TCNJ

27 WINTER 2023 If you ever find yourself stranded in a Lord of the Flies-type situation, Steven Singer has you covered. The special education professor teaches a seminar class on survival that lays a foundation for learning about team building, leadership, and problem-solving. The class is organized as an "end of the world" competition where students are divided into teams and given challenges to complete. His students can be spotted out by Lake Sylva collecting kindling to start a fire, lashing poles together with rope to build a suspension bridge, or learning how to filter water. For Singer, who was a Boy Scout, a paratrooper in the Army's airborne infantry, and a 46er (he's hiked to the peak of each of the 46 Adirondacks mountains), outdoor skills have always been a part of his life. "But a lot of youth don't have the opportunity to develop those skills," he says. He teaches survival within a context of threats to human sustainability, such as overpopulation, disease, resource depletion, environmental degradation, and war. "We investigate the policies that various nations implement to address or exacerbate these threats," he says. Bella Reich '25 made "no claims to having any survival skills going into the semester," but it quickly became her favorite class. "College feels like such a place of academic prestige that you expect all your classes to be taught in old buildings with professors who dress in three-piece suits," she says. "But this shows learning can be fun." And the takeaways may be even bigger, she says. "These lifesaving skills will stick with me." ■ east asian fashion connections Students who register for Celia Liu's East Asian Fashion Connections course may be surprised to see a tea party listed on their syllabus. At the party, Liu, a professor of world languages, encourages everyone to try on a kimono to see how they feel in it. "I like to connect clothing and culture," says Liu. "It may sound a little like dress-up, but hopefully when my students go out into the world, they will have more appreciation for people from different backgrounds." Liu, who grew up in Taiwan, has always loved the fashion of the Japanese kimono. She initially devel- oped her course as a way to give Asian American students a sense of pride in their heritage. But the students in her class were diverse, and it morphed into something different. "This class really became more about the connec- tion of clothing to your inner self and how you display your personality and character," she says. One assignment asks students to take a photo of themselves in an outfit that makes them feel confident. They then have to write a social media post about how they see themselves in the photo. The students' gallery of pictures is like a fashion show featuring everything from a traditional Indian salwar kameez to a business power suit to urban techwear. The class has made an impression on Sanjana Dokiburra '26. "Professors like Liu are the ones you don't forget," she says. Dokiburra also appreciates how a seemingly simple concept like fashion can reveal complex issues. The class discusses culturally relevant topics such as fast fashion and sustainability, the rise of K-Pop culture, cosplay, and even henna tattoos. Liu ties it all to what she calls the "enclothed cognitive," meaning the clothes we choose to wear influence our psychological processes and how we feel and behave. Or, as Liu says, "Fashion has power." We want to hear about your "THAT WAS THE BEST CLASS EVER!" experiences. Send memories to magazine@tcnj.edu. the last of us: a study of human nature and threats to humankind

• Cover