Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life – Page 2

Back to Campus

June 25, 2015August 18, 2009 by Michael S. Roth '78

After some weeks away from campus, it feels great to be back in Middletown. We have had an enjoyable and productive summer, and now it’s time to get ready for our new students and those returning to Wesleyan. The ever active Physical Plant staff are busily getting buildings ready for faculty and students, while many on the faculty are focused on finishing the research mapped out for the summer.

It has been a busy time for the construction crews preparing the new Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life. The old Scott Labs (then Davenport) building has been cleaned up on the outside and had a real makeover internally. The Shapiro Creative Writing Center and the Quantitative Analysis Center will both have great spaces in the new facility.

Speaking of creative writing, I just learned that our new Assistant Professor of English, Deb Olin Unferth, won the Cabell First Novelist Award for Vacation, published by McSweeney’s. What a great way to start off at Wes!

[tags]back to school, Allbritton Center for Public Life, Shapiro Creative Writing Center, Quantitative Analysis Center, Deb Olin Unferth, Cabell First Novelist Award[/tags]

Writing, Public Life and Civic Engagement

June 26, 2015January 15, 2009 by Michael S. Roth '78

We know who we are, but it is always nice to be acknowledged. Over the break it was announced that the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching had selected Wesleyan for inclusion in the 2008 Community Engagement Classification in the category of Curricular Engagement, Outreach and Partnerships. Here’s what the Foundation had to say: “Your application documented excellent alignment among mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices that support dynamic and noteworthy community engagement.”

For generations, Wesleyan students, faculty, staff and alumni have connected their educational work to making positive contributions to the world around them. Here we have long believed in the power of a liberal arts education not only in helping one to live a more reflective and considered life as an individual, but also in enabling one to engage with one’s community in effective and generous ways. Our student volunteers at our Green Street Art Center, our tutors at Traverse Square in Middletown, and our teachers in prison programs are just a few examples of public service at Wesleyan. I have no doubt that we at Wesleyan — students, faculty and staff — will continue to work with our partners, our neighbors and our friends to connect our efforts here to productive work beyond the campus.

One of the new vehicles for studying public service generally is the nascent Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life. Led by Don Moon, the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Professor in the College of Social Studies, the Allbritton Center will bring together social scientists and activists, humanists, journalists, and elected officials to study complex social problems and the types of engagement used to address them.

As many of you may have heard, the Allbritton Center, located in Davenport (Scott Labs), will have a congenial neighbor. Recently Wesleyan received a significant gift from John Shapiro ’74 and Shonni Silverberg ’76 to establish a Writing Center, which will be the home of a Certificate Program in creative writing (fiction, poetry and non-fiction). Writing and the study of public life will live together in Davenport. The necessary renovations there begin presently, and we expect to open the building in the fall of 2009. These new centers, to be housed in one of our most beautiful and historic buildings, are wonderful additions to Wesleyan. We are grateful to our donors and eager to begin learning from the work of our students and faculty in these dynamic and noteworthy areas.

[tags] Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, community engagement, Green Street Arts Center, Traverse Square, prison programs, Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, Don Moon, John Shapiro ’74, Shonni Silverberg ’76, Writing Center, Davenport renovations [/tags]

Understanding and Engagement: Public Service

July 2, 2015June 12, 2008 by Michael S. Roth '78

Last night in Washington, D.C., more than 150 Wesleyan alumni and parents gathered together to catch up with old friends, reminisce about college days, and hear from this not-so-new president about what’s been happening on campus. Although hopes for a cool June evening had given way to the reality of a scorching heat wave stretching along the East Coast, spirits were high as we looked forward to the relief that thunderstorms would bring.

The Wesleyan folks I spoke with throughout the evening seemed optimistic about how our university has remained a beacon for progressive values in liberal arts education. Of course, people of different political persuasions understand “progressive” in a variety of ways, but there remains a commitment to seeing our university graduate students who would continue to make a positive contribution to public life.

Robert and Elena Allbritton, two Wesleyan alumni who graduated in the early 1990s, hosted the event. Elena is a physician with a D.C. practice, and Robert (a Wes trustee) recently started the web-based political news organization, POLITICO.COM. They have also made the leadership gift to establish the Center for the Study of Public Life, an interdisciplinary effort to better understand national and international issues with the tools of social science and the humanities. The Allbritton Center will enable our students to study issues such as Violence and Public Life, Faith and Politics, or Health Care Economics in a project-based format using a variety of methodological tools. The study of issues in public life should increase our students’ capacity to contribute to its betterment. The new Center will open in the fall of 2009 in the building that many of you know as either Davenport or Scott Labs.

Among our Washington guests last night there was still much discussion of Barack Obama’s participation in Commencement this year. In my conversations with alumni with very different political views, I could see that the senator’s call to public service resonated in important ways. There is a long history of Wesleyan students engaging in public service, from volunteering for the military, to signing on for Teach for America. A great figure in this regard was John Macy ’38, who held a variety of posts in the government and was executive vice-president at Wesleyan from 1958-1961. John returned to Washington when President Kennedy asked him to chair the Civil Service Commission. He would later direct the White House Personnel Office and become president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Countless Wesleyan students heading to Washington received a warm welcome from John, along with counsel on how to develop fulfilling careers in public service. Many are still here in D.C. We plan to honor John Macy as we develop new programs that help students to engage in public life.

As the Allbritton Center takes shape, I imagine that it will navigate between stimulating the scholarly study of complex issues and inspiring students to find ways to turn their studies into practical applications that enhance the public good. As I finish my Washington meetings and head back to Connecticut, I realize that we need both: a deeper understanding of difficult issues, and an active engagement in the public sphere. Wesleyan will enhance understanding and engagement – that certainly is part of what it means to remain “a beacon for progressive values in liberal arts education.”
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PS Speaking of public issues, some of you may have seen my review of Philip Gourevitch’s new book on Abu Ghraib. If you missed it, here’s the link:

http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-bk-roth25-2008may25,0,3903424.story

[tags] public service, Washington, D.C., Allbritton, Center for the Study of Public Life, John Macy [/tags]

Trustees and Themes for the Future

July 2, 2015March 3, 2008 by Michael S. Roth '78

At the end of the past week the Wesleyan Trustees were on campus for their winter meeting. This is an exceptional group of volunteers (alumni and some parents) who have fiduciary responsibility for the university and a great ambition for its future. The most significant business for this meeting was a resolution to approve moving to the next design stage for the buildings in Molecular Biology, Biology, and Chemistry. The architects from Payette Associates gave a great presentation, and we have raised the money necessary to continue the design program. The trustees unanimously approved that we continue with the process.

There were many other topics for the committees to discuss. The Governance Committee evaluates how the board is currently operating and considers the possibility for new members. The Finance Committee approves budgets, and it monitors our long-term financial health. The Campus Affair Committee considers everything from academics to residential life, and this time it also reviewed some tenure cases that I had recommended to the board. The University Relations Committee discussed fund-raising plans, alumni engagement and our communications strategy. Trustees also have an opportunity to meet (formally and informally) with faculty and students. They work hard while here, and they are ambassadors for Wesleyan between meetings. A full list of board members can be found at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/administration/trustees.html

At the heart of the full board meeting was a discussion of some of the key ideas that have emerged from the faculty as we discuss strategic planning and curricular innovation. We want to ensure that Wesleyan continues to make a positive and lifelong contribution to the lives of our students and alumni; that we have an impact on higher education in the United States; and that the knowledge and skills of students, faculty, and alumni have a crucial role in productively shaping the culture of the future.

I’d asked the faculty to send in brief papers discussing how they would use more resources for academic innovation. We receive more than fifty papers, and here are the key themes:
1. Strengthening the Undergraduate Experience

How can Wesleyan be better appreciated as an institution in which undergraduates thrive in a context of freedom, mutual support, rigorous academic demands, and liberal learning with practical consequences?

I am asking the faculty to concentrate especially on strengthening the “Wesleyanish” aspects of the first and last years of a student’s career. Our focused freshman seminars are popular, and we are now exploring how to link them with one another and with co-curricular initiatives. I have asked the faculty to explore how we might institute a university-wide capstone experience, whether it be a thesis, a recital, a community project, or some other senior project that completes the on-campus work and launches our graduates into the world.

2. Internationalization

How can Wesleyan become a magnet for international students who want to excel through active learning, as we become a destination for students who want a cosmopolitan educational experience at a scale that promotes deep relations with teachers and fellow students?

There were two main areas in which we can strengthen our international efforts. The first concerns the curriculum and the second concerns the composition of the student body. We must work on both fronts.

3. Creative Campus

How can Wesleyan fulfill its legacy as a school that values creativity, rewards intelligent risk-taking, and produces graduates who go on to reshape the culture around them?

Wesleyan should build on its creative reputation and seed innovative energies across all the divisions. From promoting access to studio classes for all students, to encouraging entrepreneurship as a habit and a subject, we should be known as a magnet for creative students and as an incubator of exciting projects. Creativity should flow from the CFA across the campus to the new science facilities (and back again!).

4. College of the Environment

Decades ago Wesleyan founded COL and CSS as path-breaking interdisciplinary programs in the humanities and social sciences. Is it now time for the College of the Environment, which would bring together all three divisions?

One of the most exciting proposals called for the creation of a College of the Environment that would give students a focused and intense education about the complex issues associated with global environmental issues. A College of the Environment would have important connections with the new Life Sciences buildings and be a beacon for interdisciplinary study grounded in the sciences and extending to the social sciences, humanities, and arts.

5. Civic Engagement

Wesleyan has been known for its activist culture. How can we build on that culture to create learning opportunities that make a difference?

The Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life will facilitate students becoming more engaged in real-world problem solving. How can Wesleyan integrate these activities and its traditions of engagement into a distinctive learning environment? How can we build on them to make our institutional voice heard in the governmental arena and in international discussions concerning the future of the liberal arts? Wesleyan should become well known as a place for connecting the liberal arts with a broad spectrum of activities that shape the culture and economy of the future.

Over the next several weeks, we will be creating faculty task forces to examine these themes and proposals. In addition to these themes, we will be raising endowment funds to enhance financial aid, and to put the university in a position to finance a significant part of the new life sciences complex. What do you think of these general themes and specific projects? What do you think is missing? The trustees gave us plenty of input, but we need more. You can send comments to this blog, or directly to the trustees at:

The Board of Trustees
Wesleyan University
WesBox 91666
Middletown, CT 06459.

[tags] Board of Trustees, building additions, Governance Committee, Finance Committee, Campus Affair Committee, University Relations Committee, academic innovation, undergraduate, internationalization, creativity, environment, civic engagement [/tags]