Engagement and Ambition at the eXperiential eXpo

On October 25th, 104 poster presenters, 52 group presenters and five faculty presenters shared their experiential learning knowledge with the rest of the Brandeis community at the eXperiential eXpo. As a whole, the eXpo reinforced the notion of Brandeis as an incredibly diverse and motivated campus, with students’ presentations impressive in topic choice as well as ambition. With projects ranging from promoting community health in Waltham to examining the role of human rights in China, the posters represented a truly global focus.

One such global project was embarked upon by Mangaliso Mohammed ‘12, an environmental studies major and WOW recipient, who worked with the city council in Mbabane, Swaziland on environmental sanitation in the city. Collaborating with city council members to set up programs in waste management and general litter control, environmental sanitation and health, and urban environment management, Mangaliso truly embodied the experiential learning spirit. He spoke extremely highly of his site coordinator, and despite the challenges he described – such as underdeveloped litter and waste management infrastructure – he seemed humbly pleased at the positive impact he made over the summer in terms of environmental health management in the city of Mbabane.

Similarly globally focused but vastly different in topic, Alexander Hulse ‘12 – majoring in Anthropology and minoring in Economics – presented on his internship with the University of Texas San Antonio Mopan Valley Archaeological Project in Cayo, Belize. Focusing on power transitions of Ancient Maya through archaeological excavation, Alexander had the opportunity to not only take part in the project but also supervise the excavations at a site in Belize. His goals of understanding the site’s location in the political structure of the valley were ambitious, but the findings he described – analysis and synthesis of a particular structure and cultural context to determine its likely role as an ancestor shrine and association with a political actor of some power, for example – seem to indicate his successful achievement of that goal.

The experiences of both Mangaliso and Alexander seem to encapsulate the purpose of the experiential expo, as well as the motivation behind the experiential learning emphasis at Brandeis. The drive and ambition of both projects – changing and introducing ideas of sustainable development in the urban waste management system of an entire city and directing the excavation of a site as part of a larger archaeological effort in understanding the political dynamics of an entire valley – are two of many equally ambitious and laudable projects. The most incredible part of the eXpo was the fact that without this sort of forum to present their experiences, the stories and incredible insights many of those presenting would not be heard by the larger community. 156 total students participated, and because of how humble all the participants were there would be no way of finding out their amazing stories without this kind of event. The effort, care, and professionalism seen at the eXperiential eXpo was a credit to all in the community who make such opportunities possible, and bring a whole new realm of possibility to the question, “what did you do last summer?”