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59-505: Macondo began over twenty years ago when author Sandra Cisneros gathered a group of writers, artists, scholars and activists around her dining table in her King William home to meet informally for rigorous writing workshops. Under the direction of Cisneros, and during its brief time at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, membership grew significantly. As such, Macondo has very established traditions and expectations that include

118-493: A BA/MA Program in the sciences leading to a bachelor's degree in the fourth year and a master's degree in the fifth year. Tuition for the fifth year of the master's degree is waived. Wesleyan does not require undergraduates to take prescribed courses. Freshmen are offered First Year Initiative seminars, and undergraduates are encouraged in the first two years of study to take a minimum of two courses from two different departments in diverse subject areas. The Bailey College of

177-768: A National Historic Landmark; the Allbritton Center; the Butterfield dormitories; the Fauver Field dormitories; and the 11-building Center for the Arts complex. When Wesleyan University was founded in 1831, it took over a campus with two buildings, North College and South College, from 1825. These were originally constructed by the City of Middletown for use by Captain Partridge's American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy. In 1829, after

236-516: A body of 38 students elected annually to represent Wesleyan University's undergraduate student body. The members of the assembly serve as student advocates in all areas of the university, including matters related to student life, academics, university finances, and campus facilities. The Debate Society was founded in 1903 and later named in honor of Woodrow Wilson , who had been a professor at Wesleyan between 1888 and 1890 and who "became deeply involved in extracurricular student activities such as

295-633: A feeling of loss after having tried to model herself according to the American Dream, thus losing some sense of her Cuban Jewish family's past in that island nation. Esperanza's odyssey examines physical borders, margins and separations. Translated Woman contributes to the feminist argument that studying women in anthropology has been undervalued due to traditional academic prejudices that view women-centered analysis as too personally biased. Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( / ˈ w ɛ s l i ə n / WESS -lee-ən )

354-590: A feminist heroine. Esperanza claims she found redemption in a spiritualist cult constructed around Pancho Villa. She blamed pent-up rage about her husband and life as the reason for the deaths in infancy of the first six of her 12 children. Esperanza's rage led her to beat up her husband's lover, throw her son out of the house, beat a daughter for refusing to support her, and disown another son for having an affair with an uncle's ex-mistress because she considered it to be incestuous. Behar reflects on her own life and begins to think that her Latina-gringa conflicts result from

413-650: A few of which were exceptional architectural examples. These include Russell House , a National Historic Landmark , two Alsop family houses, (one is currently the African-American Studies center with student housing; the other is the Davison Art Center ), the Davison infirmary, a second Russell family house that contains the University Development Office, and Downey House. High Street, which is

472-460: A field trip to Spain to study funeral practices, she decided the ethnographer could never be fully detached, and needed to become a "vulnerable observer". She argues that the ethnographic fieldworker should identify and work though, his or her own emotional involvement with the subject under study. She strongly critiques conventional ideas of objectivity. She suggested that the ideal of a "scientific," distanced, impersonal mode of presenting materials

531-456: A historic Methodist site. Beginning in the late 1950s, president Victor Lloyd Butterfield began a reorganization program that resembled Harvard's house system and Yale's colleges . Undergraduate study would be divided into seven smaller residential colleges, with their own faculty and centralized graduate studies. Doctoral programs and a Center for Advanced Studies (later renamed the Center for

590-450: A large collection consisting primarily of works on paper, including 18,000 prints, 6,000 photographs, several hundred drawings, a small number of paintings, and three-dimensional objects (including artists' books , sculptures, and other objects). The print collection has works by Dürer , Goya , Rembrandt , Manet , and others. The museum's educational program includes student museum internships and student-curated exhibitions. In

649-468: A member of the Little Three . Wesleyan began as the smallest of the three. Later on, it expanded its programs, qualifying as a university with a variety of graduate offerings and became larger than the other two. In 1872, the university became one of the first U.S. colleges to attempt coeducation by admitting a small number of female students, a venture then known as the "Wesleyan Experiment". "In 1909,

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708-499: A rigorous application process aimed at professional writers of all genres, and the "Compassionate Code of Conduct," a document drafted by a group of past Macondistas outlining the principles and ethics that govern our organization. Macondo has over two hundred lifetime members, many of whom have been with the association from the beginning and who continue to receive support from the Macondo community. Macondo has grown and solidified itself as

767-594: A significant rise in racial, ethnic, and religious diversity and total number of students. Wesleyan occupies a 360-acre (1.5 km ) campus, with over 340 buildings, including the five-building College Row; Olin Memorial Library; Andrus Public Affairs Center; the Exley Science Center; Shanklin and Hall-Atwater Laboratories; the Van Vleck Observatory ; Fayerweather with Beckham Hall; Russell House,

826-496: A space of intense artistic and cultural creativity where writers, artists, thinkers, scholars, and critics can come together and inspire and challenge one another in order to incite change in our respective communities. Cisneros has described Macondo's mission as supporting and uniting writers "who view their work and talents as part of a larger task of community-building and non-violent social change." The anthropologist and writer Ruth Behar has described participants as "Americans of

885-540: A study entitled " Revealed Preference Ranking" published by the National Bureau of Economic Research , Wesleyan ranks No. 22 among all colleges and universities, and No. 5 among liberal arts colleges only. The stated purpose of the NBER study was to produce a ranking system that "would be difficult for a college to manipulate" by basing it on the actual demonstrated preferences of highly meritorious students. Wesleyan

944-407: A traditional major in science or mathematics, as well as a "linked" major that combines components from other disciplines to form a coherent plan of study. The College of Letters is an interdisciplinary humanities program offering a three-year B.A. major for the integrative study of European literature, history, and philosophy. The College of Social Studies (CSS) was founded in 1959, combining

1003-563: Is a Cuban-American anthropologist and writer. Her work includes academic studies, as well as poetry, memoir, and literary fiction. As an anthropologist, she has argued for the open adoption and acknowledgement of the subjective nature of research and participant-observers. She is a recipient of the Belpré Medal . Behar was born in Havana , Cuba in 1956 to a Jewish-Cuban family of Sephardic Turkish, and Ashkenazi Polish and Russian ancestry. She

1062-685: Is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut , United States. It was founded in 1831 as a men's college under the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown. It is currently a secular institution. The college accepted female applicants from 1872 to 1909, but did not become fully co-educational until 1970. Before full co-education, Wesleyan alumni and other supporters of women's education established Connecticut College in 1912. Wesleyan, along with Amherst and Williams colleges,

1121-565: Is a member of the Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference ( NESCAC ), fielding intercollegiate varsity teams in 29 sports. It competes against traditional Little Three rivals Amherst and Williams. Approximately 600 students participate in intercollegiate varsity sports each year. Wesleyan is one of the 39 founding members of the NCAA. Wesleyan's football and baseball field, Andrus Field,

1180-677: Is housed on the second floor of Olin Library. Davison Art Center holds the Print Reference Library. There is also a Music Library (which includes scores and recordings and the World Music Archives) and several department libraries. In 2024, the sound-art work Minute/Year was installed in the main library stairwell. Davison Art Center is in Alsop House , which is designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark . The Art Center has

1239-550: Is part of "The Little Three ". Its teams compete athletically as a member of the NESCAC in NCAA Division III . Before Wesleyan was founded, a military academy established by Alden Partridge existed, consisting of the campus's North and South Colleges. As this academy failed, New England Methodists bought it and founded in 1831 an all-male Methodist college. Willbur Fisk was the first president. Despite its name, Wesleyan

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1298-503: Is the oldest continuously used American football field in the world and the oldest continuously used baseball field in the world. With alumni including Bill Belichick , Eric Mangini , and Field Yates , the school has been described by ESPN as a "hotbed for great football minds." Led by coach John Raba, the winningest lacrosse coach in NESCAC history, the Wesleyan's Men's Lacrosse team won

1357-589: Is the sole undergraduate liberal arts college to be designated a Molecular Biophysics Predoctoral Research Training Center by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Wesleyan's theater program has two theater facilities: the Theatre in the Center for the Arts, a 400-seat space; and the '92 Theater, home to Second Stage, which is a student-run volunteer theater organization. Second Stage produces dance as well as theater performances. Many students participate in

1416-699: The Master of Arts or Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Like in many traditional liberal arts colleges in the United States, all of Wesleyan's master's and bachelor's degrees are designated "of Arts" by historical precedent, regardless of the field of study. Wesleyan also offers a Graduate Liberal Studies Program. Graduates receive the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) or the Master of Philosophy in Liberal Arts (MPHIL) degrees. Beginning in 2012, Wesleyan became

1475-491: The New England Commission of Higher Education . In the 2023 Forbes ranking of 650 American colleges, which combines national research universities, liberal arts colleges and military academies in a single survey, Wesleyan University is ranked 42nd overall and 6th among liberal arts colleges alone. In another recent Forbes ranking, Wesleyan placed ninth nationally and third among liberal arts colleges. According to

1534-558: The 1920s, who fled unrest in Turkey, Russia and Poland, she moves on to stories of later immigrants, Polish and German Jews who fled to Cuba in the 1930s and 1940s in order to escape persecution and the concentration camps of the Nazis . In Cuba immigrants opened mom-and-pop shops, peddled, and gradually adopted Spanish while still speaking Yiddish , settling into Latino life in La Habana Vieja. In

1593-574: The Collaborative Research Initiative (CRI), which is designed to encourage COE majors with the most potential to undertake environmental research. The university's Film Studies program is led by film historian Jeanine Basinger . In 2008, Vanity Fair said: "This tiny Connecticut University, with a total enrollment of 2,700, has turned out a shockingly disproportionate number of Hollywood movers and shakers." Similarly, in 2008, Variety magazine noted Basinger's contribution to

1652-612: The College of Letters and the College of Social Studies. It has a student-faculty ratio of 7:1. Butterfield's successors, Edwin Deacon Etherington (class of 1948) and Colin Goetze Campbell , completed many innovations begun during Butterfield's administration, including the return of women in numbers equal to men; a quadrupling in the total area of building space devoted to laboratory, studio, and performing arts instruction; and

1711-516: The Connecticut legislature declined it a charter to grant college degrees, Partridge moved his academy to Northfield, Vermont . The academy later became Norwich University and the Middletown buildings were acquired by Wesleyan. The original North College was destroyed in a fire in 1906, but South College survived, being converted into offices that same year. The cupola and the belfry, which contains

1770-525: The Division III NCAA championship title in 2018. It was the first national championship in school history. Amos Magee helped lead Wesleyan University to an ECAC Soccer Championship and school-best record of 15–1–1 in 1991, and is the Cardinals' all-time leading scorer (35 goals and 85 points). He was a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division III All-American in 1992, four times

1829-511: The Environment, created in 2009, integrates the following components: 1) a curricular component, including the newly established environmental studies major, the environmental studies certificate, and a senior capstone project; 2) a Think Tank of Wesleyan faculty, scholars of prominence, and undergraduates whose aim is to produce scholarly work that will influence national and international thinking and action on critical environmental issues; and 3)

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1888-454: The Humanities) were included in this reorganization. The building program begun under this system created three residential colleges on Foss Hill (Foss Hill dormitories), followed by three more residential colleges (Lawn Avenue dormitories, now called Butterfield Colleges). Although the structures were built, only four of the proposed academic programs were begun. Two of those continue today:

1947-658: The Twelve College Exchange program, which allows for study for a semester or a year at another of the twelve college campuses: Amherst , Bowdoin , Connecticut College , Dartmouth , Mount Holyoke , Smith , Trinity , Vassar , Wellesley , Wheaton , and the Williams/Mystic Seaport Program in Maritime Studies . Wesleyan has 11 graduate departmental programs in the sciences, mathematics, computer science, psychology, and music. Graduates receive

2006-592: The United States. Olin Memorial Library has more than 1.8 million volumes and approximately 10,000 serial subscriptions. Wesleyan's first library was Rich Hall (now '92 Theater), which was built just after the Civil War . Olin Library was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White , built 1925–1927, and dedicated in 1928. The second largest library on campus is the Science Library, which houses over two hundred fifty thousand volumes. The Art Library

2065-533: The Wesleyan Carillon, was designed by Henry Bacon and was added in 1916. The original core buildings of the campus were North College and South College. North College, a Nassau Hall -type building seen in most early American college campuses, was replaced after a fire in 1909 with the current North College. South College is the sole building from the beginning The northern end of High Street contains several large buildings that were former private residences,

2124-744: The age of nine, Behar suffered a broken leg from the crash of her family's car. She was immobilized for a year. The experience and recovery period led her to the recognition that "the body is a homeland" of stored memory and pain. In 1985, Behar was working in Mexico when she befriended an Indian witch working as a street peddler. Townspeople said the witch, Esperanza Hernandez, had used black magic to blind her ex-husband after he regularly beat her and then left her for his mistress. Behar's portrayal of Esperanza's story in Translated Woman suggests she alienated her own mother, inspiring Behar to portray Esperanza as

2183-596: The author's childhood in the 1960s. Ruthie Mizrahi and her family recently emigrated from Castro's Cuba to New York City. Just when she's finally beginning to gain confidence in her mastery of English –and enjoying her reign as her neighborhood's hopscotch queen – a horrific car accident leaves her in a body cast and confined to her bed for a long recovery. As Ruthie's world shrinks because of her inability to move, her powers of observation and her heart grow larger and she comes to understand how fragile life is, how vulnerable we all are as human beings, and how friends, neighbors, and

2242-462: The board of trustees voted to stop admitting women as undergraduates, fearing that the school was losing its masculine image and that women would not be able to contribute to the college financially after graduation the way men could." From 1912 to 1970, Wesleyan operated again as an all-male college. Wesleyan became independent of the Methodist church in 1937. In 2000, the university was designated as

2301-555: The changing political and emotional landscape of the Cuban-American experience." Behar studies the revitalization of Cuban Jewish life as an anthropologist, but her personal journey back to the island she left as a little girl is the heart of this "memoir I snuck in, between journeys." An Island Called Home (2007) was written in Behar's quest for a better understanding of Jewish Cuba and particularly her family's roots. She noted, "I knew

2360-671: The creation of a new College of Film and the Moving Image, incorporating the Film Studies Department, the Center for Film Studies, the Cinema Archives and the Wesleyan Film Series. The College of Integrative Sciences (CIS) provides students with an interdisciplinary education in the sciences, and combines it with hands-on problem solving skills in research. To build interdisciplinary expertise, students must complete both

2419-533: The early part of the century, many Jewish immigrants worked in the Cuban garment industry. More than 94% left during and after the 1959 revolution. As her family was among those who left Cuba, Behar intertwines her personal thoughts and feelings with her professional, analytical observations of the current society. The Vulnerable Observer recounts Behar's passage to integrating subjective aspects into her anthropological studies. Suffering her grandfather's death while on

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2478-450: The fields of history, economics, government, and philosophy. Students take 5.5 of the program's 10.5 (thesis-writing students take 11.5) required credits during their sophomore year. Sophomore year focuses on the development of modern Western society from historical, economic, social and political perspectives, and culminates with comprehensive final exams. Seniors are required to write an honors thesis (full year) or senior essay. Wesleyan

2537-834: The film industry through her work in the Wesleyan Film Studies program, and the large number of alumni of the program now working in Hollywood. University students, biographers, media experts, and scholars from around the world may have full access to The Wesleyan Cinema Archives, which document the film industry during the 20th century and contain the personal papers and film related materials of Ingrid Bergman , Frank Capra , Clint Eastwood , Federico Fellini , Elia Kazan , Frank Perry , Roberto Rossellini , Robert Saudek , Martin Scorsese , Gene Tierney , Raoul Walsh , and John Waters , amongst others. In February 2013, Wesleyan announced

2596-502: The first small liberal arts college to partner with a private consortium to design and offer free public access online courses. Wesleyan teaches online courses in Math, Computer Science, Law, Psychology, and Literature, as well as other subjects. For the Class of 2027 (enrolling Fall 2023), Wesleyan received 14,500 applications and accepted 2,280 (15.7%). The median SAT score for admitted freshmen

2655-619: The importance of Ruth Behar using her personal experience as a Cuban American of Sephardic Turkish, Ashkenazi Polish and Russian ancestry to write stories that are culturally authentic. Traveling Heavy (2013) is a memoir about her Cuban-American family, descended from both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews in Cuba, as well as the strangers who ease her journey in life. Her probings about her complicated Jewish Cuban ancestry and family's immigration to America explore issues about identity and belonging. Kirkus Reviews described her book as "A heartfelt witness to

2714-503: The late 1860s, a yearly contest, the "Cannon Scrap," began between the freshmen, whose mission it was to fire the Douglas Cannon on February 22, and the sophomores, who were charged with foiling the effort. In 1957, the tradition of stealing the cannon began in earnest. The university employs a Jewish rabbi, a Protestant chaplain, and a Muslim chaplain. There is program housing for Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Wesleyan

2773-668: The lives of women in developing societies. Behar is a professor at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her literary work is featured in the Michigan State University 's Michigan Writers Series. A writer of anthropology, essays, poetry and fiction, Behar focuses on issues related to women and feminism. Lucky Broken Girl (2017) is multicultural coming-of-age novel for young adults, based on

2832-655: The old center of campus, was once described by Charles Dickens as "the most beautiful street in America". Wesleyan's 46 undergraduate academic departments. 40% of Wesleyan graduates take double majors. Wesleyan offers 3–2 programs in engineering with the California Institute of Technology and Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science . These programs allow undergraduates to receive degrees in five years from both Wesleyan (B.A.) and Caltech or Columbia (B.Sc., Engineering). Additionally, Wesleyan offers

2891-439: The other America, moving between cultures, languages, classes, homelands, translating our experience for ourselves and others." Noted past faculty members have included Ai Ogawa , Dorothy Allison , Julia Alvarez , Andrei Codrescu , Joy Harjo , Tim Z. Hernandez , Manuel Muñoz , Elena Poniatowska , Luis J. Rodriguez , Norma Elia Cantú and Helena María Viramontes . The term "Macondistas" refers to authors and members of

2950-477: The power of the arts can sweeten even the worst of times. Writing for Cuba Counterpoints, Julie Schwietert Collazo writes, "Behar, without fail, always seems to be writing with the goal of honoring her own history, experiences, and feelings, without ever denying or excluding those of others, and in Lucky Broken Girl the achievement of this goal is evident on every page." Professor Jonda C. McNair also highlights

3009-412: The school, officially ending legacy admission at the institution. In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings, Wesleyan University is tied for 14th overall among national liberal arts colleges. In the 2024 edition, it was ranked first in "Best Colleges for Veterans", 16th in "Best Value Schools", and tied for 36th in "Top Performers on Social Mobility". Wesleyan University is accredited by

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3068-481: The stories of the Jews in Cuba, but it was all about looking at them as a community". Traveling the island, Behar becomes the confidante to a host of Jewish strangers, building connections for further anthropological research. Conducting one-on-one interviews, combined with black-and-white photography, she builds readers an image of the diasporic thread connecting Cuban Jews to one another. Beginning with Jewish immigrants of

3127-830: The writing community who are alumni of the Macondo Writers' Workshop. Writers and poets who have attended include: Pat Alderete , Francisco Aragon , Richard Blanco , Sarah A. Chavez, Wendy Call, Denise Chavez , Alex Espinoza , Alicia Gaspar de Alba , Carmen Giménez Smith , Jose B. Gonzalez , liz gonzález , Reyna Grande , Laurie Ann Guerrero, Allison Hedge Coke , Joe Jimenez , Amelia M.L. Montes , Kristin Naca , Amada Irma Pérez , Lourdes Portillo , Renato Rosaldo , Raul Salinas , Carmen Giménez Smith , Gary Soto , Ito Romo, William Sanchez, Carmen Tafolla , Anel I. Flores , Natalia Treviño , Carla Trujillo , Baldemar Velasquez , and Dan Vera . Ruth Behar Ruth Behar (born 1956)

3186-538: Was 770 for math and 750 for evidence-based reading and writing. The median ACT score was 34 for the composite. Since 2014, Wesleyan has been test optional. Admission standards at Wesleyan are considered "most selective" by U.S. News & World Report . The Princeton Review gives the university an admissions selectivity rating of 96 out of 99. Wesleyan announced in July 2023 that it would no longer give preference in admission to applicants with family or donor ties to

3245-644: Was four when her family immigrated to the US following Fidel Castro 's gaining power in the revolution of 1959. More than 94% of Cuban Jews left the country at that time, together with many others of the middle and upper classes. Behar attended local schools and studied as an undergraduate at Wesleyan University , receiving her B.A. in 1977. She studied cultural anthropology at Princeton University , earning her doctorate in 1983. She travels regularly to Cuba and Mexico to study aspects of culture, as well as to investigate her family's roots in Cuba. She has specialized in studying

3304-517: Was incomplete. Other anthropologists, including Claude Levi-Strauss , Georges Devereux , and Clifford Geertz , had also suggested that the researcher had to claim being part of the process more openly. Behar's six personal essays in The Vulnerable Observer are examples of her subjective approach. Behar's grandparents emigrated to Cuba from Russia, Poland and Turkey during the 1920s. In 1962 they fled Cuba to escape Castro's communism. At

3363-527: Was listed on the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education 's 2016 "10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech". Washington Monthly ranked Wesleyan third in 2022, out of 203 liberal arts colleges in the U.S., based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. In 2019 Kiplinger ranked Wesleyan 16th of the 149 best value liberal arts colleges in

3422-468: Was named all-New England, and was inducted into the Wesleyan University Hall of Fame. In February 2011, U.S. News & World Report described the university as one of "20 Colleges Where It's Easiest to Get Involved" with a "Students per Club" ratio of "11.66". At that time there were around 270 student groups available to the 3,148 enrolled students. The Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) is

3481-494: Was never an officially denominational seminary, though its curriculum and campus religious life were shaped by a heavy Methodist influence. In 1909, it built Judd Hall, named after alumnus Orange Judd , one of the earliest academic buildings devoted exclusively to undergraduate science instruction on any American college or university campus. The Wesleyan student body numbered about 300 in 1910 and had grown to 800 in 1960. Wesleyan is, along with Amherst and Williams colleges,

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