For those of you who were interested but could not attend the Fellowships for Juniors Webinar, please find materials below.
Civic Engagement
Call for Papers: 2023 CSGS UG Research Conference
Undergraduate Research Conference
Historical and Current Perspectives on Guns & Society
Friday, April 28, 2023, 10 am – 3 pm.
The Center for the Study of Guns and Society at Wesleyan University is pleased to announce its first annual one-day undergraduate research conference on Friday, April 28, 2023.
Undergraduate students who are interested in presenting at the conference are invited to submit proposals by 5PM on March 20, 2023, at this link. Submissions should include: 1) a brief (one paragraph) abstract of your proposal; 2) a brief (one-paragraph) description of the context of your research project (e.g. short bio, relevant courses, extracurricular activities, etc.); 3) an indication of your preferred format to present your research (a 15-minute presentation; a 5-minute lightning round presentation; or as a poster presentation). Please remember to include in your submission a title for your research, your name, major, and an email address for us to contact you. Submissions will be reviewed by a faculty-student conference committee and presenters will be informed by the end of March 2023.
Research topics in guns and society for this conference may relate to history, religion, literature, visual arts and material culture, public health and medicine, museums/public history/memorialization, business, theater, film and media, government, policy, engineering/design, manufacturing, law, anthropology, lethality, environmental history, animal studies, psychology, and or other relevant scholarly fields.
For questions, please contact Center Director, Prof. Jennifer Tucker (HIST/FGSS/SISP/CSS) at jtucker@wesleyan.edu or Center Associate Director Joseph Slaughter (Religion and History) at jslaughter01@wesleyan.edu.
This event is co-sponsored with students at Trinity College and Amherst College with help from from Prof. Scott Gac (American Studies and History at Trinity) and Prof. Jonathan Obert (Political Science at Amherst). Special guests will include a curator from the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.)
The event is free and open to the Wesleyan community. Lunch will be provided.
The Center for the Study of Guns and Society was established in April 2022 at Wesleyan University to foster historical research on guns in society and strengthen academic, museum, and public history collaborations.
Peace Corps Info Session (2/22)
“The Peace Corps is a service opportunity for motivated change makers to immerse themselves in a community abroad, working side by side with local leaders to tackle the most pressing challenges of our generation.”
A panel of alumni representing our diverse pool of current and former Peace Corps Volunteers will share their colorful stories and insights about being globally engaged beyond Wesleyan. Join us on Wednesday, February 22nd, 12.15 pm in the Fries Center for Global Studies Rm 201 (Global Commons) as we explore this historic and evolving program of friendship and collaboration across borders towards a better world.
Panelists are:
- Ameen Beydoun ’11
- Sofia Navarette Zur ‘19
- Andrea Weires ‘19
Register on handshake.

Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship
The Voyager Scholarship was created by the Obamas and Brian Chesky, Airbnb Co-founder and CEO, to help shape such leaders. Even though they come from different backgrounds, both the President and Brian believe that exposure to new places and experiences generates understanding, empathy, and cooperation which equips the next generation to create meaningful change. Applications due 3/22/23 at 3pm Central Time.
To learn more, visit this link here.
Weekly Round Up – 3/2/22
Greetings, Class of 2025
I hope this post finds you well. We are at a point in the semester where your classes may start to feel a bit tougher, the weather isn’t getting warm quickly enough, and we can’t pull our eyes away from the updates on the Ukraine/Russia crisis. As always, please remember there are many supports in place on campus to help you with whatever challenges you face and whatever you may be feeling. As your class dean, I’d be happy to meet with you to discuss these resources (calendly.com/deankellydunn).
Some upcoming dates and/or events that may be of interest to you:
- Gathering in Community for Ukraine – today, Wednesday, 3/2 at 4:30pm in Smith Reading Room (Olin Library). Olin Library and Student Affairs will co-sponsor an opportunity to come together in community around the recent events in Ukraine. We will hold space for sharing, listening, and being together. This gathering is intended to complement the various discussions being sponsored by faculty as well as the planned rally on Friday afternoon outside of Usdan.
- Global Management Minor – learn more about the global management minor by visiting http://bit.ly/GEMinor or stopping by the info session on Monday 3/7 at 4:30pm in Fisk 201 (zoom available also). More questions? Contact fcgs@wesleyan.edu.
- Metacognition Workshops – today, Wednesday 3/2 and next Wednesday, 3/9 at 6:00pm in Usdan 108. Today’s topic focuses on implementing effective study and learning strategies. Next week’s topic focuses on reflection of the academic skills you’ve developed.

Sports & International Exchange Program
U.S. based university students interested in sports diplomacy (the connection between sports, international exchange, development, and intercultural connection) are eligible to participate in the U.S. Department of State’s Sports Visitor Alumni Mentorship Program. This program connects students with non-professional youth athletes, coaches, or sports administrators who are alumni of international exchange programs (more about those programs here: www.sportsvisitorenvoy.org) for a semester or mentorship.
Students who are interested in sports and international or intercultural exchange and want to explore this opportunity, need only send an initial expression of interest to sports@fhi360.org including the subject line “Sports Visitor Mentorship” as the title line of their email by January 28.
For those interested to read more, this flyer describes the program in more detail.

Patricelli Center Opportunities
Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center supports change agents and entrepreneurs. If you care about social or environmental justice and want to learn methods for studying and solving problems, or if you are an innovative thinker with ideas you’d like to bring to life, we hope you will consider our spring 2022 programs:
$5,000 Seed Grant to fund the launch or early-stage growth of a social enterprise, project, program, or venture; apply by 1/30
$10,000 Davis Projects for Peace to fund grassroots projects that will be completed during summer 2022; apply by 1/30
Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) a dynamic community of young leaders committed to developing innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges; apply by 1/21
System Mapping student forum & Map The System competition study the root causes of problems and their existing solutions before attempting to create new solutions; one Wesleyan team will travel to University of Oxford to compete in the global finals
Startup Incubator (CSPL239) a one-semester, experiential learning program designed to teach and enable student entrepreneurs to develop sustainable business models from their ideas
Patricelli Center Fellowship (CSPL262) a crash course in social entrepreneurship for students who want to study social or environmental problems and design disruptive innovations
Community Impact Residency (CSPL291) students partner with community stakeholders to work towards justice, equity, and sustainability in the greater Middletown area
Engaged Projects (CSPL480) a semi-independent educational endeavor that empowers Wesleyan students to study a topic of their choice and produce a project for a public (non-academic) audience
To learn more about any of these offerings, get advice on grant applications, or enroll in courses, grab a time to meet with Makaela in the Patricelli Center as soon as possible: calendly.com/mjkingsley.
Subscribe to the Engage Blog!
The ENGAGE blog (engage.wesleyan.edu) is the home of civic engagement activity at Wesleyan University. On the blog, you can subscribe to the weekly ENGAGE newsletter, which contains information about upcoming events, funding, internships and volunteer opportunities, and other content related to civic engagement and social entrepreneurship. You can also follow Engage on Facebook (Engage at the Allbritton Center) and on Twitter (@Wes_engage).