David Marcello, adjunct professor of law and executive director of The Public Law Center at Tulane Law, is the editor of the International Legislative Drafting Guideline (Carolina Academic Press, 2020). The book includes a foreword by James L. Dennis, U.S. Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and articles by 18 speakers from the annual two-week International Legislative Drafting Institute, which Marcello has organized and conducted since 1995. Marcello has taught legislative drafting in Bulgaria, the Dominican Republic, Republic of Georgia, Moldova, Mongolia, the…

The newest class of Tulane students entering this fall represents the most academically qualified students to be admitted to the university and the most diverse class to date. This is the fifth year in a row that the incoming class has broken admissions records for qualifications and diversity reach. About 26% of the admitted students — more than one in four — identify as Black, Indigenous or people of color, up from 17% in 2016. The average ACT score rose as well, to a range of 31–34 this year as compared to 29–32 five years ago. “Tulane appeals to a different kind of student, one who seeks…

Raven Ancar, a School of Liberal Arts student majoring in sociology and digital media practices, has filmed and directed a feature-length documentary, The Veil, about the experience of Black students on Tulane’s campus. In January 2019, during her first year at Tulane, Ancar filmed several sit-down interviews with fellow students to explore W. E. B. Du Bois’ notions of “the veil” and “double-consciousness,” as presented in his 1903 book The Souls of Black Folks. Ancar’s film probes topics of diversity, inclusion, racism and white supremacy culture. It has been screened by the Newcomb Art…

“Here’s what I think people at the top of the income distribution fear: they fear that if you help people at the bottom, then my share of the pie will be smaller. … But what they fail to realize is, what if the pie is actually bigger?”

School of Architecture professors Tiffany Lin and Emilie Taylor Welty, and Lisa Molix, psychology professor at the School of Science and Engineering, will study how members of the community react to public spaces and monuments that memorialize contentious historical figures and events. They will use their findings to develop the framework for an advanced architecture research studio that examines strategies to bridge the gap between architects and the general public.

Researchers at Tulane and the University of Michigan examined the water-use impacts of individual diets in the United States, while considering regional variations in water scarcity. They found meat consumption is the top contributor to the water scarcity footprint of the average U.S. diet, accounting for 31% of the impacts. The study combines the types and quantities of foods in the diets of individuals, the irrigation water required to produce those foods, and the relative scarcity of water where the irrigation occurs.

Academic Tutoring—Roots of Music, a Tulane student club, organized 100 self-care goody bags for New Orleans kids who are part of Roots of Music. Roots of Music is a nonprofit program that provides music history and theory, instrumental instruction, and ensemble performance preparation for students ages 9–14 from low-income households. Vid Raturi, from Plainsboro, New Jersey, who earned her Bachelor of Science from the School of Science and Engineering in 2020 and a Master of Science in May, is president of the club that provides homework help, test preparation and mentoring to Roots of Music…

Vicki Mayer, professor of communication at the School of Liberal Arts (SLA), was awarded the Professional Freedom & Responsibility Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The award is bestowed annually on a journalist, writer, activist or scholar who the group believes embodies the spirit of cultural studies. Mayer, who is also associate dean for academic initiatives and curriculum at SLA, is an expert in media and communication industries, their political economies, infrastructures and organizational work cultures.

An American Roots program

New Yorker, New York Times contributor and creative writing professor Thomas Beller embarks on a road trip to pursue the meaning of class and the truth about the iconic 1960s Southern novels The Moviegoer and To Kill a Mockingbird.