To increase effective communication among graduate students and faculty on Tulane's campus.  ISN welcomes all graduate and professional students enrolled at Tulane to become members and extends an invitation to faculty to become ISN affiliates (go to the Member List  heading on the main ISN page and then select "Membership Information"). 

Tulane's graduate programs have recently become smaller at the same time that most scholarship valorizes interdisciplinary approaches.  The reduced size of the programs makes the need for ISN even greater, since students and faculty often share research interests with members of other departments.  ISN strives to stimulate the diversity of Tulane's intellectual life by creating a network that enables contact between scholars, thus increasing the pool of people to discuss research with, from often new and different perspectives.  ISN not only helps graduate students in their work by putting them in touch with other scholars, but also provides opportunities for students to enhance their CVs both by organizing and participating in ISN events.