JUMBO Magazine - Fall 2013 by TuftsAdmission

THE TUFTS ADMISSIONS MAGAZINE ADMISSIONS.TUFTS.EDU

+ THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS And other unconventional ExCollege classes

FROM HITCHCOCK TO DISNEY One English professor makes an unlikely connection

COLLEGE ESSAY WRITING We help you tackle the next thing on your to-do list

HOME SWEET HOME An inside look at Tufts dorms

Tufts Emergency Medical Services MEET THE STUDENTS WHO RUN THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE TEAM ON CAMPUS

ISSUE 7 FALL 2013

Contents

WHAT WILL MY DORM ROOM LOOK LIKE?!

MEET TOM, THE DANCING ROBOT CHICKEN

ON THE COVER: PAUL PEMBERTON, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TUFTS EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS, FILM PRODUCTION, AND CIVILIZATIONS OF THE FUTURE: FUN CLASSES YOU COULD BE TAKING NEXT YEAR

ONE ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP THAT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY

ESSAYS THAT MATTER: WE REVEAL SUCCESSFUL ADMISSIONS ESSAYS AND TELL YOU WHY THEY WORKED

HOW THIS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MAJOR SCORED AN INTERNSHIP AT THE PENTAGON

Greetings Lee Cofﬁn, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions. Read the Dean’s blog at admissions.tufts.edu/blogs.

THE TUFTS ADMISSIONS MAGAZINE

OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS Tufts University Bendetson Hall 2 The Green Medford, MA 02155 617-627-3170 admissions.tufts.edu jumboeditor@tufts.edu

If you live in the U.S., you’ll probably gather around a dining room table later this month to reenact the pilgrim’s harvest feast. And as you pass the mashed potatoes to the relative to your left, you will be a captive audience for the questions that make most seniors squirm: “So what are you doing next year?” or its more direct sibling “So where are you applying?” Thanksgiving dinner is always fraught with unpredictable interactions as the extended clan gathers for turkey, football, and maybe an afternoon nap on the couch. But the Thanksgiving table is especially complicated when you’re a college-bound high school senior. Every auntie becomes a college counselor, every second cousin has an opinion about your essay topic, and your older sister’s husband thinks your SAT math score is “too low” for the places you’re considering. Commentary ﬂows freely. So here’s some advice for when the wellmeaning admissions questions arise. Smile politely and say something like, “My college search is in very good shape, thank you” (even if it’s not) or “I’m exploring some nice options.

Meet the Student Communication Group

Adam Kaminski Hometown Arlington, MA Possible major Cognitive Science, English One group you’ll join TDC, the dance troupe for the clumsy among us. Elegance of movement has eluded me thus far, but who says it’s too late to ﬁx that?

Chandler Coble Hometown Alexandria, VA Possible major Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Psychology Hidden talent Spotting elephants ANYWHERE! Favorite class Simple Robotics One group you’ll join The varsity fencing team

Nicholas S. De Chiara Hometown Chicago, IL Possible major Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology Hidden talent I have a decent voice for Vaudeville Favorite class Classical Mythology One group you’ll join Cheap Sox, the improv comedy troupe

Aditya Hurry Hometown Mumbai, India Possible major Political Science, Economics, English Hidden talent I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue. Most fun orientation moment Movie-themed midnight scavenger hunt through the campus with my International Orientation Group

Please pass the string beans.” No one needs to hear Uncle Norm moan, “That’s your first choice?” before sniffing, “Never heard of it …” Sometimes a sweetly vague response diffuses the moment. As a senior facing an impending deadline, these are jittery days. There are essays to edit, lists of colleges to refine fi and maybe one last round of standardized tests to take. It’s okay to keep your own counsel. It’s also too soon to know with any certainty what you are doing next year; you might not even know where you’re going to apply. Your perspective about what comes “next” will evolve as your senior year unfolds. And that’s as it should be. And for the underclassmen who’ve already launched an embryonic college search, it’s reallyy too early to have any clarity. Remain open to exploration. For all of you, we offer JUMBO VII as another chance to peek into our campus and its curriculum and culture. We’ve assembled an array of people and programs for you to meet as you imagine yourself as a future Jumbo. And if you like who you meet, maybe you can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with them next year!

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions

This group of freshmen is just on the other side of the college application process. They found Tufts, and we’ve asked them to use this magazine to tell you why they’re glad they did.

Lauren Day Hometown Honolulu, HI Possible major Economics, minor in Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies Hidden talent I’m trained in the martial art of Escrima and can perform a knife dance! One group you’ll join Spirit of Color hip-hop/ contemporary dance troupe

Abigail McFee Hometown Chadron, NE Possible major English or Sociology Favorite class “Roadtrips and American Identity” through the Experimental College One group you’ll join The Tufts Mountain Club

Annahstasia Enuke Hometown Los Angeles, CA Possible major Music, Biotechnology, Political Science Favorite class Startups and Technology, taught by two seniors in the Experimental College One group you’ll join Japanese culture club

Infographic HE BY T

b Num

e rs

Class of 2017 at a Glance

18,419 APPLICANTS

1,313

MEMBERS OF THE FRESHMAN CLASS

AMERICAN STATES REPRESENTED, PLUS D.C. AND PUERTO RICO

18.8%

Approach a Tufts Freshman and You Just Might Meet…

17%

The All-State oboist from suburban Boston who says her life goal is to make the perfect oboe reed

ACCEPTANCE RATE

OF THE INCOMING CLASS IS ENROLLING INTO THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

The son of a Bosnian beekeeper who plans to study biology so he can help his father increase his honey yield

A submarine racer from Florida

A swimmer, Utah’s ﬁve-time state champion

A glassblower from Seattle

A heavy metal drummer from Newton whose parents met on their ﬁrst day of Tufts’ freshman orientation 33 years ago

NATIONS REPRESENTED A civil engineer from Nepal who started an alternative fuel project that makes replacement ﬁreplace bricks out of used paper

N E A R LY

900

HIGH SCHOOLS REPRESENTED

HIGH SCHOOL VALEDICTORIANS ARE IN THE CLASS

115

STUDENTS ARE FIRST IN THEIR FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE

OVER

28%

OF THE FRESHMAN CLASS ARE DOMESTIC STUDENTS OF COLOR

A third-generation ﬁsh breeder from Westchester

An English major from Illinois who once composed an operetta about her mother turning into a chicken

An intern for the NY Times crossword editor

The “Best Overall Soldier” at Singapore’s Ofﬁcer Cadet School

The Homecoming Queen from Dallas who led her school’s LGBT Alliance

Ins & Outs

National

DIALOGUE In September, Tufts students participated

Summer Scholar This past summer, 54 Tufts students participated in the Summer Scholars program, a university initiative that funds student research over the summer. Each Summer Scholar receives a research grant and living stipend that totals $4,500. Engineering Physics major Kate Voorhes ’14 used her grant to fund her research in soft matter physics. She looked at properties of nematic liquid crystals — the material used in LCD screens —and the unique reactions and defects that occur in them when exposed to a magnetic ﬁeld, or when conﬁned to a changing curved surface. Finding the locations of these defects could allow scientists to manipulate interactions and behavior of materials, knowledge that could be applied in drug delivery systems, food products and processes, and much more!

in the ﬁrst annual National Dialogue on Race Day. Appropriately falling in the same year as the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, the dialogue, hosted by the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy (CSRD), centered around a panel discussion on issues of race, racial equality, justice policy, and democracy. Panelists included president of the Boston chapter of the NAACP Michael Curry and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Diane McWhorter, among others. Tufts professor

31 4

DAY

of history and one of the nation’s top scholars of African-American studies, Peniel Joseph, acted as moderator for the panel, prodding these experts to discuss topics like MLK’s dream speech, race and the American presidency, the justice system and American prisons, and the future of racial justice. As one of the founders of the CSRD, Joseph is excited for the university to have an offi ficial platform for “intellectual and research-driven conversations [on race],” and this first event was the perfect kick-off.

different locations for winter internships in 2013, available for students in every class. Last year’s “Winternship” sites included the set of Mad Men in Los Angeles, NBC News and HarperCollins Publishers in NYC, Boston Globe and NPR in Boston, and National Geographic in Washington, D.C.

Race

Go ’Bos! The Tufts men’s soccer team is in the midst of their playoff season and has been looking strong. The Jumbos completed their 2012 season advancing to the NESCAC semi-finals and finishing top four in the NESCAC. The Jumbos then went on to compete in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years, and were ranked nationally at #22 throughout the entire season. The men’s soccer team is looking to continue their successes from last year, and make even more of an impact.

Class Highlight

Trick or Treat! What’s more fun than dressing up for Halloween? Trick or treating at the President’s house! On the evening of October 31st, President Tony Monaco, in full costume, stands on his porch giving out candy to any student who’s game (and, of course, also in costume). Covered in cobwebs, sprinkled with spiders and scattered with skeletons, the front lawn of Gifford House is the perfect Halloween attraction.

Drama 33: The American Musical will cover the development of a vibrant art form on stage and screen with special attention to important personalities and productions from The Black Crookk to The Producers, On the Town to Urinetown, Show Boatt to Spring Awakening. This class is the study of the musical as a reﬂection of American popular culture: the expression of fantasy and nostalgia, sentimentalism and chauvinism, racism and sexism, social protest and enduring optimism. It will cover the tension between the art of creating musicals and the business of musical theatre, between artistic achievement and commercial success.

@ MonacoAnthony Tweets! Since the day he started at Tufts, President Tony Monaco has been quite the Twitter personality. Here’s one of our favorite discussions between him and Tufts student Charlotte Rea. @charcrea: A lovely day for croquet on the @TuftsUniversity President’s Lawn. @MonacoAnthony come join? @MonacoAnthony: @charcrea @TuftsUniversity Sorry to have missed all the croquet fun on the President’s Lawn. Beautiful day for it! President Monaco may not have made it that time, but we checked back in with Charlotte, and she sent this pic along to prove that he made a raincheck!

Super Wafﬂe!

As created by Lauren Day ’17 in Dewick Dining Center

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS While this doesn’t look like the

Two Belgian wafﬂes (feel free to add

healthiest meal, it sure tastes like heaven for the occasional food splurge. First, make two waffles by pouring a cup of batter into the Belgian waffle machine (with your choice of toppings inside). Next is the most important part: the toppings. You can choose to make your waffle as “super” or not super as you want. This Super Waffle has four scoops of ice cream, strawberry and chocolate sauce, peaches, M&M’s, and chocolate chips. I topped it off with some rainbow sprinkles. Work fast before it melts. Dig in!

sprinkles, chocolate chips, and/or M&M’s in the batter) Four scoops of berry ice cream Strawberry sauce with real strawberries Hot fudge sauce Peaches (or add the fruit of your choice) Rainbow sprinkles M&M’s Chocolate chips

AMELIA DOWNS ’14 PHYSICS AND MATH DOUBLE MAJOR FROM FORT MILL, SC

WHEN DID YOU REALIZE YOU WANTED TO MAJOR IN PHYSICS AND MATH?

I’ve loved physics since high school, and at Tufts, the physics department is where I found my favorite classes. The best one has been Physics 64: Modern Physics Lab, in which we conducted six of the most fundamental experiments to physics. The ﬁrst was Cavendish’s experiment to calculate the gravitational constant, G. My favorite, though, was Millikan’s oil drop experiment, which determined that charge is quantized. I never thought that I would like math enough to major in it. My ‘aha moment’ happened in a class called Mathematical Modeling, which linked math to many other disciplines. HAVE YOU DONE ANY INDEPENDENT RESEARCH WHILE AT TUFTS?

I’ve worked in Professor Peggy Cebe’s physics lab since my freshman year. My research there involves characterizing type IV collagen, which forms thin membranes that surround many important parts of our bodies, like our kidney, blood vessels, and lenses. Many of my samples come from dissected lens capsules from bovine eyes — they’re very thin and difﬁcult to dissect. Right now I’m researching where MMP-2, an enzyme created by cancer, cleaves type IV collagen. This cleaving could be particularly bad around blood vessels, because it allows the cancer cells to get into the blood vessel and causes angiogenesis, a process that can lead to tumors.

Tufts has so many opportunities for physics majors to work outside of the classroom. I didn’t even really understand what physics research entailed until coming to Tufts. I started research my freshman year and never looked back! WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR BIGGEST ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF CLASSES?

I’m a member of the Tufts Dance Collective (TDC), a dance group for people with no dance experience. Last semester I even co-choreographed a dance. To choreograph, my friend Zach and I would put on our song, and then we’d free dance to it in an empty classroom to give us ideas. Once, a Tufts police ofﬁcer walked in on us free dancing … whoops! To be honest, most of my other extracurriculars are directly related to my academic interests, because I love what I study. The past two years, for example, I’ve participated in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, a 96 hour math competition. Each year, your group of three has 96 hours to write a 20–30 page paper about how to solve a complex math problem. My group likes to take over private rooms in Tisch Library. We get there when it opens with a days’ worth of gear — bed time slippers, a hot water heater, tea, and lots of food. It’s a lot of fun!

TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOUR RESEARCH.

HOW DID YOU KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A CHEMICAL ENGINEER?

I work on makin kingg new new w mat materials als s for cllean e water er an and d more more en energ erg r y effici cient e chemical separrat ations ons.. My bac b kgr kgroun ound is in poly o mer oly scienc nce, e which is s botth tthe he che h mis m try and synthes es sis is of ma making large molecules les, and us le using usi ng the them m to cre crr ate things that arre usef useful ul fo us. I make new po for p lym ymers ym ers for membrane n s and for filte filte lters. rs. I also focus on wate terr purifific ficati cation, ati tion, waste water treatm a entt, and at sep e arating chem hemicals s fr from fro m each each other using a filter. r When e mak en making in pharmaceuticals, for o exa amp mple, y ’d normally hav you h e to do a synthe esis an and d tthen hen se separ parate ate yo your ur produ duc ucct fro rom yo your ur sid side de prod ductt with h a disti s llation process, which takes a lot l of heat. If you could do itt with a filter instead, it woul ould d save e a lo ot of energy.

Being Be n stu s bborn, I did a double e major: chemistr s y and chemical engineeri e ng. It was a good decision f me. Now I can make things for g starting from m the basics, going all the way up to appl p ication. In my lab, we synthesize materials, we e look into o their nanos n tructure, e and then we test them with wastewa e ter. W go from making the mo We olec e ule u all th the wayy to testing a product in a real a ap ppli p cattion. I think all the coo ol stuff comes from thinking n in more than one disc s ipline n . For me, m working in between chemistrr y, materi mat erials als s sc scien ience ence ce, an a d chem chemica hem emica icall eng gine ineeri ering ng — a and nd eve even n a littl ttle le bit bit of env enviro enviro ironme nmenta ntal t l engi nginee nee eerin ring ing — has h has been very exciting ng.

YOU CO-FOUNDED A COMPANY CALLED CLEAN MEMBRANES, INC. HOW DID THE MISSION OF THIS COMPANY FALL IN LINE WITH YOUR RESEARCH?

Cle ean n Membra Memb bra anes wo orked closely witth oill and nd d gas comp panies wh ho ha have co con ontam ta ina ated te waste wa ate er lef le t ovverr from pro processes likke gas fra acki cking. We focused on n trreati a ng ttha hat waterr in a more ene en ergg y effificien cie ent nt mann ner. e Normally, mem mbranes es, orr filters,, get clogged from m the ma man ny compone onents in was stew te ater. r. O Ou ur fifilters s res r ist clo ogggging and d th hey don n’t require cche he emicals to o cle clean them em, which me eans ea s they lastt longerr and a are mor mo orre ener n gy efficcient. Tha hat w was a lo ot of fun fu , but ut I really mi miss sed stu st ud den ents, teach ach hing, in ng and d co conducting res re es sear arch. ch. In a un uni nivversity settin et ingg I ha h ve e tim tim me to askk mor more e fun fu un ndam amen ental qu que ue est stions, which I en njo oy.

Freshmen and sophomore engineers work in Professor Asatekin’s lab on issues of water ﬁ ltration and chemical separations INTERVIEW BY NICK DE CHIARA ’17

HOW DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME TO TUFTS?

Iw want anted ed to be in a plac lace e wher wher here e people peo ple l ac actua tually lly w work clo closel selyy with with each h other. Tufts is a plac lace e with with a lot of research, but there is ss so much value placed on teaching, too, so I can get to know w my students. There are not many places like that. Working with undergraduates here is a lot of fun, because Tufts students nts are very good problem solve ve ers. s. They really take charge of the their ir projects. Tufts students ar ae very smart and so fun-lo ovin v g, even though we’re worrkin kingg on on serious stuff!

AYSE ASATEKIN PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL A ND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING

Living

Before and After Many future college students worry about dorm living. What will my room look like? How much time will I spend there? Will I like my roommate? These aren’t difﬁcult questions to answer, but they do often elicit a somewhat unsatisfactory response: “It is what you make it.” Your room will look however you want it to look, once you’ve added your own decorative ﬂair. You will spend as much time as you like there. You and your roommate will get along if you take time to get to know each other. Annoyed with us yet? This room in Houston Hall serves as a real live example. AF TER

BEFORE

Meet Greg Warns from Poulsbo, WA, and Jose Lopez from Pasadena, CA, current freshmen roommates. Their room looked like any other at Tufts… before move-in day. But after just a few weeks, posters, bedspreads, conversation and lots and lots of music ﬁlled the space. And that’s when it became a home.

Greg and Jose had your typical concerns about dorm life, but soon they found their rhythm (no pun intended). “We’re both guitar players,” said Jose. “Plus,” said Greg, “We’re both ridiculously smooth in social situations.” Soon, the room reflected their interests. “We went poster shopping together,” said Greg. Jose bought a Led Zeppelin poster, Greg went with Pink Floyd. Then they got into a groove with their schedule (OK, pun totally intended that time). Greg finds the room is where he does most of his studying. Jose, on the other hand, guesses he’s there only a few hours a day (“unless you count sleeping!” he said). Now, they absolutely love their all-freshman dorm. “We’re all experiencing our first year of college together,” said Jose. “It creates a feeling of camaraderie.”

Long story short — your room will be big enough. It will look amazing because you will make it that way. You will get along with your roommate and find common interests, even if they’re not as immediately obvious as Jose and Greg’s were. And while your room may not have two acoustic guitars, three electric guitars, and two one-hundred watt amplifiers (these kids don’t joke around), it will be filled with things that make it scream you … and your roommate.

Found

Hot Items Who knew you could learn so much about a place from a random assortment of objects and personal effects? WHAT: PRO-TIP POST-IT WHERE: DORM DOOR

WHAT: TOM, THE DANCING ROBOT CHICKEN E WHERE: THE CE E NTER FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND D OUTREACH (CEEO)

The CEEO received Tom as a gift from a visiting research her. Tom wiggles around and makes ridic culous sounds as you interact with him m. It’s been the source of constant amussement for my simple robotics class! —NIKHIL SHINDAY ’16

Those e devilishly good Beelzebubs (the all-ma ale a cappella group at Tufts) inspire a lot of o things — awe, fear, and many a ﬂoore ed jaw. But most often they inspire crazy y fashion tips for their auditions. This anonymous tip arrived before a good friend’s Bubs audition, and fun fact: the pink laces worked! —ADITYA HURRY ’17

WHAT: FALL LEAVES WHERE: EVERYWHERE (IT’S FALL!)

WHAT: SIDEWALK CHALK WHERE: ALL OVER THE PLACE

Although leaving my hometown of Honolulu was terrifying, being at Tufts felt like home, with the “aloha spirit” thriving 5,080 miles away. I soon realized how the strange orange leaves of fall were kind of like my Tufts experience: a time for beautiful change h and d growth. th

During the ﬁ ﬁrst weeks of classes, you cannot go anywhere on campus without seeing colorful sidewalk chalk advertising different clubs and their General Interest Meetings. From Engineers Without Borders, to Peer Health Exchange, to the a cappella group sQ!, it is hard not to be swayed by all of the eye-catching drawings and just get involved in everything!

—LAUREN DAY ’17

WHAT: RUNNING SHIRT WHERE: THE TRACK

—CHANDLER COBLE ’17

Morning on The Hill is an enchanting time, before the majority of Tufts students awaken to attend the late-starting classes they love so much. The air is crisp, The Hill is steep, and, most importantly, there’s no line at the cereal bar in the dining hall, which is absolutely critical following an intense jog up and down the hill, or around the track. —NICHOLAS DE CHIARA ’17

WHAT: ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS WHERE: YOUR HANDS

As a residential hall ice-breaker my entire dorm (yes, entire!) competed in a rock, paper, scissors championship. You became the “groupie” of the person you lost to, cursed to exuberantly cheer him on until the ﬁnals. My ears are still recovering. —ADAM KAMINSKI ’17

WHAT: GREETINGS CHALKBOARD WHERE: THE WALL IN MY DORM

My roommate and I decided to decorate our chalkboard with our “native greetings.” I contributed a “howdy” from Nebraska, and she responded with her go-to Californian conversation starter: “How’s the trafﬁc?” I love that Tufts students come from all over the country and the world, bringing with us our own backgrounds, stories, and — occasionally — cliché greetings. —ABIGAIL MCFEE ’17

YOU WRITE FILMS AND SCRIPTS. WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION?

I gget et mos mostt of mo of my idea as when w en n watchi wat ching ng TTV V or mov mo ies an nd th n thi nki king, ng g “I “If I we were re e beh ehind ind nd d th t e c mera cam a, I would total total allyy do d tha hatt diff fe fer e ent en ly. ly.”” Riigh ht now now w I have th t is ide de d ea fest esteri es eriing g in n my hea head d abo boutt bou aS Sci c Fi, ci Fi ps psych ych cholo olo lo ogiccal ﬁlm lm for for wh whi w hich The e Tw T ililil gh ghtt Zo one ne w was as an ins nspir p a ati ttion. n HAVE YOU EVER DRAWN IDEAS FROM YOUR CLASSES?

Th Thi h s year e I’ ea I’m tak akking aki ng cre c ati a ve e writin wri wr tin i g with wiith tth h Na N n Levi ev nso nson n — I use u herr cl her class ass as ss a as s a ste s pp st pping ng sto to one. ne I gget e id ideas eas on o to to pap paper, pa er, th hen I get e c ticcism cri ism fr is fo om m a prof profess ession ess onal a wri w ter er who h kn k ows wh what at she she’s ’s s doi do ng. ng Las astt seme emeste ste er, r, th tho ough g , I’d say gh s myy favori fav avvo ori or rrite riite te ccla la l s ss s was wa En wa Engli glililish sh 2: 2 FFililms on o n Lo Lov Lov o e, e, S Se Sex exx, and e nd Soc So ociet ociet ie ett y, e y, wh whi w hicch h h re rrea ea e ally ally lly ggot me thin thin inki kin ng more more ore or re a ab bout bout ou t ou ho a direct how dir ie eccctor ect tor or app a proa ro che ches s th thi hin ings. gs HOW DID YOU END UP FINDING ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY AS A MAJOR?

In hi In hig h igh scho c ol I work ch work orked ed e d on o the t he inv iin nv n e en ent ntiion n o ccrew w forr tthe Scie ience ncce nce Mu Mus M us us e eum um off M Min nne nesot n so a. We d did di iid re rres esea es earch ear arch h on n assist ass ssist istive ive e te t chn chno olo o llogy, wo wor worked orked or ked on cconsttruc r tio io on n,, and db bu uilt lt thi h s mach hi mach acchine ine ne ca calle lle led le d the e “ca anoe no no abl ab blle,” b e,,” ,” wh which ich cco ould u lo lower w r so wer we someo meo m me e ne in a whee eellch ch ha airr iinto o a cano cano noe no e. e. Eng ng ngine gine ne eeri ering ng psy p ycho ch log og y was the ogy tth he per per er fec fe ecct ﬁt w whe h n I ca he came m to me to TTuff tts. s. s

GREAT INVENTION FOR THE LAND OF 10,000 LAKES! WHERE DOES YOUR MAJOR OVERLAP WITH YOUR INTEREST IN FILM MAKING?

I e done I’v done co comme mm rcials als s as marrket k ing ng ma manag nager er for o Tufts Tuft Tu fts S den Stu e tR Reso es urces. eso es I was as s re reall allyy inttereste sted d in thes thes he e markketi t ng positi pos i ons on be becau cause se of myy maj major, or, which whi ch h is all ab a out ho how w you u twe w ak you ur prod prod duct or pr proto otype e to fit the me enta ntalit lit ityy of of the the cus cu ustom to er. An A engine eng ineer ine er has as to t tthink k ab bout hi his s future fut u us ure users ers s, or or his his aud dien ie ence, e ju ust st like lik e a film m di direc rec ecctor tor do to does. es. I als also al o thi thin inkk I’d d re reall a y enjo all enjo oy usin us g film to in inspi spire re e innova inn ova v tor tors, s, like likke the loc occal sho show w MakeTV Mak eTV eT V ab about out o ut bu build ilding ng g te techn chnolo ol gy olo us ng mat usi materi erials eri als in i your urr hom h e. LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE, DO YOU HAVE ASPIRATIONS FOR YOUR CREATIVE DEVELOPMENTS, OR PLANS FOR YOUR FILMS?

Eventu Eve Ev ve en ntu tu tuall tuall allllly I wa want nt to to get in i to o film lm mak m akki king iin ng b ng be eccau ca ause au se I fee ee as eel as th though oug o ou u ug gh Holllyw Ho lyywood lywoo oo do d esn esn’tt rep repres esent ent mul ultic ul ticcu ulttural ural grou groups ps ver v y well well — the tth he eir eir ir cha char arac racter ters s are ar alw way ays ys so one o e -di --d d me men ensio sional nal. W Why hy is th the h re no dep d pth th, no o st story ory ry? ? The T mes messag s ge I wan nt to t make e is th this: s ev every eryone er has h a a sto toryy and nd ev e ery r one ne’s e’s life is is dif d iff fe fer errent e e , but we’ we’re r a re alll hu human man m an. We alll ha all have ve ttho ose hum uman um an qua ua alit lities ies s of wa wan anti ttin ting ing the he bes bestt forr ou our ourse ursel selves ves es an nd tho ose se aro around ar und us us.. I’d I’d ’ lik like e to to work work rk on someth som eth eth hin ing ing n , at lea eas astt a te ten n to fift fteen e een m ute min t film te lm, m w where re ev every e thi er h ng hi n is s t wa th the ay I wa w n ntt iitt to o be, be an and d then then en I ccan an su subm bmi mit it it to to a film m fes festiv fe tival! tiv all

ABDI MOHAMED’16 FILM BUFF AND ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR FROM WOODBURY, MN

STEPHAN PENNING ASSI AS S IST SI ST TAN A N T PR ANT P OF F ESSO ESS ES SO OR OF F M US S IC C

LET’S START OUT WITH THE CLASSES THAT YOU TEACH.

My cou course rses s incl include d Th he IInte nte te ern rna na tional tio n Jazz Age A , The e His Histo tor o y of Rocck and and Roll, A Ame eric rican a Mus M siic, icc, Q er Que e Pop p, and and Bla Black ck Div Divas. as. s I teach tea ch man manyy more ore,, and and the ere e are a ar so o man manyy I wo would ould ld ev eventual event ua ly like to tea teach. ch Th ch. Those se are e all rumblilng a und in myy br aro brain ain.. ain ALL TYPES OF TUFTS STUDENTS VISIT THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT. HOW DO YOU TEACH A CLASS TO STUDENTS WHO ALL HAVE VARYING LEVELS OF INTEREST IN MUSIC?

I make make ke it cl clear earr th hatt w we e are arren’t n h here e to o app ap p rec ecciat ate e music. usiic. The Th po oint nt is not wh not w eth ether er you yo or I lik l ke tthe he mus music usic i in n the h cl class ass ss, but to ask, ask k, “Wha Whatt is this musiic doin doingg for f peo opl ple l in a time ime,, plac place, e and co e, om mmu unit it y?” y? y? Y u ma Yo You mayy not not lik like e free free jjazz,, bu butt it it was w as re r all allyy impo mporta rtant nt to peo people pl ple in the the 19 1960’ 60’ 6 60 0 s tryi trying ng to art articu icu c lat ae at the h importance ce of fre f edo d m in the the he m dle mi mid le e of a tim time e of o Jim m Cro Crow w and n t Ciivil th the v l Ri vi R ght ghts s Move Mov ovemen ment. t. Wh Whatt Wha

fas a cin c ate at s me is is the alc alchem l hem emyy bet etwee wee en perf perfform o er/ er/com compos m o er and rreceiver e , and ho how ow mu o m sic s can n become bec be ome an alternat nate history h or textt for ou ourr coun country try and d our ou world. In my cou course e, Hist History ory of Af Afric rican an A riccan Mus Ame Music, ic, c we lo ook ok bey beyond ond the e mo most st wel well-k l-know nown n genr enres es s off Af ican American music to Afr o disc scuss uss country or clas lassic sical al mus u icc mad made e by Africa c n Amer m rica cans. n Ac Actua tua ually lly,, te hno tec o was started by three re bl black ack m in Detroit. men t Bu Butt it it does doesn’t n’t ha have ve a conn nota o ation off blac b ackne kness. ss. We have to ask how we are llimi imi m tin tingg our our ide ideas id dea off who Af Afric rican a Ame m ric ricans ans ca ccan an be e. YOU WROTE YOUR DISSERTATION ON THE GERMAN SONG VON KOPF BIS FUSS. HOW DID YOU USE THAT SONG AS A LENS FOR AN ENTIRE GENERATION AND THEIR GENDER POLITICS?

I look look ooked e at dif ed differ feren ent versions s of the son ongg from from om the o the same sam yyear. I was s intere int e ste sted d in in how how dif differ fer erent en ent n pe people perfor per formed med th the e song song.. It’s It’s ’ a Ger German man n

son ong ng abou bo t bein e g “des design ign g e gn ed d for fo lovve from he head to o toe e.” Whe Wh n the h ori r gin ginal al arttist al st si sings ngs g it it,, you get get e th t e se se thi sen th s is horr horr orribl ib e for her ib ibl her. She spits spi ts it outt at a yo you. She e is very flat, flat, a hits her consonants very hard. and Bu when But n the song n was translat atted d intto E English, the lyrics chang anged to make mak e the the woman wom oman n see se m help elples ss. The Th he or o igi ginal gi nal ar artis tistt refu efuses to si sing n tha at firs firstt vers verse e in Engl Eng ish sh,, actu sh actu c all ally. y I woul woul u d look look ok at at wh whatt par p ticula u r perfor per former mers s brou brought ght to th the song n . Did th they e project certain a types of femininities or masculinities? How fem did d th they make it more o conservative or more e prog progres ressiv sive? e? THAT’S INTERESTING, BECAUSE IN AMERICA, CHALLENGING CLASSIC FEMALE ROLES WOULD MAKE THIS SONG UNPOPULAR, SO IT WAS CHANGED IN TRANSLATION. IT SEEMS TO CHALLENGE THE IDEA THAT POPULAR MUSIC CAN BE POLITICAL.

There are acctua There t lly ma many ny pop popula ularr so gs son g tha t t have h do done ne imp import ortant antt pol o iti itical ca wo cal w rk.. Cui Jian ian wa was sa

popularr sing popula singger in Chi China na dur d ing the ti t me off the Ti T ana ananme n n nme Square Sq Squ are e ma m ssacre ssa ac . He had a love ove son on ng that h be b cam came e the the ant an hem for th the e resi e sta es tance nce e, even even th thoug oug gh it tec echni hnical cally ly had ha a no n po polit lit itica itica ical ical m sag mes sage e tto o itt.. I’m in nter terest e ed es est d in the wa wayy peop ple create polit po olit litica ica ic al resi resi s sta stance nce wi witho w tho h ut saying say ingg it in n wo ords rd . In In popu popu opular lar ar a music dis mus discou co cou ou o urse rse rse se,, ther here’s e s a lot e’s lo o of valorization n of ar a tis tists ti ts who arre overtlly poli olitic tic ical all in the a eirr lyr lyrics ics.. ic ics People love Bob Dy D lan an,, the Sex an Pistols, and U2 for this his re easo ason. n. But when I think about slave songs whe gs s, ja z in jaz in N Nazi a Germany, or rock in n the Soviet Sov iet Un Union ion,, musi usicians weren’t fre r e to write certtain n things down on pap paper, er, bu ut that that do doesn esn’t ’t mea mean theyy were the were re en n’tt doing do oingg an a yth ything in . I’m m i ere int ereste ste st ed in in e envi nviron nvi nv ronmen m ts whe h re a ist art ists s need need to t ﬁnd d way ways to do wa p it pol iti t cal wo w rk r in mor ore e subt subtle le way wa s.

TON

Take a class with Professor Pennington and expect Tchaikovsky, Cole Porter, and Beyoncé INTERVIEW BY ANNAHSTASIA ENUKE ’17

TEMS (Tufts Emergency Medic

Nikita Saxena ’14, biomedical engineering major and education minor from New Providence, NJ Director of Operations

Paul Pemberton ’14, biomedical engineering and computer science double major from Fairfax, VA Executive Director

Ayal Pierce ’15, computer science major from Demarest, NJ Director of Training and Quality Assurance

Andrew Rogers ’14, clinical psychology major from Los Angeles, CA Director of Finance Craig Cooper ’15, biopsychology major from Sharon, MA Community Relations

al Services)

Monica Weber, ’14, biopsychology major from Palo Alto, CA Director of Education

“There is something special about having a peer show up to help in your time of need,” says Paul Pemberton ’14, executive director of Tufts Emergency Medical Services. We chatted with him (and ﬁve others) about the fully student run, volunteer medical response team on campus. TEMS students respond to real-life medical emergencies on campus after taking a for-credit EMT class. “Being able to help Tufts students on a daily basis is one of the most worthwhile things that I have ever done.”

“ Once I began the TEMS class I knew that I would enjoy the ‘in-the-ﬁeld’ aspects of medicine. Plus, no one can deny that saving lives is an awesome hobby.” —Paul

“I found myself talking about TEMS almost non-stop during the application process for medical school.” —Nikita

“I look at TEMS as an opportunity to learn as much as I can about people. There’s almost always a mental health component to any medical emergency, and as a clinical psychology major, that’s the most interesting part for me.”— Andrew

“ I volunteered on an Ambulance Corps at home, and I fell in love with EMS. The ability to be the person who transforms chaos into calm is very cool.” — Ayal

“ There was so much overlap [between TEMS and my biopsychology classes] that I was able to pick up information in both ﬁelds more quickly!”— Monica

“ Last winter, the TEMS board went to Washington, D.C. for the National Collegiate EMS Conference. I got to attend a lecture about medical emergencies that occur during SCUBA diving — like decompression sickness or poisonous aquatic wildlife.”— Craig

In Common

Great Minds Think. Period. Cognitive and Brain Sciences: Where neuroscience, psychology, computer science, and … well, just about everything else … collide. By Anna Burgess ’13

YO MIGHT HAVE HEARD THAT SPACE IS YOU the final frontier, or that the ocean is the last great mystery for humankind. You might wonder endlessly at the secrets of galaxies light-years away, or puzzle over underwater worlds and what their depths could hold. You might see these vast spaces — the night sky so wide, the ocean so deep — and think that they outshine anything we’d ever encounter in our daily lives. But if you are Tufts’ Professor of Philosophy Daniel Dennett, you think differently. For philosophers like Dennett, computer scientists, linguists, or experts on artificial intelligence or music cognition, the human mind is the final frontier. Dennett explains that, “The one area where there are still really perplexing, difficult problems is the brain, or the mind.” The mind, he says, is fascinating and mysterious: “It’s not giving its secrets up easily.” Enter Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Tufts University’s interdisciplinary major devoted to understanding the human mind. At Tufts, Cognitive and Brain Sciences (CBS) incorporates fields that may seem unrelated — philosophy, computer science, psychology, and child development — into a cohesive program that explores different aspects of our own brains. Professor Dennett, who is on the program’s steering committee, is one of several professors who advise and teach CBS students.

So to whom does this major appeal? From speaking with CBS majors and their professors, it’s clear that the major is for all different types of students — but the common link is their shared curiosity about the human mind, and about learning in general. For Ellen Gage ’14, a CBS major who works in a child development lab, the Cognitive and Brain Sciences program allowed her to combine her many areas of interest. “The interdisciplinary major is a really big sell,” she explains, adding that CBS has given her practical tools that she’s used to work with children who have developmental or learning disabilities. “Autism is a commonly used example in CBS, so I’m familiar with it … and with kids with ADHD, having an understanding of the brain has helped me piece their [seemingly separate] issues together.” Associate Professor of Psychology Ayanna Thomas explains that, like Gage, many of her CBS students have a broad range of interests. “They’re able to take advantage of the major to leverage those interests,” she said. So Gage isn’t alone. CBS professors and students alike cite the interdisciplinary nature of the program as one of its main selling points. Kurt Oleson ’15, a CBS major and music engineering minor, says that, “[The program] gives you a lot of freedom to do what’s important to you.” He explains, “I took Psychology of Music and it was the ﬁrst course that stuck with me

James Kiefner ’15 is an ROTC student who wants to apply his knowledge of neuroscience to studying soldiers returning from deployment.

James Kiefner ’15, Psychology major from Concord, NH

Ayanna Thomas, Associate Professor of Psychology

as being really cool.” Associate Professor of Psychology Aniruddh Patel, who now teaches the Psychology of Music, uses brain imaging and behavioral experiments in his research to study human response to music, the relationship between music and language, and our ability to process musical rhythm. The CBS program allowed Oleson to explore this topic in more detail and tie it into his interest in computer science. It’s easy to throw around the phrase “broad range of interests,” but CBS really walks the walk. As Tufts psychology major James Kiefner ’15 explains, “CBS majors are enthusiastic about applying their knowledge about the human brain in different areas.” Their passion for learning about the mind overlaps, but the ﬁelds in which they choose to apply this passion vary greatly. Kiefner, for instance, is an ROTC student who wants to apply his knowledge of neuroscience to studying soldiers returning from deployment. He currently works in a cognitive science lab investigating our ability to infer things about others’ states of mind, a mechanism known as Theory of Mind. Oleson has channeled his

interest in music cognition into an internship with a music intelligence platform, The Echo Nest, where he’s exploring his passion for music software and its relation to the brain. The Echo Nest develops interactive music applications used by Spotify, MTV, and Vevo, to name a few. Gage, on a different track, hopes to use her CBS degree and knowledge to work with autistic children, and potentially advise parents to help them understand their children’s development. Then there are the CBS professors, who teach in multiple departments and have specialties that vary almost as much as their students’ do. Thomas, a CBS “regular,” runs the Cognitive Aging and Memory Lab on campus. Thomas collects behavioral and neuropsychological data from participants to study memory and age-related changes in cognition, incorporating philosophical work as well. This merging of philosophy and psychology makes Thomas and other cognitive psychology specialists, like Patel and Professor of Psychology Robert Cook, ideal CBS professors. Linguistics specialists at Tufts, who merge the disciplines of psychology and child development, also frequently teach core courses for the CBS program.

Professor of Philosophy Daniel Dennett, a leading national scholar of philosophy and cognitive science who has published well over 100 articles and books in the ﬁeld, is co-director of the CBS program.

Kurt Oleson ’15, CBS major from Denver, CO

The major certainly is popular. And why wouldn’t it be? There are a lot of reasons it’s attractive. Certain core courses, for instance, are cited by students as miles more interesting than an average introduction class. Oleson says that the philosophy course Language and Mind, which explores issues in language like intention, consciousness, paradoxes, and conventions, is his favorite class at Tufts. Thomas explains that in her experience as an advisor, many students have declared a CBS major immediately after taking Cognitive Psychology, in which they study perception, problem solving, memory retention, and other human mental processes. And that’s just the beginning: the CBS program has four required psychology courses and two required computer science courses, but past that, “it’s a little bit like a Chinese menu,” laughs Dennett. Gage adds, “I have a huge list I get to pick from. It makes picking classes so much fun!” Asked what’s piqued their interest the most during their CBS studies, students mention a myriad of things. Gage says she’s found her linguistics courses interesting, explaining that language is a great way to examine consciousness because it separates humans from animals. Oleson says that he loves

Daniel Dennett, Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy

being in classes with scientists “who are also philosophers, and argumentative at heart,” while Kiefner is fascinated by the connections he’s made between soldiers’ experiences and psychology. He explains, for example, that marching as a unit is “a strange repurposing of our cognitive abilities.” There’s a lot going on with Cognitive and Brain Sciences, but Professor Dennett says that the program’s steering committee and professors have done a good job of keeping things cohesive. “We’ve worked hard to help students see how the pieces ﬁt together … to keep [the major] thematic,” he says. As the program grows, too, the hope is that it will become even more streamlined. Future Cognitive and Brain Sciences majors would, no doubt, love to see the department grow each year. But current majors aren’t exactly complaining. They’re too busy working with artiﬁcial intelligence, decoding music as data points, comparing humans to animals, and observing language patterns. Little by little, they are conquering the last frontier and taking apart the brain’s secrets. And it’s a lot of fun.

The Tufts crew team wakes before dawn for ev morning routine, it’s easy to see why the sport coffee totally worth it. “ Rowing is at once tremendously introspective and cooperative. All eight oarsmen must remain focused on each movement made and how it affects the boat, all the while moving as a unit and adjusting for each other.” SAM HELRICH ’15 BIOLOGY MAJOR FROM HOPKINTON, NH

“ Mornings are different when you row. My alarm sounds at 5:15. It jolts me out of sleep. ‘Snooze’ doesn’t exist when I know there’ll be 7 guys sitting out on land because I didn’t feel like getting out of bed that day.” KRZYSZTOF DANIELEWICZ ’15 COMPUTER SCIENCE AND COGNITIVE BRAIN SCIENCES MAJOR FROM HAMDEN, CT

“ Once I get hands on a boat, nothing else in the world exists; for the next hour and a half, I live and breathe crew. Some practices are physically exhausting, most practices are mentally exhausting, and all practices are extremely rewarding.” JACKSON HORWITZ ’16 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING MAJOR FROM MENLO PARK, CA

ery practice. But as they walk us through their makes every alarm buzz, yawn, and cup of

“ When someone ﬁnds out I’m a rower, they usually say, ‘You must be crazy to get up and practice that early.’ For a sport this beautiful, I think I’d have to be crazy not to.” KRZYSZTOF DANIELEWICZ ’15 QUOTED TWICE BECAUSE THIS IS SO DARN POETIC

“ There is something incredible about arriving home at 8am knowing that you have already exhausted your brain and body more than some of your peers will in their entire day. From 9am–10pm, I am just like any other Tufts student.” WILL ROSS ’14 PHILOSOPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES MAJOR FROM WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN ALFRED HITCHCOCK?

I remember the first time I saw two of his films, Rear Window and Vertigo. Each of them terrified me in different ways. As I grew up, I understood that these were careful and intelligent meditations on what it is that human beings most desire and most fear. It became possible to find in them an entire philosophy that was as broad, as capacious, and as imaginative as that of Shakespeare or Dickens. YOU TEACH A CLASS CALLED “HITCHCOCK: CINEMA, GENDER, IDEOLOGY.” HOW DO THEMES OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY SURFACE IN HITCHCOCK’S FILMS?

Usually, when we think of Hitchcock, we think of crime, murder, sabotage. But every Hitchcock film that structures itself around a criminal narrative is at the same time a romance. The romantic couple is negotiating something that involves a crime, and that crime —in Hitchcock’s universe — is desire. Hitchcock was raised in a Catholic family. He was fascinated by sin. He recognizes that the perverse desire in his films also structures the relation of the audience to the film. We go to the film to see something that we’re not supposed to see, so his films are constantly exposing the pleasure we take in the things that we claim to disapprove of. ONE OF YOUR COURSES, “THE INVISIBLE SPECTACLE: CINEMA, DISCIPLINE, AND DESIRE,” LOOKS

AT DISNEY FILMS, AMONG OTHERS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ANIMATED FILMS, AND HOW THEY MIGHT NORMALIZE CERTAIN VISIONS OF SOCIETY OVER OTHERS?

Villains in Disney’s ﬁlms tend to overwhelm the narrative. Time after time, they’re associated with non-normative sexualities. Scar is probably the most famous. As soon as Scar becomes king, everything dies, withers, and becomes sterile — he’s this non-reproductive alternative to the Circle of Life family. You have this covert erotic narrative being played out, but with the fascination of Scar, as well. The ideological framing of ﬁlms meant for children means they’re always disciplinary. So, the one who is actually most like the children is the villain — the one who knows that there’s pleasure in transgressing boundaries.

WHAT LESSON DO YOU HOPE YOUR STUDENTS CAN TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR CLASSES?

The goal of my teaching is to make students stupider. They should come out not presupposing that they already know the meaning of things. It’s a continuous battle not to see through what the Romantics called “the ﬁlm of familiarity.” A university education is the best place to recognize that it’s possible to encounter a variety of perspectives that will change the apparent solidity of things you’re thinking.

Lee Edelman discusses the underlying themes in Hitchcock and Disney ﬁ lms—who would have guessed those two names would ever appear in the same sentence? INTERVIEW BY ABBY MCFEE ’17

LEE EDELMAN FLETCHER PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

Top Ten Because traditions are a cool way to get to know a school (and because we love alliteration), we’re taking this opportunity to celebrate …

Tufts’

TOP TEN

TRADITIONS

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Akshita Vaidyanathan Tufts Sophomore from Singapore

Tufts Night at the Pops

Getting Kissed Under Bowen Gate

For over 100 years, Tufts alumni and graduating seniors have enjoyed an evening with the Boston Pops Orchestra preceding Commencement. The event concludes with a rendition of Tufts’ song, “Dear Alma Mater.”

Legend has it that if two people kiss under Bowen Gate, they’re destined to get married…. It’s like a lesson in being very careful in your decisions!

Homecoming

Illumination Ceremony

Each October, Tufts welcomes its alumni back to the hill for a day of football and tailgating. Homecoming village is full of familiar faces, and Jumbo spirit abounds.

When Charles Tufts was asked what he’d do with Walnut Hill, the land he donated to Tufts, he replied, “I will put a light on it.” Now, during orientation, all new students light a candle on the hill, resulting in not just one light, but hundreds.

Pumpkining

Tuftonia’s Day Free food, prizes, and carnival rides … wh what more could a college student ask for? Tuftonia’s Day, a massive carnival marking the end of spring semester, allows Tufts students to ﬁnd their inner child. Bumper cars, moon bounces, and ﬁreworks included!

Every Halloween, a group of Tufts students will stay up all night placing pumpkins in the oddest of locations around campus. Last year, someone even managed to get a pumpkin on the roof of Carmichael Hall! The tradition is over 75 years old, but, like the tooth fairy, this student group stays incognito — no one has ever claimed responsibility.

Jumbo the Elephant

Spring Fling

Jumbo was the prime attraction in P PT. Barnum’s traveling circus. When Jumbo tragically died in a train crash, Barnum donated his stuffed hide to Tufts, where it was housed in Barnum Hall. Students would place a penny on Jumbo’s trunk for good luck during exams. When Barnum Hall burned in 1975, a member of the athletics department collected Jumbo’s ashes in a peanut butter jar, which now offers luck to Jumbo athletes.

As a grand ﬁnale to each spring semester, Tufts’ concert board hosts a huge free concert out on the President’s Lawn for all students to attend. In recent years we’ve welcomed Lupe Fiasco, Nelly, White Panda, Dropkick Murphys, Common, The Roots, Asher Roth, Yeasayer, Guster, and many others.

Sledding Down the President’s Lawn Tufts students rejoice at the ﬁﬁrst snowfall, when it’s time to grab a sled, tray, or cardboard box and head to the President’s lawn for sledding! Who knows, maybe President Monaco will make an appearance.

Painting the Cannon Tufts students paint this historic replica almost every night. Proposals, protests and promotions have graced its surface. As part of this tradition, the artist must guard their masterpiece until dawn lest another group paint over their work!

By Anna Burgess ’13 • Illustration by John Hersey

THE EXPERIMENTAL COLLEGE

LIVES UP TO ITS NAME

The Tufts University Experimental College (ExCollege) is sending a message: “Unconventional” has a place in university classrooms. Classes don’t have to fit a specific mold, include the words “Intro To …” or use textbooks with diagrams and bar graphs. Classes can be fun! Classes can be taught on improv comedy, or Harry Potter, or the NBA. They can be taught by professionals in a field, or even current undergraduates with crazy new ideas. They can be engaging, entertaining, and still cover important, worthwhile issues. This is the message. And if you’re not getting the message yet, take a look at what they’re teaching this semester, and you will.

There’s an awful lot of off the ﬁeld, off the court thatformer is confusing. We try Jannews, Volk, the GM of the Boston to at least put teaches some structure toabout it.” the Celtics, students — Jan Volk, former General Manager of the Boston Celtics of sports. complicated business

Road Trips & the American Identity ABDIEL GARCIA AND CLARA BIECK

Producing Films for Social Change LOVE DOCUMENTARIES? Meet Don Schechter, president and founder of Charles River Media Group. He’s a fifilmmaker who now teaches the popular ExCollege course, Producing Films for Social Change. Schechter has students analyze documentaries and study their history, but also focus on actually making fifilms. Schechter, whose company films pieces for non-profits or political groups, explains that the class serves as an introduction to filmmaking and an overview of its many sub-topics. “Ultimately,” Schechter says. “If you don’t know the technique [of filmmaking], it gets in the way of storytelling.” As a professional in the industry, he knows what he’s talking about, and much of the course has been built from his own experience. He explains that students will learn technical aspects as they simultaneously develop projects on meaningful topics. Students make Vine videos, mini-documentaries, and final projects on a particular subject within this semester’s category, sustainability. In previous years, this class has been the catalyst for films fi about the impact of consumerism in American society, the conversation surrounding refugee policy in the US, and the importance of making Boston a bike-friendly city. Films have gone on to compete in (and win!) local festivals, and have changed quite a few minds along the way.

The Business of Sports: A Study of the NBA IF YOU’VE EVER HAD A REALLY COOL guest speaker and wished they taught every class, you might want to check out The Business of Sports: A Study of the NBA. After all, it’s not exactly common for a former General Manager of the Boston Celtics to be found explaining a salary cap to college students. But Jan Volk does just that, in a course on the “confusing and mystifying” world of sports business. Volk wants students to think about “how this business differs from a traditional business.” He explains that many of his students follow teams, “And there’s an awful lot of off the field, off the court news, that is confusing. We try to at least put some structure to it.” Volk says the class’ topics can vary, as, “discussion is inflfluenced by what goes on in the news.” He cites 2011 and 2012 labor disputes in the NBA and NHL as an example. “That’s part of the attraction of this course,” he explains. Volk’s personal experience is also part of the course’s attraction, and he makes sure to bring in various guest speakers to give students an “insider’s look.” Volk says learning the complex details of something like the salary cap is like playing a sport: “A lot of things on the fifield are not fun when you’re doing them, but the accomplishment brings pleasure.” And, he adds, knowledge of this stuff “makes for great opportunities to be an expert at parties!”

thing for road trips. Garcia has taken multiple road trips on the west coast, and Bieck, who’s from Florida, used to drive to New York with her family every summer. So last year, when Garcia had the idea for an ExCollege course on road trips, Bieck was on board right away. Their class, Road Trips and the American Identity, is now a reality, and they’re loving it. “Road trips aren’t specific fi to our culture,” says Garcia, “but there is a connection between being on the road and finding our American history.” The class explores this connection through three units, on history, literature, and the modern-day road trip. The history unit covers everything from old trails in the United States — including every 90s kid’s favorite, the Oregon Trail — to the first cars and how they changed American life. Road trip literature isn’t exactly hard to find, so Garcia and Bieck have picked a selection from classic adventure stories like On the Road and Travels with Charlie. As for studying modern road trips, Bieck and Garcia are excited about their project for the semester: students will plan a road trip with a partner. “Luckily, we have kids from all over the country [in the class],” says Bieck, so there’s a variety of knowledge and lots of opportunities to be creative. She and Garcia are also planning a class mini road trip, and an end-of-semester discussion for students to share their own road trip experiences — something they’re really looking forward to.

Robots, Space, & Civilizations of the Future Storytelling: Narrative & the Oral Tradition ACCORDING TO NORAH DOOLEY, everyone has a story to tell. “I’m a person who’s very strongly aural, and oral language comes very naturally to me,” says Dooley, a children’s book writer and storyteller. “One of my main life goals is to see storytelling incorporated into teaching of every kind,” she adds. Dooley has been teaching storytelling for almost 25 years, giving workshops everywhere from kindergarten classes, to high schools, to retirement homes. As a former Tufts student, she’s excited to be back on campus to teach the ExCollege course Storytelling: Narrative and the Oral Tradition. The course, says Dooley, is “seventy-five fi percent experiential,” and involves graduated exercises— students start by telling one person, then work in groups of three, then tell the same story to the whole class. Each class focuses on some aspect of storytelling, like sensory details, voice characterization, or performance. Dooley maintains that stories can come from just about anywhere. “People use childhood memories [as material], things that have just happened, and everything in between,” she says. Anyone can be a great storyteller, she adds, saying that “someone will always surprise you.” So she’s excited to see what her students can do at the course’s end-of-semester story slam. Similar to a poetry slam, the story slam will involve each student telling a fifive-minute story that they’ve rehearsed over the course of the semester.

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT it would be like to share the world with cyborgs - or leave the world altogether? Tufts juniors Brendan Fleig-Goldstein and Michael Schneider have. And in their class, Robots, Space, and Civilizations of the Future, they get to talk about these ideas, among many others, all the time. “Our goal is to evaluate future scenarios in a down-to-earth and tangible way,” says Schneider. These “future scenarios” include things like trans-humanism, which Schneider describes as “the melting of the line between human and technology,” and space colonization, which Fleig-Goldstein says is “a topic many futurists talk about.” They’ll also draw from science ﬁction, posing questions like, “What would a computer have to be like to have political rights?” Schneider and Fleig-Goldstein have been future-obsessed for years. They started a student group, The Futurism Society, two years ago, and Fleig-Goldstein explains that, “we wanted to take it to the next level and get deeper into all of this.” Readings for the course are mainly fact-based, and generally cover developing technologies that could affect society in years to come, but each reading has an accompanying sci-ﬁ short story — as if things weren’t interesting enough already. Both Fleig-Goldstein and Schneider hope to become college professors later in life, so this class is a great experience for them. Asked about their teaching goals for the semester, Schneider says he wants to enhance curiosity that’s already there. Fleig-Goldstein agrees: “I’m hoping students leave the class with an extreme sense of optimism about the future.”

Check out the whole list! EXCOLLEGE COURSES: FALL 2013 Harry Potter and Christian Thought Life on Earth and Beyond Human /Animal Studies Neuroscience and Criminal Justice Imagining the City Personal Identity in Contemporary Jewish Life Cultural Politics: The Case of Professional Wrestling Imagining Children: A History of Childhood Studies A History of United States Health Policy Gender, Culture, and Human Rights Narrative and Documentary Practice Public Relations and Marketing: Unraveling the Spin “Reel” Violence: Movies and Media in Post-Vietnam America Music and Animation Zombies, Freaks, and Pink Flamingoes: The Phenomenon of Cult Movies New Media Practices: Participatory Culture in Communication, Entertainment, and Society Doing Middle Eastern Geography Critical Perspectives on the Modern Global Slave Trade Immigration Law: Past, Present, and Future Famous Trials in U.S. History Accused: The Gap between Law and Justice Understanding the Stock Market: History, Structure, and Impact Organizations, Leadership, and the Business Model of “Player-Coach” Middle East and North Africa “Generation Citizen”: Empowering Students, Strengthening Democracy The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Revolution? Foray into Synthetic Biology Advanced Film Making Advanced Electronic and Digital Media

A POWERFUL SUMMER HOW THE TUFTS CAREER CENTER HELPED THIS ENGINEER LAND HER WIND-TERNSHIP

This past summer, Tufts junior Cara Goodman was offered an internship at Associated Wind Developers, a startup in her hometown, Plymouth, MA. For an engineering science major minoring in environmental science and policy, this was a dream come true. There was just one problem: the pay for the summer position was…well, nothing. Luckily for Cara, the Tufts Career Center already had a solution in place. With so many unpaid internships for college students these days, the Career Center recognized the need to step in with some funding, and now awards 40 internship grants every summer. These grants go to students

interning in the non-profit or public sector, in entrepreneurial start-ups, or in science and technology fields. Each recipient of the internship grant receives $3,500, and for Cara, this was the deal maker. “Without the [Career Center grant],” she said, “I would not have been able to complete the internship due to financial reasons.” And she was certainly glad she did. “The organization plans wind and solar power development projects around the world,” she explained. “I was able to write project proposals and grants, research locations for new wind turbines, and blog about their newest technology called Wind4Water.” Wind4Water deploys industrial wind turbines designed to power desalinization plants around the world, harnessing the power of the wind to decontaminate drinking water. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 6 of the globe’s inhabitants doesn’t have access to fresh water. Wind4Water is tackling

what is arguably the world’s most pressing need the way that they know how — with the power of wind. Cara also had the opportunity to attend a Wind Working Group meeting during her summer internship. A Wind Working Group is a group of wind energy stakeholders who collaborate to find opportunities to develop wind energy locally. Cara had a seat at the table, and it allowed her to see the business side of things — something you don’t necessarily think about in science classes. “The most important thing that I learned,” she said, “was how complicated the entire process is, and how difficult it is to plan a project for even one small wind turbine. The number of steps involved and amount of waiting time is crazy, which makes me eager to help find ways to solve this problem. I hope to help change people’s views and opinions about how we should be powering the world we live in.”

Around Town

Boston Sports Boston is a city steeped in the tradition of sports. It’s has seen all four of its major professional league teams win championships in a ten-year span. It’s a powerhouse on turf, ice, and dirt, and it’s right in Tufts’ backyard. So here’s to Fenway Franks, wicked awesome plays, and staying Boston Strong. This tour of Boston is sports themed.

TUFTS UNIVERSITY

FENWAY PARK

Cannons

GILLETTE STADIUM

Patriots If New England had one patriotic, quintessential sport, it might very well be football. Come September, stripping your shirt, painting your chest, and chanting with friends suddenly becomes socially acceptable. The Patriots play 16 games in total and 8 home at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, a 45 minute drive south from Tufts.

Revolution Soccer is a popular club, varsity, and spectator sport on campus year round, and those who want to make the trek to watch their favorite sport can head over to Foxboro to see the New England Revolution play. Right now the Revolution’s roster includes one of the league’s top goalkeepers, Matt Reis, and one of the most promising “youngsters” in the league, Lee Nguyen.

The Boston Cannons were one of the original six Major League Lacrosse teams, founded in 2001. And while it’s a younger team by Boston standards, it’s a powerful one — the team took the Steinfeld Cup in 2011. They play minutes away on the Red Line, an easy two stops away from campus. Though watching the Jumbo lacrosse team take the ﬁeld is just as exciting — our boys have made it to the NCAA tournament ﬁve years in a row, taking the national championship title in 2010.

Red Sox If you’re looking for the most diehard, loyal-tothe-point-of-insane fans, there’s only one place to turn: Fenway Park. Take, for example, this past September, when all fans sporting beards (real or fake) got $1 tickets as a reward for their camaraderie with the players, who’ve taken to the lumberjack look this season. (The #GetBeard Twitpics are quite the sight). No matter their record, watching broadcasts, attending games, and loitering outside historic Fenway, hoping to catch a Big Papi walk-off home run, is a guaranteed good time.

TD GARDEN

Bruins Into condoned ﬁstﬁghts and nail-biting game enders? Head over to the TD Garden to see the Bruins, the oldest NHL team in the United States. Robbed of the Stanley Cup this past season, we’re ready to rumble and tumble once again this season to repeat our 2011 championship win. Reliable, fair-weather, and diehard fans can all be found on campus and at organized (and those not-so-organized) Bruins-themed events and parties.

Celtics

Head of the Charles Every October, the Head of the Charles draws over 9,000 rowers and 300,000 spectators to the Charles River, dividing Cambridge from Boston. With 1,900 boats and 61 events, this weekend regatta is one of the largest boat races in the world. Among the Tufts rowing community (AND those of us who don’t wake up for 6am practices) this is a popular and exciting tradition. It’s also a nice distraction from midterms.

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon has long been a cherished and powerful Boston tradition, attracting amateur to professional participants and local to global spectators every April. It’s a day of festivity and unity. Runners train all year for this humbling challenge. Finishing is an unparalleled accomplishment Tufts students tackle readily, as members of the Tufts Marathon TTeam or individually. Can you ﬁﬁnish the 26.2? Don’t count yourself out already!

Fast paced, thrilling basketball is commonplace in Boston (we’re so spoiled). Just ask Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics! Celts games are easily accessible from the T at the Boston Garden, though maybe more convenient is the couch, television, and remote in your dorm. Find a few friends from class, snacks from Hodgdon, and any and all green clothing you can gather (gotta summon the luck of the Irish!) and say goodbye to your fall, winter, and spring productivity.

Top Profs

Environmental Studies Tell us about your research

PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS

Ujjayant Chakravorty

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EARTH AND OCEAN SCIENCES

Andrew Kemp

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Alex Blanchette

I work in applying economics in order to ﬁnd solutions to problems of energy and the environment. The goals of my research include moving to cleaner fuels, lessening our reliance on fossil fuels which cause pollution, and managing our scarce water resources more efﬁciently. Currently, I’m working on modeling the supply of nuclear power, the effect of biofuel mandates on food prices and poverty, and the relationship between energy and economic development.

My research focuses on reconstructing how high or how low sea level was in the geological past. My ﬁeld-based research involves going to a site to collect samples — mostly cores of sediment — that we analyze back on campus to understand how old they are and how high sea level was at that time. I have worked in Iran, arctic Russia, Bermuda, Alaska, and the Atlantic coast of the U.S. Studies in these places tell us about the structure of the Earth when it was covered by ice 25,000 years ago and about how much water went into the oceans as ice sheets melted.

I study the industrialization of life in an allegedly postindustrial U.S. My current book project is a study of the world’s largest pork corporations and their efforts to achieve the “factory” in the American factory farm. As part of this research, I lived and worked in a zone of the U.S. that annually raises and kills some seven million cookie-cutter pigs. Based on my own experiences, this book examines the workplace politics of labor, nature, and life that underlie the making of the modern industrial pig.

New faculty hires (called a “cluster hire”) from three unexpected ﬁelds add breadth to the environmental discussion.

Gets Creative What topics will your classes at Tufts cover?

On the undergraduate application, we ask, ‘Why Tufts?’ What’s your answer?

My class this semester is Topics in Environmental Economics, all about the economics of renewable and exhaustible resources, and the sustainability of economic growth. We will discuss how clean energy is more expensive than “dirty” energy. There will always be winners and losers in the process of economic development. For policies to pass the political system, we need to make sure the losers are compensated. Students will leave this class understanding that there are costs to every choice we make. The challenge is to think of ﬁnding affordable solutions to environmental problems.

Tufts has a very nice brand name and the faculty in the economics department has an excellent reputation in the profession. Tufts students are smart, hard-working and often have diverse interests. I ﬁnd them very passionate in whatever they do. It is an amazing experience to interact with young people who are so keen to make a difference in the world.

The purpose of my classes, Global Climate Change and Paleoclimate, is to introduce students to how Earth’s climate works and how and why it has changed constantly through more than 4 billion years. With these building blocks in place, students will be able to participate in the global warming discussion as citizen scientists who can form an opinion from a solid scientiﬁc standing.

I wanted to be a part of a close-knit academic community and the EOS department is small, but extremely welcoming and diverse — it just felt like a good “ﬁt.” ﬁ I also came here because I wanted to have enthusiastic students to teach and engage in research who would ask me questions which I don’t have the answers to. Tufts students have a reputation for that.

One of my current courses is an intro-level course on anthropogenic natures. It examines changing politics and knowledge on the relation between nature and culture across diverse environmental engineering projects that span the globe, from sheep cloning in the UK to human-made rivers in the Amazon. The other course I’m teaching is an advanced seminar on interspecies politics. We ask how the move for Animal Rights (and similar ideals) reﬂects changing Western ideologies concerning the value of nature and the very idea of the human.

Tufts offers the intimacy of a liberal arts college with the intellectual objectives and rigor of a top-tier research university. In practice, that means smaller class sizes for more intense student pedagogy, alongside the research resources and time to focus on developing currents in academia. Perhaps my main attraction to Tufts, however, was its ideal of scholarship in the public interest. The department of anthropology has long been recognized as crafting research that aims to beneﬁt the communities from which we learn.

“Cluster hires allow interdisciplinary programs to strengthen ties with existing departments and programs and also to build capacity in key focal areas. The three professors hired in this cluster hire provide expertise in sustainability, in climate change, and in food systems. In addition to enriching the course offerings, they are providing new and exciting research opportunities for our students. This cluster hire even inspired a new course in a totally different department — the course is entitled ‘Climate Change Ethics’ and is being taught by George Smith of the Philosophy Department. We are extremely excited about these new hires.” — Colin Orians PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY AND DIRECTOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM

Tufts was ranked 9th out of 2,000 colleges on The Daily Meal’s Best Colleges for Food in America list.

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Yummy

Healthy

Green

Our dining halls are equipped with sautee stations, Belgian wafﬂe makers, and panini presses. Plus, Nutella is always handy!

Greatist named Tufts the 19th healthiest college in the U.S. last year.

There are always organic and locally grown options to choose from.

Each dining center has a full salad bar and plenty of fresh fruit, plus vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and kosher options.

Everything you don’t eat, we compost … even the napkins (hopefully you’re not eating those … )

There are always up to three fresh baked dessert options in addition to the frozen yogurt machines. For an extra treat, Tufts dining hosts Sundae Sundays with all kinds of toppings (we also have Sundae Thursdays, which doesn’t have the same ring to it, but hey, who’s complaining?).

There are nutrition labels for every item served. Nutritionists develop all our menus (did we mention Tufts’ Friedman School of Nutrition is the only graduate and professional school of nutrition in North America?)

The dining centers stopped using trays three years ago. Since, there has been a 30% reduction in food waste and a 7.5% reduction in electricity from conveying and washing trays!

RICHIE RIC HI AND LUCS UCS CSON CS O FRO OM TUFT FTS DINI NING ING N

Something New

The Entrepreneurial Jumbo What would YOU do with $100K? Tufts students would build a business! Every year, the Gordon Institute’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Tufts sponsors their $100K Business Plan Competition. Tufts entrepreneurs with big ideas duke it out in the ring … or, you know, at the podium … to win cash and in-kind services that will help propel their business from idea to reality. Here are three red hot (or, in one case, really, really green) ﬁnalists from this past year that you should know about. Soon they’ll change the way we communicate, game, and even shower!

Uji Shower Head

Teemplay

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETITION

CLASSIC BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

3RD PLACE

2ND PLACE

Becket Linn ‘13 and his team noticed video games never seem to have enough content to satisfy all their users. Linn’s solution, the platform Teemplay, allows users to create, share, and sell 3D expression: like Amazon for virtual spaces and 3D graphics. Teemplay will “provide a nearly endless stream of new content to all your favorite games,” they say. Teemplay also earned a spot in The MassChallenge Incubator, which will connect them with even more resources. Game on!

MyPsych Tufts seniors Brett Andler, Joo Kang, Tyler Wilson, and Sam Woolf began their journey to the $100K Business Competition in a mechanical engineering class, where they designed a shower head that gradually fades from green to red as each shower progresses. Like a little conscience, the colorful device encourages users to take more energy efﬁcient showers. “By letting people become aware of how long they’re in the shower, we’ve actually been able to cut

shower time by 12 percent,” said Andler on NPR’s All Tech Considered. Andler also revealed that the shower head saves users about $85 each year. Recently named to Fast Company’s “Today’s Most Creative People” list, the team is now moving into production, after receiving grants for prototyping and testing from the Department of Energy and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

CLASSIC BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

3RD PLACE

Brandon Cohn ’13 and his partner recognized the importance of prioritizing mental health, so they created a smartphone app to streamline therapist-patient communication. Patients using MyPsych can keep track of emotions, relationships, and life events with just a few swipes of the thumbs. Patients may also log written or video journal entries and keep track of long term goals. Therapists then access and monitor patients’ activity and customize settings and alerts that best ﬁt each individual patient.

A Q

Advice

Class of 2017

Common Application Essay APPLICANT HOMETOWN: Bolingbrook, IL INTERESTS: Peace and Justice Studies

It was the winter of 2008, and like other winters, I had fallen into the arms of the common cold: raspy voice, sore throat, and congested nose. Regardless, I went to school and continued my normal day, though I spoke less and carried plenty of tissues. I arrived to my ﬁrst period class and stood to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I put my hand over my heart, but I did not say it aloud; my throat was too sore to speak. After reciting, I sat down and listened to the morning announcements on the loudspeaker. Soon after, my teacher asked in disbelief, “Why didn’t you say the Pledge, boy?” I snifﬂed, feeling the dry itch in my throat. “I have a cold.” Sternly my teacher said, “People who don’t say the Pledge are terrorists. You’re a terrorist, Serhan.” The class erupted with laughter as I sank into my seat, feeling defeated. I knew right away that she was taking a dig at my background, just like everyone who ever told me a Sirhan Sirhan joke. Living with Arab blood in post 9/11 America was not easy. Initially, I thought the laughter and humiliation would end after that class period. However, my classmates continued to joke about it, and the name-calling persisted for days. By the next week, they forgot about the teasing, but I had not. That moment stayed in my mind for a

I used the negative experience to empower me. After that incident, I began to notice how many people are chastised because of their race, socioeconomic status, style of dress, or musical taste. I decided to stand up for victims of discrimination by valuing cultural diversity. I started by appreciating the differences that make us all unique, from the physical aspects, like skin color, to the social aspects such as cultural traditions. As a member of the Foreign Language Club (FLC), and an aide in the World Language Department, I have the opportunity to learn — and share with my peers — information about people who live beyond the United States, current events in different countries, and eclecticc music and food. FLC holds bi-weeklyy meetings, and each highlights a different country with a presentation about its native language, traditions s and society. As an aide in the World Language Department, I have e met many students and teachers from around the globe. These expe eriences have made me realize that every culture has great contriibutions to offer, which makes America a beautiful place.

Laura Tapper Senior Assistant Director of Admissions

As a college student that values diversity, I will participate in (or establish, if not already present) a club on campus that celebrates cultural distinctiveness and promotes peaceful coexistence. Coming from cultures that are stigmatized, I will defend students who experience hatred because of their diversities, as well as provide information about current events around the world that promote awareness and encourage fellowship. I look forward to educating and continuing to ﬁght for the rights of others.

LAURA

Over the years, I’ve observed a number of wonderful traits in our student body, but the one I love most is the way students wholeheartedly want to learn from those around them. This often comes from the discourse that follows when people aren’t afraid to respectfully challenge each other. There’s a willingness among Jumbos to think deeply and critically about the world. It’s easy to see why this essay made me think of that trait, and picture this student here accordingly. I appreciated that while the essay’s springboard was an event that happened years ago, the real message was about taking that experience and channeling it into being an active, passionate college student. He was going to have an impact on whatever college campus he called home. And after reading this, I wanted that to be Tufts. When an admissions ofﬁcer reads an application, she’s asking herself the following question: “What will this person add to our already amazing community?” Sometimes the answer is singular: this person is going to be a quarterback, or the only Russian major. But for many people, the answer is more subtle. Maybe you’ll bring a sunny sense of optimism, a love of Victorian literature, or a knack for balancing chemical equations. Whatever it is, we’ll be looking for clues, and we reliably ﬁnd them in your essays. This student was going to bring his voice — his clear, strong voice — and it was one that I felt certain would make the Tufts campus even more wonderful.

You’re getting ready to write your college essays — or, for those planners out there, you’re already done and are now editing, re-editing, and editing again! To guide you in this nerve-wracking process, we decided to reveal some successful essays from last year. This is a sampling of essays from the Common App and Tufts Writing Supplement written by members of the class of 2017. We also asked the admissions ofﬁcer who read that essay to tell us why it worked — and how you can learn from it.

Pick a rule from sports, science, or society and explain its signiﬁcance to you ...

Why Tufts?

APPLICANT HOMETOWN: Laguna Beach, CA INTERESTS: Mechanical Engineering

APPLICANT HOMETOWN: Erdenheim, PA INTERESTS: Computer Engineering

Each summer I look forward to working. I spend my days in the sun with good friends and share my love of sailing with young children. At Westwind Sailing in Dana Point, California, we run weeklong programs teaching children how to sail and be safe on the water. The best part of teaching is watching as kids have their ﬁrst moments of freedom on the water and move from fear to pride as they learn to control where they move. Since steering a boat is opposite from how they have seen adults drive cars, we teach them the saying “tiller toward trouble.” By pushing the tiller of a boat toward “trouble,” such as another boat or rocks or a kayak, the bow of the boat turns the opposite direction. The easy-toy to remember saying comes in hand dy during frightening moments for the newly independent sailors. While experienced sailors rarrely think, “tiller toward trouble” while sailing, I believe the saying appliies to many parts of life. By identifyiing “trouble,” a conscious decision can be made to steer toward or awayy from the situation. In teen years s, there is plenty of trouble to get into, and it takes constant vigilance to avoid the hazards. I believe that sailing as a whole has helped me navigate around trouble by givingg me goals and skills. I love sharin ng the passion I have for sailing in hopes that others beneﬁt from itt as much as I have. Push the “tiller toward trouble” and end up in a better place.

EDDIE

The writer of this essay reveals her passions — sailing and teaching — through her own experience. In reading this, I thought to myself that I’d love to be in this applicant’s sailing lesson. We can tell the writer is a hands-on person who uses her skills for the good of others. That’s a characteristic that runs wild at Tufts, so I could easily picture her here: working in the Center of Engineering Education Outreach teaching Lego robots to young children, volunteering with Jumpstart through the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, or being a patient, understanding roommate. As I ﬁnished reading, my mind was racing with all the ways she could contribute to the relaxed intellectual vibe at Tufts. Allow me to see what characteristics you’d contribute to our campus, and you’ve succeeded.

I read the list of engineering projects at Tufts as voraciously as my peers read their Twitter feeds. I am an innovator, passionate about robotics and ready to create. I only need the right place for my ideas to take ﬂight. That place is a school that supports students’ efforts to create a robo-cupcake decorator. Where else could my observations of life forms in nature be engineered into a robotic caterpillar? How many schools have a music engineering minor that inspires students to create an “e-ccordian?” Tufts is where I can learn to be my kind of engineer.

MEGHAN

“Why Tufts?” is often the ﬁrst response I’ll review. This applicant had me at “Hello.” First, I can tell she’s done her digging and was thoughtful in her decision to apply. The more speciﬁc you are about your excitement for Tufts, the easier it is to get excited about you. Second, she doesn’t bite off more than she can chew. She probably also loved campus, her tour guide, and Jumbo, but she doesn’t get bogged down in a list. Third, her voice is clear. The tone is casual and intellectual at the same time (very Tuftsy). I can feel her excitement when she saw that robotic cupcake decorator. Finally, I didn’t just hear about Tufts; I already know what makes Tufts amazing! The goal of this response is to show me your personality through the parts of Tufts you connect with most.

Meghan McHale Assistant Director of Admissions

Eddie Pickett Assistant Director of Admissions

Programs With nearly 150 majors and minors, 30 interdisciplinary programs, and the courses of the ExCollege, Tufts’ offerings require more than a brief skimming. You’ll ﬁnd an expansion of this quick list on our website. In the meantime, skim away. Just note that Tufts undergraduate programs are offered in two schools: Arts & Sciences and Engineering. You can choose majors and minors in either or both schools, and many students do. You may even transfer from one school to the other. School of Arts & Sciences Majors *available as a second major Africana Studies American Studies Anthropology Applied Mathematics Applied Physics Arabic Archaeology Architectural Studies Art History Asian Studies Astrophysics Biochemistry Biology Biomedical Engineering Sciences* Biopsychology Biotechnology* Chemical Physics Chemistry Child Development Chinese Classical Studies Cognitive and Brain Sciences Community Health* Computer Science Drama Economics Engineering Psychology/ Human Factors English Environmental Studies* French Geological Sciences Geology German Language and Literature German Studies Greek Greek and Latin History Interdisciplinary Studies International Literary and Visual Studies

International Relations Italian Studies Japanese Judaic Studies Latin Latin American Studies Mathematics Middle Eastern Studies Music Peace and Justice Studies Philosophy Physics Political Science Psychology Psychology/Clinical Concentration Quantitative Economics Religion Russian and Eastern European Studies Russian Language and Literature Sociology Spanish Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Five-year Combined Degree Programs Tufts/New England Conservatory: B.A. or B.S. and Bachelor of Music Tufts/SMFA (School of the Museum of Fine Arts): B.A. or B.S. and Bachelor of Fine Arts

School of Engineering Majors *available as a second major Professional Degrees Biomedical Engineering Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering Computer Engineering Computer Science

Electrical Engineering Environmental Engineering Mechanical Engineering Additional Degree Options Architectural Studies Biomedical Engineering* Biomedical Sciences* Biotechnology* Engineering Physics Engineering Psychology/ Human Factors Engineering Science Environmental Health

Minors Africana Studies Arabic Architectural Engineering Architectural Studies Art History Asian American Studies Asian Studies Astrophysics Biotechnology Engineering Chemical Engineering Child Development Chinese Cognitive and Brain Sciences Computer Science Dance Drama Economics Education Engineering Education Engineering Management Engineering Science Studies English Entrepreneurial Leadership Film Studies French Geoengineering Geology Geoscience German

Greek Greek Archaeology Greek Civilization Hebrew History Italian Japanese Judaic Studies Latin Latin American Studies Latino Studies Leadership Studies Linguistics Mass Communications and Media Studies Mathematics Medieval Studies Multimedia Arts Music Music Engineering Philosophy Physics Political Science Religion Roman Archaeology Roman Civilization Russian Sociology Spanish Studio Art Urban Studies Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Learn a fun fact about this program!

Program Fun Facts ARCHAEOLOGY

POLITICAL SCIENCE

The Archaeology program has connections all over the world that enable students to get some major hands-on experience. For example, you could spend a summer at the Murlo excavation site in Italy, where an ancient settlement is currently

The semester-long program Tufts in Washington allows students to intern for policy makers in Washington, D.C. Students also get to meet top decision makers and world-renowned guest speakers during their time there.

under investigation.

SOCIOLOGY

Tufts in Japan offers students a full academic year or semester at Kanazawa University, a prestigious national institution in one of the most beautiful sites in Japan, located on the Japan Sea—ancient castle included!

Sociology Professor Sarah Sobieraj received the “2011 Outstanding Published Article Award” from the Peace, War, and Social Conﬂict section of the ASA for her article, “Reporting Conventions: Journalists, Activists, and the Thorny Struggle for Political Visibility.”

GREEK

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

This past year, Tufts junior Hayden Lizotte was one of three students to receive the highest score in the nation on the College Greek Exam, a national exam administered to second-semester students of Ancient Greek.

Assistant Professor Daniele Lantagne discussed the cholera outbreak in Haiti on the 3rd anniversary of the disastrous 2010 earthquake with NPR’s Richard Knox. Lantagne was one of four authors of an independent panel report submitted to the UN on the subject.

ASIAN STUDIES

HISTORY

The class History of the Book covers the development of the book and its origins — before print; the social, economic, and political ramiﬁcations after print; the aftermath and “print culture” of books. INTERNATIONAL LITERARY AND VISUAL STUDIES

Classes in ILVS span quite the range. In the spring, the list included Intro to Film Studies, War and Cultural Memory in Middle Eastern Literatures and Cinemas, End of the World, Plan B, and Vienna: A Biography.

ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY/ HUMAN FACTORS

The Computer-Interface Design class teaches students how to make programs and systems that are easy for humans to use. DANCE

Every semester, the dance department offers a beginners class on North Indian Classical Dance!

AS AN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MAJOR, YOU MANAGED TO GET AN INTERNSHIP THAT MANY STUDENTS WOULD DIE FOR! TELL ME ABOUT IT.

I was s acc ccce ept ptted as one of seven seven intern rns s at the he e Pe enta tagon tag o over one sum mmer m r.. My ofﬁﬁce wa was called d CAP PE — Costt Ass ss sessment and Progra gram m Evval alluat luattio ion — and I wor w ked on n Mix Mixed d Oxiide d Fuels. s. I nev n ver though tho ught I’d ’d d le earn so mucch abou earn ea ut pluton plu tonium ium m an nd d fac actori ries. s WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING AT THE PENTAGON?

It was w ex excit ittiingg w worrk. wo rk. I lea learned how to do cost st a as ss ses ssmen e t forr en military p pro ogra ams.. I com ome e from f ma military fam milyy, so s tha at wa was s real a ly interesting. n . The e Penttago on itse itself lf was reallly conffus using — it it was w eas easyy to get los st! WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU DONE TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR IR MAJOR?

Last summ ummer e I was w s an Empowe werr Fel elllow w th thro oug u h the he entrepren re eneu eu ursh ur shi h p pro ogram og am m ru un by by the e In Insti titu tu ute for or G Glo Gl obal bal al Le Leade a rsh ade rship. ip. I wa was pla aced ce in Egg yp ce ypt ypt p (w wher he ere e I’m or origi igina g al ally ly from) m) worrkkin m) ing for a con on nsu sultin sul t g ﬁrm ti tin r . My proj oject oj ec wa ect was s t loo to ookk at at yout outh h unem unem mployme plo pl oyme yment. nt I nt. found fou n tha nd th hatt most os of o th the e yout yout outh h that that h fel elll with with ithin i the th in t res r hol old do off the

grre gre eate t st st une employment n rate wer ere fro from om low ow w - ome, disa w-inco s dvantaged d, rura rur al ne eig orhood eighb oods, s, and didn’tt hav avve pr ave proper acccess to ed educatio tion n and nd d so had no expe xperie rience nce or sk skill ills s to off offerr a pot ote tenti te ntial a emp employ loyer. r. I sugg ges sted an expansio ex s n of the the voca ationa atio ati onal sc scho ool system m fo foccusing ing on tang tan ta angib ble, hands-on skilllls, s, and associ ass oc ate oci ted d career re centers. s. Similar mod mo del e ha els have ve e be been success sful f in Ch C hile e an and d Br Bra aziil. WHAT HAVE YOU ENJOYED MOST ABOUT LIVING AND STUDYING AT TUFTS?

I rea eally lyy lo ove my clas lasses ses.. TThe “C Conﬂict Conﬂ i t Ne Neggotiat ation ion an and d Med diat ation on n” cla c ass s is is my my favorite f rigghtt now n — it it’s s very r ta tangi ngible g ble e, you u lea ea arn n a lot ot ab abo out u yours you urs rse selff as we wel elll as s how to on ne egot gotia got iate ia ate thro hro ough ugh g a sit ittu uat ua atiio ion n. I al also enj enjoy oy fun un cl c ass ses like lik ke Arab rabic i mu musicc ens nsemb emble; em emb le; e; I pla playy the e Ta T bla bla.. Pllu us, the her ere’s e’s so mu m ch to o do in Bos do Bos oston ton ton. on. I lo ove goi g ng on bikke rrid id des, es and visi is ti tin ng the the e mus seum ms … the th he MF he M A is s free ree, and d I’m m a dor dork, k so k, s I rea rea eal a ly apprec e ia ate stuf tufff like k th ke that! at!

JESSICA WILSON ’14 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MAJOR FROM SAN DIEGO, CA

Pllea ease sse e v issitt ou urr web bsi site te, te e, admi ad d mi misssio miss ions ns.ttu uff ttss.e edu du, u, an nd clic cllic c ck “A App pply lly y” fo forr deta detail de ta aiills a ou ab out ut ho ow to o get y you o r Tu ou T fts ftts a ap ppl p ic icat atti a tio ion st star arr tte ed. d Ou urr Earrly ly D Dec ecis ec cis isio ion I de io deadli ad d lii ne e was No wa Nove ove vemb mbe mber err 8. Ou Our Ea Earl Earl rly D De eci cisi isi siion on II an on and Regu Reg Re gu ula lar De D ec Deci ciissiion n dea ad dllin ine ine iiss JJan anua an ua u ary 1, wh whic hic ich ch is fas ast appr ast ap pproa prroa p oach ching. chin in ng g.. So ta take ke a lloo ook oo ok att the the he T uf u tss Wri riti ting ti i ng ng Sup Su pp p ple le leme eme m nt a n nd d stta artt tthi hii nk h k in ng ab a bou out yo your ur rres esspo espo p ns nse e to to “Wh “Wh W hy hy T Tu uftts?? ” We e hop ope e that th hat at aft afftte err rea eadi di ng g tthi his is his hi issu issu ue of of J UMBO U M BO UM BO, the the id th idea as wo won’ n t be be harrd to to com ome by ome by..

Jumbo Sitings

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Tufts students can’t look at elephants without seeing Jumbo. If you’ve spotted one lately, send an email with your photos and captions to jumboeditor@tufts.edu. 6

1. Serena Kassam ’17 from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania “Tembo” means “elephant” in Swahili, and during a weekend trip I took with some friends to Zanzibar this summer, we stayed at the “Tembo Hotel.” 2. Collette King ’17 from Lawrenceville, NJ Homemade dorm room decoration that hangs next to my bed. 3. Jonathan Yeh ’17 from Andover, MA A jumbo-sized Jumbo rock formation off the coast of Taiwan! 4. Meghan McHale, Assistant Director of Admissions Me and Sities, an orphaned elephant I sponsored through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya. 5. Sophia Lin ’17 from Beijing g I created this sculpture in high school for my IB art exhibition. It’s titled Lost and is made of plaster, newspaper, and cloth. 6. Noel Hwang ’17 from Newton, MA A ﬁre breathing elephant found at Maker Faire Detroit 7. Angelo Martinez ’17 from Foster City, CA During a trip to Thailand over the summer, my classmates and I visited a local zoo where elephants could pick up tourists. 8. Blaine Dzwonczyk ’17, from Mountain View, CA On a safari in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania 9. Blaine Dzwonczyk ’17 from Mountain View, CA Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania 10. Julia Constantelos ’17 from Grand Rapids, MI My suitemate, Jenna Smith, drew this for my room! Jumbo now lives on our fridge (an appropriate location for the mascot).

Credits Cover: Kelvin Ma/Tufts University Ins & Outs: Map by ©istock.com/appleuzr, p. 4; Trick or Treat bag by ©istock.com/roccomontoya, p. 5; Spider by ©veer.com/Hamik p. 5. Great Minds: Brain by ©illustrationsource.com/Dante Terzigni, p. 16; Galaxy by ©shutterstock.com/Valerio Pardi, p. 17; Neuron by ©shutterstock.com/vitstudio, p. 18-19. Top Ten: Boston Pops by Bethany Versoy for Tufts University, p. 23; Heart by ©istock.com/chuwy, p. 23; Illumination Ceremony by Cecile Joan Avila for Tufts University, p. 23; Fireworks by ©istock. com/MsEli, p. 23; Pumpkin by ©istock.com/midwi, p. 23; Sledding by Scott Tingley for Tufts University, p. 23; Elephant by ©shutterstock.com/Diamond_Images, p. 23; Cannon by Matthew Madoono for Tufts University, p. 23. ExCollege: ©2013 John Hersey c/o theispot.com, p. 24. Proﬁle: ©istock.com/caracterdesign, p. 28. Around Town: Football, soccer ball, basketball, hockey sticks by ©istock.com/hypergon, p. 29; Lacrosse stick by ©istock.com/ browndogstudios, p. 29; Oars by ©istock.com/kimberrywood, p.29; Sneaker, baseball by ©shutterstock.com/athikan, p. 29. Dining Hall: Chefs by Kelly Davidson for Tufts University, p. 32; Student by Brenda Lee ’15 p. 32. Something New: Uji Shower Head by Uji Shower, p. 33. All other photos by Alonso Nichols/Tufts University, Kelvin Ma/Tufts University, and various students (thanks!). Produced by Hecht/Horton Partners and the Ofﬁce of Undergraduate Admissions at Tufts University.

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