “a fascinating and entertaining exploration of the history of an idea that just…

Thanks to her discovery of a global warming event that occurred 56 million years ago, Ellen Thomas, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Integrated Sciences, Emerita, changed the way we think about climate change. Her research started with a serendipitous discovery of severe extinction of microscopic deep-sea organisms, foraminifera. Because of her prolific and impactful research, Thomas, along with her colleague James Zachos of the University of California, Santa Cruz, was given the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the climate change category. “Both laureates think that the destructive impact of the event should be a warning to us…

There is a moment in Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, where the day is done, people have stopped working and finally have time for themselves. “The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky. It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords…

Deep philosophical ideas aren’t the only things Hedding Professor of Moral Science Joseph T. Rouse has been dueling with as of late. Rouse has been training for the United States Veteran Fencing team, a team comprised of fencers over the age of 70. His first national qualifier this season will take place in January at the North American Cup in Louisville, Kentucky. His first bout a year ago against the current world champion in his age group ended in a loss, but Rouse thinks he's got more than a fighting chance, having beaten his opponent the last two times they…

In the face of global climate and environmental crises, Elon Musk wants to launch humanity to Mars. His fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos believes we should build artificial space pods between the Earth and the Moon to increase the resources we need for our technologically soaked lives. They were the only ones who could save humanity from a dire end, they sort of said (and, perhaps, making a tidy profit for themselves in the process.) The messianic vibes were unmistakable. The thought of this baffled Mary-Jane Rubenstein, professor of religion. “The more I learned about the contemporary state of things in…

Bozoma Saint John '99's new memoir "The Urgent Life" has been named one of Oprah Daily's most anticipated books of 2023. "Marketing maven Saint John has experienced tragedies and triumph: From the death by suicide of her college boyfriend to her husband’s terminal cancer, Saint John gathers the strength to continue life with their daughter," according to Oprah Daily. Saint John is a member of Wesleyan's Board of Trustees. Wesleyan University was featured in a New York Times article about the possible ramifications if the Supreme Court overturns affirmative action in college admissions. Ellen Thomas, Harold T Stearns Professor of…

Are you already able to sing Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, Hon. ‘15’s Hamilton word for word? Have you already binged Bradley Whitford ’81, Hon. ’20 in “The West Wing” and “A Handmaid’s Tale"? Have you read all of Amy Bloom’s books? So now where do you go next to get your Wesleyan creative fix? As winter curls around us, Wes grads and faculty have conjured a new batch of books, music, performances, and television shows to delight and challenge us as we get cozy over the chilly months. Here’s just a small sampling: “From Scratch” Tembe Locke ’92’s powerful memoir From…

Over the past century, forests across the western United States have become vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires due to climate change. Overall, forest management activities for lowering wildfire risk appear to help, but little is known about how these activities influence forest water availability and water cycling, important indicators of drought. This is the key question that Environmental Studies Professor Helen Mills Poulos and her research team at Northern Arizona University, led by Temuulen Tsagaan Sankey, will attempt to address in a new NASA-funded research project. Poulos and her research team received a $597,000 grant from NASA in November to study…

The first time Anna Shusterman walked into a classroom of Wesleyan undergraduates teaching math games to preschoolers a decade ago, she was surprised by what she saw – happy and deep engagement all around. The students – all of them – were on to something. “They were incredible. I had no idea how good they were,” said Shusterman, professor of psychology and co-chair of the College of Education Studies. Between the joyful (and productive) little ones and the thoughtful efforts of the Wesleyan students, Shusterman realized that there was a need that could be filled. “It turned out to be…

What Mark Masselli Hon ’09, P’15, ’16 had to do in 1972 to start Community Health Clinic, a local health clinic that offered free care to the underserved in Middletown was, in retrospect, almost impossible. Renting a storefront as a 20-year-old? Opening the doors and offering medical services without a license or permit? Masselli had dropped out of Wesleyan, so there was no degree backing him up. The students in Charles Barber’s service-learning class were baffled. “It was a seismic moment when a student commented, ‘you couldn’t do what you did now in 2021’ … too many rules, too many…

Associate Professor of History Laura Ann Twagira’s recent book begins with a song – women from Mali are singing and bragging about the quality of their cooking. From this domestic moment, Twagira found the keys to a technological revolution. “Women are bragging and praising one another. They’re making food that everyone’s going to enjoy and that will enliven life. In order to do that, they need a key set of technological skills,” she said. Twagira’s book Embodied Engineering: Gendered Labor, Food Security and Taste in Twentieth-Century Mali was named a finalist for the 2022 Best Book prize from the African…

Research Shows New Program Helps Prevent Chronic Absenteeism

Faculty Achievements: January 2023

Thomas Receives Frontiers of Knowledge Award

Professor Directs New Zora Neale Hurston Documentary

Professor Parries With Ideas and Opponents

New Book Explores Corporate Space Race

Wesleyan in the News: January 2023

Wesleyan Creates: Recommendations

New Research to Explore Drought Mitigation

New Program to Improve Preschool Numeracy

New Book Chronicles History of Community Health Center

Twagira’s Newest Finalist for African Studies Association 2022 Best Book Prize