Presentations, Exhibitions

Sally Cross (Development) outlined the SUNY New Paltz Foundation’s role in the recent purchase and leaseback agreement to acquire 40 acres of land south of campus for student, faculty and staff housing at a panel discussion at the Higher Education and Real Estate: Developing and Managing Real Estate Assets in a Tough Economy conference in Boston, April 16-17. The panel was one of two university/developer case studies presented at the conference.

Thomas Sarrantonio (Art – Foundation) will have an exhibition of paintings at the Van Brunt Gallery in Beacon, May 2-June 1.

Presentations, Exhibitions

On April 18, 38 student members of the Concert Choir participated, along with other regional choral groups, in a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic at the Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston.

Karanja Keita Carroll (Black Studies) presented “Maintaining Africana Studies: Content, Structure and Ideology for the 21st Century” at the 33rd Annual National Council for Black Studies Conference in Atlanta, Ga., on March 19. Carroll also presented “Black Studies at SUNY New Paltz: The Formative Years, 1968-1972″ at the SUNY 60th Anniversary Scholarly Conference on April 4. He also participated in a panel discussion at New Jersey’s Monmouth University’s Global Understanding Convention on “Race and Racism in the Classroom,” with Sharon Lewis of the English Department at Montclair State University in New Jersey, Leslie Wilson of the History Department at Montclair State University, and Danielle Wallace of the African American Studies at Temple University in Pennsylvania and the Black Studies Department at New Paltz, on April 7.

Benjamin Junge (Anthropology) accompanied several students from the Anthropology Club to participate in the Lower Hudson Valley Forum, March 27-28, in White Plains. Junge and Emily Korona ‘09 (Anthropology) presented their ongoing research, through the Academic Year Undergraduate Research Experience (AYURE) program, on United States grassroots groups understandings of globalization. For more information, visit http://lhvsocialforum.org/.

Presentations, Exhibitions

Performances of “Porch by Moonlight,” a one-act play by Larry Carr (English), premiered at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater in the West Side YMCA in New York City on April 1 and 2, as part of the YMCA Playwriting Festival.

Jannett Dinsmore ‘09 (Biology) presented a poster detailing her research conducted with Aaron Haselton (Biology) at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America’s Eastern Branch in Harrisburg, Pa., on March 21, titled “The Effects of Dietary Regime on Post-Starvation Feeding in Drosophila Melanogaster.”

Presentations, Exhibitions

Gerald Benjamin, associate vice president for regional engagement and director of New Paltz’s Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO), presented the inaugural lecture in the State University of New York’s Dolores Wharton Lecture Series on March 17 in Albany. He gave a lecture titled “Applied Regional Research and SUNY: How Can One Support the Other?” The series is dedicated to higher education policies and was named for Dolores Wharton, the wife of former system chancellor Clifton Wharton, who served from 1978 to 1987.

Presentations, Exhibitions

Sunita Bose, Donna Chaffee, Judith Halasz and Anne Roschelle, all from the Sociology Department, were invited by the vice chancellor of the Protestant University of Applied Sciences (Evangelische Hochschule) in Freiburg, Germany, to present research and conduct workshops at a June 2009 conference on the topic of child poverty. The conference is part of a bilateral exchange between the United States and Germany. The event will also mark the 10th anniversary of the exchange program between New Paltz and the Protestant University of Applied Sciences. Rochelle will accompany students in the “International Social Welfare” class to Hamburg prior to the conference. This fall, Rochelle and Bruce Sillner, dean (International Programs), are collaborating on a series of campus events to mark the anniversary.

Rimer Cardillo (Printmaking) has a one-person exhibition of aluminum sculptures, “New Works on Paper and New Carapaces,” on display from Jan. 5 to Feb. 28 at the Del Paseo Gallery in Manantiales-Punta del Este, Uruguay. The artist will also give a lecture and workshop in Beirut, Lebanon, at ALBA (Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts) and have an exhibition of his prints and multimedia works on paper at the school’s art gallery from March 16 to 20. For more information about the artist, visit www.rimercardillo.com.

Mary Sawyer (Secondary Education) and her students in Teaching English in Secondary Schools joined English teacher Christine Hutchinson and her 9th-grade students at Heritage Junior High in Newburgh on Feb. 17 to celebrate literature and participate in the 2009 African American Read-In, sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The group read more than 30 selections from such authors as Barack Obama, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Maya Angelou, Jean Toomer, Bell Hooks, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Alice Walker, Claude McKay, Melba Pattillo Beals, Walter Dean Myers, Christine King Farris, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Lorraine Hansberry and Frederick Douglass. The readings, which took place during the school day, were accompanied by a PowerPoint slide show, produced by Brian Kinsley ‘10 (Adolescent Education – English).

Presentations, Exhibitions

Glenn Geher (Psychology), director of the Evolutionary Studies Program, gave the keynote address, “Darwin’s Bottom Line and the Nature of Human Intelligence: Understanding the Elements of the Mind’s Reproductive System,” on Feb. 13 at a State University of New York at Albany conference celebrating Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday.

Rachel Reuben (Public Affairs) presented a Webinar for HigherEdExperts.com on Feb. 4 called “Recruiting on a Budget 101: Master Plan to Win the Social Media Jackpot with Prospective Students.” In March, she will be speaking at the OmniUpdate Users Conference in a presentation titled “Using OmniUpdate CMS in a Luminus Portal.” In June, Reuben and Shana Circe (Admissions) will present a session on social media and e-recruiting at the New York State Association for College Admission Counseling (NYSACAC) Conference. Reuben will also speak at the Stamats Integrated Marketing Conference, at a session called “Using Social Media to Further Existing Strategic Goals on Your Campus,” in July.

Alon Levin, artist-in-residence with the college’s Sculpture program, will discuss his work on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Lecture Center, room 102. Levin, a Dutch sculptor, is on campus this semester completing a residency as part of the Hudson Quadricentennial celebrations. His visit will culminate in an exhibition of contemporary Dutch artists’ work at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill. The exhibition, “Double Dutch,” opens Sept. 13 and runs through May 2010.

Presentations, Exhibitions

Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro (Geography) attended the West Coast Regional Conference, “Climate Catastrophe and Social Change, an Eco-Socialist Perspective,” at Laney College in Oakland, Calif., Jan. 10-11, where he presented research in a presentation titled “Capitalism and Soil Degradation, Destruction and Formation?”

PRESENTATIONS, EXHIBITIONS

Jacqueline Ahl (Special Programs) had a poem, “What the Night Said,” chosen as one of 14 poems and 14 photographs to appear in “Be Mine,” a juried exhibition held in the Alliance Gallery at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance in Narrowsburg, N.Y. The opening reception takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31. The exhibit runs until Feb. 14. For exhibit hours and more information, contact the Alliance Gallery at (645) 252-7576 or visit www.artsalliancesite.org.

Psychology Department members James Halpern, Phyllis Freeman, Tabitha Holmes and David Anchin ‘09g presented “Treating Veterans and Their Families: Are Practitioners Utilizing Evidence-Supported Practice?” at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Annual Conference on Nov. 13, in Chicago. The presentation was featured as the subject of a report in Clinical Psychiatry News in December 2008, under the title “Knowledge Gap Exists on Best Practice for PTSD.” It can be viewed at http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0270-6644/PIIS0270664408708002.pdf.

Ron Knapp (Geography/Asian Studies, Emeritus) spoke on “Discovering China’s Historic Bridges” at the University of Notre Dame on Nov. 18 under the sponsorship of the Association of American Geographers and Gamma Theta Upsilon’s Visiting Geographical Scientist Program.

PRESENTATIONS, EXHIBITIONS

Giovanna Deluca ’09 (Biology) and Chelsea Hull ’09 (Chemistry) presented posters at the American Chemical Society National Conference in Philadelphia, Pa. Deluca presented her work with Cynthia Colon ’09 (Chemistry), Daniel Cohen ’07 (Chemistry), Preeti Dhar (Chemistry) and Maureen Morrow (Biology). Hull also presented a poster with Pamela St. John (Chemistry). Kerri DeGroat ’08 (Chemistry) presented her research performed with Megan Ferguson (Chemistry).

Lauren Meeker (Anthropology) gave a talk, “Forgiving Thi Mau, a Girl Who ‘Dared to Defy,’” based on her research in Vietnam at Bard College on Nov. 14.

Three Geography Department faculty members presented research at the Annual Meeting of the Middle States Division of the Association of American Geographers at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, Nov. 7-8. John Sharp presented “Reading Iran: A Geopolitical Examination of Geography Texts.” Jo Margaret Mano presented “England’s Proposed Eco-Towns.” Larry McGlinn presented “Associations among GIS Datasets and Habitats” with David Jakim ’09 (Environmental Geochemical Science). Their project has been funded by the campus’s Summer Undergraduate Research program and Hudsonia in Annandale.

by Lee Conell ’09 (English)
Public Affairs intern

This year’s historic election proved to be a valuable teaching device on campus.

During the campaign and beyond, Communication and Media and Political Science faculty have brought the election home to New Paltz students and residents.

James Schiffer, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said he was delighted by the many election-related activities offered. He was also thrilled to see the level of student participation.

“Certainly at New Paltz, students are politically well informed and involved,” he said. “That is one of the goals of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: to prepare our students to be responsible, engaged citizens.”

Events began this past summer when in August, Nancy Kassop (Political Science) and Patricia Sullivan (Communication and Media) traveled with a group of 10 students to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

As Election Day drew near, the college hosted a number of events. Joel Lefkowitz (Political Science) moderated a debate with students standing in for the candidates. Meanwhile, Mary Kahl (Communication and Media) taught a special-topics class – Presidential Debate Communication – and hosted four Debate Watch sessions with students and local residents.

Local politics were also given a voice on campus. Kassop moderated an Oct. 31 town meeting with candidates Kevin Cahill ’77 and Robin Yess, who were running for New York State Assembly.

New Paltz is now looking ahead to President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20. At that time, Kassop and Sullivan will take part in a 10-day seminar for students about the presidential transition. Participants will have the opportunity to attend the inauguration.