Tulane Scholar

A P U B L I C AT I O N OF THE TULANE HONORS PROGRAM

FA L L 2015

SCHOLAR

HONORS PROGRAM S TA F F F. THOMAS LUONGO, PHD Associate Professor of History, Associate Dean for Honors

CHARLOTTE MAHEU VAIL, PHD Associate Director

NORAH LOVELL, MFA Senior Program Coordinator

An ‘intellectual life’ is a life in which love of learning is its own justification.

Seeking to understand the world in which we live, not so that we can earn a living, but rather in order to become more fully human.

MARK VAIL Associate Professor of Political Science and Faculty Mentor to Tulane Scholars

Tulane Scholars...

Innovative Program Starts Second Year

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he Tulane Scholars Program, for a select cohort of intellectually ambitious undergraduates, is starting its second year.

The innovative program represents the future of the Honors Program at Tulane and will continue to grow.

The Honors Program chose 87 first-

Adam Beauchamp is teaching a colloquium for Tulane Scholars called “Quest for Answers: Intro to Research Methods.”

year students to join the community in spring 2015. The inaugural cohort took a first-year colloquium together that introduced them to the intellectual landscape at Tulane by faculty from a range of disciplines.

Tulane Scholars will take more classes together throughout college and most SCHOLARS cont. page 2

SCHOLARS cont. from cover page

LETTER F ROM T H E DIRECTOR

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ur big news this year is the unveiling of the Tulane Scholars Program as our signature curriculum.

The aim of the Scholars Program is to offer academically gifted and intellectually curious students of all schools a unique introduction to the intellectual terrain of the university, and to direct them towards opportunities for immersion in multi-disciplinary scholarship. And it provides a sense of community for students seeking academic engagement.

We think that the Scholars Program takes advantage of Tulane’s special identity as a research university that emphasizes undergraduate education, which makes us ideally positioned to advance the ideal of intellectually engaged undergraduate students.

One of the main aims of the Scholars Program is to give students close contact with faculty, both inside and outside the classroom—the single most important factor in fostering an engaged student population.

We are currently working on plans for our second cohort of Scholars, based on feedback we received from students and faculty during last year’s program.

As you can see from the stories in this newsletter, our students continue to embrace eagerly the chance to get involved in the excitement of research and exploration, both in their summer research activities and—above all—in the many splendid honors theses they produce as seniors. And they benefit greatly from the commitment of our faculty, of whom our Weatherhead resident Michael Moore is exemplary, but

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not unique. As you can see from the newsletter info about our faculty mentors, Tulane faculty members embrace enthusiastically their dual roles as scholars and teachers, and are eager to work with ambitious and engaged students.

Stay tuned for further developments: starting in fall 2016, the Scholars Program will be available to open to all admitted to Tulane as Honors students, beginning in their first semester. The Scholars courses will begin in the fall of the Freshman year, with a curriculum over the four years that culminates in the honors thesis. To enhance their community experience, Scholars will be encouraged to live together for two years—the first year in Wall Residential College, where we have a faculty member in residence, Dr. Carrie Wyland (Department of Psychology), and the second as now, in Weatherhead.

The new focus and coherence of the Program as a curriculum and residential community will aid the Honors Program in bringing to students special advising for nationally competitive scholarships.

As you will read in this newsletter, our students are already competing successfully for scholarships like the Fulbright. We expect more candidates for this and other scholarships—and more winners—in the future.

F. T H O MAS LU O N GO

Associate Dean, Newcomb-Tulane College Director of the Tulane Honors Program Eva-Lou Joffrion Edwards Newcomb Associate Professor of History

will live together in an honors community in Weatherhead Hall.

Participants originate from all schools at Tulane.

The program is geared to intellectually curious students who are interested in seeking knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but it also stresses the pursuit of knowledge as a route to more challenging and interesting careers.

Notably, the Tulane Scholars Program gives these young academics close contact with faculty: they receive faculty mentoring and some will participate in faculty-sponsored summer research.

All of their academic and research experiences will culminate in a senior honors thesis.

Tulane Scholars is supported by a number of donors, including Chris Austin, a 1980 Tulane graduate who is now an attorney in New York City.

“I think it’s valuable for the students because it provides them the opportunity to develop a close relationship with faculty and a rigorous research experience,” Austin says.

Tulane Scholar Hanan Rimawi says the program is showing her how different disciplines make Tulane the university it is. “Tulane Scholars is a great way to learn more about the inner workings of the university,” she says.

TULANE SCHOLARS

FACULTY M ENTORS Tulane Scholars work closely with faculty mentors who generously give their time and guidance to impact young lives. We asked these mentors to describe their research, why they like working with students and to define an “intellectual life.”

RICARDO CORTEZ

Professor of Mathematics

Research Areas: I develop mathematical and computational models to study how microorganisms swim. I derive the mathematics and computer programs used to produce simulations of the fluid flow patterns created by bacteria (like E. coli) or cells moving around.

I like introducing students to research ideas in mathematics either through research programs (summer or academic year) or class projects.

MICHELLE KOHLER

Associate Professor of English

My area of specialization is nineteenth-century American literature with a special focus on Transcendentalism, poetry, American realism, and Emily Dickinson.

I teach (in the classroom or one-on-one) by positioning students to become excellent readers, to make their own discoveries through penetrating reading of texts. And I aim to help them see why those discoveries are exciting and substantive.

F. THOMAS LUONGO, Associate Professor of History

I am a medieval historian, with a specialization in the history of religious culture, particularly in Italy, during the 13th-15th centuries.

I have a special interest in female visionaries and saints during that period, especially St. Catherine of Siena.

Another way of describing

my research is that I get to spend time in Italy most summers, poking around in libraries and archives for cool manuscripts!

JEFFREY TASKER

Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology

Recruited to the Tulane University Department of Cell and Molecular Biology as an assistant professor in 1991, Tasker currently holds the position of Professor and Director of the Neuroscience Program. He has authored over 60 publications on the cellular mechanisms of synaptic and hormonal regulation of neuroendocrine systems, and the neural circuit and synaptic plasticity involved in stress disorders.

ALLISON TRUITT Associate Professor of Anthropology

My research has taken me in directions I could never have imagined as an undergraduate (1989 bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in international relations and humanities) or a Peace Corps volunteer (a small town in Hungary in 1990).

When I returned to the U.S. (after the Peace Corps), I went to graduate school where I earned a Master of arts degree in linguistics.

My own biography might seem haphazard; it has given me a perspective that we need to build an intellectual life that can accommodate a world in flux. I’m pleased to

be a faculty mentor for the Tulane Scholars program, and I hope my own varied experiences will come in handy for students who want to learn what resources, activities and opportunities a university like Tulane can offer.

CORINNE RICHARDS-ZAWACKI

Research Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biology

The research in my lab is broadly focused on the ecology, evolution, and conservation of amphibians.

Since coming to Tulane in 2009, I have advised about 25 Tulane undergraduates in research experiences, a number of which have involved field work in Panama or North America—both locally and across the eastern U.S.

LEV KAPLAN

Professor of Physics and Engineering Physics

Although my PhD is in particle physics, my recent research has centered on questions about quantum mechanics, including problems in quantum chaos, quantum information and the correspondence between quantum theory and our classical intuition.

At Tulane I have taught a wide variety of courses. In all these courses, I most enjoy the one-on-one interaction with students who are unafraid to ask questions and want to understand a topic deeply from multiple perspectives.

Of course, undergraduate

research is a great way for students to go beyond classroom learning and actively contribute to the creation of new knowledge about the world.

MARK VAIL

Associate Professor of Political Science

My research focuses on the political economy of advanced industrial countries, in particular large Western European countries. An “intellectual life” is a life in which love of learning is its own justification. Seeking to understand the world in which we live, not so that we can earn a living, but rather in order to become more fully human. An intellectual life is one in which understanding rather than narrowly defined utility is the primary value.

GARY DOHANICH

Professor of Psychology

I joined the Department of Psychology at Tulane in 1985. I maintained an active research laboratory for almost 30 years as a Tulane faculty member.

I recently closed my laboratory in order to focus on teaching. Over the next five years, I will be developing new courses in the neurosciences, as well as adopting better techniques to teach neuroscience to Tulane students. A major goal is to help Tulane students deepen and enrich their learning by using more effective learning strategies.

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HONORING AWARD WINNERS...

2015 ANOTHER GOOD YEAR FOR TULANE FULBRIGHT GRANT AWARDS

Exciting

Three of our Fulbright Grant recipients are Annie Colarusso, Emily Parker and Tess Zaretsky (left to right).

The following Tulane students and alumni received Fulbrights:

Anna Colarusso (LA ‘15)

Amsterdam, Study/Research

Sara DeStefano (PHTM ‘15, PHTM ‘17) Peru, English Teaching Assistant

Casey Donahue (LA ‘14)

Turkey, English Teaching Assistant

David Duesing (LA ‘13)

Spain, English Teaching Assistant

Emily Parker (PHTM ‘15)

Thailand, English Teaching Assistant

Laura Sibert (LA ‘15)

Brazil, English Teaching Assistant

Tess Zaretsky (LA ‘15)

South Korea, English Teaching Assistant

Jonathan Berman (SE ‘13)

Argentina, Study/Research

Nhu Ngoc Pham (PHTM ‘14, PHTM ‘16) South Korea, Study/Research THE GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM is

the most prestigious award for undergraduate student researchers in mathematics, science and engineering.

Tulane students Natasha Topolski and Nina Baumgartner (left to right) received Honorable Mentions, an impressive honor.

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DANIELSON SCHOLARS TRAVEL THE GLOBE ABOVE: Rachel Butler received a Dean Jean Danielson Scholarship to study sex education in Mexico.

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hree Tulane undergraduates received the Jean Danielson Memorial Scholarship in summer 2015. The scholarship is named for Tulane’s well-known professor and honors program director, the late Jean Danielson, who helped students find life-changing opportunities inside and outside the classroom.

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enior Rachel Butler spent five weeks in Mexico examining sex education policies from the 1930s through the end of the 20th century. As very little academic research exists on sex education in Mexico, Butler’s work is important.

“This summer has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life,” she says.

“First, the award allowed me to pursue a project that combines my academic interests in economics, history and Latin America.

The project also challenged me to apply my skills and knowledge outside of the classroom setting.”

RIGHT: Savanna Bailey compares a baby humerus (the upper arm bone) to an adult model.

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enior Savanna Bailey traveled to Romania where she analyzed adult and juvenile skeletons from the 12th to 19th centuries.

“It was an incredible experience,” says Bailey, who hopes to one day become a forensic anthropologist. “I studied bones for 10 hours a day. I was dreaming of bones. I never thought I’d be able to identify a teeny tiny little fragment and know where it came from in the body.”

Osteology is the study of bones to determine what they can tell us about people’s lives and how they might have died. One skeleton that Bailey studied, for example, dated to the 12th or 13th century. Bailey says the skeleton was likely a female and noted holes in the joint areas of its bones. This porosity could indicate that when alive she might have had rheumatoid arthritis. Bailey is continuing to study the skeleton, and she says that if it is determined that the woman suffered from

arthritis, it would mean that this condition occurred earlier in this region than previously thought.

Bailey also examined a baby’s skeleton with “bowed” bones. This baby, likely about one year old at death, had lower arm bones that were curved like a cane’s handle.

Because of this, Bailey posited that the child probably had a nutritional deficiency, though the exact one – anemia? rickets? – couldn’t be determined.

She says that it is imperative to study bones and learn what they can tell us about diseases of long ago; understanding the origin of a disease and how it has changed through time could help us understand the disease in the present.

“This baby was probably sick its whole life and needed care,” Bailey says. The baby was one of a number of skeletons buried underneath the floorboards of a church and excavated when the church flooded.

Bailey says that studying one individual’s bones, how that person was buried and how they lived and died could lead to answers about the society and how everyone in the community lived.

“I took what I learned at Tulane and really grew it,” Bailey says. “It’s one thing to see a bone on a slide. It’s another thing to hold it in your hand and know what it meant for the individual and for the community.”

Tulane University student Hannah Hoover sifts dirt from Fort San Juan.

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PHOTO FROM WARREN WILSON COLLEGE ARCHAEOLOGY PROGRAM

Opportunities udding archaeologist Hannah Hoover participated in her first dig this summer in North Carolina at the site of a 16th century Native American village and Spanish fort.

Called the “Berry Site,” the dig site was comprised of the Native American village of Joara, which thrived in the 16th century, and neighboring Fort San Juan, an early Spanish settlement that was destroyed 18 months after it was built.

The 1568 destruction of the fort is a subject of speculation and study, and Hoover is certain that answers lie beneath the surface of the earth.

“Something as small as a clay bead provided so much personal context that I felt like I was living and breathing in history with each sifting of dirt,” Hoover says.

Hoover’s experience in North Carolina, where she worked with Chris Rodning, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Tulane, has motivated her to become an archaeologist.

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Neuroscience major Alix Youngblood checks on the growth of breast cancer cells.

INSPIRING the FUTURE RECORD 22 UNDERGRADUATES AWARDED SUMMER RESEARCH GRANTS

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tudents given NewcombTulane Undergraduate College Honors Program summer research awards stayed on campus for six weeks to conduct research alongside faculty.

Philanthropic support from Grace and F. Chapman Taylor, a 1982 Tulane graduate, and Harold E. Glass, parent of Jesse Glass, a 2008 Tulane graduate, made these research opportunities possible.

Derek Bivona, a senior in biomedical engineering, worked with Dr. Kristin Miller developing a computational model to predict preterm birth.

Julia Chimienti, a junior majoring in neuroscience, worked in Dr. Shusheng Wang’s lab as part of a

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team investigating treatment of blinding retinal diseases.

Hannah Dean, a junior double majoring in political science and Latin American studies, assisted Dr. Jane Arnold Lincove (economics) and the Education Research Alliance of New Orleans to create a comprehensive report on local and state level civil-rights cases related to school reform since Hurricane Katrina.

In addition to researching documents, Dean went into the New Orleans community and interviewed stakeholders. “I feel like I’m more connected with the city now.”

Emma Ernst, a senior majoring in cell & molecular biology and Spanish conducted research in Dr. Oliver Sartor’s lab to study racial disparity

in prostate cancer with a focus on chronic prostate inflammation in African-American and Caucasian patients.

“I have appreciated the opportunity to see firsthand the connection between clinical research and practice.”

Nicholas Farrar-Foley, a physics major entering his senior year, continued his research in Dr. Matthew Escarra’s lab developing and physically building a design for a highly efficient, market-viable solar module.

Ryan Fishel, a junior in biomedical engineering, had a position in the Microvascular Dynamics Laboratory with Ryan Fishel Dr. Lee Murfee.

The objective of his research was to determine effects of aging on the function of stem cells during

This is a great opportunity for me to make what I hope will be an important contribution to my field of study. That I can get this opportunity as an undergraduate is pretty amazing.

OLIVIA WREFORD

angiogenesis. “That’s a force that continues to drive me—the wonder of what we can discover.”

Senior cell & molecular biology major Eric Goldner conducted biofuel technologies research in Dr. David Mullin’s lab, work that could ultimately help turn sugars into biodiesel.

“It’s incredible to be part of something that could have so much impact,” Goldner says.

Sema Hajmurad, a junior majoring in neuroscience, and Stuart Rowe, a senior majoring in cell & molecular biology, undertook research on cell signaling mechanisms involved in stress, learning and memory in Dr. Laura Schrader’s lab.

Junior Magdalena Hecht continued her research in Dr. Zhuoro Wu’s lab on transcription factor FoxO1 in mammalian spermatogonial stem cells.

Rory Loo, a junior majoring in neuroscience, participated in research in Dr. Janarthanan Jayawickramarajah’s lab on a notorious parasite in sub-Saharan Africa that leads to millions of deaths annually.

Matthew Moore, a senior majoring in cell & molecular biology, conducted research in Dr. Milton Hamblin’s lab that defines the role estrogen signaling plays in vascular function in women’s health.

Sophomore Matthew Nice worked in Dr. Walter Lee Murfee’s lab investigating how cancer cells behave in a microvascular system.

Anneke Olson, a senior majoring in psychology and sociology, inves-

tigated the impact of stressful life events on the psychosocial, cognitive and behavioral adjustment in young children in Dr. Sarah Gray’s lab.

Harrison Rahn, a junior majoring in ecology & evolutionary biology and chemistry, worked with Dr. Janarthanan Jayawickramarajah’s team on organic synthesis, self-assembling chemical systems, biological sensors and supramolecular chemistry.

Senior neuroscience major Amit Reddy researched the role that sex hormones play in brain development and sex differentiation in Dr. Nandini Vasudevan’s lab.

Junior cell & molecular biology major Jillian Rosenberg conducted research on macrophage prevention of breast cancer progression through Dr. Heather Machado’s lab at Tulane University School of Medicine.

Evan Walter, a senior majoring in economics, worked with Professor Richard Teichgraeber to study the role that Evan Walter universities play in broader society. He gathered documentation related to the Meikeljohn affair, when a popular Amherst University president was asked to resign.

“During the school year your interests are split between so many different things. During the summer you can really get lost in this sort of work,” says Walter.

Olivia Wreford, a junior majoring in English and African & African Diaspora Studies, is co-authoring a review with Dr. Gaurav Desai on the four-volume anthology, Women Writing Africa.

She used software to analyze text, looking for trends and frequency of word usage across time periods and regions. Wreford intends to go into academia in African humanities.

“This is a great opportunity for me to make what I hope will be an important contribution to my field of study,” says Wreford. “That I can get this opportunity as an undergraduate is pretty amazing.”

Joshua Yao, a sophomore in biomedical engineering, investigated the effects of pulmonary toxins, particularly of the nano-particle size, in the lab of Dr. Donald Gaver.

Junior cell & molecular biology major, Chandler Young, worked on a project in Dr. Stryder Meadows’ lab identifying proteins during embryogenesis and gaining insight into organ and tissue function during development.

Alix Youngblood identified her own research project, “Peripheral Circadian Rhythms Regulated

by Oscillatory Phosphorylation of Estrogen Receptor and Clock Proteins,” guided by Dr. Brian Rowan, of the Tulane Cancer Center.

“In class, you learn all these theoretical concepts. All the mechanisms I’ve learned in class over the last three years are much more solidified now that I’m using them in the lab.”

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LIVING

and LEARNING

MICHAEL J. MOORE IS PROFESSOR-IN-RESIDENCE AT WEATHERHEAD HALL

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nce, the thought of going to a professor’s home would have been a foreign concept to undergraduates. Tulane University gives students in Weatherhead Hall the unique and grounding benefits of living near a professor and his family.

Michael J. Moore, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Tulane, jokes that when he was an undergraduate in the 1990s “I didn’t even want to go to a professors’ office hours.” Now, he’s beginning his second year as a professor-in-residence.

The professor-in-residence program is part of Newcomb-Tulane Undergraduate College’s commitment

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to giving undergraduates up-close access to professors.

“It’s not just a dorm,” Moore says. “It’s not just a place where you sleep. It’s a place where learning happens.”

Weatherhead houses more than 250 second-, third- or fourth-year students who are specifically chosen for their intellectually curiosity. To promote this academic community, RAs host bi-monthly roundtables where Tulane faculty facilitate discussions on a variety of topics, such as ISIS, managing stress during final exames and Nietzsche.

Moore, who has been at Tulane for eight years,

Students in the Larks and Owls society canoed in nearby bayous.

Butler Societies spark innovation

Students in the Butler Book Club read poetry in a New Orleans cemetery.

Butler Societies, which were new in the 2014-2015 academic year, are notable because they give first-year students the opportunity to meet and learn from professors outside of the classroom and meet similarly focused classmates.

Examples of Butler Societies in the inaugural year:

LARKS AND OWLS Early risers and night owls explored New Orleans at odd hours.

For example, they did Tai Chi in Audubon Park at dawn, enjoyed breakfast at a local dive and attended a late-night movie.

LIVING LIKE A LOCAL: Being Civic-Minded in the Big Easy Members of this society explored New Orleans from the inside, basking in local politics, small business, local culture, New Orleans cuisine and local sports.

gave the first roundtable in fall 2014. It was a rousing conversation about his perspective on the creative process and how his hobbies as a music composer and writer influence his scientific research.

Moore’s Neural MicroEngineering Laboratory is at the forefront of the emerging field of organs-on-achip — his lab developed a 3-D, cell-based model that mimics living nervous system tissue. He is co-founder of a startup company, AxoSim Technologies, that seeks to commercialize the lab’s nerve-on-a-chip technology to pharmaceutical companies to aid drug development.

The professor-in-residence program allowed Moore

RUNNING WITH SCIENCE Society members explored cuttingedge research opportunities around campus by meeting with faculty and upper division students—and taking optional jogs around Audubon Park.

BUTLER BOOK CLUB This society afforded students the rare opportunity to read and discuss for pleasure. Activities included reading poetry in a New Orleans cemetery and hosting a poetry slam.

to open his home last year to undergraduates for informal discussions on thought-provoking topics. This year, he looks forward to inviting undergraduates into his home for casual open houses.

When Moore first told his wife about the idea of living in a residence hall, “she looked at me like I was crazy,” Moore says. She agreed after visiting the spacious, modern, two-story apartment.

Moore says that he is typically asked whether it’s noisy to live in the midst of so many college students, but that hasn’t been an issue. “We are probably noisier than our college-age neighbors,” says the father of three young daughters.

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Sophomore Alexandra “Allee” DeFelice is a Wilderness First Responder now, thanks to attending the Pre-Med Emergency and Wilderness Medicine Program in Colorado this summer as a Stamps Leadership Scholar.

Enriching EXPERIENCES T

he inaugural class of Stamps Leadership Scholars is entering its sophomore year.

Jointly funded by the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation and Tulane, Stamps Scholars receive four-year scholarships, which include tuition, books, room, board

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and fees, in addition to funds that allow for enrichment opportunities.

Stamps Scholar Rebecca Whitney, a concert pianist, performed this summer with international master musicians first in the Brandywine International Piano

Institute in Pennsylvania and then at the Orfeo Music Festival in Italy, thanks to the Stamps enrichment funds.

Whitney says her experiences this summer fortified her future goals as a pianist. “The festival offered me an opportunity to con-

CROSSING BOUNDARIES Honors colloquia give intellectually curious students opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. Tulane professors develop these thought-provoking classes

nect with highly talented musicians from across the globe.”

Tulane sophomore Alexandra “Allee” DeFelice used her enrichment funds to learn to survive in the wilderness. At the University of Colorado Pre-Med Emergency and Wilderness Medicine Program, she identified and treated altitude sickness, hypothermia and frostbite and used a bandana to make a splint and tourniquet.

For DeFelice, now CPR certified and a Wilderness First Responder, the experience in Colorado reinforced her hope to one day attend medical school and become an officer in the U.S. Air Force. “It is my dream to be able to help people through medicine and be able to serve my country.”

Penny and Roe Stamps formed the Stamps Scholars program, and Tulane partnered with the organization in 2013.

The Stamps Scholars program is one of the United States’ largest merit-based national scholarship programs. In the last selection cycle, about 600,000 students across the country were considered for awards, and about 180 enrolled as new Stamps Scholars this fall, bringing the total enrolled to almost 700.

to go beyond what students would normally find in a college classroom. Some examples in the 2014-2015 academic year included:

SAVING COASTAL LOUISIANA: SCIENCE, STAKEHOLDERS AND POLITICS, taught

by Professor Mead Allison (Earth and Environmental Science) and Alex Kolker (Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium), studied the wetlands loss in Louisiana over the last 50 years.

THE FUTURE OF CAPITALISM, taught by Professor John Howard (Political Economy), examined the question of the future of global capitalism.

THE MINDFUL TRAVELER: CULTURAL CRITIQUES OF TOURISM, taught by Annie Gibson, a professor with the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, examined both the advantages and the disadvantages of a variety of forms of tourism.

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Newcomb-Tulane College Honors Program 105 Hebert Hall New Orleans, LA 70118

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT...

David Duesing Like so many of Tulane’s students, New Orleans’s lush cultural playground of never-ending food, music and art festivals, as well as its abundant community service opportunities, played a pivotal role in my undergraduate education. My classes at Tulane undeniably stood as the academic backbone of my education, but my studies were greatly complimented by my interactions with the city of New Orleans, perhaps most notably by my semester spent teaching ESL to a class of Latin American immigrants.

Perhaps unlike some at Tulane, however, much of my education was also molded by my international experiences. As a political science major concentrating in international relations, I made sure to take advantage of Tulane’s study abroad opportunities, studying abroad in Rome, Italy during my junior year and Guadalajara, Mexico and Valparaíso, Chile during two different summers.

What I learned in the classroom at Tulane piqued my interest in international cultural and political affairs, but it was my study abroad experiences that truly helped me conceptualize the theories and readings I had studied only in books within the context of the real world. Reading about Pinochet’s regime introduced me to a particular piece of history, but hearing firsthand reports from victims of Pinochet’s regime exposed the reality of life under a dictatorship in a way that textbooks never could.

Beyond connecting academic studies with the real world, my studies abroad further encouraged me,

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...

David Duesing with a postcard from a friend.

and prepared me, to pursue international work after Tulane, including thus far Peace Corps Costa Rica and Fulbright Spain. The cross-cultural education I received in the classroom, coupled with my service learning experience teaching ESL, prepared me for work in the fields of education and development, while my study abroad experience prepared me to work specifically in an international environment – an overall educational and professional combination that let me leave Tulane ready not only to follow my passions but to succeed at doing so.

David Duesing graduated from Tulane in 2013 with a degree in political science (international relations).

H ONO RS . TULANE.ED U

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HONORS@ TUL AN E . E DU