students – Page 5

On April 2, the Wesleyan community celebrated the inaugural Foss Hill Day. The theme of the day was “Foss Hill: Our Common Ground." Foss Hill reminds Wesleyan students and alumni of their common purpose: supporting students and the future of liberal arts education at Wesleyan. On campus, Wesleyan hosted an information booth behind Usdan University Center. Staff passed out flying disks and other Foss Hill Day memorabilia, provided cake, games and raffle prizes. More than 860 members of the Wesleyan community contributed to the success of Foss Hill Day. Tom Kelly '73 provided a challenge grant to inspire others to give. "I want to…

Mateusz “Matt” Burgunder ’15 recently competed in the 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Verbier, Switzerland where the U.S. National Ski Mountaineering Team finished in 10th place overall. This was Burgunder's fourth time competing for the U.S., participating in three events. Competitors race by climbing up and skiing down mountains at a rate of approximately 3,000 feet per hour. The 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships, hosted by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, were held Feb. 6–12. More information about the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association and the 2015 World Championships can be found online. See photos of Burgunder's events below: (more…)

The student-run Wesleyan Local Food Co-op sources a large variety of fresh local foods, including Long Lane Farm produce, and distributes them on campus. Besides produce, the co-op distributes fresh dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt and butter), meat, eggs, tofu, seitan, granola, bread and coffee, all locally grown, roasted or made. The program began solely for students but is now open to staff and faculty participation in the wake of expressed interest. More than 500 members of the Wesleyan community are part of one or more co-ops. Participants pick up shares Wednesday evenings in Usdan and help once each semester…

Wesleyan's Slam Poetry Team, WeSlam, took first place at the Yale Regional Poetry Slam Feb. 28 in New Haven, Conn. Wesleyan competed against five other teams from Yale, Brown University, Columbia/Barnard, Middlebury College and Emerson College. "Our team brought important pieces about racial and religious identity, sexual violence across the gender binary, and gender roles," said former WeSlam member Mike Rosen '11, who serves as the team's advisor. Poets include Giorgia Peckman '18, Jon Logan-Rung '18, Hazem Fahmy '17, Rick Manayan '17 and Max Friedlich '17. Fahmy received a standing ovation for his poem about popular culture's portrayal of Islam. For more information on…

Backpack-clad students shuffle into a sunlit room on the first floor of the Allbritton Center, greeted by the scent of freshly brewed coffee and a menu brimming of specialty tea and espresso drinks. It’s Saturday morning, and as of earlier this month, Espwesso, Wesleyan’s only student-run café, has expanded its hours to cater to its Middletown customers. "Our regulars, and people who before couldn’t be our regulars because of the late night hours, are very excited,” said manager Jasmine Masand ‘15. Now, the hotspot for delicious fair trade coffee is open for business from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday. These new…

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#THISISWHY In this Q&A, we speak with Hannah Steinberg from the Class of 2016. Q: Hannah, you studied abroad through the School for Field Studies’ (SFS) Costa Rica program in Spring 2014. Why did you choose this program and why did you decide to conduct research during your study abroad experience? A: I chose SFS Costa Rica because I wanted to go to Latin America to improve my Spanish skills and get practical hands-on experience in biological science. Another cool part of the program was that it was situated on a sustainable orange and mango farm in central Costa Rica,…

Members of the Wesleyan Film Project's Screenwriters Lounge gathered at the Shapiro Creative Writing Center's library Feb. 16 to discuss current projects. The Wesleyan Film Project is a student-run group that formed during the fall semester 2014 and supports filmmaking on campus. During Screenwriter's Lounge sessions the students meet with each other, writers, directors and producers to review student-submitted scripts in order to prepare them for production. For more information on the group, visit the Wesleyan Film Project on Facebook. Photos of the Screenwriters Lounge gathering are below: (Photos by John Van Vlack) (more…)

This semester, 21 senior earth and environmental science majors in the Senior Field Research Project (EES 398) course traveled to Puerto Rico to develop their research, data collection, analytical and presentation skills. As part of the EES Department's capstone course sequence, students are required to participate in a series of student-designed research projects. From Jan. 12-19, students performed independent research in the field. "The overarching spirit is to have students participate in the full arc of a research project: from the design all the way to the presentation of the results," said Dana Royer, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, associate professor…

In this Q&A we speak with Emmakristina Sveen from the Class of 2017. Q: How and when did you form the Wesleyan Republican Committee (WRC)? A: Meghan Kelly ’17 and I founded the Wesleyan Republican Committee this fall. The previous Republican student group on campus, which was started in 2009, gradually deteriorated after the 2012 elections and after their senior leadership graduated. We wanted to establish a club that served as a vehicle in which students with any level of affiliation with the Republican Party could discuss their political views in a safe environment. With the help of Meghan’s brother,…

How do faculty help students, and themselves, thread a path through an ever-growing body of information? What practices can faculty and students find that enable them to bring a clear and sustained focus to their work in the classroom and the laboratory? Through two workshops and discussions, held Feb. 19, participants can consider how one might approach teaching from a contemplative perspective, in both the long and short term. Faculty and students will experiment with the adaptation of several traditional contemplative practices to classroom situations including “stilling” (breath and body awareness), contemplative writing, “beholding,” and explore how these might be instantiated in a classroom, laboratory or personal…

On Feb. 5, the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) Community Committee (CoCo) hosted a Student Activities Fair in Beckham Hall. This video documents the diverse range of clubs at Wesleyan, including activism, interests, identities, politics, publications, sports and more. The purpose of this fair was to create a centralized location where clubs could promote themselves to students who may not be aware of what this diverse campus has to offer. CoCo is chaired by Elizabeth Shackney ’17, who is featured in the video that can be seen below: [youtube]http://youtu.be/L5TG4T79yj0[/youtube]

Wesleyan Community Celebrates Students During Foss Hill Day

Burgunder ’15 Competes in Ski Mountaineering World Championships

Co-Op Provides Local, Sustainable Food Options

WeSlam Poetry Team Takes Victory at Regional Slam

Student-Run Espwesso Expands Hours, Welcomes Middletown Community

President Roth Fields Questions from WesMaSS Scholars

Steinberg ’16 Studies Effects of Artificial Feeders on Hummingbird Diversity, Interactions in Costa Rica

Screenwriters Lounge Supports Student Filmmaking on Campus

Students Travel to Puerto Rico to Develop Research Skills

Government Major Sveen Promotes Political Diversity on Campus through the Wesleyan Republican Committee

Faculty, Students Invited to Workshops on Contemplative Pedagogy Feb. 19

Video: Wesleyan Student Assembly Hosts Student Activities Fair