Discimus ut serviamus:
We learn so that we may serve.
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Holding Courts in Arizona
The QC men’s tennis team punched its ticket to the Round of 16 with a 5-2 victory over New York Institute of Technology in the NCAA Division II East Regional Final on Tuesday, May 1—the Knights’ 20th win on the season. The men have joined the QC women’s tennis team in Surprise, Arizona, for the NCAA Division II Tournament, since both teams clinched their respective regional titles. Be sure to check out
www.queensknights.com for all the latest information.
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President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and Steven Rubenstein, chair of the Association for a Better New York, flanked Congressman Joseph Crowley '85, a QC alum, at the Rainbow Room on Monday, May 1, at the association’s annual Spirit of ABNY Awards dinner. Crowley, who gave the keynote, was honored for his work representing New York and chairing the House of Representatives’ Democratic caucus.
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MARC of Success
QC seniors in MARC U-STAR—the acronym stands for Maximizing Access to Research Careers Undergraduate - Student Training in Academic Research—celebrated their graduation in the most appropriate way possible: by making presentations before faculty mentors and President
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez
on Friday, May 4. Congrats to graduates Hanna Rose, Christopher Robin, Jessica Jimenez, Jeremy Kyle Garcia, Hisham Al and “super senior” Courtney McDermott. Kudos to their dedicated faculty mentors and to Professor Zahra Zakeri, who directs MARC U-STAR on campus.
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Senior QC officials meet with community leaders from Pomonok and Electchester Developments to share information on summer session classes, summer camp for children, adult and continuing education and other opportunities for our neighbors and their families
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Dance Concert Showcases Campus Talent
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The student-named concert
Amalagamï
—a play on the words amalgamate and alchemy—reflects the fusion of talents behind QC’s annual choreography showcase, presented Wednesday, May 9, through Sunday, May 13, in Rathaus Hall, Performance Space M11. Featuring the work of QC student choreographers, dancers, and costume and lightning designers, the program explores themes inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement; the alienation experienced by people with autism; the cycle of life, death, and rebirth; and female stereotypes. Attending a dance concert at QC may give you the opportunity to catch future stars on stage: Jiemin Yang ’17 is performing with the EDGE Dance Company of the London Contemporary Dance School.
Amalgamï
will be performed Wednesday through Friday at 7 pm, Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets cost $7 and
can be purchased in advance through the Kupferberg Center Box Office at 718-793-8080 or online at
w
ww.kupferbergcenter.org
. Tickets are also available for cash purchase at the door one hour prior to each performance. Fees may be applicable.
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Political Science Award Acknowledges a Warrior for Peace
In many respects the honor recently conferred by the Political Science Department on its alumnus, Barry Blechman ’63, couldn’t be more timely. With negotiations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in the offing and President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Accord, it’s worthy of note that Queens College provided the launch pad, so to speak, for Blechman who has devoted his entire career to efforts to prevent a nuclear war.
Blechman has more than a half century of distinguished service in national security in both the public and private sectors. He has worked in the Departments of State and Defense and at the Office of Management and Budget and served under President Carter as Assistant Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. A veteran of prominent think tanks such as the Brookings Institution, he founded Defense Forecasts International and is co-founder and former Board Chair of the Stimson Center, a non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington, D.C. He’s also taught at major universities such as Georgetown and Johns Hopkins and written extensively on nuclear security issues.
Yet, Blechman began humbly enough as a student at Queens in the early 1960s not quite sure what he wanted to do with his life. That changed dramatically with the advent of perhaps the most dangerous military/political conflict of the past century, the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Sitting in the Dining Hall engrossed by stories in
The New York Times
describing the Kennedy Administration’s response to the escalating confrontation with Cuba and the Soviet Union with its potential for the ultimate conflagration, a nuclear war, Blechman was struck by photographs and descriptions of a Washington where officials were working round the clock and sleeping in their offices. Their dedication inspired him to commit himself to a path that would place him among the ranks of those who worked to promote international peace and security. That path began in the Political Science class of Prof. Afonso Castagno.
Returning to campus on May 3, Blechman was warmly received by the Political Science Department which presented him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award. It was also an opportunity for him to meet with students from the Model United Nations class taught by Francois Pierre-Louis, who is also faculty advisor to the Model UN club. Blechman has been a generous and enthusiastic supporter of these programs that introduce students to the fundamentals of diplomacy, negotiation, and decision making–the tools of peace.
Blechman joined the students for a photograph (above) in which they displayed the Honorable Mention Award they won at the 2018 National Model United Nations New York Conference where their delegation represented the Republic of the Congo and was in competition with over 5,000 national and international students. Left to right are Francois Pierre-Louis, Anna Savva, Angela Ramos, Barry Blechman, Laura Morales (holding award), Matthew Bernabel, and Sandy Chen.
In January 2016, Blechman made a pledge in the amount of $100,000 to the Queens College Foundation to establish The Barry Blechman Fund to Promote Greater International Understanding. The CUNY Board of Trustees acknowledged his generosity by approving the naming of the Dr. Barry Blechman ’63 Seminar Room located in Powdermaker Hall 202.
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The Art of Teaching Science
Re-imagining Science Education—a workshop sponsored by the Department of Secondary Education and Youth Services, the Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and the HIS-STEM Program—will feature presenters from every level of education to QC on Friday, May 11, from 8:30 am to 1 pm. Attendees must register for this program. Seating is limited; preference is given to faculty and staff directly involved in science education within the metropolitan New York area. To get more information and/or register, call 718-997-5178, or extension -5194; email:
sgopalakrishnan@qc.cuny.edu
.
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Launching a Book that Speaks Volumes
Not content with leading QC’s graduate and certificate programs in social practice, art faculty Gregory Sholette and Chloë Bass have edited a text on the subject,
Art as Social Action: An Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Teaching Social Practice Art
(Allworth Press). On Friday, May 11, at 6 pm, the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation—which gave a grant to QC’s social practice program this year—is hosting a launch party at 17 West 17th Street in Manhattan. Several of the book’s contributors will be present to discuss their work in this field.
Click here
for more information about the book launch.
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Hibernian Heritage on Display
The Queens College Irish Studies Program is issuing a
call for artists
for
Dúchas: The Drive Within,
a show of Irish, Irish-American and Irish-inspired art, taking place in the Queens College Art Center of the Benjamin Rosenthal Library from July 30 through September 7, 2018. All interested artists in the New York City metropolitan area are invited to submit works in any medium for consideration by Tuesday, May 15, 2018, at 5 pm.
Artists should submit digital images of one to two works to
qcirishart@gmail.com
, with their name, address, phone number, a brief statement of interest, a short biography, and a description of each work, including dimensions and material.
Only
email inquiries and submissions will be accepted. For more information, go to
https://www.qcartcenter.org/upcoming-exhibitions
.
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Time to Celebrate Top Achievers
QC’s tennis teams are among the academic and athletic winners who will be recognized at our second annual
We Are the Champions
event, to be held on Wednesday, May 16, during free hour. Please join President
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez
at WWII Plaza on the Quad to salute this year’s accomplished students. Max & Mina’s Homemade Ice Cream, kosher and non-kosher pizza, refreshments, and live entertainment are on the party menu.
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Midsummer Night’s Game
The Office of Institutional Advancement is forecasting an Amazin’ evening on Thursday, July 12, otherwise known as Queens College Night at Citi Field. Cheer on the New York Mets as they play the Washington Nationals. The game starts at 7:10 pm. Seats are available in the field level, sections 136/137, for $50 apiece; ticket purchase includes a voucher for a Mets cap. This offer is open to all students, faculty, staff, alumni, and their families on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets may be purchased online at
https://qccommunity.qc.cuny.edu/citifield
.
If you have any questions, please call the Office of Alumni Relations at 718-997-3930.
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Plenty of Parking for Night
Students
The online parking lottery application for day students is now open. It will
close
on Sunday, July 29, 2018, at 11:59 pm. Applicants must have an active CAMS account. (Individuals who do not have a CAMS account should visit the Help Desk in Dining Hall 151 or call 718-997-4444.)
After submitting an application, day students will receive an email confirming that it has been accepted.
Starting on August 3, day students will be notified via email whether or not they are eligible to purchase a parking decal. Eligible day students will be assigned either the week of August 13 or August 20 to come to Jefferson Hall 201 to purchase and/or pick up a decal. Individuals will be permitted to purchase a decal only during their assigned week.
Day students who cannot come in during their time slot may send someone else in their place. That person must present a valid ID, a copy of the day student’s driver’s license and car registration, payment, the day student’s ID, and the day student’s class schedule.
Please note that paying online does not guarantee anyone a parking decal.
Students should not enter the lottery if all of their classes have start times after 2 pm. The appropriate application (select “Evening”) must be submitted online. Evening students may purchase a parking decal beginning August 17, 2018, in Jefferson Hall, Room 201.
Please note: Phone calls regarding the parking lottery will not be accepted.
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Register Now
Now is the time to consider registering for summer classes at QC. Students can earn up to 15 credits and get a jump on completing their degree, or on meeting the requirements for the Excelsior Scholarship or on advancing in QC in 4--and still have time left over for a long vacation. Summer Session features:
- hundreds of undergraduate and graduate courses, including 30 online courses
- choice of four sessions (lasting four, six, or ten weeks)
- affordable tuition
- free on-campus parking
- inexpensive and exceptional on-campus housing
For information on schedules, courses, tuition, and to apply, visit
www.qc.cuny.edu/Summer
.
If you have questions, contact Academic Advising at 718-997-5599.
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Located between Europe and the Middle East, Turkey has for centuries played critical roles in both regions.
The Port-City in the Ottoman Middle East at the Age of Imperialism (Isis Press), by History Professor
Elena Frangakis-Syrett, focuses on the commercial history of Turkey’s ports from the 18th to the early 20th century, with particular emphasis on Izmir/Smyrna, on the Aegean Coast.
The Port-City represents much of Frangakis-Syrett’s personal history, too. The book comprises updated versions of 19 essays she published between 1987 and 2016. This volume is recommended reading for anyone interested in international trade relationships—starting with the exchange of western manufactured goods for Ottoman foodstuffs and raw textile materials to how these transactions shaped global markets. This volume also explains how modern banking began as early as the 1700s in the region, based on viable and complex credit operations that strengthened the local economy.
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Building Futures: Olivier Noel
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To anyone who got to know Olivier Noel ’11 during his time at Queens College, it will come as no surprise to learn that while still engaged in MD/PhD studies at Penn State College of Medicine, he has become the cofounder of a novel biotech/healthcare company. Nor would anyone be surprised that his accomplishment is such that it has garnered him an inclusion in Forbes magazine’s prestigious 30 Under 30 in Science list for 2017, which acknowledges awardees for “Discovering new things about our world and new ways to save it.”
A native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Noel, 28, was an outstanding student at Queens who regularly made the dean’s list and received awards in biology and chemistry, including an American Heart Association Summer Research Fellowship. A member of the soccer team, he somehow also found time to tutor students in French, Spanish, biology, and chemistry, and volunteer at the Queens Hospital Center Emergency Room.
In the summer of 2015, Noel launched DNAsimple, an online DNA bank for researchers to have access to DNA samples from people from all over the world. DNAsimple allows donors to contribute to scientific studies and provides genetic researchers with the samples they need, for about half the cost of creating and managing an in-house genomic sample bank. This eliminates many of the issues of time and geography researchers typically encounter when trying to acquire DNA samples.
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What’s in a Building’s Name?
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Delany Hall
Delany celebrates Lloyd Delany, one of the first African-Americans to achieve the rank of associate professor at the college; he also helped to establish the SEEK Program (Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge), which is based in this building.
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Sophie McGee
will be one of the speakers in “Talking Across the Divide: Healing America One Conversation at a Time,” a panel discussion and workshop to be held on Wednesday, May 16, at 8:30 am, at the offices of the UJA-Federation of New York. She was invited to participate on the basis of her work at QC with CERRU. . . .
Stephen Pekar
(SEES) is among the headliners at Eco-Festival 2018, a three-day event on the Kingsborough College campus this week. He’ll take the podium on Thursday, May 10, at 10:30 am, to discuss what past climate change can tell us about the future—and what actions we can take to improve it. . . .
Dana Beth Weinberg
(Sociology) and
Adam Kapelner
(Math) are getting lots of media attention for their recent study documenting gender discrimination and inequality in book publishing: authors with identifiably female names are paid less than authors with male names. The paper, published last month in the journal
PLOS One,
has been covered by
CBS Moneywatch
and
The Guardian
, among other outlets.
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The
Q View
is produced by the
Office of Communications and Marketing.
Comments and suggestions for future news items
and the 8Oth Anniversary Website
are welcome.
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