■ In Washington D.C., President Arthur Levine ’70 held a panel discussion with academic experts and Brandeis community members to review The Brandeis Plan’s intricacies.
On Wednesday, Sept. 10, President Arthur Levine ’70 invited academic policymakers, press and alumni to Washington D.C’s National Press Club for a panel discussion about Brandeis’ plan to “reinvent the liberal arts.” The Board of Trustees Executive Vice President, Cynthia Shapira, welcomed panel attendees. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey then provided opening remarks and expressed his desire to see the “Bay State” become the “Brain State” by delivering “accessible, responsible and effective” education to all. Markey concluded that the American Dream should be delivered through “higher education, not less education.”
Following the senator’s remarks, Levine contextualized the University’s plan, noting a shift between today’s “global digital knowledge economy” and the previous “national analog industrial economy.” In terms of demographics, technological advancement, economics, politics and global relations, the United States has not seen changes of this magnitude and speed since the Industrial Revolution. Levine characterized the period as a “time in which all of our social institutions got left behind and they needed to catch up — they needed to be reimagined to meet the needs of the emerging society.”
As a result of today’s era of reinvention, the president predicted 20% to 25% of universities will close and, instead, regional universities and community colleges will shift toward online learning. Levine described that an “army of new providers of secondary education” will take their place, noting that these forms may be for profit — such as Google, Coursera and Linkedin — or nonprofit, which could be local community institutions such as local zoos, symphonies and museums. He plans to circumvent the supposed destruction of universities by “[reinventing] the liberal arts rather than discard-
ing them” because “they’re more essential now than they’ve ever been.” The plan has already been unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees and adopted by an impressive 88% of faculty with a $25 million investment into implementing major systematic reconstructions.
“The Brandeis Plan — that’s not a very fancy name,” said Levine. “But it’s a really powerful, unprecedented set of actions that are going to change the organization, the curriculum and the design of the University.”
The president suggested a complete conversion of general education and core programs into “common competencies” to be earned like badges. These competencies will be placed on a secondary transcript from students’ academic grades, though with a focus on career skills instead. These competencies include broad categories like “creativity” as well as area specific credentials like “[Artificial Intelligence] literacy.” These “common competencies” target post-graduation employers who are favoring practical abilities over theoretical understanding. In a time where unemployment, and particularly underemployment, is a consistent concern of recent graduates, Levine feels that getting back to employer desires is foundational to reinventing higher education.
The University will also start assigning students both an academic advisor and a career advisor. As the students’ academic interests become more specialized over the course of their time at Brandeis, as will the advice they receive. Levine said that, for instance, if a student is going into the sciences their advisor could be a Nobel Prize winner, and if they are pursuing the arts their advisor could be a “nationally-known producer.” As well as additional career advising, Brandeis will also start offering a yearly career course.
Faculty reorganization is another priority already taking place at Brandeis, as the University announced its four new academic schools in August. These schools include The School of Arts, Humanities and Culture; The School of Business and Economics; The School of Science, Engineering and Technology and The School of Social Sciences and Social Policy. Levine stressed that the challenge to higher education today is to create an education that prepares its students for the modern world: “We need to remake what we do to fit the world that we live in and the world that our students are going to live in.” The event transitioned into a discussion
Forking Paths: Students and faculty discuss chance encounters that affected their lives
■ At the annual History of Ideas symposium, a panel of faculty and students discussed how unlikely moments had enormous impacts on their fields.
By ZOE ZACHARY JUSTICE DEPUTY EDITOR
On Thursday, Sept. 11, History of Ideas faculty and students gathered in Rapaporte Treasure Hall for an annual panel featuring faculty and student speakers. This year’s discussion theme was centered around the idea that we live in a “garden of forking paths,” and speakers were prompted to discuss a chance encounter from their lives or fields of study that ended up having an enormous impact. The event was moderated by Professor David Katz (HIST), director of the History of Ideas program. Katz started the panel by giving a warm welcome to its first speaker, Prof. Maura Jane Farrelly (AMST). Farrelly takes special interest in religion’s impact on history and recently published a book on the Gilded Age frontier in America.
Farrelly began by passing out a handout to attendees containing three maps. The first map was titled “European North American claims, circa 1750,” the second was titled the “Thirteen ‘original colonies’, 1776” and the third map was titled “European North American claims, circa 1774.” She then brought up her central question: why isn’t Canada a part of the United States?
Looking at the map of European North American claims circa 1750, the answer seems obvious enough — Canada was occupied by France while the U.S. was occupied by Britain, and the Revolutionary War was explicitly against the British government. However, as Farrelly explained, the answer is not that simple. By 1774, a large amount of Canadian land had been ceded to the British, as shown on the European claims circa 1774 map.
Farrelly then explained the “real” reason why Canada didn’t rebel against Britain along with the U.S. On Oct. 26, 1774, a letter written by three members of the Continental Congress was sent to Quebec asking for them to join the movement against Britain. The letter pointed out that the Canadians, having been occupied by France, were mostly Catholic, while Britain was strictly Protestant. The message was printed in the Montreal Gazette, and public opinion moved toward joining the revolutionaries in America. However, a couple variables shifted. First: The British government passed the Quebec Act, which permitted the practice of Catholicism in Canadian colonies. Second, by pure chance, a citizen of Montreal read a letter from the Continental Congress addressed to a
British citizen that harshly criticized the Catholic religion and its being permitted in Quebec. Without this chance encounter along with the context of conflicting religions, Farrelly explained, Canada might have ended up as part of the United States.
The next speaker was Jacob Sarver ’27, a Philosophy major, History of Ideas minor and member of Brandeis’ Mock Trial team. Sarver took a more personal approach to the panel’s theme, explaining how his experiences at Brandeis have encouraged him to “stop taking opportunities for granted and work to create them instead.”
Sarver first told the audience about his chance encounter with Katz at the academic fair during his first year, which launched his academic interests and career at Brandeis. Sarver emphasized the ease with which many people “coast along a baseline” and the importance of taking action in order to enrich your life and combat complacency. He praised Brandeis for creating a community that is interested in creating opportunities and sharing them with others. “Rise together is cliche, but I think it’s accurate,” he said about Brandeis’ well-known slogan.
Katz then welcomed Prof. Albion Lawrence (PHYS), a specialist in string theory and quantum field theories. He told the story of Alan Guth, who is known today as one of the founders of modern cosmology. He is famous for his theory of cosmic inflation, which explains why the density of the universe is relatively homogenous.
Guth, Lawrence explained, had been in his third year as a postdoc at Cornell University and was having trouble finding a job. His friend, Henry Tye, encouraged him to work on the magnetic monopole problem with him. Guth was hesitant, wanting to continue searching for a job, but Tye eventually encouraged him to join his project. Their work took off, and Guth was able to continue working on his and Tye’s theory at Stanford University. Today, he is a world-renowned physicist and securely employed.
Lawrence was inspired to share Guth’s story, as it highlights the importance of being aware of problems in other fields in addition to being a tide-turning moment in physics.
The next student speaker, The Justice could not confirm her name as of press time, shifted gears by talking about how her life was changed by her love for the post-hardcore band Alesana. Her introduction to the band was by listening to their song “Annabel,” which immediately captivated and intrigued her. Soon, her life was consumed by Alesana, and she was inspired to start playing the drums and eventually to start her own punk band. During her listening, she realized that the lyrics of “Annabel” were based on Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem “Annabel Lee.” Fascinated, she embarked on a journey to understand every reference in Alesana’s discography. Her listening took her on a journey through a variety of classic literature, which became a personal and academic inspiration. As the student explained, she never would have been the person she
MIKEY TERRENZI
CHANCE ENCOUNTERS : Panelists discuss the ways in which chance changed their lives.
REUBEN GARTENBACH//The Justice
POLICE LOG
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
Sept. 5 — A patient received assistance with a mental health crisis. The patient was transported to a local hospital.
Sept. 5 — There was a medical emergency for a person complaining of shortness of breath. The patient refused medical treatment.
Sept. 5 — There was a medical emergency for a person with a scraped knee. The patient refused medical treatment.
Sept. 6 — There was a report of a patient experiencing a serious allergic reaction. The patient was transported to a local hospital.
Sept. 7 — There was a medical emergency for a person with an injured shoulder. The patient was transported to a local hospital.
Sept. 8 — There was a medical emergency for a person vomiting. The patient refused medical treatment.
Sept. 9 — There was a report of a patient experiencing an
BRIEF
allergic reaction. The patient was transported to a local hospital.
Sept. 9 There was a medical emergency for a patient experiencing high blood pressure and feeling faint. The patient was transported to a local hospital.
Sept. 10 There was a medical emergency for a person feeling faint. The patient refused medical treatment.
Sept. 10 — There was a medical emergency for a person who fainted. The patient was transported to a local hospital.
Sept. 11 — There was a medical emergency for a person feeling lightheaded. The patient refused medical treatment.
Sept. 11 There was a medical emergency for a person with a dislocated finger. The patient refused medical treatment.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Sept. 7 — There was a report of a minor motor vehicle accident. The parties involved were assisted in exchanging
Brandeis to introduce “Oscar Sort” recycling technology to campus
Soon to appear above trash cans in the Shapiro Campus Center is “Oscar Sort,” which is a “smart recycling assistant” according to Intuitive Artificial Intelligence, the creator of the new technology. The “zero-touch zero-waste stations” will use camera sensors to determine which form of waste an item is and prompt users to drop their waste into the appropriate bin. Oscars are already in use across national airports, universities and sporting arenas including TD Garden in Boston. On campus, the technology will help reduce the amount of waste incorrectly sorted as trash which often finds its way into landfills or the ocean instead of recycling or compost plants where they can be properly processed.
The sensors on the device exclusively identify waste using an artificially intelligent model. The devices are perceptive enough to tell when liquids remain in bottles and if a container’s lid requires a different disposal method. Oscars can also be personalized to the waste typical of a location and inform facility managers of trends, schedules and bin fullness.
While Intuitive AI does not share the
price of “Oscar Sort,” each unit is suggested to be between $10,000 and $15,000 to install and $5,500 to $6,500 for yearly data fees. This purchase comes one semester after the installation of soundproof call booths in the Shapiro Campus Center and Goldfarb Library. Those six booths cost a total of $65,039.38, allocated through the University’s Community Enhancement and Emergency Fund. It is unclear if funding for the “Oscar Sort” was awarded from the same source. Nonetheless, the device is a clear representation of President Arthur Levine’s ’70 “global digital knowledge economy” and is a prolific addition of artificial intelligence services on campus. The sorting assistant, with the help of students, faculty and staff, has the potential to become a leading sustainability effort akin to Brandeis’ popular “Choose to Reuse” containers. Currently, the Oscar on campus is still in “training mode” with the service promising to go live soon.
Iyla Lichtenfeld
AND CLARIFICATIONS
■ A caption in the news section incorrectly stated that the deceased animal pictured was a “rat.” It was corrected to “white-footed mouse.” (Sept. 9, Page 3).
■ An arts and culture article incorrectly listed the date for the Allan Rohan Crite: Urban Glory gallery as “Oct. 14.” It was corrected to “Oct. 23.” (Sept. 9, Page 14).
■ A sports article incorrectly designates that it is “continued from 10.” It should have read that the article was “continued from 12.” (Sept. 9, Page 1).
■ A news article’s subtitle incorrectly stated, “…the faculty convened on Sept. 5 for their first meeting.of the year.” It was corrected to “… the faculty convened on Sept. 5 for their first meeting of the year.” (Sept. 9, Page 1).
■ A news article’s header incorrectly stated, “Administration discuss new office, building projects and Trump’s campus impact.” It was corrected to “Administration discusses new office, building projects and Trump’s campus impact.” (Sept. 9, Page 1).
The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Send an email to editor@ thejustice.org
paperwork.
MISCELLANEOUS
Sept. 5 — There was a report of vandalism. Investigation to follow.
Sept. 6 There was a report of an alarm going off inside an office. The Department of Community Living was notified to respond.
Sept. 9 There was a report of a smell of gas. Maintenance was notified to respond.
Sept. 10 — Units responded to a suspicious person. There will be an investigation to follow.
Sept. 10 — There was a report of a person screaming. Investigation to follow.
Sept. 11 There was a check on a person’s wellbeing. The patient was transported to a local hospital.
Compiled by Iyla Lichtenfeld
BRIEF
Tornado lands near campus: sign of rising tornado rates amid global climate crisis
On Saturday, Sept. 6, five tornadoes hit Massachusetts in varying locations just west of Brandeis’ campus and Waltham. The closest tornado ended its destructive path about 15 miles away from the University. They were all level EF-1 tornadoes, with wind speeds ranging between 94 to 104 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. The first two tornadoes hit down in Paxton. The first hit at 4:02 p.m. with estimated winds of 100 mph and a path of 0.17 miles long. The second one hit four minutes later, with estimated winds of 94 mph and a distance of 0.13 mph.
The third tornado landed in Holden at 4:08 p.m. with winds of 104 mph and traveling at a rate of 0.15 mph. The fourth tornado hit Berlin at 4:25 p.m. with a wind speed of 104 mph and traveled an estimated 0.60 miles. The final tornado touched down in Stow at 4:30 p.m. with a wind speed of 104 mph and traveled 2.38 miles. It caused extensive damage to the trees in the surrounding area.
The National Weather Service described the aftermath of the five tornadoes as “utter destruction” for these four Massachusetts communities. The last time that
Massachusetts experienced this many tornadoes in one day was in 2011. This was double the usual rate of two tornadoes per year in Massachusetts. In the wake of federal cuts to weather prediction services, the implications of these natural disasters are worrisome, especially considering the fact that climate change is the main factor contributing to rising tornado rates nationwide.
The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of examination and vacation periods.
Hannah Shapiro
BRYAN WOLFE/the Justice
LITTLE GUY: This spikey green catepillar sits on a student’s hand.
REUBEN GARTENBACH/the Justice
CARDINAL: The bright red bird sits nestled in tree branches.
REUBEN GARTENBACH/the Justice
BLOSSOM: A magenta flower looks extra pretty in the sun.
MakerLab Innovation
The MakerLab, located on Farber Library’s mezzanine, is a part of Brandeis Design and Innovation and has been providing students access to a range of technological instruments since 2014. As time passes and technology advances, the MakerLab continues to expand. This year, two new three-dimensional printers, which can produce products eight times the size of the ones they had previously been used, were introduced to the lab. Another new upgrade, that is still being prototyped, surrounds their vinyl cutter. Student staff along with Makerspace Technology Specialist, Greg Buckland, have been working to ensure that the vinyl cutter can produce “contour cutting where you could actually do full color sticker prints.” said Buckland in a Sept. 15 interview with The Justice. The lab hopes to provide this service in the coming weeks. A heat press is also in the works which would allow students to press designs into T-shirts and other pieces of fabric. They also have an updated laser cutter that will be available for workshops after solidifying the safety protocols needed to operate it. This new cutter is bigger and “a pretty big upgrade,” said Buckland. Buckland has led the MakerLab crew for three years now. “The mindset that we are trying to foster here is about innovative design and collaborative work and creative problem solving,” he says. The MakerLab sets out to provide access not only to materials, but to knowledge. Their mission is to give everyone the opportunity to learn and eventually master one or more of the many skills offered in the lab.The MakerLab offers workshops in 3D printing, sewing, vinyl cutting, laser cutting and is working toward producing even more labs. Three to four workshops occur every week along with nearly 10 open hours where students can come into the lab and work on a project of their choosing with the assistance of MakerLab staff.
“When I think of the makerspace there are three words that kind of come to my mind immediately and I think those would be innovation, curiosity and acceptance,” said MakerLab student worker Abigail Awol '28 in a Sept. 15 interview with The Justice. She characterized her time working at the MakerLab as being surrounded by creative people producing projects with the most uniqueness she has “seen in [her] entire life.” Penelope Llelibre '26, another student worker, has been leading workshops in the lab for two years. She is also impressed with work produced in the lab, recalling a project in which a professor wanted to teach her children the Armenian alphabet using wooden blocks shaped as the letters that could then be fit into spaces of their size on a wooden board. The professor could not find a set such as this to purchase and used the laser cutter in the MakerLab to produce it herself. Joshua Obas '28, who started working at the MakerLab over the summer, is excited to “roll out an embroidery workshop.” Obas spends between seven and 14 hours a week in the lab. His latest passion has been embroidering designs for his sister, who works at a children’s cafe. Obas has been covering a pant leg in colorful designs such as avocados, flowers and butterflies and looks forward to teaching others the techniques he has found effective.
The MakerLab offers access to its facilities to any student who participates in a training session and fills out a waiver. This gives students over 70 hours of work time each week. Along with giving students ample time with the machines, the MakerLab works with entire classes. Recently, Buckland produced 3D printed models of students’ heads for a sculpture class. A collection of about 20 multicolored faces sat in a cardboard box on the lab table. The lab also works closely with engineering courses and supervises a space in the new classrooms. “This is a great time to get involved [with the MakerLab],” said Buckland. He and his staff are thrilled for the innovations to come and for the projects that students will come up with.
– Editors Note: Justice
is
Senior Editor Eliza Bier '26
a student worker manager at Brandeis Design and Innovation and did not edit or contribute to this photostory.
HIGHER EDUCATION: President Arthur Levine advocates for robust career readiness
moderated by Liz Willen, the editor in chief of The Hechinger Report. “Is the Brandeis plan going to save higher education?” Willen posed to Levine’s panel.
The President of the American Council on Education, Ted Mitchell, responded affirmatively, stating that Levine is going to save higher education and this plan is one of the “vehicles” which he is using to do so. Mitchell delineated that higher education nationwide has a cost, transparency and relevance issue. For instance, he said that skepticism surrounding the cost of university is worsened by a lack of transparency. For instance, he said that 43% of institutions in the United States do not distinguish between grants and loans in their financial aid offers, which means the difference between knowing the “money you get and money you have to pay back.”
Mitchell elaborated that the plan’s strength lies in how it makes Brandeis relevant. By highlighting career readiness “starting in the first week of a student's experience and paralleling academic advising with career advising,” students and their families will understand how each class matters to their education, mitigating the issue of “transparency” that he highlighted. Additionally, the plan will ensure that students have guidance for the steps in their careers.
Willen then asked for further clarification about the plan’s proposed new transcript, questioning what it would measure.
“Durable skills as a first pillar, communication, collaboration, creativity,” the President and Chief Executive Officer of Educational Testing Service, Amit Sevak, answered. He said that skills such as these are the top requested on LinkedIn’s job descriptions, saying that the plan is getting back to the “basics” of what employers want.
The President of the Council of Independent Colleges and Brandeis Board of Trustees member, Marjorie Hass, added that the plan is grounded in Brandeis’ core, tikkun olam — repairing the world — and will serve as a “model for others … [Levine’s plan] is intended as a gift to a much broader audience.” She said that having models in higher education seldom happens. Hass feels that a university’s typical instinct is to “hoard” its innovative plans behind closed doors rather than allow other institutions to replicate it. Instead, she clarified that the Brandeis University’s transparency and active work to publicize the results of these changes indicates the University’s intent to be a model for higher education.
Willen asked what success of this plan might look like and how other institutions might learn from it, to which President Levine responded by reiterating the common “shortcomings” of higher education — the cost, its unwillingness to change and lack of relevance. He explained that the goal of reorganization is to address these issues, and that Brandeis itself gives it credibility among other institutions.
“This is a message of hope and a future that is dependently on the
institution’s willingness to grasp the moment and move forward, to accept the fact that we need to do things differently, and to propose a plan,” Mitchell added. He claimed that Brandeis assessed its values as well as the needs and demands of its environment because it was “the right thing,” rather than out of sheer necessity.
Sevak claimed that Brandeis graduates are already “overwhelmingly getting jobs” at a rate above the national average, asserting that concerns lay in terms of salary and graduation placement rate. However, he said this is an opportunity to create a foundation for a student’s long-term career, not only their first job, through faculty support. He said that the 88% approval rating among faculty and the unanimous support from the Board of Trustees expresses that Brandeis is an “organization that’s willing and ready to change.”
Willen asked Levine how he garnered such strong support among faculty, which he answered with a short story. He recalled telling faculty that The Board of Trustees asked him to “identify a direction for Brandeis for the decades ahead,” to which he said they could not do without the faculty’s help as partners. Levine said that he had 160 meetings with members of faculty in his first two months at the University and another 60 meetings after the fact. “By the time they voted for this,” Levine said, “it was a campus that was ready to move and eager to move.”
The founder and Executive director of Safer Country, a gun violence prevention nonprofit, Paul Friedman ’81, asked the panel how the University plans to evaluate artificial intelligence and defend jobs from being eliminated in favor of AI’s speed and low cost. Levine described that each time a new form of technology becomes widespread, it is unregulated. He said that the University has the chance to “create the guardrails now.”
Daniel Kazzazz ’74 MA ’11 asked what Brandeis plans to do about creating more jobs for its graduating students. Sevak said that students will have access to a “career-interest inventory” which gauges students' passions and what kinds of specific competencies would be most suitable. He explained that the plan’s secondary transcript will reflect competencies gained from formal curriculum and the out of classroom learning that students experience. For example, a student’s speech and debate skills from their participation in Model United Nations would be included on this transcript. Sevak said that qualities like character building, contribution and service can be broken down into sub-skills and measured through AI and video capture, project-based learning and other “new simulations.”
Additionally, Levine said that the University is building these competencies as a means for “up-skilling and re-skilling” as Brandeis graduates move throughout their careers. Matthew Kowalyk ’18 MA ’19 asked how The Brandeis Plan would engage with alumni, recall-
ing a lack of support for career planning during his time as a student. Levine hopes alumni can return Brandeis to “re-skill” as they go through life.
Larry Kanarek ’76, former chair of the Board of Trustees, asked the panel what the pacing for the plan looks like, possible “resistance points” and strategies to mitigate them.
“We’ve moved at a pace that I can’t even imagine,” President Levine answered. He described his arrival at the University last November and gaining faculty approval for the plan by the end of March. He said that if someone had asked him at the start how long it would have taken for him to get faculty approval on a university reorganization plan, he would have estimated it taking the full two years he planned to be interim president — not four months. Although the University will not have every detail of the program perfected or entirely implemented by the first year, Levine hopes to continue expanding and improving it for years to come.
President Levine also emphasized that he was not the program’s singular driving force. Although this is his third presidency, and he has ample experience in administrative leadership, he emphasized the faculty’s role in creating The Brandeis Plan. Levine insisted, “what I was blessed with was the best faculty I’ve ever worked with in my life — and extraordinary administration — and that’s why the changes that were made were made. Not because of me.”
During her remarks, Brandeis alum, Rani Balakrishna ’25, said that it is a “great move” for The Brandeis Plan to focus on demonstrating graduates’ skills beyond their academic qualifications. She shared her own experience with finding work, expressing that even with her background in politics and journalism, ample club leadership and GPA, employers have still wanted to learn more. Thus, the transcript of core competencies will give “future students a bigger portfolio with more credentials.” Further, the core competencies encourage students to take classes across disciplines, making them more academically well-rounded, contrasting this expansion with how students’ experiences already overlap at the University. Balakrishna’s varied experiences ultimately improved her performance across all of her interests — leading the Student Union helped her play softball better.
“The Brandeis plan for reinventing the liberal arts is an open door to a larger world than Waltham, it is a door not only to skills and jobs but it is about applying what we learn, whether the learning takes place in a classroom or in the press club, it comes from all the experience that Brandeis gives you,” concluded Balakrishna. Following closing words of thanks from President Levine, the panel finished.
CHANCE ENCOUNTERS: How crossed paths changed the lives of faculty and students
is without stumbling upon “Annabel” all those years ago. Katz then welcomed Prof. Muna Güvenç (FA), an esteemed architect and author of “The City is Ours: Spaces of Political Mobilization and Imaginaries of Nationhood in Turkey.” Güvenç’s research focuses on Kurdish political movements in Turkey, and how architecture is used to mobilize citizens. During her research, she spent a significant amount of time in Kurdish communities and worked to earn their trust and acceptance.
While studying for her Ph.D. at University of California, Berkeley, Güvenç had a chance encounter with another woman who was Turkish. The two discussed their research, and Güvenç told the woman about her work with the Kurdish community. What Güvenç didn’t realize was that this woman was the daughter of the president of Turkey at the time, Abdullah Gül.
One year later, in 2011, Güvenç received a phone call from an unknown number. She picked up, and was shocked to receive an invitation to join Gül’s campaign. Her work had struck a chord with his daughter, and he thought she would be an asset. Two hours later, Güvenç was in the airport on her way to Turkey.
Being on Gül’s campaign was eye-opening for Güvenç. The way citizens treated the president starkly contrasted her experience within the Kurdish community. As she described, citizens would ignore his power or protest against him. It was a fascinating experience, and one that she would not have had without her chance encounter with Gül’s daughter in California.
The next student speaker was Eric Cherny ’26, who has published a poetry book. Cherny described an unexpected opportunity while traveling in Vienna: the chance to go on a “Sigmund Freud tour of Vienna.” At the time, Cherny thought that psychology was pseudoscience, and was generally uninterested in it as a subject. The tour changed his mindset and was described by Cherny as “life-changing.” He saw parallels between himself and Freud, as both of them were young Jewish men looking to become lawyers. Today, Cherny is conducting psychological research and applying to Ph.D. programs
in clinical psychology.
Dr. Maria Madison (HELLER) was next, and she emphasized that the “secret sauce” of transformative movements in society is interconnectedness, and the ability to understand individual context. She gave a few notable examples, starting with Geoffrey Hinton, an important pioneer in the creation of artificial intelligence. Hinton had been writing his dissertation in neural networks of the human brain when he decided to use programming to assist him. While trying to map out a way that computers mirror the human brain, he stumbled upon the foundations of artificial intelligence.
Madison emphasized the importance of hearing voices that have traditionally been marginalized. She highlighted Gladys West, whose research was crucial in the development of the Global Positioning System, or GPS. Madison also highlighted Ida B. Wells, a leader of the early civil rights movement who used her journalistic prowess to expose corruption and campaign against lynching. She named Fannie Lou Hamer, who, after being forcefully sterilized, had the courage to document and fight the mass scale sterilization of Black women.
Though Madison’s examples did not focus on any specific moment, they exemplified the power of how context and accumulated experiences can come together and create impact.
The event’s final student speaker was Evelyn Bagley ’27, who discussed two close encounters with contingency and how people are shaped by chance and by choice. The first example Bagley discussed came up in a seminar with Prof. Janet McIntosh (ANTH). In the seminar, Bagley learned about spots in the U.S. Mexico border that are intentionally left open. They are called “death corridors," stretches of desert that are extremely dangerous to cross. Bagley also learned about Hostile Terrain 94, an ongoing exhibit by the Undocumented Migration Project that has participants make toe tags for people who died in the desert between Arizona and Mexico. The collaborative memorial gives weight to their deaths, and provides a sense of interconnectedness and grief for its participants.
Bagley’s second encounter with contingency occurred at a school
of linguistics in the Czech Republic. She studied with Dr. James Kirby, who studies East Asian Language. Bagley learned about how syntax (sentence structure) and morphology (word forms) had previously been seen as separate, but actually influence each other in significant ways. For example, Kirby’s research revealed that many speakers of East Asian languages are much more sensitive to smaller differences in tone due to the structure of their languages being more tone-centric. In this way, even small structural changes in language ripple out and dramatically shape how one views the world.
The last faculty speaker of the event was Prof. John Burt (ENG), author of “Lincoln’s Tragic Pragmatism,” among other publications. Katz noted that this was Burt’s last semester at Brandeis after a long and prolific career. Burt, speaking on his area of expertise, analyzed a moment in the American civil war that could have become a major turning point but did not: the battle of Antietam.
Burt explained how after Confederate forces had won the Battle of Bull Run, John Pope was discredited as the commander of the Federal Army. George McClellan took his place. Taking advantage of the Confederate victory at Bull Run, Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland and made the risky decision to split his army in half. McClellan, who had a larger army and was fighting against split forces, could have easily destroyed the Confederate army during this invasion. However, he did not, for several reasons. First, he believed that his army was smaller than Lee’s, due to false information being spread after the Confederate army had blown up bridges and cut telegraph wires. Second, he believed the army was exhausted. Lee was allowed to escape.
After his speech, Burt was the second person to receive a History of Ideas baseball hat, a memento of his incredible work at the University. The touching moment concluded the event, a testament to the idea that even the most mundane moments have the capacity to make waves.
just features
VERBATIM | ANTHONY BOURDAIN
Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don’t have.
ON THIS DAY…
The Mayflower departed from England in 1620.
FUN FACT
The Mayflower was originally meant to sail to America with a sister ship.
A Real Life Ratatouille
Student researchers explained to the Justice how labs on campus are using rats to better understand the brain’s connection between taste and learning.
In Pixar’s “Ratatouille,” famously fearsome food critic Anton Ego declares, “If I don’t love it, I don’t swallow.” One bite is all it takes for him to grimace, or, in the film’s famous finale, to melt into childhood nostalgia.
The chef behind those reactions isn’t human, but Remy the rat. And while no rat is serving up ratatouille in Sherman Dining Hall, there are rats on Brandeis’ campus shaping how scientists understand the powerful link between taste and behavior.
When we initially meet Ego, his disdain for certain foods may seem exaggerated for the screen, but the instinct behind it is very real. Just like the critic grimaces and pushes away his plate after only one bite, animals, including humans, learn to reject foods that have similarly betrayed them. Connect a flavor to an adverse reaction, and even a once-delicious food becomes revolting. Scientists call this phenomenon conditioned taste aversion and it offers us a small glimpse into the connection between our brains and behavior.
Sydney Flashman ’27, while working in Prof. Donald Katz’s (PSYC) lab, has been immersed in this intersection of taste and behavior for the past year. She studies how strong of an association between illness and food is needed to turn a once-palatable food into something eschewed.
To do this, Flashman starts by giving the rats saccharin, a sweetener that they naturally like. She then feeds them
lithium chloride, which causes temporary nausea.
After multiple training sessions, the rats learn to associate saccharin with sickness. This leads them to turn away and make rapid, rhythmic gaping motions with their jaws when provided saccharin, a well-established sign of disgust in rats, almost
By SAAYA DAGA JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
can do more with gaping research as opposed to individually spending time trying to find the ‘sweet spot’ for CTA and gaping to occur.”
Dosage, timing and delivery all matter. If the nausea is too severe, the rats may become sluggish and fail to respond at all. If it’s too weak or
sponse may look identical, there’s a key difference: Innate aversions are thought to be hardwired responses, whereas learned aversions develop through experience.
These two types of aversion are possibly processed by different brain regions, which is what Flashman and her gradu-
To measure what’s happening in the brain,
like gagging. “I’m basically trying to figure out how many days of training and at what concentration is the ‘sweet spot’ for CTA, so that people studying CTA in the future know what threshold best triggers the gaping response,” Flashman explained in an Aug. 21 inteview with the Justice. “Then people
too delayed, they might not form the connection between taste and illness.
Interestingly, the gaping behavior that rats exhibit when tying food to a bad experience also appears when rats are consuming foods that they innately dislike. Foods like quinine, a compound known for its bitter taste. While the behavioral re-
ate student mentor, Christina Mazzio PH.D. ’24, are trying to tease apart. Prior to the start of their testing, the rats first learn to associate saccharin with nausea through one or two days of training. Then, on test days, the rats are fed saccharin (now aversive), salt (a palatable control) and water (a neutral baseline). Their responses to these foods are compared to their reactions to quinine. By including both learned and innate aversions alongside neutral and pleasant controls, Mazzio can directly measure how the brain distinguishes between them.
Mazzio uses electrophysiology and implants 32 electrodes in the rats’ gustatory cortex — not nearly as fun as Remy using Linguini’s hair — which is the part of the brain that processes taste. These electrodes record patterns of neural firing as the animals encounter a taste, process it and then produce a behavior. To track the behavioral output with equal precision, she also uses electromyography, monitoring tiny bursts of muscle activity in the jaw as the animals gape. Along the way, Mazzio and Flashman noticed something unexpected. Immediately after training, rats did not just gape at saccharin but they briefly rejected other flavors, too, even neutral ones like water. She and Mazzio dubbed the effect “anticipatory gaping.” Mazzio and Flashman believe this response is automatic, triggered by being in the same environment where the rats previously became ill. Over time, the rats learned which tastes were actually safe and which were not. Quinine, while safe, remained aversive, and saccharin, on the other hand, was identified as the flavor that caused illness. Over time, the broad aversive reaction faded and became focused solely on saccharin.
This broad-to-narrow shift in response highlights how flexible the brain’s learning process is. A single bad experience can cast a wide shadow over the foods we eat before the brain narrows in on the specific culprit. And while Remy may not be here to zhuzh up our dining hall food, the real rats in Katz’s lab are helping Brandeis researchers uncover how the brain rewires taste and learning. Their work doesn’t just explain why some foods earn rave reviews and others disgust. It shows how our brains learn and adapt in the process.
Design: BRIANNA EARLE/The Justice. Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
REMY THE RAT: Brandeis students use rats for important lab research.
Governor Gore and his Waltham estate
Gore Place offers a glimpse of early American architecture, agriculture and culture right in Brandeis’ backyard.
By BRIANNA EARLE JUSTICE FEATURES EDITOR
Along Main Street in Waltham, just a few miles past the center of the city, sits a house that doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the neighborhood. It’s large and made completely of brick. The windows on each side are symmetrical, adorned with white trim. The federalist-style home surrounded by acres of land was perfectly suitable for the federalist that inhabited it: Christopher Gore.
Born and raised in Boston, Gore served as the seventh governor of Massachusetts. Before his tenure in politics, Gore attended Harvard University, served in the Continental Army and became one of the most prominent lawyers in Boston.
Gore was wealthy and sharp. Gore’s contemporaries, including President John Quincy Adams, speculated that Gore was the wealthiest lawyer in the United States while he was alive, accumulating his wealth mostly through business ventures.
Gore’s affluence allowed him to purchase land in Waltham that would eventually become his family’s summer home, now known as Gore Place. He and his wife Rebecca purchased the nearly 200-acre property in 1786 which included the land, a house and a barn. Nearly a decade later, in 1799, the standing home burned down. Since the estate served as the couple’s summer home, there wasn’t an immediate rush to rebuild.
The construction of Gore Place as it is known today was completed in 1806. The new build was large, but the features of its exterior were simple and understated. Separated into five different sections, the mansion’s size was its flashiest asset.
In the years following the fire, Gore was appointed as the diplomat to Great Britain
by President George Washington. He and Rebecca spent several years living in Europe, and Rebecca Gore became acquainted with architect Jacques-Guillaume Legrand during a six-month stint in Paris. Legrand was a prominent Federalist architect and Legrand and Rebecca were able to sketch out plans for the new home.
Like other Federalist-style homes, the interior of the Gore mansion is far more interesting than the exterior. The home is clad with bright patterned wallpaper, intricately carved trim and an impressive spiral staircase ornamented with portraits of the couple. The cabinets are full of porcelain dinnerware imported directly from China and each room is fully furnished with pieces made mostly from mahogany. The space is visually impressive, but it was also technologically advanced for the time period. The home incorporated central heating, indoor plumbing and hot water. Despite all of these housing features being a baseline for most homes in the U.S. now, they were few and far between for much of the general public at the time.
Blueprints were not the only thing that the Gores left Europe with. In the eight years they spent traveling across the pond, the pair was inspired by the small farms of British aristocrats. “Gentlemen’s farms” were a staple on properties among the wealthy upper-class at the time. Classic traits of these farms included extravagant gardens, livestock and vast fields.
These farms were popular among affluent families and were often hobbies for them, as many of these families had several sources of income and they were able to farm for pleasure as opposed to farming out of necessity.
Inspired by the British, the Gores brought agricultural aspirations back home with them to Waltham. The estate, which, like many other colonial homes in New England, currently serves as a museum, is unlike other museums in that it also serves as a fully operational farm on the 50-acres of land that remains.
Both of the Gores had an affinity for farming and agriculture prior to their time in Europe. Christopher was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture and was dedicated to learning the science behind successful farming.
Unlike most gentlemen farmers, Gore was less interested in proving his wealth and more interested in agricultural experimentation. Gentlemen farmers often did not actually work on the farms pushing plows, but were involved in the oversight. Gore was no different.
According to the estate, “Gore had a large, artificially-heated greenhouse in which the full-time British gardener he employed propagated plants, experimented with different soils and compost, and grew exotic fruits like lemons, pineapples and figs.”
Now, the Gore Place Society owns and operates the estate, and has done so since 1935 after saving the property from demolition. The Gore’s farm not only produces a wide array of crops, but also herds of livestock.
Although the farm boasted various types of livestock, sheep became the staple of Gore’s agricultural legacy. Thomas Roach, a program director at Gore Place, told Wicked Local in 2019 that, “we know that
he moved towards cattle because there was more money in cattle. Gore was responsible for introducing a breed of cattle from England here that actually became called the ‘Gore steer.’”
Today, Gore Place is known by many for their annual sheep-shearing festival. The festival, which takes place every spring, hosts a plethora of local vendors and welcomes the community to join in the fun. Wicked Local also reported that as of 2019, the festival draws in a crowd of around 8,000 each year.
In addition to various community engagement opportunities, the festival also includes live demonstrations of handblade sheep shearing of sheep from the farm, the most prominent method of shearing during Gore’s contemporary era.
The livestock and crops at the Gore farm are used for research and preservation of early American farming methods.
Not only is the farm educational, but it also provides the community with access to local produce at their farm stand. Yarn made from the wool from their sheep is also available for purchase at their store.
Gore Place serves Waltham and the surrounding communities with a glimpse into historical life while also providing them with the ability to connect with local agriculture. Barely off the beaten path, the estate serves as a reminder of what the community once looked like and how it paved the way for the Waltham that we know today.
The museum is open to the public and tours are available for the mansion, the carriage house and the farm.
At what point does an influencer become more than just an influencer? The word itself suggests persuasion through visibility — someone who can guide taste, spark conversations or capture attention. But in the political arena, “influencer” can take on a different weight. A political influencer is not simply shaping trends but helping frame how people see power, identity and society itself.
Political commentary is not new. Unlike traditional commentators who worked with larger organizations and under editorial standards, today’s political influencers often operate independently and are largely unregulated. They speak directly to audiences, bypassing traditional gatekeepers, and in doing so, they make politics feel more immediate and accessible. Influencers have begun to act as media representatives for politicians, a trend seen in conservative influencers mobilizing Generation Z men in support of President Trump. For many, that accessibility is the draw: It’s easier to connect with someone posting on Instagram or TikTok than with a politician on a podium. Increasingly, people want politicians to feel as accessible as influencers themselves. But accessibility comes with trade-offs. If your livelihood depends on social media, then engagement is the measure of success, and the surest way to drive engagement is through polarizing language. Algorithms reward the bold, the dramatic and the controversial. As a result, political influencers are often pushed toward statements designed less to explain than to provoke, creating a cycle in which visibility and virality matter more than nuance. This
shapes how political ideas are shared and consumed — not through long debates or policy papers, but through sound bites and viral clips.
With algorithms promoting unfiltered content from political influencers, Americans are at higher risk of encountering misinformation and disinformation. The amplification of intentionally inflammatory political content combined with an already mounting media literacy crisis in the United States could prove to be very dangerous for democracy as we know it.
Researchers are finding that social media influencers may affect voter opinions more than the politicians themselves. Politicians are blurring the lines between political and personal image by appearing on podcasts and posting relatable memes to their Instagram feeds. The traditional chain of command in local, state and federal government is diminishing with the increased social media presence of political figures.
It is easy to hide behind social media personas, especially as artificial intelligence technology becomes increasingly popular and advanced. It should be in the interest of many Americans to step back and think critically about the content they’re consuming.
The killing of Charlie Kirk highlights just how visible and vulnerable this space has become. Political influencers now stand at the intersection of media, culture and civic life, occupying a position that is both powerful and precarious. To reflect on their role is not to judge it, but to recognize that the way we consume and engage with politics has changed.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Abolish ICE and investigate its agents
By Jon Hochschartner
I don’t think there’s a day that goes by when I don’t see amateur video of some terrible abuse perpetrated by masked men, suspected of being agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I say ‘suspected’ because frequently these men don’t identify themselves at all, as they shove people into unmarked cars. For all their victims know, these kidnappers are white-supremacist vigilantes. It would be unfortunate, but completely understandable, in my view, if such masked men were shot in self defense by those they terrorize. Contrary to what officials in President Donald Trump’s fascist administration might say, it’s absolutely legitimate to ‘dox’ ICE agents, by which I mean, reveal the identity of these thugs hiding behind masks. They’re nominally public servants, after all. So many things are wrong with our country now, but one thing that should be very clear to everyone, especially Democratic lawmakers, is ICE is a rogue, outof-control agency. This isn’t a matter of a few bad apples. The agency itself releases sadistic propaganda videos, gleefully documenting its agents’ work to ship people to domestic and foreign concentration
camps, without due process.
Members of the public might assume ICE is an integral, long-standing part of law enforcement, but that’s not true. The agency was established in the last 25 years. We don’t need it, especially after ICE has been revealed as the tip of the spear of American fascism. When Democrats regain power at the national level, they must abolish the agency and investigate all of its agents for wrongdoing.
In the meantime, Democratic governors could be doing a lot more to protect their residents from ICE. For instance, instead of just trolling Trump on social media, California’s Gavin Newsom should arrest ICE agents when they flagrantly violate basic civil liberties, as I’ve seen in the aforementioned videos countless times. Democrats have power now at the state level. They need to exercise it.
Patriotic citizens should continue to do their best to record crimes committed by ICE and expose the identities of these masked thugs. Frankly, this is the least of what such agents should expect, given their actions. They are behaving like members of an occupying army in Democraticcontrolled cities. It’s high time we started treating them as such. They’re anathema to a free society. The anti-fascist coalition has a wide
variety of policy goals. For instance, as an animal activist, I want to see a massive infusion of public funding into cultivatedmeat research. For those who don’t know, the new protein is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. I view development of this technology as the most promising means of reducing nonhuman suffering and premature death. However, none of our goals can be accomplished under a right-wing dictatorship. When Trump is inevitably removed from power, Democrats must make sure
the fascist takeover he’s made such terrifying progress on is never possible again. The changes necessary will amount to a new American founding. One element of this will be excising ICE from our government like the cancer it is.
Jon Hochschartner lives in Connecticut. He is the author of a number of books, including The Animals’ Freedom Fighter: A Biography of Ronnie Lee, Founder of the Animal Liberation Front.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
For several generations when the name Hannah Arendt is broached, academics and journalists sing hosannas for two reasons: her expertise concerning totalitarianism and her creation of the curious phrase “ the banality of evil”. In fact recent analysis makes clear that she has clay feet on both points.
First, renowned scholar David Nirenberg who is presently the Director and Leon Levy Professor at the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, New Jersey demonstrates that there is a clear strain of antisemitism that pervades Arendt’s work. It should also be noted that Professor Nirenberg has previously been the Deborah R. and Edgar D. Jannotta Professor of Medieval History and Social Thought at the University of Chicago, and the director of the Neubauer Family Collegium for Culture and Society. Professor Nirenberg writes concerning Arendt:
“Arendt...believed the (antisemitic) ideology made cultural sense because it described something that Jews REALLY were, something that they really DID. The victims shared ‘ responsibility’(her word) for the worldview built on their backs. Arendt found her strong link between ideology and reality in what she considered to be ‘specifically Jewish functions’ related to commerce and economic circulation that developed in the modern nation-state. It was in their special commitment to bourgeois capitalism that the Jews were ‘ co-responsible’ for the reality to which they fell victim. ‘ All economic statistics prove that German Jews belonged not to the German people, but at most to the bourge oisie’.
“ It is a bit surprising that Arendt so often drew the necessary statistics from the work produced by Nazi economists in support of party propaganda. It was, for example, to the ‘ fighting scholarship’ of Walter Frank and his ‘Reichsinstitut for the history of the New Germany’ that she owed her indictment of the Rothschilds and other nineteenth century Jewish bankers as ‘ reactionary’, ‘ parasites upon a corrupt body’. But even if her statistics had been less obviously partial and partisan, their selection out of the world’s infinite sea of significance would still be shaped by what her conceptual framework encouraged her to recognize as meaningful. In this case her negative view of ‘bourgeois capitalism’ and its role in the nation state, the ease with which she was willing to assume that Judaism was especially bound to money, her insistence on the ‘co- responsibility’ of the Jews for the economic order within which they function: these were among the a priori ideological commitments that structured her selection and interpretation of “ facts” about the Jews.”
Professor Nirenberg continues:
“It is therefore remarkable that Arendt clung to the views on Jewish reality and co- responsibility that she elaborated on in the late 1930s, even after the full extent and fantastic projective power of Nazi antisemitism ( including its vast exaggeration of the Jews’ economic importance) became clear.”
Finally Professor Nirenberg explains what can reasonably be viewed as Arendt’s antisemitic opinion of Jews by saying:
“There are many ways to explain this refusal of reflection on the part of so critical a thinker. Some have invoked Arendt’s
autobiography, pointing to her assimilationist childhood, to her long relationship with Heidegger, or even go so far to suggest that she had read so much anti- Semitic literature that she began to believe it. But a much more basic explanation, and one that helps us to understand not only Arendt’s attitudes to Jewish questions but also those of a great many other highly intelligent people( including many Jews) of the modern era, has to do with the critical concepts with which they worked: concepts themselves produced by a history of criticizing Judaism, and hampered by that history when it came to producing a critique of the anti- Jewish critique.”
See: “ Anti- Judaism. The Western Tradition. Epilogue. Drowning Intellectuals”, David Nirenberg. The University of Chicago, 2013, pp 461-466. Second, Ron Rosenbaum, author of “ Explaining Hitler. The Search for the Origins of His Evil (1999) and many other books, in focusing on Arendt’s phrase “ the banality of evil” , arguably the most amoral phrase of the 20th century, has described Arendt as “ the world’s worst court reporter”. Rosenbaum writes:
“It is remarkable how many people mouth this phrase as if it were somehow a sophisticated response to the death camps, when in fact it is rather a sophisticated form of denial, one that can come very close to being the (pseudo-) intellectual version of Holocaust denial. Not denying the crime but denying the full criminality of the perpetrators.” Rosenbaum continues:
“But she ( Hannah Arendt ) was the world’s worst court reporter, someone who could be put to shame by any veteran courthouse scribe from a New York tabloid. It somehow didn’t occur to her that a defendant like Eichmann, facing execution if convicted, might actually lie on the stand about his crimes and his motives. She actually took Eichmann at his word. What did she expect him to say to the Israeli court that had life and death power over him:
“Yes, I really hated Jews and loved killing them?”
“But when Eichmann took the stand and testified that he really didn’t harbor any special animosity toward Jews, that when it came to this little business of exterminating the Jews, he was just a harried bureaucrat, a paper shuffler ‘just following orders’ from above, Arendt took him at his word. She treated Eichmann’s lies as if they were a kind of philosophical position paper, a text to analyze rather than a cowardly alibi by a genocidal murderer.
“She was completely conned by Eichmann, by his mild-mannered demeanor on the stand during his trial; she bought his act of being a nebbishy schnook. Arendt then proceeded to make Eichmann’s disingenuous self-portrait the basis for a sweeping generalization about the nature of evil whose unfounded assumptions one still finds tossed off as sophisticated aperçus today.” (“Eichmann and “ ‘The Banality of Evil ‘ “, Ron Rosenbaum, The Observer, 8/23/99).
Just as Hannah Arendt was conned by Eichmann, so many others today including academics and journalists continue to be conned by Hannah Arendt. Richard Sherman, POB 934853, Margate, Florida 33093(646)267-7904.
Graphics courtesy of CANVA and KEIRA SHEAR/The Justice
The Opinion: Issue two
By NOA RUBINSTEIN JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Welcome back, Brandesians, to the second edition of The Opinion. In the previous edition, I discussed the intensity of University clubs — with many clubs mirroring today’s politics and stressors, which many students prefer to avoid. I argued that clubs should be taken less seriously not only for the betterment of students’ mental health, but also to improve campus culture as a whole. Today’s opinion will tackle a topic that I have heard discussed in the library numerous times.
Here is today’s opinion which was emailed to me: All humanities majors should be required to take the English close reading class.
There is an ongoing discussion that I have seen while deathscrolling TikTok where teachers are going online and commenting — rather anxiously — that the younger generation is unable to read. This younger generation, referred to as Generation Alpha, is reportedly trading books for iPads. This topic has been widely covered, from Business Insider (with a gripping title: “For Gen Alpha, Learning to Read Is Becoming A Privilege”) to Binghamton University. According to The National Literacy Institute, in 2024-25 the U.S. was ranked 36th in literacy, which took me by surprise. What was even more surprising was that there were numerous countries who achieved 100% literacy rates like Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Finland and Andorra to name a few. According to the National Literary Institute, only 79% of adults in 2024 knew how to read in the U.S., with around 54% of those adults reading under a sixth grade comprehension.
This is all just to say that in the United States, literacy is a privilege for many students. Many are not prepared for college, which then makes the transition exceedingly difficult. While this may not be the case for all Brandeis students, I do understand the argument that humanities majors should take the English close reading class, and it makes a lot of sense. Many humanities majors require the ability to analyze literature and synthesize materials to form an argument. Without proper guidance or preparation, said task can be extremely difficult to achieve. With a required close reading class, there would be no excuse for misunderstandings. Every student would know what the expectation at Brandeis is, and would have the tools to excel academically. However, there is a flaw in this argument. Recently, our new president (Captain, my Captain) and the administration have rearranged the academic schools, creating three new schools to expand the current selection. This, in turn, has rearranged the organization of the college, switching which subjects constitute a humanities major. For instance, I used to solely be in the School of Arts, Humanities and Culture, but now my history major has been moved to fall under the School for Social Sciences and Policy, making me a social science student. While I do not understand why history is considered a social science, my academic life is not greatly affected by this, as opposed to my peers.
This proffer is merely to suggest: because the schools changed, which majors constitute humanities has also changed. Therefore, there are majors that I think close reading could assist — like Comparative Literature and Culture, English, Philosophy and European Culture Studies — and, likewise, there are other humanities majors where close reading might not be as applicable. Additionally, some humanities students may benefit from a close reading class while others may find it repetitive. As a double major in history and English, I find close reading very useful and I am lucky my high school made students sell their souls for academic excellence because I felt prepared entering those fields. And, in general, close reading is pivotal for reading intensive majors.
Perhaps a good fix would be to test students’ reading comprehension in order to assess whether it is necessary to require a close reading class. By making it mandatory, students who are able to close-read will find their time wasted by an unnecessary class. Brandeis already requires all first-years to take a writing seminar and a health class — having too many graduation requirements can squander undergraduate morale and passion.
As I mentioned in my first publication, I don’t want my own bias to influence the whole article. It should be noted that the English department’s close reading class is a requirement for the Creative Writing major. I wanted to understand,
as a general hypothetical, whether humanities students thought that a required close reading course would be beneficial to the student experience at Brandeis. So I asked my friends — who were majority humanities majors with some social science mixed in there — what they think. The question proposed was: Do you think your major would benefit from a required close reading class? Out of the 28 participants, 64.29% said yes, 28.57% said no and 7.14% said maybe or argued that it depends.
I’ve also decided to include a few responses that I found interesting (for the sake of keeping this article from rambling, I only chose a few. However, thank you so, so much for everyone who responded, everyone had such interesting takes, I wish I could include them all). One student, who for the sake of anonymity will be known as Apple, studies creative writing and notes how their major requires the English close reading class. They believe that a close reading course was unnecessary because other classes fulfilled the requirement. They suggest that “close reading” should become a tag attached to classes, like how other classes are tagged with Digital Literacy or Oral Communications. Thus, the requirement does not have to be a class dedicated only to close reading, and instead can offer variety. This idea is repeated and supported by other students I interviewed.
Student Blueberry, an English major at Brandeis, is in partial agreement with Apple. They suggest that a course focused specifically on learning how to do close reading analysis would actually benefit their major. However, they think that requiring a specific class might not be what humanities classes need in general, instead resolving that if there was a close reading course tag, like Quantitative Reasoning, they would be on board.
Another student, who I will refer to as Clementine, agreed that close reading would benefit their field. As a Classics major, Clementine believes a close reading class could absolutely help people figure out the various readings they do in class, especially in the text’s original language.
Student Berry — a Politics and African and African American Studies double major — notes how they understand the benefit of a close reading class because it’s good for everyone to hone in on the skill of analyzing texts. However, they don’t think it should be required. One reason offered is that they think it would take up extra time when humanities students already read a lot, and the addition of a required close reading class can overwhelm the student. Additionally, when entering the humanities, the ability to analyze text is a skill one should already possess. One enters the field with an understanding that they will analyze text, so the student should be prepared and capable of doing it, or they should be ready to learn along the way.
The last opinion I will be sharing is of a peer who wants to be referred to as Sommer Vermeil.
As an Anthropology major, they feel as though a required close reading course would be extremely beneficial, citing how “some crazy things are said during class.” They mention how if the students learned how to analyze class readings, they would better understand the material — thus creating a more engaged environment and reducing the amount of “whack” things students say. Sommer also notes how this scenario can be applicable to all majors.
I do want to note, around a third of the interviewees mentioned how the required close reading class would be beneficial for all majors, not just those in the humanities. Many suggested that while close reading is important to humanities, the same skill should be taught across the board. Student Swan, who majors in Philosophy and Biology, suggests that instead of University Writing Seminar, every major could have a class geared towards teaching the necessary writing and reading skills for their major. Thus, students are less overwhelmed and can be efficiently prepared for future classes. Again, take what you will from this article. It is not meant to persuade or dissuade you from any opinion. I believe college is a place that is meant to cultivate discussion and debate. If you want any of your opinions anonymously published, please email me at theopinion2027@ gmail.com
With our First Amendment right constantly being threatened, I believe it is important for
opinions to be openly expressed and discussed — now more than ever. I hope Brandeis remains a safe campus where everybody’s opinions are equally respected and cherished. Expressing yourself can be scary and overwhelming, but I
will keep all opinions anonymous. May everyone continue to be able to express themselves with their First Amendment right to free speech. And with this ends the second issue of The Opinion. Have a good day.
By BELLE SHATZKES JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Wednesday, Sept. 10, a little after 3 p.m., Charlie Kirk was shot in the neck and killed at an event at Utah Valley University.
I was in my dorm, doing my readings for a class. When I read the news that he’d been shot, I was absolutely shocked. A political assasination that high profile? It felt like America was waiting with bated breath, following the news minute by minute to see how the events would unfold.
Then, around 4:40 p.m., the world received the news that Kirk had succumbed to his wounds and died. I put aside my homework and sat, frozen, in my chair, wondering what the implications would be. America had come to the point where a man was shot because his opinions didn’t align with somebody else’s.
But, I was even more disturbed when, around 4:50 p.m., I heard cheering from the staircase outside my door. “He’s dead!” somebody was shouting. “He’s f***ing dead, let’s f***ing go!”
Are you all insane?
I don’t care if you didn’t like Charlie Kirk. I don’t care what your political opinions are, or your religious opinions, or your personal opinions, or any of that.
When did it become okay to celebrate the murder of a man? When did the announcement of a death call for cheers? When did people become so callous, so unfeeling, that when a person who shares different political opinions from them dies, it’s a happy occasion?
Has America become so radically polarized that death is just another political tool? A poll done by Gallup in September 2024 found that 80% of adults in America believe that Americans are extremely divided on the most important values, while just 18% believe that the country is united. College campuses seem to exacerbate the problem.
Campuses are considered to primarily host liberal ideology. Students are leaving their homes for the first time, being introduced to new people and new ideas, and their beliefs are being challenged — as they should be. Education is testing the boundaries of former thoughts and breaking barriers set by the people who raised us and taught us how to think.
However, it often feels like colleges have become echo chambers. A poll conducted by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School found that a third of students between 18 and 29 feel uncomfortable sharing their political views on campus for fear of negative repercussions. Since a majority of college students hold progressive beliefs, especially on Brandeis’
campus, students tend to keep quiet about nonprogressive beliefs that others might not agree with.
But have our beliefs polarized us to the point that we can’t be bothered to feel an ounce of despair for a parent who now has to bury his son?
A child who won’t grow up with a father? Let’s zoom out for a second — let’s say, God forbid, a prominent left-wing activist had been shot and killed on a college campus. What would we be hearing in the dorms? In the classrooms? Would there be tears? Protests? Would anybody dare to turn to another person and say, “good riddance?”
Just about a year ago, a second assassination attempt was made on President Trump’s life. What did I hear on campus? Loud questions about safety, about the presence of Secret Service, about the radicalization of America, about gun violence and gun reforms — and whispers saying, “Why did they miss a second time?”
This time, it wasn’t a whisper. It was a shout in the staircase. It was whooping. It was me, sitting shocked in my suite at the consequences of such a crazy political killing, listening to the people around me celebrating murder and death, death by firearm, the exact thing that college students have historically raised awareness for and protested against.
In June, Minnesota Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed by a shooter. In the same attack, Minnesota Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot repeatedly and hospitalized. It was a horrible event that brought attention back to the issue of gun violence, and Democrats around America mourned, protested and called for gun control.
Now, Americans are laughing at the irony that Charlie Kirk, who was a staunch supporter of gun rights, was shot while he had been speaking about the topic. It’s disgusting. Don’t get me wrong — we shouldn’t be turning Kirk into a martyr, either. I will be the first to say that I almost never agreed with his politics. But I sure didn’t smile when he was killed. Charlie Kirk was just a guy. Sure, his political beliefs were very right-wing, and yes, he’s said some incredibly harmful stuff, but he was a human being, just like us. Get your acts together. Find the piece of humanity inside of you that feels for his family and friends because they’ve lost a person. You spoke loudly. Now sit with the echo of your words and ask yourself if they were worth the harm they could cause.
If you’ve ever played a youth sport before, it’s possible that your coaches told you that “iron sharpens iron,” meaning that playing against evenly matched competition will make you better. While there is something to be said about pressuring seven-yearolds about their future as athletes, I think it’s incredibly applicable here. If you’re exclusively playing weak competition, you aren’t getting much better or being forced to improve your skills to win. If you’re getting demolished every single game, you’re not able to make any progress. Flagg touched on this on draft night by referencing a quote from his mom: “If you’re the best player in the gym, it’s time to find a new gym.” Most of the top youth basketball circuits are outside of the northeast, so it can be tough to find a new gym right for players like
Dybantsa and Flagg. This issue brings up one of the most important aspects of modern recruiting; it’s easier than ever to get noticed. There are statistics websites that keep box scores for high school games, scouts are able to be contacted through social media and most importantly, the basketball world has realized that talent is everywhere. The last seven NBA Most Valuable Players are all non-Americans; Serbia’s Nikola Jokic, Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cameroon’s Joel Embiid and Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. Just this year, the Los Angeles Clippers drafted a player who was born in a village in Switzerland that has 200 people in it. The San Antonio Spurs have a British-Polish-American player who was born in the panhandle of Oklahoma. A player who was born on the Canary Islands just signed a
$52.5 million extension with the Memphis Grizzlies. This isn’t even mentioning how the college transfer portal has benefitted players who show that they can compete at a higher level. In the 2025 draft, the Indiana Pacers selected Taelon Peter, who had formerly played three years at Division II Arkansas Tech, whose mascot is the “Wonder Boys.” If you are good enough, they will find you. Flagg will have his NBA debut in October playing alongside Anthony Davis. AJ Dybantsa has been in Utah getting ready to play for what is expected to be one of the most exciting teams in all of college sports. All of a sudden, it’s not a question of when we’ll get our next New England-born star, but of who it will be.
College football: An unpredictable season
■ A new season has brought upsets, new faces and has kept fans on the edge of their seats.
By REMI YOUNG JUSTICE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
The 2025 college football season has just reached its fourth week, but it's already clear that this season will be filled with upsets and fans left wanting more. Some of the best schools have stumbled, and underdogs have risen. If this energy continues, the competition for a spot in the College Football Playoff will be very unpredictable.
Ohio State
After a statement win over the preseason No. 1, University of Texas Longhorns, The Ohio State University Buckeyes made their way to the top of the Associated Press Top 25 poll, securing their first regular-season No. 1 ranking since 2015. The Buckeyes’ defense smothered the Longhorns’ offense, while quarterback Devin Brown had a memorable performance.
Penn State University is just behind at No. 2. Louisiana State University, University of Miami and University of Georgia round out the top five, giving the rankings a new look compared to the preseason. Miami, once a dynasty, has spent two decades trying to recapture national relevance. Now, under head coach Mario Cristobal, the team is gaining traction.
Southeastern Conference
Despite Texas’ loss, the Southeastern Conference remains loaded with talent. The University of Alabama Crimson Tide pounded the University
of Wisconsin Badgers 38-14 over the weekend, but remains ranked a relatively modest No. 19. Their strong fan base is accustomed to playoff appearances, so their position in the rankings is likely to fluctuate throughout the season.
Texas A&M University provided the conference’s loudest statement of the week. In a thriller at University of Notre Dame, A&M pulled off a 41-40 win that will be remembered for its back-and-forth scoring. A&M’s victory moved them into the Top 10, landing at No. 10 in the AP poll. The A&M Aggies’ execution in the final minutes showcased their team's talent, with a particular emphasis on the consistency of their special teams unit.
Notre Dame
At 0-2, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish became the first victoryless team to remain ranked in the AP Top 25 since 1988, ranked at No. 24. Their beginning-of-year schedule has been a tough one, facing some of the league’s top opponents, including Texas A&M and Miami. Next Saturday, they will face unranked Purdue University. This win will be vital if they want to maintain their ranking and have a chance at the playoffs.
Coaching
The University of California, Los Angeles made one of the most significant moves of the year by firing head coach DeShaun Foster just three games into his tenure. A former UCLA Bruins running back himself, Foster’s season ended after an embarrassing 35-10 home loss to University of New Mexico, which dropped the team to 0-3. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University also made a coaching change, dismissing Brent Pry after a similar winless start. The Virginia Tech Hokies, once a contender in
the Atlantic Coast Conference, have slipped into irrelevance over the past decade. Their decision to part ways with Pry just three games into the season signals a desperation to regain the competitive game they once had, quickly.
This Past Weekend Week three provided no shortage of competitive gameplay. In addition to Texas A&M’s one-point victory, The University of Oklahoma beat Temple University 42-3, showing its dominance in the SEC. The University of Utah also beat University of Wyoming 31-6, showcasing its impressive defense, and University of Missouri cruised past Louisiana 52-10, a result that may not come as a surprise, but it maintains the LSU Tigers' position at No. 25.
Looking Ahead
The coming weeks are just as exciting with closely ranked matchups like No. 17 Texas Tech University at No. 16 Utah and No. 22 Auburn University’s trip to No. 11 Oklahoma. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will face off against Indiana University Bloomington in a competitive competition, while Miami will attempt to continue its three-game winning streak.
For Ohio State, the challenge is keeping its spot as the No. 1-ranked team. The No. 1 ranking is a tough spot to maintain, with teams like the Penn State Nittany Lions, Miami Hurricanes and the Oregon Ducks trying to take their place as the best in the nation.
Whatever happens, college football proves to be one of the most exciting times of the year, with fans on the edge of their seats and teams working to showcase their talent, boost their school pride, and become the best in the league.
TENNIS: Growing rivalry
Alcaraz and Sinner are currently the number one and number two in Association of Tennis Professionals world rankings respectively, and they have been the top two players in the world for over a year. They have won a total of 10 grand slams and 14 ATP 1000 tournaments between the two of them. The last eight grand slams were won by one of the pair. Alcaraz has only lost six matches this year and two were against Sinner. Sinner has only lost five matches this year and two were against Alcaraz. Sinner only dropped three sets in the entire French Open and they were all against Alcaraz. Alcaraz only dropped one set in the U.S. Open and it was against Sinner. They are only at the beginning of their careers which puts them both on track to surpass the Big Three, who were not able to establish this level of dominance this early in their career.
Although Sinner and Alcaraz are consistently playing each other at a
new peak of tennis dominance on the biggest stages in the world, that is not the only factor in their potentially all time great rivalry. They matched up against each other as early in their lives as 12 and 14, so they have already been playing against each other for 10 years consistently, and as previously stated, they are at the beginning of their careers. Tennis players often have longer and more sustained primes when compared to other sports so if we think Alcaraz and Sinner are great now, they have the potential to reach unimaginable levels of success. By the end of their careers they could have played over three decades against each other.
The only way I see this rivalry not playing out as an all time great is an injury or a new player finding footing in their top ranks. Sinner has unfortunately had his career plagued with injuries, although mostly minor, and health issues have impacted his performances before and even led to him
retiring in the Cincinnati Open earlier this year. And then there is always the potential that there will be a third player who can join their rivalry, like Djokovic — and, to a much lesser extent, Andy Murray — did to Federer and Nadal.
Analysts suggest that the top prospects to challenge the Alcaraz, Sinner rivalry are most likely Ben Shelton and Jack Draper, but while both are promising players and could maybe steal a slam off Sinner and Alcaraz in the future, their development has not been nearly as fast. Other more established options like Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev or Alex di Minaur could also step up and join the elite play of “Sincaraz,” but after seeing so many failed attempts it doesn’t seem possible. Unless something truly remarkable occurs, I suggest we all sit back and watch the absolute dominance on display by these two players as they surely will end up having the greatest sports rivalry of all time.
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS LISTEN: Carlos Alcaraz celebrates a winning play.
Brandeis Soccer
On Sept. 13, Brandeis women's soccer faced off against Massachusetts Institute of Technology, winning 2-1!
Photos: JULIA MINEVICH/The
BRANDEIS ATHLETE SUCCESS
Remi Young '27 recounts the early stages of the new college football season p. 10.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
New England basketball
■ Historically, New England has failed to produce basketball stars, but two rising players are changing that.
By BEN KHAYAT JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
All six states of New England struggle to produce talented and successful players for the National Basketball Association. Although New England has a great history of basketball with the Boston Celtics, a large population of basketball fans and a general population of 15 million people, there are still only eight active players in the NBA from New England. The state of Washington alone has nine active players compared to a population of 7.9 million.
While basketball may not be New England’s strong suit, there are players who are on their way to the NBA. The most obvious example is Cooper Flagg, who the Dallas Mavericks selected first overall in the 2025 NBA draft. He was picked this high for one main reason — he doesn’t make mistakes. Flagg processes the game incredibly quickly and accurately, and it's nearly impossible to bait him into doing what you want him to do. Combine that with his 6’9” stature and extraordinary athletic ability, and you have a generational talent. Flagg is from Newport, Maine, which is closer to the Canadian border than it is to Boston. Flagg grew up there and went to a regional high school for his first year of high school before transferring to Montverde Academy in Florida to fully commit
to basketball. He hasn’t forgotten his roots, though. For example, Flagg signed a shoe deal with New Balance, inspired by a New Balance manufacturing plant near his hometown. Flagg told the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network in an interview, "The connection with New Balance as a family company and a company with Maine roots means a lot to me."
The next biggest name is AJ Dybantsa from Brockton, Massachusetts. He went to Saint Sebastian’s School in Needham for his first two years of high school before transferring to prep schools in the southwest. He’ll be playing for Brigham Young University this season after receiving the most lucrative Name, Image and Likeness deal from a school any player has ever received, of at least $5 million. Dybantsa and Flagg are each tall, athletic forwards, but Dybantsa is nearly unstoppable. He’s a matchup nightmare — if you have a player that’s just as fast as Dybantsa trying to defend him, Dybantsa will be able to use his height to get a shot up anyway. If you get someone who is as big as he is to guard him, 99 times out of 100, Dybantsa will just outrun them.
The Boston area is about one million times better for gaining momentum as a basketball prospect compared to Newport, Maine, but it’s still a rarity to see someone this dominant from the area. Looking back, the best player to ever come out of New England is probably Bill Laimbeer, center for the “Bad Boys” Pistons in the 1990s. Even then, Laimbeer mostly grew up near Chicago, Illinois. Other than him, the only other all-star born in the region is the extremely underrated Dana Barros.
See BASKETBALL, 10 ☛
Sincaraz: Greatest rivalry of all time?
■ Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz continue their dominance and build their rivalry.
By LUCA D. JORDAN JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Now that the U.S. Open has come to a close and new world rankings are being released, it's inevitable that tennis commentators will begin to make new predictions on the upcoming year as the world patiently awaits the next Grand Slam tournament — the Australian Open — in January. At the core of every discussion are the two players who have dominated the pro tour for the last two years, taking the last eight Grand Slams in a row. Amidst all the discourse surrounding Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, I believe that the two players have the potential to form the greatest sports rivalry of all time. The idea of a rivalry in sports tends to be subjective. In the sports world, there are a few different rivalries that come to most people’s heads when they think about the all time greats. For example, soccer has some of the most infamous in this case: Man United vs. Man City or FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid. These rivalries are infamous but they aren’t always on equal footing. While the organizations might be in opposition, players cycle throughout the club’s history so it can be challenging to get attached to person vs. person competitions, even if the teams are pushing for it. These player rivalries that line up with organization rivalries are very rare but are
students' experiences with intramural sports
■ Community members share what they love about intramural sports at Brandeis and recall their favorite memories.
By JULIA HARDY JUSTICE MANAGING EDITOR
usually propelled to the forefront of sports news by the media. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are a good example of this, aligning with the age old Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers rivalry. However, most organization rivalries just are constant because the two teams aren’t always evenly matched or don’t always compete against each other at high levels. The Red Sox and Yankees have only met in the playoffs twice in the last 20 years. The Celtics and Lakers have only played against each other two times in the playoffs since 1990. These team rivalries are “great” by reputation but they rarely have consistent competition over multiple years, if at all. All time great rivalries are usually the result of players, not teams. When you think of player vs. player, there are a few names that come to mind that I think Sinner and Alcaraz are on the trajectory to surpass. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the greatest competitors that have ever touched a soccer field. A big part of their rivalry is how great they both were. Both players were actively competing for being the best soccer player of all time while also playing in rival clubs. There is a very similar case with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Each of these tennis legends competed against each other at a top, previously unseen level. These players were established as the best of the best and their competition against each other only furthered their prestige. If you look up the best soccer players of all time, Messi and Ronaldo are always going to be in the top five of any given list. The same can be said about tennis and the “Big Three.” So how will Sinner and Alcaraz possibly measure up?
See TENNIS, 10 ☛
Brandeis boasts a wide variety of intramural sports, ranging from traditional sports, such as tennis and volleyball, to more unique ones, such as intramural poker and water battleship. There are approximately 30 IM leagues and tournaments, all of which welcome Brandeis students, faculty and staff to participate.
This fall, there are a total of 12 active leagues and tournaments. IM sports have already started this semester, with an IM spikeball tournament occurring on Sept 6. Additionally, IM tennis had a tournament this past Sunday, Sept. 14, and next on the calendar is an IM Pickleball tournament on Sept. 17.
With events occurring throughout the semester, many students are excited to start or continue to participate in IM sports. Many community members participate in more than one IM sport and students of all class years find ways to get involved.
Kayla DiBenedetto M.A. ’26 started playing IM sports when she was a first year in 2021. In a Sept. 11 correspondence with The Justice, DiBenedetto said, “IMs have a fun, low-pressure team atmosphere. I grew up playing many sports, so IMs are a way for me to continue playing sports that I love, but didn't choose to compete in at the collegiate level.”
DiBenedetto has been playing IM sports since 2021, but there are also students who have just started certain IM sports. Fadi Zhang ’27 told The Justice in an exchange on Sept. 12, “I am playing IM flag football right now, and I joined the team two weeks ago. This is the first time I've played this IM sport but I was a referee for flag football last year.”
Many students explained that IM sports is a great way to combine exercise and community. In a correspondence with The Justice, Dante Sasso ’26 said that IM sports are a “[g]reat way to have fun and exercise with existing friends and make new ones through competition with other students.” Sasso has been playing IM sports since his first semester at Brandeis as a first year. He has participated in many different sports, including football, pickleball, poker and more.
Rachel Kopelman ’26 is another student who has been very involved with IM sports on campus. She has played flag football, volleyball and soccer. She told The Justice in a Sept. 13 email exchange, “I love it because it
combines my favorite things — being outdoors, spending time with friends, and playing games and sports.”
Others love playing IM sports because it provides them with a break from demanding course loads. Zhang explained to The Justice, “The reason I wanna play IM is that I want to team up with my best friends and find a way to relax outside of class.”
Nick Chen ’27 had similar motivations as Zhang. On Sept. 13, he communicated with The Justice, “I love to play sports; it gives me a break from the challenging workload in my academics. IM [sports] make it even better since it’s a harmless competition, and I can form a team with my friends to compete against others who are good at the sport.”
Students talked about how IM sports have allowed them to bond with their friends, and many also mentioned how IM sports have allowed them to form new friendships. Sasso explained, “[IM sports] made my time very fun with great games and many opportunities to participate, along with getting to know different friend groups a lot better.” Additionally, DiBenedetto shared, “I got to meet many different people and make friends that I otherwise wouldn't have.”
There are different ways to get involved with IM sports that DiBenedetto also dove into. She said, “I also think I enjoy a coaching aspect that has come along with sports like basketball and softball, as I have recruited [and] organized people together and created championship teams.”
IM sports have given the opportunity for students to form meaningful and fun memories, which have positive impacts on their Brandeis experiences. This includes the administrators. Intramural Sport and Department Administrator Julie Mizraji explains how IM sports have impacted her life. In a Sept. 12 email correspondence, Mizraji said, “Intramural Sports has been part of my life for over a decade. In college, some of my favorite memories were playing IM soccer with friends and working as an IM referee and supervisor.”
Brandeis students have some similarly positive experiences. Students shared some of their favorite experiences with IM sports.
Chen recounted the time his co-ed and men’s basketball IM teams worked together throughout the semester to win two championships in one year. Sasso talked about the time his team won the championship against “ex-varsity soccer players.”
Students told The Justice about comeback and championship wins. IM sports teams are made up of students who are dedicated to exercise, fun and community building, allowing them to create memories that have a lasting impact on their Brandeis careers.
TENNIS
SWIM: Brandeis students play water battleship with buckets and canoes in the Linsey Pool.
The first work that will be discussed is a part of their collection, Jamal Cyrus’ 2019 foundgarment piece “Djeli Brown.” A beautiful fabric work, “Djeli Brown” is somewhat imposing as it stands in front of you, curiously hung up like a disoriented coat. Cyrus modifies the work with a pattern of linear triangles that streak, curve and traverse the fibers of the coat, recalling footprints of people across sand. The ochre hue reminds one of the earth, the soil and thus we are brought into a space of naturalism. Such naturalism complements greatly the sensation of an expanse, extending outwards from the edges of the fibers. I highly recommend viewing this work at the Rose soon.
“The Beginning of the End” is a piece by Fred Wilson, made in 2009 from blown glass. Shown in the “Reflections” exhibit, Wilson’s exploration of materiality in glass is best highlighted in this piece. Drops of black blown glass suspended on a wall, with large discs of glass seated at the base, all reflect and shine under the lights of the gallery space. This composition gives the impression of ink, thick and coagulant, as it slowly drips down a flat surface before falling and pooling. Everything is static, nothing moves, nothing falls and the pools of black reflections on the ground sit, not as if they just landed, but settled and stationary. As a result, the only dynamic movement is one that occurs in our brains, where we are seeing droplets of water fall, tomb over themselves to fall off the wall. Our mind conjures these ideas to make sense of a work so wonderfully rendered that we could imagine the glass staining our fingers upon touching them. Wilson’s exhibition plays with these ideas of materiality and composition, while also asking us to consider questions of race and political identity posed through his works. While inherently connected to the world, the interaction we have with these pieces is one of wonder, excitement and curiosity. Each work beckons us in with images of ourselves rendered, reflected and refracted in cool black glass.
If you have had the fortune to visit the Rose Art Museum previously, whether to see the stunning surrealist imagination of Leonora Carrington, or the examination of ethnicity, romance and gender that Salman Toor has evoked, or even to relax and see the permanent collection of Lichtensteins and other modern oddities, you may have heard about the museum’s fall celebration last week. An opportunity to engage with all the current exhibitions, meet and mingle with artistic personalities and professionals and explore an interesting part of campus, this year’s celebration was a beautiful coming together of people of all backgrounds. As a writer for the Arts and Culture section, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to snack on some amazing hors d’oeuvres while viewing the collection and new exhibitions at the museum. “Danielle Mckinney: Tell Me More” and “Fred Wilson: Reflections” were the two special temporary exhibitions on view during the celebration and are still open to the public. This article will cover four works that are beautiful representations of the Rose’s work this season.
While the previous two works are owned by the Rose, “Memoir,” the Danielle Mckinney work for the current exhibition, is on loan to the museum. Therefore, this may be your only chance to see said painting before it returns to a private collection. “Memoir” is a beautiful oil painting, rendered on linen in 2024. A reposing female figure relaxes herself in the bed that encompasses 80% of the canvas. The light green linens flood and wash the canvas with a cool hue that contrasts the figure’s warm dark skin. Her hair falls beautifully, with Mckinney’s painterly strokes adding dimension to the form. Before her is a tea pot resting on what appears to be a bound book. Behind her, a muted earth-brown wall recedes into obscurity. The figure is not represented sensually, rather she is covered in thick brushstrokes of white, yellow and green. Her face half-covered by her left hand, she rests her eyes shut, unknowing of our presence. We self-present in an intimate tranquil moment of repose, not a lover or a friend, but an observer of the scene stretched out in front of us. The composition may lack movement and dynamic sense, but the stillness of the work reminds us of a propensity towards the necessity of rest. The figure’s sleep is not interrupted, she is not awoken, rather she remains still, quiet and composed.
I highly recommend you all visit the Rose this exhibition season. These works are intimate looks at the beauty of artistic tradition as always, but I found the current selection to be incredibly enticing. The Rose is open freely to all, so do not hesitate to visit the museum again, even if you’ve been before.
Photos: MIKEY TERRENZI/The Justice. Design: JOAN COGLIANO/The Justice.
THE 77TH EMMY AWARDS: A CELEBRATION OF (AND FRUSTRATION WITH) STREAMING, AND RECORDS SHATTERED
“Welcome to the 77th Emmy Awards. You know, it’s not a big one like 75 or 80, but it’s the one they gave me,” stated comedian Nate Bargatze, launching Sunday evening’s awards into motion. The presentations at this year’s Emmys certainly lived up to Bargatze’s description; nothing too big, splashy or potentially controversial, save for the occasional swear in an acceptance speech — thank you, John Oliver. The opening sketch was filled with noticeably self-aware commentary on how television has changed in recent years, including how streaming is “unfair to the consumer” — the character who says this is then promptly asked to leave — that many winning shows are never watched by the majority of people and how an Emmy is just not quite as good as an Oscar. However, that didn’t make the victories any less well earned, and here is a summary of the biggest wins.
Netflix’s “Adolescence” swept the limited or anthology series category, winning a whopping six out of its eight nominations, including Best Limited Anthology Series, Best Actor in an Anthology (Stephen Graham), Best Supporting Actress in an Anthology (Erin Doherty) and 15-year-old Owen Cooper won Best Supporting Actor in an Anthology — the youngest male actor to win an Emmy.
“The Pitt,” Home Box Office’s show about the trauma that first responders and hospital workers face, won several of the biggest categories including Best Supporting Actress in a Drama (Katherine LaNasa), Best Actor in a Drama (Noah Wyle) and Best Drama, a category that several theorized would go to Ben Stiller’s “Severance.” “Severance” still got its dues, however, with Britt Lower being awarded Best Actress in a Drama for her performance of Helly R. and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama going to Tramell Tillman, among others. In the Emmy’s 77-year history, Tillman is the first Black man to win the award.
On the comedy side of the awards, Apple TV+’s “The Studio” won a record-breaking 13 awards, becoming both the most awarded comedy show ever — previously held by “The Bear” — and taking the record for most wins in a first season. “The Studio” won for Outstanding Comedy, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy and Outstanding Lead Actor — Seth Rogen — and many others. Although cancelled after its current season, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” won for Outstanding Talk Series and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” won for Outstanding Scripted Va -
FAST FASHION
By LUKE BENANAV JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
riety Series — beating “Saturday Night Live.” SNL wasn’t left out of the awards, however, as their 50th anniversary special took the Best Variety Special Live category.
Some notable surprises included the snubbing of “The Last of Us,” which received a total of 16 nominations, — primarily for artistry, which was showcased during the creative arts awards, where the show did get a few victories — and won no awards at the primetime awards on Sunday. “Somebody Somewhere” snuck the win for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series — Jeff Hiller — and quietly received no other awards. “Slow Horses” similarly only received one award, which was Best Directing for a Drama Series.
The weekend before the Emmy Awards was also filled with celebrations and recognitions of outstanding achievements through the Creative Arts Awards. “The Daily Show” hosts Jordan Kepler and Desi Lydic received awards for their contributions to the program, with Lydic even earning the Best Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series award for her segment “Desi Lydic Foxsplains.” The second season of “Arcane” pulled ahead of popular shows such as “Bob’s Burgers” and “Love Death + Robots” to collect its second Best Animated Program award, joining classic series including “The Simpsons,” “Rick and Morty,” “South Park” and “Futurama,” among a few others, on the list of animated series that have won the award more than once.
A few other noteworthy wins were Barack Obama winning Best Narration for the series “Our Oceans,” Julie Andrews for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in “Bridgerton,” Shawn Hatosy for Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series in “The Pitt,” Merritt Wever for Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series in “Severance,” Bryan Cranston for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for “The Studio” and Julianne Nicholson for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for “Hacks.” “Hacks” also received Best Lead Actress in a Comedy — Jean Smart — and Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy — Hannah Einbinder — on Sunday. “Adolescence” was awarded Best Cinematography for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for the unique and complicated “one-take” style that each of the show’s four one-hour episodes adopts. SNL took home a colossal 11 awards during the creative arts weekend, seven of which were for the 50th anniversary special in February.
Overall, this awards season was a celebration of television through the ages, reminding viewers that creativity is still alive in serial storytelling and also questioning how well it can be maintained. All you have to do to find a new show is take a look around — and then probably pay more than you want to for a subscription service to access it.
Out Of Style
By SOPHIA GARCIA JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“A one stop shop.” This was the motto that Jeff Bezos sold to his employees when he launched Amazon. Companies and corporations at their cores are set up to sell products to consumers, and turn profits. However, when do we as people draw the line between overconsumption, and needbased consumption? And as consumers are we just as guilty of overconsumption, as the brands pushing us to a capitalistic limit?
In the documentary “Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy (2024),” director Flora Bagenal dissects the line between the consumer bystander effect and the corporations’ manipulative techniques in modern day marketing. She also speaks about the detriment that fast fashion has on the environment and the health and wellbeing of people across the world. The documentary is broken down into five major techniques employed by companies to encourage consumers to buy their product.
One such technique is the philosophical advertising companies do to convince the average consumer to buy into overconsumption all on their own. According to the documentary, “It’s a story. If you create a story, you create a new buying opportunity.” Former Adidas president Eric Liedtke spoke about how companies will create stories to advertise products, making consumers feel as though they need to support the brand because of a commonality that they share with it. Take celebrity partnerships — if a brand uses a popular artist to sell products, they can turn more profit because of our idolization of the famous. For example, when Stephen Curry endorsed Under Armour, their partnership made an estimated $250 million in sales.
The role of the fast fashion industry in overconsumption habits cannot be overstated. Not only do companies like Shein and Cider avoid ethically sourced materials, but they also encourage companies to find new ways to promote overconsumption. “These fast fashion companies force brands to produce newness every month. Someone has to keep up with trends,” said Rodger Lee, a major clothing manufacturer in China. He spoke about how companies like Gap produce roughly 12,000 new items of clothing a year. This number will continue to grow as consumers start to look for more deals and discounts. What really makes fast fashion companies dangerous is that because they can sell products at such cheap prices, other brands are incentivized to offer competitive deals or discounts. This phenomenon employs yet another manipu -
lative sales tactic — the art of a deal. People tend to buy more when they think that they have pulled the wool over the eyes of “the man.” However, in reality, it is likely they have just played right into the hands of the man.
Additionally, fast fashion brands depend on child and forced labor, unethically sourced materials, and they provide dangerous working environments. As recently as 2023, the company Shein was found to have an eleven year old working in a factory in China. The Chief Executive Officer Yinan Zhu stated, “We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that these isolated cases are removed from our supply chain entirely in future, bringing our network of third-party suppliers globally, including in China, Brazil and Turkey, along with us.” Zhu would not respond to how children were able to obtain access to working in these factories; however, she did publicly acknowledge Shein’s past of other child labor related instances. With fast fashion, the focus is the quantity in which clothes are produced, not quality, or well-being of employees. Since companies such as Shein are so focused on producing, they don’t always obtain employees of age is a problem. Forcing child labor in order to turn a profit is despicable and there are plenty of companies that engage in this harmful practice.
In 2019, Jeff Bezos made a statement that Amazon would be joining the Paris Climate Accords Pledge. Despite pledging to reduce his plastic imprint on the world, Bezos’ company is still one of the leading waste producing companies in the world. “Amazon continues to be criticized for excessive packaging. Many customers report receiving small items in oversized boxes filled with plastic packaging, which contradicts their ‘zero waste’ philosophy.” As stated in the documentary, this technique is called “Lie More,” where companies either lie or creatively get around telling the truth.
In 1971, Coca-Cola used this technique when they released their “Coke on the Hill” commercial, which saw people of all different races and backgrounds drinking Coke together. By running this commercial at a politically charged time, when people across the world felt disconnected from each other, Coke showed their consumers that they were a people brand. What they neglected to tell consumers, is that although they say to recycle their bottles, most coke products until very recently weren’t 100% recyclable like they said on packaging. Chemical Engineer Jan Dell stated, “The truth is a vast majority of plastics are not recyclable.
Companies push out this propaganda in order to make consumers feel good about what they purchase.”
“Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy,” doesn’t just highlight the issue with overconsumption: it holds all of the parties involved accountable, including the consumers. Bagenal informs her audience that we have to take credit for our part in the system. The consumers at the end of the day are being manipulated through advertising to take part in the overconsumption that capitalism celebrates. However, it is also true that there are ways to avoid partaking in this lifestyle of consumerism. As buyers, we need to shop smart and double check claims companies make about where they source their products or how environmentally friendly their business practices are.
Understanding the selling tactics of the corporations is how consumers can avoid falling for manipulation efforts. In conjunction with smart shopping, it is a consumer’s job to hold big companies accountable. Fighting for more ethically sourced products is a vital step in reducing waste and overconsumption. Ultimately, we cannot fight consumerism. We can only be informed of its impact, and reduce our own part in the harmful cycle. Until then, we must push for overconsumption to go out of style.
