Brooke Dahl

Hello everyone! My name is Brooke Dahl. I’m a soon-to-be-declared music major at the College of Staten Island. My research was focused on the history and current life of Salem Church in Staten Island, New York. I’ve actually attended Salem Church all of my life and am now a staff member there. I wanted to research this house of worship to learn more about its vibrant, century-long history and hear the first hand accounts of various demographic groups that gather within its walls.

Christina Dellaventura

Hello! My name is Christina Dellaventura and I am currently an undergraduate student at the Macaulay Honors College at the College of Staten Island. Although my major is undecided, I am interested in English, Anthropology and Sociology, and American Sign Language. I chose to research Saint Paul’s Alba House on Staten Island, New York because, like many other sites and institutions on Staten Island, there is not a lot of detailed information available online. Through this website, I want to explore the significance of Saint Paul’s within the  Staten Island community, as well as preserve the stories of the incredible people who work and visit there.

Zachary Diemer 

Hello! My name is Zachary Diemer and I am intending on pursuing a major in finance. I chose to research The Staten Island Hindu Temple. Interestingly enough, I did not have a clue about this religious site before I had conducted research on it. I was only familiar with some of the beliefs related to the religion of Hinduism. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and I was able to gather a tremendous amount of information about nuclear community surrounding The Staten Island Hindu Community.

Anastasia Hayes

Hello! My name is Ana and I am a rising sophomore at the Macaulay Honors College at the College of Staten Island.  I’m interested in the arts and the wider world. While I have yet to find my calling,  I am exploring languages (Italian and Russian specifically, though I hope to start French soon), graphic design, the visual arts, literature, English, etc. (basically, anything in the humanities). My interest in the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Grotto was spurred on by my fascination with my Sicilian roots. I hope to further investigate my family’s ancestry in the future.

 Anna Kryukova

Hello! My name is Anna Kryukova and I am a Media Studies major at Macaulay Honors College. I wanted to research methods of grassroots organization in religious communities. I interviewed Hart Levine,  founder of Heart to Heart, an organization that works with college campuses to empower students to organize Modern Orthodox Jewish communities at Universities across the country.

Michelle Kushnir

Hi guys! The name is Michelle Kushnir, and I am a Computer Science major with a minor in Business at the Macaulay Honors College at the College of Staten Island.  My reason for researching Russian Orthodox home practices is because I grew up in a Russian Orthodox household. Ever since I was little, I always wondered why my family and I never went to church. When I found out that the reason for not going to church was because of Staten Island not having any Russian Orthodox Churches, I decided to do my research on figuring out why Staten Island does not have a Russian Orthodox Church, and how Russian Orthodox Christians on Staten Island continue to practice their religion at home.

Miriam Sedrak

Hey everyone! My name is Miriam Sedrak and I am a Psychology major in the  Macaulay Honors College at The College of Staten Island. I did my research on the Coptic Orthodox community because that is the environment I grew up in. This beautiful religion is expanding throughout NYC and I hope my findings will shed light on it and its lack of representation.

Rachel Smalle

Hello, my name is Rachel Smalle and I am a rising sophomore at Macaulay Honors College at the College of Staten Island. I am currently undeclared, but I’m leaning towards History. I chose to research Salem Church because it had interesting story that needed to be told. This project has helped me to learn about oral history.

Jessica Longo

Hey there everyone! My name is Jessica Longo and I am a Macaulay Honors College student at the College of Staten Island. I am currently pursuing a Bachelors of Arts degree in Psychology on track for Occupational Therapy. Through my research in Professor Borja’s class, I was allowed the opportunity to explore a culture I was not very familiar with. The Egyptian and Coptic Orthodox Christian culture drew me in and I couldn’t help but find myself in love with what I was learning, and interviewing members of the Coptic church was an experience I’ll carry with me throughout my life.

Christopher Morabito

Hello and welcome. My name is Christopher Morabito. I am an English Education and Psychology double major. In addition to those two fields, I am also someone who is very interested in religion, especially religions that are not as popular or well known. This is where my interest in Wicca came in. I first went to Mystikal Wonders, a store devoted to Wicca, about two years ago. From there my interest in Wicca peaked, and I was really glad to have this opportunity to study it further.

Chigozie Okoye

Hello there! My name is Chigozie Okoye. I’m an undergraduate at the Macaulay Honors College at the College of Staten Island and I’m pursuing a major in Communications in digital media and a minor in Art.  This project made me aware of the presence Our Lady of Mount Carmel has in Staten Island and deepened my knowledge of the religious devotion of the Italian community.

Victoria Ventimiglia

     Greetings! My name is Victoria Ventimiglia. I am an undergraduate in the Macaulay Honors Program at the College of Staten Island, majoring in psychology. My interests include forensics, law, and medicine. The research I have done is on the civil religion of American society in respect to Thanksgiving rituals of various cultures. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade serves as the foundation used to research the preparation and practices that surround multiple cultures, as well as what happens when they combine.

 Fina Vitale

Hey there! My name is Fina Vitale and I’m a nursing major in Macaulay Honors College at the College of Staten Island. I chose to research the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the role of civil religion within it. I chose this solely because I admired the idea that it is a national event under which all can unite. By “all,” I emphasize the putting aside of differences in religion, race, and ethnicity in order to share in giving thanks for the life that has come to be.

Vanessa Vitello

Hey there! My name is Vanessa Marie Vitiello and I am a Macaulay Honors College and Teacher Education Honors Academy student at the College of Staten Island. My major is mathematics with the intent of becoming a secondary education teacher. Being a student in Professor Borja’s seminar class titled The Peopling of New York City, I had the opportunity to do some fieldwork and research of my choosing. I chose to do my study on Russian Orthodox Christianity in Staten Island focusing on how the religion is kept alive in the home due to the fact that there is no Russian Orthodox Church in Staten Island.

Spogmay Khan

Hey there! My name is Spogmay Khan. I am currently a sophomore (’17) majoring in Psychology at Macaulay Honors College at College of Staten Island. Prior to this year, I did not have much interest in religion let alone my religion. Just this year, I reverted back to Islam and ever since then I have been practicing my faith and have also become intrigued with learning about the different religions. I was able to learn so much about Christianity from both the Society of Saint Paul Alba’s bookstore as well as my research partner Christina. Conducting research was particularly difficult since there was not much information available for us to use. Nevertheless, we were able to obtain as much information out of the limited resources available to us both online and in the library.