Hey guys,

Sorry for double-posting, but here’s the link to a NYTimes article that I was discussing with my philosophy friend, which talks about the decline of humanities and the need for the fields to be remarketed.

Chris

Hey guys,

Greg has inspired me with his pieces to share some of my thoughts that I wrote about in an Op-Ed article for my school newspaper.  Let me know about some of your thought on the issue. (Might be a bit long…)

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The Race for Race
By Christopher Eng

Spanning the skybridge, the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship conveyed a clear message with their poster campaign: race matters, racism still lives large.  In celebration of Black History Month, club members set up several stations with two posters surveying students about the effects of racism that they experience.  The strategy was simple. One poster explored negative external consequences of racism, such as joblessness, poverty, and death.  The other listed emotional experiences, including depression, low self-esteem, and anger.  Students participating in the survey were asked to first review the various external consequences of racism and to place a dot sticker on each one that applies and then repeat the same process for the other.

In light of absurd post-election claims made by various media outlets that racism in America is over, the posters bore a staggering number of multicolored dots, as diverse as our society itself.  Partaking in the survey myself, I felt blessed to place stickers on only two of the external circumstances.  However, the second poster was another story.  I found myself placing a sticker under every single emotion.  What are the implications for those who have suffered more material consequences of racism, when I, even as privileged as I have been, found myself experiencing multiple instances of feeling negative emotions?  The complex intersections among race, gender, and class that form the texture of society still needs to be explored.  Outside of my courses as an Asian American Studies minor, this was one of the rare few instances that I observe a discussion on race outside of the classroom.  With budget cuts impending, what will happen if the administration cut classes from ethnic and gender studies departments that are already in pitifully poor and neglected conditions?

The race for race is quickly losing ground in academia, especially within the CUNY system and in Hunter.  The neglect of ethnic and gender studies by administrations across the educational system seems to suggest that they too deem these issues irrelevant.  When I visited my public high school last month, several teachers were debating whether or not students should have a day off from school for Chinese New Year.  The principal insisted that he supported the notion, but that the students should organize a petition if they agreed.  My response to him is the same to all: “The onus should not be on the students.”

Unfortunately, the same indifference and lack of understanding exists even in higher education. I am sure that my high school principal would regret his words if students actually did organize.  Speaking from personal experience with CRAASH, any student action is considered radical by administrators.  Simple actions such as petitioning, meeting with administrators, and coordinating a conference were too much.  As much as I would like to say that we are now a post-race society and that the effects of race are exaggerated, the truth states otherwise.  Assumptions based upon race and gender are ingrained into the way society thinks and functions, bearing profound socioeconomic, political, and cultural implications that must continue to be discussed and studied within and without classrooms.

Budget cuts do not justify the need for cutting ethnic and gender studies programs.  Claims that everyone must make sacrifices during tough times would merely reinforce histories of marginalization.  The world wars told women that they must sacrifice chances for liberation under the male ideology of patriotism.  War and patriotism again deemed it necessary to racially profile and intern Japanese Americans.  Yet again, they appeared to contain the cries for Civil Rights for need of organizing against Communists in the Cold War.  The relation between budget cuts and the vitality of ethnic and gender studies is not and should not be a simplistic one.  It is reductive to assume that the former should automatically undermine the latter.  The administration needs to know that there are alternatives and find them so that we are able to survive through these tough economic times, while maintaining the integrity and diversity on which Hunter College prides itself.

Although it should not be the responsibility of students to have the great education that they deserve, student action is needed now more than ever.  Action is not necessarily radical.  Just make sure that your concerns are heard and addressed by your administrators.  If any one of you or your loved ones have or continue to experience the potential debilitating effects of race, stand up in support for them.  We have come so far.  Now is not the time for regression.  Having fully functioning academic departments and programs on ethnic and gender studies is vital.  Students have a right to ownership of their education.  Voice to your administrators your support for ethnic and gender studies before they make the choice that it is unimportant for you.

Join us for a screening of the new one-hour documentary Naturally Obsessed: The Making of a Scientist, a true story by Richard and Carole Rifkind about the struggle to become a scientist and the satisfaction of discovery. Mixing humor with heartbreak, the film tells an intensely dramatic story about a trio of irrepressible student scientists who are guided through the emotional ups and downs of a Ph.D. training program by a tough but genial mentor.

The U.S. is falling behind in the production of new science Ph.D.s. Is there a crisis looming? A discussion with laboratory scientists that follows the screening will allow an exchange of ideas on what’s needed to maintain an ample pipeline of future scientists.

Moderator:
Robert Krulwich, National Public Radio

Panelists:
Prof. Joy Hirsch, Columbia University
Prof. Ben Ortiz, Hunter College
Prof. Susan Zolla-Pazner, New York University

Free, but reservations are required: visit the event listing and click the icon or call 212-817-8215. (There will also be a standby line at the event for seating on a first-come, first-served basis.)

The Graduate Center
The City University of New York
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016

So, to those of you who go to BC will probably agree with me that dealing with the red tape is a part of daily life when dealing with the administration.  I think I have figured out a clever way around it!

I have been hunting down a source of funding for NCUR that I can access, and frankly it seems that every one’s coffers are empty (the Scholarship Office has shut down all new scholarships until the Fall of 2010), that is all but the Brooklyn College Association!  Each semester a significant portion of each student’s technology fee goes directly to the BCA, and from there money is spread across the campus to a variety of small organizations.  When I joined the e-Board of The Brooklyn College Public Health Review last semester I heard that the BCA actually has a very large cache of money set aside for student traveling.  I don’t know how large it actually is, but I know it exists.  I have spent the past week and a half trying to hunt down this legendary pot of gold.  This quest came to a pause in Central Depository this afternoon, when I found that BCA funds are only accessible to clubs that are approved by the CLAS Student Government and/or the Academic Club Association.  Basically, I can’t touch it alone, or even with a small group–at least not without a bit of creativity.

Now, when some people come to a wide river they need to cross, they go right ahead and wade across, others will swim.  While I love to swim, I don’t like getting my clothes wet.  I have another philosophy (borrowed from the US Army Corps of Engineers)–build a bridge!  In short, in the final 4 months of my undergraduate career I am starting yet ANOTHER club, specifically modeled after our thesis class.  ‘The Pre-Professional Student Society’ (or whatever it will ultimately be named), will be a club open to all undergraduates working on some major research project, or looking for professional development by attending conferences in their respective fields.  I am literally putting this thing together in the next 24 to 48 hours.  I already have a good deal of backing from the administration, so I think this crazy idea may just work.  In short, if any of you need more funding for NCUR, or even just want another line on your resume, contact me ASAP.  I am getting signatures for the first ‘meeting’ of the club, I will have the constitution drafted later tonight (if anyone wants to see), and most importantly I need at least one other person who has completed Executive Training and is not a treasurer of another club  (at least not on paper).  My plan is to install myself as president of this club, unfortunately everyone else I know who has the training is in charge of funding for another club or organization that would cause a conflict of interest by signing up as treasurer for this one.  Basically, Roy, Jesse, and Milushka, are you interested, and do you have the training?

By the way, if anyone ever wants to hear a rant, ask me how the system of student activities and funding at Brooklyn College is very much like a feudal system.  The parallels are absolutely astounding!  I’m not criticizing any individuals in this, it’s just that as a whole, this machine is getting a little rusted and squeaky.

-Greg

Here is an article entitled “Anti-Love Drug May be the Ticket to Bliss” from last month’s New York Times that I thought might be of interest on this strange day of celebrating all things romantic:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/science/13tier.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fScience%2fColumns%2fFindings

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you! Lee

SPRING 2009 CALENDAR

Jan. 28
Hello Again!  Review of Winter Recess Research and Writing

Feb. 4
Reading from The Craft of Research, Chapter 16
Bring in your Introduction for discussion

Feb. 11
Reading from The Craft of Research, Chapter 15
Bring in samples of visual evidence, if applicable

Feb. 18
I’m in Liverpool-please continue your research and writing

Feb. 25
Reading from The Craft of Research, Chapter 14
Bring in 5 pages for stylistic revision

Watching Watching Film series: Sex, Lies, and Videotape

Mar. 4
Oral Reports and Peer Evaluation
1. Greg
2. Roy

Mar. 11
Oral Reports and Peer Evaluation
1. Nandini
2. Jesse

Mar. 18
Oral Reports and Peer Evaluation
1. Chris
2. Milushka

Mar. 25
Conferences

Watching Watching Film Series: Gattaca

Apr. 1
Full Draft due for me and your advisor (not an April Fools Day joke)

Apr. 8
Spring Break

Apr. 15
Spring Break

Apr. 22
Advisor and I return Rough Draft with comments for final revision

Apr. 29
Revise and Polish

May 6
Revise and Polish

May 13
Final Class: Completed Thesis and Self-Evaluation Due

YEARLONG HONORS THESIS COLLOQUIUM

Click here to download the syllabus.

W, 4:10-6:30 PM
Code 3999 SCP 85 V1

Office hours: W, 3-4 PM
Office: Macaulay Faculty Office

Telephone: 212-729-2936
Email: leequinby AT aol DOT com

Spring semester SCP 85 provides the opportunity for your in-depth research to culminate in an Honors Thesis on your chosen topic. Over the course of this second semester, you will continue to meet in independent study with your faculty advisor in your research field.  As a class, we will meet at designated times in order to get updated on your research and writing and to brainstorm about revision and reorganization.  I will also meet with you individually to discuss your progress and give specific feedback on your thesis.

Class members will give their Oral Reports as scheduled and, at the end of the spring term, will present their findings in formal presentation in a conference format. Students should invite their advisors to attend their oral report and the Macaulay Conference.

Required Textbooks

We will continue using the second edition of Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams, The Craft of Research (University of Chicago Press, 2003).

Your citations should be in accordance with the conventions of your field of research.  You may purchase a style manual or use a CUNY Library Internet Reference Guide.  Be sure you use the most recent Guide, since internet citations have been updated.

Course Requirements

Attendance is required for all class meetings designated on the syllabus.  In the event of an illness or unavoidable reason for missing class, please notify me in advance if possible or provide an official excuse to avoid a grade penalty.  Lateness is disruptive to the flow of discussion and will be considered an absence.

Class participation is vital to the lecture/discussion format of this course.  Your ideas and respectful critiques provide valuable support for your colleagues. Your class participation will be judged on the basis of the quality of the ideas expressed, and the force of your arguments, your respect for other class members’ and my points of view (as shown in the way you respond to others’ ideas), and your attentiveness to the discussions. Participation also includes peer evaluation (oral and written).

Writing Assignments: over the course of the semester, you will submit the following to me and to your advisor by the dates stipulated on the class schedule:

• Introduction
• 5 working pages
• Full Draft, including all citations used thus far
• Oral Report Outline and Notes
• Self-Evaluation of Honors Project and Work
• Completed Thesis

Conference:  this is the culminating event of our year-long course.  Participation is required to complete the class.

Course Evaluation

Second semester grades are based on your class participation, Oral Report, Draft, Conference presentation, Self-Evaluation, and completed Thesis.

For both semesters, I will determine your final grade in consultation with your advisor.  This includes your advisor’s written report on your Draft and your final Thesis.

Course Objectives

Knowledge Bases

Students should:

• develop ability to evaluate texts that provide material for their research projects
• develop understanding of a variety of types of discourse and print and visual media in their interdisciplinary contexts (e.g., cultural, social, historical, scientific, psychological, and political)
• develop an understanding of rhetorical strategies
• develop the ability to discern ideological inclinations of texts
• develop ability to understand and apply theoretical formulations to their issues

Academic Skills

Students should:

• be able to reason, think critically, evaluate, use evidence, and make judgments
• be able to write clearly and imaginatively in a form appropriate to their field of interest
• use appropriate conventions of language, including correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation
• be able to revise and reorganize for clarity
• be able to use the library to find appropriate print and electronic sources
• develop a sense of fairness, objectivity, and accuracy in reporting
• understand the ethics of research and writing, including the proper citation, and integration, of source materials into their work and the meaning and consequences of plagiarism
• develop listening skills
• develop ability to speak effectively

Social and Personal Skills

Students should:

• learn to be self-reflecting
• develop ability to work independently and collectively
• learn how to brainstorm about ideas
• develop respect for both intellectual and cultural diversity

Hi everyone, mark your calendars if you want to attend the next Great Issues Forum at the Grad Center on March 10.  And be sure to send in your electronic reservation as well:

http://greatissuesforum.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=77