ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Senior Reflection is a three-quarter series of courses in the Biology Department that culminates in the execution, completion and exhibition of a creative project. BIO 196 meets in a small workshop format for 2 hours each week. During the fall quarter (196A), students brainstorm, explore various media, and develop a proposal for a specific project. They also identify appropriate mentors, from Stanford faculty and the immediate community, to support their projects’ scientific and creative components. In winter quarter (196B), students focus on the execution of their creative projects. In the spring quarter (196C), projects are completed, polished and prepared for public exhibition.
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This year's cohort of TSR had five wonderful members: Adam O'Regan, Eugene Kim, Kea'a Davis, Kiki Couchman, and Mehr Kumar.
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TSR is led by Andrew Todhunter and Susan McConnell. This year the TA was Brian Smith.
STUDENTS
ADAM O'REGAN
EUGENE KIM
KEA'A DAVIS
Senior, Human Biology
Adam graduated from Stanford this June with a degree in Human Biology, a program through which he has been able to intertwine his varied interests in the social and biological sciences. Adam began engaging with an art practice beginning this year thanks to TSR, though doing so has been an objective of his since his freshman year. He grew up in California and enjoys spending time outside hiking and surfing, playing soccer, and good books and music.
Senior, Biology
Eugene has graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Biology with Honors, under the Microbiology and Immunology track. In the future, he hopes to become a physician, with an emphasis on research. When not in class or in lab, one may find him taking walks (while socially distancing), listening to music, drawing, tending to his plants, or most likely, sleeping.
Senior, Product Design
Kea'a graduated this June from the program in Product Design. She was raised on the island of Molokai in Hawaii and loves to tie her work back to her roots.
KIKI COUCHMAN
Senior, Human Biology
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MEHR KUMAR
Senior, Earth Systems & Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
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Mehr (she/her) is a dreamer, a poet, an amateur ceramicist, a young naturalist, and both indignant and joyful about the world we live in. This June, she "graduated" with a B.S. in Earth Systems focused on ocean, atmosphere, and climate dynamics and a B.A. in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with honors for a creative thesis project in the form of a collection of poetry and prose.
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It wasn't until this year, in TSR, that she discovered she is also an aspiring novelist (becoming less employable with each poorly conceived decision at this academic institution). Her first novel, The Living Things, is a tribute to the way womanhood twists between generations, what is brought and what must be left behind for South Asian immigrants to the United States, and the ways in which the things living around us can guide us through the things we must live through.
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She (hopefully, if the world will allow her) will be continuing her studies at Stanford in the fall, pursuing an M.A. in Environmental Communication. And, like S&G, she doesn't know where she's going—but she's on her way.
TEACHING TEAM
ANDREW TODHUNTER
Course Co-Director
An award-winning writer, filmmaker, and lecturer at Stanford, Andrew Todhunter is the author of three books, including the PEN USA Literary Award-winning A Meal Observed, and dozens of articles for national publications including National Geographic, The Atlantic and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He has worked on numerous film projects, including productions for Lucasfilm and National Geographic Television. At Stanford, Andrew co-founded The Senior Reflection in Biology and the LifeWorks program in integrative learning.
SUSAN MCCONNELL
Course Co-Director
Susan McConnell is the Susan B. Ford Professor of Humanities and Sciences and an HHMI Professor in the Department of Biology at Stanford. Her research has centered on how neural circuits are established during mammalian brain development. McConnell is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and she has received Stanford’s two highest teaching awards: the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Hoagland Prize for Undergraduate Teaching at Stanford. Through teaching and practice, McConnell also explores the intersection of photography and science with the goal of promoting wildlife conservation and the preservation of wild places. She is a co-founder of The Senior Reflection at Stanford.
BRIAN SMITH
TA & TSR Alumnus
M.S. Candidate in Biology
Brian is a Biology coterm and former runner for Stanford Cross Country & Track. He is a proud member of last year's 2018-2019 TSR Cohort. Throughout his time at Stanford he has been a passionate advocate for sustainability and mental health stewardship. After Stanford, Brian aspires to be a physician.