The Brandeis Hoot 11/3/2017

Volume 14 Issue 18

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe” Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

www.brandeishoot.com

Final free expression meeting generates debate

By Ryan Spencer editor

the castle A construction

November 3, 2017

firm raised the last steel beam, topping off the building on Oct. 13.

photo by allison plotnik/the hoot

The opinions, emotions and heartfelt beliefs of more than 30 members of the Brandeis community filled the Intercultural Center Lounge Monday night in a discussion meant to provide feedback on the Draft Principles of Free Expression and Free Speech released earlier this semester.

This discussion marked the final of three open meetings scheduled to discuss the draft principles “before they are shared with the Board of Trustees and adopted to guide university policy,” according to the Brandeis website.

The principles, as they stand, do not represent policy, according to administrators. They can be accessed on the Brandeis website by

anyone with a Brandeis login.

Conversation hinged around which voices the university was willing to prioritize and whether allowing certain kinds of speech might psychologically harm marginalized groups or make students afraid to voice their opinions.

“The fear that’s being centered [in the draft principles] is the fear of not being able to share an opinion when marginalized folks on this campus have psychological, physical, emotional, so many ongoing fears that are happening on a systemic and interpersonal level,” said one student.

In response, a member of the Brandeis community asked, “Are there limits of what can be demanded in the name of social or physiological safety?” The quesSee MEETING, page 2

Waltham Group hosts fall service events

By Celia Young editor

Waltham Group kicked off Halloween with a day of trick or treating for non-perishable foods as part of the annual Halloween for the Hungry Food Drive.

The food drive is one part of a series of mostly fall-themed community events organized by Waltham Group, including Hal-

loween for the Hungry, the October Blood drive and the mini day of service.

This year’s Halloween for the hungry food drive is the Waltham group’s 31st. Fifty-seven volunteers spent the Sunday before Halloween “trick-or-treating” for non-perishable food items and other donations by going door to door in local Waltham neighborhoods.

Though the organization col-

lected 2,608 donatable food items (excluding other non-food items), the total was less than past years, and the group plans on returning the weekend after Halloween. All collected goods are donated to the Middlesex Human Services Agency.

The food drive in the past has taken place on Halloween, but due to scheduling conflicts, it moved this year. This caused some confusion among local

Waltham residents on the date of the event, according to Janis Li ’21, a volunteer coordinator with the Waltham group.

Li praised the event as being a model of volunteerism not only for Brandeis students, but for members of the Waltham community. “[My favorite] experience…was probably going up to houses and meeting families who really cared about our cause and socialized with us ‘trick-or-treat-

ers.’” She said some even brought their children to talk to the volunteers, and presented them as role models for the children.

The group plans to return the afternoon of Nov. 5 to pick up more donation items. Student interested in participating should contact walthamgroup@gmail. com.

See SERVICE, page 3

Andrew Flagel to depart Brandeis

By Emily Sorkin Smith and Elianna Spitzer editors

Andrew Flagel, the senior vice president for students and enrollment, is leaving Brandeis this month for a research fellowship at the National Research Center for College and University Admissions (NRCCUA), according to an announcement from President Liebowitz to the Brandeis community on Oct. 30 in an email titled “Administrative Announcement.” After the fellowship ends, Flagel will not return to his position but will move on from

Inside This Issue:

Brandeis, according to a member of the administration.

Flagel was out of town at a US News and World Report Educational Advisory Board meeting and could not be reached for comment as of press time.

At NRCCUA, Flagel will continue his research themes of diversity, equity and inclusion, according to Liebowitz’s email.

Flagel worked as an Editor and Content Provider for the NRCCUA from 2010-2013, according to his LinkedIn page, where he published reports on college admissions. The NRCCUA, the organization’s website explains, is a See FLAGEL page 2

Page 2 Page 12 Page 4 Page 6 EDITORIAL: Broaden horizons with spring courses Page 5 News: New administrative reporting structure Arts: Students rent art from the Rose Features: New course explores student action Sports: Women’s soccer selects new goalkeepers

student loan art Students

Colin Jost SNL comedian performs at Brandeis during family weekend.

ARTS: PAGE 10

photo by yarisa diaz/the hoot

rented pieces from the Rose Art’s collection for only $5. Read more in ARTS page 12.

Course Selections Learn about special one-time offerings for Spring 2018 FEATURES: PAGE 4

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

November 3, 2017

Free expression forum creates tense dialogue MEETING, from page 1

tion never received a direct response and another question was posed.

“My question is, where is the conversation about power, privilege and oppression in this document?” replied an alumnus of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management who said she participated in Ford Hall 2015.

Attendees used hypothetical examples based on situations which have affected universities nationwide multiple times to test the limits of the draft principles.

Some members of the Brandeis committee argued that controversial speakers who have hate-filled ideologies could destroy the principles of inclusivity and diversity which the university is supposed to uphold.

One undergraduate said many students, “came [to Brandeis] because they believe the entirety of the campus is committed to social justice.”

Others saw educational benefit in being introduced to controversial viewpoints. The undergraduate task force member Charlotte Aaron ’18 described herself as a “Jewish person” but said she “would love to sit down and talk to a Nazi.” She said that the hypothetical conversation could fulfill

her personal and academic curiosities.

Another undergraduate argued “to be truly open minded you actually need to open your mind and listen, you don’t have to agree.”

Brimhall-Vargas responded to the student, saying “I don’t know how you identify yourself but visually I identify you as a white male person. As a person that’s a male and a person with white skin, I don’t have my identities assaulted and so the notion that you can take it or leave it is something of a luxury.”

Students, alumni and faculty grappled with whether or not speakers such as Milo Yiannopoulos or Richard Spencer would be allowed to speak on campus should a student or group wished to invite them.

In response to the question if anyone could potentially be brought to campus, one task force member replied yes. Brimhall-Vargas, said “I think the yes is qualified.”

“You’re right on the edges of where there was a lot of disagreement in [the task force],” Brimhall-Vargas said. He argued that, in his opinion, a speaker like Yiannopoulos would be unacceptable at Brandeis because of his history of “overtly attacking particular students.” Yiannopou-

los is a member of the alt-right who has spoken or planned to speak at colleges such University of California, Fullerton and University of California, Berkeley.

Early in the event President Ron Liebowitz spoke of an Oct. 19 lecture by Richard Spencer, a white nationalist, at University of Florida. Liebowitz used the lecture—protested by hundreds of students—to highlight the nation-wide struggle of colleges and universities attempting to grapple with issues of free speech.

The hypothetical examples elicited questions about the responsibility of the students or groups who invited controversial speakers in dealing with the “aftermath” and “cleanup” of such an event. In the course of the discussion, “aftermath” and “cleanup” came to mean both the psychological burden which the words of a speaker such as Richard Spencer might afflict on some members of the student body and the financial burden involved in providing adequate security for a contentious event.

Spencer’s speech at the University of Florida cost the school more than $600 thousand in security, according to a CNN report.

Brimhall-Vargas argued that those who brought controversial speakers had “at least partial responsibility to be there until it’s

all cleaned up.” He continued, “It isn’t right that people whip their hands when the event is over like nothing happened.”

Task force member John Plotz, a professor of English, agreed with the sentiment of holding people who bring controversial speakers accountable but said the task force struggled with how to implement this idea.

Brimhall-Vargas posed a suggestion to hold post-event discussions where students could confront the educational aspects of a controversial speaker. He also suggested that these discussions could be help prior to the event.

None of these suggestions made it into the draft principles. Members have stressed the principles are guidelines and have not yet been translated to policy.

During the discussion, attention turned to section two of the draft principles which says “to introduce prior restraint by attempting to define realms of prohibited speech would be for the administration to produce a chilling effect upon speech and the exchange of views on campus.”

Plotz called this sentence “a pretty robust statement.”

“The place that we did not agree, after that statement, was what happens when the rubber-meets the rope,” added Brimhall-Vargas, “this is a problem that remains

unresolved.”

Brimhall-Vargas questioned “but then what happens if we have no prior restraint?” He argued that if there is not a process to address who could come to campus then whoever you invite shows up, making it difficult to grapple with the sense of shared responsibility outlined in principle three.

Midway through the event, a writer from The Justice who covered the event responded to Brimhall-Vargas’ opinion on Yiannopoulos asking, “Do you think that there is something concerning about basing university principles around what you or any individual or any group of individuals considers acceptable or unacceptable?”

Brimhall-Vargas, who said he felt accused by the reporter’s question, replied that the task force did not base principles around any one individual’s opinion. He also added that, in his opinion, “advocates for free speech and free speech absolutism were more well represented on the [task force] than the reverse.”

Some copies of the draft principles handed out at the event contained a sentence at the end of principle four which was not contained on the version online.

The sentence stated that free expression and violence should not be conflated.

Marcelo Miranda named Campus Executive Chef

By Samantha Lauring staff

Marcelo Miranda has been appointed Sodexo’s new Campus Executive Chef. His responsibilities include overseeing all food operations on campus.

“My main role is improve the quality and assure Sodexo standards are met,” said Miranda, who also plans to focus on menu design, recipe creation and cost control of food.

Miranda says his main priority this year will be consistency and to make sure the culinary staff receives training in all styles of cooking.

He also hopes to be able to have

more variety in food that is offered.

In order to gauge student satisfaction on the food, Miranda says it is important to talk to his customers, which he notes is also the quickest and most efficient way to measure satisfaction. Lian Chen, Student Union Secretary, has also sent out several emails with a survey on dining services for students to fill out.

Menus are planned in fourweek cycles each semester and are usually seasonal.

“We take in culinary trends, local products and vendors, and what is our customers base and dietary needs,” stated Miranda.

There are also special menus for holidays, such as Halloween.

* This information was taken from an Oct. 30 email from President Liebowitz.

Flagel offered senior reasearch position FLAGEL, from page 1

data platform and research organization.

Flagel has been working at Brandeis since 2011. Prior to his time at Brandeis, he was the associate vice president for enrollment development and dean of admissions at George Mason University. Flagel has previously held positions at the Tremont School, MyCollegeOptions.com, University of Michigan-Flint and Monster.com. He wrote an article titled, “Revisiting the High School Visit” for the Journal of College

Admission 75th Anniversary Edition, according to his Brandeis biography.

“We thank Andrew for his years of dedicated service to Brandeis and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” Liebowitz wrote.

In his email, Liebowitz discussed changes to the university administration designed to “streamline operations [and] increase accountability.” As a result of these changes, Vice President of Student Affairs Sheryl Sousa ’90 will report to Provost Lisa Lynch and the university chaplains will report to the Chief Diversity Office Mark Brimhall-Vargas.

graphic by allison plotnik/the hoot

November 3, 2017

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Halloween for the Hungry inspires service SERVICE, from page 1

Waltham Group’s October Blood Drive ran from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, collecting about 60 pints of blood within the first two days.

Partnering with the American Red Cross in the Sherman function hall, the Waltham group organized several nurse’s stations and tables of food, including pizza from Chateau and Sodexo.

Donors checked in with a group of volunteers, then filled out waivers in order to donate. Some donors had to be turned away due to not meeting the requirements, which deal mainly with weight,

height, age, traveling and medical records. The requirements aim to prevent fainting spells in donors.

Two Waltham Group coordinators, Brandon Stanaway ’19 and Krithika Chagari ’19 explained that turning away donors is fairly common. “It happens,” Stanaway said, “It’s going to happen no matter what… It’s out of our control.”

Chagari explained the requirements and available nurses were equipped to deal with fainting, and often more individuals were scheduled to donate during the registration period than stations were available in order to account for those turned away.

Chagari also discussed some of

the reasons she works with the Waltham group. “I think just being a part of that community and having like a group of coordinators that we work with constantly,” Chagari said.

“We’ve all gotten very close and I just like that feeling of community.” “It’s a good community,” Stanaway added.

Last year, Waltham Group collected about 110 pints of blood during the October Blood Drive, and over 700 pints including all three yearly blood drives, according to a Brandeis Hoot article from Oct. 21, 2016. In 2013 Halloween for the Hungry collected 3,500 nonperishable items and

canned goods, according to an article in The Hoot from Oct. 14, 2014.

The Mini Day of Service is brought by the Community Connections group, a subset of the Waltham group. This is the first mini day of service, and Community Connections will host three total mini days of service on Nov. 5, Feb. 3 and Mar. 4.

For the upcoming mini day of service, three events are planned.

Volunteers will be going to Samfund, a Boston organization that tries to financially support cancer survivors; Land’s Sake, a farm in Weston which educates students on agriculture, ecology and lo-

cal history; and NuDay in New Hampshire, where volunteers will help sort donations for Syrian refugees. The organization expects 50 volunteers to attend.

Waltham Group, a secured club connected to the Department of Community Service, is a student-led organization established in 1966 that runs outreach programs on campus, in Waltham and in Boston. Waltham Group has 75 student leaders which oversee programs and volunteers.

Two more blood drives are scheduled for February and April.

Waltham Group meets every Monday night from 7 to 8 p.m. in the SCC multipurpose room.

‘All the Rivers’ talk discusses personal perspective on Israeli-Palestinian conflict

By Ariella Gentin staff

This past Wednesday, the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, the Creativity, the Arts and Social Transformation Program (CAST), the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and the Hebrew Language Program co-sponsored an event titled “A Doomed Israeli-Palestinian Love Story,” which featured Dorit Rabinyan, the author of the controversial Israeli novel “All the Rivers.” The event was one in a year-long series of art-related events sponsored by the Schusterman Center.

“All the Rivers” was banned from Israeli high schools in 2015 by the Minister of Education, Naftali Bennett. The reason he gave was that “intimate relations between Jews and non-Jews threaten to subvert our distinct identity.” Bennett felt Rabinyan

portrayed Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers as “sadistic.” Bennett’s decision sparked uproar in greater Israeli society around government censorship and free speech, as well as greatly increased Rabinyan’s sales of the book.

Rabinyan was born in Israel to Iranian-Jewish parents and grew up in the city of Kfar Saba. As a young person, she spent a summer in New York City where she made a number of Palestinian friends. In particular, she became closely acquainted with a man named Hasan Hourani, who served as the inspiration for her novel’s protagonist, Hilmi.

Rabinyan spoke about how eye-opening it was for her to meet secular Palestinians because she had grown up with the notion that Palestinians were all “blackened with religion.” Rabinyan said that her more religious outlook made her feel “primitive” in comparison to her new friends, and she was impressed that they were

able to cast aside what they had been taught as children when she wasn’t. She considered this feeling of inferiority a privilege because usually “being the Israeli brings along all the history of being in power and controlling someone else’s life.”

“All the Rivers” tells the story of a 29-year-old Israeli woman named Liat living in New York City, who ends up meeting a Palestinian artist named Hilmi. The two quickly become romantically involved. The novel explores, through the eyes of Liat, the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as the need to look at “the other” with a sense of humanity.

Rabinyan framed her talk by speaking about the 22nd anniversary of the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, which she called “the beginning of the attack of our democratic values from within.” She spoke about Rabin’s goal of coop-

eration with Israel’s Arab neighbors and his belief in negotiation, and how he was a politician who really wanted to execute what he had been elected for.

Rabinyan feared her novel, published at the same time as the 2014 war in Gaza, would receive negative response.

She said, “I thought, oy vey, there is no chance I am going to have one person interested in my novel, because my novel suggests a relationship between a Palestinian from Ramallah...and...a Jewish Israeli scholar...and for them, it was the beginning of a love story.”

Rabinyan spoke about separateness being a key element of Judaism and the history of the Jewish people, which she believes explains a lot of the resistance to the idea of her novel. She argued that this need for Jewish separateness in the past left its mark even on modern day Israel, which causes Israel to “exist as if it is a Jewish

ghetto.”

On the conflict, Rabinyan stated, “Perhaps there is a blind spot in the Israeli subconscious: perhaps we do not only aspire for peace, and authentically wish for peace....but perhaps in the most suppressed back of our minds, we’re also fearful of that day. Because we know that that day is the start of us becoming much more Middle Eastern and much less Jewish.”

Rabinyan was excited by the different types of people who have read her book: She told one story of a Palestinian and an Israeli settler, living only a few miles from each other, writing to her about how influential they found her novel.

In the end, she quoted the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, which she felt best summarized the need for a book like hers. “We achieve our humanity only by understanding the humanity of the other.”

Conference call with German prof. focuses on science and sustainability

By Sabrina Chow staff

Faculty and students gathered in the Faculty Club Lounge on Oct. 30 for a video conference call with Dr. Mandy Singer-Brodowski to discuss the ways that science can influence social change.

Singer-Brodowksi was a founding member of “netzwek n,” a nationwide network in Germany focused on student initiatives and served as part of the German national committee when the UN “Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” was implemented.

After leaving the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy in 2015, she completed her Ph.D. and was appointed the position of scientific coordinator of the Center for Transformation Research and Sustainability at the University of Wuppertal.

There, her research focuses on development of student competen-

cy in sustainability projects and transformative learning.

Throughout her talk, Singer-Brodowski focused on the idea of transformative science, which is “a specific type of science that does not only observe and describe societal transformation processes, but rather initiates and catalyzes them,” she said. “Transformative science aims to improve our understanding of transformation processes and to simultaneously increase societal capacity to reflect on them.”

Transformative science is split up into two different sections: research and education. Transformative research focuses on the unity of design and production in relation to different interdisciplinary processes as well as the integration of system and orientation knowledge. Singer-Brodowski emphasized the role of transformative research in its “role of scientific knowledge production as a form of societal intervention that aims at catalyze for societal change processes.”

Transformative learning involves an environment in which teachers are more there to facilitate discussion, and students are the main driving force. Singer-Brodowksi in her speech uses transformative learning to tackle the issue of climate change. She pushes the idea that “concepts of transformative learning [are] with the aim of an increasing reflectivity, critical discussions and political actions (instead of sustainable lifestyles).” There are three main “competences” that need to be accomplished: system-thinking, interpersonal and normative.

System-thinking competence involves students becoming more knowledgeable about issues in relation to the topic that is being studied. After becoming knowledgeable about the issues, the next step is interpersonal competence: having the ability to realize how the problem affects you individually. When individuals realize their relationship to the situation, it is necessary to translate the action to a larger setting.

The process of transformative learning has been in effect for years, even at Brandeis. Benedikt Reynolds ’19, Chair of the Student Union Sustainability Committee, has seen firsthand both the benefits and potential of transformative learning.

In project-oriented classes, “the students are lectured and then mentored when pursuing their own passion-project that realm of the class.” Translating this type of learning toward classes outside of the arts, which often utilize this concept, allows different areas of study to have the possibility of expansion.

Reynolds also believes that “this type of learning will prepare our students for their careers as well as provide them [with] a strong portfolio of their work.” He continued, “Not to mention, the university could use our work to their benefit and improve campus life.”

The sustainability committee this semester, according to Reynolds, is targeting different ways “to conjure sustainable culture from

the undergraduate student body.”

Reynolds also “encourage[s] students to actively voice their concerns for the environment to their clubs, and find out ways to run them sustainably: Require a recycling and compost bin at each event...eliminate paper advertisements, whatever it takes to make your club members aware of their impact on their environment.”

Mary Fischer, manager of sustainability programs at Brandeis, arranged for students to attend the Sustainability Student Leader Symposium on Nov. 5 at Emerson College for a virtual symposium with students around the northeast United States. The symposium will allow different schools to collaborate on sharing their sustainability efforts to inspire other campuses to follow in pursuit. Fischer highlights the symposium as an “effort by universities in the area to bring their students together so they can learn from each other. Peer to peer communication at this level is invaluable.”

4 The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES

November 3, 2017

Special Spring 2018 One-Time Class Offerings

By Polina Potochevska editor

Professor Jennifer Reed (ENG), the Florence Levy Kay Fellow in Eighteenth Century Studies, has taught at Brandeis since Fall 2016. She is excited to teach a special one-time offering of “Going Public: Women Authors Before Austen” in Spring 2017.

The ENG 134A class will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 to 4:50 p.m. and counts as a pre1800 course for the English major.

Reed’s inspiration for the class was to discover “what’s at stake for women in the eighteenth century to publish, and more broadly, to enter the public sphere.”

The 2016 presidential election made her wonder about women who enter the public sphere, the “kinds of criticism that are lobbied at them,” and also how their personal lives are often “subject to scrutiny” by the public.

Some might wonder how that connects to the eighteenth century, but Reed explained that that was when the world first saw a “published body of imaginative writing by women.” While in the

Women authors step into public sphere past, women would publish under pseudonyms or the name of a male family member, in the 18th century large numbers of women purposefully put their work in the public sphere, and were then subjected to intense public scrutiny.

Women who published in that time period were often criticized for not being “modest.” In the eighteenth century, women were supposed to be modest by not purposefully entering the public sphere, said Reed. “You’re not supposed to be looked at, you’re certainly not supposed to write anything that might subject your personal life to any kind of scrutiny,” she said.

The class will examine women who place themselves in these positions of societal pressure and how they manage entering the literary market. Some of the works will include apologetic prefaces, while others have their brothers or other male relations write prefaces to their work to try and protect themselves from harsh judgement. In one play’s prologue, a character asks the audience to “give it fair due,” even though the piece was written by a woman.

“I was very fascinated by the kinds of very straight lines you can draw between then and now, and how we can think about these issues through eighteenth century texts.”

Reed said that she wanted to include as much diversity of women’s experiences in the required readings. She chose works that would “encompass different voices of many women.” Students will read works including Mary Prince’s “History of Mary Prince,” which is the “first published account of slavery by a woman of color” and recounts Prince’s life as an enslaved woman and as a free woman. Another work is the “Diaries of Anne Lister,” consisting of her personal journals. Lister was a lesbian who wrote about her life in coded language. Her diaries were later found, decoded and published. “I think it’s a really interesting example of the ways in which there might be a concern about getting [personal works] into the public sphere,” noted Reed.

Students will read a variety of works, including poetry, plays, novels, autobiographies, letters and diaries. “I think

it’s good to have a breadth of genre,” Reed said, explaining she wanted to choose engaging texts that would raise issues and questions still relevant today.

Reed’s goals for the class are to “have students engage with literature that I think they might otherwise have trouble finding, or is less likely to be presented to them.”

She mentioned while many women authors of the 18th century are underrepresented on syllabi, but the works are not only “really fabulous and really funny,” but also raise questions about rights and what it means to be a woman.

“I want students to think carefully about how to produce analyses of literary works, what it means to give close attention to a text, and also what does it mean to engage with something that is really unfamiliar to you.” Reed said many, if not all, of the works on the syllabus may be unfamiliar to students, but their themes and ideas will still be accessible.

One of Reed’s favorite things about teaching is when students share new, innovative ideas. “I feel like I never go to a class and come away without someone hav-

photo from brandeis.edu

ing said something that makes me think, I’ve never thought about [the topic] like that before.” She said the students she has taught at Brandeis have a way of making courses feel “co-creative” because of the energy and thoughtful connections they bring to the classroom from other classes and their personal lives. “Works come alive in the classroom.”

Reed hopes students will be interested in taking her course as she believes it will not only be a fascinating and engaging course but a politically relevant one as well. She looks forward to teaching it next semester.

A historical and global perspective of social justice

By Sara McCrea staff

“When you hear the year 1968, what’s the first thing you think of?” This is one of the first questions that Professor Manijeh Moradian (HIST) wants to ask her students next semester in “HIST 170B: Global 1968: Student and Youth Revolutions.”

The course, taking place on Mondays from 2 to 4:50 p.m., will be focusing on student movements and uprisings in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Mexico and Africa around the historical “moment” of 1968.

“It’s not just about the calendar year 1968, it’s about a moment,” Moradian said, “It’s about a historical conjuncture that may begin before or after 1968. It crystallizes in that late 60’s moment where you have a combination of many different struggles, move-

ments and uprisings that are seeking some sort of systemic change.”

Moradian is a postdoctoral Andrew W. Mellon fellow in a seminar called “Forgotten Dreams and Misplaced Revolutions” that focuses on a comparative approach to 20th century revolutions in Latin America, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Moradian described the seminar as a “mini research institute” where faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows gather once a month to discuss readings, debate and listen to guest speakers. As one of two postdoc fellows in the program, Moradian built the course to relate to the theme of the seminar.

The course aims to study how different “uprisings for social justice” related to or differed from each other, Moradian said.

The course will also explore the convergence of different uprisings, including, in the U.S., the Civil Rights movement, the black pow-

er movement, the anti-war movement for America’s involvement in Southeast Asia and free speech movements on college campuses.

“Students were led to think about the campus and the university not as a bubble that was separated off, not as an idealized space, but really as another institution that was part of the broader society and of capitalism and, as some students argued, a part of imperialism,” Moradian said.

Though the title of the class includes the word “revolutions,” Moradian said in terms of resistance movements creating new forms of government, most of what happened in 1968 cannot be classified as a revolution.

Instead, Moridian said, there was a sense that students could create change and that things could be better than they were.

This sense is what marked the year as a revolutionary moment.

“From different quarters of the

society, students with very different backgrounds in terms of race and class are bumping up against the status quo, are questioning the authorities in power, are dissatisfied with the life on offer for them,” Moradian said.

“They don’t want to simply reproduce the world their parents have known. They want to change it.”

Moradian hopes the class appeals to students with various interests, including history, anthropology, policy and the arts.

If we want to develop “global perspectives on challenging structural oppression and what a global vision of justice might look like, it’s useful to go back and learn about this earlier moment in time when people really did believe not just they could change a policy here or there or elect a different political, but that they really aspired to transform our entire way of life,” Moradian said.

The course will look at the

movements of 1968 as a part of a genealogy, exploring how radical feminist and gay liberation movements emerged from other movements of resistance.

“It’s cutting edge,” Moradian said. “The whole idea of Global 1968 and looking at it in that context is new. I’m very excited to be able to offer Brandeis students a chance to look at this new body of scholarship and a way of thinking about this history that hasn’t been done before.”

Moradian also spoke of the connections between the resistance movements of the late 1960’s and the resistance movements of today. She said in our current political moment, many are trying to think beyond the status quo and to think globally.

“There’s no question that the 1960’s left a huge legacy, and that we’re still in many ways living with the legacies left by those movements.”

is on the research about how law grapples with those kinds of conflicts, so this course grows out of that,” said Joffe in an interview with The Brandeis Hoot.

Interested by the intersection of cultural and religious identity with law and philosophy, Joffe chose to address polygamy, among other subjects, in her class. “My experience as a lawyer is one that allows me to be involved in situations where the political philosophy is taken to town and used to actually resolve real disputes,” Joffe explained. Polygamy, she noted, requires judges to apply political philosophy.

To address the subject in her course, the class will first examine the theoretical aspects of polygamy and then look at two recent legal cases, one in America and one in Canada, regarding whether the state should recognize polygamous marriages.

“Part of thinking about this is

thinking about colonialism and how we feel about the marital practices outside of the Christian tradition,” said Joffe. The other aspect, she explained, is thinking about the implications of polygamous marriages for women and children. “There’s all kinds of different disciplines that intersect when we’re trying to resolve those kind of questions around the family,” Joffe said.

Joffe taught a similar course as a professor at University College London before coming to Brandeis, but has updated much of the curriculum and course materials, as many topics covered are part of present-day debates.

“These are very live issues,” said Joffe. For example, the course will discuss whether or not religious and cultural groups are entitled to choose their own curricula to educate children in their communities, whether the state can intervene to provide certain foun-

dational education requirements.

“There’s a case that’s only at the lawsuit stage in New York which is being brought by men who were educated in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community who argue that New York law isn’t being followed,” said Joffe.

“They’re not getting adequate secular educations so they come out of schools, they don’t speak English properly, they don’t have any math or science skills, so they don’t have the skills that would allow them to choose to exit the community if they wanted.”

Students will discuss historic cases, such as “Wisconsin v. Yoder,” a U.S. Supreme Court case about Amish families who were taking their kids out of school before high school, and more recent cases, such as a case decided last week in England about sex segregation in publicly funded schools.

In the second aspect of the education unit, students will read works

of political philosophy about the extent states should be involved in determining curriculum, said Joffe. “I want to give students the skills to critically evaluate these kind of disputes that they see in the newspaper all the time,” Joffe said.

As excited as Joffe is to share her own work with students, she is most excited for the in-class discussions throughout the semester. “The dialogue with students opens up new understandings for me. I do lots of informal teaching in my role as director of the project, but it will be great to have a sustained opportunity to work with students,” she said.

Students interested in taking Joffe’s course should enroll through Sage. The class will meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 to 10:50 a.m. In addition to class discussion, there will be a few movies shown in class. Joffe will be sure to provide the popcorn!

The intersection of culture, religion, philosophy and the law

By Charlotte Aaron editor

Should the state recognize polygamy? Should feminists struggle to emancipate women from cultural practices to which they themselves do not object?

If these questions, introduced in the syllabus, pique your interest, note that they are only a taste of the legal and multicultural debates to be addressed in Dr. Lisa Fishbayn Joffe’s Spring 2018 course entitled Gender, Multiculturalism and the Law in the Liberal Tradition (PHIL 128A).

In her research, Joffe, Interim Director of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and Director of the Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and the Law, examines how the law looks at controversies between cultural and religious practices, such as women’s legal and religious rights. “A lot of my scholarly work

EDITORIALS

November 3, 2017

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Hannah Schuster Emily Sorkin Smith Senior Managing Editor Allison Plotnik Senior Editor-at-Large Charlotte Aaron Senior Copy Editor Sarah Terrazano News Editor Elianna Spitzer Deputy News Editor Celia Young Arts Editor Katie Decker-Jacoby Opinions Editor Katarina Weessies Features Editor Polina Potochevska Senior Sports Editor Sarah Jousset Sports Editor Zach Cihlar Photo Editor Yarisa Diaz Layout Editor Candace Ng Editor-at-Large Ryan Spencer

Volume 14 • Issue 18 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

STAFF

David Aizenberg, Juliana An, Emily Botto, Ben Berris, Jordan Brodie, José Castellanos, Anindita Chanda, Sabrina Chow, Kevin Costa, Shea Decker-Jacoby, Daniel Freedman, Natalie Fritzson, Abigail Gardener, Ariella Gentin, Rebecca Goldfarb, Noah Harper, Kevin Healey, Daniel Johnston, Daniel Kang, Jonah Koslofsky, Matthew Kowalyk, Samantha Lauring, Sara McCrea, Jerry Peng, Elana Rombro, Zach Phil Schwartz

MISSION As the weekly community student newspaper of Brandeis University, The Brandeis Hoot aims to provide our readers with a reliable, accurate and unbiased source of news and information. Produced entirely by students, The Hoot serves a readership of 6,000 with in-depth news, relevant commentary, sports and coverage of cultural events.

Recognizing that better journalism leads to better policy, The Brandeis Hoot is dedicated to the principles of investigative reporting and news analysis. Our mission is to give every community member a voice.

SUBMISSION POLICIES The Brandeis Hoot welcomes letters to the editor on subjects that are of interest to the community. Preference is given to current or former community members and The Hoot reserves the right to edit or reject submissions. The deadline for submitting letters is Wednesday at noon.

Please submit letters to letters@thebrandeishoot.com along with your contact information. Letters should not exceed 500 words. The opinions, columns, cartoons and advertisements printed in The Hoot do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.

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To reserve your space in the paper, contact us by phone at (781) 3300051 or by e-mail at ads@thebrandeishoot.com.

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To learn more, send us an e-mail at join@thebrandeishoot.com, or visit our website http://brandeishoot.com/join.

UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS We welcome unsolicited submissions from members of the community sent by e-mail to eic@thebrandeishoot.com. Please limit submissions to 800 words. All submissions are subject to editing.

E

The Brandeis Hoot 5

Explore Diversity classes for the experience, not the minor

arly registration for the Spring 2018 semester began this week and will continue until Nov. 6. As underclassmen think about declaring majors and upperclassmen add additional minors or think about classes that could make them more appealing to potential employers, students should take advantage of the diversity of classes Brandeis offers.

The Diversity Course List published every semester by the Registrar’s office presents students with a number of courses in departments ranging from African and Afro-American Studies (AAAS) to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGS). The course list is organized into three groups: “Religion, Race and Culture,” “Global Perspectives” and “Gender and Sexuality.”

Select course titles include “Biblical Narratives in the Qur’an,”

“Queer Readings: Before Stonewall,” “Blackness and Masculinity,” “All-Under-Heaven: Global China and the Anthropological Imagination,” and many more.

Instead of taking a class that will get you to another minor or even another major, students should consider taking a class on a topic unfamiliar to them. Rather than narrowing their focus on a familiar area, students could take a class that challenges their views or confronts them with narratives they have not previously been exposed to.

Most Brandeis students take at least 32 classes before graduating, and maybe 15 of those classes go to majors. Use the remaining classes to explore a discipline out of your comfort zone. Focus on classes that teach skills like creative writing or web design, topics that may not

be directly related to career aspirations but will likely strengthen one’s resume and distinguish job applications.

It is typical of Brandeis students to accrue several majors and minors, which may cause them to be stretched too thin. If students limit their focus to one or two academic areas, they would not only be less overwhelmed but would have space in their schedules to explore other disciplines and learn something they otherwise never would have encountered.

It is also worth checking out the Spring 2018 Diversity classes to see if any of them would fulfill one of your major or minor requirements.

Instead of taking more traditional classes that you’re used to or that the department typically offers, it is worth it to expand your schedule by taking one of these classes.

SPORTS

6 The Brandeis Hoot

November 3, 2017

Women’s soccer brings on three new goalkeepers following double injury

win games. “The team was not involved in the initial decision,” Dana said about the open tryouts, but the team has “made sure to provide a welcoming environment to help our keepers feel confident and comfortable stepping up in big games for us as our season is winding down.” Conlon identified three individuals, all of whom have been practicing with the team since, guided by the direction and skill of the goalkeeper coach, as well as Richardson and Dana.

The open tryouts resulted in three new recruits, two former women’s varsity basketball players and the goalkeeper for the Women’s Brandeis Football Club (WBFC).

The first to try their hand at the goalkeeper position was Maura Koehler ’19 in the Oct. 18 4-1 win against Westfield State. The field manager for the club soccer team contacted Koehler, after the assistant coach for the varsity team (Mary Shimko) had contacted the field manager looking for interested parties.

Koehler said she had been training as a goalkeeper for several years. “I always love to get more playing time and practices in and this seemed like a great way to do that, as well as help out my classmates.”

Koehler adds, “I would love to

be able to do my part to help the team win against NYU on Saturday.”

Brandeis also added two former basketball players to their roster, Gemma Curnin ’19, who quit varsity basketball after one year, and graduate student Frankie Pinto, who played basketball for the entirety of her undergraduate career.

Curnin heard about the tryout from a current player on the women’s soccer team who encouraged her to join the team as a goalkeeper. Curnin was the second of the new goalkeepers to try her luck, playing in the Oct. 22 game against Elms, which resulted in a 2-2 tie.

As for Pinto, a current graduate student at Brandeis, she recalls visiting old basketball coaches from her undergraduate days, when she was told about the open tryouts.

“I was actually at Gosman saying hi to some of my old basketball coaches and I ended up seeing Mary, the assistant soccer coach. She was telling me about the team’s search for a goalie, and I told her that I used to play soccer,” said Pinto, who was not a goalie in high school, but a forward.

“One of the basketball coaches kind of jokingly suggested I try out since I have another year of eligibility left, which I didn’t know.”

Pinto said she was very open to

the idea, and confirmed her eligibility under NCAA rules with Lynne Dempsey, the Director of Athletics.

Dempsey confirmed to The Brandeis Hoot that student athletes have 10 consecutive semesters to compete at the varsity level, eight semesters of eligibility in one sport. These eight semesters may be spread out over the five years, or the ninth and 10th semesters can be used to participate in a different varsity sport, as long as the student-athlete is enrolled in a full-time academic program of study at the university for which they are playing.

As for Pinto’s performance, she has logged the most hours out of the three newly recruited goalkeepers. Pinto split time with Curnin in her first game for the soccer team against Elms, playing 45 minutes of the double overtime game. Pinto’s performance earned her a spot as front runner, playing in goal for the Judges this past weekend against UAA conference teams Washington University at St. Louis on Friday and the University of Chicago on Sunday. Both games resulted in a loss for the Judges, but Pinto earned six and four saves in goal, respectively.

Pinto also commented on what she brings from her previous experience as a varsity athlete, “In

terms of basketball, I think that one thing I’ve carried over into soccer...is my competitiveness.

Even though I’m new to being a goalkeeper and am still learning... my willingness to compete has really helped me settle into the position,” she said. “It’s a learning process, but I’m having a lot of fun along the way and am glad that I can help out.”

Pinto also noted the satisfaction of participating on a team again, “I really miss having that sense of camaraderie and working towards achieving something that’s bigger than yourself. I’m lucky that I get to experience it one more time!”

After speaking with The Hoot, both Pinto and Koehler mentioned that the women’s soccer team had embraced them as new teammates. Koehler noted, “I really like how welcoming everyone on the team and the coaches have been to Frankie, Gemma and I. Everyone on the team is really supportive of each other so that’s always a great environment to be in.”

Women’s soccer Head Coach Denise Dallamora declined to comment on the Judges’ current situation.

Dana further noted, “The keepers that have taken the time to help us out have stepped up in big ways the past few games. They have done everything we have asked of them, and helped give us opportunities to stay in games with incredibly tough competition. It’s incredibly unfortunate that we have been put in this position, but the keepers that we have now are making the situation a bit easier to deal with, and have developed remarkably well in the limited time we have had to train them up.”

The Brandeis women’s soccer team will finish their regular season this Saturday at home in another UAA conference matchup against New York University at 2:30 p.m. on Gordon Field. The Judges have missed automatic qualification for the playoffs, which would be secured by winning the UAA conference, but still may have a shot at an NCAA wildcard berth this year. The wildcard berths are decided upon by a NCAA selection committee after the end of the regular season.

that the NFC honored the entire coaching staff. Kyle Berney ’18 earned second-team selection after ending the season with a record of 20-6.

The men’s team went undefeated in the NFC earning a 10-0 record to win the team title. The Judges earned this title with close wins against Brown, 14-13, and 15-12 over runner-ups Boston College and Vassar College.

For the women, Jessica Gets ’20 earned Rookie of the Year while also taking home three other honors. Last season, Joanne Carminucci ’19, Nina Sayles ’17 and Liz Feller ’18 all earned second-team all NFC. It was Carminucci’s second year in a row earning this honor. Gets went 29-3 overall in NFC competition, which also earned her first-team All-NFC honors. With Gets and Carmi-

nucci, the women’s foil team was the only women’s team with two All-NFC honorees. Feller earned second-team selection in epee after going 29-7 in the NFC competition.

This season Coach Shipman looks at the accomplishments of the previous season as motivation for success for this season. For the women’s team, “We would like to defend our New England Championships, tournament title and top three in the Northeast Conference,” he says, adding, “This year’s team has a strong nucleus of fairly accomplished fencers and a promising group of less experienced fencers as well.”

The women’s captain, Laura Broffman ’18 said, “Last year was really exciting and it was great to see the team accomplish so much.”

As the new season approach-

es, “our goal is to really build on our fundamental techniques and skills, and to improve individually throughout the season. And of course have fun!” Broffman spoke to the team’s strengths, highlighting that each fencer is “really passionate and hardworking.”

Looking to this coming tournament this weekend, Broffman sees it as a “warmup” for the upcoming season.

“Everyone is excited to begin the season, but this tournament will allow us all to fence a lot of people from different schools see what the competition is life, and get into the mindset of competing again,” the captain said.

For the men, “This year’s team on appear should be equal or better than last year. We have added some good new fencers and return all return all but one starter.

We will strive to win the Northeast Conference and the New England title, and upset a few of our Division I friends in dual meets along the way,” Shipman said. The coach emphasized that the men’s team has a lot of “depth and a fairly high experience level. Foil would seem to be our strongest, but perhaps saber will show to be best. Epee trailed them last year, but may come through strong this year.”

Shipman expects “medals in saber and foil, and several of our folks in the final of eight. Epee as well, though results three are less predictable and we don’t have quite as much depth there.”

Overall, the confidence level of the coach and the captains is quite high for very good results this season for both the women’s and men’s fencing teams.

By Zach Cihlar and Sarah Jousset editors

The Brandeis women’s soccer team has gone through five goalkeepers this season. The Judges had gone 10-2-2 in their season, until losing their original two keepers to injury. In the last four games, the Judges have earned a 1-2-1 record on the backs of three new recruits for the position.

From the first game of the season, the women’s soccer team faced a bit of adversity in their last line of defense. Starting goalkeeper Victoria Richardson ’20 incurred an injury playing against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Friday, Sept. 1, resulting in a move to put Sierra Dana ’20 into the goal for the rest of the game, and presumably for most of the season.

Dana thrived in the goalkeeper position, earning a University Athletic Association (UAA) Defensive Player of the Week distinction, and helping the team achieve a 10-1-2 record during her tenure in goal. However, Dana remained the only healthy goalkeeper on the team’s roster, without a backup plan in case the worst happened.

The Athletic Trainers in Gosman cleared Richardson to play in the beginning of October.

However, she then tore her ACL in practice-play, forcing her to take the bench for the rest of the season.

In an away game at Emory University, the Judges defense took a blow when Dana broke her finger looking for a breakaway save against the strong UAA opponents. The injury required surgery on her hand which effectively took her out of play for the rest of the season. Just after the start of the second half against Emory, Dana was taken off the field and replaced with an emergency goalkeeper-fille, Minjee Lee ’19, who normally plays in the forward position. Lacking a goalkeeper, the Judges dropped the pivotal UAA match-up 0-3, and consequently the Judges slipped in UAA standings.

Once the team returned to Brandeis, the goalkeeper coach John Conlon held open tryouts to look for individuals that could give the team the best chance to

sierra dana ‘20

Dana spent most of the season as the only healthy rostered goalkeeper until injury.

photo from brandeisjudges.com

Fencing eager to begin 2017-18 season

By Shea Decker-Jacoby staff

The men’s and women’s fencing teams start their 2017-2018 season this Saturday, Nov. 4, with the New England Fall Collegiate Championships at Smith College.

Both teams had successful seasons last year.

The men’s team had two fencers win Northeast Fencing Conference (NFC) honors; Ian Quin ’20 won Rookie of the Year with a 17-3 record, also earning him first-team All-NFC honors. The coach, Bill Shipman, and assistant coaches Arpad Horvath and Shuang Meng and armorer Al Merritt also won men’s Coaching Staff of the Year. This was Shipman’s fourth year in a row being honored and second year in a row

November 3, 2017

SPORTS 7

The Brandeis Hoot

Volleyball dominates at Salem tournament

By Sarah Jousset editor

This past Saturday, the women’s volleyball enjoyed a trip to Salem, MA, after sweeping Bridgewater State and Salem State, just in time for Halloween. The Judges will go into their last tournament of the season this weekend with an overall record of 15-1, the program’s first winning season since 2012.

The Judges started the day against Bridgewater State University, with a 3-0 victory by set scores of 25-11, 25-16, 25-19. The Judges came out strong against their opponent, with a 14-5 lead in the first set. They continued their lead for the set when Marlee Nork ’19 snagged three straight service aces. The Hoot’s own Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19 clinched the win for Brandeis with back to back kills for the last two points of the set. The second set played out similarly, with an early lead and strong hitting. However this time, the Judges let their opponents take the lead with six straight errors, before pulling ahead again at 15-12 and sailing to victory. The final set of the game Bridgewater took the early lead, but the Judges

quickly tied up the game before eventually securing the win.

The Judges put forward a strong all around performance against Bridgewater. Emma Bartlett ’20 contributed an outstanding 11 kills on 18 attempts, while Clare Meyers ’21 and Decker-Jacoby added seven kills each to the win.

Leah Pearlman ’19 led the Judges in assists with a game high 15. To add to the Judges’ offense, Nork produced four service aces, while Meyers had three. The Judges’ overall aces dwarfed their opponents, with 15 to Bridgewater’s two.

The Judges came out strong on the defensive end, as well.

Brandeis earned 40 digs compared to Bridgewater State’s 26 digs in the match.

Libero Yvette Cho ’19 produced the team high 10 digs, while Meyers and Decker-Jacoby followed close behind with eight and six respectfully.

The second game of the day for the Judges was against Salem State. The women’s volleyball team beat Salem State 3-0 by set score of 25-23, 26-24, 25-22. All three sets remained close, with the two teams neck and neck throughout the match.

Salem State appeared evenly matched with the Judges, going into the day with a 11-13 overall record. The Judges stood their ground with a .243 hitting percentage. Nork handled the setting against Salem, with 15 assists in the match, while Marissa Borgert ’21 contributed 11 assists in the game. Decker-Jacoby provided

an incredible performance for the Judges, with a match-high 16 kills, while Meyers and Borgert earned 10 and nine kills respectively.

On the defensive end, Grace Krumpack ’19 led the team in digs with 20, nearly 40 percent of the team’s total for the match. Meanwhile, Brandeis earned 50 digs as a team, compared to Salem State’s

41 digs.

The Brandeis women’s volleyball team will head down to Atlanta, GA, this Friday and Saturday for the UAA Tournament. The Judges will play Carnegie Mellon on Friday, and either Case Western Reserve or Emory in their last regular season tournament of the season.

outside hitter shea decker-jacoby goes for a pass

photo from brandeisjudges.com

Men’s soccer splits weekend against WashU, U. Chicago

By Sarah Jousset editor

The Brandeis men’s soccer team played in two UAA matches this weekend at home on Gordon Field, playing Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) Friday night and the University of Chicago on Sunday morning.

The Judges started their weekend of UAA games with a 2-1 win over Washington University in double overtime at home on Friday, Oct. 27. Washington University was the first on the board with their single goal coming in

the 12th minute. The night was a big one for Brandeis sophomores though, as Dylan Hennessy ’20 found the back of the net off an assist from Max Breiter ’20 in the 26th minute of the game, for Hennessy’s third goal of the season. The rest of regulation saw two evenly matched teams duel it out, with both teams tied at 10 shots apiece and WashU favoring in corner kicks 4-3. However, the Judges kicked it into high gear in overtime, with two shots in the first overtime period.

The game’s decision came in the second overtime period, when the Judges earned two corner kicks in

a row, finally converting the second into the game winning goal.

Josh Ocel ’18 found the ball on the second corner kick and sent it towards the net, where teammate Alex Walter ’20 was there to knock the ball into the net with only two minutes left in the period. The goal was Walter’s second UAA game-winner and goal of the season. As for Ocel, the assist was his 42nd of his career, which puts him two shy of Brandeis’ career record for assists.

Meanwhile, on defense for the Judges, newcomer Greg Irwin ’20 made three saves in goal, earning his third win of the season.

The second UAA game of the weekend for the Judges was not as triumphant, with the Judges falling to their opponent 1-0. The Judges kept play even in the first half of the game, falling just short of Chicago in shots, with a deficit of 8-6. However, Chicago outmatched the Judges in shots in the second half, 10-3.

Chicago finally scored with 10 minutes left in the game, with the only goal of the match. The goal occurred when Brandeis goalkeeper Greg Irwin ’20 made the initial save, before Chicago’s Carter Romero ’21 buried the rebound for the game-winning

goal. The Judges managed one more shot at the goal before the end of the period, but could not force the tie.

Irwin made four saves in the close match, compared to Chicago’s three saves.

Irwin earned his first loss in his four starts this season, and Brandeis suffered its first loss at home of the season. The Judges are now 12-4 this season and 4-2 in UAA conference play.

The Brandeis men’s soccer team finishes their season this Saturday at home against New York University. The Judges will play on Gordon Field at 12 p.m.

Cross country teams take sixth in UAAs

By Zach Cihlar editor

Brandeis’ men’s cross country team scored the second lowest amount of points for a sixth place finisher in University Athletic Association (UAA) Conference championships history, which speaks to how tight the scores were between teams. The team

scored 117 points in the championship, landing them in sixth; however, they were just 16 points shy of third place. The competitive race proved Brandeis held its own against five nationally-ranked teams that finished ahead.

Collegiate cross country awards the first place prize to teams scoring the fewest amount of points.

Each individual running the race receives a greater amount of

women’s cross country huddles before the race

photos from brandeisjudges.com

points the farther away they are from the first place position.

Under this scoring system, Washington University secured the UAA champion title in a landslide victory, racking in just 40 points overall which trumped the second place finisher Carnegie Mellon University by 39 points.

Emory University pulled ahead in the middle cluster, holding steady at 101 points to grant them the third place finish. Brandeis very nearly jumped to the fifth spot, falling behind University Chicago by just one point.

Ryan Stender ’18 led the Judges in individual performance, earning his second consecutive top-five finish in the UAA championship meet with his fifth place finish. The result earned him firstteam all-UAA honors for the second year in a row.

Behind Stender, Mitchell Hutton ’18 ran the second position for Brandeis, and earned the team a 20th place finish. The senior duo have run the one and two positions for Brandeis cross country for a majority of the season, and the pair ran the positions true for the UAA championship race as well.

New York University (NYU), the fourth place finisher, hosted

the meet in Woodland Park, NJ, for both the men’s and women’s UAA championships. Woodland Park proved a challenging course for the schools, with many stretches requiring technical strategy. The course proved a great equalizer for both the men’s and women’s races.

The women earned the sixth spot in UAA competition as well, though they secured 127 points, edging out the NYU women’s team by just one point.

Emily Bryson ’19 once again led the team with a fourth place overall finish. She earned her third-consecutive first-team all UAA honor with a 23:41.1 time, quite a bit behind her time in last year’s UAA championship, which is a testament to the grueling nature of this year’s course.

The UAA is a strong conference across Division III athletics, and cross country stays true to the high level of competition seen in the eight-team conference. “Going into UAAs, we knew that it was going to be a competitive race on a challenging course,” the team’s captain, Kyra Shreeve ’18 said, “but we felt confident in the work we had put in over the summer and throughout the season and we’re excited to go out

and compete with some of the top teams in the country.”

Julia Bryson ’19 ran second position for the team, putting in a great performance and earning 12th place.

J. Bryson, who was the fourth position runner in the 2016 season, has shown great improvement on the team and put her in the position to earn second-team all-UAA honors with a time of 24:18.6.

Despite both of the Brysons’ strong finishes, the team couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in the result, according to Shreeve.

The women had a goal of finishing better than sixth place going in. “One of the aspects that I love most about the team is our ability to regroup and focus on the next race,” Shreeve said.

“Despite being a little disappointed after UAAs, we immediately turned our thoughts to Regionals,” the senior captain continued.

The teams have two important races left on their schedule, Regionals and potentially the National championships. Both the men’s and women’s teams will go to Gorham, ME, to compete in the Regional meet on Saturday, Nov. 11.

OPINIONS

8 The Brandeis Hoot

November 3, 2017

Brandeis’ academic atmosphere has become too pressurized

By Zach Phil Schwartz columnist

These last few months have been among the toughest for me at Brandeis. The select few who follow my articles religiously may have noticed a sharp downward trend in my work. They may have noticed that I am no longer on the editorial board of this paper.

I’ve dealt with health uncertainties and the existential crises that come with being a senior. My grades have threatened to slip. I’ve cut interpersonal relationships toxic to my well-being.

These are all part of the reason I decided to cut back on my involvement at The Brandeis Hoot, despite all of the blood, sweat and tears I devoted to it over the last three years.

Don’t take this, though, as an attack on the editors and writers of The Hoot. A large part of my decision, here as a senior with very little wiggle room, was due to a needed re-prioritization. A significant part of that rearranging of priorities bit, though, is the fault of how pressurized Brandeis’ academic atmosphere has become.

This is not the first time I’ve written about my distaste for how Brandeis lays out and pressurizes its academic schedule.

I discussed it in an article published in the April 1, 2016 edition of The Hoot titled “Current loose midterm scheduling unhelpful, stressful.” In that article I took a position against the policy of allowing midterms whenever instructors wished them to be and advocated a stricter regulation on how midterms should be ad-

ministered, in a fashion similar to how finals are.

Unfortunately, this problem has not let up. I’ve heard of some students having midterms within their first few weeks of classes beginning and others having three midterms in one week. At Brandeis thrives a stress-laden culture in which students are unable to really unwind after a midterm or a paper because the uncertainty of another lingers. If students are to have a quality experience at Brandeis, this culture must be unwound and relaxed; otherwise, the unneeded stress will continue unabashed.

It is partially of my own doing, I admit, that I ended up in a situation in which I needed to cut back on an activity that I loved so much (and continue to cheer on from afar); I willingly signed up

to write a senior essay in addition to four classes. I try to read syllabi to make sure that the classes I choose are manageable for me, but sometimes those syllabi can change spontaneously. I do try to take responsibility, further, for having made the choices that I made. The stress-filled culture, though, remains out of my control.

Amending this culture would not be difficult, though I will not float any proposals to any officials right here and right now. When all members of the Brandeis community are able to come together in solidarity with one another in recognition of the stresses that the maze of academic life hurls at students (as well as faculty), then the community as a whole can move forward in devising ways to make them easier to bear—together.

At the end of the day, it becomes all the more important to recognize and address the stressful culture of Brandeis in the face of the new General Education Requirements that are just around the corner, which students will deal with in the future for years to come.

If we are able to address this culture now, in hopes that we create another one as academically rewarding but far less stressful, then and only then will Brandeis students be able to thrive in the way that all university principals want them to.

Otherwise, students matriculating here may never be academically successful without having to sacrifice the things they love, especially when confronted with other uncontrollable circumstances.

Free speech requires responsibility

By Matt Kowalyk columnist

If we talk about free speech only in abstract terms, we will never make any progress and will remain divided as a community.

I attended the last half hour of the free speech forum on Monday.

The principles of free speech that the Task Force on Free Expression has devised were very reasonable and the time members spent on them is valuable. I appreciate the emphasis on personal responsibility, respect, the differentiation between invitees and university honorees and the denouncing of physical violence.

Brandeis could do better to encourage introspection. I wish we could be more critical of motivations. Are you inviting this speaker because you want to annoy people and feel good about yourself, or are you inviting a speaker because you feel a part of the debate is lost on campus? What sort of physical violence do they really encourage among Brandeis students (probably none at all)? Are we protesting a speaker because we think their speech is harmful, or because it challenges our ideological power position? Why

does their speech resonate with so many students if it is truly harmful? Are my limits where they are because my personality would be less interesting without them and does it help me feel special at the expense of any common ground and social progress, or do I really, really feel this way?

Students who shared opinions at the forum on Free Expression brought up Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative speaker and polemicist. D’Souza is known for his criticism of the Democratic Party from the angle that they, about 150 years ago, were the party of slavery, and that fascism is a specifically leftist phenomenon.

D’Souza is exaggerating reality for attention. American political parties have come and gone and changed their positions over time, and to say Democrats are still inherently racist in the same way as they were during the Civil War is a real stretch. Democrats may be exploiting their constituencies, and that is problematic, but it is not equivalent to slavery.

Progressivism is its own animal.

To say that fascism is purely leftist ignores the many religious forms it took in Spain and Eastern Europe, and even the country that invented it. Mussolini appealed to

the Pope for a time. This is not to say religion is purely of the right, though it is viewed that way in today’s political debate in academia especially and in this odd culture concerning free speech. I believe this complicates D’Souza’s narrative.

Here is my issue: D’Souza is intellectually worthless and contributes almost nothing to real political debate.

So why do so many students have a problem with him? If he is totally worthless, why are those who oppose his views so worried about his rhetoric swaying people?

Do they feel that their own arguments are not strong enough, or are they competing only for headspace and aware of how easily people change their minds?

This speaks to the essential problem with these free speech debates. It has nothing to do with ideas, it has nothing to do with rules, or concern for narratives or identity. It is all about power, even from those who seek to deconstruct every hierarchy they come across as if hierarchies are inherently bad.

Both sides have hyperbolic views of the free speech debate: Left-leaning believers are certain

of their historical progress and the right-leaning believers see the debate as the end of the republic as we know it. Unfortunately, they are correct in the debate’s role on campus, though I am inclined to say the side backed by postmodernist subjectivity is much more dangerous.

Neither side wants anything to change. If we set aside ‘debate’ over values that no side will budge on, we will have to bond with our peers rather than feeling a constant state of oppression.

We will see that slight offenses come from habit or no bad place, or have no need to be fought at all, or see our own capacities to be selfish jerks by purposefully rubbing people the wrong way.

We might see that our barriers are self-imposed only so we have something to yell about, habits rather than moral values. The battle will end, and many people would find very little to do with themselves and realize that they are not all that important in the grand scheme of things. In a grand application of Dostoyevsky, the world will become mighty boring.

We lack a grand narrative for the nation partially because of the forces I mentioned in my opinion

last week, but also because many people do not want one. That would make life too good in a nation that is among the most prosperous in history, one that commoditizes its real struggles so that they cannot be solved and instead serve narcissists who need something to be angry about rather than solving them.

The debate is missing a real element of critical thinking about ‘limits’ and ‘lines.’

We do not question where views come from or their subjectivity.

Any encouragement of objectivity regardless of politics or ‘power structures’ is not present.

In an attempt to not anger university stakeholders, conservative and liberal, we only see the subtext manifest itself among the students who came to share opinions.

To deny that objective truth exists is to deny all hope of change.

We lack the capacity to see truth without training and years of introspection and experience, but that does not mean we should not try.

For everyone, please consider for a few minutes that you might be wrong, and that you might have to change your behavior or mindset. That process is not easy or painless.

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November 3, 2017

WEEK IN PHOTOS

photo by candace ng/the hoot

Community Advisors and Orientation CORE committee members celebrate Halloween at the Fall Social hosted by Department of Community Living. fall social

photo by emily sorkin smith/ the hoot

As class registration begins, students take time to learn about majors and minors that may be of interest. exploring new fields

photo by polina potochevska/the hoot

Brandeis Ballet Club co-presidents share their love for dance with the community. experiential learning symposium

photo by yarisa diaz/the hoot

Past, present and future Editors-in-Chief of The Hoot came together after the “What Do I Do With My Humanities Major?� career panel on November 2, 2017. editors-in-chief

photo by sarah terrazano/ the hoot

Undergraduate humanities majors heard from alumni about careers in law, marketing and publishing, as well as graduate programs in the fine arts. humanities majors

The Brandeis Hoot 9

yes, it is a turkey

Community.

photo by allison plotnik/the hoot

The Brandeis Hoot: by, for and about the Brandeis Turkey

ARTS

10 The Brandeis Hoot

November 3, 2017

Colin Jost charms parents and students alike with a solid set

By Jonah Koslofsky staff

I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest Colin Jost fan. Since gaining a spot on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” in 2014, Jost has struggled to exude the charisma so many comedians have so easily (looking at you, Kate McKinnon). There’s nothing particularly offensive about Jost, but nothing particularly funny, either.

In the past few years and with the help of co-anchor Michael Che, “Weekend Update” has improved a lot, but the show hasn’t exactly fixed the problem of Jost’s stage presence.

However, out from behind his desk at the Spingold Theater, Jost really came alive as a comic.

Instead of being stuck in a suit and now able to move around the stage, Jost seemed much less wooden.

It was refreshing and surprising, and his hour-long set ended up being really good. One of the reasons Jost succeeded was that he knew his audience: The parents and students of Brandeis University, nearly 750 of them, packed into the sold out show.

This is a conundrum for a comedian for a few reasons. First of all, you’re at Brandeis, which means your audience isn’t likely to enjoy politically incorrect material. Take for example the per-

son sitting next to me, who loudly whispered that Puerto Rico wasn’t a country after Jost started a bit about traveling during vacations (I’m sure he knows, you know?).

On top of that, some students are there with their parents, which means anything too raunchy is going to get awkward. Maybe parents would laugh if their kids weren’t with them (and vice versa), but nobody really wants to laugh at a bunch of dick jokes with their dad sitting next to them.

To his credit, a lot of Jost’s material was both student and parent friendly. He opened by reading through some Brandeis “fun facts,” which was good, but would have been better if he hadn’t been reading off his phone. There were, however, a few jokes about the privilege of Brandeis students that were fantastic, especially one about how real life will be a breeze after getting through the stressful housing lottery process. I also really appreciated his diagnosis of Louis D. Brandeis as “Larry David with hair.” The opener made the set personal, and even though Jost isn’t a Brandeis expert, a lot of what Jost said resonated with the crowd.

His set as a whole covered three areas pretty thoroughly: politics, college life and longer-form stories. Obviously, the former is his forte, considering his “Weekend Update” tenure. His Trump material worked, even though a

bit about his “Jedi Mind Tricks” wasn’t particularly groundbreaking. Trump, Jost explains, has a way of convincing people what they saw never happened (think Trump mocking a disabled reporter, later to claim it never happened at all).

In the end, the real standouts were two stories he told about being high on a date (and calling his parents) and trying to buy snacks at a supermarket. The image of the generally-robotic Jost inebriated was funny in itself. What the set really convinced me of is that Jost is a better comic when he can do longer, more indepth bits, instead of the rapid-fire style of “Weekend Update.” I left the show interested in watching a real Colin Jost standup special, which I didn’t expect when I walked into Spingold.

The event wasn’t flawless. Case in point: the warm up comedian. It was pretty impressive how much the audience did not like our opener, up-and-coming comic Mike Recine. Recine’s set wasn’t objectively horrendous, but it was awful for the Family Weekend crowd. Between his vulgar language (alienating parents) and his not exactly progressive bits (alienating students), the crowd couldn’t wait for him to bring on Jost. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad for a comedian to make their audience feel uncomfortable, but Recine couldn’t find the cathar-

photo by emily sorkin smith/the hoot

sis in these moments to earn the audience’s affection, or even their laughter.

Unfortunately, Recine ended up doing a whole 20 minutes, which is just way too long for an opener, especially when the crowd was done by the 10 minute mark. The only silver lining was that Recine could tell how much he was bombing, and persevered through it, which I at least found a little entertaining. Recine will actually be back on campus in two weeks, and I kind of can’t wait to

see how he does with an audience of exclusively students.

While the opener flopped, Jost was really something. Jost closed his set talking about his frustration watching an “Update” rerun with the closed captioning saying that one of his jokes got “mild laughter,” according to the captions.

I’d love to see the relaxed, engaged Jost we saw at Brandeis make an appearance on “Update.”

He’d probably do better than “mild laughter.”

JFAB puts on poetry night centered on Judaism and feminism

By Kevin Costa staff

The Jewish Feminist Association of Brandeis (JFAB) held its poetry night at Chum’s on Wednesday, Nov. 1. JFAB partnered with Poetic Justice, the Brandeis Slam Poetry Team, which holds open mic nights every Wednesday. By joining in on Poetic Justice’s regularly scheduled nights which run from 6 to 9 p.m., JFAB held its event during the second half of that time slot. JFAB’s Poetry Night showcased poetry whose topics dealt with Judaism and feminism.

The event kicked off at 7:30 p.m. as dim purple lights flooded the room and a single microphone and stool commanded the stage.

As people packed in, there was not enough couch space, so many guests ended up standing or sitting on the floor.

JFAB hosted a similar poetry night at the Intercultural Center last year.

Laura Katz ’19, who emceed, started the night with what she called a sacrificial poem. In slam poetry competitions, it is the first poem that the judges critique to calibrate their scoring for ensuing pieces. Of course, this was not a competition. The main purpose was to give people a platform to participate and express themselves. However, it was a nice way to break the ice and steady the nerves of the presenters.

In all, eight poets performed, each expressing their own experiences in relation to Judaism

a “sacrificial” poem

Laura Katz ’19 emceed and read the first poem of the night.

and feminism. The first presenter recited a poem about overcoming pressures of negative self and body-image while in high school.

Eventually, she learned to find self-love, saying in her poem, “I forgot my body was a temple.”

The next performer prefaced her poems by saying that three years ago, while at a poetry event, she was astonished by a presenter who never rehearsed his poems.

Now, as an indication of her development as a poet, she was comfortably reading any poem from her phone extemporaneously. She recited a few lines of unfinished poems, a poem she had written yesterday in Goldfarb and another fully fleshed-out piece about listening to a Bat Sheva Marcus podcast.

Another female student, who

had never participated in a poetry slam before, presented work written by a friend who was unable to attend. The first, titled “Invisibility,” was about the speaker’s experience of being marginalized in her own religion (Judaism). As the speaker would sit in the balcony of her synagogue with the other women, down below the Rabbi would ask if “everybody” had participated, but “everybody” meant the males. The speaker felt as if God had forgotten about her.

“He, male them, and him all monopolize my hymns,” she said.

Her second poem was cleverly titled “My Judaism and Feminism Are My Siblings, But Only I Get to Call Them Stupid.” The poem talks about the speaker’s conflicting selves that she finds hard to reconcile. On some days, the speaker “writes love letters to my

photo by yarisa diaz/the hoot

Judaism and my feminism lights them on fire.” Then, she “goes to rallies with my feminism and my Judaism stays at home, burns dinner.”

Another presenter read the famous poem “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid. Published on June 12, 1978, the poem outlines the inherent contradictions of gender normativity and what it means to be a girl. After the speaker is told not to act like a “slut you are so bent on becoming,” the poem ends with the spiteful, yet ironic last lines: “but what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?”

Many presenters referenced biblical stories such as the fall of Adam and Eve and the story in

the Midrash about baby Moses.

The presenters interwove these allusions into their poems about their experiences as women.

The last 20 minutes of the event were dedicated to open mics.

There were a lot of poets in the room and a couple of brave souls stepped forward. For one, it was her first time performing.

To end the night, a couple of people who had previously performed went on stage again. If you missed JFAB’s poetry night, the club will host a reading with Marcia Falk on Nov. 6, celebrating the author’s 20th anniversary edition of “The Book of Blessings: New Jewish Prayers for Daily Life, the Sabbath, and the New Moon Festival.” And, if you you are interested in poetry, Poetic Justice hosts Open Mic Nights every Wednesday.

This past Wednesday, before JFAB’s poetry night officially began, Jamele Adams wrapped up Poetic Justice’s open mic night talking about poetry and how sharing it can be a frightening experience.

As he put it, when people recite poetry, they are sharing a piece of themselves. He asked everyone, either on their phones or in their notebooks, to write a quick poem on a given prompt: stress culture.

This was not officially part of JFAB’s event, but his message was relevant for the upcoming presenters, some of whom were performing for their first time.

The idea of asking everyone to brainstorm a quick poem made the room feel like a safe space.

November 3, 2017

ARTS 11

The Brandeis Hoot

BAMCO presents off-campus bands DAP The Contract and Diaspøra in lively Chum’s concert

By Noah Harper staff

I haven’t really been a fan of the big live music concerts that we’ve had here on campus. In my last two and a half years here, we have yet to have an act deserving of the tens of thousands of dollars that we pay them to come here. Why does it seem like we can never get someone good to play on campus?

This was why I was so excited to stumble upon the BAMCO concert last Friday, Oct. 27. Indie rap acts DAP The Contract and Diaspøra played at Chum’s, bringing eclectic and engaging performances to campus. The only problem was the turnout; there were only about 20 students in attendance.

BAMCO, the Brandeis Association for Music/Concert Organization, “was created to allow students to have a say in the music on campus,” co-president Nina Feinberg ’18 told The Brandeis Hoot. “We bring free live music to the Brandeis community that was chosen by democratic vote by our members. Anybody is welcome to join and each person has an equal say,” she added.

The democratic process BAMCO uses allows anyone to find and submit an artist for a vote. “Each member is encouraged to contact bands and performers that they want to see on campus. We guide

members on how to reach out to groups and their agents, how to negotiate a fair price and how to write and send them a contract,” Feinberg said.

Friday’s hip hop show, courtesy of BAMCO, was awesome and deserved a better turnout. The two acts, DAP the Contract and rap collective Diaspøra, all went to (or are currently attending) Brown, and it was obvious that everyone knew everyone, with the various MCs collaborating with each other on their songs, repeatedly inviting their fellow artists back up on stage, keeping the music fresh and dynamic. “This is a family business,” Diaspøra member Tone said.

The energetic community the performers brought made the show all the more impressive.

Because it seemed like half the crowd were friends (and members of) Diaspøra and DAP The Contract, it really felt like we had been invited to a private show, getting the chance to hang out with some really great hip-hop artists while they performed with their friends. My favorite thing was how they’d yell out the lyrics to their friend’s songs at the top of their lungs—obviously, they knew them all by heart.

In the Diaspøra show, performers Tone and SO4P were the standouts. I really liked their production, and the way their different styles of flow complemented

dap the contract

The musician joined the crowd in singing parts of his song.

one another. SO4P delivered with a slower, more methodical style, while Tone brought a faster lyricism and a great singing voice.

After Diaspøra, DAP The Contract came on. DAP immediately went hard, getting the audience jumping from the start. “I need to catch my breath,” he said after his first song. Highlights included inviting up Tone and SO4P from Diaspøra for a few songs, and us all singing a round of “Happy Birthday” for his girlfriend.

DAP closed out his set by getting off of the stage, and telling us to make a circle in Chum’s, ending with the crowd singing along to the final chorus of his song “Right

Now,” the hook of which has been stuck in my head the last few days.

“I’ve been missing on a mission right now, right now. I’m on the way, flying to outer space, right now,” we all sang in a call and response in the circle.

After the show was over, members of DAP and Diaspøra made sure to go up to people and shake hands, to say thanks.

The personal touch was so important: This is how you build a fanbase, this is how you build a community.

There’s something powerful about getting to interact with artists, getting to see people who love what they do. I’m grateful that we

photo from cozymag.co.uk

have an organization on campus like BAMCO, a group of students that cares about finding performers who make great music—regardless of their popularity.

I wish more people had been at this show, and I hope more people come in the future. BAMCO, Feinberg said, has “one more show coming up in December this semester, plus more shows next semester.”

The group has “weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. in the SCC. Anybody is welcome,” Feinberg added. You can check the club out on Facebook, or join its listserv: rock-n-roll@brandeis. edu.

‘The Florida Project,’ beautifully made with an enchanting story

By Noah Harper staff

Sean Baker’s films find stories in the unconventional, in the lives of people living on the fringes. His first film, “Tangerine,” shot entirely on iPhone, followed a day in the lives of two transgender prostitutes in Los Angeles, CA. His excellent follow-up, the newly-released “The Florida Project,” follows the lives of an impoverished young mother and her daughter living in a motel in suburban Orlando, FL. “The Florida Project” is full of colors. You can see from the trailer how director Sean Baker takes advantage of the eclectic color palette the location affords. There’s a store shaped like a giant orange, a gift shop with a huge leering wizard’s head on top, “Twistee Treat,” a larger-than-life ice cream stand shaped like a big sundae.

There’s an intentional tension here between the real and the styl-

ized. We get to see things from the perspective of the brash and outspoken seven-year-old Mooney (Brooklynn Prince).

From Mooney’s perspective, things might not be so bad. She lives with her mom in “The Magic Castle,” a purple-painted motel near Disney World, and gets to spend her free summer days completely unsupervised.

The film reminded me of a young adult novel in the best possible way—you get this feeling of wonder in seeing the world through an adolescent’s eyes.

It begins with Mooney and her friend Scooty playing in the shade of a motel stairwell.

We can hear another kid yelling their names at the top of his lungs, over and over again. What could possibly be so exciting? They find out there’s a new car parked over in Futureland (an adjacent, rocket-themed motel), and they all run over as fast as they can to go spit on it.

There’s an anarchic joy to

Mooney’s life at the Magic Castle.

She and her friends are almost completely unsupervised, much to the chagrin of Bobby (Willem Dafoe), the motel manager, who they’re often getting in the way of. For better or worse, the motel is their playground: They play hide and seek in the lobby, pester guests for tips and buy ice cream when they can scrounge up enough spare change.

While momentarily joyful, there’s a persistent feeling Mooney’s life can’t last like this forever, that soon enough reality is going to catch up.

Mooney’s mom, Halley, is recently unemployed. She’s young and doesn’t have a job or a car.

Halley and Mooney live on the edge, eating free Waffle House for lunch and trying to cobble together enough rent money for Bobby every week. While Mooney lives in her idyllic world, her mom has to do whatever she can so they can survive.

The Magic Castle feels like a

real, lived-in world. Sean Baker did an excellent job making it feel like a place with dimension and character. Mooney, giving a tour of her neighborhood to her new friend Jancey, points at motel rooms and says things like, “The man who lives in here gets arrested a lot.”

Despite the world of “The Florida Project” being vibrant and beautifully-depicted, it’s still an environment in which everyone is living on the fringes. The central question the movie asks is how can Halley, or the millions of Americans like her who live in states of semi-transience, make it in America? Halley has to support Mooney, and doesn’t have a car or college education—so what kind of things is the system pushing her to do?

The film definitely doesn’t go the pat, sentimental route. I left amazed at what I’d seen, and also deeply-troubled about what it asked us, the audience, to question about our country. That be-

ing said, once it ended I did hear an older woman behind me say, “That was the stupidest movie I’ve ever seen,” so it might not be for everyone.

But I’m glad “The Florida Project” doesn’t end conventionally, because that would have been Baker portraying the fantasy world as reality.

The movie plays with the real and the imaginary. We get to see a really difficult situation through the hopeful, wonder-filled eyes of a seven-year-old. Beneath the vibrant, idiosyncratic world are very present economic realities of modern-day America, perhaps problems many of us would be happy to ignore.

“The Florida Project” succeeds because it is beautiful, well-crafted and relevant. The world it depicts—unhampered sprawl, increased commodification, stark economic inequality—is indicative of so much of America. There is beauty and despair in it, and maybe a shred of hope too.

photos from imdb.com

12 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 3, 2017

UTC’s production of ‘The Sparrow’ is ambitious and lighthearted

By Ben Beriss staff

“The Sparrow,” the newest play from Brandeis’ Undergraduate Theater Collective (UTC), is an ambitious show, relying on abstract dance scenes to tell its story.

In its production, the UTC embraces the traditional aspects of the show while falling somewhat shorter on the potential of the material’s more abstract scenes.

The show tells the story of Emily Book, the titular “Sparrow,” a high school student moving back to her hometown 10 years after being involved in a bus crash which took the lives of the rest of the town’s second grade class. Her adolescent struggle for self-acceptance and the town’s struggle to accept her are complicated by the revelation that she has supernatural powers allowing her to fly and which she struggles to control.

As much an exploration of high school and small-town culture as anything else, this production, directed by Leah Sherin ’19 creates a surprisingly compelling narrative about the world many Brandeis students have recently abandoned.

The production centers the dual moods in the engagingly fun scenes in Spring Farm High and the tense interactions between the leads. The ensemble creates a high school atmosphere which is wonderfully irreverent, characterized by relentless sarcasm and a lighthearted teen spirit. Some of the funniest scenes in the show come from the mockery from and towards the school jocks, played

by Christian Ford-Harrington ’21 and Liam Gladding ’21, who could have walked out of “Dazed

and Confused” with their amusing combination of confidence and ignorance. Similarly, the girls of the school exemplify both “Mean Girls” confidence and adolescent awkwardness alternately in a comedic whirlwind.

In other scenes, the ensemble falls away, leaving the lead characters to deal with the emotional issues of the show. They are led by Maia Cataldo ’20 as Emily, who confronts the audience with a scared teenager dealing with tremendous guilt, puberty and the responsibility of power all at once in a performance subtle enough to show the character’s arc into confidence and then transcendence.

The other standout of the show is Rodrigo Alfaro Garcia Granados ’18 as the “cool” teacher Dan Christopher. Granados brings a truly impressive charisma to the role, though at times this interferes with the visibility of his character’s occasional discomfort and self-doubt. Caitlin Crane-Moscowitz ’20 shows the insecurities of would-be leader of the school Jenny McGrath with a touching realism while occasionally losing energy when Jenny takes charge.

The show does suffer some problems when it combines the lighthearted ensemble energy with the tension of the smaller scenes. The show makes heavy use of dance and movement to portray many climaxes of the show and many of these moments are harmed by clunky execution of Hannah McCowan’s ’19 choreography. Abstract moments like the ones in the show naturally require the audience to be deeply invested in interpreting them and in many scenes several performers do not quite move with the flu-

photos by yarisa diaz/the hoot

idity required. Despite this trend, there are several scenes where the intention and execution come together perfectly, as during a reenactment of the bus crash and a dance with fetal pigs.

The production converts the SCC theater into a pseudo-black box space by placing the audience on the stage and using minimal set. In busy ensemble scenes this helps immerse the audience in the world while in smaller scenes it allows the audience a greater emotional connection. It also, however, creates a difficult blocking situation and in several small-

er scenes actors’ lack of movement severely hampers important sightlines for various seats.

The lighting of the show, created

by Noah Mark ’19, is simple and excellent, subtly directing attention and underscoring emotion with small changes in intensity and focus. The sound, created by Talia Loeb ’20 and assistant Jayla Mobley ’21, is also impressive in the way it emphasizes the mood and scores the dance scene. The set, in keeping with the black box feel, is almost bare. The principal set pieces, created by Molly Rocca ’20, are movable lockers used

as both background and props carried by the actors, in a creative and dynamic use of the space.

Despite some problems, “The Sparrow” is an engaging show which manages to create fun moments and compelling drama.

With its truly funny portrayal of high school and grimly realistic drama, it is an impressive production.

“The Sparrow” is playing through Nov. 5 in the SCC theater. For tickets, buy them online or in-person at the SCC or Spingold box office, or call 781-7363400.

Students rent artwork from the Rose’s Student Loan Collection

By Katie Decker-Jacoby editor

If you’ve ever struggled to decorate your dorm room, fret no more: The Rose Art Museum’s Student Loan Program can help.

Since 1956, the Rose has been loaning pieces from its collection to Brandeis students living on campus. Students can select pieces from two donated collections that are solely meant for being loaned to students. This school year, the Rose set the price for renting a work from the collection at $5 for the entire academic year. Students were able to view and then rent art on a first come, first serve basis on Thursday, Nov. 2 at the Rose.

Rose Curatorial Interns LaShawn Simmons ’18 and Pavla Berghen-Wolf ’18 have been hard at work for weeks in preparation for this special event.

Trained in light art handling and completing condition reports, Simmons and Berghen-Wolf got to transport the pieces and assess the condition of each piece. Simmons and Berghen-Wolf learned about how art museums conserve their collections.

Both interns promoted the program around campus, online and through social media. They typed up biographical blurbs about the

photos by yarisa diaz/the hoot

artists whose works were featured in this year’s selection of 20 artworks.

How exactly does one go about renting a piece of art from the Rose? It’s easier than you may think.

A student can pick the piece they would like to exhibit in their dorm room and then must complete a loan agreement form. The student pays $5 to the museum and then receives the wrapped artwork, equipment with which to hang the art and detailed care instructions.

It is important to the Rose that

each rental be returned in the spring in mint condition.

As for how Simmons and Berghen-Wolf decided on the 20 pieces displayed at the event this year, “LaShawn and I had multiple considerations when selecting these works. We were first driven by works that visually stood out to us, and that we thought other students would enjoy too. This often meant we chose artworks that were very colorful and vibrant, and sometimes funny,” Berghen-Wolf told The Brandeis Hoot.

“We also prioritized the safety of the works of art, such as wheth-

er students would be able to carry them easily, install them on the wall, and be secure on a dorm wall,” she added.

Students could choose from an assortment of bold and lively pieces from a variety of different media: They could pick from paintings, drawings, prints and lithographs.

“The Student Loan Collection is important because it’s a way Brandeis students can feel ownership of their museum. Students can have the experience of choosing an artwork that speaks to them and by hanging it in their

room, it’s like turning their room into a mini gallery,” said Berghen-Wolf. If you missed the Rose Student Loan Collection event, there is always next year.

Students can purchase tickets for the Rose’s “Home Within” event featuring artists Kevork Mourad and Kinan Azmeh.

Mourad will paint live for event attendees, producing a work based on the Syrian revolution, while Azmeh will play his clarinet throughout the performance.

This event will take place on Saturday, Nov. 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Slosberg Music Center.