Blogs
theSkimm
Posted by Carly Machlis in Alumni, Blogs, School of Arts and Sciences, Technology on December 20, 2012
Keeping up with the news, whether it’s politics, pop culture, or anything in between, can be tough, especially as a young professional on the go. Just ask Danielle Weisberg, A08, and Carly Zakin, two ambitious twenty-somethings who know that “skimming the headlines” can be confusing and difficult, particularly with the advent of so many online media outlets. Weisberg and Zakin decided to take on the responsibility of keeping their generation in the know: enter theSkimm, an innovative and fun take on the daily headlines with the promise of “we read, you skimm.”
Zakin and Weisberg met on a semester abroad in Rome, and they both worked at NBC after college. In an interview with Business Insider, they explained:
[theSkimm is] for someone who’s smart, career-minded, and social. They might be going to a cocktail party or wedding, where news stories come up in conversation. We want our readers to be able to start the conversations. theSkimm is meant to be a confidence booster.
Weisberg majored in American Studies at Tufts, and has worked in broadcast journalism for NBC News, as well as in editorial positions at The Daily Beast and Boston Magazine.
For more information, check out TheSkimm on Facebook and Twitter, and make sure to sign up theSkimm, new editions come out every weekday.
Tufts Professors on “Academic Minute”
Posted by Carly Machlis in Blogs, Faculty, Research, School of Arts and Sciences, Technology on December 14, 2012
In the past year, several Tufts professors have been featured on “Academic Minute,” a series broadcast by WAMC Northeast Public Radio that focuses on the academic innovations coming out of colleges and universities around the world. In August, the series featured Tufts Music Professor Dr. Joseph Auner, who spoks about the technology behind modern electronic instruments. “Academic Minute” has also spoken with Dr. Gregory Crane, editor of the Perseus Digital Library at Tufts, who researches the importance of Arabic translations of documents from Ancient Greece.
Professor Crane explains the significance of Arabic translation:
“Many scientific terms such as algebra and chemistry come to us from Arabic. European culture rediscovered ancient sources like Aristotle and Euclid via Latin translations from Arabic translations of the Greek originals.”
The “Academic Minute” podcasts reach a wide audience on a daily basis. For more information, check out the podcast’s Facebook and Twitter Pages.
Tufts in Spain Gets Comfortable
Posted by Veronica Richter in Blogs, International, Photos, Student Experience, Students, Video on October 5, 2012
While Jumbos on the hill are a month into their classes and beginning to feel the semester pick up, Tufts in Spain students are just getting acquainted with Madrid and Alcala, the two cities where the program resides. The getting-acquainted process was aided by the introduction of the program’s newest event, the “Finde de Intercambios” or “Exchange Weekend.”
The weekend kicked off with a fiesta de intercambios, a casual party in which students met their intercambios, Spanish students at the University of Alcala and Autonomous University of Madrid who were assigned to Tufts students as pen pals so they could foster relationships and practice their language skills before heading to Spain. The weekend continued with guided tours of both Madrid and Alcala.
For an insider look at their Exchange Weekend, check out these pictures and videos from the fiesta de intercambios in Madrid:
For updates on how the group is doing adapting to Spanish culture, keep an eye on the program’s blog - but be warned, most entries are written in Spanish!
World Damba Festival 2012
Posted by Carly Machlis in Blogs, Community, International, Photos, Staff, Students on September 21, 2012
The World Damba Festival, a 3-day conference highlighting the music, dance, and traditions of Northern Ghana, was held at Tufts this year from September 14-16. The festival was free and open to the public, and it featured a wide variety of events, many of them supported by the Tufts Department of Music, as well as several other departments and offices throughout the university. Highlights included a folk music concert, lectures on the history and sociology of Ghana, a performance by Tufts’ Dagomba Drumming Ensemble, and a fashion show featuring members of Tufts’ African Students Organization.
While the festival attracted participants from around the world, Tufts students and faculty were a significant presence at different events throughout the weekend. It was a festival filled with tons of energy, plentiful Ghanian food, lively drum circles, and stimulating discussions–a great way for Tufts to forge a connection with the Ghanian community at large.
Here’s a video from the event:
A Modern Hippocratic Oath
Posted by Kimberly Moniz in Blogs, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine on September 17, 2012
On Saturday, more than 200 students at Tufts Medical School were welcomed into the medical profession during the annual White Coat Ceremony. The Class of 2016 came together at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston to receive their white coats and then celebrated at a reception at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.
Common Health, a WBUR blog, wrote about the ceremony and also about the Hippocratic Oath that all medical doctors take. Although many people know of this oath, most don’t know that the modern version has a Tufts connection. The modern oath was written in 1964 by Dr. Louis Lasagna, who later became Dean of the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences. This updated oath emphasizes a “holistic and compassionate approach to medicine” and has been adopted by many medical schools.
Take a look at these excerpts from the old and new oaths (from the Common Health blog):
Hippocrates:
I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant.
Modern version by Dr. Louis Lasagna:
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.
Congratulations to the newest Tufts medical students on receiving their white coats!
Market to Lindsey
Posted by Veronica Richter in Alumni, Blogs, Student Experience on September 6, 2012
In an economic climate where a bachelors degree no longer guarantees a job after graduation, one Jumbo has taken it upon herself to go above and beyond in the hiring process – she created a blog, ”How to Market to Me: Your Guide to the Millennial Market.”
In her blog, Lindsey Kirchoff, A12, profiles select Boston companies, talks marketing, and breaks down what makes millennials tick with insights that could only come from from being part of the hard-to-reach generation herself. One of these insights came from an unlikely source: superhero movies:
It seems strange to think of movies as narratives for our time, but hey, I’m an English major. In response to the hardships of the Great Depression, escapist movies, such as The Wizard of Oz dominated the 1930s. Superhero movies provide an ideal narrative for a generation facing enormous challenges.
Think about it. Millennials were raised in the time of everyone-gets-a-trophy parenting. We were told that we were being special just for being our unique selves. Social networks, like Facebook, encourage us to promote our inherent individuality for the world to see. In short, we were told to believe we were special because we were ourselves.
Now, take superheroes. With the exception of self-made heroes like Batman and Iron Man, the majority of superheroes received their powers for chance, not merit. Whether it’s a spider bite or a gamma ray accident, the origin of most powers are through no action of their own, but rather an event beyond their control. Superheroes are ordinary people randomly granted extraordinary abilities. The merit wasn’t earned, but they use it for greatness.
Despite the Great Recession, high unemployment rate, polarizing political division and climate change, millennials remain a surprisingly optimistic generation. Whether it’s naivete, ignorance or just the faith in ourselves, we plan to take on this great responsibility–even if we don’t necessarily have great power.”
You can check out Lindsey’s blog here.
Exhibition and Social Change
Posted by Veronica Richter in Active Citizenship, Blogs, International, School of Arts and Sciences, Students on August 21, 2012
Rising senior Charmaine Poh, A13, lives international relations: spending her time between Singapore, New York City, and the hill, and she has even fit in a few trips to Nepal, India, and Burma. She’s merged her life experiences around the world with the Jumbo focus on active citizenship and shared her thoughts via her personal blog.
She recently attended a few exhibitions mixing art and social change:
Photo by Charmaine Poh, "You've Got a Fast Car"
And she was inspired to bring what she saw to the hill:
Over the last year or so, I’ve been trying to put what I’ve learned into practice at Tufts…. What I’ve managed to do is miniscule in scale in comparison to what could happen in the future, but I’m nevertheless optimistic.
I’d like to see the corporate and the non-profit world team up, breaking down the stereotypes each industry sees in the other, and in turn focusing their eyes on a common cause. I’d like to see fashion entities, arts festivals, museums and the like adopt this into their corporate social responsibility strategy, knowing that it can benefit them. And likewise, non-profits need to know that creativity does not necessarily mean a waste of funds. If anything, it’s time to think relevant. You need no further proof than charity:water to see the truth of this.
Check out more of Poh’s moments of inspiration here.
Green Trips for All!
Posted by Veronica Richter in Blogs, Environment, Students on August 17, 2012
Thanks to Tufts Recycles!, anyone can decrease (or completely remove) their environmental footprint while on the road. Basing their tips from the movie YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip, Christopher Ghanny, A15, drops some knowledge on sustainable traveling. From basics like using your own dishware to lesser-known techniques using smartphones, their environmental wisdom offers ideas we can use both on the road and in every day life:
“Tupperware is your best friend.
Instead of wasteful food containers and plastic bags, bring reusable plastic bins with you to hold your leftovers and food scraps. When shopping, use your tupperware to stash fruits, granola, or nuts bought from bulk bins (Whole Foods has them, and they’re less pricey than you probably think!). Locking containers like the ones pictured above also prevent flies and animals from getting into your food supply.”
Keep these tips in mind when you go on your next trip or adventure and for more helpful environment-friendly tips, be sure to check out Tufts Recycles! on Twitter and Facebook.
Summer Reading
Posted by Veronica Richter in Active Citizenship, Blogs, International, Research, Social Media, Students, The Fletcher School on August 14, 2012
In addition to these great reads brought to you by the Tufts community via Facebook and TuftsNow, The Fletcher School suggests a fun and different alternative to your summer reading: student blogs. In a recent blog post, they highlight seven blogs worth a read from students working and researching in places as far and wide as Uganda and Guatemala. They also included a note from a Elia, a student interning in Libya, who is witnessing history while abroad this summer:
In this moment of jubilation in Tripoli, let me wish all of you the chance to experience — either directly for your own country, or indirectly through friends — a peoples’ first opportunity at political self-determination.
No matter the likely political troubles ahead, no matter democracy’s many flaws, no matter how much of a transitional government this new government in Libya will still be, the weight of today’s simple exercise is source of immeasurable joy in its own for millions of Libyans. You just can’t put it in words.
Witnessing fellow human beings go through something like this is truly extraordinary.
–A European who never had to fight with guns for the right to vote for his leaders.
For more on the Fletcher School and their extraordinary students, check out their blog, follow them on Twitter, or like them on Facebook.
Hungry Hungry Jumbos
Posted by Veronica Richter in Blogs, Student Experience, Students on August 9, 2012
At some point in every Jumbo’s life, students are faced with an all too familiar dilemma: life without a meal plan. Without the convenience of salad bars, healthy options, and a myriad of protein choices, what’s a Jumbo to do!? In an effort to deal with this mid-college crisis, Lydia Jessup, A13, and Alex Testa, E13, started Feastie Girls, a community driven food blog for college students focusing on cooking healthy, quick, inexpensive, and fun dishes. Jessup sums up their mission stating, “We wanted to create a place where college students could share ideas and get inspired in the kitchen.”
From recipes that would only be acceptable in college (Frat bread, anyone?) to the more sophisticated Zesty Cucumber Gazpacho, The Feastie Girls cover it all! Keeping with their community-driven focus, the girls allow for anyone currently in college (and those who remember recipes from their college years) with a love of healthy, delicious food to contribute. One of their contributors is Jeff Marvel, A13, who gives us a taste of his personal experiences as a newbie in the kitchen along with a recipe for his easy Chicken, Broccoli, and Pasta:
If you’re like me, then growing up was defined by delicious home cooked meals by mom. Coming into college, I knew how to to scramble an egg and toast a bagel. That’s an exaggeration, but not by much. The inevitable threat of cooking was delayed for a few years by this beautiful thing called the unlimited meal plan. But now it’s summer, I’m on my own and faced with the daunting task of creating reasonably nutritious meals at minimal cost.
Faced with this challenge, I settled on a childhood favorite: broccoli. This superfood is one of the more nutrient dense vegetables on the planet, according to CNN, and has proven cancer prevention abilities. It’s cheap, yummy, healthy and easy to cook. Sounds about right.
I decided to make chicken and pasta because, well, I’m not really sure. They just seemed like reasonable things to cook. But together, chicken, broccoli, and pasta create a cheap, nutritious dish that’s easy to make for someone just starting out. Hope you enjoy!
If the Feastie Girls have whet your appetite, feel free to email them and contribute to their project: Lydia.Jessup@tufts.edu and Alexandra.Testa@tufts.edu. Bon appetite!