I realize this is no substitute for the real thing, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to try and put myself in the place of a Wesleyan history/government/CSS major giving a campus tour.
Wesleyan is one of those places where it’s hard to point to any academic weak spots; it’s full of superlatives across all the arts and science departments, including the social sciences. Let’s start with the physical plant: Wesleyan has recently completed a complete renovation of one of its main classroom buildings, the red-brick Frank Center for Public Affairs located just to the east of Olin Library; it houses the Economics, Government and History departments and has been enlarged to include a more spacious interior, more classrooms and more natural lighting for both studying and congregating between classes.
Wesleyan likes its faculty young, often hired right out of graduate school and nurtured professionally and collegially in both tenure and non-tenure tracks. They are often quoted by legacy media like The New York Times, The PBS News Hour and other news outlets. One long-standing enterprise undertaken by the Government Department has been The Wesleyan Media Project which tracks and analyzes all broadcast advertising on behalf of federal and state elected officials. It is regularly cited in news reports.
Wesleyan is also a pioneer in the so-called, PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) movement, with its own College of Social Studies (CSS) going full tilt with its own quarters (currently in Boger Hall, at the northern end of College Row) since 1959. It features weekly writing assignments, graded by a professor and discussed with the student during weekly tutorials.
Wesleyan currently boasts two members of Congress: Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, both of Colorado (as an aside, I’ve known Senator Hickenlooper since he was “a skinny blonde kid with long hair” working with Middletown residents to establish a community health center.)