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 […]
Con: Should You Move Back to Your Hometown?
Growing up in a small town in the American South, one topic of conversation was a constant amongst my peers: growing up and moving to the big city. My friends and I would go on about the ignorance of the adults around us and how slowly life moved. So, when I was 14, I did […]
Pro: Should You Move Back to Your Hometown?
I love my small town. I love walking along its one main street and recognizing every other face I see. Above all else, I love the forced connection that a tight-knit community brings. Because of this, even though my major is International Relations, I know I’m moving back to my hometown. That being said, all […]
Con: Is the Meme-ification of Politics Positive?
Allegations of pedophilia and sexual abuse, discussions of presidential fitness, even political assassinations–issues that warrant sober debate–now circulate the internet primarily as memes. Somewhere beneath the edits, deepfakes, and reaction GIFs lies an actual, nuanced political story, but it’s almost impossible to find. Career-ending scandals are reduced to viral punchlines and, more than anything, politics […]
Pro: Is the Meme-ification of Politics Positive?
On Wednesday September 10th, 2025, at 12:23 pm on the Utah Valley University campus, Charlie James Kirk was shot and killed during his American Comeback Tour, a debate series across college campuses. Kirk was notorious for his right-wing beliefs, most of which he propagated through social media, podcasts, and YouTube channels such as Jubilee. Since […]
Mental Health Coverage at Tufts: Access, Limits, and the Question of Continuity
Before reading: If you are currently struggling, you are not alone, and support is available. This article is not meant to discourage you from seeking support from CMHS. Reaching out is always worth it. Tufts CMHS (after hours): (617) 627-3360 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or Text 988 The Samaritans Statewide Hotline (Massachusetts): Call […]
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 […]