Professional Activities

Awards and Grants

Monica Berger (City Tech) has been awarded a 2008-2009 CUNY Faculty Development Grant for “Collaborative Knowledge: Exploring Interdisciplinary Pedagogy and Course Development.”  Monica is principal investigator for this joint grant with John Jay.

William Casari (Hostos) received a $9,819 grant from the New York State Archives Documentary Heritage Program in July.  Bill and assistant archivist Matthew Flaherty will create Hostos Archives: Arrangement and Description of the Photographs of Magda Vasillov.  Professor Vasillov became one of the earliest Hostos employees in 1970 as a teacher of photography and eventually become the chair of the Humanities Department.

Janey Chao and KaChuen Gee (Baruch), under a PSC-CUNY grant, conducted an oral history project in China in October.  They visited Anyang, Beijing, Hefei, Shanghai, Taipei, Tianjin, and Xiangcheng and interviewed about thirty surviving Yuan family members who are the direct descendant of President Yuan Shikai. They will co-present a paper based on the findings of this research at the International Conference of Institutes and Libraries for Chinese Overseas Studies at Jinan University, Guangdong Province, in May 2009. Their research will eventually be published in book form, both in English and in Chinese, to highlight an accurate, up-to-date, and complete genealogical history of the Yuan family.

Laroi Lawton (Bronx) has received a Picturing America grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Co-sponsored by ALA, this initiative brings masterpieces of American art into classrooms and libraries: picturingamerica.neh.gov.  Forty such works were on display this fall in the BCC Library’s Instructional Classroom and Learning Resources Center.  The grant was the second Laroi has received from NEH/ALA.
Janet Butler Munch (Lehman) was awarded a plaque in May by the CUNY Institute for Irish-American Studies for “ongoing advice and assistance.”
An article by Aisha Pena (Baruch) and Alan Bailin (Hofstra, formerly of Baruch) has been named one of the top-twenty library instruction articles of 2007 by ALA’s Library Instruction Round Table.  “Online Library Tutorials, Narratives, and Scripts” appeared in Journal of Academic Librarianship 33.1 (2007): 106-117.

Exhibitions
Philip Barnett, Judy Connorton, Rob Laurich, and Loren Mendelsohn (City) curated “Why Structures Fail: Challenges to Engineering Design,” July 14-October 17: www1.cuny.edu/forum/?p=2648.
William Gibbons and Sydney Van Nort (City) curated “Harlem 350,” an exhibition saluting the founding, history, and architecture of Harlem, October 20-January 2.
Dalia Leonardo (Graduate Center) organized “Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis: A Centennial Celebration (1839-1908),” to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the death of renowned Brazilian writer.  Featuring portraits, personal correspondence, manuscripts, and book covers designed to highlight his professional and personal life, the exhibit, on the first floor of the library, was set up in conjunction with the symposium, “The Languages of Machado de Assis,” held at the Graduate Center on September 17.
“Reverend Dr. William Augustus Jones: A Man of Words and Action” drew over 200 attendees to its opening at the Brooklyn College Archives.  The papers of Jones (1934-2004) are related to his work at the Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn.
Lehman sponsored “The One Soul Exhibition: When Humanity Fails,” a multimedia installation exploring the heroic actions of individuals during the Holocaust.  The November 10-December 12 exhibit featured photographs and interactive kiosks with personal histories.
Professional Involvement
Monica Berger (City Tech), Laurel Franklin (City), Miriam Laskin (Hostos), and Polly Thistlethwaite (Graduate Center) comprise the Library Panel of the University Committee for Research Awards (UCR).
Sandrea DeMinco (Lehman) is a member of the Lincoln Center Institute Core Committee and is serving on the Search Committee for Lehman’s Dean of Natural and Social Sciences.
Miriam Deutch (Brooklyn) has been appointed to the CUNY High School Task Force.
Jennifer King (Lehman) co-chaired the conference, “Greening Libraries/Greener Communities,” co-sponsored by LACUNY and the New York Public Library at the Bronx Library Center on October 31.  She was also interviewed about the conference on Bronxnet TV on October 22.  Jennifer is a member of Lehman’s Campus Sustainability Committee.
Dalia Leonardo (Graduate Center) has been appointed to the EBSCO History Advisory Board.
Janet Butler Munch (Lehman) was a grant reviewer for National Endowment for the Humanities/ American Library Association Traveling Exhibits, and in August she received an IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) Connecting to Collections Bookshelf grant.
Kenneth Schlesinger (Lehman) was elected president of the Theatre Library Association, as well as to the Board of New York Library Club.  In the fall he also chaired the search for Lehman’s Dean of Arts and Humanities.
Tess Tobin (City Tech) has been named president of the Northeast Chapter of REFORMA for 2008-2009.  REFORMA addresses the improvement of library and information services for Spanish speakers and Latino communities throughout the United States.
Stephanie Walker (Brooklyn) has been appointed to the Metro Information Systems Advisory Council.
Judith Wild (Brooklyn) has been appointed to the CUNY Libraries Copyright Committee.
Four Lehman librarians serve on the college’s Middle States Self Study Groups.  Sandrea DeMinco co-chairs Working Group 2, which focuses on planning, resource allocation, institutional renewal and resources.  Janet Butler Munch serves on Group 5 for faculty, and Susan Voge serves on Groups 1 and 7, addressing the College’s mission, goals, and institutional assessment.   Robert Farrell assists Group 6 on assessment of student learning.