Roth on Wesleyan

Kari and I are taking a couple of days before finals to show Sophie some colleges out in California that still have classes in session. It’s interesting for us to visit other schools and see how they describe their learning goals. Having grown up on the Wesleyan campus, our daughter has some clear ideas about […]

Yesterday the tenured members of the faculty convened to discuss the changing context for academic research. Our scholar teachers have been shaping the fields in which they work while responding to new methodologies, to blurred disciplinary boundaries, to expanded modes of dissemination, and to reduced expectations for funding in certain fields. There was talk about […]

As we move into Thanksgiving-Hanukkah week, many of us are struggling to finish academic work (studying, writing papers, grading) while also thinking about the holidays to come. The newspapers have squeezed out even more substance to make room for advertisements, and we may also find ourselves thinking of the gifts we have to buy. We […]

On Tuesday the faculty approved a proposal for a College of East Asian Studies. This program will gather together some of our existing resources and help us to bring additional support to campus. Here’s the proposal summary: We propose to merge three existing units—the East Asian Studies Program (EAST), the Asian Languages and Literatures Department […]

What a weekend of arts activity at Wesleyan! Pam Tatge, Director of the Center for the Arts, continues to combine campus energies with amazing performers from around the world. For me, it started out at a faculty social event at the Zilkha Gallery at the end of the day on Friday. Have you seen the […]

This week I was in Boston for a fundraising event to raise money for financial aid. Chris Wink ’83 is one of the founders of the Blue Man Group, and he arranged for us to have a night in the theater packed with Wesleyan folks whose ticket purchases went to support our scholarship program. There […]

I published the following op-ed piece in Inside Higher Education this morning. I’ve drawn on my new book,  Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, which will be published by Yale University Press in the spring.   Over the last year there has been a steady stream of articles about the “crisis in the humanities,” […]

Our hearts go out to those whose lives have been devastated by the super-typhoon that struck the Philippines. We are reaching out to our students and alumni from the region to see if we can be of help.  For those of you looking for ways to send assistance to the Philippines, you can find information […]

We see them all the time around campus: students who are holding down jobs either as part of a financial aid package or just to make ends meet while they pursue their studies. They may be sitting at the information desk at Usdan, passing out appetizers at receptions, assisting faculty or athletic teams, or working […]

We have received more than 60 proposals for improvements to the campus that would enhance the university’s ability to make the most of our residential dimensions. These range from very specific facilities improvements to programs that would allow students to learn all sorts of specific skills. I’m delighted to see the range of topics covered, […]