Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.
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Save the Date for State of the College |
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Everyone in the college community is urged to tune in tomorrow—Wednesday, March 10, from 11 am to noon—when President Frank H. Wu delivers his first State of the College address, livestreaming it on YouTube. Please make your reservation to attend. The speech will be followed by a video presentation honoring the staffs of Buildings and Grounds, Information Technology, Public Safety, The Summit Apartments, and Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library who have worked round the clock on site during the pandemic to protect the campus, its personnel, and any visitors.
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Kupferberg Puts Women at the Center |
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Female artists, writers, and performers will be spotlighted by the Kupferberg Center for the Arts during Women’s History Month.
Each week, the Godwin-Ternbach Museum will share works by female sculptors and painters on its social media pages. Follow the campaign.
Tonight—Tuesday, March 9 at 7 pm—the Queens College Art Center, in collaboration with the Kupferberg Center, Unfamous NY, and Femarchy, presents Wonder Women, a virtual visual arts exhibition in celebration of Women’s History Month. The show includes work by female artists who empower other females through different modes of self-expression. During an artist talk and Q&A session, audiences will hear from ANJL, a graffiti artist and muralist; Vero, a painter and videographer; and Laura Alvarez, co-founder of the BX Arts Factory, which makes art accessible to everyone in the Bronx. Click to learn more and RSVP.
Next Tuesday, March 17, at 7 pm, poet and playwright Claudia Rankine will speak with novelist Maaza Mengiste (English) in an episode of the series OFF THE PAGE: Conversations with Writers. OFF THE PAGE is curated by Vanessa Pérez-Rosario (English) and produced by the Kupferberg Center for the Arts, the Department of English, the Provost’s Office, and the dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. RSVP.
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On Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 7:30 pm, the Louis Armstrong House Museum will premiere Inside the Laughing Barrel, a short film with an all-female cast. Featuring musician Melanie Charles, dancer Kayla Farrish, and poet Naomi Extra, the film is part of Armstrong Now!, a program in which world-renowned Black artists respond creatively to the newly digitized Armstrong Archives. For details, click here. |
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ACSM Takes Note of Women’s History Month
For the first time, the Aaron Copland School of Music will host a Women’s History Month Celebration, honoring the cultural, historical, and societal contributions of women in music.
The schedule starts on Monday, March 22, when the Music Library will launch an online exhibit series about musical contributions from underrepresented communities. To mark Women’s History Month, the library will showcase the work of female musicians, including members of the ACSM community.
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Black Classical Herstories and the Piano Music of Florence Price, taking place on Wednesday, March 24 at 2 pm, explores the legacy of the first African American woman to have her composition performed by a major symphony orchestra. Distinguished musicologist and pianist Samantha Ege discusses Florence Price and the network of Black female practitioners in Chicago. Ege also discusses and shares excerpts from her latest album, Fantasie Nègre: The Piano Music of Florence Price.
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Winter is on the way out—and registration for QC’s Summer Session 2021 has just opened this week. The college offers hundreds of undergraduate and graduate courses, all taught online, allowing students to make progress toward their degrees from the convenience and safety of home. This is a tremendous opportunity to advance your studies. Choose from among four sessions, lasting four, six, or ten weeks. For complete details, click here.
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What’s the Big Idea This Week?
The next episode of “Big Ideas”—an online video series that highlights innovative faculty research at QC—will debut on Thursday, March 11, focusing on Francesc Ortega (Economics). He discusses the impact undocumented workers have on the gross domestic product. “Big Ideas,” created by the Office of Communications and Marketing, airs on the college’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
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Current Episodes of Big Ideas |
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Tutors Sought for Business, Math, and Science
The Committee for Disabled Students seeks tutors for the following ten courses: BUS 241, ECON 201, ENSCI 100, FNES 250, GEOL383, LCD 101, MATH 110, MATH 290.2, MEDST 100, and PHYS 121. Undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni are eligible for tutoring positions, which pay $20 an hour, with a cap of $300 per semester. Candidates must have earned at least a B in the class they want to tutor and have an overall GPA of 2.5 or better. To apply, write queenscollege.cds@gmail.com and include an unofficial transcript to verify that all the requirements are met for the class you wish to tutor, as well as your full name, phone number, and time availability.
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What’s in a Name?
Consistent with the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, President Frank H. Wu is appointing an Ad Hoc Working Group on Recognition. Its charge is to consider the names of Queens College buildings and programs to make recommendations regarding any possible changes, as well as to offer proposed guidelines for honoring a diverse range of persons associated with Queens College who played a significant role in the college’s history, in society more generally, or ideally both.
The Ad Hoc Working Group on Recognition will have thirteen members selected from nominations by the Academic Senate, the Student Association, the College Personnel and Budget Committee, the Queens College Foundation, and representation from the President’s Council. According to President Wu, that is intended to ensure participation in the Ad Hoc Working Group on Recognition by faculty, students, staff and alumni. The incoming chief diversity officer will serve ex officio. The Ad Hoc Working Group on Recognition is expected to hold at least one town hall open to all, including community members. It is anticipated that members will represent a diverse range of opinions and be open to collegial discussion. They will be provided a full list of all buildings, rooms, and spaces with names, as well as major programs officially recognized by name.
President Wu has indicated that recommendations that are made will need to be consistent with CUNY policies on naming. He is further asking that proposed guidelines for honoring a diverse range of persons should be general, without specific requests as to individuals. The report will be considered in decision making to follow. Further discussion through shared governance may be appropriate, depending on the contents of the report.
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QC Team Wins UN Hackathon Challenge |
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Three QC data analytics and applied social research graduate students—Habiba Aziz, Esther Jenaro, and Rachel Ramphal—were among the winners last month when the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC) held its first Global Hackathon: Data for Good.
The hackathon, which started on February 16, brought together 140 students from 54 universities across 13 countries. Contestants engaged in collaborative computer programming to help solve challenges connected to the Covid-19 pandemic, the refugee crisis, and the UN’s accomplishments during its 75-year history.
After two days of hard work, the Queens College Data Oriented Team advanced to the six-team final, where they won Challenge #3—the UN75 Visualization Challenge. The win was all the more impressive given that they competed with just three students, while every other team had four to five members.
The challenge consisted of visualizing some of the UN’s impact with regard to sustainable development goals (SDG) such as climate action, gender equality, human rights, and peace and security. Then teams had to identify and share insights on how the SDG goals have been implemented globally thus far.
Wonder Women
QC’s all-female squad focused on gender equality. By searching through UN-provided data and open-source data in the public domain, they created maps and graphs that visualize the UN’s progress. Their findings showed that revenues for UNWomen, an organization that serves as a global champion for gender equality, had dramatically increased year-by-year. The team also studied the gender distribution on the UN staff and determined that less than half are women (44.6%). By contrast, almost three-quarters of the staff at UNWomen are female. In addition, 38% of the UN director staff are women compared to 86.7% at UNWomen.
The project also identified gender inequalities that the UN’s actions and policies may target in the future. For example, the team found disparities in the law and legal framework of many countries. Concerning household composition around the world, they discovered that homes led only by women outnumber those led only by men. Disparities exist in international migration, too.
As it happens, QC’s participation in the hackathon represented another kind of teamwork. The UNICC approached Ying Zhou, director of the QC Tech incubator, about the event; she contacted Sophia Catsambis, director of the MA in Data Analytics and Applied Social Research Program, who recruited the QC graduate students. All three are in their final semester in the data analytics master’s program. After graduation, they hope to find positions where they can use their analytical skills to benefit society.
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The Way He Was: Remembering Marvin Hamlisch
Aspiring composers in four genres—film/media scoring, classical music, jazz, and musical theater—and two age categories will win recognition on Monday, March 22, during the virtual ceremony for the 2020-2021 Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards. True to its name, the event has a global reach: This year’s nominees come from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. The awards, presented in partnership with Queens College and the Kupferberg Center for the Arts, honor the memory of Hamlisch, a celebrated QC alumnus. A composer, pianist, and conductor, he accumulated Emmys, Golden Globe Awards, Grammys, Oscars, and a Tony, as well as a shared Pulitzer Prize.
QView has learned that a gaggle of internationally famous celebrities has been recruited to serve as presenters, so watch this space next week for more details. You will not want to miss this Queens College-hosted event, which starts at 7 pm.
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Virtual Program Connects Alumni and Students
Fans of Soul, the new animated film about a Queens middle school music teacher and his passion for jazz, were delighted on February 28 when the Disney-Pixar production took top honors for best animated film and best film score at this year’s Golden Globe Awards. Thanks to a new Office of Alumni Relations initiative, a month earlier, over 80 QC students, faculty, staff, and alumni got to meet the real-life Queens middle school music teacher who was the inspiration for the film’s main character, Queens College alumnus Peter Archer ‘85.
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Archer’s appearance at an event (which can be seen here) hosted via Zoom by the Aaron Copland School of Music to share his Soul experience was facilitated by ASK, the acronym for Alumni Sharing Knowledge.
ASK for the Taking
The Office of Alumni Relations launched ASK in September. As described in a mailer introducing ASK to the campus community, “The program provides an opportunity for students to benefit from the broad range of knowledge in many fields of endeavor possessed by the Queens College alumni community and to practice their networking skills. Virtual conversations via Zoom, led by one alumnus or a group of alumni, are planned for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.”
Taruna Sadhoo, campus director of the QC chapter of CUNY Service Corps, is very enthusiastic about ASK. The program has allowed her to call upon alumni who by sharing their career experiences can help facilitate the Service Corps’ core mission of engaging and empowering service-oriented, civically engaged, and globally minded students for leadership roles in the world of work. To keep students engaged with the CUNY Service Corps while internship programs were on hold awaiting budget approval, Sadhoo launched the Service Corps Lunch and Learn series of Zoom sessions open to all QC students.
“We would address various topics for career readiness: branding for social media, communication and professionalism in the workplace, networking, interviewing skills. We also addressed civic engagement and service to the community and how you can use those skills to advance your career readiness, as well,” said Sadhoo, who worked with Laura Abrams in Alumni Relations to procure alumni speakers. (Abrams also came up with the name for the ASK program.)
Connecting More Deeply
“Laura and I connected on how I could help engage alumni to really dive deeper into some of these topics,” says Sadhoo. “For example, one Lunch and Learn session I implemented was about ‘How do you write an effective cover letter and resume during the time of Covid-19?’ Laura was able to connect me with Dr. Amy Mack, a graduate from 1994 who is a special assistant at the DC Department of Human Services. She has tons of experience with youth services and also with hiring and with reviewing resumes and cover letters.
“The alumni get to talk about their professional journey, their current career. They would share advice with students: What are some important transferrable skills to acquire in college and after? How to make the most of your college experience to set you up for career success? One of my favorite questions to all our alumni is: What do you know now that you wish you knew back then that would have helped you have greater success?
“Alumni also get to learn about new programs on campus and programs from when they were students that are still going. It’s great the impact of connecting with students in that way. For example, Dr. Amy Mack was part of the peer-to-peer counseling program in the 90s and that program still exists. So, she was able to connect with students on the Zoom call who are currently in that program. I think that was really rewarding for the alumni to see that there are still so many wonderful things happening at Queens College.”
Commenting on her experience in an email to Abrams, Mack said, “it was great to have the chance to connect with current QC students and I hope they enjoyed hearing my stories, my advice, and felt inspired. Taruna is a wonderful facilitator! I'd be happy to do more virtual events like this one. I'd also be happy to be a guest speaker at a psychology class (undergrad or graduate level), urban studies, etc.”
What’s Next, You Ask?
Indeed, on April 9, Mack will be participating with QC graduates Linda Maney ’17 (MSEd, School Psychology) and Robinson Cajamarca ’16 in Conversations with Psychology Alumni, an ASK program presented in collaboration with the Center for Career Engagement.
Another QC graduate recruited via ASK, Cody Bachu ’14, has the distinction of being part of the first CUNY Service Corps cohort. A data integration product analyst, he spoke at a session on Effective Communication in the Workplace. Like Mack, said Sadhoo, “He really enjoyed meeting the students currently on campus and answering challenges they may be experiencing in terms of resumes or cover letters. Or thinking about where they go from here in terms of Covid-19 and how do they present themselves remotely? How do they get that job remotely through Zoom? What are best practices?”
Sadhoo has also drawn on ASK’s roster of alums to provide speakers for a class she teaches, World of Work. Zoy Balaskas ’95, took a nontraditional route to becoming an attorney; in a session called Networking for Success, she was able to share with students the importance of strategic networking as she progressed in her career. Commenting on her experience in an email to Abrams, Balaskas said, “I very much enjoyed participating in Taruna’s class and engaging with the students. I was impressed with Taruna’s class and its practical value, and also with her students. . . Her students were engaging and had many pertinent questions for me.” To Sadhoo, she commented, “I think your class is a great addition to any academic program and I wish they offered it when I was there! I was likewise impressed with your students, and would love to join you again in the spring!” Like Mack, she expressed interest in future opportunities to speak with students.
Ron Frank ’68, a consultant who appeared at a Lunch and Learn program to speak about Best Practices in Interviewing, offered students an opportunity to connect with an alum with a lifetime of experience—40 years across multiple industries. Students prepared mock interviews and Frank provided feedback on their interviewing skills. Additionally, a 2020 alum of the CUNY Service Corps, Brandon Coppola, interviewed Frank.
“It’s very exciting for students to hear from someone many decades out from his time here and to see how his professional life has been moving, how he’s made decisions, and how he’s been able to move from one area of work to another,” said Sadhoo. “Also, it’s good for the students to see how he still gives back the to the Queens College community, in the spirit of fulfilling the motto of Queen College, ‘We learn that we may serve.’”
Frank continues to serve the ASK program as a member of a committee that several distinguished alumni formed in January to promote awareness of ASK among their own networks of QC connections. Three of the members, Ricardo Cortez ’72, Gerald Passaro ’79, and Barry Katz ’75, are scheduled to speak with students in World of Work sessions this spring.
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In Memoriam: Lawrence Eisman |
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Lawrence Eisman, professor emeritus of Music Education at the Aaron Copland School of Music, passed away on Friday, February 26, 2021, at the age of 87.
Eisman completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Queens College, majoring in education with an emphasis on music, and went on to New York University for his EdD. After teaching in Long Island public schools, he joined QC full time, becoming an institution in his own right: He chaired the music faculty and envisioned and founded the college’s Center for Preparatory Studies in Music (CPSM), leading it for 29 years.
Adding to his responsibilities in 1978, Eisman took over as conductor and director of the Queens College Choral Society, growing it from three singers at his first rehearsal to a 150-voice ensemble accompanied by an 80-piece orchestra. He left the society’s podium when he retired from QC in 2002. Four years later, in recognition of his many contributions, CPSM was renamed the Lawrence Eisman Center for Preparatory Studies in Music. Remarkably, the center’s namesake continued teaching until 2019.
Eisman’s influence extended far beyond campus. Author of The World of Music, Volumes VI, VII, VIII, and many articles and reviews in the Music Educators Journal, he was a curriculum chair for the New York State School Music Association and served on the editorial board of the Music Educators National Conference.
Eisman was predeceased by his wife, Ingrid, and his brother and best friend, Richard. He is survived by his cousins, his countless friends and colleagues, and the generations of musicians and music educators he mentored over his long and rewarding career. To honor his memory, contributions can be made to any of the several generous scholarships he established with his own gifts to the college, including the donation of his house. Click here to donate.
This obituary was prepared with the help of Edward Smaldone (ACSM).
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Heard Around the Virtual Campus |
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Alyson Cole (Political Science) published “(Re)made in America: Survivorship After the Shoah” in the European Journal of Cultural Studies. She also has an op-ed, “Breaking the glass slipper: Can Marjorie Taylor Greene succeed as ‘Trump in Drag?’” in Fortune . . . . Ray Erickson (ACSM) was profiled in a recent newsletter issued by Early Music New York . . . . Angela Sepulveda has been accepted into the first cohort of the Adrienne Arsht Internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The 10-week, part-time program, taking place this spring, gives interns mentorship and professional experience in over 40 department areas throughout the museum. Sepulveda studies education at QC . . . . Annie Tummino (Special Collections and Archives) was interviewed about the Queens College COVID-19 Collection in Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library by JSTOR Daily and NPR’s “Weekend Edition” . . . . Judy Yu (SEYS) has been named a member of the commission for CUNY’s newly established Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative.
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