Ramapo Magazine

The African Ancestry Month Committee presented “Learn It, Live It, Love It” – African Ancestry Month 2001. The month-long celebration featured an opening banquet and activities including lectures, music, trips, a fashion show, and a closing reception.

Various Visual Artists (VVA) held a Children’s Art Workshop at the Ramapo College Child Development Center. The children, who range in age from three to six, were asked to paint a portrait or a story of spring. An exhibit of their works, “Early Insights,” was on display at the George T. Potter Library.

The annual Cultural Festival was held at the Robert A. Scott Student Center. A variety of ethnic cuisines were sampled, recipes shared, and performances enjoyed.

Ramapo participated in “Take Your Child To Work Day.” Children of faculty and staff took part in a day full of activities and presentations and experienced first-hand how mom or dad spends the workday.

Ramapo College sponsored several programs to highlight issues of importance to the Jewish community. In observance of Yom HaShoah—Holocaust Remembrance Day—the Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies hosted a concert/lecture presentation by Jerry Silverman, author of The Undying Flame: Ballads and Songs of the Holocaust in the Adler Theater. The Center also sponsored a trip to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. The History Club hosted “The Uses of the Holocaust in Modern Life,” a presentation by author Howard Stein, a professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Ocean Visions: Undersea 2040 was the theme of demonstrations, exhibits, and performances by New Jersey K-12 students at the Berrie Center. The keynote speaker was Alison Sinclair, the noted Canadian science fiction writer and author of Blueheart (a science fiction novel set in an underwater world). Student exhibits included science projects, models, mobiles, videos, fashion shows, musical performances, and PowerPoint presentations. The students represented schools in Franklin Lakes, Glen Rock, Hawthorne, Mahwah, Paterson, Ramsey, Teaneck, Teterboro, and Washington Township. The teachers involved are participants in Ramapo’s Master of Science in Educational Technology program, under
the direction of Professor Angela Cristini of the School of Theoretical and Applied Science.

Rosetta Geller, a professor in the Division of Basic Studies, participated in the PT³ Math Forum, a group of math educators who meet monthly to find ways to integrate technology into teaching mathematics. The mathematics covening group and teachers from local high schools are members of this grant-supported endeavor. As part of the program, Geller created a Web page of suggested math sites for students from pre-K to beyond calculus.

Ramapo’s Cahill Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services continues to offer opportunities that challenge students outside of the classroom. Almost 300 students per year participate in courses with service learning components. Twenty-four participated in the Alternative Spring Break to perform community service and eleven were enrolled in the Student Literacy Corps program. Almost 100 employers and 331 students participated in domestic cooperative education placements. Employing companies included UPS, Samsung, Wyeth Ayerst, and Cablevision, among others. Through the International Cooperative Education program, twenty-two students went abroad to Ireland, Italy, Costa Rica, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Scotland, and the Czech Republic.

Visiting scholars Ruwei Cheng and Ludmilla Smirnova taught international programs. Cheng, from Shanghai Teachers University in China, taught courses in Chinese language, culture and civilization, and Chinese cinema. Smirnova, from the Volgograd State Pedagogical University in Russia, taught literature and Russian.

Dr. Michael R. Edelstein, a professor in the School of Social Science and Human Services, was a guest faculty member to the CEP-Russia Environmental Policy Institute in St. Petersburg. The program, hosted by Aster, Inc., focused on pedagogy for teaching environmental studies courses.

Dr. William Frech, a professor in the School of Administration and Business, was named a Fulbright Scholar for his expertise on Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is also the first American citizen inducted into “Circle 99,” the Association of Bosnian Intellectuals.

Fifteen Ramapo students participated as a delegation at the National Model United Nations Conference.