🍂 Welcome to Fall for Tufts 🍂
Join us for our virtual open house, Fall for Tufts! These four weeks of virtual programs will be dedicated to illustrating the Tufts community and helping you imagine your future as a Jumbo. The open house schedule allows room to explore various topics in a choose-your-own-adventure format (no need to sign up for every event - just the ones you are interested in!).
Stay tuned for updates on the events that you think will best help you understand the Tufts community and maybe even make you...Fall for Tufts (we couldn’t help ourselves!). Recordings will be available for select events.
Click here for recordings of available past events.
Past Events
Welcome!
8:00pm - 8:30pm EDT, Tuesday, September 14
JT Duck, Dean of Admissions
Rebekah Stiles '12, Associate Director of Admissions
Todd Denning, Assistant Director of Admissions
Isaac Baek '22, Clinical Psychology
Cassidy Bartolomei '22, Quantitative Economics
Vaish Enaganti '22, Biopsychology
Angela Maliakal '22, Computer Science and Human Factors Engineering
Maycon Santos '22, Engineering Psychology
Nuria Lizarraga '23, Studio Art
Join us as we kick off our month-long Fall for Tufts open house program featuring our Dean of Admissions, JT Duck, and current students.
Understanding Financial Aid
4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT, Wednesday, September 15
Patty Reilly, Associate Dean of Financial Aid
Hear from Patty Reilly, the Associate Dean of Financial Aid, on the ins and outs of financial aid, how Tufts calculates financial aid, and what that means for you. Bring your questions, too!
Confusing Statistics
5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT, Wednesday, September 15
Christoph Borgers, Professor of Mathematics
In this class, we will think about several simple questions about probabilities and statistics which have surprising, counter-intuitive answers. The unifying theme is an 18th century discovery called Bayes’ Theorem, which lies at the foundation of the modern approach to understanding and interpreting scientific data.
Free Will: What Is It, and Do We Have It?
1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT, Friday, September 17
David Denby, Distinguished Senior Lecturer, Philosophy
Free will makes you a person. Without it, you are not morally responsible for your actions. Indeed, the projects and commitments that your actions express and that give your life meaning would not really be yours at all. At best, you are a mere conduit for events. On the other hand, it is a fundamental presupposition of science, everyday thought, and perhaps rationality itself that every event has a cause. Without causation, the world would not be intelligible, and genuinely rational action would not be possible. The problem is that universal causation seems to be incompatible with freewill, even on the most minimal assumptions about freewill and causation. Being a person means acting freely; an intelligible world in which rational action is possible means universal causation. But we can’t have it both ways! In this talk, we’ll explore this problem and some responses.
Student Experience Panel
2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT, Saturday, September 18
Isaac Baek '22, Clinical Psychology
Cassidy Bartolomei '22, Quantitative Economics
Vaish Enaganti '22, Biopsychology
Angela Maliakal '22, Computer Science and Human Factors Engineering
Maycon Santos '22, Engineering Psychology
Cristina Arellano Chiroque '23, Human Factors Engineering
Nuria Lizarraga '23, Studio Art
Curious about what it's like to be a Tufts student? Come join our Admissions Fellows for a conversation all about the student experience. Bring your questions, too!
American Musical Theatre
5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT, Tuesday, September 21
Heather Nathans, Alice and Nathan Gantcher Professor in Judaic Studies
For more than two centuries US theatre audiences have clamored for musicals--but why? How do musicals invite audiences to imagine different identities around questions of race, gender, ethnicity, or orientation? Which shows have promoted inclusion and which have supported exclusion? Join us for an exploration of the form and its history.
QuestBridge Scholar Panel
7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT, Tuesday, September 21
Chris Flores, Director of Admissions for Access & Outreach
Join QuestBridge (QB) Scholars and an admissions counselor to learn about their experiences as Jumbos. Our QB Scholars will speak to the communities of QB Scholars and first-generation/low-income students at Tufts, along with the resources that helped them navigate their transitions from home to life on campus. They will also discuss the academic, professional, and extracurricular opportunities they have found at Tufts. Much of the session will be devoted to live Q&A.
Understanding the College Basics
6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT, Wednesday, September 22
Beky Stiles, Associate Director of Admissions
Todd Denning, Assistant Director of Admissions
Applying to college can be overwhelming; from admissions and financial aid, to finding the right college fit, there's a lot to know. Come learn more about how to navigate this process, one step at a time!
Peering into the Anxious Brain: Using Neuroimaging Techniques to Study Anxiety
4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT, Thursday, September 23
Lisa Shin, Professor of Psychology
What is anxiety, and when does it cross the threshold to become an anxiety disorder? How do researchers use brain imaging to better understand the underlying neurobiological basis of anxiety and its disorders? Can we use brain imaging to diagnose disorders and predict response to treatment? In this lecture, we will discuss the results of recent research that can provide answers to these questions.
The Power of History: Bias, Silence, and the Individual
6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT, Friday, September 24
David Proctor, Senior Lecturer, History and Classical Studies
How important is the individual in history? Can one individual really change the world and alter the lives and futures of thousands or even millions? Who tells the story of the great person and is how they tell the story important to determining how that person is remembered? Do the facts shape the history or do historians shape the facts? Whose voices are listened to and whose are silenced? We will explore these questions and many others as we try to define what history is and the power that the historian's pen can wield.
Why Tufts: A Deans' Panel
7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT, Monday, September 27
JT Duck, Dean of Admissions
Jim Glaser, Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences
Nancy Bauer, Dean of the SMFA at Tufts
Kyongbum Lee, Dean ad interim, School of Engineering
JT Duck, the Dean of the Tufts Office of Undergraduate Admissions, will moderate a panel with the three Deans of each of our undergraduate schools. Learn about the offerings in each program from the people who know them best!
Admissions Committee Case Study
8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT, Tuesday, September 28
Beky Stiles, Associate Director of Admissions
Have you ever wondered how admissions decisions get made? You’ll join Beky Stiles, Associate Director of Admissions, and step into the role of admissions officer through this case study. You will make your way through five fictional student applications and vote on who you would admit to Tufts University. Time will be reserved at the end of the case study for a debrief and questions.
Quest for a Cure: An Introduction to Drug Discovery
5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT, Wednesday, September 29
Joshua Kritzer, Professor of Chemistry
Have you ever wondered where new drugs come from, or what’s involved in a clinical trial? What are the challenges facing the drug industry today? In this class, we will discuss how drugs are discovered and developed, and we will explore exciting breakthroughs that are changing the drug industry. Professor Kritzer will also answer questions about chemistry, biochemistry, and undergraduate research at Tufts.
Introducción a Tufts en español
7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT, miércoles, 29 de septiembre
Paz Pitarque, Assistant Director of Admissions
Únete a una conversación sobre Tufts University para familias y estudiantes hispanohablantes. Durante 45 minutos vamos a poder dar una introducción a la universidad y también podremos demostrar quien forma parte de nuestra comunidad. También vamos a poder contestar preguntas de nuestra audiencia durante la sesión. ¡Te esperamos!
A Conversation with the LGBT Center
6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT, Thursday, September 30
Come learn about the programming, advising, and educational resources provided by the Center that aim to improve the experience of gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans people at Tufts.
Essay Writing Workshop
8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT, Monday, October 4
Writing essays is hard! And writing them for colleges feels even harder. We will help kickstart your essay-writing by providing tools for choosing a topic and getting started. We will also give some insight into how the essays are used in the world of highly selective admissions. Hopefully this session will leave you feeling a little less stressed and a little more empowered as you enter into the full-swing of college application season.
Zines! Protest Banners! Comics! BOOKS!
1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT, Tuesday, October 5
Darin Murphy, Head of the SMFA Library
Carrie Salazar, Research and Instruction Librarian
Contemporary artists guide conversations about topics ranging from the environment to identity to social justice and more. In this session, learn how the SMFA Library team helps students use research to investigate topics that enrich their art practice. We'll share examples from our collections, showcasing a range of materials from handmade artists' books to zines to protest banners to comics to just plain BOOKS.
Introducción a Tufts en español
7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT, miércoles, 6 de octubre
Paz Pitarque, Assistant Director of Admissions
Únete a una conversación sobre Tufts University para familias y estudiantes hispanohablantes. Durante 45 minutos vamos a poder dar una introducción a la universidad y también podremos demostrar quien forma parte de nuestra comunidad. También vamos a poder contestar preguntas de nuestra audiencia durante la sesión. ¡Te esperamos!
Jewish Life at Tufts
8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT, Wednesday, October 6
JT Duck, Dean of Admissions
Naftali Brawer, Jewish Chaplain, Executive Director of Hillel
Alex Shapiro '24
Abby Stern '24
Dahlia Lyss '24
Join JT Duck, Dean of Admissions, Naftali Brawer, Tufts' Rabbi and Jewish Chaplain, and current students for a conversation on the richness of Jewish life at Tufts and the resources available to the Jewish community on campus.
Inside the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts
6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT, Thursday, October 7
Thomas Duncan, Director of SMFA Admissions at Tufts
Lindsay Pike, Associate Director of Admissions
In this live presentation, we'll take a deep dive into the interdisciplinary curriculum and all-access philosophy at SMFA. Through stories and images of student and alumni work, our specialized studio spaces and campus resources, and our neighborhood in Boston, you'll learn about how SMFA prepares students to forge their path in the art world. You’ll be invited to ask questions and to join the conversation about how students take advantage of studio access and university resources.
What's the Tea at Tufts?: A Conversation with the Diversity Admissions Council
7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT, Thursday, October 7
Rhiannon Pabich, Associate Director of Admissions
Are you curious about the diversities of Tufts and how students from underrepresented backgrounds navigate life on the Hill? Join us for a live panel discussion with members of the Diversity Admissions Council. This session is an interactive Q&A, so come with questions!
Student Workshop: Effective Altruism
2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT, Friday, October 8
Graeme McDonough '23, Chemical Engineering
Rachel Weinberg '24, Computer Science and Cognitive Science
Harrison Sweet '25, Philosophy
We will start with a very brief introduction to what Effective Altruism is, including why and how we go about determining how we can do the most good with our limited resources. Then, for most of the workshop, we will run a team competition where participants will work in groups to estimate the answers to important questions related to the world's most pressing problems and how we can best address them. At the end, we will go over the answers, declare a winner, and do a quick debrief of how these questions relate to Effective Altruism.
Feedback Loops in Music and Technology
4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT, Friday, October 8
Joseph Auner, Fletcher Professor of Music
The talk will explore how works of music and sound art that make feedback loops central to their structure, performance, and sound can open up productive ways of thinking through of our interactions with the global technological networks we rely on in many aspects of our lives, in the process reshaping our sense of self, our bodies, and how we resonate with those around us.
Student Experience Panel
4:30pm - 5:30pm EDT, Friday, October 8
Curious about what it's like to be a Tufts student? Come join some of our current students for a conversation all about the student experience. Bring your questions, too!
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Justice (DEIJ) and Anti-Racism Work at Tufts
5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT, Tuesday, October 12
JT Duck, Dean of Admissions
Chris Flores, Director of Admissions for Access & Outreach
Chris Swan, Dean of Undergraduate Education, School of Engineering
Jacqueline Dejean, Assistant Dean, Diversity & Inclusion, GSAS; Assistant Dean of Arts & Sciences, Research
Maren Greathouse, Associate Director, Diversity and Inclusion Education
Come learn about DEIJ at Tufts and the ongoing anti-racism work in our community.
A Conversation with the Asian American Center
6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT, Tuesday, October 12
Aaron Parayno, Director, Asian American Center
Join Aaron Parayno, Director of the Asian American Center, to learn more about the Asian American Center programming and the ways the Center cultivates an experience that allows you to explore the contributions of Asian Americans, find a sense of belonging, as well as connect with other Centers that represent various cultures and intersecting social identities present in the Tufts community.
Critical Drag
5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT, Wednesday, October 13
Register Here
Kareem Khubchandani, Mellon Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
Drag is a performance practice that aestheticizes gender for a variety of purposes such as entertainment, socio-political critique, and labor. We will discuss the intersections of gender, nationality, race, class, and disability to understand the implications of putting gender on the body, on stage and in everyday life. This is an interactive and performance-based class, and participants will be invited to discuss in-class viewings and to make performances.
A Conversation with the FIRST Center
6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT, Thursday, October 14
Jared Smith, Director of the FIRST Resource Center
Rosanna Inirio, Associate Director of the FIRST Resource Center
Join Jared Smith, Director of the FIRST Center, and Rosanna Inirio, Associate Director of the FIRST Center, in learning about the resources Tufts University’s first-generation, low-income, and undocumented populations can find through the Center. Learn more about the ways FIRST assists students in navigating the costs of college life and building community among their peers.
Introducing Haruki Murakami
12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT, Friday, October 15
Hosea Hirata, Director of Japanese Program and International Literary & Visual Studies
This lecture will explore Haruki Murakami’s global popularity and discuss his specific connection to Tufts University, from which he received an honorary doctorate in 2014.
The Art of the Fake
2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT, Friday, October 15
Kurt Ralkse, Professor of the Practice, Digital Media, Film & Sound, and Virtual Reality
Digital Media at SMFA offers courses that provide practical and conceptual skills for artists working with virtual reality, augmented reality, interactive installations, or custom software. It is hybrid by nature and frequently intersects with film, video, and sound, as well as other mediums across SMFA’s studios. This course explores “the fake” as an artistic strategy and a cultural phenomenon. Over the course of a semester, students learn 3D software (such as Cinema 4D and Photoshop) to create images and videos that appear convincingly photo-realistic, but have no correspondence to reality. We survey artists whose work involves forgery, false identity, sham narrative, artificial drama, obvious artifice, pranks, and white lies. Seminar discussion is focused on the relationship between images and beliefs, and on the question of “the real” and ‘the fake” from the multiple perspectives of aesthetics, philosophy, psychology, and cultural criticism. “The fake” is considered in both its negative dimensions (eg., political manipulation) and positive (eg., the generative power of imagination).
School of Engineering Student Panel
5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT, Friday, October 15
Join current Jumbos for an in-depth look at our School of Engineering! Hear about our project-based engineering curriculum, collaborative learning environment, and the unique qualities that shape Tufts engineering.
A Conversation with the Latinx Center
6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT, Friday, October 15
Representatives from the Latinx Center will share insight into the ways students gather, learn, share experiences, show support and appreciation of Latinx identities through the Latinx Center. You will learn about the welcoming community that provides a dedicated environment to engage in research, celebration, collaboration, and dialogue to inspire advocacy, appreciation, and social change within the Latinx community, inclusive of Hispanic, Latin American, and Caribbean students.
Student Experience Panel
2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT, Saturday, October 16
Curious about what it's like to be a Tufts student? Come join some of our current students for a conversation all about the student experience. Bring your questions, too!
Digital Design Studio (DDS) Workshop
6:00pm - 6:45pm EDT, Monday, October 18
Kylie Terra, Digital Media Specialist
This workshop will introduce participants to the Digital Design Studio (DDS) at Tisch Library, an educational space for entry into digital design focused on audio, video, and graphic design. During the virtual session, you’ll get some hands-on practice designing graphics collaboratively with other prospective students through Google Draw.
The DDS supports student projects for courses and research, as well as extracurricular work by students, faculty, and staff. The DDS is managed by the Digital Scholarship department of Tisch Library.
A Conversation with the Africana Center
6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT, Wednesday, October 20
Kiarah Hortance, Program Assistant, Africana Center
Join Kiarah Hortance, Program Assistant of the Africana Center, for an introduction to the Africana Center and the important role it plays on campus. Bring your questions, too!
Life at SMFA Student Panel
6:00pm -7:00pm EDT, Wednesday, October 20
In this event, current students pursuing a degree in art will share their perspective on life at SMFA. We'll be sure to cover topics like getting involved in the community, utilizing the Fenway and Medford campuses, and exploring the Boston arts scene, and we'll leave plenty of time for you to ask questions, too.
School of Arts & Sciences Student Panel
5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT, Thursday, October 21
The School of Arts & Sciences is the largest of Tufts' three undergraduate schools and houses over 150 majors and minors. Come learn about what it's like to be an A&S student at Tufts, and be sure to bring your questions, too!
Becoming an Effective Leader on Campus
5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT, Thursday, October 21
Emily Quigley, Assistant Director of Campus Life
What are the qualities of an effective campus leader, and how can you begin to acquire the skills needed to be one? Join Emily Quigley, Assistant Director of Campus Life, for a discussion on what you need to know about student leadership at Tufts.
Visual Art Portfolio Workshop
6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT, Thursday, October 21
Thomas Duncan, Director of SMFA Admissions at Tufts
This program is designed to answer all of your questions about what goes into a great SMFA portfolio. Your portfolio won’t look like anyone else’s. The portfolio you submit is our introduction to you as an artist and should be as personal as your personal essay. Join us to hear from a current student about making sense of all the portfolio advice out there and from a member of the admissions team that reviews studio art portfolios on how to make your portfolio speak in your own voice. We’ll show some examples and take your questions.
GatherTown: Meet and Greet with Prospective Jumbos!
8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT, Thursday, October 21
Join us in GatherTown, a virtual “world” we created just for you! Create an avatar, roam around the town, play interactive games, and video chat with students. Tufts is not all business; we love to have fun, too, and hope you do the same in GatherTown!
Student Workshop: Women Entrepreneurs @ Tufts
1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT, Friday, October 22
Student Workshop: Tufts Human Factors & Ergonomics Society
1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT, Friday, October 22
User experience is now the name of the game in the world of technology. More and more companies are seeking to differentiate themselves from their competitors by hiring UX/UI designers and usability engineers, to varying degrees of success. While we could show examples of what good designs look like, it’s much more fun to show you what NOT to do. So, welcome to the Design Hall of Shame! In this workshop hosted by Tufts Human Factors & Ergonomics Society, we will rip apart and redesign 3 different examples of bad design - a website, an automobile, and a medical device. We will explain the psychological concepts behind the case studies and give you an insight into two of the most interesting majors offered by Tufts University: Human Factors Engineering and Engineering Psychology.
Subversive Graphics: Socially Engaged Art
3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT, Friday, October 22
Chantal Zakari, Professor of the Practice, Graphic Arts and Photography
Courses in the Graphic Arts area at the SMFA focus on the development of a personal and public voice through a broad range of approaches utilizing design, printing, typography, graphic images, pictograms, book arts, and interactive web art. In addition to developing traditional design skills, the curriculum explore ways in which artists can work outside of commercial contexts, both within galleries and beyond the gallery space with work that engages communities. Course content and seminars are structured around critical thinking and histories of artist's books, publishing, graphic novels, urban interventions, street graphics, public art, and other strategies for a socially engaged practice. In this class we will discuss the origins of Graphic Arts education along with examples of graphics in social practice, digital art and book arts.
Student Experience Panel
12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT, Saturday, October 23
Curious about what it's like to be a Tufts student? Come join some of our current students for a conversation all about the student experience. Bring your questions, too!
This could be you hanging out with your friend next year on the Prez Lawn!
This is probably one of the best late-night study spots on campus (in good weather)...yes, this is the library roof, and yes, there are outlets!
Our mascot, Jumbo the elephant.