Month: March 2021

A Note from Your Academic Peer Advisors

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We hope that your semester and classes have been going smoothly this semester! The Academic Peer Advisors are reaching out to offer our support. Even as life seems to be improving around us, we know that classes, homework, papers and tests are still causing stress among our community. APAs are here for one-on-one meetings, to help with various academic skills like time management, organization, study strategies, and reading or note-taking, as well as connecting you with any other resources you might need, but might not know about!

We encourage you to reach out to us with questions or concerns you might have about anything. You can email us at peeradvisors@wesleyan.edu or our personal emails, which are linked to our bios on the Wesleyan website linked here.

Hope to hear from you, please don’t hesitate to ask for help!

Best,

The Academic Peer Advisors

CEAS Major Declaration

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Did you know that East Asia is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic regions on the planet?  Home to 20% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s GDP, East Asia has also generated global cultural phenomena like Anime, K-Pop music, and Kung Fu.

If you’re curious to learn more about East Asia or love the region already, the College of East Asian Studies (CEAS) encourages you to declare a CEAS major this week.

Like other colleges (e.g., CSS, COL, COE) on campus, CEAS is an interdisciplinary three-year major. Unlike the others, we have no formal application/interview process, and we allow students to declare anytime.  All you need to do is fill out this information form and submit your major declaration through your WesPortal.  To find out more about the major and its requirements, please visit our ‘about the major’ web page.

It is quite easy to combine a CEAS major with another major, and about half of our majors are double (or more) majors, coming from across the university with majors in the arts, humanities, natural sciences, social science, etc.

CEAS puts on regular events, and we have a supportive, diverse, and dynamic community.  We’d love to have you join us.  If you declare your CEAS major by the end of this week, you’ll get priority on getting into CEAS classes when pre-reg opens next week.

We hope you’ll come join us to be part of the CEAS community.

Best,

Mary Alice Haddad
John E. Andrus Professor of Government
Director, Office for Faculty and Career Development
Chair and Professor of East Asian Studies
Professor of Environmental Studies
Wesleyan University

Apply to be a Writing Workshop Tutor–Deadline Extended to 3/31

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The deadline to apply to be a Writing Workshop Tutor has been extended to Wednesday, March 31! We encourage everyone, especially if you do not see your major or writing background frequently represented in the Workshop, to apply. Visit our website to learn more and submit an application.
Still not sure whether the job is a good fit? Jake Kwon, one of our tutors who is a senior biology major, told us: “I almost didn’t apply to the Workshop because I thought I was a subpar writer and didn’t have the proper skill set to tutor/mentor others on writing. The Writing Workshop has taught me that anyone can be good at writing and has broadened my perspective on what good writing looks like.” We really do mean we want *you* to apply!

Wesleyan Black Alumni Council Memorial Prize Summer Stipend

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In April 1986, the Wesleyan Black Alumni Council (WBAC) established a memorial fund to honor late alumni of African descent. The memorial honors the memory and spirit of Bruce D. Hall ’77, James “Donnie” Rochester ’74, and Dwight L. Greene ’70 through a summer experience grant to support students interested in projects or research pertaining to the African American experience. The maximum stipend is $4,000.

APPLICATION

A student who wishes to apply for the Wesleyan Black Alumni Council Memorial Prize must submit an application that includes all of the following:

  1. A personal statement sharing your motivation, interest, and preparation for the proposed project, and the relationship of these to the African American experience. You might include information about coursework you’ve completed or extracurricular projects that have been meaningful to you. (limit: 500 words)

  2. A description of your project, including your research question or project aim, some background information on the topic, and the specific approach, structure, and/or methodology you will use in your project. Please include information on dates and time commitment. (limit: 750 words)

  3. An itemized budget that describes how the stipend will be used.

  4. The name of a faculty mentor with whom you have discussed your research proposal, or the name of a professional connected with your project.

  5. An unofficial academic history.

The application documents must be submitted through this form by Wednesday, April 14, 2021 at 5:00pm ET.

IMPORTANT NOTES

  • Research involving participants who could be individually identified, audio or video recordings of participants, sensitive data, vulnerable populations, or the observation of behavioral tasks in a laboratory setting will require IRB approval. If you are not sure whether your research requires IRB approval, please consult with your faculty mentor and/or the Wesleyan Institutional Review Board.

  • As we work to support as many students as possible in their summer plans, recipients of other summer funding and/or students engaging in full-pay internships or jobs are not eligible to receive the WBAC Memorial Prize. A student will not be permitted to accept another award or paid summer internship in conjunction with the WBAC Prize. A student may, however, use proposals that were submitted for other funding to apply for the WBAC Prize. The student will be expected to inform all funding bodies if multiple awards have been offered so that students on waitlists on either side might be awarded.

In addition to the funding provided by the WBAC Memorial Prize, the recipient will be highlighted during the annual Dwight L. Greene Symposium during Homecoming/ Family Weekend, and they will present their project at the Alumni and Students of Color Reception.

By submitting your application materials, you agree to allow the Office for Equity & Inclusion to use these documents — in whole or in part — for archival, promotion, or assessment purposes.

If you have any questions about this summer grant, please contact April Ruiz, Dean for Academic Equity, Inclusion, & Success: aruiz01@wesleyan.edu.

The Wesleyan Black Alumni Council Memorial Prize Selection Committee looks forward to reading your application!

Flames of My Homeland: The Cultural Revolution and Modern Tibet

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Flames of My Homeland: The Cultural Revolution and Modern Tibet
Works by Tsering Dorje, Tsering Woeser, and Ian Boyden ‘95

Now through Thursday April 1, 2021
Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Main Gallery

Ellie Ga: Gyres 1-3

Now through Thursday March 25, 2021
Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, South Gallery

For more information, please go to:

https://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa/galleries/zilkha-exhibition/

 

“Be-Friend” Initiative

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What is be-friend?
BE-FRIEND aims to pair Wes students with each other to connect and share thoughts, ideas, and themselves. It is open to all Wed students regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or ability. We hope to foster connections in the midst of a time characterized by social distancing and disconnect.

How it works:
Interested participants will complete an initial survey designed to help the chaplain’s office pair you with someone based on your preferences, including faith or no-faith tradition, gender identity, race/ethnicity/ethnic identity, and any specific preference you might have.

The program will begin on March 22 and go through the end of April. If the pair of “friends” want to continue to meet, in-person or online, that’s up to them. We will gather safely outside in early May to enjoy a celebratory meal (provided by a local restaurant). For those participating from elsewhere, we will mail a care package to their preferred address. Each participant will receive a free t-shirt.

Here is the link to the survey: https://forms.gle/qE1HTwXpPQJMm9GZ8

Share Your Voice

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The Sleep and Psychosocial Adjustment Lab at Wesleyan University has launched a new longitudinal research study – “Share Your Voice”. To be eligible, you must be a member of the class of 2024 and identify as a member of a socio-demographic minority group in the U.S. (e.g., racial-ethnic minority, LGBTQ+, non-binary, first generation, low-income, or religious minority). The goal of the study is to better understand identity development, social adjustment, and psychological well-being among a sample of Wesleyan students, whose transition to university overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic and racial protests during the summer of 2020. Participants will be compensated $10 for each interview, for a maximum of $80.

If interested, please fill out this brief screening form or email: spalab@wesleyan.edu.

Applications for Wesleyan’s Global Engagement Minor (GEM) are due in THREE DAYS!

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The GEM is a unique opportunity for second-semester freshmen at Wes. This minor seeks to cultivate students’ intercultural development and global engagement by integrating:

  • Global Perspective Courses of YOUR choosing
  • Language Proficiency and/or Courses
  • Cultural Immersion Experiences (study abroad, fellowships, others)
  • … and two half-credit seminars to help you synthesize these experiences!

To apply, you only need to submit a 500-word max letter of interest, a list of your courses taken at Wes, and a brief recommendation from a professor (which can be submitted by the extended deadline of March 22).

Learn more about the Global Engagement Minor application, timeline, and requirements here: https://www.wesleyan.edu/cgs/GEM/index.html.

Contact Natalia Román Alicea at nromanalicea@wesleyan.edu for more information.

COL Open House 3/5

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Please join us for an open house to learn more about the College of Letters on Friday, March 5 (tomorrow) from 11:30am-12:30pm over Zoom at the following link:

https://wesleyan.zoom.us/my/tushar.irani

This event will include the opportunity to chat with current COL majors as well as some of our faculty.  We’ll explain the various requirements for the COL major, the possibility of double majoring, and the community-based nature of the program, and will also happily field any questions.

This year the COL is switching to a new more inclusive declaration process for incoming majors. First-year students will declare the major during the COL Major Declaration Period. The declaration period this semester began on Tues. February 23, 2021 and runs through Tues. March 23, 2021. Total enrollment in the major is limited to 25 students.

The College of Letters is a three-year, interdisciplinary major for the study of European literature, history, and philosophy. During these three years, students participate as a cohort in a series of colloquia in which they read and discuss works together (in English), learn to think critically about texts in relation to their contexts and influences—both European and non-European—and in relation to the disciplines that shape and are shaped by those texts. Majors also become proficient in a foreign language and study abroad in order to deepen their knowledge of another culture. The COL, a unique college within Wesleyan University, has its own library and workspace where students can study together, participate in seminars and workshops, attend lectures, and meet informally with their professors, whose offices surround the library.

The COL is unique at Wesleyan in its dedication to the study of the Mediterranean world and the various origins of Europe from antiquity to the present. In our history as a department, we have moved from an oversimplified model of the formation of Europe (with Athens and Jerusalem as points of origin) to a multicausal, more complex model of plural origins. A genealogical approach of this sort to the study of European culture has the benefit of enabling students in our courses throughout the university to regard Europe no longer as the “old world” but as a continent still in transition as it becomes more multilingual, more multicultural, and more religiously diverse.