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News & Events:
Publications: The E-News
May 2005
| Volume 1, Issue 1, Page
5
Explaining Explorations
(continued from page 1)
Nowhere else, nowhere but at Tufts, are students given such an
amazing and unique experience, the experience of Explorations.
So, what then is an Explorations class? In all honesty, Explorations
can be whatever one wants it to be. Topics can range from
Presidential Elections to Norse Mythology. Teaching styles can be
quite inventive—relaxed, active, or interactive. There is no
definitive guide for how to lead the class. The class itself is a
unique experience, an experience which tends to take on a life of
its own, teaching all who are involved in it much more than ever
could have been predicted.
As a freshman, Explorations welcomed me to the Tufts community. The
students in the class were my first friends. The leaders were the
first students whom I looked up to. The faculty advisor was the
first professor whom I felt comfortable talking to or asking for
advice. Explorations gave me a comfort zone at a time when I felt
lost in the new, foreign land of college.
Then I gained my footing, felt comfortable in college, made friends,
and got really involved in politics. Getting involved in politics is
actually the key to how I became an Explorations leader. I knew that
I wanted to be one, I knew that I would enjoy it, I knew that I
wanted to give back to the Tufts community, and it just happened to
be the perfect year for it, an election year. Thus, the 2004
Presidential Elections Explorations class was born, and Jon Parnes
and I became co-leaders for the class. This was a topic about which
both of us were passionate. It was also a topic about which we knew
students would be interested in talking. I was excited and scared at
the same time to be a leader, but in the end, it all seemed to work
out well.
Leading an Explorations class was a huge job. It was one of the most
time-consuming projects which I have undertaken while at Tufts. It
was nerve wracking. It was intense. It was draining. I loved it!
Leading that class was an incredibly rewarding, exciting, and
joyous. I have never learned so much as from the Explorations class
that I taught. Leading an Explorations class is something that I
would not exchange for anything in the world. It was priceless.
The Colloquium Series
(continued from page 1)
Both programs were discontinued in the early eighties to make room
for other ExCollege developments, but this year, a combination of
both programs was reinstituted as the new ExCollege Colloquium
Series. Like its predecessors, this program offered non-credit
lectures ranging in content and open to the entire Tufts community,
with a new focus on career paths. The new Colloquium Series also
sought to bring alumni back to the Tufts campus to lead the
Colloquia. Three ExCollege Colloquia were offered at Tufts in the
Spring of 2005. Alumnus Frank Siteman (A ‘69) led “The Art of
Freelance Photography”; Tufts Lieutenant Officer Charles Lonero led
“Criminal Investigation at Tufts”; and Alan Moskowitz led the very
popular “Today’s Restaurateur.” A revitalized Colloquium Series is
expected to continue next year.
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