faculty – Page 6

Mark Slobin, the Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music, was honored April 16 with “Ideas on the Move,” a conference celebrating his career and many accomplishments. Slobin will retire from Wesleyan June 30. Slobin is an ethnomusicologist who has written extensively on the subject of East European Jewish music and klezmer music, as well as the music of Afghanistan. The daylong event featured talks by alumni from as far back as 45 years. Topics included “Mark’s Metaphors: Visual Poetics, Pedagogy and Theoretical Clarity;” “ONCE Upon a Time: Mark Slobin’s Experimental Ethnomusicology;" “How Mark Slobin Became an Ethnomusicologist;" and “Growing Up With Mark." A concert, featuring Irish,…

On the weekend of April 15-16, the CFA theater was home to the spring faculty dance concert, Storied Places. In addition to the dance, which was choreographed and directed by Chair and Associate Professor of Dance, Associate Professor of African American Studies, and Environmental Studies Nicole Stanton, the performance also featured original compositions and musical direction by Adjunct Professor of Music and African American Studies Jay Hoggard ’76. Adding a further layer of texture was narrative text, written and performed by Chair and Class of 1958 Distinguished Professor of African American Studies, Professor of English and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and…

On Feb. 2, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joyce Jacobsen announced that Wesleyan has hired eight new tenure-track faculty in fields including African American studies, sociology and physics, among others. Wesleyan also made a senior hire, which will be announced later this semester after a successful tenure review, Jacobsen said. Nine other faculty searches are ongoing and will hopefully be completed this spring. “With 18 searches going on, we will likely have a larger than usual group of new faculty coming to campus next fall,” said Jacobsen. “We’re excited to welcome this accomplished and diverse group of scholar-teachers.” Brief…

Jeanine Basinger, Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, was recently featured in a Hollywood Reporter article “The Professor of Hollywood,” by film historian and best-selling author Sam Wasson ’03, who studied with Basinger at Wesleyan. The magazine brought together 33 of her former pupils who work prominently in the film industry for “an A-list class reunion” photo—and several of them talk about how Basinger inspired them, encouraging their self-expression while also sharing with them her love for the medium. In the article, Basinger discusses how and why she came to devote her life to the study of film and how working…

Satoshi Omura was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for developing a new drug, which has nearly eradicated river blindness and dramatically reduced mortality from other devastating diseases. Omura made the discovery that led to this drug while a visiting professor at Wesleyan in the early 1970s. Omura has remained in touch with Wesleyan colleagues since then and in 2005 was appointed the first Max Tishler Professor of Chemistry, an honorary position. He returns to campus every few years to meet with faculty and present his current research.

In this News @ Wesleyan story, we speak with Yamil Velez, a new member of Wesleyan's Government Department. Q: Welcome to Wesleyan! Please tell us about your background—where did you grow up, go to school, etc? A: I grew up in Miami, Florida as the only son of two immigrant parents. My parents divorced at an early age and since my mother had to work and go to school to support us, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. It was my grandmother who instilled a passion for politics in me, as I would spend every afternoon listening…

This fall, Wesleyan welcomes Assistant Professor Joseph Coolon to the Department of Biology. Coolon comes to Wesleyan from the University of Michigan where he worked as an assistant research scientist and a postdoctoral fellow for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Coolon has a BS in biology and PhD in biology from Kansas State University. His dissertation was titled “Ecological Genomics of Nematode Responses to Different Bacteria.” At Wesleyan, Coolon plans to have two primary research projects. The first project is aimed at understanding the major sources of variation in gene expression including changes in DNA sequence, responses to…

On Sept. 3, Class of 2019 students met with their faculty advisor to discuss their fall semester pre-registration enrollments and educational goals. The individual faculty advising appointments are part of New Student Orientation for the Class of 2019.

This fall, Wesleyan welcomes to campus 15 new tenure-track faculty and more than 40 visiting faculty with research interests ranging from ecological and evolutionary functional genomics to behavioral economics; from Chinese history to sociological and cultural studies of knowledge, medicine and health; from psychosocial determinants of healthy aging outcomes among women to political psychology. On Sept. 1, the new faculty members attended an orientation program that included discussions on classroom climate; active learning, service learning and community service; flipped classrooms; and effective lecture styles for larger classrooms, among other topics.

This fall, Wesleyan welcomes 15 new faculty to the university. They are: Francesco Aresu, assistant professor of Italian; Joseph Coolon, assistant professor of biology; Daniel DiCenzo, adjunct associate professor of physical education and head coach of football; Candice Etson, assistant professor of physics; Anthony Hatch, assistant professor of Science in Society; Han Li, assistant professor of mathematics; Jeffrey Naecker, assistant professor of economics; Paula Park, assistant professor of Spanish; Michelle Personick, assistant professor of chemistry; Felipe Ramírez, assistant professor of mathematics; Ben Somera Jr., adjunct associate professor of physical education, head coach of volleyball; Ying Jia Tan, assistant professor of…

In recognition of their career achievements, five faculty members are being appointed to endowed professorships, effective July 1: Stephen Angle, professor of philosophy and East Asian studies, is receiving the Mansfield Freeman Professorship in East Asian Studies, established in 1986. Lisa Cohen, associate professor of English, is receiving the Douglas J. and Midge Bowen Bennet Chair. The Bennet Chair, endowed in 2007, is awarded for a five-year term to a newly tenured associate professor exhibiting exceptional achievement and evidence of future promise. Andrew Curran, professor of French and outgoing Dean of Arts and Humanities, is receiving the William Armstrong Professorship…

Slobin Honored for 45 Years at Wesleyan

Stanton, Hoggard, Brown: ‘Storied Places’ Unites Dance, Music, Text of Collaborative Cluster

Siry Speaks on Energy and Modern Architecture

Wesleyan Hires 8 New Tenure-Track Faculty

Basinger Praised as Iconic Film Professor in The Hollywood Reporter

Nobel Prize Awarded to Satoshi Omura, Wesleyan’s Max Tishler Professor of Chemistry

Velez Studies Political Psychology, Racial and Ethnic Politics

Biology’s Coolon Studies Variation in Gene Expression

Faculty Hold Advising Appointments with Class of 2019 Students

New Faculty Attend Orientation Program

Wesleyan Welcomes 15 Faculty this Fall

5 Faculty Receive Endowed Professorships