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On Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, the Usdan Student Center and the Farber-Goldfarb Libraries were shut down. The pathway between them leading to the Rabb steps was also closed.
The second annual Albertine French Film Festival is now in full swing at the University. Last year, the festival’s inaugural week showcased a sweeping selection of contemporary French films at the Wasserman Cinemateque free of charge. Now in its second run, the festival presented by the French and Francophone Studies Program of the Department of Romance Studies spotlights even more French films, each of which pack a strong cultural punch. The festival began on Friday, Oct. 17, with the dark yet vibrant film “Disco Boy” (2023), providing the festival’s “Spotlight on Drama.” This week, the festival moved on to its “Spotlight on Documentary” with the haunting one-hour documentary “Dahomey” (2024), directed by Mati Diop. With a restrained and dreamlike meditation on colonialism and the effectiveness of restitution, this film follows 26 stolen royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey as they are returned from Paris to their country of origin, the modern-day Republic of Benin.
With a creaking noise and a stutter, the elevator door of the Ziv 127 residence building is anything but a smooth ride. Stepping in, the door lags to a close. Pressing the button to the fourth floor, just above the keys is the proof of inspection. This is not unordinary: Every elevator in the state of Massachusetts is required to display their inspection certificate.
The NFL's seventh week featured a mix of great plays, intense games and potentially the most controversial moment of the season thus far.
Sister Dolores Jean Schmidt has been one of the most important and unique figures in men’s college basketball for her over-30-year career as team chaplain for the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers men’s basketball team. Many schools, specifically Jesuit institutions, have dedicated team chaplains who provide spiritual guidance and lead their teams in prayers before their games. Basketball powerhouses such as Gonzaga University and Marquette University participate in this practice, although their chaplains aren’t as iconic as Schmidt, who guides the Loyola Chicago Ramblers.
Departing from traditional senses of curation in response to the unique histories of Indigenous Americans, the Institute of Contemporary Art opened “An Indigenous Present” on Oct. 9 featuring site-specific works done by Indigenous contemporary artists. This exhibition is educational at its surface, tracing the history of certain pillars within contemporary Indigenous art. Curators Jeffrey Gibson and Jenelle Porter undoubtedly sought to reimagine the possibilities of curation for Indigenous art. Before diving into the experience of the exhibition, it must be noted that this article will not be similar to other exhibition reviews I have done in the past. Continuing the work that Gibson and Porter started in their unconventional yet just presentation of the genre, I aim to describe my experience within the galleries, discussing the art, the artist’s words and not relegating these artists to their origins. As the Indigenous Artist has been restricted to a Western understanding, I plan to write without consideration for comprehension. This curatorial experience may confuse, complicate and obfuscate the preconceived notions a viewer has, I can only hope to translate such an elation in the restrictive written word. I have chosen to present some works of the many that you can see at the exhibition, and I encourage you to go to the exhibition to see all of them.
Hannah Bookbinder ’95 consolidated her 25 years of experience guiding neurodivergent individuals as an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and executive functioning coach in an accessible and streamlined app, My TOAD. Bookbinder is the founder of AcademicAlly, an academic coaching and college preparation service that also provides support to individuals who are struggling with executive dysfunction.
On Monday, Oct. 29, Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton shared with fans in an Instagram post that his beloved dog, Roscoe Hamilton, had passed away.
The first few weeks of the college football season have shown how even the playing field has become. We have seen historically powerful programs like the University of Notre Dame and Clemson University finding themselves with losing records. Meanwhile, more obscure football schools like the University of North Texas and the United States Naval Academy are in the conversation to be among the top 25 teams nationally. The athletes themselves are also more evenly matched; there aren’t any runaway favorites for the John Heisman award, given to the top player in college football. In recent history, the award has been given almost exclusively to quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. That trend will seemingly continue this year, although nobody has truly separated themselves from the pack through five weeks of action. Who are the true contenders for the award and what makes this year so different?
Spanning from Sept. 11 to Sept. 16 was New York Fashion Week. This semiannual event kicks off fashion month. NYFW is followed by all the other fashion capitals — London, Milan and Paris. These four events shape women’s wear for the upcoming spring and summer seasons.
On Thursday, Sept. 11, History of Ideas faculty and students gathered in Rapaporte Treasure Hall for an annual panel featuring faculty and student speakers. This year’s discussion theme was centered around the idea that we live in a “garden of forking paths,” and speakers were prompted to discuss a chance encounter from their lives or fields of study that ended up having an enormous impact. The event was moderated by Professor David Katz (HIST), director of the History of Ideas program.
Along Main Street in Waltham, just a few miles past the center of the city, sits a house that doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the neighborhood. It’s large and made completely of brick. The windows on each side are symmetrical, adorned with white trim. The Federalist-style home surrounded by acres of land was perfectly suitable for the federalist that inhabited it: Christopher Gore.
This year Brandeis introduced new changes to public safety with the Brandeis Safe app. It works together with the Brandeis Emergency Notifications System to provide real-time updates regarding safety on campus. Introduced on April 30, 2025, the app modernizes safety through features exclusively available on campus. Some of the safety features include an emergency button, safety walks, friend walks, virtual walks with public safety and other campus resources. The app also offers a mobile blue light for individuals walking alone late at night. Additionally, Friend Walk is a resource that allows Brandeisians to send a friend their location with the click of a button. The receiving student is provided a link and map with the sender’s location. If an individual feels unsafe at any time, they can hit the panic button. The virtual walk with public safety allows a person to select a destination and begin their walk instantly alongside a trained member of public safety. This feature is available for up to two hours at a time.
I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s “Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits” exhibit just before it closed on Sunday, Sept. 7. The exhibition was an in-depth look into Vincent Van Gogh’s relationship with the art of portraiture, the Roulin family and his struggle with mental illness during the last years of his life. It featured 23 different Van Gogh works, both owned by the Museum of Fine Arts and works on loan, along with formative portraits from previous Dutch masters, Japanese woodblock prints and letters sent to Van Gogh from Joseph Roulin. Curated altogether, the exhibit showcased Van Gogh’s portraiture of the Roulin family and painted a tender portrait of the artist himself. The exhibit was a look into what he admired about other artists and art forms, how he brought those inspirations into his art and his deeply important relationships with his family and friends.
Associate Editor: Anika Jain ’26
On May 18, 2025, the Brandeis community gathered in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center to celebrate the University’s 74th Graduate Commencement. This ceremony acknowledged the achievements of students from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis International Business School and Rabb School of Continuing Studies and named two honorary degree recipients, Shirley Ann Jackson and Jim Obergefell.
As Brandeis goes through numerous changes over the years — whether in its infrastructure, its administration or its student body — certain truths about the character of the University remain the same. One of those truths is that its academics comprise a diverse collection of talented and dedicated instructors who teach classes that change our lives indelibly.
On May 1, Brandeis Hillel held Israel Fest among the Fellows Garden Blue Booths at noon to “celebrate Israeli resilience.” The outdoor festival featured an art installation and candles to light in honor of those impacted by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent Israel-Hamas War.
Starting next fall, the University Writing Program — the first year writing program which includes composition seminars and University Writing Seminars — will be restructuring as “first-year seminars.” This change was primarily initiated by the Dean of Arts and Sciences office when they established a committee to do a “five-year review of the Brandeis Core Curriculum,” according to an email sent to The Justice from Lisa Rourke, the director of the University Writing Program, and Katrin Fischer, who is the director of First Year Writing. The committee laid out how they took feedback from faculty, staff, alumni and students, in addition to reviewing “Brandeis Core learning objectives [and] curricular and financial data, and faculty, students, alumni and staff feedback.” They concluded that one of the priorities was making the curriculum more flexible, in addition to introducing students to faculty from other disciplines outside the University Writing Program.
To the Editor: