Dean Kyte commencement 2020
About Fletcher

Commencement 2020

Daniel Birdsall

Another Commencement, come and gone. This one, clearly, was different than the usual affair, but may prove to be one of the more memorable in recent memory. I’ll take the opportunity here to vicariously toot the horns of all those involved in pulling this event off, as they’re too modest to ever do so themselves. I was immediately struck by the professionalism of the virtual ceremony, and the obvious huge amounts of work involved in bringing it to life. Seamless transitions, all involved ready to hit their marks, and real-time captioning made it the best possible version of itself.

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AminaJMohammed
About Fletcher

Commencement approaches

Daniel Birdsall

This Sunday brings one of the major events of the academic year. Like pretty much everything else in our viral times, this year’s Commencement will unfold entirely online. While it will certainly be unusual, it’s shaping up to be a no-less-special close to the academic year. While it’s true that this year’s ceremonies will feature no tent, no in-person champagne toast, and sadly no opportunity to shake hands with our favorite students as they end their time at Fletcher, there will also be no worries about the weather (Fletcher field gets pretty squishy in the rain in spite of the tent) and no parking difficulties.

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Our Students

Chisaki dives into wind power at the School of Engineering

Daniel Birdsall

One of the great pleasures of maintaining this blog is learning of various goings-on at and around Fletcher about which I otherwise would never have known. Current MA student Chisaki recently provided me with a good example. As a one-year degree student, Chisaki’s time at Fletcher has gone quickly. As you’ll see, she’s taken advantage of it with a unique cross-registration opportunity with the School of Engineering. Cross-registration with partner institutions (which include all Tufts and Harvard grad schools) vastly expands curricular options for students, particularly in certain technical subject areas that may not be available in great depth in the Fletcher curriculum. For Chisaki, that’s meant digging into offshore wind energy.

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Our Students

Capstone haikus are here!

Daniel Birdsall

Another personal-favorite annual Fletcher tradition has gotten underway! Capstone haikus are particularly fun for being so organic. There’s no Fletcher Capstone Haiku Club (to my knowledge), no formal coordinating structure, no due date, and no real rules. Some debate on that last point, to be honest; one current student’s three-stanza initial call to verse (kicking off the below list) got submissions flowing on the Social List recently, and also started a discussion on the “proper” form and spirit of haiku. As you’ll see from the final entry listed here, some take issue with the branding of these entries as “haiku” in the traditional sense. In typical Social List fashion, others quickly responded with rebuttals, and lengthy disquisitions (including supporting links) on why a “traditional” haiku in fact encapsulates a much broader form and sensibility than a rigid 5-7-5 syllable format with an emphasis on nature.

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Sulmaan Khan
Our Faculty

Finding joy during quarantine with Professor Sulmaan Khan

Daniel Birdsall

I was delighted recently to hear from my colleague and friend Prof. Sulmaan Khan. A former faculty member of the Admissions Committee, ready volunteer for all our team’s requests, and (most importantly) a fan of my dog pal Murray, Sulmaan has long been a friend of the Admissions Office. As you’ll see, he’s fortunate to have a personal interest that’s still possible to pursue during quarantine.

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