Dean’s Corner – Academic Advice for Final Exams and Papers

The Class Dean’s Corner

Greetings Wesleyan Community! In preparation for a healthy and successful end to the 2016-2017 academic year, the Class Deans Office Roving Reporters are pleased to share some tips and strategies that students use to prepare for final exams and other academic assessments.

Overall Strategies:

  • It gets to the point where I know I have to act like I am in a (Joey ‘18)
  • I’m trying to figure that out. My strategy is to pay attention in class and try to understand what’s happening when learning it and then remembering it is a lot easier. (Avi ‘20)
  • Whenever you get the chance, put any effort you can into studying. Don’t let it build up. Don’t wait for midterms. Be on the lookout at least a week ahead of time. (Ryan ‘18)
  • I look over all my notes and my syllabus to make sure I’m not missing any part of the class and to make sure that I at least know something about each portion of the syllabus. Then I just sort of spend time thinking about it and hope that I do well…and sleep. (Nathaniel ‘19)

Study Places:

  • I like to be in a quiet place where I don’t feel distracted. I also like eating a good meal before studying so you’re not distracted by hunger the whole time.  (Sarafina ‘20)
  • Vary your study locations. Just get up and move every couple hours so you don’t get tired. (Campbell ‘19)

Time Management:

  • Plan your time wisely. Make a daily schedule and a weekly schedule of all the things that you should be doing so you are using your time most efficiently. Also like not forgetting to get a meal and enough sleep. And to take care of yourself. (Steven ‘18)

Study Techniques:

  • Always carry a highlighter everywhere you go…put it in your back pocket. (Mackenzie ‘19)
  • I like to listen to really good music, like lots of rap…it has a steady beat, a set tempo for studying. (Parichat ‘20)
  • I use index cards, rewrite my notes, and review a lot ahead of time and as you go along. (Valerie ‘20)
  • I study in separate chunks with breaks rather than cramming. You should test yourself; don’t just look at the notes. Anticipate questions that will be on the exam; don’t just look at your study guide and say Ah! I know this, and then formulate it into a question.  (Kelly ‘17)
  • Because I am a sociology major, I read a lot of social theory. I have different color codes for each color of highlighter that indicate special things in the text and make it easy to hold onto, like words like therefore, hence, thus, or for questions or definitions. I use colors that contrast two things.  (Grace ’17)

General Advice:

  • Don’t study with your friends. (Willa ‘19)
  • Laugh a lot with your friends, take breaks with Netflix, and workout. (CiCi ‘18)

The Roving Class Deans:

These are terrific insights.  To learn more about the ways that the Class Deans Office can help you, please stop in during drop-in hours or schedule an individual meeting to see us. http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/about/classdeans.html.

To meet with an Academic Peer Advisor for studying or test-taking tips or time management strategies, go to  http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/resources/peeradvisors/index.html .

Remember:

Last Day to Withdraw from Full Semester & 4th Quarter Classes – May 3, 2017

Classes End – May 10, 2017

Reading Period – May 11 – 15

Final Exams – May 16 – 19

University Housing Closes – May 20

The GLASS (Gay, Lesbian, and Sexuality Studies) Prize

Announcing the 2017 GLASS Prize!

The GLASS (Gay, Lesbian, and Sexuality Studies) Prize is awarded for the best research and writing on a subject in queer, trans*, LGBT, or sexuality studies.

The prize is open to Wesleyan undergraduate students in all classes; senior essays and theses are preferred. The award includes no cash benefit, but the winner’s name will be published in the 2017 Commencement booklet.

Entries must be submitted in hard copy by 4pm on Thursday, April 20 to the Center for the Americas (look for the bin labeled “GLASS Prize” in the downstairs hallway).

If you have any questions, please contact the GLASS Prize chair, Prof. Margot Weiss (mdweiss@wesleyan.edu).

More info at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/queerstudies/glass.html

Fellowship Information Sessions – April 21, 25, and 26

WATSON FELLOWSHIP WEBINAR | Friday April 21 @ 12PM

Attend a webinar hosted by the Watson Fellowship program. Learn about the Watson Fellowship and stay for a Q&A after with campus advisor, Kate Smith.

FULBRIGHT INFORMATION SESSION | Tuesday April 25 @ 12PM

Juniors! Plan ahead and attend a Fulbright Information Session on Tuesday April 25 @ 12PM in Usdan 110 (feel free to pick up lunch beforehand – the presentation will start just after 12PM!).

FELLOWSHIP WRITING WORKSHOP | Tuesday April 25 OR Wednesday April 26

Thinking about applying to Fulbright or Watson? Maybe the Marshall, Mitchell or Rhodes Scholarship? And not sure where to start? Attend an upcoming Writing Workshop with Kate! Food will be provided, but registration is required. Register here: https://goo.gl/forms/v3mLOYgDd6WARl7P2

For more updates, deadlines & opportunities, please follow Fellowships @ Wes on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wesfellowships/

Register for Housing Selection Immediately, Mondo Pizza, Dean’s List

Reminders!

  • Register for Housing Selection Immediately! This MUST be done before noon on Monday, April 17, 2017. Note, Housing Selection Drop-In Q & A tomorrow (Friday, April 14, 2017, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM).
  • Sign up down for a Mondo’s Pizza and Salad dinner & Time Management/ Final Exam Prep Workshop Register Here
  • The Spring 2016 Dean’s List is updated for viewing

Shu Tokita Prize for Student of Color Studying Literature – Applications Due April 17

Shu Tokita Prize For Students of Color Studying Literature:  The Shu Tokita Prize, established by friends and relatives of Shu Tokita, ’84, will be awarded to one or two students of color (US citizens or residents), current sophomores or juniors, majoring in literature, in area studies or a language major with a focus on literature, who demonstrate need for substantial financial assistance

For further information, please contact the campus coordinator of the Shu Tokita Prize committee, Alice Hadler (Downey House 209, x 2832, ahadler@wesleyan.edu, campus mail: English Dept., 294 High St.). Please submit your application and essay as an email attachment to Prof. Hadler by the Monday April 17 deadline.

 

The Khachig Tölölyan Fund for the Study of Diasporas and Transnationalism Application Deadline Extended to Fri. April 14, 2017

Dear Juniors,

Applications for the scholarship described below (you can find the full description on the COL web page under Grants) were due April 4th. Because of my recent illness, the application deadline has been extended to Friday, April 14th, midnight. Please e-mail all materials to me. If you are not working on a thesis that might qualify but know others who do, please inform them as well. Thank you, KT

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Candidates must be juniors enrolled full time at Wesleyan or a Wesleyan program overseas who plan to write an Honors thesis or its equivalent (a performance, an exhibit) in any Department of the Humanities and the Arts (Division I), the Social Sciences (Division II), or in interdisciplinary Programs that have a Humanities department as a participant. Any project proposal emanating from these departments may be considered at the discretion of the Committee, as long as the thesis deals with topics closely related to certain areas in which Professor Tölölyan has conducted his teaching and scholarship — diasporas, transnational formations and activities, and the implications of globalization for communities of dispersion.

Topics that exemplify but do not exhaust all possible cases include the study of:

Past and present events and processes that lead to dispersion and the subsequent creation of the social formations variously known as “diasporas,” “transnational communities” and “transnational social fields”;

All forms of past and contemporary cultural production by artists and scholars living and working in diasporic and transnational communities;

Representational practices of such diasporic communities in the spheres of social, religious, political and cultural life;

The effects of dispersion either on the homelands from which the new communities emigrate, or on the new societies and “host-lands” where they settle;

The trajectory, problems and effects of return migration by diasporas to homelands;

Discourses, practices, performances and institutions that motivate, organize, and perpetuate these diasporic formations, such as aesthetic and political ideology, whether deployed in high art, popular culture, social practices, or in forms of historiography and academic research;

Religious, social, educational, and political activities, ranging from lobbying and the creation of digital diasporic communities to the creation of NGOs that link diasporas to each other and the homeland, and to diasporic involvement in cross-border violence and conflicts.

An application consists of:

  1. A proposal for or description of a senior thesis, 1,000-1,500 words in length.
  2. An informal academic transcript.
  3. Two letters of recommendation from Wesleyan faculty, one of whom must be the probable supervisor of the Honors thesis. If the supervisor has not yet been determined, two letters from instructors familiar with the student’s work in fields relevant to the project will suffice.

The proposal should be e-mailed to Professor Tölölyan by midnight, April 14th, at ktololyan@wesleyan.edu. Supporting documents can be e-mailed to him there.

The decision is usually made within a week.

 

Waste Not application is open!

Are you interested in collecting STUFF? And sorting and storing said stuff? Want to be part of a great team and help carry on one of Wesleyan’s greatest traditions? WANT TO STAY FOR SENIOR WEEK????? Then apply to work for Waste Not! Waste Not! is Wesleyan’s student-run tag sale that happens at the beginning of every year! In the spring, you’ll be helping collect donations from students moving out, sorting and storing it for the summer so that the sale can go on without a hitch in the fall! You get to meet and work with a great group of students and stay on campus for senior week! If you’re interested, fill out this form: https://goo.gl/forms/fE3Cas0pYy8gQjhs1