Friday, September 11, 2015
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM Memorial Service: In Honor of 9/11
Flag in front of South College
Students will be gathering with flashlights and phones to take a moment to remember the tragedy of 9/11 and support one another in that remembrance.
A reminder that The Mash, the fourth annual celebration of Wesleyan’s student music scene, with non-stop music from 2-7:30pm today. Due to weather, we had to move the events inside today, so please stop by the Patricelli ’92 Theater, the Usdan Café and Crowell Concert Hall today to see bands, a cappella groups and other music ensembles.
The full schedule is here: http://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa/events/2015/09-2015/09112015the-mash.html
And to give a nod to all of the the faculty/staff who make music too, you can see Smokin’ Lillies featuring our own Louise Brown, Barry Chernoff, Rob Rosenthal, Luanne Benshimol, Evan Glass; Paul Horton and special guest Michael S. Roth on keyboards at 5pm in Crowell Concert Hall. Please come by!
Have you ever wanted a personal editor? Someone who would meet with you privately to help you with your writing?
Your Writing Mentor will work with you on your particular writing concerns, whether you need help generating ideas, structuring your essay, improving sentence clarity and grammar, or managing your time. As mentors and mentees meet on a weekly basis, this program is designed for students who enjoy regular collaboration. If you participate, you will have a sophomore, junior, or senior assigned to meet with you throughout the semester.
We work with students of all writing abilities and in all disciplines. All services are free.
To apply for a writing mentor for the Fall 2015 semester, please fill out the online application here by Monday, September 21st at midnight. We will let you know whether we were able to pair you with a mentor by Thursday, September 24th. Please contact Ford Fellow Elana Rosenthal at writingworks@wesleyan.edu or 860-685-2440 if you have any questions or concerns.
We look forward to working with you.
As the Syrian war draws on and the ranks of displaced people grow ever larger, Europe arguably faces its largest refugee crisis since the second world war. The movement of people across the Mediterranean and the Balkans has alternately revealed official incapacity, reactionary violence, and outpourings of voluntarism and support. In recent weeks, some commentators have objected to the characterization of those in flight as migrants, insisting that the term misrepresents their movement as voluntary as a way of denying them basic human rights. Is this so? How can other instances of voluntary and involuntary migration shed light on the current crisis? Four scholars will put the crisis in historical perspective by analyzing varied experiences of displacement, from the persistent plight of African asylum seekers in Europe to the Southeast Asian diaspora in the United States.
Panelists: Bruce Masters (History); Marguerite Nguyen (English); Peter Rutland (Government); Laura Ann Twagira (History).
Thursday, September 17
12:00 noon
PAC 002
Dear ’18,
It’s Not Too Early to Think SPRING!
As you plan your courses this fall, keep the Wesleyan “Spring Intensive” in mind. This new opportunity will allow you to plunge into a new course every three weeks and to intensively focus on project or topic at a time rather than balancing several. The goal of the program is to give students an opportunity to build cohesiveness across their courses, collaborate with faculty, engage in project-based learning and sample from some never previously offered courses from prominent visitors. Each three week course will carry a full credit covering the same amount of material as 14 week courses. Check out the menu of courses herehttp://wesleyanspringintensive.blogs.wesleyan.edu/
Who can participate? Up to 50 students interested in building their spring schedule with intensive courses and other for-credit experiences.
Can I take other courses? Though most admitted students will take their courses exclusively in the intensive format, students may enroll in one or more semester-long credits for a senior thesis, independent or group tutorial, student forum, or internship. Students can also take quarter-credit courses outside the intensive format, schedule permitting.
When will intensive courses meet? Classes will meet Monday through Friday for 2 hours and 50 minutes for three weeks.
How will students be admitted? The Intensive program is POI. Interested students may apply for admission by meeting with Professor Lisa Dierker (ldierker@wes) or any of the faculty teaching through the intensive program, before or during spring semester planning period. Admitted students will then seek final course selection approval from their advisors.
A bonus! Students admitted to the Intensive semester will not need to participate in pre-registration for spring 2016.
I’ll post this on the ’18 blog as well.
Best,
Dean Wood
Psychology Department Course Updates
PSYC 203: Sec 02 Quantitative Methods will be cancelled due to low enrollment. If you were thinking of making a request for this course, please choose Section 01 instead. Below is a description of Sec 01 of the course (including a new proposed course time — please read carefully!).
PSYC 203: Sec 01 Quantitative Methods is a general introduction to research methods in Psychology taught by social psychologist, Professor Kathleen Schmidt (kschmidt@wesleyan.edu). It is similar to other 200-level research methods courses except that it covers the entire field, rather than focusing on a sub-area of psychology, thus the more general title. In this class, you will understand how to do research that involves collecting data about all aspects of human behavior that can be measured as numbers (e.g., survey ratings, accuracy, response times, etc.). (This is why it is called quantitative methods — you measure things using numbers!). There are now no prerequisites for this section of the course and it is open to students in all class years and majors. This course is a requirement for the Psychology major. In fact, for the incoming class, prospective majors must take this course in their first two years in order to be able to declare Psychology as a major. If you are at all interested in psychology as a major (or are in the major) and want to get a project-based start in understanding research methods, this is a great course for you!
Once you have taken this course, you will be in a better position to get involved in a research lab in the department or to do independent research, too. If you are still looking for a class, do take advantage of the seats in this class this term!
The above Sec 01 class was previously scheduled to meet on M and F 1:10-2:30. The department has changed the class to M W 1:10-2:30 so as to accommodate more students. If you are interested in this class, please let the professor know right away by making an enrollment request or emailing the professor at the above address. If you would love to take the course but cannot do the class time, please let the professor know that too. The professor will communicate with you directly to let you know where and when to meet.
Still looking for a fourth class? Consider taking HIST 319: Crisis, Creativity and Modernity in the Weimar Republic, 1918-1933. W, 1:10-4:00 pm, ALLB 304. There are no prerequisites for this course.
Even though this is listed as an advanced History seminar, the pace and content does not differ much from frosh and sophomore seminars that have been taught by Professor Erik Grimmer-Solem in the History Department in the past, so first and second year students shouldn’t be intimidated. This seminar on the Weimar Republic is easily one of the most interesting courses that he teaches on campus. In past years, students in this class have produced fascinating research papers on such topics as Weimar-era photography, advertising, inflation, Dadaism, expressionist painting, social democracy, early Nazism, Bauhaus architecture and design, sports and athleticism in Weimar culture, cabaret and cultural critique, nudism, the women’s movement, Berlin in film, and German-Jewish identity. The readings cover a wide range of topics, so there’s something for everyone interested in an era that produced some of the most iconic examples of modernism. As the professor will be on sabbatical after December and will have other teaching commitments when he returns, it’s quite likely that this will be the last time this course will be offered in the next 3-4 years. Professor Grimmer-Solem was the recipient of the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2013 and the Carol A. Baker ’81 Memorial Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Research in 2005. More about him here: http://egrimmer.web.wesleyan.edu/
If you’re interested but not a junior or senior, please just put in an enrollment request and come to the first session of class on Wednesday, 1:10-4:00 pm in ALLB 304.
Full course description: https://iasext.wesleyan.edu/regprod/!wesmaps_page.html?crse=012852&term=1159
After Charleston: Next Steps for a Movement for Social Justice
The panel will include Bree Newsome, Bishop John Selders, Professor Clemmie Harris, and Tedra James
When: Thursday, September 17th at 8pm.
Where: The Chapel
The event is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come basis.
More information is available here:
http://engageduniversity.blogs.wesleyan.edu/?post_type=event&p=6185
Mindfulness with Brownies : every Wednesday at 7pm: basement Memorial Chapel. Informal, lasts 30 min. No previous experience necessary. This is a supportive community led by our mindfulness intern. This is year two of this project.
Our 6 week MBSR based class now called: BPN: Being Present Now. Starts Monday 10/5 with a sample class on Monday at 9/28. To apply: http://mindful.blogs.wesleyan.edu/class/. This is limited to 25 students.
For more info on the benefits of mindfulness from a scientific perspective:
http://mindful.blogs.wesleyan.edu/science/
You may not know that we offer one-year of Portuguese coursework every year (PORT 155 in the fall and PORT 156 in the spring). These 2 consecutive courses are designed for students who are already familiar with a Romance Language. The one-year of intermediate coursework in Portuguese that we offer has been steadily popular with Wesleyan seniors preparing for going abroad to Brazil or Portugal after they graduate from Wesleyan, but we would like to encourage students to think of Portuguese earlier in their career. All class years are welcome in the course and should contact Elizabeth Jackson (ejackson@wesleyan.edu) should they have questions.
What is particularly exciting about this coursework is that although students would “only” be doing one year of Portuguese, they would actually reach an early advanced level in Portuguese after that one year.
