A Tufts political science professor explains how to decipher the candidates’ approaches This election season, three presidential debates are scheduled for Sept. 29, Oct. 15, and Oct. 22—and the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 7. But what will the candidates focus on in the debates, and what does that portend for the final weeks before the Nov. 3 election?

From colonial times to today, the demonization of outsiders has existed alongside the idea of the U.S. as a nation built by immigrants The United States has always been a nation of immigrants—and seemingly also always a nation suffused with xenophobia, a fear or hatred of those same immigrants. In 1750, Benjamin Franklin worried that large numbers of “swarthy” foreigners, speaking their own language among themselves, would swamp the colonies and their British subjects. The dangerous outsiders? They were Germans.

Who gets to tell the story of the past? It’s a question that has transformed the Tufts curriculum. In 1950, history courses at Tufts had not changed for two decades. All five professors in the department were white Protestant men, and three of them—Albert Imlah, Ruhl Bartlett, and Halford Hoskins—were born between 1891 and 1901, during the presidencies of Grover Cleveland and William McKinley. One of the standard departmental offerings was The History of the American Frontier, a tribute to the tradition of Frederick Jackson Turner’s vision that dominated the teaching of American history.

Cummings School alum and students host conference for veterinary students Sept. 26 on how to start a practice and take control of their careers When you think of a veterinarian, what comes to mind? A doctor who cares for creatures great and small? Someone with a great bedside manner who is as compassionate toward people as their pets? But how about a business owner who can manage a pharmacy and inventory of foods—or calculate how adding another staff member is going to help or hurt a veterinary practice’s ability to operate long term? Or someone skilled at negotiating a contract so to allow for the flexibility to enjoy life outside work?

The longtime Tufts researcher and physician was a booming voice on the consequences of antibiotic resistance The Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance, a collaborative effort supported by Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center, has been renamed the Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance (Levy CIMAR) at Tufts, in honor of the pioneering antibiotic-resistance researcher.

Tufts’ director of infection control describes the similarities and differences, and explains why getting the flu vaccine is so important for you—and those around you With the advent of fall comes the flu season—and the potential for it to make the rounds in the midst of the current pandemic. But how do you differentiate between the flu, caused by the influenza virus, and COVID-19? And what can you do to avoid the flu?

Bookish: Sulmaan Khan, Fletcher School professor of international history and author of "Haunted by Chaos," unsurprisingly is an eclectic reader Bookish is an occasional Tufts Now series of interviews with authors from the Tufts community. For more book suggestions, see “Summer Book Recommendations.”

Fifty years ago, Janice Lourie started a revolution in textile manufacturing with IBM’s first software patent, and now as an artist continues to transcend boundaries Janice Richmond Lourie, J57, was only 7 when she and her mother happened upon a demonstration by traditional weavers from Berea, Kentucky. “I went berserk,” she said. “The idea that you could have an idea and make that idea happen. To me, that was magic. I told my father he had to make a loom for me—and he did.” Decades later, Lourie’s childhood fascination would lead her to develop innovative computer software that bridged the technical and artistic worlds and made possible the automated computer-driven loom, transforming textile manufacturing.

Reeta Roy, CEO of Mastercard Foundation, defied critics and steered its $33 billion to help Africans solve the continent’s challenges In 2007, a search firm contacted Reeta Roy, F89, with a surprising opportunity: Would she be interested in the top post at the year-old Mastercard Foundation? Roy, a corporate executive in Chicago, had never heard of the Toronto-based foundation, and its mission—to alleviate poverty by advancing education and microfinance—seemed unnervingly broad. Besides, finance wasn’t her specialty. Still, she was intrigued. She would be the foundation’s fourth full-time employee. She would build the organization and its programs from the ground up. She took the job.