Senior Salute: The Class of 2026 Reflects on Four Years on the Hill
Somewhere between the freshman illumination ceremony and walking across that stage on the academic quad for the last time, Tufts becomes something more than the light on Walnut Hill. The Tufts Tribune asked seniors from this year’s graduating class to share memories, lessons, and advice before they watch Jumbo fade away in the rearview mirror. […]
Con: Should Undergrads TA?
How does one become a TA? This is a question I have often asked myself, wondering about the qualifications—both on paper and in terms of character—necessary to get the position. It is clear that a Teaching Assistant (TA) must have some sort of familiarity with the class material, and they must have some connection to […]
Pro: Should Undergrads TA?
At Tufts, students’ exposure to undergraduate teaching assistants (TAs) varies greatly by department. Computer science students will be very familiar with office hours held by their fellow undergraduates, while in the math department, all official teaching assistant roles are reserved for Ph.D. students. In the political science department, there has been a sharp turn away […]
Con: Should Professors Use AI?
I will admit it. When a tedious assignment stands between me and bedtime, I feel the temptation to open up ClaudeAI. It is so easy to let AI summarize everything I need to know in a few succinct bullet points filled with words like “delve” and “streamline.” Hours of work could be condensed into minutes. […]
Pro: Should Professors Use AI?
Whether it’s to summarize a jargon-heavy excerpt for class or to outline reasoning in an argumentative essay, there exists an unspoken shame in using AI among those who consider themselves academics. This is understandable. The fundamental pursuits of academic life, such as intellectual freedom and truth, seem diametrically opposed to the ends of the tech […]
Faculty Forum: Con: Should Tufts Ban Technology in the Classroom?
Large Language Models (LLMs) have shocked academia in general and the humanities in particular. If we rely too much upon machines to perform demanding tasks, such as generating essays, summarizing complex documents, and translating sources in unfamiliar languages, we can produce quite a bit but learn little or nothing. I do not see any simple […]
Faculty Forum: Pro: Should Tufts Ban Technology in the Classroom?
I ban the use of electronic devices in all the courses I currently teach. I don’t usually justify or explain this policy with students, at least not in a lengthy, defensive way, because most of the time students seem to just want to get on with the course contents. And anyway, a policy is a […]
Konnichiwa to Consolidation: How ILCS Took Over Tufts Languages
In recent years, departmental restructuring has become a key component of universities’ attempts to cut costs. Tufts is no exception. Now, a student hoping to take a world language will see these effects firsthand. Students looking to study German, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, or Hebrew will no longer file under these respective departments when declaring […]
All Roads Lead to Tufts: International Student Admission at Tufts
The American university is made up of a vast range of students from different places and backgrounds. And given their exalted status, these universities often draw students not just from all around America, but around the world. But the tensions between noble ideals of a global campus and real-world practical challenges remain. According to Dean […]