Professional artist and Tufts senior Makai Murray’s newest show, “Reflection Before Progression,” will open at the Hunter Gallery of St. George’s School in Middletown, R. I. on Sept. 28th from 6–10 p.m.
Since August, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts has been home to “Ulises: Assembly” — an exciting residency and exhibition that puts the spotlight on the often-overlooked labor of bookworkers. The Philadelphia-based Ulises collective, formed in 2016 by Nerissa Cooney, Lauren Downing, Kayla Romberger, Gee Wesley and Ricky Yanas, takes center stage at the Grossman & Anderson Galleries with its first institutional residency and solo exhibition. Running through Nov. 10, this exhibition is more than just a display of art — it’s an invitation for Tufts students and the Boston community to engage in an immersive exploration of art publishing and collective practice.
Welcome! I’m glad you’re here spending a bit of your day with me! This is the first edition of what will prove to be the absolute best, most Earth-shattering book column ever. Because, obviously, it’s being written by the coolest, funniest, most nonchalant managing editor turned study abroad liaison the world has ever seen.
On Sep. 6, thousands of fans poured into Boston’s Symphony Hall for a performance that was far from your typical night at the orchestra. While some audience members dressed business casual, others opted for outfits and paraphernalia from a galaxy far, far away, as the Boston Pops delivered an immersive performance of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015).
Sept. 22 will mark the 25th anniversary of the premiere of “The West Wing,” an iconic political drama from the mind of Aaron Sorkin that earned 98 Emmy nominations and 27 wins in its seven-season run, Even after 25 years, the show continues to have a lasting impact on the world of entertainment and politics. The show’s legacy can perhaps be best summarized by Janel Moloney, who played Donna Moss, who said, “The show has not stopped but seemingly gotten more popular, remaining in the Zeitgeist, surging when people need political comfort — which these days is always — and amassing new devotees every day.”
Coming over thirty years after the original film, Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a complete marriage of ridiculous gags and charming storytelling. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” kicks off with the death of Charles Deetz, where his death by shark attack is told through stop motion animation.
The name change from “Pussy Island” to “Blink Twice” might have been the film’s first mistake. What could have been a bold and subversive thought piece on sexual trauma and women’s revenge, with “Pussy Island” became the rather trite and familiar play of power dynamics seen in “Blink Twice” (2024).
In an age when TikTok is flooded with videos of thousands of people lining up for hours at Taylor Swift merch trucks, it is hard to agree with Gentleman’s Quarterly’s statement that we are experiencing “The End of Merch.” The article, published at the beginning of the summer alongside others as part of “Merch Week,” seems to argue that while merch, the abbreviated form of the term merchandise, may be commercially successful, its golden age in the world of fashion has come to an end.
American reality dating show “The Bachelorette” debuted over 20 years ago; the series, a spinoff of “The Bachelor,” follows a single woman and a panel of men vying for her affection until the season finale, in which the final man standing proposes to her. Typically, the lead of “The Bachelorette” is a well-liked contestant from a previous season of its counterpart show. Despite running for over two decades, the franchise had never cast an Asian lead –– until this spring. Jenn Tran, the Vietnamese American star of the 21st season of the show, seemingly made history. At the time of the announcement, Tran had expressed enthusiasm over her casting, saying she felt “so grateful and so honored to be the first Asian Bachelorette in this franchise” and that she was excited “to see Asian representation on TV.”
As the end of summer rapidly approaches, we now have the insight to describe those three golden months through a list of music, and it is an undeniable fact that former Disney Channel star Sabrina Carpenter will end up somewhere on that list.
As his reputation suggests, former Black Midi frontman, Geordie Greep, has always had a knack for channeling noisy percussion and fuzzy guitar feedback to create a beastly sound. His jarring progressive compositions are only overshadowed by dramatic vocal delivery. Each song can be compared to some theatrical climax one would witness on a Broadway stage. His voice is full of emotion and vibrancy, comparable to a Frank Zappa level of sonorous whimsy. His new work, “The New Sound,” will be his first solo album independent of Black Midi following the band’s announcement of an indefinite hiatus.
If I were to associate summer with three words, they would be rest, rejuvenation and, most importantly, reading. The months of June, July and August are crucial to reassure my conscience and my Goodreads that I am indeed keeping up with my TBR — I often divide my vacation into phases based on the books I intend to read, to go with my desired aesthetic or vibe. My TBR is erratic at best, and it’s difficult to pick just two books, but we are working with a word count here. Here are my top two reads of this summer:
In 2015, Pixar Animation Studios released “Inside Out,” an animated coming-of-age film centered around the mental landscape of Riley, a young girl who just moved from Minnesota to San Francisco. The protagonists are the personification of Riley’s basic emotions: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness; whichever emotion was controlling the central console determined what emotion Riley was feeling. The film was considered a massive success, grossing $858.8 million at the box office against its $175 million budget, cementing itself as one of Pixar’s most influential and successful children’s films. At the end of the movie, the emotions gather around a large button that appears on the central console labeled “Puberty” to which Joy dismisses, saying “Things couldn’t be better! After all, Riley’s 12 now. What could happen?”
This summer seemed to fly by, especially if you spent half of it at the movies watching film after film. Films came out every weekend between June 1 and August 31, from sci-fi to coming-of-age to Marvel releases. While many films were highly anticipated, a few stood out.
The cover of Charli XCX’s latest album is instantly recognizable, with the word “brat” pasted carelessly in a blurred resolution on a pane of lime green. Careless, indeed, is the word that comes to mind for this album — and that is its greatest success.
Over 100 years after its founding in 1910, Tufts’ oldest student theater organization is continuing theater tradition and trying new things. Pen, Paint, and Pretzels, otherwise known as 3Ps, puts on productions of contemporary and classic plays every semester. Students in 3Ps have the opportunity to perform in, design and direct plays proposed the semester prior to each production.
After nearly 50 years of providing rigorous academic and musical education to Tufts students, the Tufts/New England Conservatory five-year dual degree program is coming to an end. The decision to end the program was made in summer 2023, and its termination was announced by email to students in the program and Department of Music faculty and staff on Oct. 25, 2023. NEC faculty were notified of the decision on Oct. 24. Students currently enrolled in or accepted into the program will be allowed to complete it, but no new students will be accepted into the program, and it will end when the last student graduates. There are currently 14 students in the program.
Graduating senior Jason Wallace is nearing the end of post-production for his thesis film “Citizens of Kattaquam.” Featuring scenes with up to 40 cast members and a crew of 15, Wallace’s grandiose sci-fi epic is not the typical small-scale production expected of student films on sparse budgets. But for Wallace, pursuing one of the most ambitious Tufts thesis films in recent years was necessary to realize his vision.
Carl Svahn entered Tufts as a first-year in the fall of 2020. With classes held online and COVID-19 restrictions in full effect, Svahn, like many others in his grade, felt isolated, so he began looking for ways to connect with his classmates. A comic book lover, he spent time at Kamikaze in Davis Square, which is where he learned about the opportunity to pursue journalism with the Daily.
The Korean Dance Association, better known as KoDA, is Tufts’ very own student-run K-pop dance group. KoDA members collaborate on K-pop covers in weekly rehearsals, club bonding events, semester showcases and videos of their performances — which they post to their YouTube channel. A relatively new club that emerged right before the onset of the pandemic, KoDA has only grown in numbers and notability over the past few years.
