The Tufts Asian American Center was founded in 1983 as a resource for Asian and Asian American students, and this year marks its official 40th anniversary on campus. The center’s anniversary underscores a rich history of student activism and demands for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on Tufts’ campus.
Picture the trunk of a tree, and imagine that it is an academic department. Its branches are majors, and perhaps its leaves can be students. Majors are the primary way through which Tufts students consolidate their intellectual pursuits. Some of them exist outside of the spotlight, yet despite being younger or smaller in size, they are no less in value and profundity. The Daily spoke to faculty from four such departments to learn more.
At Tufts, students can gain credits on a pass/fail basis for running a half-marathon — or at least seriously training for one. The physical education department offers a section of Physical Fitness specifically designed to train students over a semester to run the 13.1-mile race. For some, this might be harder than taking a traditional academic course.
Walking across campus, it is easy to forget that Tufts occupies an integral space within two communities, Medford and Somerville. The campus passes seamlessly over the dividing line between these two cities, making for a campus that feels completely removed from the surrounding community.
Editor’s note: Nina Joung is a former executive features editor of the Daily. Joung was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
This week, I reviewed Revival, which resides at 197 Elm St. in Davis Square. It’s nestled right next to Dakzen, and is easy to spot with the cool giraffe mural on the side of the building. There’s a bench outside which is a great spot for sunny days. The seating is really minimal inside (only five tables) so I wouldn’t count on Revival as a study spot, but if you are able to grab a seat, it’s a great environment with lovely natural lighting.
When I applied to study at the Tufts in London Program at University College London, I was made aware that I would have to be in school for two terms. The first would take place January through March and would contain 10 weeks of classes. Then, I would be on break from March 25 to April 25, whereupon I would then return to school for the “exam” term.
After an exhausting day, many students find themselves in their dorm, common room or suite looking to relax within the private luxury of their living space. However, you may find that college dorm buildings are not as secure as one may expect. Last semester, rumors of the “Wren Creeper,” a mysterious figure who sneaks into the rooms of unsuspecting students living in Wren Hall at night, made waves around campus, sparking concerns over campus security.
“I learned that your relationship with someone lasts a lifetime. What you [learn] from them lasts a lifetime without having to be together for it all,” Becca Zajac said.
Like many schools across the country, Tufts today is a coeducational institution. However, this hasn’t always been the case. Tufts’ progression from an all-male institution to its current state has been quite complex. Following the broader historical discourse on gender equality, rather than a linear development, Tufts’ inclusion of women students saw multiple waves.
There is a strange house on College Avenue, right near Powderhouse Square. The house at 115 College Ave. has always been a little bit mysterious to the Tufts students who walk by it on their way to Davis Square. The brightly colored building stands out from the adjacent apartment building and other houses nearby. It has aluminum panels with colorful designs featuring roosters, plants, a sun of sorts and the words “Museum of Modern Renaissance” covering the façade. A stylized bull sits on the front door, its eyes windows into a small vestibule. A large face with bulging eyes and a frightening mouth hangs above the entrance. Hundreds of students walk by this house every day, but few know what it is, and even fewer have been inside.
I’ve said before that film production is about collaboration. If you can’t work with others, inspire them and bond with them, film is not the career for you.
TEDxTufts hosted its 2023 conference, titled “[De/Re] Construct,” on March 11–12, which featured 10 groundbreaking talks given by speakers from across the Tufts community, ranging from undergraduate students to faculty to alumni.
On my computer, there is a folder in which I put my writing pieces. Simply judging by the number of Word documents that exist in that folder, I appear to be a writer who is welling up with ideas. But in fact, one hand is enough to count the finished ones. I gave up on all the others halfway.
Drag performance has finally come to Tufts! After taking Associate Professor Kareem Khubchandani’s Critical Drag course in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program last semester, seniors Julian Hammond and Lee Romaker — or Aster R*sk and Ari Ola — have continued the class’s work and collaborated for a capstone project: the Jumbo Drag Collective.
On March 10, Tufts’ School of the Museum of Fine Arts hosted photographer and filmmaker Farah Al Qasimi in its Artist Talks series. A storyteller at heart, Al Qasimi uses her art as a language to communicate social and environmental issues in her home country, the United Arab Emirates. This language, both visual and auditory, allows the viewer to adeptly switch between different ways of seeing and knowing a singular story.
At this point in my adult life, I don’t live with my parents. I haven’t spent more than a month and a half consecutively at their house since before college. So I expected to miss them when I went abroad. In fact, I expected to miss them a little more than usual based on the physical distance between us, but not by much. What I didn’t realize is that what makes me miss my parents is not the physical distance — it’s the constant lack of familiarity in my current surroundings.
Growing up, Tufts sophomore Gabriela Perez remembers watching television at home. The shows and movies she watched influenced her perception of different people across the globe as well as a variety of societal concepts.
Eighty-one minutes. On the night of March 18, 1990, 81 minutes was how long it took two thieves dressed as police officers to steal 13 of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s most prized artworks. The thieves ran away with up to $500 million worth of art, including multiple works by Rembrandt van Rijn, Degas, as well as a painting by the renowned Johannes Vermeer. Above all else, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft is, to this day, the single largest property theft in the world, with repercussions that have reverberated for decades.
As an American abroad, you hear a lot of stereotypes: Americans are loud, narcissistic, obsessed with guns and can’t even point out another country on a map. There’s a whole host of often unflattering adjectives that come with the territory of “American.”
