Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.
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QView #103 | May 25, 2021 |
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Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (flanked in photo above by QC President Frank H. Wu, left, and CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez) visited the Queens College campus on Monday, May 24, to announce $4.5 million in allocations to the CUNY colleges in Queens. Of that total, $1.25 million will go to fund renovation of the food science and management laboratory at QC. |
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Student Association President Zaire Couloute |
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Queens Borough President Donovan Richards |
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L to r: City Council Member Barry S. Grodenchik, LaGuardia Community College VP of Adult and Continuing Education Sunil Gupta, City Council Member James F. Gennaro, Queensborough Community College President Christine Mangino, Queens College President Frank H. Wu, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, York College President Berenecea Johnson Eanes.
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QC partnered with Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, Yeshiva University, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights to present Anti-Asian Hate and Anti-Semitism Community Conversation and Bystander Training on Wednesday, May 19; (below, l to r) QC President Frank H. Wu, Linda Lee, Shay Pilnik, Assemblywoman Rozic, and Sam Yang spoke at the virtual event. |
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Pantry Makes Stop in Forest Hills |
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The Knights Table Food Pantry is taking its Turning the Table on Hunger program to Forest Hills on Friday, May 28, from noon to 2 pm. Food and some medical supplies will be distributed to CUNY students from a van at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and 71st Avenue, near the E, M, and R subway lines (Forest Hills/ 71st Avenue Station). Students must register in advance and wear a mask and adhere to social distancing when making pickups. Questions? Email knightstable@qc.cuny.edu.
The Knights Table Food Pantry is supported by the Carrol and Milton Petrie Foundation and the Queens College Foundation.
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Celebrating Pride Virtually |
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Queens College is going online next month with a pair of Pride events to support diversity and inclusion. Both events are open to the public, with registration required.
“Combating prejudice and discrimination is a never-ending battle, but through the struggles, so much has been achieved,” says Queens College President Frank H. Wu. “With the strength and determination that the LGBTQIAA+ community has shown, I know there is much more progress ahead.”
On Thursday, June 3, from 7 to 8 pm, organizers from CUNY Law School, LaGuardia Community College, Queens College, Queensborough Community College, and York College will host the CUNY Queens Consortium 2nd Annual Virtual LGBTQI+ Pride Celebration. Attendees will enjoy live music, student performances, drag numbers, and cameo appearances by community leaders, including City Council Member Daniel Dromm—Queens Pride co-founder—and other members of the New York City Council. Register for the party here.
The 4th Annual CUNY Pridefest at Queens College will be livestreamed on YouTube on Friday, June 25, from 4 to 6 pm. A DJ, PRIDE dancers, and other performers are on the lineup. Festival-goers will be able to capture their favorite moments through a virtual photo booth. Don’t miss out! Register for this event here.
CUNY Pridefest is made possible through the generous support of the New York City Council through the offices of Daniel Dromm (District 25) and Speaker Corey Johnson, and LaGuardia Community College/CUNY. The event is co-sponsored by the Office of the President at Queens College, the Queens College Office of Student Development and Leadership, the CUNY Office of Student Inclusion Initiatives, the Women and Gender Studies Department at Queens College, the Queens College Student Association, the Arts Club at Queens College, the Queens College Gender, Love and Sexuality Alliance/GLASA, and the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives at LaGuardia Community College.
Video footage from both the Queens Consortium Pride Celebration and the CUNY Pridefest will be preserved in the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives/CUNY.
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Ongoing Support for the Class of 2021 |
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- Thinking About Graduate School? - June 2, noon-1 pm
- Virtual Resume Workshop - June 4, 10- 11 am
- I've Graduated! Now What? Hire Me! (Recruitment Panel and Skills Training) - June 17, noon-1:30 pm with confirmed employers MSG, Google, LBi Software, Geico, NYCB, and Microsoft.
To reserve your place, register in advance.
The Center for Career Engagement and Internships is open remotely during the summer session to support all QC students, as well as alumni within one year of graduation. Students and alumni can access HireQC to search and apply for jobs and internships. To watch recaps of some career events with guests speakers, alumni, and employers, subscribe to the center's YouTube channel.
Still need a class for the Summer or Fall 2021 semester? Register for one, two, or three academic courses on career preparation, CO-OP 201 World of Work, posted on CUNYfirst.
Summer is a great time to reflect, explore interests, and review/adjust career goals. Consider taking the Focus 2 Assessment. Then use QC Navigate to schedule coaching appointments with your designated career educator to discuss and create a career action plan.
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Dual Master’s Graduate in Library Science and History Wins Fulbright
Ryan King, who will graduate next month with dual master’s degrees in library science and history with a certificate in Archives and Preservation of Cultural Materials, has won a prestigious Fulbright grant to spend the next academic year at Freie Universität Berlin in Germany. He will conduct research with members of the university’s PathoGraphics project and write a work of graphic medicine, a genre that uses comics to explore health care issues.
The Fulbright is a dream come true for King, a first-generation college student from Vacaville in northern California. “Vacaville means cowtown,” he says. “I come from a working-class family. My dad worked in cold food and beer distribution, and my mom in retail. I didn’t have too much guidance about higher education.”
A self-described latchkey kid and indifferent student, King turned his grades around midway through high school. Following graduation, he enrolled at Solano Community College in Fairfield, California. The transition was challenging, and not only because he was supplementing the scholarships and grants that went to his tuition with part-time jobs at a grocery, a library, and a Samsonite store. “I was scared,” he recalls. “It was all completely new to me. College was very intimidating to navigate.”
From UC Davis to QC
Nonetheless, he thrived. Initially a psychology major, he completed associate’s degrees in English and liberal arts, and transferred to UC Davis as a Regents Scholar, a merit-based award for University of California undergraduates; additional funding is available for state residents who demonstrate financial need. “The Regents was a free ride for me,” King says, with gratitude. In 2010 he received his BA in English, with an emphasis on creative writing.
By that point, King was working at two libraries as well as the Samsonite store, bicycling among his destinations. “I was accepted into the library science program at San Jose State University, but withdrew,” he says. “I didn’t want to take on debt.” Instead, he got a full-time position at a local library. Fascinated with comics—a medium he’d discovered his senior year at college—he wrote several comic books, commissioning artists to collaborate with him for pay. He also married Rachel Deatherage, an opera singer he met while he studied at UC Davis.
In 2017, after a detour to the Bay Area, the couple relocated to New York City, regarding it as “the big granddaddy when it comes to the performing arts,” King explains. Working as a library assistant—a unionized title—at Columbia University, he learned that 1199SEIU members can qualify for tuition benefits. He applied to the MLS/MA offered jointly by QC’s Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences and the History Department at the recommendation of a colleague. “I was able to pitch the union on coverage of the dual-degree program,” says King. “I extended my time in school and molded my curriculum around my interests in comics.” Meanwhile, as an employee at Columbia, he was able to take classes at its School of Professional Studies in screenwriting, humor, and French, German, and Japanese.
This wide-ranging background equipped King for his Fulbright proposal, a graphic medicine project on obsessive hoarding—a disorder he has grappled with since a young age. “I can use the research skills I acquired at Queens College and my experience in archival work to explore the psychology behind holding on to stuff,” he observes.
Comic Shops and Workshops
“If ever there was a good fit between project, person, and place, this is it,” agrees Julia Sneeringer (History), who taught King in her MA courses on Nazi Germany, as well as Film and History. “In Berlin, Ryan will find a lively graphic novel community with its own infrastructure of comic shops, gatherings, and workshops, in addition to the academic group at the Freie Universität. Ryan’s goals mesh perfectly with PathoGraphics’ emphases on historicity, aesthetics, politics, and epistemology, building on his work in library science and literary studies.”
Ecstatic at the prospect of spending a year overseas, King and Deatherage—who hopes to audition for European opera houses—expect to leave for Berlin in August. Among the items on his to-do list: finding a place to live; making travel arrangements for their cat; and improving his command of German. “I’m working on it now through Duolingo and Rosetta Stone,” he reports, noting that fluency isn’t required for Fulbright recipients studying in Germany.
Beyond next year, King’s goals include working at an academic library or archive that specializes in comic book and graphic novel collections, and writing comic books himself. “I’m excited about the medium, which is powerful and impactful,” he says. “I want to create a collection that will be used in the future, and I want to tell my own stories.”
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Godwin-Ternbach Staffer Opens a Gallery in Her Garage |
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In New York, the pandemic upended the longstanding habits and passions of established urbanites—not least, the pleasures of living in one of the arts capitals of the world, where artists are our neighbors and exhibits are on constant offer. As the city locked down, however, the Garage Art Center in Bayside was pioneering an alternative model of arts community and exhibition, one developed with Queens artists and residents in mind. It was the brainchild of award-winning artist, graphic designer, educator, and curator Stephanie Lee, who works part time at the Godwin-Ternbach
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Museum at Queens College
The Garage Art Center launched operations in April 2020—at the height of the pandemic—with the exhibit Friendscape, featuring works by abstract collage artist Sueim Koo. Forced to forgo an in-person opening, the center pivoted to provide either a socially distanced viewing (available by appointment only) or access to a virtual exhibition; exhibits and workshops also could be viewed on a dedicated YouTube channel. For over a year, the center has hosted a steady succession of exhibits, all of them the solo shows coveted by artists. But Lee has taken steps to ensure that it functions as more than a gallery space.
Communicating with Community
“We are focused on communicating and engaging with the community,” she explains. “When I had exhibitions in the city at other galleries, I always thought it would be nice to have a space to sit down and talk with the visitors.” To achieve that vision, she renovated the family garage, designing and painting it as a space suitable for exhibitions and educational activities. She also created an adjacent outdoor seating area, where visitors may talk to the featured artist—again, by appointment. “Visitors make a reservation, so an artist knows when somebody comes in. Most of the time artists are local, and they try to meet their audience as much as possible. It helps artists connect with the audience, and the audience also gets more from the artist.”
This use of Lee’s home space is completely free to both artists and the public. Whereas commercial galleries often take steep commissions, Lee was determined to support her fellow artists with the resources she had. “It is hard to survive as a professional artist,” she observes. “I decided to help somewhat.” An experienced judge of exhibitions, she works with an advisory board in selecting artists to exhibit in the Garage Art Center.
In addition, Lee puts her extensive experience in graphic design and publicity to good use, donating her skills to promote each show. “Materials such as postcard design, wall lettering, and press releases are provided by our gallery,” she says. “All artwork sales go directly to the artists.” (At the Godwin-Ternbach, she also designs promotional material for exhibitions, programs, and social media while assisting with the website and database management for the museum’s collections.)
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Lee’s studies and subsequent career attest to her passion for the arts. A native of Busan (Pusan), South Korea, she attended the Pratt Institute, completing a BFA in communications design and an MS in museums and digital culture with distinction. She also studied Korean folk art at Pusan National University in South Korea and became an accomplished painter of traditional forms like minhwa. Lee has won numerous awards in the United States, South Korea, and Japan, and exhibited in both solo and group shows. Among her many professional affiliations, she is the founder of the Korean Folk Art Organization and New York regional director of the Korean Folk Painting Association, and she teaches Korean folk art for the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts.
Inspiring Idea
The idea for the Garage Art Center came to her two years before the pandemic. “I’ve lived in Queens for almost 20 years, and always wished we had more visual art space,” Lee says. “There are so many good artists living in Queens. I want to introduce high-quality art in the Queens community and connect artists with the local audience. I wanted to start from where I live, then amplify beyond Queens, rather than follow what’s already popular in the city.”
When the pandemic began, Lee persevered with her inspiring plans to open the center. Unexpectedly, though the pandemic sometimes made her feel “mentally worn out,” it also allowed her the more flexible schedule and online tools to pull off a new kind of art center. “This was the time we needed a positive spirit and resilience the most,” she reflects.
Reaction has been positive, with enthusiastic coverage in the local press. “Artists love it, and the community responds very well,” Lee reports. Visitors from the QC community have been especially supportive, and two alumni serve on the center’s advisory board. Tina Seligman ’82 is an accomplished artist, composer, poet, and curator with deep roots in Queens; her solo exhibit Wave Forms was mounted at the center in June 2020. Janet Schneider ’72, a former executive director of the Queens Museum, has had a distinguished career as a painter, curator, museum administrator, and board member in the metropolitan area. In future plans, the center hopes to host a solo exhibit for Tony Gonzalez (Art) in 2024. With a year’s experience behind her, Lee plans now to focus on fundraising and grant development to make the center sustainable over the long term.
Hardship Hurdles and Hope
In the face of the COVID pandemic, she attributes her cheerful outlook at least in part to the cultural heritage she brings to all her work. “I have always been fond of the bright colors and positive energy of minwha, and have been impressed by the fact that these paintings were created and shared throughout many wars,” she says. “Despite the hardships they were facing, the people of Korea kept a positive attitude and continued seeking hope and happiness through art. Implying the same value, my painting expresses the positive human spirit that overcomes life’s hardships and obstacles. I feel thankful that my artworks are deeply rooted in the spirit of Korean folk art. That helps me to keep my hopes up and cope with the pandemic together.”
In the same joyful spirit, Lee describes the Garage Art Center as a neighborhood art playground. “We want people to think of art as a fun thing that they can enjoy in their neighborhood. Just as children gather at the playground to socialize while having fun, we want the people of Queens to gather in our gallery and sit down in our backyard to talk and enjoy the art and culture.” She believes that the restrictions introduced during the pandemic may have encouraged people to look closer to home for life’s satisfactions.
“There are a lot of restaurants and it’s very culturally rich, but the visual arts haven’t been as well known in Queens,” she comments. “The art world was very centered on the city. Eventually I think the pandemic may spread that focus out all over the boroughs.”
The Garage Art Center is meant to facilitate visitors’ venturing more deeply into Queens. “They don’t need to pay anything,” Lee says. “They just need to come and see.”
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A Summer for the History Books
Students can explore the world this summer, with the help of history courses that range across the map.
HIST 101, Early Modern Europe, 1500–1815, surveys the major political, economic, intellectual, and social developments that laid the foundation for the modern age in Europe. This course covers three hundred years of change, encompassing the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution.
For those who prefer to stay stateside, HIST 103, American History, 1607–1865, examines the foundational moments of U.S. history from encounters between Indian, African, and European cultures in the Americas through the aftermath of the Civil War.
Meanwhile, HIST 105, History of Latin America to 1825, focuses on the histories of the broader continent, as well as the Caribbean. This course covers the onset of colonization, which brought indigenous civilizations into contact with Europeans and Africans in a maelstrom of social, political, and cultural transformations which inform the globalized world in which we now live.
Students who need to fulfill the Writing 2 requirement should consider HIST 190, Writing and History. Building on its prerequisite (English 110, College Writing 1), this course addresses the conventions of writing in the discipline of History, with special attention paid to problems of evidence, argument, and authority. This summer’s theme for Writing and History—“Reforming America: Anti-Slavery, Women's Rights, and Religion in the 19th Century”—is compelling and relevant to contemporary issues.
To learn about other courses offered this summer, click here.
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Hugo Kaufmann
Hugo Kaufmann, professor emeritus of Economics, died on Sunday, May 16, surrounded by family.
A classics major at the University of Basel in Switzerland, Kaufmann changed course after working at Bank Japhet in Jerusalem and spending several summers in Chemical Bank’s management training program. He earned his doctorate in economics at Columbia University in 1968 and was associated with Queens College for the bulk of his career, retiring in 2012.
At QC, Kaufmann focused on the monetary system. For 20 years he was also the director of the European Union Studies Center at The Graduate Center, CUNY, where his research explored the economic effect of the unification of Europe. A member of six professional societies, he published widely and presented papers at conferences across the United States and Europe.
Kaufmann’s contributions to the QC community extended beyond the classroom. He served four terms on the Academic Senate, was a member of numerous committees, and with his wife, Shoshanna, participated extensively in college activities.
Kaufman is survived by Shoshana, and their son Yadin, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. Shoshana can be reached at Shoshana.Kaufmann@qc.cuny.edu.
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Tom Sullivan
Tom Sullivan, a 2010 alumnus of the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences, passed away on Monday, May 10.
Sullivan was a business librarian for accounting and finance at Texas A&M University's Business Library & Collaboration Commons, where he was known to go out of his way to support faculty. He was remembered for his big laugh, his devotion to the Green Bay Packers, and his knowledge of thousands of books.
Before his employment at Texas A&M, Sullivan worked at Newman Library at Baruch College, taught library research methods at the Brooklyn campus of ASA College, and was a researcher for a host of companies, including Fox News, PwC, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, and Ernst & Young.
He is survived by his brothers Paul and William Sullivan. Condolences can be sent to them at P.O. Box 62927, Washington, DC 20029-2927.
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Heard Around the Virtual Campus |
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Jessica Harris (emerita, English and SEEK) is in the news. “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America,” a Netflix series based on her book High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, won enthusiastic coverage from the New York Times. Conde Nast Traveler also gave positive attention to the series . . . . Hellenic American Oral History Project: Greek Americans, a Stavros Niarchos Foundation grantee housed at QC, was cited in an article on the foundation’s website about the value of oral history . . . . Michael Krasner (Political Science) will speak at Let’s Talk Democracy’s next virtual forum, on Thursday, May 27, at 6 pm, when the subject will be voter suppression legislation and what to do about it. Let's Talk Democracy, formerly It's Who We Are (IWWA), is a Queens-based, grassroots, nonpartisan organization that seeks to provide an understanding of civics and empower citizens through knowledge and dialogue . . . . John Lee (Art) had work in the Washington Post . . . . Michael Mirkin (Chemistry and Biochemistry) received a $495,000, three-year NSF grant for the project “Nanoelectrochemistry with Carbon Nanoprobes.” Outcomes of this research have significant implications for development of new sensors, energy storage devices, and new biomedical technologies . . . . Catherine Ramirez, a flutist who graduated from the Aaron Copland School of Music and is now artist-in-residence at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, won a McKnight Fellowship from the MacPhail Center for Music. The fellowship provides $25,000 in unrestricted support to midcareer musicians . . . . Cecilia Ruiz (Art) created cover illustrations for the book Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States . . . . Dean Savage (Sociology) made a presentation to the Queens College Retirees Association on the positive new data for outcomes of QC graduates in terms of salary and further education . . . Anthony Tamburri (Calandra Italian American Institute) published an article “Learning About Ourselves ‘strada facendo,’ Along Our Way in Life,” in VNY, La Voce di New York.
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This is the last QView for the semester. Be sure to watch your QC email and the college’s social media outlets for updates regarding the return to campus in the fall.
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The Q View is produced by the
Office of Communications and Marketing.
Comments and suggestions for future news items are welcome.
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