Beyond Boundaries Podcast

On this episode, Rob sits down with Dr. Randi Foraker, the Director of the Center for Population Health Informatics (CPHI) within the Institute for Informatics at Washington University in St. Louis and an Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and the Brown School of Social Work in the area of Public Health. Joining her is PhD Candidate and Research Assistant Joshua Landman who is working for the Center in the Division of Computational and Data Sciences. Together, they talk about their backgrounds growing up, the work they do at WashU and the effects of COVID-19 on both their life and research pursuits. They impart some great advice for incoming 1st Year students and Rob becomes obsessed with superhero branding he envisions for Epidemiology Task Force members and drag racing sponsorships.

On this episode, Rob visits with the Assistant Director of the John B. Ervin Scholars Program Jonathan Solomon. Jonathan talks about his role in directing and overseeing the administrative and operational aspects of the Ervin Scholars Program as well as his role as a faculty advisor for Black Men's Coalition at WashU and others. We talk about his childhood growing up in Cleveland, Ohio and his inspiring journey in learning and education culminating soon in being awarded his PhD. We talk about his hiking excursions in the region, a book he recommends called We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity by Bell Hooks, and his advice to college students. A must-listen episode! 

In this episode, Rob chats with Dr. Julia Macias who serves as both an Assistant Dean in the Office of Scholar Programs and as Director of the Annika Rodriguez Scholars Program. Rob and Julia talk about her background growing up in University City as the child of a WashU chemistry professor, her interest in Anthropology and undergraduate study at Stanford, and her return to St Louis in 2003 to join the WashU Campus Life team and later become an Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences. We chat at length about the Scholars Programs and the type of students in those programs. We also wish to extend a hearty congratulations to Dr. Macias on her recent successful defense of her dissertation in May of 2020!

On this episode, Rob interviews Professor Jennifer 'Jenni' Harpring and welcomes her at the new Assistant Director of the Beyond Boundaries Program at WashU! Fresh off of her teaching of the Beyond Boundaries class Empathy First last semester with Professor Liz Kramer, Jenni will be joining Beyond Boundaries as a co-teacher of the Beyond Boundaries Seminar this Fall in addition to serving in other capacities as the program grows in size moving forward. Rob and Jenni talk about growing up in St. Louis, her undergraduate experience, her involvement in community partnerships in both California and the St. Louis area, her current role at the Brown School of Social Work at WashU as the Assistant Dean of Field Education, cross-country travel tips, flat tires, using her co-workers kids as surrogates for book transport, and her favorite activities inside and outside of the classroom. 

On this episode, Rob sits down with Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2023 student Tinuola Adebukola to talk about her first year in the program, the Creative Collaborations project she did with classmate and fellow scholar Colleen Avila in the form of THIS book about racial inequities and disparities in St. Louis. This episode was recorded before the most recent BLM protests spurred by the death of George Floyd so an additional statement about that penned by the talented Tinuola accompanies this podcast episode: “There is so much to say and unpack about the revolution we are in against racism and injustice. The systems in hand were never made for Black and brown people to thrive. There is injustice at every corner. If we can learn anything from this revolution it is that we need to completely re-imagine systems so that they can be equitable in order to strive to reach equality for all. It has been 200 years since slavery has ended, yet America fails to understand that Black Lives Matter. As a Black woman I will continue to take up space and continue to be a change-maker aimed at equality.”

In this episode, Rob talks with the Reverend Callista Isabelle who is the new Director for Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life at Washington University in St Louis in a role where she promotes interfaith understanding and dialogue. Rob and Callista talk about both her past history and her new role at WashU in a conversation that ranges from discussion of a "speed-faithing" event she hosted last November to choir advice and life wisdom rolled into one: "listen louder than you sing" to how wrestling drove Rob to religion when he was in college. 

In this episode, Rob chats with Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2023 student Elizabeth Joseph from Lenexa, Kansas. Elizabeth is a talented author, writer, and poet. She fills us in on what she's been doing in quarantine, her intense summer job hunt, and some of the online poetry workshops she's been attending. She even shares some of her poetry on the podcast! Don't miss listening to this one! 

In this episode, Rob interviews incoming Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2024 student Maya Kovacevic. The discussion covers Maya's 'big question' she hopes to tackle at WashU that explores the lack of female leadership in healthcare and how that denies organizations the ability to accumulate expertise and empathetic responses to matters of healthcare administration, psychology, neuroscience, and business. We also discuss family trips to Croatia and exercising with family members while in quarantine. 

In this episode, Rob has to improvise to get a recording of an interview with incoming Class of 2024 student Julianne "Juli" Aronson because she joins the podcast from the wilds of Watkins Glen, NY where she serves as an intern at a farm sanctuary. Juli talks about her love of animals and her interdisciplinary interests in studying Anthropogenic Climate Change involving math, anthropology, environmental and political science. And this pod episode marks a milestone: the very first that features live CHICKENS on audio.