The 2011-2012 academic calendar marks the fourth year of the University Seminar, a program initiated by Provost Jamshed Bharucha to further Tufts’ goal to prepare leaders with a rich and textured understanding of the world in all its complexity and diversity. Major aims of the University Seminar are to enhance the interface between research and teaching, to develop new research questions through trans-disciplinary approaches to a global issue, and to develop innovative teaching and learning methods that can be applied to the larger Tufts community, and its existing and emerging programs.