CLASS HIGHLIGHTS

CLASS HIGHLIGHTS 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.

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. —Anthony Romero, Professor of the Practice in Performance at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts

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

JACK CHAU ’22

COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR FROM SAIGON, VIETNAM

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 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

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