My Classroom Experience...on Broadway!

During the first few weeks of my Early Modern Literature course, our class (taught by Dr. Greenfield of the English department) discussed none other than the most famous early modern author: William Shakespeare. Specifically, we studied The Merchant of Venice. And as fate would have it Merchant has been on Broadway all semester! Of course our class had to take advantage of this amazing opportunity (might I mention that Al Pacino was playing the role of Shylock!). So this past Wednesday I went on my first Broadway experience at Fordham!

The performance was extremely well done. Pacino did a great job as Shylock, not as if that comes as much of a surprise. Portia, who was played by Lily Rabe, was perhaps my favorite character; she was portrayed exactly how I imagined her to be while reading the play. Also, seeing as this play is one of Shakespeare's comedies, I laughed a lot! I've always felt that the comedies are more enjoyable when seen rather than read because the humor is much easier to pick up on. After the show, a few of my classmates and I went to a Pinkberry (because what's better than New York's best frozen yogurt after Broadway)!

What really made the experience unforgettable though was when Dr.
Greenfield volunteered to set aside time a few days later for us to talk about what we liked, didn't like, or differences we saw in the play. She opened up the conversation to everyone and people tricked in as time went by, and we just had a really provocative discussion about how the director chose to interpret the play, and how those differences from the text enhanced (or not) the experience. This trip was definitely one of my favorite classroom experiences!

I must extend a sincere thank you to Dr. Greenfield for making the reservations for us and to the Dean's Office, who so graciously subsidized a portion of the cost of the tickets. I 'd also like to say that this trip to Broadway is not an isolated experience; CAB (the Campus Activity Board) and some of the residence halls hold raffles in which students can win a pair of tickets to take advantage of New York City's unparalleled cultural life.

Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Fair Minded Words

This title sounds very 60's/flower child/ peace-for-all of me doesn't it. Not that I don't believe in those things, but it is the name of the conference I attended this past weekend at Princeton. Don't worry, this does relate to Fordham. My professor for my senior values class was one of the main organizers of this conference and encouraged us students to attend. The class is taught by Dr Camosy and is called "Moral Aspects of Medicine". It pretty much discusses every hot button topic you could think of: abortion, euthanasia, moral rights of a fetus, etc.

Never in a million years did I think I would willingly go to a conference like this. Every time my philosophy major friend Sebastian starts talking about these abstract things, I usually zone out in about 5 min. Give me a talk about the Founding Fathers or what the latest findings are regarding cancer research and I am so there. Disregarding my doubts though, I decided to make the trek to Princeton and check out these superstars of the philosophical world. Maybe it was my curiosity that got the best of me. Maybe it was the interesting class discussions I experienced. Or maybe it was the reference to Star Trek AND Star Wars in one day that finally sold me (but we aren't going to talk about that side of my nerdiness, being a science kid is enough for right now). Either way, last Friday I drove to Princeton to hear a bunch of people talk about abortion and the right to life.

I listened to 2 different discussions. The first one included John Finnis, Maggie Little, and Peter Singer. I don't know if it is possible to make it through Fordham without reading Peter Singer at least once. I'm on my third time with this class. It was amazing to be able to hear someone such as Singer stand up in front of 450 people and lay out his argument, the same argument that we had just read in class. Talk about interactive learning. The talk was both informative and funny at times. All 3 speakers entertained varying notions of what the moral status of the fetus is. I won't go into it here, but everything was very applicable to our class. The second talk was between my professor and Ruth Macklin. Again, this talk focused more on whether or not a woman should be obligated to carry a baby for 9 months if she doesn't want to. Like I said, you can't get much more controversial than this. After these 2 talks, I decided to head back to Fordham since I still needed to brave the monstrosity that is the Cross Bronx Expressway on a Friday night (actually, any night is bad. And as a side note, it took me an hour to go a mile and half that night. Whatever, I was jamming out to the radio while I sat motionless on a highway. By myself. Don't judge, you know you do it).

This conference was a great opportunity to delve further into a topic besides simply doing some readings and discussing it for an hour in class. I'm thrilled I had the chance to attend (and even better, I got in for free since my professor was one of the organizers/speakers!). College is about broadening your horizons and expanding your knowledge to encompass something you never thought about before. This conference, and the class in general, have definitely done that.

For your viewing pleasure (and because I'm feeling super technological this evening) I included a video of Peter Singer on the Colbert Report. They aren't discussing abortion really, but it will give you an idea of where Singer is coming from. Plus, its the Colbert Report so it's funny. Have at it.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Peter Singer
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Discovering the West Side, Politically Speaking

An urban economic development tour stops along Manhattan's west side highway

For the past month, my Political Science professor Bruce Berg has been detailing the ins and outs of urban economic development and state-city relations in his class: New York City Politics. Whether a Political Science enthusiast or not, one can appreciate the complex and distinct ways in which this city operates and serves its residents. Yet, only so much can be demonstrated in a conventional classroom. I say conventional because, last Saturday, New York City became our classroom for the afternoon.

Taking advantage of the bright and temperate weather, my class ventured into Manhattan for an informal tour. The description was as follows: meet in front of Lowenstein (Lincoln Center's main building) at 11am, wear comfortable shoes, and bring a MetroCard. As we walked and talked, the past lectures about landmark regulations, zoning shifts, air rights, gentrification, various court cases and many other events and concepts were brought into perspective. Robert Moses and the creation of Lincoln Center, the rejuvenation of the West Side and the "Trump Village," (see picture) the transformation of Riverside Park, and many other sites, turned theory into reality. All Fordham students know that New York City is a cultural and entertainment mecca. However, personally, to see the city through a very systematic and political lens made me appreciate it so much more.

Most, if not all, of my close friends have experienced academic excursions similar to this one. Whether to the major Manhattan museums (Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, etc.), Ellis Island, or the Metropolitan Opera, New York City offers an infinite amount of educational opportunities that Fordham professors enthusiastically take advantage of. As they always say: location, location, location.

It's the bees-knees!

Ummm, I'm not 100% sure what this saying means (so I googled it, obviously). Thankfully, it does pertain somewhat to what my post is about. Bees. And the awesomeness of the Botanical Gardens. (Get it? Bees? The Botanical Garden is the bees-knees?Ok, I'm done).

Yesterday for my ecology lab we took a trip to the Botanical Gardens. Honestly, this lab is the best thing since sliced bread. Not only is it fun, but we get to take field trips every week! It's like elementary school all over again. Packed lunches and street-crossing buddies are optional. The focus of the lab was to study the movement of bees and pollination of different flowers. We worked in two separate areas of the Gardens in order to better understand the effect of flower color, location, scent, size, sunlight availability....you get the idea. Our professor, Dr. Franks, gave a brief introduction in our actual lab classroom then walked us over. For those of you who don't know, the Botans are literally right across the street. We spent more time walking on campus than we did off.

Anyways, the class and lab have both been incredibly interesting. Fun facts abound and you can't beat a class that makes you go outside in gorgeous weather. Next week we're heading off to the Calder Center which is our environmental research center about 45 minutes north of Rose Hill. It's a huge old mansion. With a lake. And paddle-boats. Just sayin'.

Only downside to this? Ecology is an upper level biology course (i.e. if you're not a bio major you probably aren't going to take this course). Nevertheless my eager young readers, the Botanical Gardens are available to all! Every Wednesday is free admission for students so everyone can enjoy the grounds. If you want to study bees, well, you're just going to have to sign up for some bio courses.

Nothing like some quadrants on a sunny Wednesday morning.

Pretty (Big) Bee.

Until next time.

Stephanie

Research Research Research!

Hello All! This past year I took my first night class at Lincoln Center. It was a really fun experience to take the ram van into Manhattan each week. I loved going into the city for a little bit and then heading to class. The class I took was urban psychology. Not only did I enjoy the material and the experience, but early in the course my professor, Dr. Takooshian, offered us a chance to do research with him about attitudes of Fordham students toward the University. Two girls in my class and I immediately claimed the opportunity!

In the following weeks we had meetings with Dr. Takooshian discussing our survey research. Through collaboration and discussion, my peers and I decided that we wanted to survey and compare each of Fordham's three campuses. We had a basic survey that had already been established and validated, but we added a few of our personal questions to help answer things we were curious about. After much work, we had our final survey!! The next step was distribution. We went around each campus asking for volunteers to take our questionnaire. We surveyed roughly 40 students from each campus, 20 being day students while the other half were evening students. This was the first time I had ever been to the Westchester Campus! It was such a great experience. As soon as we got there we were given a tour and had chairs and a table provided for us. Everyone was extremely nice and helpful. After a long few days of asking people to take surveys, we had finally collected all the data we needed. We then entered our data into SPSS, a statistical analysis program, with the help from Dr. Takooshian. We performed a few tests and manipulated the data to tell us about trends in attitudes toward other students, professors, facilities, among other things.

None of our work would have been possible without the help, guidance, and support from Dr. Takooshian. As if he had not done enough, he even gave us the opportunity to present our findings at the 38th Hunter Psychology Conference! We were the youngest researchers and the only ones that had never presented before. We practiced for days! We split everything into sections amongst the three of us. I was never so nervous, but once I was in front of the crowd it was great. Honestly, the presentation was the culmination of all of our hard work; it gave me such a sense of accomplishment. The research we did last semester was a great experience, but it was only a stepping stone toward further work. I plan on studying abroad this coming Spring and I have already discussed the option of continuing our work while abroad with Dr. Takooshian. Research was a really great learning experience that was a lot of hard work, but well worth the effort!