This year’s seniors have weathered a great deal of adversity during their time at Tulane University. Many graduated high school in the throes of the worst pandemic in recent history. They weathered Hurricane Ida, the Category 4 storm that forced campus to shut down for four weeks in 2021. Despite these challenges, the class of 2024 looks back fondly on their college careers.

I was fortunate enough to speak with numerous seniors who extolled the virtues of Tulane’s robust course offerings.

Senior Catie May Carey looks back affectionately at her semester spent in Carolyn Barber Pierre’s Brazilian Dance class — DANC 1920. “We learned about samba, capoeira, batuque and various other dances and their origins. It was incredibly fun and I looked forward to it every week,” said Carey. 

DANC 1920 provided Carey with a unique opportunity to fulfill her Aesthetics and Creative Arts requirement. Barber Pierre’s extensive background in dance — which started when she helped a friend form a Mardi Gras krewe in remembrance of Brazilian quilombos over 30 years ago — makes her a reputable academic in the performing arts department.

Senior Iker Yturralde highlighted the time he spent in a Capstone Research Seminar for ecology and evolutionary biology — EBIO 5971. The course, led by Donata R. Henry, discusses the intricacies of literature relevant to the high-level research that took place in the classroom. “I loved having an extended period of time every week with like-minded people,” said Yturralde, “who were just as excited to discuss ‘fungal endophyte facilitated salt tolerance’ or ‘beetle-microbe plastic digestion’ or even ‘seed dispersal in Ecuador’.”

The willingness of his peers to devote time towards the dissection of such complex topics made EBIO 5971 an incredibly rewarding experience for Yturralde.

The civility in which Tulane students conduct classroom conversations is a recurring attitude that seniors value. Senior Amy Gaffen spoke highly of her time in Politics of the Arab-Israeli Conflict — POLI 4670. The political science course, headed by Christina Kiel, delves deep into the makings of one of the most notable geopolitical struggles in contemporary history. 

Kiel’s ability to foster an open dialogue about such a sensitive issue was one of the things that stood out most for Gaffen.  “For such a contentious topic, I thought the class was taught incredibly well and I was able to get both sides of the argument.”