Student Summer Spotlight
Summer in Ireland
Tulane's Summer in Dublin study abroad program offers students an immersive cultural experience while exploring the rich history and vibrant contemporary life of the Emerald Isle.
Cleo Doran (SLA ‘25)
As someone with Irish heritage and citizenship who had not previously visited the country, my hope was that this program would offer a comprehensive introduction to the island and its culture. I can confidently say that this program succeeded in offering that type of immersive education. I feel most thankful that I was able to participate in a program that offered intellectual stimulation and meaningful instruction as well as genuine fun and independent exploration.
The Summer in Dublin program is truly a highlight of my Tulane experience so far and I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, immersive, and enriching summer study abroad experience.
Annabelle Jones (SPHM ‘26)
This summer I went to Dublin, Ireland to study anthropology. The highlight of the trip was getting to see a variety of different historical and archaeological sites. The country is small enough to make cross-country trips manageable, so we were able to visit multiple sites each day.
The experience was incredibly unique in that I was able to learn in a new and exciting way. From traditional storytellers to museum exhibits, there were many opportunities to learn and grow. It was amazing to see the things I studied in person, making the material much more tangible and relevant.
Students are given a plethora of information through all forms of media, books, videos, and lectures. This allows different types of learners equal opportunity to grasp the history. We were provided tickets for guided tours, museums, and field trips; all of which were a joy to be a part of.
Syd Stone (SSE ‘27)
This summer I had the privilege of joining Tulane’s study abroad program. During the trip, I attended all of the history classes offered in Dublin, Ireland. These classes, “Protest, Prohibition, and Prostitution” and “Irish Culture, History, and Society,” were so fun and enlightening. I do not exaggerate when I say these classes were the highlight of my summer.
I am also a history major who has always been fascinated by Irish history and culture. Because of this program, though I am only a sophomore, I am already halfway to my degree..
This program was incredible and I highly recommend everyone try it.
Leah Starr ( SLA ‘25)
I didn’t originally plan on choosing the Summer in Dublin program for my summer study abroad experience, however I am extremely glad I did.
Even though I am not a history major, I really enjoyed the two history classes I took on this trip. We had a field trip almost every day, usually multiple trips in a day. We also took a four-day fieldtrip around southern Ireland and a day trip to Belfast. All of these trips gave me the opportunity to experience more of Ireland than I could have on my own.
Mandel Palagye Program for Middle East Peace
The Stacy Mandel Palagye and Keith Palagye Program for Middle East Peace offers students an opportunity to learn about the complexities of the region’s long-standing conflict in association with non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and academic institutions.
Laura Brawley (SLA ‘26)
Learning about the conflict from these three different perspectives helped us to immerse ourselves not only in the historical facts and peace theories related to the conflict but in the lived experiences of Palestinians and Israelis through Arab and Israeli film and literature.
The intensive nature of the classes led to many late-night conversations with my classmates about the readings and homework, as well as our own changing perspectives related to the conflict. Being able to engage in these discussions with my classmates was one of the most beneficial parts of the program, as we were able to learn from each other.
We even got the chance to speak to Palestinian and Israeli politicians, as well as senior Huffington Post Correspondent Akbar Shahid Ahmed. Hearing from the experts during this period of violent conflict was as sobering as it was enlightening, and highlighted how brutal the reality is on the ground for long-suffering Gazans. Hearing from Amal-Tikvah, an Israeli/Palestinian grassroots peace organization, was particularly inspiring. The women who spoke to us had lost so many people and witnessed so much suffering but remained committed to the peace process through their work.
Adrian Serieyssol (SLA ’27)
This summer I had the pleasure of taking part in Tulane’s Mandel Palagye Program for Middle East Peace with 14 other Tulane students. Over the course of four weeks, we learned not only about the roles of modern-day actors in the conflict between Israel and Palestine but also about theories of conflict resolution and the history of the entire region, going back to the Philistines. At the start of the program, few of us knew one another, but after the first two weeks of the Tulane campus portion, we had grown to become friends.
After two weeks of classes in a familiar environment, we flew to Washington, D.C. If not for the October 7th attacks, the second half of the program would have been held in Israel. Instead, we spent our time in D.C. visiting think tanks and hearing brilliant people talk about how they see the conflict. My personal favorite was The International Crisis Group. It was great to explore our beautiful capital.
Environmental Studies in Ecuador
The Tulane Initiative for Education, Research, and Action (TIERA) is a unique program based in Ecuador designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to address complex social challenges.
Jude Hutkin (SLA ’26)
To learn from other individuals halfway across the world is a special thing. Not only was I able to learn in this respect but I was also able to teach. Fellow scholars and I performed a climate change workshop where we educated the local community about climate change’s causes, effects, ways of mitigation, and the role of carbon in it all. The presentation was quite fulfilling knowing we were giving back to the community in terms of education, and not only extracting information for our own projects.
You truly never know where you will end up with environmental studies. One summer I was studying plants and their uses for sustainable infrastructure and the next I was performing interviews with Ecuadorian landowners while measuring carbon storage on reforested plots of land!
News page
2024-09-20
School of Liberal Arts September 20 Newsletter
Brian T. Edwards, Dean and Professor
Dear School of Liberal Arts Community,
Our first communication of the academic year comes slightly delayed by emergency preparations for — and recovery from — Hurricane Francine. But as a welcome win, we’ve already made it through a major weather event! And from the other side of the storm, I am particularly excited about this coming year.
This is my seventh year as dean, and I greet every new fall semester with a combination of anticipation for all the activities of the coming months and joy over the return of faculty, staff, and students to our buzzing campus.
I'm exceptionally proud to introduce our newest members of tenure-line & professor of practice faculty, who bring not only expertise and experience to Tulane, but who emerged from national searches that engaged so many top colleagues from the humanities, social sciences, and arts. Meet them below.
In June we launched the much-anticipated first major renovation of Newcomb Hall since its completion in 1918. New event spaces, areas for interdisciplinary programs, enhanced classrooms and fresh collaboration zones will be the purview of the entire community.
Next month will see a new academic event, the Flowerree Symposium, born out of a cross-school partnership with experts in the environmental sciences. Additionally, our STEM2 Studies initiative is a sequence of team-taught courses pairing SLA faculty with several peers from SSE and SOM. Then, our second Mellon-funded Sawyer Seminar gets underway with a series of speaking events on the global and domestic contexts for understanding reproductive health. [...]
Welcoming New 2024-2025 Liberal Arts Faculty
Faculty in the Field: Summer Studies
Voice Professor Trains A-List in Local Dialects for the Big Screen
Amy Chaffee, Associate Professor of Theatre & Dance, spent her summer with a different set of students, providing linguistic coaching to actors Scarlett Johansson (Fly Me to the Moon) and Channing Tatum (Deadpool & Wolverine).
Fulbright Seminar Explores City History: Art, Academia & the French Quarter
English Professor T.R. Johnson led a Fulbright Program seminar on New Orleans’ rich cultural history, closing with a quarter walking tour — in which the group even had a chance run-in with famed local photographer Frank Relle (SLA '00).
Student Spotlights: Summer 2024
Our call for start of year stories found students exploring Irish castles, conducting ecological research in Ecuador, and finding new perspectives in D.C. Read about their summers abroad.
Upcoming Featured Events
Illustrious Alumni Concert Piano Series
A show to launch the season! Five alumni — former students of our own Faina Lushtak — who have gone on to pursue a Doctor of Music Arts will return to the Dixon Hall stage. This series seeks to present great music literature through performances by artists of the highest caliber.
Featuring Ben Batalla, Scott Cohen, Francesca Hurst, Anna Savelyeva, Michael Rigney, & Faina Lushtak.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 7:00-10:00 pm | Free and Open to the Public
Joshua Basseches
Assistant Professor, Political Science & Environmental Studies
Assistant Professor, Political Science & Environmental Studies
The Inaugural Flowerree Symposium at Tulane University
The inaugural Flowerree Symposium, to be held on October 8, 2024 on Tulane’s Uptown Campus, will feature a conversation with leading scientists and policy scholars, both from within our university community and beyond. Political Science Assistant Professor Joshua Basseches is a featured speaker, don't miss his talk: Political Economy of State-Level Renewable Energy Policy.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 7:30 AM-6:00 pm
Tulane School of Liberal Arts
102 Newcomb Hall • New Orleans, LA 70118
liberalarts.tulane.edu
*SLA Faculty Fellows are recruited shortly after completing their PhD studies and pursue a tenure-track professor path.
News page
2024-09-20
New Orleans Culture Through the Lens of Art and Academia
Last month, English Professor T.R. Johnson led a seminar for scholars from 20 different countries on the literary and cultural history of New Orleans and a walk / talk around the French Quarter and Congo Square. The opportunity was part of a Fulbright Program called Study of the U.S. Institutes for Scholars and Secondary Educators (SUSI Scholars).
Of the tour, Johnson shared “I really enjoyed hosting these international professors and having the opportunity to represent Tulane and New Orleans. Their disciplines, ranging from history, sociology, and law to media studies and linguistics, made for a lively discussion throughout the day.”
While on the walking tour, the group sought shade in a courtyard that happened to be behind the gallery of celebrated New Orleans photographer Frank Relle. Relle, an SLA alumni (’00), noticed the group and joined them for a few minutes. During that time, he took some photos of the scholars, giving them a unique New Orleans experience of life imitating art.
“Our interaction with Frank solidified for the group the connection between local artists and everyday life here in New Orleans,” Johnson continued. "These artists are engrained in the fabric of the city and the timing could not have been more perfect.”
Faculty
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English Professor T.R. Johnson, engages international scholars with New Orleans’ literary and cultural history, enhanced by an encounter with photographer Frank Relle.
2024-09-20
Voice Professor Brings Louisiana Dialects to Big Screen
As a dialect designer and coach, School of Liberal Arts Theatre & Dance Associate Professor Amy Chaffee has honed her expertise in crafting authentic accents for film and television. In this article, Chaffee shares her experience working with actors Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum on major motion pictures, revealing the fascinating process of crafting believable accents for some of Hollywood's biggest stars.
My research as a dialect designer at Tulane and in greater southern Louisiana has led me to work on two major films over the past few years. I served as a coach to Scarlett Johansson in Fly Me to the Moon and Channing Tatum in Deadpool & Wolverine — researching, designing, and teaching Louisiana accents to both actors.
I have worked as a dialect designer and coach in film and television since 2007. Similarly to how a costume designer or production designer creates the “visual reality” of a film world, I help create the “auditory reality” of a film. I often say that if I did my job right, you would never know I was there.
In Fly Me to the Moon, Scarlett plays a con artist-turned-advertising executive who is recruited to promote the space exploration program for NASA. Her character slips easily in and out of accents to create affinity with her “mark.” Scarlett, in addition to starring, was also an executive producer on the film and had full reign to improvise her lines. This meant getting her sounds fit for anything she felt compelled to play. Her character is asked to sweet talk a Louisiana Senator, which required her to drop flawlessly into an accent somewhere on I-10 between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Later, she tricks another Senator into believing she is an Atlanta native and graduate of Georgia Tech — requiring another sound palette to master. Reviews of her acting work do not mention the accents. But, again, in my line of work, if no one talks about the accents, it’s usually a good thing — the story held and the character was seamless.
Deadpool & Wolverine was more daunting. The co-writers, Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds and Director Shawn Levy were both totally down for Channing to ad-lib and improvise as “Da Gambit.” Again, the challenge of prepping him with more than just the written lines included the mastery of the sounds so he could feel as playful and easy as the tone of the movie. Channing wanted to work very faithfully to the Cajun sound, although his character was brought up in the streets of New Orleans. To find this unique blend, I sourced and recorded a few Cajun gentlemen in their 70s and 80s who had grown up in Mamou, Ville Platte, and Eunice but spent their adult lives in New Orleans. They told stories peppered with Cajun French sayings and good-hearted insults, code-switching easily and sliding in and out of French, as many Cajuns do. Channing loved the resources and asked for a list of (and translations for) all the insults they shared. He used at least three of these Cajun French phrases in the film. These lines are special easter eggs for Cajuns who see the film. The performance has been critically acclaimed for its humor and “insider baseball” appeal to the fan base.
Tulane’s multidisciplinary community has been invaluable for my work. From the published research of School of Liberal Arts Professors Thomas Klingler and Nathalie Dajko, who have written about the Creole and Cajun dialects, to the Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz housed within Tilton Memorial Library, I have an amazing base from which to draw. However, it is the living resources of the greater New Orleans and southern Louisiana communities that help me create my best designs.
Faculty
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Video Village View on Fly Me to the Moon
2024-09-20
Newsletter: April 2016 – School of Liberal Arts An Interdisciplinary Approach
The Edge, from the popular band U2, visited SLA to discuss several programs within the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South, including the Musical Cultures coordinate major. Along with famed music producer Bob Ezrin, The Edge co-founded Music Rising at Tulane - a program fostering national and international study of music and culture through the work of K-12 educators and university scholars. (Sonya Robinson, The Edge, Rebecca Snedeker)
Musical Cultures of the Gulf South: Only at Tulane
by Rebecca Snedeker
Students come to Tulane from all over the world, curious about New Orleans and eager to engage with the city that some will eventually call home. For those who wish to study this place, the Musical Cultures of the Gulf South coordinate major is an alluring option.
Student Spotlights
Kidd Duhe Solomon 
Finding Inspiration in D.C. with "World's Coolest Internship"
Before arriving, when I imagined my duties as a U.S. Department of State intern, I assumed they would consist of two things: picking up visas and delivering coffees. I never expected to brief a room of over 100 Ambassadors about the power of online business registration in an effort to promote global prosperity.
Shira J. Kaplan 
Assisting and Performing with Musical Legend, Kristin Chenoweth
The really spectacular things in life are beyond our control. As someone who is always trying to plan for the future and make sure everything goes according to that plan, I have had a hard time accepting this. This past December I had the amazing chance to be the interim personal assistant for Tony and Emmy-award winning actress Kristin Chenoweth.
New Environmental Studies Course Offering- Petrochemical City: Costs and Consequences to New Orleans
by Christopher Oliver
The issue of global climate change is not simply an important global issue but is in actuality "a" — or even "the" — definitive moment in human history — a two centuries long period of the bioaccumulation of pollutants from industrial production and other related human activities. This unprecedented epoch in the earth's history is often referred to by many as the "Anthropocene" to emphasize both its significance in terms of the human contribution as well as the likely unalterable changes to the global ecosystem.
Cross-disciplinary Studio Space
by Ama Rogan
For fifteen years A Studio in the Woods, a program within the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research, has been hosting artists, writers, scholars, and students of all ages in creative retreat within eight forested acres on the Mississippi River in Lower Coast Algiers, New Orleans.
Digital Collaborations
by Vicki Mayer
Digital humanities in New Orleans sit at a crossroads for collaborative growth. The city's various institutions for research — from library archives to university academic units — have nearly twenty years of experience with initiatives to promote access and increase connectivity with knowledge collections.
Message from the Dean The Heart of SLA
From almost the first day I stepped on to campus, nearly a decade ago, I was struck by the interdisciplinary nature of the School of Liberal Arts — an approach that remains today at the very heart of SLA. Not only does the school have almost twenty interdisciplinary programs, providing majors, coordinate majors, or minors, but the teaching and research environment for both faculty and students is shaped by this principle.
News from the Field: Laura McKinney The Environmental Origins of Death and Disease Among Women
During my recent research leave, I conducted original research on the influence of environmental factors and gender inequality on death and disease among women in less developed nations. AIDS remains a leading factor contributing to health declines in poor nations, where more than 95% of the 33.2 million individuals infected with HIV reside.
Theater of War
by Mary Sparacello
On April 7th, Theater of War, the 2016 Dennis A. Georges Lecture on Hellenic Culture, vividly demonstrated the relevance of Greek tragedy for confronting today's challenges. Under the auspices of the Classical Studies Department in the School of Liberal Arts, the New York City social impact company Outside the Wire presented a dramatic reading of Sophocles' Ajax, a tragedy about the suicide of a hero-soldier following the Trojan War presented with contemporary themes.
City, Culture, and Community Graduate Student Symposium
by Tait Kellogg
Tulane University's interdisciplinary doctoral program, City, Culture and Community (CCC), held its third annual student-organized symposium, Social Justice and the City: Implications for Race and Equity, on March 10th-11th, 2016. The program, currently in its fifth year, is an innovative partnership between the Department of Sociology, Urban Studies, and the School of Social Work.
Rare Book of Shakespeare's Plays Comes to Tulane
Join Tulane in the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with a rare viewing of the First Folio. The Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane is proud to be the location in Louisiana to exhibit this amazing 17th century book. The celebration begins with a Jazz Funeral on May 9th and the book will be on display through May 31st.
Tulane School of Liberal Arts
102 Newcomb Hall • New Orleans, LA 70118
liberalarts.tulane.edu
2013-05-13
Newsletter: May 2016 – 2016 School of Liberal Arts Honoring Shakespeare
Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band lead a jazz funeral around the Newcomb Quad on Monday (May 9) as a kickoff for the First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare exhibition. The book will be on display in the Newcomb Art Museum on the uptown campus through May 31. This year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. As part of year long festivities, SLA was invited to Stratford-upon-Avon, England in April to lead the annual celebration and procession also with a traditional New Orleans jazz funeral. Photo provided by Cheryl Gerber.
Donor Spotlight - "A Rose by Any Other Name"
Tulane parent and bibliophile Stuart Rose sponsored the participation of the School of Liberal Arts in the 400th anniversary celebration of Shakespeare's death in Stratford-upon-Avon. Rose is a New Orleans native and an Ohio resident who has one of the most prominent private rare book collections in the world. To accompany the First Folio exhibition on Tulane's campus, Rose has generously loaned the university his personal copy of a 1611 Hamlet quarto. The department of English Chair, Michael Kuczynski, recently interviewed Rose inquiring about his love of books and his connection with Shakespeare.
Archives and Outreach
New Orleans Lake Area High School students visit Tulane's campus on January 19, 2016 to learn about the university's Rare Books Collection which includes a leaf of the Gutenberg Bible (ca. 1456).classic theatre.
Stratford-upon-Avon
SLA was invited to participate in the 400th anniversary celebration of Shakespeare's death in the town of his birth. As part of the procession, we hosted a jazz funeral in his honor.
English Speaking Union
Department of English Chair Michael Kuczynski presents a lecture entitled 'Hamlet and Our Problems' to the New Orleans branch of the English Speaking Union on February 15, 2016.
Odes to Shakespeare and New Orleans
From Louisiana to England, two unique poets recently showcased their artistry with poems dedicated to the intersection of Shakespeare and New Orleans. Spoken word poet and artist Gian Smith performed his interpretation on May 9th at the opening of the First Folio exhibit at Tulane. On April 23rd, Rev. Dr. Paul Edmondson of The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust delivered his heartfelt recitation in Stratford-upon-Avon at the SLA closing banquet.
A Poem for New Orleans in the Key of Hamlet called "That Is the Question"
By Gian Smith
Shakespeare in New Orleans
for Clare Moncrief and Chaney Tullos of the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane
By Paul Edmondson
New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane Announces 2016 Season
Message from the Dean The Power of Shakespeare
Today, we live in a world where words quickly disappear into the ether. Messages can be no longer than 140 characters; conversations take place as tweets; ideas are communicated with emojis. And yet, even as technology seems to flatten and dull our voices, 400 years after Shakespeare's death, his words speak to us and our deepest emotions.
News from the Field: Michael Kuczynski Everybody's Shakespeare
People get very proprietary about Shakespeare. Actors insist that his works only make sense in performance. Scholars, conversely, say that you cannot understand the plays without studying the variants between their multiple Renaissance editions–quartos and the famous First Folio–and surveying the Bard's wide range of literary sources.
What is The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane? Clare Moncrief
Founded in 1994, the Festival brings professional, classical theatre and unrivaled educational programming to Louisiana and the Gulf South. In addition to our summer season of plays, attended by some 3,000 theatregoers, our educational programs bring Shakespeare to life for thousands of middle and high school students from across south Louisiana and Mississippi.
Tulane Students Jazz It Up
Tulane Students Dylan Koester (SLA '18) and Joe Foster (SPHTM '18 ) brought their musical talents to England performing with the Wendell Brunious Brass Band.
Shakespeare Jazz Funeral in Stratford-upon-Avon
Upcoming First Folio Events
Thru May 31 - First Folio exhibit at Newcomb Art Museum
May 16 - "Sonnets in the Gallery" Poetry Reading with Peter Cooley
May 18 - "Shakespeare on the Stages and Streets of New Orleans" Lecture by Oliver Hennessey
May 20, 21, 22 - "Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender" Lisa Wolpe performs her one-person show
Tulane School of Liberal Arts
102 Newcomb Hall • New Orleans, LA 70118
liberalarts.tulane.edu
2013-05-13
Commencement 2024 - Student Spotlight: Dimitri Hanafin Reyes
Originally from San Francisco, California, Dimitri Hanafin Reyes came to Tulane to study music and graduated with a dual degree in Black American Music and Legal Studies in Business.
During his time at Tulane, Dimitri he has performed in various capacities, ranging from regular gigs on Frenchman Street to festival performances in the New Orleans Jazz Festival and Jazz Ascona Festival in Switzerland. As the student musician during the School of Liberal Arts Commencement Ceremony, Dimitri performed a piece he wrote call “Full Circle,” which encapsulates the experience of his musical journey and confronting the seas of doubt and anxiety that are inevitable in life. "Full Circle," is meant to serve as a beacon of resilience that highlights the power of embracing the past, navigating the present, and crafting an unsure, yet hopeful future.
After graduation, Dimitri plans to stay in New Orleans and continue performing and cultivating relationships through music.
Student
2024-05-29
Commencement 2024 - Student Spotlight: Katerina Ellison-Batt
Katerina Ellison-Batt wrote her first book in fifth grade, and got grounded for stealing Monopoly money to make the cover. Ever since then she has been writing, and recently finished her first informal poetry collection, Conversation Lullaby. Katerina hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan and received a degree in English from Tulane’s School of Liberal Arts. A transfer student from Michigan State University, she lived for several years in a co-op with 26 roommates, and credits the house with being instrumental to her writing. Katerina has worked in sexual violence prevention education, as a receptionist for Hillel, and interned with Sierra Club.
Katerina’s original poem Ode to You in New Orleans reflects on her experiences in New Orleans and at Tulane, and the friendships and memories built here.
Her future plans include staying in New Orleans, a city she’s grown to love, and pursuing a career in copywriting. Katerina would love to thank her mother for her support and the Tulane English Department, especially Professor Price, Professor Boudreaux, and Professor McFadden, for their endless wisdom and encouragement.
"Ode to You in New Orleans"
By: Katerina Ellison-Batt
you are beautiful in dappled light
oaks slow dancing
our runs through Audubon
I pick an eyelash off your cheek
our days are long and happy
and often, we remember the city we lived in
the streetcar lights bouncing off our faces, our grinning teeth
those long afternoons
in the grass outside Newcomb
those kind professors you wish
you could take again, those
technicolor explosions of spontaneous hugs
you smile and lean in
yes, this is a happy poem
I wouldn’t want to live in a flooding basement with anyone else
I tell my roommates
I wouldn’t want to
Stand or stare into the sun
With absolutely anyone
you are now all grown up, LinkedIn and thesis’s,
and you are my friend.
for a moment we stood silent
little cities in a row
and then
we began
to dance.
this is a happy poem.
anyway it’s as you said in your letter:
you are so much of me.
Student
2024-05-29
TRICS Underlines the Role of Research in the Liberal Arts
From Economics to Anthropology, female Beatniks to Aristotle, students and faculty participating in this year’s Tulane Research, Innovation, and Creativity Summit proved that research in the Liberal Arts is vital, dynamic, and full of possibilities.
Held at the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life (LBC) from April 23-25, and sponsored by the Tulane Innovation Institute and the Office of The Vice President for Research, the annual event aims to showcase the “breadth and depth of research, innovation, and creativity from disciplines, departments, units, and schools across Tulane University.” Along with TRICS panels, lectures, and special workshops, students were invited to participate in poster sessions, a chance to present and engage with the public on their projects and findings.
Over three days, 16 students from the School of Liberal Arts, representing the Departments of English, Economics, Philosophy, Anthropology, and Environmental Science, joined in on the poster sessions, standing alongside those from Tropical Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Architecture, and other schools. Undergraduate Hannah Rubenstein explained her theories on “How to Build a Better Male Lead in K-Dramas,” while Philosophy graduate student Samuel Hage broke down Species Essentialism in Aristotle. Presentations, of course, were not always limited to their posters: as part of her honors thesis, Undergraduate Zoe Friese created an interactive map tracing the global movements of environmental activists against the Formosa Plastic Group. Her poster included a QR code linking to her interactive site. Another intriguing project, by Economics PhD Candidates Barb Lundebjerg and Yu Liu, with Associate Professor of Economics Patrick Button, was an audit field experiment designed to quantify discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, and health insurance status (and their intersections) in requests for talk therapy appointments with licensed therapists.
At the faculty panel, titled "Local to Global: Today’s Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Across Tulane Liberal Arts," colleagues across disciplines had a chance to share and celebrate research achievements and future prospects. A few key presentations included Marcello Canuto's large-scale modeling of the ancient lowland Maya, Allison Emmerson's excavation of marginalized areas in Pompeii, and Laura-Zoë Humphreys' study on media piracy in Cuba. Other topics covered behavior patterns of wild Capuchin Monkeys, race, ethnicity, and health insurance discrimination in access to mental healthcare, food system leadership, the economics of Mardi Gras, and the connections between global port cities.
Organized by Kathy Jack, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, with help from Dean Brian Edwards, the presentations fit naturally under each of the School’s four pillars of distinction — strategies that emphasize the school’s global citizenship, its commitment to research through a liberal arts approach, a local focus on New Orleans and Gulf South, and duty to educate the next generation of leaders for careers in the future.
From students to faculty, TRICS was an exciting opportunity to spotlight the liberal arts community at large, its values, and its diversity. The wide range of projects emphasized the role of liberal arts research in addressing complex societal issues, and in moving beyond theoretical inquiry to have practical implications and real-world impact.
Political Economy and Environmental Studies major Zoe Friese presents her multimedia project on the worldwide collaboration among environmental activists during the annual Tulane Research, Innovation, and Creativity Summit.
2024-05-29