Project Lazarus is a non-profit that provides housing, support, and resources for people living with HIV/AIDs in the greater New Orleans area. As part of their mission to heal and empower, the transitional living facility partners with local institutions and universities to offer wellness education opportunities for their residents. José Roberto González Bisteni is an MA candidate in Tulane’s Philosophy Department, and has been co-leading weekly classes at Project Lazarus since Fall of 2024. Additionally, three PhD candidates, Chen Wang, Craig Koch, and Daniel Stearman, co-teach the program alongside Bisteni.

By José Roberto González Bisteni (SLA ’25)
MA in Philosophy

Photo: José Roberto González Bisteni (SLA ’25)

Participants in the Project Lazarus program come from many walks of life. It is always interesting to see how they interpret topics presented in our weekly philosophy lessons, how they process thought experiments and philosophical arguments presented to them, and also to see them actively think about those problems in group discussions. The beautiful thing about philosophy is that no prior knowledge is needed. It is not necessarily what philosophy should "produce"; first comes thinking itself, and this is a possibility that we generally share as humans.  

Starting in October 2024, I have been visiting Project Lazarus about once a week to co-teach philosophy lessons. The classroom has been rather informal — a kitchen table that fits 10 people comfortably. From the beginning, we found it to be the most suitable setting to discuss, question, and reflect.

The purpose of the lessons is to either introduce a philosophical problem or present the content of a philosophical text. Sometimes these two objectives overlap. For example, last semester Kant's philosophy was introduced to present both the problem of aesthetics and the problem of ethics. In the case of aesthetics, we detailed material from Kant's Critique of Judgement in order to explain why Kant thinks that judgements about beauty are subjective. In the case of ethics, we presented Kant's famous categorical imperative.

By looking specifically at one important text from the history of philosophy, we hope to show students the aspects involved within that area of philosophy. Furthermore, the lessons are meant to show a one-time student what philosophical questioning looks like; and for those students that continue to participate, to give a sense of what philosophy in general might be all about (this, of course, is itself a problem for philosophers). 

This semester began with a paper that argues that philosophy has, as one of its ends, the living of a good life. In my own lessons, I have attempted to return to this problem, with attention to how it is that thinking can contribute to living life well. Perhaps it allows us to understand things better not only through the discarding of falsities, but also in highlighting how thinking done poorly can be dangerous and often indistinguishable from careful thinking, if one rushes to answers and does not stick with the problematic long enough. This line of thinking therefore does not blame philosophy for the existence of bad philosophies, but encourages the individual to constantly question instead of being contented with answers.  

It is also worth mentioning that my co-teachers and I don't necessarily see eye to eye on all of these problematics, and are not always working within the same philosophical traditions. This gives the students multiple perspectives to consider: on philosophy, the ways of doing and thinking about philosophy, and on interpretations of these texts. 

One student, who has attended nearly all of the lessons since I first arrived, has expressed his gratitude for our visits. In my view, he has gone from resisting the problems that we posed in favor of his preconceptions about philosophy, life, and politics, etc., to actively engaging with the lessons and finding ease with being confused over the problems, despite the headache that it causes (a trait that the Socrates of Plato's dialogues mentions is true of those first engaging with philosophy in more than one dialogue). Just this comfort in not knowing and the ability to be perplexed is, I believe, a great progress in developing oneself as a thinker (perplexity, as Plato's dialogues suggest, is the beginning of philosophy). These past two lessons, I have been very pleased to see more students show up and participate.

I thought these lessons would be a great opportunity for developing as a teacher and to get practice teaching philosophy in particular. I tend to struggle with feeling comfortable explaining things without being as precise as I possibly can, which might make my lessons more demanding for someone with no background in the area. In this regard, teaching at Project Lazarus was a great opportunity for learning how to respond to what is appropriate to the student's needs and desired outcomes, given that everyone is at a beginner level and being introduced to these concepts for the first time. However, I am constantly encouraged by the participation of the students, by the sense one gets that they are getting something from the lessons, and that they appreciate our being there. No one is there who does not want to be there, and this makes for a very gratifying time. 

The Project Lazarus Transitional Living Facility, pictured here along with a view of one of its gardens, was founded in 1985.

On the evening of Thursday, February 20, the Tulane Entertainment Business Network and Tulane Career Services welcomed Matt Rowean, chief creative officer and founder of Matte Projects, a film production and creative agency in NYC, for an inspiring and eye-opening talk. Over the course of an hour, students weren’t just given a glimpse into a remarkable career — they were infused with unfiltered ambition and proof that chasing creative dreams is not only possible but necessary. By the end of the night, jaws had dropped, and aspirations had soared.

Rowean took the audience on a journey through the rise of Matte Projects since its inception in 2011. He didn’t just highlight the successes but also the turbulence of the creative industry and the need to forge unconventional paths, relatable to many in the crowd of creative-leaning and enterprising liberal arts students. Prior to his role at Matte Projects, Rowean was a painting and communications student at Syracuse University who then moved to New York City after college and pursued advertising. But fate — or perhaps creative chemistry — intervened when he crossed paths with fellow founders Brett Kincaid and Max Pollock. “We had a collective desire to put new creative products into the world,” Rowean reflected. And that’s exactly what they did.

From orchestrating motocross spectacles at Fenty runway shows to celebrating Donald Duck’s 90^th birthday with Anderson .Paak, to launching global campaigns for PUMA, Matte Projects has never played by the rules. “Each of our clients sees us differently,” Rowean explained. “Some know us for throwing unforgettable events, others for producing films or putting on runway shows. We’re incredibly multifaceted, though that can be a challenge at times.”

For the ambitious students of the Tulane Entertainment Business Network (EBN) — those driven by passions for sports, film, music, and marketing — Matt’s story wasn’t just an industry insider’s perspective. It was a testament to the power of versatility and creative risk-taking. Ellie Frankel, a sophomore at Tulane and social director of EBN, shared, “I love how much he emphasized not limiting yourself — rather, recognizing your skills and interests and allowing them to work alongside one another… there’s no need to confine yourself to one niche.”

Our evening with Rowean was more than just a conversation; it was an invitation to dream fearlessly, create relentlessly, and embrace the beautiful chaos of the non-traditional path.

Last week, a group of young alumni were invited back to campus to speak on a professional panel for current Tulane liberal arts majors, co-hosted by the School of Liberal Arts and NTC Career Services. The five panelists all graduated within the last five years and now work in a range of industries and professions, including publishing, consulting, solar energy, marketing, and operations. 

The panel highlighted its breadth of represented majors and minors at Tulane — Environmental Studies, Classical Studies, English, Communication, Economics, Philosophy, Spanish, and the Strategy, Leadership & Analytics Minor (SLAM), and Political Science — and how studying these disciplines had informed their individual career pathways thus far. The discussion provided students with advice on leveraging soft and hard skills alike to navigate their early postgrad years, and stressed the importance of strategic networking and seeking out internships.

Conceived as an opportunity for School of Liberal Arts students to gain career insights, the event was moderated by H. Andrew Schwartz (A&S ’90), who graduated from Tulane's School of Arts & Sciences with a Political Science degree, and is now leading a think tank as the Chief Communications Officer at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. 

Schwartz asked each panelist about their own trajectories, highlights and challenges, and addressed his executive words of wisdom to current students. “The difference between those of us who are working and those of us who are not working is literally night and day. So what can you do outside of that job to also be strategically thinking about the next thing?" 

Enthusiasm and stepping up when given the opportunity to learn more were both also emphasized by the speakers. "Employers love young people who are happy to be there, who put their nose to the grindstone and try to master whatever it is they are doing," noted Schwartz. This willingness to adapt and explore added responsibilities was underscored by Ishanya Narang (SLA '20) who started at the ground level at GRUBBR and held roles in marketing and PR before being offered her current job of Director of Communications & Implementation at the start up

Following the discussion, some audience questions allowed for group feedback and closing thoughts from each of the panelists, before an informal networking session where students spoke with panelists one-on-one, putting the evening’s advice into practice.

Highlighting Young Alumni’s Journeys

The panel showcased the varied trajectories, demonstrating how a liberal arts degree often opens unexpected doors across industries.

• Sophia Gutierrez (SLA ’22): With a Classical Studies degree and a Master’s in English, Gutierrez credited a summer publishing course and making connections while interviewing for helping her land her sales associate role at Simon & Schuster. “Make sure you're being kind to people along the way," she reminded students, as she described having been referred to her current supervisor by a previous interviewer upon whom she had made a strong impression, despite not being selected for that role. 
   
• Sahil Inaganti (SLA ’23): Now working in mergers and acquisitions at Nexamp, a solar energy company, Inaganti emphasized how his multiple majors — Environmental Studies, Political Economy, and Public Health — shaped his flexibility and approach to working. “I benefited from taking a variety of classes,” he explained, noting the importance of a broad perspective and maintaining hobbies to keep oneself actively engaged and interesting. He also shared that his strategy at any new job was to leverage his own inexperience, making a point of asking questions and learning as much as he could from the start.
   
• Charles Lieberman (SLA ’22): As a consultant at Deloitte, Lieberman’s background in Economics and Philosophy have been invaluable. He shared how interpreting Socrates’ texts sharpened his critical thinking skills, now making complex business documents seem straightforward. “The nature of a liberal arts education is fluid and exploratory,” he said. “Curiosity has been my biggest strength in my current job.” 
   
• Stashia Thomson (SLA ’23): Now in a dual role across sales and marketing at Atomic Black Spirits and The Drinkable Company, Thomson emphasized how her Spanish minor augmented her social skills, giving her a “touchpoint to connect with people.” She encouraged students to start networking early, sharing her belief in building connections to achieve career success, and learning about her audience both before and during sales meetings.
   
• Ishanya Narang (SLA ’20): Working as Director of Communications & Implementation at GRUBBRR, Narang discussed the importance of pursuing independent ventures. “One thing liberal arts students shouldn’t shy away from is entrepreneurship,” she asserted. “There’s no better way to control what you want to do than doing your own thing. We have good cultural and social understanding of problems — in a way that sometimes other degrees may lack — so having that cohesive education gives you a very good perspective on what really matters.”

Liberal Arts as the Foundation of Success

Each panelist underscored how their humanities and social sciences studies have been integral to their early career outcomes. From critical thinking to creativity, debate, adaptability, and constant curiosity, they proudly identified themselves as chameleons and high-achievers whose potential was only starting to really show.

Gutierrez humorously, yet profoundly, summed up a common misconception about college majors: “Oh, what are you going to do with an English degree, read a book? But that’s exactly what I do for my job every day — that is a profession, in fact.” Lieberman added, “I think the nature of a liberal arts education instills a very deep sense of curiosity. And when I apply that to my actual job, I would argue that curiosity has been my biggest strength.”

Tactics for Students

The importance of internships and networking in opening doors to career opportunities was persistent throughout the evening. Schwartz, drawing from his own experiences, emphasized that internships help position students to be “in the right place at the right time.” Narang added, “Once your foot is in that door, how do you make the most out of that opportunity?”

Thomson encouraged students to start building connections early, while Lieberman and Inaganti highlighted cross-industry communication as tools for growth. The panel’s practical focus resonated with students in attendance, who lingered to connect with the alumni during the post-panel networking session. This format for asking questions, exchanging ideas, and building relationships helped bridge the gap between education and career success.

Reflecting on the event, Lieberman offered an apt summary: “With the School of Liberal Arts, your options are unlimited. Maybe there’s less structure — but there’s more opportunity.”

Panelists answer questions from the audience during the Young Alumni Perspectives discussion.

Exceptional works of art, literature, and scholarship from our liberal arts community receive recognition on the global stage.

MAY 2025

Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Nathaniel Rich has been named a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow, a tremendous honor and achievement for any scholar. Guggenheim Fellows are awarded generous monetary prizes in support of their future work and “under the freest possible conditions.” Rich joins the fellowship’s 100th class, a selection of 198 exceptional artists and scholars across 53 fields, as the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation celebrates its centennial year and a century of influence on American intellectual and cultural life. Rich’s topics include climate writing, social justice, and environmental journalism. He is also a New York Times Magazine contributing writer and author of several books, including two previous works of nonfiction with environmental themes, Second Nature and Losing Earth. The fellowship will support Rich’s next work of nonfiction, a book about the life and work of the climate economist Martin Weitzman.

The album SYMPHONIC STRADIVARIUS, featuring Newcomb Department of Music Professor Barbara Jazwinski's composition Beyond the Sunset, was selected as the Gold Medal Winner in the 2025 Global Music Awards. The album was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Miran Vaupotić, with Davide Alogna as violin soloist.

Tara Yanez, Ph.D. Candidate in the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and a 2024–2025 Graduate Fellow at the Murphy Institute Center for Ethics, will receive a 2025 Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship of $31,000 to support focused writing of her dissertation, “Women-Led Strategies of Security and Justice in Latin American Urban Peripheries.” She was awarded this honor based on her scholarly ability and the dissertation’s potential as a significant contribution to the study of religion, ethics, morals, or values. Out of a pool of 600 applicants, Tara was among 20 fellows to receive this award.

Recent graduate Amelia Rich (SLA ’24) has won several awards for “Kindred Spirits,” a short film she wrote and produced at Tulane for her capstone project as a Digital Media Practices Coordinate Major. The film has received awards at the UCLA International Shorttakes Festival (Best Writing Award); Worldwide Women's Film Festival Best Shorts Competition (Award of Excellence, Award of Merit Special Mention); and The IndieFEST Film Awards (Award of Merit Special Mention x2).

Four School of Liberal Arts faculty will receive 2025-26 academic year residences at the Tulane Bywater Institute’s A Studio in The Woods. Faculty members include Associate Professor of French Fayçal Falaky, Assistant Professor of Communication Muira McCammon, Associate Professor of Theatre Jenny Mercein, and Assistant Professor of Political Science Rachel Schoner.

Associate Professor of French Jonathan Morton has been selected for a Tulane University Georges Lurcy Affiliated Fellowship at the American Academy of Rome. Morton will attend a 4-week residency in the 2025‐26 academic year while working on his project, “Engines of Invention: Thinking Machines in the High Middle Ages.” The fellowship is funded by the Georges Lurcy Fund for Research and Creative Artistic Projects.

APRIL 2025

Assistant Professor of English Karisma Price has won the 2025 Whiting Award in Poetry, one of the most prestigious prizes recognizing emerging writers in the United States. Whiting Awards are presented annually to 10 exceptional emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Each winner receives $50,000 in recognition of early accomplishment and the promise of outstanding future work.

The selection committee writes about Price and her work, “The poems of Karisma Price are songs, howls, portraits, critiques; they move nimbly between the narrative and the lyric. Price bends form and time, bringing together unexpected interlocutors to make sense of what cannot make sense — but the effort is sanctifying. Her architecture surprises; full of rhythm and light, it houses steady compassion alongside flashes of violence. The reader feels the necessity of the work and, held by Price, rises to meet it.”

A native New Orleanian, Price is a poet, screenwriter, media artist, and the author of the debut collection I’m Always So Serious (Sarabande Books, 2023), a New York Times Editor’s Choice.

Anthropology Professor Christopher B. Rodning has received the 2025 Presidential Recognition Award for service to the Society for American Archaeology (SSA). The award recognizes Rodning’s work as a “highly responsive, effective, and forward-thinking” editor of the SAA Archaeological Record, which he has been editing since 2019; as the successful book review editor of American Antiquity since 2018; and as co-organizer of the President's Forum at SAA 2024; among other roles. The award will be presented at SSA's annual meeting in Denver at the end of April.

Assistant Professor of Economics Patrick Testa is the recipient of two highly competitive grants for his study entitled: “The Geography of Race and Ethnicity in the United States: Uncovering a Hidden History of Expulsion and Exclusion.” Patrick and co-authors won a National Science Foundation (NSF) and a Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) grant. The funding will support their research using cutting-edge techniques from large language models to identify episodes of local forced migration in U.S. history, between 1850 and 1950, including the individuals and groups affected by them.

French Professor Fayçal Falaky will join the National Humanities Center 2025 Residency, a program designed to provide scholarly resources and promote the knowledge and deeper understanding in all areas of the humanities. Falaky is a specialist in 18th-century French literature, culture, and politics.

Karrie Gaspard-Hogewood has won the 2025 Wilbur Award of Merit by the Religion Communicators Council for the podcast "Spirit & Power: Charismatics & Politics in American Life.” Gaspard-Hogewood is a Sociology Doctoral Fellow and Social Policy Adjunct Professor.

Lindsey Cliff (SLA ‘25), a fourth-year Honors student, has been selected to participate in the Spring Research Symposium at the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia at NYU — an honor granted to only 19 undergraduate students nationwide. As a double major in International Relations and Political Economy with a minor in Russian, Cliff will present her research on how Russian-led organizations shape narratives about the post-Soviet region, often marginalizing the voices of non-Russian communities.

Newcomb Dance Company members Madeline Lorio (SLA ‘25) and Amalia Nájera (SLA ‘25) performed their original piece Tethered at the American College Dance Association Mid-Atlantic Conference in March and were one of three pieces selected to be performed at the ACDA’s National College Dance Festival in May. This is the first time the high honor has been awarded to Tulane University dancers.

MARCH 2025

Exceptional works of art, literature, and scholarship from our Liberal Arts community receive recognition on the global stage.

Brandon Davis, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and the Murphy Institute, has received a $50,000 Institute for Human Studies Faculty Fellowship. Davis’ research focuses on American and Race politics and normative and empirical approaches to institutions, representation, and criminal justice. This sabbatical funding goes towards his project, Audemus Jura Nostra Defendere: We Dare Defend Our Rights Strategic Legal Mobilization and the Alabama Democratic Conference.

The Renaissance Society of America recently awarded Professor of Practice Alexis Culotta a 2025 RSA-Samuel H. Kress Research Fellowship in Renaissance Art History. One of only a few recipients for this highly competitive award, Culotta will use this fellowship to continue work on data collection and curation with a focus on work of artists active between the 16th and 17th centuries in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This work is in relation to her larger digital humanities initiative to build the Artistic Network Toolkit (ANT) with Co-PI (and fellow Tulane faculty member) Aron Culotta and their research team.

Fan Zhang, assistant professor in the Newcomb Art Department & Asian Studies Program, has been awarded a Mellon Fellowship for Assistant Professors from the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS). With support form the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the School of Historical Studies at the IAS chooses three assistant professors per year to welcome as members to the institution and to grant a $40,000 stipend in support of their scholarly work. The fellowship was awarded for Zhang’s research project, A Center on the Border: Migrations, Identities, and Cross-Cultural Encounters in Fifth-Century North China, on the understudied scholarship of 5th century Chinese art.

A film by New Orleans-based stage director Natasha Ramer, with editing and cinematography by Department of Theatre & Dance Professor Antony Sandoval, and starring Tulane Theatre alum Erin Cessna, has been sweeping the festival circuit, winning awards and garnering glowing reviews. Oleksandra Basco’s A Non Fiction War adapts the real-time war diary of the Ukrainian writer into theatrical script for the stage and screen. It won 2024 Best Experimental Film at the London Women Film Festival, Berlin Women Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Movie Awards, Los Angeles Movie & Music Video Awards, and received many other awards.

Cheryl Narumi Naruse, an associate professor of English, received the 2025 Outstanding Achievement Book Award by the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) for her book Becoming Global Asia: Contemporary Genres of Postcolonial Capitalism in Singapore. Winner in the Literary Studies category, Naruse’s work explores the “soft power” and cultural capital of neoimperialist Singapore through a literary lens, as she examines the work in genres like literary anthologies, coming-of-career narratives, and princess fantasies. This is her first book.

Belinda Andrews-Smith, former Musical Theatre director and visiting assistant professor in the Theatre and Dance Department, won the 2024 American Prize in the Musical/Theatre division, for stage directing her production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. A musical theatre adaptation of Dickens’ last and unfinished work, Andrews-Smith staged the play in the 2023 theatre season while at Tulane.

A composition by Music Professor Barbara Jazwinski has recently been selected by the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) for performance at the ISCM World New Music Days 2025 in Portugal. Jazwinski serves as the head of the Composition Program for the Newcomb Department of Music and is an internationally-recognized performer, conductor, and promoter of contemporary music. Her composition Soliloquy was chosen by an international jury, including composers and conductors from 18 countries. ICSM consists of members from more than 60 organizations in over 50 countries, and has been promoting and advancing contemporary music since 1922. This year’s festival will take place at the end of May in Lisbon and Porto.

AJ Golio, a doctoral candidate of Sociology in the City, Culture, and Community Program, received the 2025 Best Article in the Journal of Race, Ethnicity and the City Award for his paper ”What makes gentrification ‘white’? Theorizing the mutual construction of whiteness and gentrification in the urban US.” The annual award was selected from an array of international articles published in Volume 4 (2023) and Volume 5 (2024) of the journal, and the award recognizes an article for its particularly outstanding contribution to the field of urban affairs.

Nick Chapoy, PhD candidate in Biological Anthropology, along with Kathy Jack, professor of Anthropology and associate dean for Research and Graduate Programs, have been awarded a $30,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for Doctoral Dissertation Research: Vocal Communication and Dominance Rank in a Non-Human Primate. The doctoral research project combines behavioral observations, acoustic analyses, and hormone assays to asses the link between vocal communication, hormone levels, and social rank in non-human primates. Prior to joining the PhD program, Chapoy served as a field assistant for the Santa Rosa Primate Project, a long-term research site co-directed by Jack on the northwest coast of Costa Rica.