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Google Partners with Baruch
on High School Journalism Program

The Google News Initiative is partnering with Baruch College on a program that promotes journalism education, school newspapers, and news literacy in underserved New York City high schools.

The program aims to help launch at least 25 school newspapers by the end of 2023, and will offer Google tools training for student journalists and their advisers.

"School newspapers are oftentimes the first exposure many teens have to journalism,” said Ashley Edwards, US Partnerships Manager in the Google News Lab. “We're excited to be partnering with Baruch on this important initiative, which will give more students access to hands-on experience in news, as well as give educators an opportunity to instill media literacy skills."
Baruch’s High School Journalism Program is run by Professor Geanne Belton with support from Baruch faculty and students and Press Pass NYC. The program includes an annual conference, scheduled this year for March 21, with workshops for students run by professional journalists; a course for teachers called "Launching a High School Newspaper"; and a “Newsies” contest for high school journalism.​ Baruch journalism students help run some of the workshops.
The program, which began 19 years ago, has also served as a recruitment pipeline for Baruch. A number of students who participated in high school have gone on to study journalism at Baruch Weissman and taken leadership positions in campus publications, including Amanda Salazar '22 and Nicole Clemons '16. Salazar is now editor-in-chief of The Ticker, and Clemons held the post when she was here.

Student journalism offers a wonderful way to “build community,” Belton said. “To send students out to report on their own schools and write about their own schools is empowering and engaging.” The program also aligns with CUNY and Baruch's "mission to help strengthen New York City, to be a resource for New York City, and in particular to create opportunities for young people," she said. Read more here.
Black and Latino Studies Major Approved

The Black and Latino Studies major has been unanimously approved by the Baruch College faculty with no objections from other CUNY campuses. The proposal will now go to CUNY's Board of Directors and the NY State Education Department for final approvals.

BLS Department Chair Professor Shelly Eversley provided this description: "This major centers knowledge production by Black, Indigenous, Latin American, and US Latinx peoples. The BLS major will provide students tools to think critically as they practice real-world applications of academic learning to develop solutions to social issues rooted in longstanding and persistent racial inequalities.

"The BLS major will produce graduates fluent in change-oriented, outcome-driven analyses. With an emphasis on applied learning in the service of equity and change, it encourages innovation, creative thinking, active learning, and the development of practical skills that prepare students for careers that will contribute to more just and equitable futures."
Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Honors
POLYNOMIAL RESEARCH AND MATH HONORS: Groundbreaking research on the structure of polynomials co-authored by Professor Guy Moshkovitz (Mathematics) was featured in Quanta magazine. The other author, Yale graduate Alex Cohen, took part in Baruch's Research Experience for Undergraduates, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

"This might be Guy's strongest paper so far," said Professor Adam Sheffer (Mathematics), who organizes Baruch's REU with Professor Pablo Soberón Bravo. "It's a good argument for why working with students can also be helpful for a professor's research work."

The REU is highly selective, and under NSF rules, most of the students in any given REU are not enrolled at the hosting institution. Baruch accepts about a dozen of 400 REU applicants each year.

Another Baruch REU participant, Travis Dillon, a graduate of Lawrence University, won the American Mathematical Society's Morgan Prize, which is considered the nation's top math undergraduate award. Cohen won honorable mention from the society for his work.
Safia Jama
From "It's Not Really about Them, It's about Us"
POEM-A-DAY: The Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day series featured a poem by Safia Jama, an adjunct assistant professor in the English Department.

Her poem “It’s Not Really about Them, It’s about Us” was sent to 300,000 Poem-a-Day subscribers on January 21 and was showcased on the Poets.org homepage and social media.

Jama has taught at Baruch since 2017. "Poetry is basically my life, along with teaching," she said. "I truly love Baruch and its wonderful students."

Her debut chapbook, Notes on Resilience, was selected for Akashic Books' acclaimed New-Generation African Poets box set series.

Read her powerful poem in full here and read more about Jama here.
EPIC JOURNEY: You could say it's been something of an epic journey for acclaimed Greek writer Ersi Sotiropoulos as she navigated the pandemic, complicated visa rules, and most recently a snowstorm in making her way to NYC for the spring Harman Writer-in-Residence program. The Greek Reporter published a story about Sotiropoulos at Baruch, quoting Harman director Esther Allen.

MEAT LOAF AND NPR: Professor Elizabeth Wollman (Music) was featured on NPR's All Things Considered in a piece about Meat Loaf's song "Bat Out of Hell."

LIBERAL VS POPULIST: Professor Mitchell Cohen (Political Science) published an opinion-essay in Dissent proposing that the American left be "liberal" rather than "populist." He also published a review-essay in Politico on Henry Kissinger's Middle East diplomacy, discussing Ambassador Martin Indyk's recent book, The Master of the Game.

GLOBAL LEADERS LIST: Global Leaders Today included Presidential Professor David Gruber (Natural Sciences) in its roundup of Global 100 Inspirational Leaders – 2022, a list that also includes Anthony Fauci, Oprah, and Elon Musk. Gruber was ranked 86th and was cited for his interdisciplinary research on animal communication and other areas.
Student and Alumni News
POLITICAL PR POWER: Yuridia Peña was featured on City and State NY's 2022 Political PR Power 50 list. She earned her MA in corporate communication from Weissman in 2014.

She's the founder of Alta Consulting, whose client list includes former HUD Secretary and OMB Director Shaun Donovan in his run for mayor; FoodStream, a tech platform that connects the food industry with local groups to distribute fresh produce and hot meals; GreenPoint EARTH, which works with artists on street art about climate change; and Exalt, a nonprofit that works to reduce and vacate sentences for court-involved youth.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: The Daily News published a letter to the editor from Jessica Wong, a student in the fall 2021 Environmental Psychology class, regarding environmental justice.
Events
BLACK AND LATINO STUDIES DEPARTMENT OPEN HOUSE: February 10, 1 pm. Black History Month celebration themed on health and wellness with a student-led conversation about money and financial well-being, plus financial planning expertise and coaching from ChangeMachine.org. Register here.

BLACK LIFE FUTURES: Baruch's Black Studies Colloquium is presenting a special public-facing research and pedagogy series this spring called "Black Life Futures: Black Ecologies and African Diaspora." Details here; schedule and registration links below.
  • March 1, 6 pm: Film screening of Quilombo. Audience discussion led by Professors Erica Richardson (English) and Tshombe Miles and Rojo Robles (Black and Latino Studies) will focus on racial capitalism, radical Black feminism, and "telling impossible stories" from archives of slavery as explored in Saidiya Hartman's essay "Venus in Two Acts." Register here.
  • March 16, 6 pm: Conversation with activist, scholar, and writer Pedro LeBrón Ortiz. Register here. 
  • March 22, 12:30-2:30 pm: Black Futures in the Classroom Part I: Faculty and Student Teach-in. Register here.
The Black Studies Colloquium will also present:
  • February 16, 6 pm: "Racial Imaginaries, Classification Schemas and Place in Puerto Rico and among Puerto Ricans in the Continental USA," Marxe Professor Hector Cordero-Guzman. Register here.
  • April 8, 11 am: Faculty works in progress with Professor Rojo Robles (BLS). Register here.

NYC LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY WORKSHOP: Back at Baruch for the spring semester, in person. Pre-registration required. Email Mark.Rice@baruch.cuny.edu.
  • February 4, 11 am-1 pm: Daniel Mendiola (Vassar), "Sovereignty, Asylum, and the Irony of 'Strong' Borders: How Protecting Free Migration Strengthened Central American Borders in the 19th Century and How 21st Century Securitization Efforts Are Now Weakening Them."
  • March 4, 11 am-1 pm: Isabella Cosse (CONICET; Columbia), “Revolutionary Love and Political Struggles in Cold War Argentina."
  • April 29, 11 am-1 pm: Daniela Traldi (Lehman), “'Real' Feminisms: Gender, Race, and the Far Right in 20th Century Brazil (1920 to 1985)."

MINDFULNESS: "Mindfulness as a Strategy for Improving Relationships and Reducing Stress," Feb. 15, 12:30 pm-1:30 pm ET, via Zoom. The speaker is University of Georgia Professor Lillian Eby, an industrial-organizational psychologist. Zoom registration here. Details here. The event is presented by Baruch College's Psychology Department.
Past newsletters here. Next newsletter: February 14. Weissman blog here.
Got news, feedback, or questions? Email baruchwsas@baruch.cuny.edu