Features

Features

Tufts offers first Southeast Asian history course in two decades

By Layla Kennington | November 1

While perusing SIS this fall, you’ll find HIST80: Introduction to the History of Southeast Asia. Taught by Professor Mesrob Vartavarian, the course examines the region’s geography and socio-political development, early European colonization, Western-led globalization and more. However, what the details do not reveal is that HIST80 is the first Southeast Asian history course offered at Tufts in approximately 25 years.

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Columns

Tales from the T: It’s Blue, the T Line I’ve got

By Kevin Zhang | October 28

There’s a fair chance you’ve never ridden the Blue Line. Linking the West End to Winthrop and Wonderland, it’s the shortest and least busy of the MBTA’s four subway lines. But even for its size, it’s got an interesting backstory that could teach us some lessons on the future of our transportation network.  

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Features

New ExCollege class investigates the changing rights to abortion in the US

By Madeleine Hudgins | October 27

This fall, Tufts’ Experimental College added a new course, The Right to Abortion, which dives into the history of abortion in the United States. Taught by reproductive rights activist Sarah Lee Day, the class aims to explore American society before and after the Roe v. Wade ruling and the future of reproductive justice in the nation. 

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Columns

Liz in London: Less study, more abroad

By Elizabeth Foster | October 27

So far this “study” abroad experience has looked like spending time abroad rather than spending time studying. Compared to Tufts and other U.S. universities, most coursework occurs in 2–3 assignments. On the module (class) registration portal, the weightings are explained: 25% learning log, 25% source analysis, 50% research essay; 20% weekly activities, 15% each midterm, 50% final; 30% prototype, 70% final project. And these are the better-weighted modules. Most of the physics modules were 20% coursework, 80% final. Suddenly the weighting of Sliwa’s final in Physics 11 looks far nicer.

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Features

The future of immigration policy and where universities fit in

By Katie Furey | October 26

As of Sept. 25, 2022, over 25,000 immigrants were being detained in the United States by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and 66.3% of those detained had no criminal record, according to Syracuse University’s TRAC database. Despite these high numbers, U.S. immigration law is an unpopular topic among national news outlets and within pop culture at large.

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Columns

Lex Eat!: Don’t read this if you are gluten-free

By Alexa Amorosino | October 26

I can’t write a food column in Italy without giving pasta its moment — so let's talk about it.  

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Features

Tufts biking culture attracts commuters, hobbyists, mechanics and athletes

By Vedant Modi | October 20

Bikes and American university campuses seem to be entangled with each other. Biking is a special mode of transportation with an emphasis on sustainability. At Tufts, the same is true, with the addition of a budding culture of adventure, craftsmanship and sport. 

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Columns

Liz in London: On food and art

By Elizabeth Foster | October 20

While living in Medford this summer, my friends and I excitedly discussed studying and traveling abroad: who knew who in which countries, what airlines were the cheapest to fly across the pond and, most importantly, the food.

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Features

Tufts community celebrates the fall season through various social events, activities

By Kasey Afshani | October 19

With temperatures dropping, leaves changing and pumpkin-flavored treats all around, autumn has kicked into full gear. For people native to New England, that’s no big deal, but for students experiencing fall up north for the first time, it’s a stark change. 

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Columns

Sustainability at Tufts: The Eco Reps program

By Becca Pinto | October 19

When I first visited Tufts as a senior in high school, I remember running into a group of students who were selling some of their old clothes on the President's Lawn. Not only were the clothes super cool, the prices were also very low. As they explained, this was because all they wanted was to make sure the clothes were going to get reused. They didn’t care about making money or anything. As we walked away, my mother whispered to me that the students here are really weird, and I shouldn’t apply. Obviously, I ignored her and applied anyway.

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Features

Students emerge with new perspectives after immersive Tufts With Rwanda Fellowship

By Isabelle Kaminsky | October 18

Hidden in the spring semester course selections is an Experimental College class called “Tufts With Rwanda Fellowship.” However, it is much more than the average three-hour ExCollege class. 

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Columns

Community Table: Working with Kids

By Gwendolyn Brown | October 18

Zach Woods and I had been planning to have this cheese date for weeks. Little did I know that his hometown has a surplus of it. When I brought two pieces of goat cheese, he exclaimed, “I love goat cheese! I’m from the middle of nowhere Texas, but it’s like lots of goat farms and stuff.” 

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Features

Tufts community members reflect on the escalating tension around Taiwan

By Layla Kennington | October 17

In the aftermath of China’s August military exercises near Taiwan, Beijing’s message to the world was clear: China will not shy away from challenging the United States, and its military will continue to uphold China's claim to Taiwan. The message suggests that tensions in the region will remain high, with an increasing risk of confrontation between the United States and China.

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Features

Tufts Senior Mindy Duggan shares her passion and advocacy work for disability rights and accessibility 

By Maya Katz | October 14

The Tufts community is home to a wide variety of upstanding community members, including senior Mindy Duggan, who has taken her interest in disability advocacy to her studies, extracurriculars and work life. Duggan crafted her major in child study and human development to concentrate in developmental diversity and deaf studies. 

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Local

Tales from the T: What’s in a name?

By Kevin Zhang | October 14

Today, we’ll be looking at some of the more interesting station names on the T. While most stations are named for streets, local landmarks or influential figures (i.e. dead white men), many stations have rather unique names that reveal some history of the city around us. 

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Features

New study abroad winter program starting this year in Aix-en-Provence

By Owen Bonk | October 13

Studying abroad is a widely popular opportunity at Tufts University, a school well-known for its internationally minded student body. Every year, 40–45% of Tufts undergraduates participate in a year- or semester-long program in a foreign country. As impressive as this statistic is, Tufts Global Education is seeking to bring even more students abroad with a newly minted program that will take place over this academic year’s winter break. Taught by Bruce Hitchner, professor and chair of the classics department, the Greeks, Romans, and Celts in France program will take a group of students to significant archaeological sites in and around the city of Aix-en-Provence in southern France.

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Columns

Liz in London: Unfamiliar places with familiar faces

By Elizabeth Foster | October 13

Just as I thought I was getting comfortable enough with the direction of traffic to begin jaywalking (safely, at least), I left the U.K. for the EU.

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Features

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon reflects on his time at Tufts and political journey

By Abby Stern | October 12

The world of state legislative politics is a buffet of issue options. Take a dollop of transportation, a dash of tax policy, a cup of racial justice and a pinch of environmental protection. It is up to the legislator to decide the plate of politics they create in order to maximize the impact they can have. Tufts alumnus and current Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon (LA‘92) knows the power of this legislative buffet and has used his years in Minnesota politics to impact layers of the state’s political discourse.

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Columns

Lex Eat!: You don’t get old at the table

By Alexa Amorosino | October 12

Some people simply eat to live. They see food as fuel and treat it as such. I am not one of those people … and that’s pretty much how I found myself living abroad in Italy this fall.

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Features

Breaking the dichotomy, part 2: The meaning of bipartisanship in a fragmenting America

By Guillem Colom | October 6

Being uncomfortable is never easy. It requires us to propel ourselves outside our personal boundaries, the echo chambers we constructed from the moment we felt empowered to be on one side of the political aisle. Unfortunately, we often fail to branch out and rely instead on our emotional investment in political issues without fundamentally making an actionable plan for political change. Such a practice is called political hobbyism, and Associate Professor of Political Science Eitan Hersh is all too familiar with it.

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