Welcome + Giving Center
Hours: 1–8 p.m.
Office of Admission, Stewart M. Reid House
All weekend attendees should check in to pick up your meal tickets and weekend packets.

Please note the schedule is subject to change, check back for the latest updates. 

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    Attend a Class

    9 a.m.–4 p.m.
    Various locations throughout campus More on attend a class

    Students must arrange in advance with their professors for parents to visit classes. Please plan to arrive on time and to stay for the duration of the class. We kindly ask visitors to follow any COVID-19 safety protocols established by professors for their class and come prepared to wear a mask if asked.

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    Men's + Women's Golf Annual Alumni, Family, and Friends Outing

    9:30 a.m.–2 p.m.
    Lyman Orchards Apple Nine
    700 Main Street, Middlefield
    Note: this event has separate registration More on golf outing

    Join us for a great day of golf, friendship, and support of Wesleyan. Please register separately for this event.

    See more and register

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    Gordon Career Center Open House

    10 a.m.–noon
    Gordon Career Center, Boger Hall

    More on the Career Center open house

    Stop by the Gordon Career Center and visit with staff to learn about the resources available to students to explore career paths and find meaningful work. All are welcome!

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    Campus Tour

    Noon–1:30 p.m.
    Office of Admission, Stewart M. Reid House
    Meet in the lobby

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    Gallery Exhibit: No Title: Relays + Relations

    Works by Renée Green and Sol LeWitt
    Noon–5 p.m.
    Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery

    More on No Title: Relays+ Relations

    This exhibition brings together artworks by Renée Green ’81 and Sol LeWitt (1928–2007). As a student at Wesleyan, Green participated in a course taught by Professor of Art History Emeritus John Paoletti that focused on LeWitt’s art collection, which resulted in the exhibition NoTitle: The Collection of Sol LeWitt in the Davison Art Center (October 21 through December 20, 1981). Describing this experience as a seminal moment in her experience as an emerging artist, Green is also interested in what similar acts of aesthetic exchange and support could be offered to younger artists today, thereby extending the transmission of conceptualism in new directions. For the exhibition, Green will place some of her recent work. The exhibition will also feature three wall drawings by LeWitt with installation by current students at Wesleyan. An array of public programs and engagement opportunities will accompany the exhibition.

    All are welcome at curator talk and walkthrough on Saturday, October 28 at 2 p.m.

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    Teacher, Banker, Coder, Artist

    Learning Career Management in a Liberal Arts Environment
    Noon–1 p.m.
    Boger Hall, Rm 114

    More on the Teacher, Banker, Coder, Artist

    Sharon Belden Castonguay, Executive Director of the Gordon Career Center, will discuss why a liberal arts education is critical preparation for navigating careers in the 21st century. Hear about the Center's innovative approach to career education, which encourages students to design their own careers by exploring the intersection of their interests, the skills they have and wish to acquire, and market demand. Learn about the career services and resources available to Wesleyan students throughout their undergraduate years and beyond. Staff members will be present to answer specific questions.

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    The Pathways to Public Health

    With Joyce Hall ('78) DrPHc, MPH
    12:15–1:15 p.m.
    Usdan University Center, Rm 108

    More on Pathways to Public Health

    Over the past two decades, Public Health, Population Health, and Global Health have increased in popularity. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased everyone’s knowledge and awareness of the importance of public health and community health in keeping communities and people healthy and safe. As a result, many students have expressed interest in these areas. Join two public health practitioners, Joyce Hall ('78) DrPHc, MPH, and Brian Gilchrist, PhD, MPH, who have experience and expertise in the areas of adolescent health, maternal and child health, academia, community health, social and behavioral health, local government, and organization capacity building, as they speak about their pathways in public health. These panelists will speak about their educational paths, their decision to pursue a public health career, and past/current public health practice and specialization, shedding light on the scope and importance of public and community health programs along with opportunities within these two important fields of practice.

    Presented by:
    Gordon Career Center—Health Professions Program

    Co-Sponsors:
    American Medical Student Association
    Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students
    National Organization on Rare Diseases Student Association of Connecticut
    Pre-Veterinary Medicine Club
    Wesleyan Pre-Dental Society
    Black Undergraduate Medical Association
    EMT Club

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    Jumuah Service

    1 p.m.
    Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, 169 High Street

    More on Jumuah

    Jumuah consists of a sermon and prayer, followed by a light lunch. The service is held every Friday during term time. All are welcome. If you're not Muslim but interested to see what Muslim life on campus looks like, please join us!

WESEMINARS SESSION I: 1–2 p.m.

WESeminars provide opportunities to revisit the classroom and experience the academic excellence that is the essence of Wesleyan with scholars, pundits, and other experts in their fields. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis with limited capacity (per code, no standing room).

  • Wesleyan Abroad: Everything Your Student Might Forget to Mention

    Ring Family Performing Arts Hall

    More on Wesleyan Abroad

    Join the Office of Study Abroad staff and students to discuss what families need to know about study abroad for Wesleyan students. Topics will include affordability and financial aid, sites and kinds of programs, credit transfer, health and safety, and the benefits of spending a semester or year studying in another country. Please come with questions.

    Presenters: Emily Gorlewski, Ed.D., Director, Office of Study Abroad at the Fries Center for Global Studies and Gabriela Berzinskas, Study Abroad Advisor

  • Bringing the Library to Prison: The Center for Prison Education & Information Services

    Russell House, Millet Room

    More on Bringing the Library to Prison

    The Center for Prison Education (CPE) expands access to bold and rigorous liberal learning, creating opportunities for students at two Connecticut prisons to earn a Wesleyan education. CPE’s students in prison, studying under faculty from Wesleyan and from our local partner campus, CSCC at Middlesex, share Wesleyan students’ appetite for bold inquiry. The challenge is how to replicate the main campus learning experience—including the discovery and exploration of information and knowledge creation—in a place without the stacks, OneSearch, or the internet at all! Join us to learn about the innovative solutions CPE has piloted to bring the Wesleyan University Library to prison.

    Presenters:
    Lori Stethers, Systems Librarian for Wesleyan
    Shirley Sullivan, Program Liaison for the Center for Prison Education
    Da'Quan Long, Program Facilitator and a consultant of The United Mentoring Academy Inc. and CPE alum
    Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek, Professor and Chair of Classical Studies, and CPE Faculty.

    Moderator:
    Tess Wheelwright, Director of the Center for Prison Education

  • Inside Black Box Labs: Studying Technology and Power in a Liberal Arts University

    Judd Hall, Room 116 More on Inside Black Box Labs

    In this seminar, Professor Tony Hatch will provide an insider’s perspective on the activities of The Black Box Laboratory, also known as Black Box Labs, an experimental research and training endeavor within the Science in Society Program. He will talk about the ongoing seminar “SISP 337: Advanced Research Methods in Science Studies” and the upcoming Mini Research Expo, taking black on Saturday, October 28.

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    Summer Grants Showcase

    1–2:30 p.m.
    Gordon Career Center, Boger Hall

    More on the showcase

    Stop by the Gordon Career Center as recipients of the 2023 Wesleyan Summer Grant share their experiences from this past summer. The Wesleyan Summer Grant Program allows students to pursue no- or low-pay career-related opportunities, including internships, volunteer work, research, and academic programs.

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    Birds of a Feather Flock Together: Unique Collections Open House

    1–3 p.m.
    and Saturday, 10 a.m.–noon
    Olin Library, Special Collections & Archives

    More on Birds of a Feather

    With a nod to Wesleyan's cardinal mascot, the library's unique collections will show off some rare books, archives, and ethnographic objects showcasing our fine feathered friends. We’ll have songs related to your favorite birds, cultural objects made with feathers and bird bones, Chinese textiles featuring embroidered birds, Audubon prints and artist books, and material related to your favorite university's bird among many others. Come see these cardinal collections, avian archives, and ornithological objects from the Wesleyan Archaeology & Anthropology Collections, Center for East Asian Studies Art & Archival Collections, Special Collections, University Archives, and World Music Archives.

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    Personal Reflection Space Open

    2–5 p.m.
    Zilkha Uncommons
    South Gallery, 283 Washington Terrace

    More on Personal Reflection Space

    The Zilkha Uncommons, located in South Gallery at 283 Washington Terrace, offers visitors to Homecoming + Family Weekend a quiet space for personal reflection. Designed and conceived by Rosemary Lennox (Exhibitions Manager), Zilkha Uncommons is a new space and initiative at the Center for the Arts that welcomes all visitors and offers them a room to read, reflect, rest, and engage in informal and collaborative learning.

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    Find Your Inner Wolf

    2–5 p.m.
    Memorial Chapel

    More on Find Your Inner Wolf

    Join faculty and students of the Theater Department for some fun hands-on creative events centered around the themes in their fall mainstage production WOLFCRUSH. Howling and creative-storytelling activities for everyone, plus some fun refreshments.

WESEMINARS SESSION II: 3–4 p.m.

  • Tracking 2023 Political Advertising: Behind the Scenes with the Wesleyan Media Project

    Boger Hall, room 112 More on Tracking 2023 Political Advertising

    In its 13th year of real-time analysis of election ads, the Wesleyan Media Project is navigating a much more complex media environment than it did a decade ago. Join us to hear about the work we’ve been doing in 2023, our latest tools and innovations and how our student researchers make it all possible. Presenters include: Breeze Floyd, Program Manager, Wesleyan Media Project; Sam Feuer '23.5 representing WMP’s Delta Lab; Aniya Akhtar '24 representing our QAC Summer Apprenticeship work, and Cecilia Smith '25 and Akhil Joondeph '26, representing the WMP human coding team.

    About The Wesleyan Media Project:

    The Wesleyan Media Project was established in 2010 to track advertising in federal elections, and it is a successor to the Wisconsin Advertising Project, which tracked political advertising between 1998 and 2008.

    The Wesleyan Media Project is directed by Professors Erika Franklin Fowler (Wesleyan University), Michael M. Franz (Bowdoin College) and Travis N. Ridout (Washington State University). The Program Manager is Breeze Floyd and the Research Coordinator is Dominique Monserrat. An outstanding group of students from all three institutions support the project through ad coding, data management and other activities.

  • Playing, Researching, and Archiving Turkmen Music

    Olin Library, Smith Reading Room

    More on Turkmen Music

    In this performance-lecture, Mohammad Geldi Geldi Nejad MA’23, an acclaimed indigenous performer and scholar of Turkmen music, will introduce and perform instrumental pieces and songs from the repertoire of that tradition. He will also talk about his fieldwork experiences with Turkmen music masters in northeast Iran in the summer of 2022, and his current work documenting and archiving his field recordings for Wesleyan’s World Music Archives.

  • The Latest in Civic Engagement

    Judd Hall, Room 116

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    Campus Tour

    3–4:30 p.m.
    Office of Admissions, Stewart M. Reid House
    Meet in the lobby

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    Parents Assembly and Welcome Reception

    4–5 p.m. Assembly
    Beckham Hall in Fayerweather and on Zoom

    5–6 p.m. Reception
    Beckham Hall

    More on the assembly

    President Michael S. Roth '78 will provide remarks at 4 p.m.. Immediately following the program please join us for the Homecoming + Family Weekend Welcome Reception.

    Watch on Zoom

    Webinar ID: 951 2005 8994
    Passcode: 451240
    Find your local number

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    Beirut Station Book Talk at RJ Julia Bookstore

    Paul Vidich '72, P‘00,‘03 author Beirut Station, in conversation with Andrew Feinstein '72
    5 p.m.
    Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore, 413 Main Street, Middletown
    Register separately for this event

    More on the book talk

    Book talk and signing of Beirut Station, Wesleyan 1972 alum Paul Vidich's latest novel.

    Register

    Paul Vidich ‘72, P‘00,‘03 is the acclaimed author of The Matchmaker, The Mercenary, The Coldest Warrior, An Honorable Man, and The Good Assassin. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, LitHub, CrimeReads, Fugue, The Nation, Narrative Magazine, and Wordriot. He lives in New York City.

    Andrew A. Feinstein ‘72 has represented children with disabilities and their families pursuing appropriate educational programs for more than twenty years. Andrew graduated from Wesleyan University in 1972 and the New York University School of Law in 1975. He completed the Senior Manager in Government Program at the Kennedy School, Harvard University, in 1983.

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    Homecoming + Family Weekend Dinner

    5–8 p.m.
    Marketplace, Usdan University Center
    $25 adults / Meal plan for students

    More on dinner and purchasing tickets

    Sample a variety of fresh, local, and made-to-order options from Bon Appetit, Wesleyan’s on-campus dining service. Enjoy salad bars, carving stations, hot entrees, numerous side dishes, beverages, and desserts. Vegetarian, vegan, and Kosher-style options are available.

    $25 per adult. Wesleyan students use their meal plans (no ticket purchase).

    Purchase tickets when you register. A limited number of meals may be available on-site at the Marketplace cashier during dinner if space is available.

    Note: A select menu of a la carte food and beverages will also be available for purchase on-site at the Usdan Café, or you can visit one of the many restaurants in downtown Middletown.

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    Men's and Women's Swimming + Diving Intersquad Meet

    5:30 p.m.
    Freeman Athletic Center, Wesbter Natatorium

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    Shabbat Services

    6–7 p.m.
    The Bayit, 157 Church Street

    More on Shabbat service

    Join the Wesleyan Jewish community for Shabbat services. All are welcome. No reservations necessary.

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    1990s All-Decade Football Team Celebration

    6–9 p.m.
    Hilton Garden Inn, 1181 Barnes Road, Wallingford
    Register separately for this off-campus event

    More on the All-Decade Football Celebration

    Join the Wesleyan Athletics community to honor and recognize members of the 1990s All-Decade football team.

    Please register separately to purchase tickets for this off-campus event.

    See more and register

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    Shabbat Dinner

    7:30–9 p.m.
    Daniel Family Commons, Usdan University Center

    A limited number of tickets may be available for purchase at the Welcome + Giving Center on Friday afternoon

    More on Shabbat dinner and ticket purchases

    All are welcome. Together with students, faculty, and staff, we will welcome Shabbat with song, food, and our special joyful Ruach. We invite you to be a part of a memorable celebration of the Wesleyan Jewish family.

    Tickets are $25 and available within online registered. A limited number of tickets may be available for purchase at the Welcome + Giving Center.

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    "Barbie" Film Screening

    8 p.m.
    The Jeanine Basinger Center for Film Studies
    $5 cash or student accounts only (payment at the door)

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    Stargazing

    9–11 p.m.
    Van Vleck Observatory More on stargazing

    Come to Van Vleck Observatory to stargaze with our new, state-of-the-art automated 24-inch telescope and take a tour in the delicate astronomy library. Hosted by current astronomy students. All visitors are welcome, attendees must follow Wesleyan's current COVID visitor policies, available here.