BB Podcast

On this episode, Rob sits down with Class of 2025 Beyond Boundaries Program student Loren Lacruz who intends to double major in Psychology and Political Science in the College of Arts & Sciences at WashU. Rob and Loren discuss LOTS of things including Loren’s “big question” that got her into Beyond Boundaries and how that […]

On this episode, Rob sits down with Professor, Author, and Chair of the Washington University in St. Louis English Department Abram Van Engen and Koch Professor of Practice for Family Enterprise and Director of the Koch Center for Family Business Peter Boumgarden. Professor Boumgarden is also the Academic Director of the Center for Experiential Learning […]

On this episode, Rob interviews self-proclaimed “Scholar Kid” Bianca Rodriguez Pagano, a student in the Class of 2025 cohort of the Beyond Boundaries Program. Bianca talks about her history as an “ABC” A Better Chance Scholar, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Scholars and the Herrendorf Family Foundation and her role as a proud member of the […]

On this episode, Rob sits down with Sparkle Whitaker, a recent Class of 2022 Washington University in St. Louis alum with majors in Fashion Design and Sociology. Sparkle talks in depth about her Creative Collaborations project that she did with classmate Danielle Branch, her involvement in student groups from being a costume designer for Black […]

On this episode, Rob chats with another pair of Washington University in St. Louis students who have received a Creative Collaborations grant for a project related to writing and crafting a children’s book that will help multicultural families explain the cancer diagnosis of a loved one to a child. The students are Beyond Boundaries Program […]

On this 50th episode, Rob interviews Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2025 student and AP Scholar Aisha Adedayo from her home in Minneapolis, MN. Aisha is in her first year at WashU and intends to be an Organization & Strategic Management major in the Olin Business School. Aisha spent a gap year in 2020-21 with […]

On this episode, Rob chats with a pair of WashU students taking advantage of the Creative Collaborations Initiative under the umbrella of the Beyond Boundaries Program where they receive funding to explore an interdisciplinary across divisions at WashU. Alicia Yang from the College of Arts & Sciences and Victoria Xu from the Sam Fox School […]

On this episode, Rob chats with the pair of faculty teaching a very popular Beyond Boundaries course this Spring called ‘To Sustainability And Beyond: People, Planet, Prosperity’ in Professor Ray Ehrhard, a faculty member in Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering (EECE) in the McKelvey School of Engineering and Professor David Webb from Environmental Studies in […]

In this episode, Rob chats with Beyond Boundaries Program student and Marketing & Psychology double major Molly Rogers from Cleveland, Ohio. Molly talks about her journey to WashU and her Questbridge application, first year Beyond Boundaries courses like Designing Creativity and When I’m 64, case competitions in the Olin School of Business, and even the […]

On this episode, Rob chats with Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2025 student Ella Urton who has interests in studying Urban Studies and Dance at WashU in addition to her other passions including working at SWAP (Sharing With A Purpose), one of WashU’s many STEP (Student Entrepreneurial Program) businesses, visiting St. Louis area museums, and […]

In this episode, Rob sits down with a pair of Assistant Directors with the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation & Entrepreneurship dedicated to fostering and empowering an inclusive community that finds opportunities in problems and transforms ideas into action. The center builds an ecosystem of education, research, and resources that engages all WashU students, faculty, […]

On this episode, Rob chats with two Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Beyond Boundaries students based in the School of Architecture in BB24 student Brandon Perez and BB25 student Heidy Piña to talk about how architecture, when leveraged with public policy and communication design, can be a power for good in the […]

On this episode of the pod, Rob chats with Professors Meghan Kirkwood (Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts) and Phillip Maciak (Arts & Sciences) about their brand-new Beyond Boundaries course launching in the Spring of 2022 called St. Louis & the Documentary Image. Professor Meghan Kirkwood is a photographer who researches the ways landscape […]

On this new Beyond Boundaries Podcast episode, Rob interviews the two dynamic Washington University in St. Louis faculty behind the NEW Beyond Boundaries course offered this Spring called Environmental Racism & the Health of Everyone in Dr. Angela Hobson, Assistant Dean for Public Health at the Brown School and Professor Scott Krummenacher in Environmental Studies […]

On this episode of the Beyond Boundaries Podcast, Rob catches up with Chef Gerard Craft! Chef Craft is an award-winning chef as well as partner in Niche Food Group. Chef Craft was a guest in a Beyond Boundaries course called Designing Creativity at Washington University in St. Louis back in the Fall of 2015. Chef […]

On this episode, Rob sits down with Associate Dean of Students for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Dean Georgia Binnington. Georgia advises all students in the Beyond Boundaries Program that show interests in art and/or architecture. We talk about Georgia’s upbringing in St. Louis, her time as a art history student at WashU and later as […]

On this episode, we visit with Senior Assistant Dean in the McKelvey School of Engineering Melanie Osborn who talks about advising students in Engineering and also advises Beyond Boundaries Program students with an interest in that area. We talk about her upbringing as the daughter of educators in a small Missouri town, her many advisory roles at […]

With this episode, we begin a series of podcast interviews with 4 undergraduate deans who advise all Beyond Boundaries Program students across 5 divisions at WashU: Arts & Sciences, McKelvey School of Engineering, Olin Business School, and Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. This pod episode features Assistant Dean and Director of Undergraduate […]

On this episode of the Beyond Boundaries Podcast, Rob has a conversation with Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2024 student RuthAnne Dunn. They chat about RuthAnne’s journey to WashU as a early-decision Questbridge applicant and her year taking a number of courses Rob teaches from Designing Creativity to the Beyond Boundaries Seminar to the Intro to Theatre Production course. RuthAnne’s interests […]

In this pod episode, Rob talks with a couple of College of Arts & Sciences students in the Beyond Boundaries Class of 2024 in Kimberly Hwang joining the call from Taiwan and Nicole Chen in Los Angeles. We talk about how they know each other from grade school, awkward P.E. class events, WashU student groups, their interesting […]

On this episode, Rob chats with two Beyond Boundaries Class of 2023 students in Samantha ‘Sam’ Ko and Dhillon Miyashiro. Both have connections across divisions between the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and Olin School of Business. We chat about their hometown of Los Angeles and Dhillon’s return to campus this semester […]

After a winter break hiatus, the Beyond Boundaries Podcast is BACK with a new episode featuring two students involved in sustainability, the environment, and climate change. Mandy Huang (WashU ’22) is an Associate in the Office of Sustainability and an Environmental Analysis major in the College of Arts & Sciences along with Bennett Rosenberg (WashU ’23) a Beyond Boundaries Program cohort student, an Associate with the Climate Change Program with a […]

On this episode of the Beyond Boundaries Podcast, we talk with two of the four amazing professors teaching the Endgame of Entrepreneurship: Leveraging Capitalism for Good course in Dr. Heather Cameron and Professor Joe Steensma from the Brown School of Social Work. The course is offered next Spring in the Beyond Boundaries slate of course offerings to ALL 1st Year […]

On this episode of the pod, Rob sits down with Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences and Senior Lecturer in the College Writing Program & University College, Dr. Deanna Benjamin. We talk about Dr. Benjamin’s roles in advising current students and highlighting the work of young writers all over the WashU campus in her role as Co-Chair of […]

On this episode of the Beyond Boundaries Podcast, Rob talks with Dr. Caline Mattar of the Washington University School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Professor Proscovia Nabunya from the Brown School of Social Work and co-director of the International Center for Child Health & Development (ICHAD) about […]

On this episode, Rob sits down with three distinguished faculty members in Professors Patricia Olynyk from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Associate Professor Shanti Parikh from Sociocultural Anthropology and the Department of African and African-American Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Dr Piroska Kopar from the Department of Surgery in the School of Medicine at WashU. The three of them teach the Beyond Boundaries […]

In this pod episode, Rob interviews Professor Darrell Hudson with the Brown School of Social Work who also holds joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry, Department of Sociology, and the Institute for Public Health. Dr. Hudson talks about his upbringing in Detroit in the care of his grandmother, his journey to WashU and how his area of expertise is relevant now […]

On this episode of the Beyond Boundaries Podcast, we celebrate the BIRTHDAY of Beyond Boundaries Program Coordinator Simone Picker by releasing an interview with her on her birthday! Simone talks about her background growing up in South Africa and Dallas, TX, her background as both an undergraduate and graduate alum of WashU most recently receiving […]

This episode of the Beyond Boundaries Podcast is a delightful two-for-one interview of two rising stars in the Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2023 in Emma Singh and Anya Mody. In this pod, Emma and Anya talk about their journey to WashU, how they became engaged in non-profits ranging from the International Institute of St […]

On this episode, Rob sits down with Assistant Dean in Arts & Sciences and Senior Lecturer in Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Trevor Sangrey. They discuss how she gets to do “all the things” at WashU from heading up First Year Programs for the College of Arts & Sciences, life on campus with her partner […]

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 […]

On this episode, Rob visits with the 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 […]

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, […]

On this episode, Rob interviews Professor Jennifer ‘Jenni’ Harpring and welcomes her as 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

In this episode, Rob chats with Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2023 student Elizabeth Joseph from Lenexa, KS. 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 […]

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, […]

On this episode, Rob chats with Class of 2023 Beyond Boundaries Program student Nisha Sahgal and her interests across disciplines. Her ‘big question’ involves Ethical Engineering and she talks about her personal backstory in that area. We also talk about her work in designing and building autonomous vehicles, robotics, and WashU Racing. We also chat […]

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 […]

In this episode, Rob talks with Distinguished Professor of Law & Religion and Professor of Political Science John Inazu and Distinguished Professor of Religion and Politics Mark Valeri about their brand-new Fall 2020 Beyond Boundaries course Religious Freedom in America. The conversation covers their own backgrounds, research, their work in the Danforth Center for Religion & Politics, how they met and […]

In this episode, Rob sits down with Dean Steve Malter who is the Senior Associate Dean of Experiential Learning & Strategic Initiatives at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St Louis and Co-Founder of the Israel Summer Business Academy. Dean Malter discusses his role and history at WashU and briefly discuss the Israel Academy. We also […]

In this episode, Rob talks with current Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2023 students Ranen Miao and Christine Nguyen. They talk about their first year in the program, the student group and leadership positions they enjoy all across campus (including Ranen’s role as SU President), being stuck in Appalachia when word of the campus closure […]

In this episode, Rob interviews Dean Jill Stratton affectionately known by generations of students as the ‘Dean of Joy’. Dean Stratton is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Residential Learning at Washington University in St Louis and has been a trusted advisor and special counsel to the Beyond Boundaries Program. Dean Stratton has enjoyed 27 years at WashU […]

In this episode, Rob interviews a pair of current Beyond Boundaries students in Olin Business student Harrison Tanaka from Laguna Niguel, CA and Engineering student Josh Sturgell from Neenah, WI. Both reflect on their first year as students in the first year of the program as it relates to classes and extracurricular opportunities. We also […]

In the episode, Rob chats with the brilliant team behind the popular Beyond Boundaries ‘Bear Bridge’ course Empathy First: Solutions With Heart led by two faculty across the university in Liz Kramer from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the Office of Socially Engaged Practice and Jennifer Harpring from the Brown School of Social Work and Director of […]

A special two-for-one episode that starts with an interview of Merry May Ma, undergraduate Teaching Assistant for the Beyond Boundaries course Designing Creativity with a background in followed by an interview of incoming Class of 2024 Beyond Boundaries Program student and Sikeston, MO native Jordan Lin.

In this episode, Rob interviews the trio of WashU faculty representing 3 different divisions at WashU in Dr Brian Carpenter, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences , Dr Nancy Morrow-Howell, Professor of Social Policy with the Brown School of Social Work and Director of the Harvey A Friedman Center for Aging, and Dr Susan Stark, Professor […]

In this episode, we talk with Jessie Wills who is entering the Beyond Boundaries Program in the Fall as a proud member of the Class of 2024. We discuss Jessie’s interests that cut across disciplines in the areas of fashion design, anthropology, and global health. We discuss the program she did at Parsons on the […]

In this episode, Rob chats with Professor and Chair of Anthropology Tristram Randolph “TR” Kidder about his Beyond Boundaries course Earth’s Future: Causes and Consequences of Climate Change that he co-teaches with Professor Brent Williams from the McKelvey School of Engineering. This unique freshman-only course at Washington University provides a broad overview of issues involving climate change and its consequences. The discussion […]

In this episode, Rob visits with two Beyond Boundaries Program Class of 2023 students Katrin Gatz and Jamie Xu. They talk about how their 1st Year experience went as members of the inaugural “first astronauts” of the brand new program at Washington University in St Louis, their individual interdisciplinary interests that range from a business […]

In this episode, Rob talks with the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion John Inazu (WashU School of Law and Danforth Center for Religion & Politics) and Assistant Professor of Communication Design Penina Acayo Laker from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts about their ‘Bear Bridge’ course called Law, Race, & Design: […]

In this episode, Rob chats with current Class of 2023 Beyond Boundaries Program student Jenna Rogge from her home in Rob’s hometown of Austin, Texas. Jenna talks about her “big question” involving Mechanical Engineering and Art to design prosthetics for children, courses she has taken in the program, and her interest in gardening that was […]

In this episode, Rob interviews Professor Rebecca Messbarger Director of Medical Humanities and Professor of Italian in the Department of Romance Languages. They discuss teaching philosophy and her Beyond Boundaries course Art of Medicine…