Faculty Day 2015

20th Annual Faculty Day Conference

Student Center
Wednesday, May 20, 2015

We invite you to participate in the exchange of ideas at this year’s Faculty Day Conference. The day promises to be filled with thought-provoking, absorbing and (perhaps) controversial presentations and discussions.

Throughout the day you will have many opportunities to speak about your latest ideas and creative work with familiar colleagues, while also getting to meet and collaborate with people from across the entire college community.

  • Symposiums and Panel Discussions
  • Alternative Format Mini-Sessions
  • Luncheon and Roundtable Discussions
  • Gallery and Academic Posters
  • Faculty Awards Ceremony and Reception
  • Lounge Open All Day! (with computers to check your e-mail or revise your presentation)

With lunch provided and refreshments served the entire day, you’ll have a unique opportunity to get to know other members of the college and share your thoughts, your concerns and your ideas. The Faculty Day Conference will renew your enthusiasm for scholarship while reinforcing your sense of connection to the Brooklyn College community.

We hope to see all of our full-time faculty, our adjunct faculty, and our professional staff at the 19th Annual Faculty Day Conference!

Conference Details

About Faculty Day

The 19th Annual Faculty Day Conference and Award Ceremony affords us an opportunity to pause from business as usual in order to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of the Brooklyn College faculty. The day features a multidisciplinary conference—including workshops, panel discussions, presentations, art gallery, academic poster sessions, and informal roundtable discussions over lunch—culminating in an awards ceremony and reception. At the conference, colleagues participate in an exchange of ideas about a wide variety of scholarly, artistic, and pedagogical interests and concerns. At the awards ceremony, individuals nominated by their fellow faculty members are honored for their accomplishments in teaching, research, and service.

The Faculty Day Conference emerged out of a desire to provide a unique college-wide opportunity to foster connections with our colleagues and improve the quality of intellectual and social life here on campus. Each year this day gives us a chance to engage in dialogue about academic and pedagogical activities with our colleagues from remarkably diverse disciplines.

Thank you for joining us at this year’s Faculty Day Conference and contributing to Brooklyn College’s professional and intellectual vitality.

Conference Committee

Committee Co-Chairs

  • Stephanie Jensen-Moulton
  • Myra Kogen

Committee Members

  • James Eaton
  • Graciela Elizalde-Utnick
  • Len Fox
  • Mobina Hashmi
  • Katherine Hejtmanek
  • Gail Horowitz
  • Nicholas Irons
  • Catherine McEntee
  • Jerry Mirotznik
  • Matthew Moore
  • Theodore Muth
  • Mariana Regalado
  • Suklima Roy
  • Edward Sammons
  • Judith Wild

Schedule

9:30–10 a.m.—Continental Breakfast and Conference Kick-Off

State Lounge, fifth floor

For the remainder of the day, the State Lounge will have refreshments and computers/internet access for conference participants. Check your e-mail, double-check your presentation, grab a snack and chat with your colleagues.

10–11:15 a.m.—Symposium Session 1

Teaching People, Power, and Politics in a Brutal Age

Alumni Lounge, fourth floor
Moderator: Emily Molina, Sociology

  • Kristen Casey Miller, Sociology, “What’s Up With the Kids Today? A Generational Look at Youth Activism”

How are our students’ worldviews connected to, or disconnected from, critical historical and contemporary struggles and events? How can this course foster civic engagement and critical activism?

The Achievement Gap: A New Look Through the Lens of Early Childhood Development?

Jefferson-Williams Lounge, fourth floor
Moderator: Erika Niwa, Psychology and Children and Youth Studies

  • Lulu Song, Early Childhood Education/Art Education, “How Vocabulary Development in English and Spanish Is Related to School Readiness”
  • Karen McFadden, Early Childhood Education/Art Education, “Parental Responsiveness During Play in Low-Income Households: Links to the Development of Early Academic Skills”
  • Katharine Pace Miles, Early Childhood Education/Art Education, “Growth Trajectories of Second Language Learners’ Basic Reading, Vocabulary, and Comprehension Skills”
  • Mark Lauterbach, Early Childhood Education/Art Education, “Learning to Read: What Can We Expect for Children With Special Needs?”

Elementary and high schools are asked to do more and more to close the “achievement gap” that exists for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, many of the factors that contribute to this gap occur outside of school and prior to formal education. This panel will look at some of the issues and solutions from an early childhood perspective.

The Brooklyn Listening Project: Discovering the Culture of Brooklyn Through Its Sounds and Stories

Maroney-Leddy Lounge, fourth floor
An open discussion with project participants.

  • Stephanie Jensen-Moulton, Conservatory of Music
  • Joseph Entin, English
  • Jessica Siegel, English
  • Madeline Fox, Sociology
  • Vilde Aaslid, Conservatory of Music

What happens when a group of students, staff and faculty set out to interview the borough, archive the recordings, and change the world? Students and faculty give the low-down.

Amyloids in Ale and Alzheimer’s: What Do We Know and What Can We Remember?

Occidental Lounge, fifth floor
Moderator: David Balk, Health and Nutrition Sciences

  • Peter Lipke, Biology, “Amyloids: What Are They, and When Are They Beneficial and Maleficial?”
  • Laura Juszczak, Chemistry, “Repeat, Repeat, Repeat: A Diversity of Function and Pathogenicity for Amyloidogenic Peptide Repeat Sequences”
  • Melissa Garcia-Sherman, Biology, “The Cloaking Device: Amyloid Immune Evasion Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease”
  • Laura Rabin, Psychology, “Cognition and Beta-amyloid in Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease”

Amyloid aggregates are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and prion diseases like mad cow disease. These aggregates also lead to microbial biofilms, including those that yeast use to make beer and wine, and those that form slime on rocks in streams. Amyloids are also being used as nanowires for nanotechnology. What are the beneficial and pathological activities of amyloids?

10–10:30 a.m.—Mini-Session

An Ownership Model of Education for the 21st Century

Aviary Lounge, fourth floor

  • Norman Eng, Childhood, Bilingual, and Special Education

What defines 21st-century global society? Find out what top scholars had to say and how these themes can inform a new approach to U.S. education.

10:45–11:15 a.m.—Mini-Session

When Research Is Really Me Search: An Academic’s Genealogical Journey

Cosmic Lounge, fifth floor

  • Sally Robles, Psychology and Personal Counseling Program

Genealogy can be a window into obscure, unrecognized historical events that reveal the heroes (and demons) of our ancestral past. It also reveals patterns in families that are repeated across generations. The presentation will study the complexities of class, oppression, political rebellion, and gender roles as seen through the micro-lens of the Diaz family tree.

11:30 a.m.–12:45 p.m.—Symposium Session 2

Confronting the Illusion of an LGBTQ-Inclusive Brooklyn College

Alumni Lounge, fourth floor
Moderator: Wayne Reed, Childhood, Bilingual, and Special Education

  • David McKay, English and Director of the LGBTQ Resource Center, “Battling Campus Complacency around LGBTQ and Other Diversity Issues”
  • Carolina Bank Muñoz, Sociology, “Student Voices: Diversifying the Discourse in Academic Departments”
  • Paisley Currah, Political Science, “Creating an LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum”
  • Florence Rubinson, School Psychology, Counseling and Leadership, “The Critical Role of Allies in Becoming an Inclusive Campus Community”

Faculty discuss the challenges and possibilities of supporting LGBTQ students in a rapidly changing, historically heteronormative campus context.

From Ferguson to NYC: Research, Practice and Pedagogy on Race and Policing in the Age of Obama

Jefferson-Williams Lounge, fourth floor
Moderator: Alan Aja, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies

  • Katherine Hejtmanek, Anthropology and Archaeology, “Policing Black Boys, Policing Adolescence”
  • Lawrence Johnson, Sociology, “When the Elephant in the Room Demands to Be Heard: Discussing the Reality of Race in the Classroom”
  • Alex Vitale, Sociology, “The Limits of Liberal Police Reforms”

From multiple disciplinary perspectives, we will critically examine the state of policing in a putative “post-racial” United States. With recent events in Ferguson to Cleveland to Staten Island as part of an interconnected background, we will discuss the public and policy responses to police brutality, the general state of race and community relations in the United States, and race and racism in the Brooklyn College classroom.

Repurposing Culture: Morphology, Commodification and Rupture in (and out of) Brooklyn

Maroney-Leddy Lounge, fourth floor
Moderator: David Grubbs, Conservatory of Music

  • Aja Burell Wood, Conservatory of Music, “Sound & Sample: Hip Hop and Vinyl Culture in the Digital Era”
  • Malka Simon, Art, “The Production of Space in the Spaces of Production: Brooklyn’s Evolving Industrial Landscapes”
  • Miguel Macias, Television and Radio, “Serial: The Success, Backlash and Backlash to the Backlash, of a Public Radio Production Gone Viral”

Hear how in three different repurposed cultural contexts, cultural production has broken free from the creative intent/confines of its original creator and taken on new life.

Internationalizing Community Health: A Multidisciplinary Look at Africa’s Current and Future Health Challenges

Occidental Lounge, fifth floor
Moderator: Peter Weston, Psychology

  • Lynda Day, Africana Studies, “The Ebola Virus in Sierra Leone: Evolution of a Crisis”
  • Raymond Weston, Health and Nutrition Sciences, “Cultural Competency: Application to Health Disparities”
  • Ruth McChesney, Health and Nutrition Sciences, “The Health Impact in Africa of Infectious Diseases and the International Response”
  • Taiwo Amoo, Finance and Business Management, “Awareness of Chronic Diseases and Its Complications”

What can we do to raise awareness about Africa and global health disparities to most effectively educate and develop cultural competency among students and engage in the mission to reduce disease rates?

11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m.—Mini-Session

City Digits: Learning Mathematics of the City in the City

International Lounge, fifth floor

  • Laurie Rubel, Secondary Education
  • Vivian Lim, CUNY Research Foundation
  • Maren Hall-Wieckert, CUNY Research Foundation
  • Students, Bushwick School for Social Justice, Essex Street Academy and The Green School

What are pawn shops, how much do they charge, and where can they be found? Join us to hear high school teachers and their students present about how they used digital maps and tools in their mathematics classrooms to investigate the inequities of financial institutions in our city.

12:15–2:15 p.m.—Lunch

Luncheon and Roundtable Discussions

Gold Room, sixth floor

Gallery and Academic Posters

Maroon Room, sixth floor

  • Presenters available during the luncheon period from 12:45 to 2:15 p.m. to discuss their work.

2:15–3:30 p.m.—Symposium Session 3

Parsing Plagiarism: Thoughts From the Academic Integrity Committee

Alumni Lounge, fourth floor
Moderator: Patrick Kavanagh, Acting Director of Graduate Studies

  • Kara Lynn Andersen, Film, “What Happens After You Fill Out a Faculty Action Report”
  • Dena Shottenkirk, Philosophy, “Three Easy Steps for Reducing Plagiarism”
  • Laraine McDonough, Psychology, “The Role of Memory in Plagiarism”
  • Janet Elise Johnson, Political Science, “Getting Past the New Research Process of Cutting and Pasting”

A modest proposal of what to do when three-quarters of college students admit to cheating.

Promoting Healing and Acceptance Through Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Jefferson-Williams Lounge, fourth floor
Moderator: Karel Rose, Childhood, Bilingual, and Special Education

  • April Bedford, Dean, School of Education, “Why Do We Need Diverse Books for Children and Young Adults?”
  • Matthew Harrick, Library, “Celebrating Diversity in Children’s and YA Lit: A Librarian’s Perspective”
  • Meral Kaya, Childhood, Bilingual, and Special Education, “Gender Variance in Books for Our Youngest Readers”

In the wake of recent tragic and violent events resulting from tensions regarding racial, ethnic, gender, religious, and cultural difference, books for children and adolescents provide one avenue for promoting healing and compassion. What role does current children’s and young adult literature play in nurturing and valuing diversity in all its forms?

Through an Anthropological Lens: Medicine, Music, Militarism

Maroney-Leddy Lounge, fourth floor
Moderator: Miguel Diaz-Barriga, Carol L. Zicklin Chair for the Honors Academy

  • Lisa Jahn, Anthropology and Archaeology, “Colonial Consequences: Puerto Rican Women and HIV and AIDS”
  • Ted Sammons, Anthropology and Archaeology, “From the Workshop to the World: Jazz, Black Nationalism and Jamaican Independence”
  • Jason Thompson, Speech Communication Arts and Sciences, “Examining Health Communication in the Black Family Following a Cancer Diagnosis”
  • Margaret Dorsey, Anthropology and Archaeology, and Miguel Diaz-Barriga, Carol L. Zicklin Chair for the Honors Academy, “Radical Transformations in the U.S.–Mexican Borderlands: An Ethnographic Look at the U.S.–Mexican Border Wall”

A panel of full-time, visiting, and adjunct faculty present recent work on social life in the Americas.

Group Identity and Epistemic Reasoning

Occidental Lounge, fifth floor
Moderator: Noson Yanofsky, Computer and Information Science

  • Steven Brams, Political Science, NYU, “What Voting System Best Facilitates a Group Consensus?”
  • Eric Pacuit, Philosophy, University of Maryland, “Deliberating in a Predication Market”
  • Rohit Parikh, Computer and Information Science, “Group Identity and Social Software”

Sociologists have discussed groups for a very long time now but it is only recently that logicians and computer scientists have started studying them. What are the current developments in the use of epistemic logic in studying groups?

2:15–3 p.m.—Mini-Session

Organizing Pilates-based Movement Fundamentals Through the Alexander Technique

International Lounge, fifth floor

  • Robin Schiff, Kinesiology

Explore using the Alexander Technique’s mindful decompression of the back and spine to coordinate gentle Pilates based exercises. Wear comfortable clothing. Due to allergies/chemical sensitivities, you are asked to please refrain from using perfume and cologne. This workshop requires active participation.

3:45 p.m.—Awards Ceremony

Penthouse

Approximately 4:30–6 p.m.(following the awards ceremony)—Reception

Penthouse

Join the Faculty Day Chorus during the reception, accompanied by Len Fox and Nicholas Irons.

Luncheon and Roundtable Discussions

12:45–2:15 p.m.
Gold Room, sixth floor

Getting Medieval at Brooklyn College

Members of the Late Antique-Medieval-Early Modern (LAMEM) Faculty Working Group

  • Lauren Mancia, History
  • Andrew Arlig, Philosophy
  • Karl Steel, English

Career Readiness: Exploring the Role of Faculty

  • Charles Edwards, School Psychology, Counseling and Leadership
  • Natalia Guarin-Klein, Director, Magner Career Center

Bringing Medical Humanities to Brooklyn College: A Work in Progress

  • Anna Gotlib, Philosophy
  • Naomi Braine, Sociology
  • Christian Warren, History
  • Susan Bohne, Assistant Director, Diana Rogovin Davidow Speech Language Hearing Center
  • Sharon Beaumont-Bowman, Speech Communication Arts and Sciences
  • Gerald Oppenheimer, Health and Nutrition Sciences and the CUNY Graduate Center
  • Susan Longtin, Speech Communication Arts and Sciences

Spirituality Has a Place in the Accounting and Business Curriculum

  • Dov Fischer, Accounting
  • James Lynch, Finance and Business Management

The “Uncommon” in the Common Reading: Welcoming Freshmen to the College Conversation

  • Janet Moser, English
  • Helen Georgas, Library

How’s de Blasio Doin’?

  • David Bloomfield, School Psychology, Counseling and Leadership
  • Liza Featherstone, Belle Zeller Professor of Political Science
  • Robert Cherry, Economics

Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines: Helping Students Think Through Problems

  • Danny Kopec, Computer and Information Science

Science and the Media

  • Theodore Muth, Biology
  • Paul Moses, English and Journalism

A New Brooklyn College Gen Ed Curriculum?

  • Scott Dexter, Computer and Information Science
  • Elaine Brooks, English

American Women in Science at BC

  • Paula Whitlock, Computer and Information Science
  • Charlene Forest, Biology

Awards Ceremony and Reception

Penthouse, Student Center
3:45 p.m.

Award for Excellence in Teaching for a Part-time Faculty Member

Michael Goyette, Classics

presented by Diana Horowitz, Art

The award, in the amount of $5,000, will be presented annually to a part-time (adjunct) faculty member for his or her demonstrated excellence in teaching and recognizes the important contributions made by adjunct faculty to teaching and learning at Brooklyn College.

Award for Excellence in Teaching for a Full-time Faculty Member

Susan Davis, Conservatory of Music

presented by Sharon Beaumont-Bowman, Speech Communication Arts and Sciences

The award in the amount of $5,000 will be presented annually to a full-time faculty member for his or her demonstrated excellence in teaching at Brooklyn College.

Award for Excellence in Creative Achievement

Matthew Burgess, English
presented by Sarah Christman, Film

The award in the amount of $5,000 will be presented annually to a full-time faculty member of Brooklyn College for creative or artistic work.

Award for Excellence in Research

Juergen Polle, Biology

presented by David Grubbs, Conservatory of Music

The award in the amount of $5,000 will be presented annually to a full-time faculty member of Brooklyn College for outstanding scholarly work in his or her discipline.

Eric M. Steinberg Award for College Citizenship

Louise Hainline, Psychology
presented by Wayne Reed, Childhood, Bilingual and Special Education

The award in the amount of $5,000 will be presented annually to a full-time faculty member for meritorious service chiefly to Brooklyn College, but also for fulfillment of the college’s mission in its relationships with communities in the Greater New York area and beyond.

Outstanding Graduate Deputy Award

Benzion Chanowitz, Psychology

presented by Patrick Kavanagh, Acting Director of Graduate Studies

This award recognizes a member of the graduate faculty and acknowledges their extraordinary contribution to the college as teacher, adviser and mentor. The award establishes a $1,500 expense account to fund faculty travel, provide materials to support their graduate program, or support the research agenda of their students.

The Claire Tow Distinguished Teacher Award

James Davis, English
presented by Peter Taubman, Secondary Education

The Claire Tow Distinguished Teacher Award was established through a generous gift from Leonard Tow ’50, a trustee of the Brooklyn College Foundation, in honor of his wife, Claire Tow ’52. The award recognizes a senior member of the faculty for outstanding qualities as a teacher and for being a role model to students and other faculty. It carries a stipend of $10,000, to be paid in one installment through the Brooklyn College Foundation.

Brooklyn. All in.