JUMBO Magazine - Fall 2020

JUMBO THE TUFTS ADMISSIONS MAGAZINE | THE STORIES OF TUFTS, NOT JUST THE STATS

ADMISSIONS.TUFTS.EDU | ISSUE 28 / FALL 2020

THE CHANGE ISSUE

M EET JUMBO

These pages were written by Tufts students. Flipping through them should feel like taking a stroll through campus. You’ll meet professors and students; they’ll share with you what excites them. You’ll drop into a class on an unfamiliar topic and leave inspired, dig into some fascinating research, or hang out in a residence hall with potential classmates.

Along the way, you might decide that Tufts feels like the right place for you. If that happens, this magazine is also for you—flip to the back where we’ve broken down the basics on applying: deadlines, aid, and our advice. This is Tufts; explore it.

PHOTO BY ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY

CONTENTS

FEATURES 22 | How Do You Ask a Question?

A journey into the archives helped Harrison Clark ’22 understand the joys and challenges of being a Black artist.

30 | Reaching Across the Curriculum

to Create a Major Your passions are key. Through interdisciplinary studies, Tufts students can unlock a major that fits them perfectly.

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INFOGRAPHIC ATHLETICS CLASS HIGHLIGHTS AROUND TOWN LIVING ARTS APPLICATION ADVICE ADMISSIONS INFO FINANCIAL AID

FRONT COVER ILLUSTRATION BY ANUJ SHRESTHA, BACK COVER PHOTO BY ALONSO NICHOLS/ TUFTS UNIVERSITY

GREETINGS

FROM THE DEAN CHANGE IS CONSTANT. That’s certainly true here at

MEET THE STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP Most of what you’re about to read was written by these Tufts students. Listen for their voices as they introduce you to the Tufts community, page by page.

THE TUFTS ADMISSIONS MAGAZINE

After four years here, you will emerge ready for the world that awaits, one that continues to change each day.

In this issue, which celebrates the notion of “change,” you’ll read about our interdisciplinary studies major, a unique opportunity to alter the path of your studies to align with your particular interests. You’ll also read about how Harrison Clark ’22 uncovered personal truths in the Tufts archives— about Black student life and the agency of Black artists—while tracking how Tufts has changed as an institution.

This issue also offers several forays into the impact of COVID-19 on our program, including Professor of Chemistry Joshua Kritzer’s work to support student research projects that have evolved due to the pandemic and the research being done

by Jack Chau ’22 to better understand perceptions of COVID across the US. Finally, we will offer some guidance about how to approach college applications during a unique year. While some admission requirements are changing (we introduced an SAT and ACT test-optional policy this year), our commitment to evaluating each applicant in a holistic and contextual manner that seeks to identify a mutually strong match between your aspirations and what we offer has not changed.

I hope you are looking forward to college and all of the change that comes along with it. I also hope I have the chance to read your application, and to learn more about how Tufts might be positively changed by your contributions to our community.

Welcome to Tufts!

Best,

JT Duck Dean of Admissions

SIWAAR ABOUHALA ’23 from West Harrison, NY

SUSANNAH MURRAY ’24 from Santa Fe, NM

BLAKE ANDERSON ’24 from Sioux Falls, SD

CHRIS PANELLA ’21 from Hollywood, FL

JOSH COHEN ’24 from Sarasota, FL

VALERIA VELASQUEZ ’23 from Columbia, MO

MARIE KAZIBWE ’24 from Mount Kisco, NY

OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS Tufts University / Bendetson Hall 2 The Green / Medford, MA 02155 617.627.3170 / admissions.tufts.edu / jumboeditor@tufts.edu

Produced by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Edited by Kella Merlain-Moffatt, Admissions Counselor Design by Hecht/Horton Partners

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

“AS A STUDENT AT TUFTS, YOU WILL CHANGE IN EXCITING WAYS.”

Tufts. In recent years, we have seen our academic programs change—most notably with the addition of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2016, expanding our ability to provide a world-class art education to talented scholar artists around the world.

Across our undergraduate program, we now offer over 150 majors and minors, including new programs in Native American and Indigenous studies, data analytics, and museums, memory, and heritage.

We have seen our campus facilities change, too.

In just the last few years, we’ve opened a new 175,000-square-foot Science and Engineering Complex, renovated several residence halls, and unveiled eight new international-regulation squash courts. We are also far along in the construction of our newest academic building, the eight-story Joyce Cummings Center, located adjacent to a soon-toopen campus T station that will serve as a direct subway line into downtown Boston.

And we have seen our student body change.

Across our three undergraduate schools, Tufts welcomes first-year classes of just over 1,600 students each fall. Our most recent first-year class is the most ethnically and racially diverse on record, with 45 percent of US students identifying as students of color, and another 12 percent identifying as foreign citizens.

As a student at Tufts, you will change in exciting ways. You will enter as an intellectually curious, academically engaged, collaboratively-inclined student, with the whole university in front of you. As you dive deeply into our curriculum, as you make friends with classmates from across the country and around the world, and as you explore what it means to be a member of a civically-engaged residential university community, you will learn new things about yourself and about the world. You will discover new passions.

You will join clubs you didn’t even know existed. You will take classes with faculty members who will invite you to work alongside them to discover new knowledge that changes our understanding of the world.

CHANGING IT UP

College can be an exciting time to explore new trends, ideas, and identities, ultimately leading to changed aesthetics, talents, perspectives, and interests. We asked current undergraduate students to reflect on different ways they’ve observed changes in themselves from the day they arrived on the Hill. From the silly to the serious, from skiing skills to style choices, we’re inspired by what they’ve shared.

OUTLOOK ON LIFE

ON WHAT THEY CALL “HOME”

“I was very focused on having the ‘perfect’ experience… Throwing my expectations out helped me create my own experience and find a more go-with-the-flow attitude.”

“I no longer feel like I need to be in a certain location to be home… If anything, I’m excited to see where I might call home in the future.”

“I learned to think deeper, ask questions, and be more curious.”

“My perception of home is fractured, in a good way. Different parts of me feel at home in Medford, in DC (where I’m from), and in Waterford, CT. I have an expanded/ more abstract sense of home, which I find nice in a lot of ways.”

“Every single year, my sense of self and my understanding of how the world operates has grown. I feel capable of navigating my way through my future.”

“Success without happiness isn’t success.”

ON SURPRISING CHANGES

“I completely changed what I want to do in the future.”

“The word ‘home’ still means my hometown, but the feeling behind it now spans a continent; I feel home both at Tufts and in California. When I say ‘home,’ I’ll always mean San Jose, but I now experience the verb ‘to be at home’ in two places now for the first time.”

AESTHETICS

“My jeans have progressively gotten higher waisted.”

“BANGS/much more cottagecore art student vibes.”

NEW TALENTS

“‘¿Cómo estás?’ and ‘Wie geht’s?’ are now both acceptable greetings.”

“Joined the ski team… I had a lot of fun!

Still not a great skier.”

“Met my lifelong best friends <3” 3

INSIDE OUT

A REAL YET RANDOM, PLAYFUL YET SERIOUS SPIN AROUND CAMPUS— AND JUST BEYOND

BOOSTING THE JUMBO VOTE IN THE 2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS, college-aged

voters at Tufts doubled their turnout. This year— with some help—that number may easily grow.

With critical choices to be made politically, socially, and culturally, this election is crucial to every voter. Tufts is proud to be a champion of civic engagement. Through the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, every Jumbo gains an understanding of what it means to be a dynamic citizen. Although this election year may look different, JumboVote has worked hard to ensure that, as an institution, we do not lose our responsibility to engage in civic duty.

JumboVote is working to facilitate voter registration and increase voter education for all Tufts students who can and intend to use their voice this November. They even have cute masks to remind us all of our rights! Even our very own Jumbo is getting in on the fun—mask and all!

This standard of engagement is important, and Tufts knows that. Jumbos use their voice; Jumbos make change; Jumbos engage.

EXCOLLEGE: DECONSTRUCTING AVATAR LONG AGO, the four nations lived together in harmony, then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked... So what happened? By dissecting, discussing, and learning about the show Avatar’s influences, creation, and artistry, as well as its contribution to Asian American representation, we will uncover the depths of this “kid’s show.” With the instruction of Emma Downs ’22, students may even discover how to master the elements and the forces within themselves.

FIRST PEOPLES—ORIGIN STORIES WITH THE KNOWLEDGE that Tufts sits on the lands of the Mashpee

Wampanoag, Aquinnah Wampanoag, Nipmuc, and Massachusett Tribal nations, we pay respect to the Indigenous people on whose land we are guests. Students are encouraged to learn more about the histories, cultures, and politics of First Peoples through the minor in Native American and Indigenous studies (NAIS). The minor introduces students to comparative settler colonialism studies and to the politics of Native American studies as well as to global critical Indigenous studies and methodologies. It encourages attention to local tribal communities and activist research, in particular through its inclusion of a capstone internship option.

TUFTS VENTURE ACCELERATOR THIS SUMMER, 78 students hailing from as near as Medford and as far as London and

Tokyo, took part in the Tufts Venture Accelerator Program. For 10 weeks, students participated in virtual entrepreneurship workshops that explored topics ranging from startup methodology to market research to prototyping and user-interface design. With the guidance of mentors and skills solidified by the extensive program curriculum, students were challenged to take their ideas to the next level by creating a pitch and a fully-developed business plan. The program closed with a “Demo Day,” where students competed for a prize and presented their business pitches to a panel of judges. With connections and new tools on their belts, students came out of the Tufts Venture Accelerator Program more prepared than ever to use their entrepreneurial skills in the real world.

TUFTS TWEET @TUFTSALUMNI “It goes without saying that, for both of us,

Tufts was a wonderful experience, not just for the education but for the friendships, and because we found each other.”

Alumni Andrew Warren ’16 and Maria Martinez ’16 recently got engaged in the place the couple first met.

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THE GREAT BUSH BAKE OFF INSPIRED BY the deliciously British TV program, The Great British Bake Off,

and uniquely challenged by the extended arrival quarantine for on-campus students, the residence staff of Bush Hall, an exclusively first-year residence community, designed a creative and playful social experience for new students. As participants in ‘The Great Bush Bake Off,’ resident bakers were provided with all of the ingredients necessary to make a simple, delicious dessert in their own microwaves (no proofing, kneading, or sifting required!). Afterward, via a hall-wide Zoom call, residence staff walked bakers through the process of incorporating their ingredients (applesauce, cake mix, chocolate chips, and a splash of water) in a mug and microwaving their creations. Although this bake-off lacked the hallmark criticisms of judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry as well as the many charming accents from the United Kingdom, ‘The Great Bush Bake Off’ serves as a testament to Tufts’ commitment to fostering community and meaningful inclusion.

WHAT WE’RE READING: SO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT RACE

BY IJEOMA OLUO THIS YEAR MARKS the 10 year anniversary of the Common Book Program

at Tufts University’s School of Medicine. This year’s selection is the New York Times Bestseller (deservingly so) So You Want to Talk About Race. In this book, Ijeoma Oluo offers critical, concise, and clear analysis on race in contemporary America, and how best to confront these issues through conversation. New chapters are denoted by different questions related to race, ranging from “What is the school-to-prison pipeline?” to “What is the model minority myth?” Given the heightened awareness of race and white supremacy in the United States, So You Want to Talk About Race gives us the information, perspective, and context necessary to continue anti-racism work at Tufts. Oluo joined our very own Tisch College as a featured guest in our Distinguished Speaker Series!

DINING HALL HACK: TAKEOUT MADE EASY FOOD HAS ALWAYS been a connecting point for people. Though this year at Tufts features many changes for the health of the community, eating is not canceled! Tufts has always been known for its excellent dining facilities and employees, and this year has been no exception. Contactless pickup is as easy as a QR code and a “thank you very much!” Whether you are enjoying a mid-morning coffee run or a late-night snack, simply place your order online and then proceed to one of the many facilities across campus. The pickme-up you need will be waiting for you when you arrive. Changes can present great difficulties—this year has proven that. However, joy can be found within the simple things that never change. So let’s eat!

PREZ LAWN PICNIC—SIX FEET APART IN THE FALL SEMESTER, you have to soak up the sun before the September breeze sharply turns into an October chill. Tufts has a campus that is overflowing with green spaces and lush trees to perch upon: the picnic locations are vast and always picturesque. There’s nothing better than grabbing a couple of friends and eating a Pax et Lox chicken salad sandwich while sitting on a picnic blanket and facing a killer view of the not-so-distant Boston skyline. Great conversations are bound to happen on the Prez Lawn, but if you’re in the mood for some solitary introspection, sit back and relax on one of the colorful Adirondack chairs with your earbuds plugged in, and let yourself feel all the feelings.

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JOURNEY TO THE HILL

“My college experience has made me more confident, especially in my own ability to feel self-sufficient.”

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ANDI BOE

’22

ENGLISH MAJOR FROM BURLINGTON, VT

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

An English major with a passion for fiction and Modernist writing techniques, a pre-medical student committed to physical therapy and rehabilitation outcomes, a teaching assistant in a biology lab for incarcerated individuals, and a Dance with Parkinsons instructor enter a restaurant. “Table for one?” The host inquires. How could this be possible, you may wonder? Well, all of these diverse and impressive involvements describe the same multifaceted Tufts junior: Andi Boe ’22.

Hailing from the rural, college town of Burlington, Vermont, and immersed in the “NESCAC bubble,” Boe had always felt a certain longing to continue her studies in the Boston area. “I wanted green space, access to Boston, and access to things happening, but I didn’t necessarily want to be in downtown Boston,” she shares. Tufts, Boe describes, emerged as her top choice after one memorable interaction with a current student. “Every school always talks about how passionate their students are,” she reminds me, “and it always feels very scripted.” Boe recounts traveling to Medford to visit her close friend, a Tufts student, and being approached by another student who, out of authentic friendliness, struck up a conversation. “She asked what I’m into and then proceeded to tell me all of the things she’s working on and how everyone at Tufts is super interesting, but also [has] involvements outside of the classroom that makes them tick.” Boe regards this connection as her come-to-Jumbo moment, “This was a completely unscripted moment from someone who had no incentive to make me want to come to Tufts—that was truly her way of making conversation, and that really stood out to me.”

Entering college with a clear affinity for English and the humanities, Boe filled her first year schedule with literature and writing classes that interested her, but still felt something missing. Reflecting on a serious sports-related injury she sustained senior year of high school, she tells me, “I basically had an epiphany last year and had come out of that with an interest in physical therapy but thought that I had boxed myself in my whole life to be an English major.” She continues, “It was not at all too late to

follow my passion for physical therapy, and at Tufts, I didn’t have to switch my major to do that.” Although some may suggest those two disciplines are mutually exclusive, at Tufts, students are encouraged to pursue a curriculum that excites them, while also being offered opportunities to integrate healthrelated prerequisites into their liberal arts studies.

“It’s fun for me to be able to go do my labs, write my lab reports, and sit down and work on chemistry for many hours, and then when I need a break from that,” she laughs, “I’ll go write my essay for English.”

Beyond the lecture halls and laboratories, Boe continues to channel her passions and intellectual curiosity into her many other involvements and responsibilities. Specifically, Boe served as a teaching assistant and student advisor for the Tufts University Prison Initiative of the Tisch College of Civic Life (TUPIT). As a part of this initiative, Boe worked alongside Tufts professors at MCI-Concord to deliver educational coursework to incarcerated individuals, who after three years of successful study are eligible to receive an associate’s degree in the liberal arts. TUPIT continues to support incarcerated individuals after their release in several capacities. Boe adds, “A lot of people from our cohort inside are releasing now, and this organization works to create resources for them to get back on even footing.”

This summer, Boe interned at Spaulding Adaptive Sports Centers, where she applied her interest for physical therapy to lead several inclusive fitness programs under the supervision of physical therapy staff, including Dance with Parkinson’s and Chair Yoga.

With this issue’s theme of “change” in mind, Boe admits that she has experienced profound personal growth throughout her time at Tufts. “In terms of right now, it’s been really interesting to see how my Tufts experience has changed from my first two years,” she continues. “My college experience has made me more confident, especially in my own ability to feel self-sufficient.”

At Tufts, Andi Boe has become the kind of student that inspired her to apply.

—JOSH COHEN ’24

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WHILE YOU ARE UNABLE TO VISIT CAMPUS RIGHT NOW, WEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;RE ECSTATIC TO BRING MORE OF CAMPUS TO YOU!

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ATHLETICS

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME

“Go ’Bos!” is what you’ll hear at every sports game. Whether you’re a student, parent, alumnus, or friend, sports are an important part of the Tufts community. The action on the field and in the court is partly due to our impressive facilities. Check out the play-by-play on how these spaces have changed.

TISCH GYM When women’s soccer goalie Phoebe Hanley ’13 saw the new Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center, her first words were, “We’ve got to start playing like this building looks!” Whether you are training for the next big game or swimming laps for fun, the 42,000-squarefoot gym is a sight to see. Walking through the building, you get the feeling that personal fitness and athletic undertaking are important here at Tufts.

SQUASH COURTS As of early 2020, the squash program has a “new on-campus home.” The new eight-court facility has two glass show courts for spectators and has given the university the opportunity to host NESCAC, regional intercollegiate, high school, and club tournaments. More broadly, through generous philanthropy, everyone in the Tufts community has top-class options to pursue fitness, health, and wellness.

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PHOTOS BY EMILY ZILM/TUFTS UNIVERSITY AND ANNA MILLER/TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Students and visitors walk through atrium in September of 2012.

SOFTBALL FIELD

PHOTO BY ANNA MILLER/TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Spicer Field is home to the three-time NCAA champion Tufts softball team. Before the 2015 season, Spicer received a major facelift. Due to the field’s previous condition, Tufts couldn’t hold NCAA events, which means the 2013 and 2014 championship titles were won without a home advantage. The makeover included a new pure dirt infield and grass outfield, two batting cages, bullpens, bleacher seating, and a press box. Hopefully, in years to come we’ll secure more championships on our home turf.

“I never saw myself reflected ever.”

TANYA CRANE 12

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

PROFESSOR OF THE PRACTICE AT THE SCHOOL OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

Noticing change sometimes means that you have not been paying attention all along. This truth characterizes what many white people have been experiencing as they educate themselves on civil rights issues that they may have not truly known about before. This learning process, while essential to the dismantling of systemic racism in the United States, often leaves a toll on Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) who may be tokenized or forced into speaking on behalf of their entire identity groups. Unfortunately, this occurrence is nothing new for Tanya Crane, Professor of the Practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts, who has been forced into constantly explaining her identity to others as a Black, biracial person in the US. Her work explores various expressions of Black and biracial identity, reveals the stereotypes that target Black Americans, and offers moments of reflection on the stain of white supremacy in modern-day racial and sociopolitical relations and imbalances. Crane also explains the most prominent changes that come to mind through reflecting on her family’s residence, her personal work, and the SMFA teaching modality this semester.

“I never saw myself reflected ever; I was either in a white world or a Black world,” Crane explains as she reflects on her upbringing with her mom in a white, middle-class suburb in Los Angeles and her dad in South Central. The duality of her racial identity was always a subject of conversation and,

at times, debate. Crane has represented the impacts of racism in history and in modern-day times in her work, especially her series of sculptures, “African and American,” from graduate school. Her final thesis show was called “Seeing Through”: “I made a large, wooden, Black butt [-shaped] shelf that mounted to the wall, and besides that is a chalk cone. It’s an interactive piece where you’re supposed to chalk-up your hands and slap the butt. This leaves a big, white hand mark on the Black butt. It’s talking about how Black bodies are sexualized and how to be accepted as a Black person in America, you have to be an entertainer or sexualized being instead of just being a person.” This work creates a sense of discomfort in the viewer, who may feel strange for participating in such an act of violence on a piece of art. This is exactly the point: to feel ridiculous and almost primitive for senseless violence and objectification against Black bodies. Crane also talks about digestibility—how to be accepted in a society that only rejects—and being forced into stereotypes.

When asked if current events—the COVID-19 pandemic or ongoing discussions about anti-Black violence—are affecting her work, Crane explains, “My work is evolving and ongoing, and was already currently happening when this civil war broke out in America. I’m trying to meditate and continue my practice as it [has] been going all along and stay true to the themes and topics that I deal with anyway.” Pandemics and movements elicit hindrances

to preexisting social patterns, but why? Why can’t an artist pre-pandemic still be an artist amid a pandemic? Crane is, however, looking at ways to offer more BIPOC representation in the SMFA curriculum: “It’s a struggle, even with teaching. Even though I’m a Black professor, I have to think about: Am I really diversifying my curriculum? Am I really trying to decolonize my curriculum?”

Change can occur over many decades, like the move of Crane’s paternal side of the family to South Central LA, but it can also happen overnight, like the impact of the pandemic on teaching modality and curriculum. “At SMFA, we’re teaching conceptuallybased artmaking this year. Students will be provided with resource kits, but they’re really going to be asked to mine from their environment and to experience it in a different way,” Crane explains. SMFA students will be asked to notice local change and to think about it critically and artistically. Crane also adds, “There are almost no single-faculty classes that are happening; we’re working together to create these hybrid classes. Students will have more exposure, this year, to everything we do at SMFA than they ever had before.” While change is ironically nothing new to many of us, it takes collective collaboration to absorb all of its impacts and to respond to it—whether through social activism, art, or reflection. At SMFA, professors like Crane are embracing change and making it central to education.

—SIWAAR ABOUHALA ’23 13

CLASS HIGHLIGHTS

PER-0131 New Social Intimacies: Art in and After a Pandemic There is no doubt that we live in unprecedented times. The political and social upheavals of recent years have all but been submerged by the social and political crisis of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Even as this new crisis has fundamentally altered how we live, work, and are together, new publics, networks, and collectivities have emerged. Borrowing from recent writings on the COVID-19 global pandemic and the social arrangements revealed by social distancing, students are invited to rethink practices of making and being in relationship to emerging intimacies and socialities. Students will be asked to watch, listen, and virtually encounter works of art, lectures, and various broadcast media, and respond critically and creatively to the ways in which a rapidly shifting contemporary context has reimagined what it is to make art in the 21st century. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Anthony Romero, Professor of the Practice in Performance at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts 14

ILLUSTRATION BY Š2020 ANNA GODEASSI C/O THEISPOT.COM

CHANGE

From pandemic-inspired art networks to environmental evolution, musical innovation to changing fashion trends, these classes focus on the ever-changing nature of our world.

BIO-0012 Evolution in Our World Designed for non-biology majors, this course explores the diversity of life on our planet, how that diversity came about, and how human actions are causing changes for the future. We will discuss the evidence for evolutionary change; the mechanisms through which such changes occur; and the ways in which pollution, ocean acidification, and climate change are subjecting all organisms to a new range of selective pressures. The course includes applications of evolutionary thinking to biomedical research.

—Erik Dopman, Associate Professor of Evolution and Genetics of Natural Populations, and Jan Pechenik, Professor of Marine Biology and Invertebrate Development

MUS-0105 Afro-Latin Rhythms This course covers an in-depth study of Afro-Latin jazz and popular music idioms of the Caribbean and South America with emphasis on musical rhythm.

We’ll study rhythms according to their names, musical identity, and categorization and explore how ensembles and individuals use rhythms in composing, arranging, and soloing. The course includes inquiry into the musical history, gradual change, and innovation of various styles of music that are associated with specific rhythms, i.e., the Merengue from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, or Leonard Bernstein’s use of Mexican and Cuban Rhythms in Westside Story, as well as examples from musical scores, sound recordings, films, and television.

—Joel LaRue Smith, Senior Lecturer of Music, Director of Jazz Activities, Director of the Tufts Jazz Orchestra

TPS-0032 Evolution of Fashion The ever-changing silhouette of clothing from ancient cultures to the present is the topic of this course, with emphasis on how the style of each period of dress is influenced by other periods, often as a response response to the previous period and its norms. Through slides, videos, museum visits, actual garments, and texts, students will learn how to recognize the sometimes obvious and other times subtle changes in fashion.

—Meghan L. Pearson, Lecturer of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies; Supervisor of the Costume Shop

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JACK CHAU

’22

A quick scroll through current junior Jack Chau’s personal website will showcase that he is a multidimensional student. As a student in the School of Engineering, researcher at the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, and avid weightlifter, among other talents, Jack Chau is limitless.

Chau is no stranger to change. He is originally from Vietnam and attended high school in New Jersey before coming to Tufts as a computer science major. This past March tested his ability to adapt, as Tufts students were abruptly sent home due to COVID-19.

The pandemic prompted Chau to inquire about how his research skill set could advance knowledge of the spread of COVID-19. After becoming interested in the big data work that Adjunct Assistant Professor Dr. Shan Jiang in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning is known for, Chau reached out to her. After different iterations of research ideas, Jack and Jiang finalized a novel research project. The project entails looking at streaming data from Twitter in the form of geotagged tweets, and then mapping different attitudes toward COVID-19 and state guidelines/protocols in different regions. In mapping where attitudes toward COVID-19 guidelines might trend positive or negative, he hopes to use this data to predict COVID-19 spreading patterns in the US. Jack, along with his mentor, presented this research at the International Conference of Complex Systems at the beginning of the summer.

As I’m still recovering from my sheer amazement at his work, Jack gushes to me about his more recent project, this time at the Friedman School of Nutrition. He reached out to Elizabeth Marsh ’21, a graduate student, whose work centers on bike 16

share data. Jack is now looking at bike share data through a unique lens. His goal is to try and trace segregation patterns from the data. Still in the early stages of research, he shies away from giving conclusions (as a good scientist does), but he hopes his research can aid in the discussion of whether an expansion of bike share resources can ameliorate the effects of segregation.

Jack, like most Tufts students, is multifaceted.

Sitting outside of the Science and Engineering Complex, I ask him about his favorite course he’s taken thus far, and expect something within the field of engineering or data science. To my surprise, he replies with “Love and Sexuality” taught by the beloved Professor Greenwood. “His perspective is really unique,” Jack says. He specifically recounts how he would sit beside Professor Greenwood as he analyzed the essays “line by line.” Jack is an engineering student but wholeheartedly enjoys studying the humanities and arts at Tufts. “I jump around a lot," he laughs.

Jack and I talk about the perks of living uphill and downhill, how to best use the unlimited meal plan to one’s advantage, and how to circumnavigate the new rules of the fitness center. Jack enrolled in a weightlifting class so that he could use the equipment that is now off limits. He admits that working out this semester will be difficult, but he’s determined to find his new sense of normalcy.

From research projects to weightlifting class, Jack is excited for what his future holds at Tufts.

Complex problems require complex solutions, and that is exactly how Jack Chau has approached all of the recent change that has come his way.

—MARIE KAZIBWE ’24

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR FROM SAIGON, VIETNAM

Complex problems require complex solutions, and that is exactly how Jack has approached the recent change that has come his way.

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AROUND TOWN

SEASONS OF FUN FALL Apple Picking Gala, Fuji, Grannysmith, or Pink Lady?

Head to an orchard for some applepicking, and maybe a hay ride! Grab some butter and flour on your way home to make a delicious apple crisp.

The Fells Just a few miles from campus sits the Middlesex Fells Reservation, the site of 100+ mixed-use trails for hiking or biking. Unleash your inner Reese Witherspoon (but just in that one movie) and set off into the wild.

SPRING Admire the Blooms at the Arnold Arboretum Feeling botanical? Feeling like “botanical” isn’t a state of being? Plan a visit to the Arnold Arboretum and test your knowledge of all things flora, or take it one step fur ther and make a Mother’s Day trip on Lilac Sunday in May when the fields of lilacs bloom.

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Biking on the Somerville Community Path Start at Davis Square and pick up a bike at the Bluebikes station. Then make your way along the Community Path, enjoying the weather and scener y, maybe even stopping for a Pinterest-worthy picnic!

Boston Harborwalk Walk part (or all?!) of this 43-mile public walkway wending along piers and wharfs, and witness nature come to life along the coast. The colors are amazing in May.

Walk the Greenway Walk the Greenway, one of Boston’s green oases in the heart of the city, and explore the vendors, public art spaces, and fountains. If you download the app beforehand, you can even participate in a new virtual reality treasure hunt exploring the Greenway’s past, present, and future.

Explore the Emerald Necklace Searching for spectacular fall foliage, or just wanting to soak up as much time outside as possible before winter comes barrelling in? Look no further than the Emerald Necklace, a chain of parks right in Boston with 1,100 acres’ worth of outdoor activity.

One way to mark change and the passing of time in New England is simply to get outside and look around. Amber and golden hues of foliage give way to barren trees and frosty mornings, which in turn transform with new life in green buds and pink petals, and then close out the annual cycle with blue and purple hydrangeas.

Let us take you on an annual tour of the best of Boston’s natural beauty so you can take advantage of “America’s College Town’s” seasonal change.

WINTER Sledding Grab your sled and bundle up! The hill of Tufts gives you great calf muscles— and an opportunity for some awesome sledding! With your friends by your side, enjoy the slopes in and around the Tufts campus. Our very own President’s Lawn is a great spot!

President Anthony Monaco may just have to join in on the sledding fun—he has before!

SUMMER

FROG POND PHOTO BY KWANBENZ/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Picnic on the Esplanade Take a break from Boston’s sticky heat and catch the breeze coming off the Charles on the Esplanade, a 17-mile stretch of land along the river bank. Pack a basket full of snacks and a blanket to make a day of it!

Beach Day? Southie, Revere, Quincy Head south of the city to one of the beaches in South Boston (Southie) or make it out the other side of the city entirely to a suburb like Revere or Quincy to find public beaches perfect for sunbathing, swimming, and sandcastles.

Ice Skating at Frog Pond One of the perks of a darn cold winter is that water freezes, like, super easily here. If you’re ever in the mood for taking advantage of that basic molecular property, rent some skates down at Boston Common and go out on its Frog Pond—admission is just six bucks! (or free if you’re under 58 inches tall).

Ice Sculpture Stroll & First Night Celebration New year, new me, am I right, people?

If you’re looking for a fun (and free!) way to ring in the New Year, you can participate in one of Boston’s best traditions, First Night. In Copley Square and Back Bay, you’ll find ice sculptures, live music, fireworks, and, of course, a countdown.

Take the Ferry to Coastal Towns If you’ve exhausted all the activities offered to you through dry land transportation, it’s time to look to the sea!

Take a ferry to Provincetown and see what “The Cape” is all about, or take another up to Salem!

Concerts/Outdoor Movies at the Hatch Memorial Shell One of the coolest places you can see live music is the Hatch Memorial Shell, an outdoor concert venue adored by Boston locals. During the summer months, there’ll be events there almost every night, with screenings of movies in addition to music.

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FROM CLASSROOM TO CONVERSATION

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Kritzer and Cancemi were photographed separately to follow COVID-19 regulations.

PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

Cassi Cancemi ’21, a chemistry major and a Goldwater Scholarship recipient, has been a part of the Kritzer Laboratory since she was a sophomore at Tufts. Here, she sits with Professor Joshua Kritzer, as they reflect on their longtime mentorship and Cassi’s journey from being a first-time researcher to a distinguished scholar. BY VALERIA VELASQUEZ ’23

How did you first meet?

Cassi Cancemi: I started looking for research opportunities at the beginning of my sophomore year. The summer before I took organic chemistry with Dr. Kritzer, I emailed him and asked if he had any openings for undergrads. Around October, I started training with a grad student in the lab while I was in his organic chemistry class. I stayed working with him even after that class was over.

Joshua Kritzer: Cassi stood out...because of the questions she would ask. Cassi was clearly interested in the science for the science’s sake—she wasn’t there for a grade or because she was being forced to. I was very excited to bring someone like her into my lab.

CC: That was my first ever research experience, so I was nervous.

JK: I like to bring on first-years and sophomores into my lab. That’s something that everyone in chemistry likes to do—professors all over campus, really. Those [students] that started early have two or three full years to develop into a completely independent scientist.

Have there been any specific highlights or moments together that stand out to you?

JK: I asked my students to bring progress reports to our one-on-one meetings, and she would bring in these very detailed reports that went over everything she’d learned and questions she still had. Her questions ranged from technical to the big picture.

She’d ask a really sophisticated line of questioning for someone who was just getting into research.

She impressed me right off the bat, and I wasn’t surprised that it was only six months until she had her own independent project.

jumped on the opportunity to teach herself. I also must mention that Cassi competed successfully for a Goldwater Scholarship, which is very, very rare and very difficult to get. I can’t remember the last time a Tufts undergrad has received that honor.

CC: Doing the application for the Goldwater Scholarship was a really good learning experience. I thought, “Well, I’ll just try super hard, and I’ll get something out of the application process.” It paid off.

What impact has your relationship with Professor Kritzer had on your time at Tufts?

CC: I didn’t know this whole research world existed until I started working with him, and I’ve completely altered my life plan to go down the path of research.

It’s something that I don’t think I would’ve ever been exposed to if he didn’t take the chance on me and let me work with him. I’ve gained a lot of confidence in myself and my abilities, which is something I’ve kind of always struggled with. I have a lot of excitement for my future. I’m excited about grad school.

All of this started when I joined his lab.

JK: She has the ability, the hard work, the talent, and the grit to achieve whatever career path she chooses to explore. There are very few question marks in my mind about Cassi’s future—I’m just really excited to be a part of it.

CC: Even when the pandemic started, we crafted a whole new project that I could do remotely. I had a wet project pre-COVID, but I’ve switched to something I can do with software on my computer. It was so nice to have somebody who valued me having an experience as much as I valued having one myself. I appreciate that he put in the work to help me not lose that.

JK: This type of computational work is something that she was not trained on. When I offered an option to do work from home over the summer, she

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ASK A QUESTION? HOW DO YOU

Building on the Legacies of Black Jumbos by Finding Personal and Institutional Truths in the Archives

BY HARRISON CLARK â&#x20AC;&#x2122;22

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ILLUSTRATION BY OLIVIA FIELDS

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I "Why do I feel the way I feel right now?"

—The Gerald Gill Papers I have trouble processing how different Tufts used to be.

Perhaps this is because I keep looking for differences where I should be looking for similarities. Or maybe it’s because I never asked anyone how to ask a good question. I wish I had the courage to ask that question now. To ask would be to admit that I haven’t really known what I’ve been doing for a good while—that I’ve been wandering around merely stumbling upon answers every now and then. I would also have to admit that I’ve been internally passing my wanderings and stumblings off as masterful time management and mystifying displays of intensely nonchalant commitment.

My desire to understand why I feel the way I feel in certain spaces has always drawn me to archival research. Imagine being able to piece together the current state of your surroundings like a jigsaw puzzle. The major caveat is that you’ll never be able to find all the pieces. If I were to walk someone through it I’d say: “Look, you can really only hope to find enough of those pieces that you can come up with some new questions for yourself.

The questions are what lead you to the next section of the puzzle, the next round of documents. And even though it will never really be ‘over,’ there comes a point when you’ve extracted enough that you can start to mentally form the rest of the image.”

Before I had even touched the Gill Papers in the Digital Collections and Archives, in the fall of 2019, I knew that late Tufts history professor Gerald Gill had been through hundreds of cycles of his own version of this process. At Tufts in 2020, if I wanted to conduct research with the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, I would apply for the Gill Fellowship. If I wanted a quiet study space to focus and get some work done for the day, I would head over to the Gill Reading Room. The Professor of the Year wins the Gerald Gill Award. So, I decided if I wanted to know how things used to be, I would start with the man whose legacy dictates the way things are now.

II “Uh, hi. Can I please see the Gill Papers?”

Well, maybe I said it a bit more confidently than that, but I was scared. Not because I felt like I shouldn’t see the collection, but because I knew that I was about to receive information that would irreversibly alter the way I operate at Tufts. I read through files for hours, retrieved from the archives on the Ground Level of Tisch Library, and only barely scratched the surface of Professor Gill’s work. I scribbled down pages and pages of notes on the history of Black student life, the Tufts Africana Center, multiculturalism in the academy, affirmative action, and so much more. And when I finally left the Reading Room that afternoon, I felt like I had a better understanding of myself.

I felt as if I inherited some sort of cultural responsibility when I read Professor Gill’s work. I had developed a deep appreciation for the Black Tufts students who came through campus before me. But more alarmingly, I had developed such a disarming

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“IMAGINE BEING ABLE TO PIECE TOGETHER THE CURRENT STATE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS LIKE A JIGSAW PUZZLE. THE MAJOR CAVEAT IS THAT YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIND ALL THE PIECES.” awareness of my own personal cultural identity (or lack thereof), that I felt uncomfortable almost everywhere I went. Spaces that used to feel like home suddenly started feeling like they weren’t meant for me anymore. The music I played felt shallow and inadequate. The lyrics I sang were weak and weightless. The relationships I had built were melting away, and all I could do was melt with them.

My truth, in being a self-declared Black artist, is that I still do not have a working definition for what I believe to be “Black Art.” Even so, I constantly fear that my work won’t be “Black enough.” I sweat over trivial details such as slang and dialect in my lyrics. I insert over-played rhythmic references in my compositions to communicate that I have a subscription to Black popular culture, even if I never use it. I quote famous Black melodies in string and vocal arrangements to catch ears when I’m afraid that my own true sound won’t quite accomplish that.

I often get so caught up in sounding “Black,” that I forget to sound like myself.

III “If a Black artist decides to create art that doesn’t fit our definition of ‘Black Art,’ do we still call it Black Art?” –Jester Hairston ’29 & Professor T.J. Anderson I saw the name “Jester Hairston” for the first time when I flipped through my high school’s hymn book during my junior year. His world-famous choral arrangement of “Amen” from the 1963 film Lilies of the Field was on the 117th and 118th pages of the book. Through reading Professor Gill’s work, I found out that Hairston was a 1929 Tufts graduate. Jester Hairston is widely credited in many circles to be one of the artists responsible for reviving and documenting the melodies that we know today as Negro Spirituals. Hairston himself was born on a plantation in 1901 and dedicated his entire career to the performance, preservation, and celebration of Black American Music.

While I explored the Jester Hairston collections in the Digital Collections and Archives, I started to draw parallels between his Tufts experience and my own. Though our student tenures were separated by almost a century, I couldn’t help but think that we shared some sort of common thread as Black Jumbos and Black artists. I came across photos of Hairston as a student starring

ILLUSTRATION BY OLIVIA FIELDS

in a show and singing with his Black men’s vocal group and compared them to my own versions. Just as with the Gill collections, every new folder in the Jester Hairston collection was a new puzzle piece giving me a better picture of the legacy of Black American music and performance at Tufts.

When Pam Hopkins, Outreach Archivist in the Digital Collections and Archives, introduced me to the work of T.J. Anderson, I almost couldn’t believe it. As a prolific pianist, composer, and playwright, T.J. Anderson is a creative giant. With his sweeping, eclectic compositions that challenged my perceptions of rhythm and harmony, I had never felt so internally validated by someone else’s work. He didn’t bend to anyone’s sound or standards. There was nothing in his sound or writings that suggested he was trying to sound like anyone other than himself.

I spoke with my current academic advisor, Dr. Pearl Robinson, about her memories of T.J. Anderson’s tenure at Tufts as Music Department Chair. She mentioned a show that he put on in 1983 called Thomas Jefferson’s Minstrels and suggested that I attempt to recreate it. The show, which took place at Tufts and featured Tufts musicians and vocalists in the ensemble, was a satire on minstrel Blackface performance. I took that news back to Pam Hopkins in the archives, who directed me towards Professor John McDonald in the Music Department. Professor McDonald, who was a mentee of T.J. Anderson, gave me some incredible insight as to the inspiration behind Anderson’s work and the experiences which fueled it. Yet at the end of the conversation, rather than suggesting that I replicate Thomas Jefferson’s Minstrels, Professor McDonald recommended that I take the inspiration I gathered from T.J. Anderson’s work and start writing my own musical.

The seed that the Gerald Gill Papers planted in my head a year ago, with the help of many others along the way, is now about nine months into becoming a full-length musical on the evolution of minstrel Blackface performance and the commercial theft of

Black American music. Inspired by three incredible Black performers and thinkers who came before me at Tufts, my ultimate goal is to create art that centers the truth that their work has helped me to understand: that my only responsibility as a Black artist is to create art that is true to my Black experience.

IV How do you ask a question when there’s no real answer?

At the root of my fear of Engagement is my fear that I’ll never find the cultural agency and gratifying creative release that I’m after. Even as my ability to ask questions has grown stronger and I’ve placated my fears of displeasing cultural gatekeepers, I’m still a little bit on edge, just waiting for a signal that it’s safe to engage.

Orbiting Engagement has its pros and cons. On the plus side, my orbit status allows me to see Engagement pretty clearly. My view gets blocked from time to time, but for the most part, I know what I’m missing out on. I can see it from all angles and perspectives. I understand its structure about as well as I understand what "orbit" means.

The downside of my orbit around Engagement is that I can really only see the raw structure from up here. And it looks pretty dangerous to land on most of the time. So, I stay in orbit. It’s comfortable up here. Although one day, I thought I might have seen Opportunity sunbathing on one of Engagement’s beaches.

“What’s the deal with Opportunity?” I pointed down and asked my neighbor, Complacency.

They responded, “That’s not Opportunity, that’s Agency.”

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PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

“My research also brings me closer to students who are interested in community health and public policy.”

For as long as she can remember, Dr. Zarin Machanda wanted to work with animals. “From the time I was a child, I really wanted to be an astronaut veterinarian, which is not a job,” she laughs, “but I had watched a documentary about sending chimpanzees to space. And when I was five years old, I just assumed that there were chimps in space, and I thought I’d go and take care of them.” It’s a funny anecdote—although any job involving space travel sounds awesome—but Machanda explains that her early desire to be a veterinarian shaped her academic studies and field work, while also creating some fascinating projects for her to explore.

Machanda is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, with a research focus on the social relationships of wild chimpanzees and how they’ve evolved over time. We trace through her education history, which includes a PhD from Harvard University on the evolution of male and female relationships in wild chimpanzees. “No one knew a lot about it before I started,” Machanda says, “which I thought was puzzling because male and female bonds are interesting and important in so many human cultures, and chimpanzees are our closest living relatives.”

Her research spanned almost 18 months in the field in Uganda, specifically including work at the Kibale Chimpanzee Project, at which she is now the

director of long-term research. “I worked with Richard Wrangham, who is one of the world’s leading primatologists and has a field site in southwestern Uganda that he started in 1987. It was about the time that I graduated and finished my PhD that he approached some of his former students about running the site.”

Machanda notes how inheriting this field site from Wrangham has shaped her research at Tufts.

“I archive and maintain all of this data from the project,” she explains, “and do various research initiatives. Right now, one set is focused on aging and another is focused on leadership.” The research put both Machanda—and Tufts students who are interested in the research—in contact with the Project’s full-time Ugandan staff, who collect the data every day. It’s all very impressive; I admit that my only knowledge of chimps comes from Jane Goodall. But for other Tufts students, this is a direct connection to really exciting research. “Because of the nature of the data and that we have years and years of it in my laboratory, it’s a great way to get undergraduate students involved,” Machanda says.

She also explains that plenty of Tufts undergraduate students have traveled to Uganda to work on the field site.

Beyond this work, Machanda is very passionate about the conservation of chimpanzees. “The work that I’m involved in is through the Kasiisi Project,

which is over 20 years old and works with 16 public elementary or primary schools near Uganda’s Kibale National Park,” she tells me. She’s a board member for the project, which focuses on providing these schools with educational support and opportunities while also teaching students about caring for the country’s natural resources. “It is a conservation project, but it manifests itself into various educational programming,” Machanda says. She talks about one of her favorite projects, which involves teaching girls how to make reusable sanitary pads for their periods. The goal is to keep girls in school while also demonstrating environmental responsibility. “My favorite part about this project is that now we teach the boys how to make them,” she says.

It’s easy to acknowledge how diverse Machanda’s commitments are, but all of her work connects her to some of the most interdisciplinary and passionate Tufts students. “For me, a lot of my focus with advising and teaching is science and biology, but my research also brings me closer to students who are interested in community health and public policy. It’s a great way of introducing them to some science and show[ing] them how it impacts them.”

—CHRIS PANELLA ’21

DR. ZARIN MACHANDA ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

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LIVING

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN: JUMBO STYLE Residential life is an essential part of the traditional college experience. What begins as a vacant bed, empty dresser, and bare desk turns into the lived-in backdrop of first-year living. Curating your brand new bedroom to fit your own needs and aesthetics is something many first-years take seriously—and for good reason! This is the room where you begin and end every day. Even in the face of incalculable change, humans have a remarkable skill to make themselves at home—wherever they reside. With the help of some well-placed string lights, maybe some wall decor, and a cute bedspread, Tufts students begin to find their “home.”

1 “I painted all the posters/quotes myself and the pictures are of me and my friends/family. My main goal was just to make it super bright and cheery!!” —Sydney Bulatao ’24 2 “I brought this canvas as a reminder of home—it’s one of my favorite Parks and Rec quotes, and my best friend painted it and gifted it to me for my 19th birthday. This canvas is special to me because it not only reminds me of the comfort of home, but of the importance of my relationships with my friends.” —Katie Moynihan ’24

3 “I spent a lot of time over the summer planning out my room—I wanted it to be really cozy since I knew I’d be in it more than I would in a typical semester. Also, I brought a ton of snacks.”

—Chris Tomo ’24 4 “I brought posters, books and lights to my room, to make it feel like home... Product placement with the elephant.” —Anneke Chan ’24 5 “This necklace was gifted to me by my best friend’s mother, and reminds me of my home and friends back in Albuquerque, New Mexico.”

—Maya Land ’24

6 “I picked up two framed, floral pictures from a side-of-the-road flea market somewhere between the Ottawa National Forest in Michigan and Rhinelander, Wisconsin when I went on a camping trip this summer (the Polaroids are from the same trip!). I found the presidents and Wilderness Act posters rolled up in my basement, untouched since my father’s college days in 1989. I ordered the variety of postcards off of Redbubble to fill in the extra space and added fairy lights to complete the vaguely cottagecore aesthetic (a welcomed contrast to the virtual school environment).” —Elizabeth Foster ’24

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ARTS HIGHLIGHT

LET’S TAKE IT FROM THE TOP...

5, 6.6,7,7,888

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HARLEM GROOVES

If you’re looking to get moving, look no further! From learning new TikTok dances in their residential halls, to hopping on Instagram lives to learn from alumni choreographers, to taking classes for credit, the Tufts dance scene is lively. You can catch their performances at one of the many annual shows, but until then, learn a move or two with Harlem Grooves.

There are over 10 dance organizations on campus, and each one specializes in something different.

Whether you’re interested in traditional Chinese fusion dance, African dance, belly dance or Raas, there is a team for you. Even with so many selections, sometimes students are inspired to create a new group. Founded during the spring semester of 2020 with the mission to create a space dedicated to the history and progress of Black American traditional dance forms, our next performer to the stage is Harlem Grooves. Their forms include, but are not limited to: modern, jazz, swing, and hip hop. Themes and choreography are styled after and inspired by companies such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Harlem Dance Theatre, and Philadanco.

Where most groups have an audition process, Harlem Grooves takes a bit of a different approach.

The group’s structure is like a collegiate dance

company. They function with different branches of the company organized by dance style, experience, and comfort level. With this structure in place, it is the hope that they can foster an environment that allows each dancer to feel comfortable with both choreography and the people with whom they are dancing. To ensure that the company fosters a sense of community, there will also be company pieces. Even though the group has been around for a short time, they are already elevating the Tufts dance scene. One of the company’s current members shares, “Harlem Grooves is a company of extreme talent, melanated genius, and a celebration of the blueprint that is Black culture. Innovating and storytelling through African American styles of dance, Harlem Grooves is bringing a style of dance that Tufts has never experienced. Watch history unfold with the brilliance that is Harlem Grooves.”

In February 2020, we saw the group hold a

well-attended dance workshop in Jackson Gym, and during the summer, they held Instagram Live workshops with ROTI & RUM––the only Caribbean dance team on campus.

Though physical dance practices aren’t feasible with the current campus restrictions, the group is looking forward to future opportunities to perform in person and see live performances of Black dance groups in the area who work within similar and different styles. From their conception to their work, Harlem Grooves’ brilliance shows us that even a strong and diverse part of campus always has room for a new addition. Who knows, perhaps more change in the dance community is on the horizon.

Maybe all we’re waiting for is you!

HERE ARE SOME MORE DANCE TEAMS TO CHECK OUT ON INSTAGRAM! Tufts Bhangra @tuftsbhangra COCOA @cocoadancers ROTI & RUM @rotiandrumdancers Sarabande @sarabande_ensemble Tufts JumboRaas @tuftsjumboraas BlackOut Step Team @blackoutstepteam Encendido @tuftsencendido Tufts Middle Eastern Dance @tufts_middleeastern_dance Envy @envyladies

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REACHING ACROSS

THE CURRICULUM TO

A MAJOR The interdisciplinary studies major offers students the opportunity to erase the boundaries between majors and ultimately unlock a curriculum that is unique, personal, and full of endless possibilities.

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BY CHRIS PANELLA â&#x20AC;&#x2122;21

ILLUSTRATION BY MARCOS FARINA

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cross its academic departments, esteemed faculty, and exciting courses, Tufts prides itself on being a college where students can take control of their educational journeys and explore their interests. It’s visible throughout the School of Arts and Sciences’ distribution requirements and the School of Engineering’s humanities, arts, and social sciences requirements, both of which prompt students to take a variety of courses outside of their intended area of study. The Experimental College does something similar: through its ever-changing, diverse sets of courses—some even taught by juniors and seniors—students can study topics that aren’t offered in traditional academic settings. And even major and minor requirements, which might seem stricter, are often fulfilled by multiple courses that students can pick from.

It’s a lot of information, but it hammers the point home: Tufts encourages academic individuality and exploration. But what does that look like in its purest form? What does it mean for students to take complete ownership over what they’re studying and how they study it? For undergraduate students, it’s all under the roof of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS). As someone who truly values Tufts’ open curriculum, I was excited to take a deeper dive into learning about CIS. To gather more context, I hopped on a Zoom call with Professor Julie Dobrow, the CIS’ director.

INTERDISCIPLINARY EVOLUTION “I’ve been involved with CIS for as long as I’ve been at Tufts,” Dobrow tells me, “which is over two decades now.” At the beginning, CIS was a coalition between the various interdisciplinary programs at Tufts—like Communications and Media Studies, which Dobrow was the director of until the program became Film and Media Studies in 2015—where faculty and students could discuss what resources they needed and goals they had. At the time, only a handful of students designed their own majors, called a Plan of Study. Today, Dobrow has helped to shape CIS into much more of its own entity: Faculty share their interdisciplinary work, and CIS has developed numerous ways to support the growing number of Tufts’ interdisciplinary studies (IS) majors.

Now, as Tufts attracts more students with diverse interests, the IS major becomes much more of a spotlighted area. “Students are increasingly looking for ways of trying to join all of these things that they’re interested in,” Dobrow explains, “and creating your own major gives you an opportunity to do that.”

Thanks to Dobrow’s work in expanding support for the major, interdisciplinary studies is as popular as ever—many students have it as a double major with another area of study—but its growth wasn’t exactly planned for. “It’s an interesting thing, because we don’t really advertise the program very much and yet, we have more and more students who find out about it.”

While it might seem counterproductive for the program to not be advertised 32

as much as it could be, there seems to be a very specific reason: CIS wants students to find it because they’re interested in it, not necessarily the other way around. Dobrow tells me that the first-year and sophomore students who approach her about the IS major are very specific types of people. “I really think what characterizes all of our IS majors is that they have a lot of different interests and that they’re very self-motivated.” This makes total sense—creating your own major is quite a task to take up, and not everyone’s got the drive for it. “We’re asking people to think ahead through their junior and senior year to put together a curriculum for themselves, which is hard to do.”

UNLOCKING THE CURRICULUM The process for declaring an IS major is relatively straightforward. Students can talk to Dobrow or other CIS-affiliated faculty about their areas of interest before applying for the program. There’s a rigorous application and interview process so that the faculty overseeing the IS major can ensure that students have put together a plan that is truly interdisciplinary, cannot easily be done with the usual major/minor configuration, and is within the context of Tufts’ liberal arts tradition. Afterwards, they’re able to name their IS major and begin going through their curriculum. But how students plan their course load and their eventual senior thesis is never one-size-fits-all. To learn more about this from a student perspective, I call Isabel Fernández.

Fernández is a senior from San José, Costa Rica. Her specific IS major is Storytelling for Social Good, a “mix between gender studies, literature, film and media studies, sociology, and more,” she tells me. The major draws inspiration from the various disciplines that Fernandez was interested in during her first year at Tufts. “When I was trying to figure out what to major in and what to focus my time and energy on, there was so much that I was interested in. I wanted to major in so many different things.”

While designing her IS major, Fernández noticed that many of the areas that she was focusing on shared “a common vein,” which was her desire to tell stories for social good. “I really wanted to go in-depth on topics like gender studies and filmmaking, both in practice and in theory,” she explains, “but I also wanted to explore all of the aspects of storytelling without being limited.”

Those aspects aren’t just strictly focused on visual storytelling but rather how various ideas, theories, and practices create stories that have deeper weight and meaning and can all mix to create something entirely new. “When I was proposing my major, the important thing was that it’s not just a few areas watered down into one major,” Fernández says. “It’s one truly interdisciplinary major. They’re all woven into each other. And I’m drawing clear parallels on the importance of the classes I’m taking.”

As for her senior thesis—the cumulative work that all IS majors must complete—Fernández can’t discuss the project without mentioning the restrictions and problems caused by COVID-19. “I was originally going to look into feminicidios, which translates to feminicide in English,” she says, “which are gender-based

TUFTS ACADEMIC INDIVIDUALITY AND EXPLORATION. BUT WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE IN ITS PUREST FORM? WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR STUDENTS TO TAKE COMPLETE OWNERSHIP OVER WHAT THEY’RE STUDYING AND HOW THEY STUDY IT?

homicides. It’s a huge issue all over Latin America, but also in Costa Rica. I was going to do visual research on how the media sensationalizes these feminicides and write and direct a fictional short film set in Costa Rica.” Of course, it’s no longer certain that this can happen. Fernández isn’t sure how she’ll approach the project and the issue of feminicide but suggests the idea of possibly doing a project with analog photography.

FORGING CREATIVE CONNECTIONS

ILLUSTRATION BY MARCOS FARINA

Our conversation about senior theses prompts me to think about other projects that IS majors can work on throughout their time at Tufts. With so many opportunities for research and independent studies across campus, it’s possible that IS majors can find ways to explore their areas of studies in a cumulative fashion before their senior year. For more information on this, I reach out to Casey Chiang, also a senior and a fellow Experimental College Explorations teacher.

Chiang is a double major—besides her Methods of Storytelling major through IS, she’s also studying cognitive and brain sciences. “I’ve always been in love with stories,” Chiang says, “but when I came to Tufts, I was having trouble figuring out how to manifest that passion. I took cognitive and brain sciences to satisfy my scientific passions, but I wanted something that cater[ed] to my creative side.” Between English, art, and film, Chiang was able to create her IS major as a way to study why we tell stories and how they impact us. She tells me that her interest comes from a desire to learn and a true belief in the power of stories. “There’s something valuable to just studying storytelling itself as a universal concept that can be applied to various disciplines.” I nod my head vehemently over the phone; I couldn’t agree more, and I’m starting to see connections between her and Fernández’s majors.

And there are connections between their senior theses, too (well, at least through COVID-19). “I’m going to do a multimedia project that focuses around being in college during quarantine,” Chiang explains to me. It’ll certainly feel timely, and it’s obviously not something she imagined working on when she declared her IS major back during her sophomore year—which she tells me she accidentally ended up declaring past the deadline. “I reached out to Dobrow and she helped me get through the application process quickly and finish my proposal. And I had to find three advisors and interview with them all in less than [a] month. It was super stressful, but I’m so happy I did it.”

DIGITAL IMPACT ON STORYTELLING That brings us to Chiang’s Explorations course, Multimedia Storytelling. She’s teaching the course and advising the first-year students alone, which is an exciting but unexpected endeavor. “I had no intention to teach a course, but I talked to Amy Goldstein at the Experimental College,” Chiang says, “and I went through how storytelling is one of the oldest things on Earth and how it’s changed in the digital age. There’s this whole experience economy and

interactive storytelling world that isn’t really focused on in classes at Tufts.”

Experimental College classes are always timely and topical, so a course on, as the class description says, “the history and evolution of storytelling and the ever-growing landscape of multimedia storytelling” is an incredible offer.

Chiang’s course is certainly an exciting example of just how easy it is to create new opportunities with the IS major. But ultimately, IS majors go beyond projects and classes; they lead to life beyond college and jobs. To learn more about what that looks like, I talk to Sean Lee, who graduated in the fall of 2019.

“I heard about IS through my environmental studies advisor,” Lee says, “and I talked to my advisor about a second major and all of my interests.” For his IS major, Conservation Through Multimedia Storytelling, Lee combined anthropology work, ecology, and film and media studies. The curriculum for his major came from various courses focused on everything from learning how to read scientific papers to studying filmmaking.

This culminated in Our Stories, Our Planet: Imagining a Sustainable and Equitable Planet through Inclusive Representation in Diverse Narratives, Lee’s thesis in which he “explored the diversity of characters, storytellers, and different types of narrative in environmental [storytelling].” His focus was fiction.

“When people think about environmental stories, they usually think about documentaries or nonfiction,” Lee explains, “but I thought about fiction, which I [felt] there was a lack of discussion about.” WALL-E, he tells me, was one of the few movies that had a hopeful message about the environment and humans’ role in Earth’s ecosystem. He looked at other movies, too, like the apocalyptic environmental story of Mad Max; Lee was never interested in just studying one type of environmental narrative.

A VERY PERSONAL CURRICULUM Post-graduation, Lee’s quite busy. He’s currently involved in Youth Outside’s Outdoor Educators Institute and tells me how it “provides resources for people who are not always represented in the outdoors.” The institute combines those cultural and social lenses with important outdoor knowledge and resources to develop diverse outdoor educators’ skills. It’s impressive work that Lee shares his time with while advising youth advocacy groups and working on a few books, one of which is connected to his thesis work. And it all traces back to his work as an IS major. “It really gave me the agency to make my Tufts education what I wanted it to be,” he tells me.

It was only after talking to Lee that I realized he, Chiang, and Fernández all had majors focusing on storytelling. It’s certainly not a CIS requirement that students need to focus on this, but it feels quite poetic; these students are creating their own specific academic journeys and picking their own curriculums. They’re exploring their interests and developing them into real fields of study that lead to real post-graduate jobs and opportunities. They’re telling their own stories.

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ADMISSIONS REMIX ALEKYA MENTA ’21 BIOPSYCHOLOGY MAJOR FROM ORANGE, CT

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

Throughout her childhood, Alekya Menta was incredibly shy and only spoke to her parents. Now, she is well known for her vibrant campus tours and sunny disposition. She brings this same energy to her work as a research assistant, dancer with Tufts Pulse, and resident assistant.

In her remixed essays, Alekya reflects on how she has grown into her voice and has found unconditional friendship.

WE ASK CURRENT STUDENTS TO TACKLE THE NEW TUFTS SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS

Which aspects of the Tufts undergraduate experience prompt your application?

In short, “Why Tufts?”

I’m volunteering with Project SHARE on a Sunday, and unprompted, I receive the notes my friend took at a genetics study session I missed. I’m mid-formation change during my performance and I see my friends cheering in the back row. They have just run from Tisch Library to see me dance during their study break. I come home from my summer internship through the Laidlaw Scholars program and prepare to hear about what my housemates learned that day.

We are equally as excited to share our passions and learn more about each other’s. Three examples of normal life here that you won’t find elsewhere. Tufts students want to see you succeed and will even go above and beyond to help you reach new heights. I can make friends by just smiling at anyone I see and can count on them to be there for the long run.

How have the environments or experiences of your upbringing—your family, home, neighborhood, or community—shaped the person you are today?

Growing up in my big, Indian family, there was never a time we were together without music playing. My aunts and I always dragged everyone to the “dance floor” and started dancing to make everyone feel comfortable. I wasn’t always like this, though. Surrounded by my strong and supportive family, I was taught to find power within myself and my own voice. I now hold much appreciation for my culture and want to share it with the world. I grew up training in Indian Classical dance, and one day after a performance, still dressed in my full costume and jewelry, my parents took me to Subway to grab a bite to eat. I remember being mortified that everyone was looking at me and had convinced myself that they were all laughing at me. Today, one of my favorite moments of the year is getting ready for the Tufts Association of South Asians Culture Show, dressed in my costume with my dance team, and going to Dewick to grab a bite to eat. Tufts students love to learn about what we are doing, and I have grown to love sharing a piece of me that I love so much. Relying on family support and encouragement has taught me that it’s okay to ask for help, and it’s okay to struggle to find who you are; I’m now okay with stepping out of my comfort zone and leaning on my Tufts family for unconditional love.

To see the 2020-21 Tufts short-answer questions, visit http://admissions.tufts.edu/apply/essay-questions 35

ADVICE

THE ANATOMY OF A POW The t’s are crossed, the i’s are dotted. You’ve put the finishing touches on your personal statement, and it’s right where you want it to be. Not an errant comma in sight, the words dance across the page to convey your desired message and tone, and you’re feeling ready to submit your application.

But wait...there’s one more writing request we have of you before you hit submit. We want to know why you, dear reader, want to go to Tufts.

Despite the short word count (just 150!), this is a great opportunity for your application to shine, so we’re giving our top tips to help you showcase what it is that excites you most about life as a Jumbo.

BY RACHEL BROWN, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

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1

3

Be specific. Be specific. Be specific.

We know you may be writing a lot of these “Why [insert institution]?” essays.

And you are probably drawn to schools for similar reasons. But it’s best to avoid the temptation of CTRL-C, CTRL-V from one school to the next. If we can remove “Tufts” and insert another school’s name into the paragraph, you’ve missed an opportunity to convey authentic and specific enthusiasm. Show us that you know us by diving into specific details you can’t glean from a surface-skimming of the home page of our website. Not sure where to start? Well, you’re on the right track reading this magazine, and we also recommend student blogs, departmental websites, and attending virtual programming!

But intellectualism matters—we are an academic institution, after all.

Yes, I did just emphasize having fun with the essays, but we’re not just looking for humor and spirit and energy. We want to see that you have an intellectual fervor.

We want to learn what academic areas excite you, and we want to see that you’re thinking about these academic interests in thoughtful, novel, or nuanced ways. That intellectualism that comes through in your short-answer is going to come through in your classroom discussions and enrich our academic community. We are looking for that voice that will push along classroom conversations, be open-minded to new ideas, and bring a unique academic perspective to the table.

2

4

Have fun with it. (For Tufts, at least.)

At Tufts, we define ourselves by (and pride ourselves on!) our intellectually playful community. So much so that it comes up in every presentation we give and every brochure we write. So it should come as no surprise that we look for an intellectually playful voice in the essays of applications. We’re looking for people who can connect with the unique aspects of the Tufts experience, whether that’s a class, a student group, the campus culture, or a campus event. You don’t have to feel like you’re writing a formal essay when you’re applying to Tufts. Feel free to let your personality shine through. We encourage it!

Avoid being “listy” We love a good listicle as much as anyone, but your “Why Tufts?” isn’t a great place to bust out the bullet points.

For a short-answer to be “listy,” it means that although you are listing out all the aspects of Tufts that excite you, your response doesn’t go much deeper than that. Yes, it’s great you like the dining hall food, the Tisch Library view, the [insert academic field] major, the [insert student group], [insert professor]’s research. But tell us why! Don’t feel like you need to cover everything you love about Tufts; there’s simply not enough space in the word count. So pick two to three things that really catch your attention, and tell us why those things matter to you.

Remember, the short-answer isn’t just about you, and it’s not just about Tufts; it’s about how those two fit together.

ERFUL COLLEGE ESSAY Based on these tips, we recognize that we are asking a lot of you. But remember you have three opportunities through your personal statement and two short-answer questions to showcase different sides of yourself. Think about your personal statement and short-answer questions as a set of essays for us to get to know you. One essay might be more serious in tone about your academic interests; another might provide the playful punch of personality. You have three chances to reveal your multifaceted self—use each opportunity wisely. Happy writing!

I am very interested in attending a mid-sized liberal arts college outside of a mid-sized city. I want the experience of a close-knit

Lacks specificity— there are lots of schools like this!

community with many events, but also with the option of adventuring in a city to explore restaurants and the bustling music scene.

That’s why Tufts is the perfect place for me! I want to study either Show your smarts—WHY do you love biology and chemistry, and what about the Tufts programs appeals to you?

biology or chemistry because I loved those classes. I believe Tufts will set me up well on my path to becoming a doctor, and I am interested in the Early Assurance program with Tufts Medical School. Extracurricularly, I love being part of a team, so I hope to

Listy—doesn’t take it to the next level to make the Tuftsstudent connection.

compete on the club soccer team, and I want to round out my activities with joining a dance group. I feel a strong connection to the intellectually playful, kind, collaborative, civically engaged, and

Doesn’t dive deep—these are the exact words used on our home page!

globally minded community at Tufts. Go Jumbos! (147 words) We’re left with a vague sense of this student. There are missed opportunities to showcase specific interests and personality!

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ADMISSIONS INFORMATION WHAT TO SUBMIT: HERE’S THE LIST. FIND MORE DETAILS ON OUR WEBSITE!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 +

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Common Application or Coalition Application

APPLICATION DEADLINES AND NOTIFICATION DATES Early Decision I Application Deadline: November 17 Notification Date: Mid-December

Tufts Short-Answer Questions (included in the Common Application or Coalition Application)

High School Transcript(s)

Early Decision II Application Deadline: January 1 Notification Date: Mid-February Regular Decision Application Deadline: January 1 Notification Date: By April 1 Transfer Admission Application Deadline: March 15 Notification Date: Mid-May

Senior Year Grades

TUFTS CLASS OF 2024 STATISTICS Testing (Optional) We accept either the ACT or the SAT; neither is required.

Applicants may choose whether they wish to have exam scores considered as one component of their candidacy.

We do not require or review scores from SAT Subject Tests, the SAT Essay, or the writing section of the ACT.

Letters of Recommendation We require one from a school counselor and one from a teacher. You may send us one additional if you’d like.

Art Portfolio Required only for students applying to the Combined Degree (BFA/BA or BFA/BS) and BFA applicants to SMFA at Tufts.

Financial Aid Documents If you are applying for aid, you will need to submit: 1. FAFSA 2. CSS Profile 3. Federal Income Tax Returns For more information, read the next page of this magazine or visit go.tufts.edu/finaidapp

Additional Materials (Optional) • Alumni Interview • Arts or Maker Portfolio: Students applying to the School of Arts and Sciences or the School of Engineering may submit an optional arts or maker portfolio to highlight talent in studio art, drama, dance, music, or engineering.

23,127 3,740 16.20% 100% 199 206 49%

Applications Acceptances Acceptance Rate of Demonstrated Financial Need Met First-Generation Students International Students Women in the School of Engineering

Score Ranges of Admitted Students 33–35 Middle 50% ACT 700–760 Middle 50% SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing 720–790 Middle 50% SAT Math

TUFTS UNDERGRADUATE STATISTICS 5,907 4.8 20 28 300+ 44% 45% 36% 76 35%

Undergraduate Enrollment Miles from Boston Average Class Size Varsity Sports Teams Student Groups Women in the School of Engineering of Juniors Study Abroad Need-Based Aid Recipients Countries Represented US Students of Color *As of November 3, 2020

THE REAL DEAL: FINANCIAL AID AT TUFTS THE BASICS

WHAT IS NEED?

TUFTS MEETS 100% OF DEMONSTRATED NEED FOR ALL ADMITTED STUDENTS, REGARDLESS OF CITIZENSHIP STATUS, FOR ALL FOUR YEARS.

(

Cost of Attendance

)

Tuition and fees Room and board (meal plan) Books and supplies Personal expenses

(

Expected Family Contribution

)

Parent contribution Student contribution

(

Financial Need

)

Your award may include: Grant aid* Student loan Work study

Your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is the amount your family is expected to pay for college for the 2021–2022 year. It is calculated from the information provided on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), CSS Profile, and your family’s federal tax returns. Your financial need is the difference between the annual cost of attendance and your calculated family contribution. Your financial aid package will make up the difference, for all four years—even if your family’s situation changes. We generally do not include student loans for students whose families earn less than $60,000 per year. All Tufts financial aid is need-based—we do not offer meritbased scholarships or athletic scholarships. *Grants are need-based gift aid that do not need to be paid back.

HOW DO I APPLY?

WHO CAN HELP?

COMPLETE THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:

To estimate the amount of financial aid you might receive if admitted to Tufts:

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)* https://fafsa.ed.gov/ Tufts code: 002219 Cost: free *Note: not required of international or undocumented applicants for financial aid

College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/ Tufts code: 3901 Cost: $25 initial fee plus $16 for each additional college. Fee waivers are available for students who qualify for an SAT fee waiver or whose family incomes are below $45,000.

Non-Custodial Profile (NCP): if your parents are divorced or separated.

The requirement may be waived by the Tufts Financial Aid Office under very specific circumstances.

Federal Income Tax Returns Applicants should submit all documentation to IDOC (idoc.collegeboard.org/idoc), an electronic imaging service of the College Board. Your account will be created at idoc.collegeboard.org once you submit the CSS Profile.

Please do not send tax returns directly to Tufts Admissions or Financial Aid.

BY THE DEADLINE: Application Type Early Decision Round I Early Decision Round II Regular Decision

CSS Profile November 20 January 15 February 1

FAFSA November 20 January 15 February 1

2019 Federal Tax Forms Through IDOC December 2 February 1 February 15

If you are applying for financial aid at Tufts and have a Social Security Number, please make sure to include that information in your application for admission so your materials can be properly matched.

MyIntuition http://admissions. tufts.edu/myintuition Tufts Net Price Calculator https://npc.collegeboard. org/student/app/tufts For questions while applying: CSS Profile 305-420-3670 FAFSA 800-433-3243 “Chat With Us” Service IDOC 866-897-9881 (US and Canada) 212-299-0096 (International)

Ready to get started? Go.tufts.edu/FinAidApp 39

PROGRAMS With nearly 150 majors and minors, 30 interdisciplinary programs, and the courses of the ExCollege, Tufts’ offerings require more than a brief skimming, so you can find an expansion of this quick list on our website. But in the meantime, skim away.

Just note that Tufts’ undergraduate programs are offered in three schools: Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Students may take classes across schools, and many students do.

SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES MAJORS

Africana Studies American Studies Anthropology Applied Environmental Studies Applied Mathematics Applied Physics Arabic Archaeology Architectural Studies Art History Astrophysics Biochemistry Biology Biomedical Sciences* Biopsychology Biotechnology* Chemical Physics Chemistry Child Study and Human Development Chinese Civic Studies* Classical Studies Cognitive and Brain Sciences

German Language and Literature German Studies Greek Greek and Latin History Interdisciplinary Studies International Literary and Visual Studies

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING MAJORS ABET ACCREDITED

Biomedical Engineering Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering Computer Engineering Computer Science

Sound

Food Systems and Nutrition

Welding

French

Woodworking

Geology°

FIVE-YEAR COMBINED DEGREE PROGRAMS

Tufts/New England Conservatory: BA or BS and Bachelor of Music

ADDITIONAL DEGREE OPTIONS

Latin

Architectural Studies

MINORS

Italian

Latin American Studies

Data Science

Africana Studies

Mathematics

Engineering

Anthropology

Middle Eastern Studies

Engineering Physics

Music

Engineering Science

Applied Computational Science

Music, Sound, and Culture

Environmental Health

Philosophy

Human Factors Engineering

Physics Political Science Psychology Psychology/Clinical Concentration Quantitative Economics Religion Russian and East European Studies

Japanese Judaic Studies Latin Latin American Studies Leadership Studies

Architectural Studies

Linguistics

SMFA AT TUFTS AREAS OF STUDY

Art History

Mathematics

Asian American Studies

Multimedia Arts

All BFA students at SMFA at Tufts focus in interdisciplinary art. They may explore many of the following areas of study while pursuing this interdisciplinary art education.

Astrophysics

Museums, Memory, and Heritage

Biotechnology Engineering° Chemical Engineering Child Study and Human Development

Economics

Science, Technology, and Society*

Drawing

Computer Science

Education*

Digital Media

Dance

Sociology

Engineering Psychology

Film and Video

Drama

Spanish Cultural Studies

English

Economics

Spanish Literature

Graphic Arts

Environmental Geology

Education

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Illustration Installation

Engineering Education

Jewelry

Engineering Management°

Metals

English

Painting

Entrepreneurship

Papermaking

Entrepreneurship for Social Impact

Performance *Available only as a co-major

Photography

°Available only to students enrolled in the School of Engineering

Printmaking

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Human Factors Engineering°

Latino Studies

Colonialism Studies

Geological Sciences

History

Architectural Engineering

Ceramics

French

Hebrew

Arabic

Cognitive and Brain Sciences

Film and Media Studies

Greek Archaeology

Judaic Studies

Japanese

Environmental Engineering

Chinese

Environmental Studies*

Greek

Mechanical Engineering

Italian Studies

Electrical Engineering

Bookmaking

Drama

German

Greek Civilization

International Relations

Animation

Computer Science

Geosystems

Tufts/SMFA (School of the Museum of Fine Arts): BA or BS and Bachelor of Fine Arts

Russian Language and Literature

Community Health

Geoscience

Sculpture

Environmental Science and Policy° Film and Media Studies Finance

Music Music Engineering Native American and Indigenous Studies Peace and Justice Studies Philosophy Physics Political Science Portuguese Religion Roman Archaeology Roman Civilization Russian Science, Technology, and Society Sociology Spanish Studio Art Urban Studies Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

.

Y E H

JUST STARTING YOUR SEARCH? HERE’S WHAT TUFTS IS ALL ABOUT. WE DO OUR RESEARCH

WE ARE INTERESTED

Tufts is a student-centered research university, which means that we like to dig into our passions deeply and figure things out for ourselves—whether that involves using silk to regenerate tissue or spending a fully-funded summer exploring the political implications of Shakespeare’s plays through the Summer Scholars program. Students and professors come together, across disciplines, to ask questions and create meaning.

…in a lot of things. Tufts students don’t limit themselves: they combine biology with philosophy, compete as nationally-ranked DIII athletes, pursue Bachelor of Fine Arts Degrees in studio art at our School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and solve problems as engineers. They’re part of a community that embraces the unconventional and the uncategorizable.

WE ARE ACTIVE CITIZENS

WE DON’T TAKE OURSELVES TOO SERIOUSLY

Jumbos use their skills and ideas to better people’s lives, whether they are teaching engineering in local elementary schools, creating sustainable businesses, or spending a year doing full-time service as a 1+4 Bridge Year Fellow.

They understand that they are citizens of a global community, and they embrace that responsibility.

This is a place where students are as excited to debate fan theories as they are to apply mathematical theorems—as intellectually playful as they are powerful. We believe that ideas can have a profound impact on the world, and those ideas can be born around the seminar table but also in the residence hall common room.

Sound about right? Read the stories here to learn more. Also check out our website: admissions.tufts.edu

PHOTO BY ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Non-Discrimination Statement Tufts does not discriminate in admissions, employment, or in any of its educational programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, religion or religious creed, disability or handicap, sex or gender (including pregnancy, sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct including acts of sexual violence such as rape, sexual assault, stalking, sexual exploitation, sexual exploitation and coercion, relationship/intimate partner violence and domestic violence), gender identity and/or expression (including a transgender identity), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law. Retaliation is also prohibited. Tufts will comply with state and federal laws such as M.G.L. c. 151B, Title IX, Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment and Rights Act, Executive Order 11246 and other similar laws that prohibit discrimination, all as amended. Tufts is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer. More detailed Tufts policies and procedures on this topic may be found in the OEO Policies and Procedures page.

Any member of the Tufts University community has the right to raise concerns or make a complaint regarding discrimination under this policy without fear of retaliation. Any and all inquiries regarding the application of this statement and related policies may be referred to: Jill Zellmer, MSW, Executive Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity, Title IX and 504 Coordinator, at 617.627.3298 at 196 Boston Avenue, 4th floor, Medford, MA 02155, or at Jill.Zellmer@tufts.edu. Anonymous complaints may also be made by reporting online at: tufts-oeo.ethicspoint.com. As set forth in our policies, individuals may also file complaints with administrative agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”). The contact information for the local office of OCR is 617.289.0111 at Office for Civil Rights, Boston Office U.S. Department of Education, 8th Floor, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02109-3921. The email address for OCR is OCR.Boston@ed.gov.

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