School of Liberal Arts and Sciences News Academic Year 2023-2024
English and Communication Studies
JEAN AMATO
Publications
Co-editor, Home and Homeland in Asian Diaspora: Transnational Reflections in Art, Literature
and Film. Eds. Jean Amato and Kyunghee Pyun. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2024.
Co-editor, Multidisciplinary Representations of Home and Homeland in Diaspora. Eds. Jean Amato and Kyunghee Pyun. New York: Routledge. 2024.
“Introduction: Interdisciplinary Expressions of Home and the Ancestral Homeland in
Asian Diaspora.” Co-authored with Kyunghee Pyun. Home and Homeland in Asian Diaspora: Transnational Reflections in Art, Literature
and Film. Eds. Jean Amato and Kyunghee Pyun. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2024.
“Introduction: Re/Making Our Homes: Domestic Space, Home, and the Ancestral Homeland
in Diaspora.” Multidisciplinary Representations of Home and Homeland in Diaspora. Eds. Jean Amato and Kyunghee Pyun. New York: Routledge. 2024.
Conferences and Presentations
“Translanguaging in the Digital Humanities: Fostering an Organic, Collaborative, Multi-lingual,
Cross-Cultural, and Pluralistic Discourse Community in a Global Martial Arts Cinema
Classroom.” Pedagogy and Popular Culture Panel, 45th Annual Southwest Popular/American
Culture Association Conference (SWPACA). Albuquerque, New Mexico. February 21-24,
2024.
“Transnational Forms: Swordplay, Assassins, Wandering Ronin and Cowboys.” Influence
of American Cowboy Culture on Asia Panel, Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual
Convention. Seattle, WA/Hybrid. Virtual March 1, 2024.
“‘Now Home was Half a Dozen Other Places Across the Seas’: Mai-Mai Sze’s Anti-Nostalgic
Narratives of the 1940s Chinese Diaspora.” Chinese Diaspora Panel, Southwest Conference
on Asian Studies (SWCAS), University of Houston, Houston/Hybrid, November 3-4, 2023.
ELIZABETH BALLA
Film Festivals/Labs (Filmmaker):2023 DSS Locarno Film Festival/ Locarno Factory.
NURHAYAT BILGE
Publications
Marino, M. I., Tadal, S., & Bilge, N. (2024). Mapping Experiences of USA Based Faculty COILing with LATAM: Un-Fueling Inequities. In Encouraging Transnational Learning Through Virtual Exchange in Global Teacher
Education (A. Slapac & C. A. Huertas- Abril, Eds.), IGI-Global, pp. 108-132.
Professional Conferences and Presentations
Bilge, N. Freedom to be Seen, Represented, and Remembered: Race and Ethnicity Across Borders. (A Public Conversation Among Various Generations of Scholars). National Communication
Association’s Annual Conference, November 2023, National Harbor, MD.
Bilge, N. Cross-cultural complexities: Cuban immigrants and refugees in Turkey. National Communication Association’s Annual Conference, November 2023, National
Harbor, MD.
Bilge, N. Creating Spaces of Freedom Through Mentorship and Community-Building in the International
and Intercultural Communication Division. National Communication Association’s Annual Conference, November 2023, National
Harbor, MD.
Petrunia, M., & Bilge, N. “Monstrum” in the classroom: Using supernatural creatures to teach students communication’s
features. Southwest Popular/American Culture Association, February 2024, Albuquerque, NM.
Bilge, N. DEI/IDEA Conversations: What Have We Achieved? Central States Communication Association’s Annual Conference, April 2024, Grand Rapids,
MI.
Bilge, N. Hybrid Partner Panel: CSCA - Current and Future Research Directions. International Communication Association’s Annual Conference, June 2024, Gold Coast,
Australia.
MARCUS BROCK
Readings and Presentations
Exploring Bayard Rustin: A Conversation with Scholar in Residence Dr. Marcus Anthony
Brock. The Chapin School, New York, NY. (2023, January 10).
Scholars Salon Series: Love Is a Gift, Love Is a Thief: Part I. The Chapin School. New York, NY. (2023, February 2).
Scholars Salon Series: Love Is a Gift, Love Is a Thief: Part II. The Chapin School. New York, NY. (2023, February 9).
Native Son Book Club. Discussing Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin: Prof. Emil Wilbekin, Dr. Marcus Anthony Brock, Rashad Robinson,
and Richard Fowler. Soho Works/Dumbo House. New York, NY. (2024, February 20).
Come Together: Stories of Unlikely Unity [Dirty Laundry]. Documentary forthcoming. New York, NY. (2023, March 11).
Publications
“TBD.” ADE Bulletin (Association of Departments of English). Modern Laguage Association. Accepted and forthcoming 2024.
THERESA BURNS
Readings and Presentations
Launch reading for One Night We Will No Longer Bear the Ocean by Anton Yakovlev, also featuring Andrei Codrescu, Bob Holman, and Anton Yakovlev,
ELJ Editions (on Zoom), June 11, 2024 (featured reader).
Watershed Literary Events: A Reading with Jennifer Poteet and Arthur Russell. The
Skate House, South Orange, NJ, June 2, 2024 (director and host).
Watershed Literary Events: A Reading with Roberto Carlos Garcia, Ysabel Gonzales,
and Jared Harel. The Skate House, South Orange, NJ, March 10, 2024 (director and host).
Ekphrastic Poetry Reading, The Heidi Gallery at WAE Center, Livingston, NJ, November
19, 2023 (featured reader).
Watershed Literary Events: A Reading with Marina Carreira, Ben Purkert, and Soraya
Shalforoosh. The Skate House, South Orange, NJ, October 15, 2023 (director and host).
Contributors’ Reading, The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow #16, The Little Theater, Rutherford, NJ, October 4, 2023 (featured reader).
Publications
“Outside the Hurtgen Forest” poem, The Night Heron Barks, Fall 2023.
“Drought” poem, The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow #16, October 2023 issue.
“Goldfinch, as Heard in Early Spring” poem, The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow #16, October 2023 issue.
“Detail” poem, The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow #16, October 2023.
“Word of the Day” poem, The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow #16, October 2023.
Editorship, The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow #16, Guest Editor, curated a special section
of the annual anthology, featuring the work of 22 other poets.
Honors and Awards
Pushcart Prize nomination for “Detail” appearing in The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow #16, October ‘23 issue.
TED FOLKE
Documentary Film Production in Progress: Congo Rising, a feature documentary about of the MONUSCO mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rumiana Decheva of MONUSCO asked Folke to write and direct the official MONUSCO film for the mission closing.
GLENDA FRANK
Readings and Presentations
Full length play. “The Autobiography of Currer Bell,” Write Where You Are. Short play. “Mr. Squirrel” in a Plethora of Plays (British program).
Publications
Theatre Articles for Plays International and Europe (Online Reviews): “The Cottage,” Helen Hayes Theatre. “All-the-Devils-Are-Here: How Shakespeare-Invented-the-Villain,” Soho Playhouse. “Prayer-for-the-French-Republic, ” MTC. “Days-Of-Wine-And-Roses,” Studio-54. “Doubt, A-Parable,” Todd-Haimes-Theatre. “Water for Elephants,” Imperial-Theatre. “Job,” Soho Playhouse.
New York Theater Wire (Online Reviews) Aug. 2023 “Eisenhower” Oct. 2023 “The Lights Are On” Feb. 2024 “Jonah” Feb. 2024 “Deadly Stages” Feb. 2024 “Tis Is not a Time of Peace” Mar. 2024 “Make Me Gorgeous”
MARK GOLDBLATT
Publications
Might as Well Be Dead with Phoenix Press, an imprint of New Haven Publishing, UK.
My Life as a Dixie Darling with Conservatarian Press.
I Feel, Therefore I Am: The Triumph of Woke Subjectivism with Bombardier Press, an imprint of Post Hill Press.
SUBHALAKSHMI GOOPTU
Publications
Book review: Madison Van Oort’s Worn Out: How Retailers Surveil and Exploit Workers in the Digital Age and How Workers
Are Fighting Back in New Media & Society Journal.
Pedagogical chapter in Teaching Labor History in Art and Design: Capitalism and the
Creative Industries titled “Working Women: A Case for Teaching Critiques of Racial
Capitalism to Fashion Students”.
Forthcoming Review: In GLQ, for Anjali Arondekar’s Abundance: Sexuality’s History.
Forthcoming Review: In Journal for Postcolonial Writing for Roanne Kantor’s South Asian Writers, Latin American
Literature, and the Rise of Global English.
Professional Conference Presentations/Activities
“‘An Unproductive Child’: Asian Masculinity and the Plantation Economy” at Association
for Asian American Studies panel “Constructing Asian American Masculinities” (Virtual
Conference).
“ Bringing the World into View: Reframing Globality, Refiguring Indentured Labor”
at “Global Asias 6 Conference” at Pennsylvania State University.
“A Crisis of Inheritance: Reproductive Restraints and Resistance in the Afterlife
of Indentured Servitude at the Association for Postcolonial Thought Symposium at University
of Michigan. Panel Chair: “When We Fail: Practices of Failure, Grief and Solidarity Within/Against
the Academy” at the American Studies Association Conference at Montreal, Canada.
“Failure in Postcolonial Literature: Reading David Dabybdeen’s The Counting House
Against the Archive” at American Studies Association Conference at Montreal, Canada
“Cultivating voice: Reflections on AI in Academic Writing” at Society for Social Studies
of Science Annual Conference in a panel “Cyborg Writing within Academia in the Age
of Generative AI."
“In Home Clothes: Sartorial Agency in Difficult Diasporas” at American Comparative
Literature Association conference as a panelist on “Difficult Diasporas.” “Assignment Showcases: How to Teach History of Professional Careers” at the FIT Symposium
– “Shop Girls to Show Girls: Cross Disciplinary Practices of Teaching Business History.”
NANCY HIGHTOWER
Conferences and Presentations
Creative Presentation Panel, with Lauren Brown, Lindy Ryan, and Don Maitz, International
Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, March 15, 2024.
An Honest Shot - Reflection Photos with Nancy Hightower, Virtual International Conference
on the Fantastic in the Arts, November 5, 2023.
MICHAEL ANGEL JOHNSON
Publications
Little Louis, Short Play, Cosmic Orchid. Theatre, Spring Reading Series, March 2024, New York City.
Magnificence & Stone — Winner, Best Short Screenplay, Amsterdam Movie Fest, Chicago Indie Film Awards.
Shadows, New York Screenwriting Awards 2023, LA Indies Fest Winner.
The Letters, Boston Indie Film Festival, Scriptmatix Genre Screenplay.
Water Touching the Rock, Official Selection, Oxford Script Awards.
Wildfire's Determination, Best script award, Winner, Best Medium Length Script.
Honors and Awards
Magnificence & Stone — Winner, Best Short Screenplay, Amsterdam Movie Fest, Chicago
Indie Film Awards.
Shadows, New York Screenwriting Awards 2023, LA Indies Fest Winner.
Water Touching the Rock, Official Selection, Oxford Script Awards.
Wildfire's Determination, Best script award, Winner, Best Medium Length Script.
AMY LEMMON
Readings and Presentations
QUEEENSBOUND 2024 - 7 Train Reading, March 2, 2024.
Invited open mic reader, Braving the Body (virtual), September 20, 2023.
Featured reader with Margo Taft Stever, Zoe Ryder White, and Safia Jama, A Persistence of Cormorants Poetry Series, Gowanus, Brooklyn, September 24, 2023.
Featured reader, The Matrix Group Reading, Woodland Pattern, Milwaukee, WI, July 13, 2023.
Featured Reader, Woodland Pattern Poetry (virtual), January 28, 2024.
Featured reader, Hyla Brook Poetry Series, Robert Frost Farm, Derry, NH, June 13,
2024.
'Appeared in Poetry Train, short documentary about the QUEENSBOUND 2024 event by Daniel Carlson and Teresa
Castillo.
Publications
Poem, “Evening Call,” featured on QUEENSBOUND 2024 digital poetry project, February 2024.
Poem, “26,” Number S#gns Poetry Project, April 26, 2024.
RICHIE NARVAEZ
Presenter/Panelist
Panelist: “Make It Snappy: Agatha Best Short Story Nominees,” Malice Domestic, Bethesda,
Md., April 26, 2024
Panelist: “It’s a Crime! Genre Fiction’s Bad Rap (Sheet) in Academia's Mean Streets,”
Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), Kansas City, Mo., February 2024.
Moderator: “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: The Impact of Setting on Story,” Murderous
March, Sisters in Crime. Upper Hudson, New York, Chapter, March 8, 2024
Presenter; “Master Class: Solving the Mystery of Social Media,” Murderous March, Sisters
in Crime. Upper Hudson, New York, Chapter, March 8, 2024.
“Raúl and Rita in It’s a Wonderful Wife!,” Crippen & Landru Holiday Chapbook (January 2024).
“The Domino Room,” Vautrin (November 2023).
“The Stolen Tent,” School of Hard Knox (Crippen & Landru, September 2023)
“Shamu[TM], World’s Greatest Detective,” Killin’ Time in San Diego (Down and Out Books, September 2023).
“Michele Campbell Leans into the Truth,” CrimeReads, September 26, 2023.
“Whale of a Tail,” Mystery Readers Journal (39:3).
“Needing to Nail Down ‘Noir’ for Creative Writing Students,” Clues: A Journal of Detection, vol. 40, no. 2, September 2023.
“And How Do We Keep Our Balance?” Do Some Damage, August 8, 2023.
Honors and Awards
Finalist, Agatha Award: “Shamu[TM], World’s Greatest Detective,” short story, from
Killin’ Time in San Diego, 2024.
Nominations, Best of the Net Award as well as 2024 Best Small Fictions: “Moll (after
Kincaid)," short story, The Disappointed Housewife (May 2023).
Nominations, O’Henry Award as well as a Pushcart Prize: "Shooting a Chupacabra," short
story, Latine Lit, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring 2023).
Podcasts
What Are What We Read, YouTube, October 2, 2023.
MFA Writing Colloquium: “Writing Genre Fiction for Social Justice,” Sarah Lawrence
College, Heimbold Visual Arts Center, September 19, 2023.
Undiscarded: Stories of New York Podcast, Episode 12: “Display Cake,” August 2023.
On the Indy Author Podcast, July 2023.
MATTHEW PETRUNIA
Publications
Petrunia, M. D. (2023). Utilizing extraterrestrial demographics to understand Earthly
audiences. In B.N. Frisby & R. Kaufmann (Eds.), Teaching Communication Series: Pedagogical Resources. Cognella.
Professional Conference Presentations/Activities
“Monstrum” in the classroom: Using supernatural creatures to teach students communication’s
features.(2024, February). With Nurhayat Bilge, Southwest Popular/American Culture Association,
Albuquerque, NM.
The political cartoon network of Alan Kurdi. (2023, November). National Communication Association, National Harbor, MD.
KATELYN BURTON PRAGER
Publications
Digital Literacy at the Intersection of Equity, Inclusion, and Technology. IGI Global, August 2024.
“Visualizing Screen Time.” Multimodal Transfer Pedagogy. Forthcoming 2025. (Accepted.).
Professional Conference Presentations/Activities
“Leveraging Kairos for Maximum Digital Impact.” SUNY Digital Learning Conference. April 2024.
“Insta-Essays? Exploring the Impact of Generative AI in a Process-Based Writing Classroom.”
SUNY Council on Writing Conference. October 2023.
Conference Proposal Reviewer, Rhetoric Society of America, September 2023.
MELISSA TOMBRO
Publications
Book – Writing About Objects: Crafting Nonfiction from Things (Under contract with Bloomsbury Press).
Professional Conference Presentations/Activities
Destroying the Object: Fragmentation as Legacy. The International Auto/Biography Association World Conference – Reykjavik, Iceland,
June 2024.
KATHRINE VARNES
Publications
Book Review: Taylor, Tess, editor. Leaning Toward the Light: Poems for Gardens and the Hands That Tend Them: Illustrated by Melissa Castrillón, Storey P 2023. Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal (Routledge, March 2024), 517-519.
Poetry, “Vanishing American,” “Coexistence,” and “Japan 2011 Tsunami,” based on images
by Martin Pederson, accepted for forthcoming anthology edited by Marlena Buczek Smith.
Film, Media, and Performing Arts
ALI AKARCESME
Guest Lecturer
Music Composer Bijan Olia joined INTRODUCTION TO SOUND class (zoom) showing his recent
film, TV and video game work via using his timeline on PRO TOOLS. April 1, 2024
Film in Production
Preacher Moss: Hilarious and Halal, 1-hour documentary film about a black and muslim American comedian who used to write
for George Lopez Show in early 2000s, –writer/director: Ali Akarcesme
Screenplay in Progress
Borderlines, 93 pages, a Turkish immigrant family’s journey to reunite in New Jersey.
DARREN ANDERSON
Darren’s original screenplay, Retrospective, was a finalist in the Academy Of Motion Pictures Nicholl Fellowship; the script
now in development with Relic Pictures.
Darren completed writing the pilot episode for a new original series, Holy Ghost, which is starting development with producer Leigh Blake.
He also continued to adapt and adjust the Writer’s Room to better reflect the current
climate of television and series/episodic content.
EMMA BEN AYOUN
Conferences and Invited Talks
"Visceral experience: bodily transgression in Talk to Her (2002) and De Humani Corporis Fabrica (2022)." Society for Cinema and Media Studies annual conference, Boston, MA (March 2024)
Keynote speaker at FIT's Delta Alpha Phi inauguration dinner
Publications
"On the Verge," forthcoming in Radical Embodiment (Bloomsbury, 2024)
"Blue, bliss, fathomless," forthcoming in Another Gaze Journal (Fall 2024)
Grants and Awards
FIT Faculty Development Grant Award for conference travel
ELIZABETH CLANCY
Conferences and Invited Talks
“All the Yarns of Uttu: Fringed Bodies and Textiles of Third Millennium BC Mesopotamia” American Society for Overseas Research annual meeting, Chicago (November 2023)
Grants and Awards
Lecturer Development Grant for Conference Participation, November 2023 (from Rutgers
University)
Textile Training
Warp-weighted weaving course with Andrea Myklebust, Danby, VT, June, 2023.
Natural dyeing workshop, Waterford Weavers, May, 2024.
JOSH KOURY
Screenings
Participant in the Tribeca Creators Market with the film, Inmate Corrections Television
(currently in-production). This market runs annually as part of the Tribeca Film Festival
Screening: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark continues to air domestically and internationally on HBO, and is also available on
the Max streaming service
Screening: Voyeur continues to be made available on the Netflix streaming service as part of their
Original Documentary lineup
Ethan’s latest documentary, Scooter LaForge: A Life of Art, was released on various platforms including Amazon, Google Play, and YouTube Movies.
The film garnered media coverage on podcasts such as the Film Threat Podcast and the Projection Booth. Additionally, it played in several film festivals, including DocNYC, and securing
the jury award at the Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival
Ethan’s art has been showcased in several local galleries, with upcoming participation
in a group show at Culture Lab in Long Island City at the end of June. Furthermore,
his work will be featured in November for two weeks as part of the Museum of My Heart
project.
LMCC Grant for "Citizens for the Arts" Project. Ethan’s initiative spans two months
and aims to empower artists from various communities to curate events, fostering increased
opportunities for artists in the New York State area.
Industry Connections for FIT Film Students: Within the film department, Ethan has
been actively facilitating connections between students and the film industry through
volunteering and internships. Recently, two FIT film majors successfully volunteered
at the Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival, managing social media for the events.
A news article highlighting his personal art practices was featured in local press,
both online and in physical form, through AM New York
Ethan is also heavily involved in NeON Arts—a program of the New York City Department
of Probation (DOP) in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute—which
integrates arts into the seven NeONs (community-based probation centers located throughout
New York City). The project empowers local stakeholder groups to choose art projects
for their communities—projects that engage clients and neighbors in strengths-based
activities supporting educational outcomes and connecting to employment opportunities.
Meaningful arts projects that enrich their local communities, participants learn transferable
skills and develop positive peer relationships. NeON Arts workshops are open to young
people ages 16–24 years old, including those on probation and additional community
youth.
DAHLIA SCHWEITZER
Conferences
"Built on the Bodies of Women: How the Black Dahlia Murder Shaped True Crime." Society for Cinema and Media Studies annual conference, March 2024, Boston, MA.
Publications
“The Lone Wolf and the Wild West: How Private Eyes Became the New Cowboys,” Contemporary Cowboys: Reimagining an American Archetype in Popular Culture, ed. Clint W. Jones, Lexington Books, 2024
“From Contagion to COVID: How Hollywood Turns Viral Fear into Viral Profits,” Pandemic Visual Regime: Visuality and Performativity in the COVID-19 Crisis, ed. Julia Ramirez-Blanco and Francesco Spampinato, Punctum Books, 2023
Grants and Awards
FIT Faculty Development Grant Award for Conference Travel
Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching
Media Appearances
The Menendez Brothers: Victims or Villains documentary series, discussing the Menendez Brothers’ case, as well as the impact
of popular culture on true crime and vice versa (March 2024)
The Projection Booth podcast, discussing Tank Girl (March 2024)
Imaginary Worlds podcast, discussing haunted house films and the housing market (Oct. 2023)
The Projection Booth podcast, discussing Johnny Mnemonic (Sept. 2023)
Good Is In The Details podcast, featured guest discussing the evolution of true crime (Aug. 2023)
History of Art
JENNIFER MIYUKI BABCOCK
Publications
“A Feline-Hare Hybrid from Deir el-Medina,” Sous le Ciel Étoilé Proscynème cordial au Dr. Nadine Guilhou-Ambroise, Hellenistic Institute of Egyptology
“Exploring Artistic Hierarchies in Deir el-Medina,” Ancient Egyptian Art Studies, Arts. Co-editor, Rethinking Ancient Egypt (Brill)
“Building Bridges to Afrocentricism,’ Nearly Thirty Years Later,” Rethinking Ancient Egypt (Brill)
Conference Activity
Panelist, “OBL for Art Studio and Design Students,” Object- Based Learning Lightning
Round, ARCE Annual Meeting 2024, Pittsburgh, PA
Presenter, “Teaching Ancient Egypt in Community College: Reframing and Rethinking
the Field,” Fifth Annual Missouri Egyptological Symposium (Via Zoom)
Invited Talks
(Panelist for Symposium Workshop) “Takeaway for Pedagogy and Research,” Cross Disciplinary Practices of Teaching Business History, FIT
“The Ancient Egyptian Goddess Neith,” Gabriela Hearst
“When the cat’s away, the mice will play:” Divine Lessons and Humorous Imagery in
Ancient Egypt, American Research Center in Egypt, New York Chapter
“Contexts and Circumstances in Designing the Divine in Ancient Egypt,” American Research Center in Egypt, Orange County Chapter
“Contexts and Circumstances in Designing the Divine in Ancient Egypt,” American Research Center in Egypt, Northern California Chapter
“A Single Image Narrative: ‘The Cat, The Mouse, and the Boy,’” American Research Center in Egypt, Chicago Chapter
Awards/Fellowships
SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching
RAISSA BRETAÑA
Publications
The New York Times Book Review: The Dress Diary, by Kate Strasdin. June 6, 2023 “A Scrapbook Offers a Material Glimpse of Another World”
“How Little Richard found his flamboyant style,” PBS American Masters. June 8, 2023. Commissioned article for American Masters Season 37, Ep. 5 – “Little Richard: The King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”
Moxie: The Daring Women of Classic Hollywood. New York: Abbeville Press, 2024. (forthcoming book)
Podcasts
The MUBI Podcast — MUBI Season 5: Tailor Made — “Sofia Coppola — from Virgin Suicides to Priscilla” (February 22, 2024) Season 5: Tailor Made — “Jean Seberg & Jean-Luc Godard dress down film and fashion”
(January 25, 2024; Fall 2024)
JUSTINE DE YOUNG
Publications
The Art of Parisian Chic: Modern Women and Modern Artists in Impressionist Paris. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2025 (forthcoming).
Conference Activity
Co-Organizer, “Archiving Fashion: Mapping Fashion and Textile Collections” symposium
– November 2023
Invited Talks
Invited speaker, “Chic Parisienne: The Department Store Saleswoman and Class in 19th-Century
Paris,” Picturing Women at Work in the Nineteenth Century, Cleveland Museum of Art
– November 2023
Invited panelist, “Transitioning to the Tenure-Track,” Harvard College Writing Program
(January 2024)
Invited panelist, “Opening Art and Design Education for a Just and Sustainable World:
A Panel Discussion on Open Educational Resources and Practices,” Pratt Institute –
April 2024
Grant-Writing
NEH Humanities Initiatives at Community Colleges, “Global Threads: Writing and Teaching
Cultural Design Heritage and History,” May 2023 ($150,000 proposal)
Awards/Fellowships
FIT Faculty Development Grant for Research, December 2023
Warnock Publication Grant, Northwestern University, December 2023
FIT Faculty Development Grant for Conference Travel, May 2024
Supervision
Supervised 3 Graduate Student Social Media Interns for the Fashion History Timeline
DAVID DROGIN
Conference Activity
Presenter, “A Semiotics of Perspective and Vision in Donatello’s Relief Sculpture,”
Vision and Depiction, University of Technology – Delft, Netherlands, February 9.
Session Chair, “Cities, Geopolitics, and Materials,” Sixteenth Century Society Conference,
Baltimore MD, October 29.
MARIANNE EGGLER
Awards/Fellowships
George T. Dorsch Award, Dec. 2023
KRISTEN LACISTE
Publications
“Practical Work: Sapeuses (Women Sapeurs) in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.” African Arts 56, 56 vol. 4 (Winter 2023).
“Olubugo (Barkcloth).” Smarthistory, October 3, 2023.
Conference Activity
“30 Years of Afrofuturism (and Still Going).” Panel Chair at the College Art Association
Annual Conference, February 2024.
“Innovation or Appropriation?: The Pros and Cons of La SAPE Inspired Garments of LEZELE
and Pagne Lifestyle.” Presenter at the African Studies Association Annual Conference,
December 2023.
Invited Talks
Panelist for Symposium Workshop, “Takeaway for Pedagogy and Research,” Cross Disciplinary Practices of Teaching Business History, FIT, April 2024.
Panelist, “Meet the New Faculty in Liberal Arts,” Globally Connected @ FIT, September 2023.
Awards/Fellowships
SUNY FIT Faculty Development Grant for Conference Presentation, December 2023.
PAUL MELTON
Publications
“The Cunning of Pattern Recognition.” In Pattern, The Grid, and Other Systems, edited by Julia Jacquette. New York: Fashion Institute of Technology, 2023.
Invited Talks
“Mapping the Field” and “Designing the Curriculum”, Arts Management and Creative Industries
Working Group, University of Richmond, March 7-8, 2024.
Professional Activities
Peer reviewer, “Cultural Heritage Data for Research: Opening Museum Collections, Project
Data and Digital Images for Research, Query and Discovery,” Open Library of Humanities Journal.
ALEX NAGEL
Publications
Color and Meaning in the Art of Achaemenid Persia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
“An Achaemenid God in Color,” Heritage 7 (1) (2024), 1–49. Open Access (co-authored with S. Ebbinghaus, K. Eremin, J. Lerner,
A. Chang).
“Contextualizing Achaemenid Persian Material Cultures in Berlin: Recent Investigations,”
In Kār-nāmag ī Pārsa. Studies from the Persepolis World Heritage Site, eds. S. Delshad, H, Fadaei, M. Bordbar, 143–81. Tehran: Parthava.
“The Colors of Persepolis: New Research on the Polychromy of Achaemenid Sculpture
and Architecture,” In For Shapur, whose Lineage was from the Gods. Proceedings of the Memorial to Alireza
Shapur Shahbazi (1946-2006), ed. K. Abdi and M. T. Atayi, 151–66. Tehran: RICHT.
“Von der Arbeit an antiken jemenitischen Friedhoefen in Washington, D.C.” Jemen-Report 55 (1/2) (2024), 110–15.
Conference Activity
“Deep Whites in Achaemenid Persia: Materialities in Monuments and Clothing in Persepolis
and Susa in Iran, c. 520-330 BCE,” International Conference Real Colors and Cultures: Interdisciplinary Explorations, Musée de l’impression sur Etoffes, Mulhouse, France, April 24, 2024
“New Investigations on Pigments and Polychromy from Squeezes of Stone Reliefs at Pasargadae
and Persepolis in Achaemenid Persia (c. 520-330 BCE),” International Symposium Archaeology of Colour: The Production of Polychromy in Sculpture, April 17, 2024
“Archaeology, Photography and a Legacy of Museums and Looting in Yemen. Collaborating
on the Values of Archives in South Arabian Heritage Documentation,” Annual Meeting
of the American Society of Overseas Research, Chicago, November 17, 2023
“In Limbo? The Past, Present, and Future of Ancient South Arabian Architectural Mausolea
and their Contents in Europe and North America,” International Conference On the Move: l'Architettura è Mobile, Venice, Italy, November 10, 2023 .
Eco-Conscious Panel. Integrating Sustainability in Creative Studies, Panel Speaker,
FIT, organized Sustainability Student Government Association Panel, November 9, 2023
“Where Peace-Makers, Peace-Movements, and Museums Meet: Short Stories on Empathy and
Negotiating Peace Through Antiquities from Yemen Abroad,” International Conference
Peace and Protest, Past and Present, Gwynedd Mercy University, October 27, 2023
“The Bluebeards of the Achaemenids: Hairy Matters in Studying Ancient Persian Art,”
Iranian Studies Seminar Talk, Columbia University, September 26, 2023
“Leaving Aden and Sanaa Behind. Documenting Movements and Transportation of Qatabanian
Collections and Archives in Germany and North America,” 25th Rencontres Sabéennes,
Amman, Jordan, September 19, 2023
“Yemeni Antiquities to America: Observations on Working on Correspondences and Archival
Repositories,” International Conference Researching a Rigged Game: Open-Source Data and the Trade of Cultural Objects, University College London, UK , September 15, 2023
Invited Talks
“Archaeologies of Greek Americans and Greece in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
DC: Archives, Narratives, and Exhibitions,” Annual Sam-Nakis Lecture, University of
Missouri-St. Louis, November 1, 2023
Awards/Fellowships
SUNY FIT Faculty Development Grant for Conference Participation, Jordan (September
2023)
NATALIE NUDELL
Publications
In American Fashion: Ruth Finley’s Fashion Calendar. London, UK: Bloomsbury Press, August 2024.
“The Ruth Finley Collection: Teaching the Labor of Fashion with Digital Humanities.”
In Teaching Labor History in Art and Design: Capitalism and Creative Industries. Edited by Kyunghee Pyun and Vincent Quan. Routledge Books, 2024.
Grant-Funded Project Launch
The Fashion Calendar Research Database (Launched, November 2023) “Ruth Finley Collection: Digitizing 70 Years of the Fashion Calendar,” Archival digitization
project in collaboration with co-PI Karen Trivette, Head Special Collections and College
Archives. Funded as part of the “Digitizing Hidden Collections” grant program by the
Council of Library and Information Resources [CLIR] and made possible with funding
from The Mellon Foundation, award: $183,750.
Awards/Fellowships
Organizer, “Archiving Fashion:Mapping Fashion and Textile Collections Conference,”
FIT on November 10-11, 2023, funded by The Kress Foundation ($9,500) and The Harnisch
Foundation ($10,000).
Faculty Development Grant for Conference Travel (Winterthur Ann Lowe Symposium) (October
2023)
Faculty Development Grant for Research, Scholarly, Creative, Pedagogical and Industry-related
Activities (November 2023).
Conference Activity
Moderator, “Textiles Women and the Holocaust,” at the Fashion Institute of Technology,
April 11, 2024, New York, NY.
Conference Organizer, Keynote Speaker (January 2022 - November 11, 2023)“Archiving
Fashion Conference: Mapping Fashion Collections,” public one-day conference held at
FIT on November 11, 2023.
“The Ruth Finley Collection: Critical Cataloging, Countering Dominant Narratives,
Methods and Practice,” Council on Library and Information Resources - Digital Libraries
Federation Forum, November 13-15, 2023, Saint Louis, MO.
Keynote Presenter, “The Fashion Calendar Research Database,” at Archiving Fashion
Conference: Mapping Fashion Collections,” The Fashion Institute of Technology, November
11, 2023, New York, NY.
Invited Talks
Panelist, “Application of Digital Databases: FIT Special Collections and Beyond,”
Cross Disciplinary Practices of Teaching Business History, organized by Kyunghee Pyun,
Rebecca Bauman and Vincent Quan, April 12, 2024, The Fashion Institute of Technology,
New York, NY.
Moderator, “Textile Arts, Women and the Holocaust: A discussion between Tanya Singer
(Knitting Hope) and Bernice Steinhardt (Art & Remembrance)” at The Montreal Holocaust
Museum, September 6, 2023, Montreal Canada.
BRONTË HEBDON PATTERSON
Publications
“Embroidered Hierarchies: French Civil Uniforms and the décret du 29 messidor in Napoleonic Paris and Milan,” in Costume: The Journal of the Costume Society 58 no. 2 (September 2023), 173-197
“Civil Uniforms in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon Biopic,” Edinburgh University Press Blog, November 2023
Awards/Fellowships
Khalil R. Rizk Fellowship, Venetian Heritage, Inc. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (NYU) Dissertation Writing Fellowship, Awarded
for Fall 2024-Spring 2025
Conference Activity
“Un homme à l’antique: The Visual Vocabulary of Antiquity in French Menswear between Louis XVI and Napoleon
Bonaparte,” 16th International Congress for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Rome, Italy
“‘The Right to Dress Plainly:’ Embroidery and the Ephemeral in Napoleonic Court Costumes,”
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Ephemerality and Materiality in France in the Long Eighteenth
Century: Arts, Theater, and Spectacle Conference, Università Ca’Foscari, Venice, Italy
KYUNGHEE PYUN
Publications
“Women for Cotton and Men for Wool: Consuming Gendered Textiles in Colonized Korea.”
Threads of Globalization: Fashion, Textiles, and Gender in 20th-Century Asia, edited by Melia Belli Bose (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2024), 47–71.
“Ethnonational Identity and Mannequins in History Museums in Korea and Japan.” Histories of Exhibition Design in the Museum: Makers, Process and Practice, edited by Kate Guy, Hajra Williams and Claire Wintle; Routledge’s new series in
Museum Making (London: Routledge, 2023), 169–85.
“Religiosity and Spirituality in Linda Mary Montano’s Anorexia Nervosa.” Journal of Religion and the Arts 27:1–2 [Special Issue: Keeping the Faith: Contemporary Women Artists and Religion]
(2023): 179–203.
Teaching Labor History in Art and Design: Capitalism and the Creative Industries edited by Kyunghee Pyun and Vincent Quan (New York: Routledge, 2024). Routledge Studies
in Education, Neoliberalism, and Marxism
Home and Homeland in Asian Diaspora: Transnational Reflections in Art, Literature,
and Film edited by Kyunghee Pyun and Jean Amato (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)
Conference Activity
Influence of American Cowboy Culture on Asia. (Organized panel). Association for Asian
Studies, 2024 Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, in person on 14–17 March and virtual
on 1 March 2024 (Organizer and Chair: Kyunghee Pyun)
How to Address the Business History of Working-Class People. The 138th Annual Meeting,
American Historical Association (AHA) held at Hilton San Francisco, San Francisco
on 4–7 January 2024; roundtable co-sponsored by Business History Association (BHA)
and Labor and Working-Class History Association (LAWCHA) (Organizer and Chair: Kyunghee
Pyun)
Religiosity and Spirituality in Korean Material Culture (Symposium). Bard Graduate
Center and Bard College with the American Museum of Natural History, funded by the
Academy of Korean Studies Grant for Conferences/Symposia on 8–9 December 2023 (Organizers:
Heeryoon Shin and Kyunghee Pyun)
Transformation of Traditional Crafts in Deep Ecology (Organized panel: innovative).
Association for Asian Studies, 2023 8th AAS in Asia Conference, Kyungpook National
University (KNU) in Daegu, South Korea on 25 June 2023 (Organizer and Chair: Kyunghee
Pyun)
“Impact of ‘American Style’ Fashion on South Korea: Street Fashion from the 1950s
to the 1980s.” Catwalk, Avant-garde, or Casual: Korean Fashion in the 20th Century.
Association for Asian Studies, 2024 9th AAS in Asia Conference, Universitas Gadjah
Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 11 July 2024 (Organizer: Kyunghee Pyun; Chair:
Michelle Lim)
“Narratives of Non-Human Others in Fashion Ecosystem: Inclusion and Diversity.” Development
Paper for Sub-theme of Beyond Growth to Introspection. 26th Annual IFFTI [International
Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes] conference at Ewha Womans University,
Seoul, South Korea on 23 April 2024
“Influence of American Cowboy Culture on East Asia.” Presentation in the Fashion,
Style, Appearance, Consumption & Design Area of the 2024 Popular Culture & American
Culture Association Conference, Chicago, 28 March 2024
“Interior Design and Fashion in Modern Asia: Art Deco in East Asia, circa 1930.” A
Special Lecture for the Course, History of Modern Design at Mills College at Northeastern
University, Oakland, CA on 6 February 2024
“Revising ‘Anti-fashion’ in School Uniforms in East Asia: Fashionable Uniforms in
South Korea from school to workplace.” Considering Transboundary Fashion from East
Asia. A Special Seminar Series for Global Scholarship. Graduate School of Fashion
and Living Environment Studies, Bunka Gakuen University on 2 February 2024
“Neon Crosses of Korean Churches: Marketing and Religiosity in Contemporary Design.”
Religiosity, Spirituality, Material Culture in Korea: Devotional Objects and Contemporary
Variations (symposium). Bard Graduate Center and Bard College with the American Museum
of Natural History on 8–9 December 2023 (Organizers: Heeryoon Shin and Kyunghee Pyun)
“Diamond Mountain in Post-Partition National Narratives: Landscape Paintings from
North Korea.” Exhibit Asia: Partition and the Transition to Nation States in South
and East Asia (Organizer: Weipin Tsai), Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham,
Surrey, UK, 1–2 September 2023
Invited Talks
“Dress History of Korea: Book Talk.” New York University, Costume Studies, 13 September
2023
“Book Talk: Dress History of Korea” Korea Society, 13 July 2023
“Minhwa as Popular Culture: Consuming Auspicious Symbols.” SEMU-Yeol English Lecture
Series at Seoul Museum of History, 22 June 2023
“Coerced Exoticism: Self-Censorship and Predicament of Asian American Artists.” How
We Gather, Lecture Series at National Gallery Singapore in Collaboration with Nanyang
Technological University, 15 June 2023
Curatorial Activity
Conscience: Commemorating Labor History in the Fashion Industry. Exhibition of Art Projects by FIT Students for Reflections on Realities of Labor,
Equity, and Social Justice. Gladys Marcus Library, (29 January–2 August 2024): project
advisor and curator
Awards/Fellowships
Overseas Publication Support Grant of $22,100 for Korean Fashion Encountering Modernity: Intersectionality of Art and Technology 1850–1960 (London: Bloomsbury, 2025) by Kyunghee Pyun. Translation and Publication Support
Program. Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS), Seoul, South Korea, 13 October 2023
NANCY MACDONELL ROBERTSON
Publications
Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American
Fashion. St. Martin's Press, August 2024
Fashion with a Past column, Wall Street Journal
Invited Talks
The Women Behind Harper’s Bazaar, 15 April, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia.
SANDRA SKURVIDA
Publications
John Cage Composing, Computing, and Curating (Routledge Research in Art History Series, forthcoming in 2024). This project was
supported by the Dorsh Faculty Award
“I as a Readymade,” Your Time is My Time, eds. Annika Toots & Merilin Talumaa (Milan: Mousse, 2023), 30-39. Participated as
invited panelist in book launches at Canal Projects, New York, and Medusa, Vilnius
Curating
Co-curated with Barbad Golshiri an event Woman, Life, Freedom: Year Zero at e-flux Screening Room, New York, September 16, 2023
RICHARD TURNBULL
Invited Talks
6-part series on Melanesian art and culture, Silversea Cruise Line, November-December
2023
11-part series on Southeast Asian art and culture, Viking Cruise Line, March-April
2024
“Pottery as Ritual Tech in the Ancient Andes: A Revisionary Study of Wari Faceneck
Vessels.” Pre-Columbian Society of New York, November 6, 2023, New York, NY.
“Wari Faceneck Vessels and the Problem of Portraiture in the Ancient Andes.” University
of Illinois-Chicago, November 10, 2023, Chicago, Il.
ANDREW WEINSTEIN
Invited Talks
“Baneful Medicine and a Radical Bioethics in Contemporary Art,” Daniel H. Silberberg
Lecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, November 1
Conference Activity
Travels Beyond the Holocaust: Memorialization, Musealization and Representation of
Atrocities in Global Dialogue, Vienna, Austria Paper: “Meshes of Nazism, Neo-Nazism
and the Confederacy: Stories of Opposition to Monuments That Honor the American Doctor
J. Marion Sims”, 25-28 June
2024 International Seminar on Heritage Interpretation and Presentation for Future,
London, UK Panel Discussant: “Memory, Museums, and Cultural Heritage: Pathways to Peace-building”,
June 24
54th Annual Scholars’ Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches, Dallas, TX, “Contemporary
Artists on Scientific Research Subjects in Nazi Times and the Present,” March 4
15th World Conference on Bioethics, Medical Ethics, and Health Law, Porto, Portugal,
“The ‘Good Death’? Contemporary Artists on Euthanasia from Nazi Times to the Present”,
October 17, 2023
AMY WERBEL
Awards/Fellowships
SUNY Civic Education and Engagement and Civil Discourse Fellow
Conference Activity
Project Co-Investigator, Creative Spaces/Contested Spaces: Reinterpreting Italian American Public Art in New
York City Landmarks of American History and Culture Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities,
with Rebecca Bauman and Daniel Levinson-Wilk (June, 2024)
Co-Chair, Art Censorships on Campus, College Art Association, with Andrew Wasserman (February 15, 2023)
Invited Talks
“From Sir Frederic Leighton to Banksy: Censorship’s Perverse Consequences,” Sorbonne
Université (June 5, 2024)
“Anthony Comstock in Historical Perspective,” ComstockCon, Initiative for a Representative
First Amendment at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University (May 14, 2024)
“Drawing Histories: Contemporary Perspectives on Practice” National Academy of Design
(panel participant, September 19, 2023)
STEVEN ZUCKER
Oversaw growth of Smarthistory which received 60 million pageviews and supported more
than eight million learners in 2023; Smarthistory has now worked with more than 800
scholars, 50 museums, libraries and other cultural organizations, and is recommended
by more than 600 colleges and universities.
Publications
Partnered with the J. Paul Getty Museum departments of Education, Photography, Manuscripts,
Decorative Arts, Drawings, and the Conservation Institute to produce a suite of five
videos in cooperation with curators and scientists
Partnered with the Rubin Museum of Art to produce a suite of eight videos with curators
Partnered with El Museo del Barrio to produce a suite of five videos with curators
Partnered with the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, to produce
a suite of six videos with curators
Partnered with the National Museum of Korea to publish a suite of essays
Partnered with the Museum of Art and Photography in Bangalore to publish a suite of
essays and videos
Completed Latinx initiative funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art that brought
together scholars from across the country
Completed editorial work and publication of BIPOC reader funded by the National Endowment
for the Humanities
Published the textbook, Reframing Art History
Supervision
Hosted Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral fellows in the areas of the art of Africa, art
of Islamic lands, and ancient Greek art
Hosted an undergraduate summer intern from the HBCU, Spelman College, for the 4th
consecutive year
Modern Languages and Cultures
REBECCA BAUMAN
Professional presentations/Invited Talks
“Casting Cosa Nostra: Performance and Identity in Mafia Narratives,” Work and Play: Studying the Labour
of and around Acting in Contemporary European Cinema, Gorizia, Italy (July 2024)
“Since When Is ‘McHale’ Italian? Transitioning Ethnic Identity in 1960s TV,” Italian
American Studies Association Symposium, Fiesole, Italy (June 2024)
Guest Lecturer, screening of Rapito (Kidnapped, Bellocchio, 2023), Westchester Italian Film Festival, Pelham, New York (May 2024)
Guest Lecturer, screening of Pane e cioccolata (Bread and Chocolate, Brusati, 1974), Westchester Italian Film Festival, Pelham,
New York (May 2024)
Panelist and co-organizer, “How to Teach Business and Labor History: An Interdisciplinary
Collaboration,” Cross Disciplinary Practices of Teaching Business History Symposium,
FIT (April 2024)
“Malavita alla moda: Mafia Fashion through Reality and Fiction,” Association for the Study of Modern
Italy conference, London, UK (December 2023)
“The Queer Fascination of the Italian American Mobster,” Italian American Studies
Association conference, Fayetteville, AR (October 2023)
Publications
Peer-reviewed article, “Malavita chic: Fashion and fandom in the Italian crime series,” Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies. Special issue on Fashion, 13: 1 (2024)
Book chapter, “In Defense of Fredo,” in Rethinking The Godfather: Fifty Years Later, ed. Anthony J. Tamburri. New Fairfield, CT: Casa Lago Press, 2024.
Peer-reviewed article, “Cinema and Aesthetics in the Years of Lead: The Fascist-Themed
Film in Italy and West Germany.” Annali d’italianistica 41 (2023), pp. 201-224.
Exhibition Review of Made in Italy | Sold in America: Fashion in Attenzione Magazine, 1979-1987, curated by Marcella Martin. Italian American Review 13.2 (2023), pp. 229-232.
Media
Interviewee, “What the Mob Wife Aesthetic Taught Us About Engaging with Trends,” by
Mayra Peralta. Teen Vogue (9 February 2024)
Professional Service and Awards
Project Director, NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop, “Creative
Spaces/Contested Spaces: Reinterpreting Italian American Public Art in New York City,”
FIT, NYC (June 2024)
Executive Council member, Italian American Studies Association (IASA)
Member, IASA Social Media Committee
Co-PI, NEH Humanities grant “From Shop Girls to Show Girls”
Film and Digital Media Reviews editor for the bi-annual journal Italian American Review
ISABELLA BERTOLETTI
Presenter/Organizer
UCE of FIT Black History Month Event (with Dr. Paul Clement) Dr. Todd Levon Brown, “Race, Space and Place Perceptions in Gentrifying NYC.” This event also showcased literary readings in French, Spanish and English by Professors
Pilar Blanco-Ruiz, Walter Temple and Mario Valero as well as an AR hand out created
in collaboration with James Pearce, Manager of Emerging Technologies and FIT's Faculty
Research Space (February 20, 2024)
“Global Business Communication Strategies” for Edward Cardimona’s AC301 Strategic
Planning for IMC (April 22, 2024)
Participant in the Colorblindness Creativity Project (sponsored by the School of Art
and Design and organized by Professor Ron Amato). Presented with Artist in Residence
Fabrizio Tiribilli “The Language of Color Symposium” (February 14, 2024)
Conferences Attended
Annual NYSUT Community College Leadership Conference (Saratoga, NY, November 3-5,
2024)
AFT Higher Education Program and Policy Council; Meeting, AFT Higher Education Professional
Issues Conference (UCLA, February 14-18, 2024)
NEA Higher Ed Higher Ed Conference (Atlanta, March 15-17, 2024)
DAISY BOW
Presentations
Presented: UCE Cuisines of the Cultures talk on the Birth of the Restaurant and the
First Restaurant Critic on April 11
Presented as part of a panel on Developing Content Courses for All Language Learners
Using LSP (Languages for Specific Purposes) Principles at the 7th ISLSP/CIBER Conference
at GWU. Title: Scent-sational Learning: Applying LSP Principles to French Conversation Courses
on Perfumery for Increased Student Engagement and Better Outcomes
New Course
Invited to create and teach courses on Perfume History for https://www.fragrancealliancenetwork.com/, a new initiative from perfumer Gus Romero to create an independent community of
fragrance experts dedicated to developing educational programs on perfumery on the
East Coast.
ANDREA CASSON
Translations
Co-translated with James Cascaito ten poems from italian to english by vincenzo Frungillo
for the bilingual poetry anthology published by John Cabot university, Rome, InVerse. 2024 edition
SARA FRUNER
Lectures and Interviews
Lingua Madre Lingua Amante, a lecture on literary translation, Casa delle Traduzioni, Rome, June 27, 2023
Interview on the radio show, Zivago. La parola inOnda, RAI Radio 1, October 31, 2023
Scrittrici per l'eliminazione della violenza sulle donne (Writers for the Elimination of Violence Against Women)”, writers Tiziana Rinaldi
Castro, Sara Fruner and Arianna Farinelli, read brief excerpts from their writing
(in Italian and in English) and engaged in conversation with each other and with the
public to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against
Women. November 17, 2023, 4-5:15 p.m., Fordham University at Lincoln Center, event
organized and co-sponsored by the Departments of Modern Languages and Literatures,
Comparative Literature, and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Fordham University
Writing as a film critic in Cine-gate, my column about cinema in gategate.it, ongoing since January 2024.
Dieci piccoli mari, a ten-poem series to be published in Racconti di Belvedere, Nemapress Edizioni, 2025
La rossa goletta, poetry volume, Crocetti Editore, Milano, September 2024
Mondo, novel, Neri Pozza, Milano, 2025
Residencies
Writer’s Residency, Casa delle Traduzioni, Rome, May 21-June 15, 2024
Ventspils International Writers’ and Translators’ House, Ventspils, Latvia, August
1-22, 2024
NOBUKO KODAMA
Workshops and Lectures
Chair of the bi-annual workshop of Japanese Language Education at Japanese American
Association of New York. Professor Yoko Fukui from Fukui University in Japan presented
a zoom lecture on: “ Making reading materials with authentic information for beginners’
level.” 10/22/23
Chair of the bi-annual workshop of Japanese Language Education at Japanese American
Association of New York. A zoom lecture was presented on the topic of “Report on present
situation on Inquiry Based 4/6/24
Learning” by Kazuo Tsuda, chair of NECJA (North East Committee of Japanese Association).
I invited Prof. CJ Suzuki from Baruch College to present a lecture: “The Media-Specificity
of Manga in Print Culture and Beyond.” 4/18/24
ERICA MORETTI
Fellowships and Grants
Millicent Mercer Johnsen/National Endowment for the Humanities Rome Prize
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend
Peter R. D’Agostino Research grant, Cushwa Center for The Study Of American Catholicism,
University of Notre Dame
Presentations
Invited Speaker: La Croce Rossa Americana e l’infanzia nel primo dopoguerra, Workshop on Il primo dopoguerra, il ruolo della Croce Rossa e il nuovo equilibrio
europeo, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre, Rome, Italy, January 18, 2024
Keynote Speaker: The Best Weapon for Peace: Maria Montessori, Education, and Children's Rights, America Montessori Society, Orlando Florida, USA, March 8, 2024
Keynote Speaker: Maria Montessori's Education for Environmental Citizenship: A Lifelong Pursuit, Annual General Meeting Association Montessori Internationale, Delft, The Netherlands,
April 11, 2024
Invited Speaker: Writing a Global Biography, Professor Enrico Acciai, Global History Course, Università degli Studi di Tor Vergata,
Rome, Italy, May 11, 2024
Invited Speaker: Aliens at Home: Ex-colonizers’ Attempts to Illegally Return to Libya,
Roundtable on “The making of colonialism through law and other fictions”, Istituto
Svizzero, Rome, Italy, May 22, 2024
Invited Speaker: Establishing Post–World War I Rescue Efforts for Civilians: Eglantyne Jebb’s and Maria
Montessori’s Correspondence with the Papacy, Roundtable on Humanitarianism since the Great War: Actors, Themes, and Debates,
Università degli Studi Ca’ Foscari, Venice, Italy, May 24, 2024 Paper Presenter: Remembering Italian Libya. Narrating Repatriations, Expulsions, and
the End of Empire, American Association for Italian Studies, panel on Dis-Placements
and Re-Constructions
Writing
Translated The Best weapon for Peace. Maria Montessori, Education, and Children’s Rights for the Italian publishing house Laterza and signed a contract with them. Submitted
May 2024, published December 2024.
Article Family Ties: Vatican Humanitarianism and Family Reunification at the End of Empire was accepted in the double-blind, peer-review journal Contemporary European History,
June 2024.
Conducted extensive archival research in several archives in Rome, Nantes, and London
to further my book-length manuscript tentatively titled Across the Colonial Sea: Family reunification, Vatican humanitarianism, and the end
of Empire (1940-1950).
ZAIDA GODOY NAVARRO
Organized Class Lectures
Brought Cultural Fellow Naomi Uchida to SP 111 to speak on her home town: Santiago
de Chile (9 November 2023)
Organized virtual visit of fashion designer and stylist Maria Fuentes to SP 213 to
speak on Flamenco dresses design and Feria de Sevilla tradition (6 March 2024)
Brought Cultural Fellow Naomi Uchida to SP 213 to speak on current musical styles
in Spanish speaking world (17 April 2024)
Publications
“Masculinidades espectrales y migrantes: las mujeres y sus afectos en la construcción
de género,” Cruzar fronteras, escenas y contexto, 2023, pp. 50-66.
“Representaciones éticas de masculinidades hegemónicas,” reCHERches, 31, 2023, pp.
93-107.
Presentations
Invited virtual presenter for “Dossier: Rascón Banda: un legado,” XIII Cátedra Víctor
Hugo Rascón Banda, August 31 2023, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
“Devising Theatre’ para comunidades inmigrantes en Nueva York: The Diamond de Christine
Eve Cato y People’s Theatre Project,” XXIX International Conference of AMIT (Mexican
Association of Theatre Investigation), September 2023, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Book Review: Permanencia de un legado. Segundo lustro (estudios teatrales).
Professional Service
Co-secretary & External Affairs position at the AMIT (Mexican Association of Theatre
Investigation) for 2022-2025 Committee
Co-organizer of XXIX International Conference of AMIT, September 2023, Cuernavaca,
Mexico
Member of Scientific Committee for XXIX International Conference of AMIT
Assisted as invited consultant for the selection of the plays to be shown at the XIX
Festival de Monólogos Teatro a una sola voz 2024, 29 April 2024
Member of the Comisión Inter – Asociaciones Latinoamericanas, inaugurated 3 May 2024
WALTER TEMPLE
Publications
Published two book reviews in The French Review (AY 23-24)
Continued work as Assistant Editor for The French Review
Completed article on André Gide (in press; forthcoming summer 2024), Classiques Garnier,
France
Submitted article on Roland Barthes as part of conference I participated in, Paris,
La Sorbonne (submitted/accepted)
Directed Edited Volume on French writer Ralph Heyndels (now out; spring 2024, Paris,
France); worked with French academic writers and authors from around the world
Signed contract to translate a French novel by Ralph Heyndels (L'Harmattan, France),
Summer 2024
Panelist
Participated in NeMLA, chaired panel (and presented paper), L2 pedagogy (French Language
Teaching), Spring 2024
Moderating panel on queer literature, Paris, France (June 2024), Les Mots à la Bouche
MARIO VALERO
Publications
Submitted chapter “Between social transgression and cultural integration: Following
criminological traces in the work of Fernando Ortiz” for the Book Lombroso in The Americas to be published by Università degli Studi di Torino, Turin, Italy, (Fall 24)
Conferences
Presenter at “Creative Spaces/Contested Spaces: Reinterpreting Italian American Public
Art in New York City,” Fashion Institute of Technology, New York (June 2024)
Presented virtually the paper “Racial Sciences in Cuba and Brazil. Three American
Interventions” at the International Seminary on the 200 Years of the Monroe Doctrine,
Caracas, Venezuela on (November 23)
Participant in the conference “Lombroso in the Americas” organized by the Museo de
Antropologia Criminale Cesare Lombroso and Università degli Studi di Torino, Turin,
Italy (September 26)
Presented the paper “Following the Photographic Traces of the Coolies in the Caribbean”
at the 13th Conference on East-West Cross-cultural Relations on “Voyages between the
West and the East, Travelers, and New Realities” at University of Verona, Italy, on
(June 23)
Research
Conducted research on the use of photography in Brazilian social and medical sciences
at the turn of the 20TH Century at the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro and
Instituto Moreira Salles in São Paulo, Brazil (August 24)
CHEN ZHANG
Served on the jury for the 2024 Chinese Bridge Mandarin Competition for Eastern US
Region, College Level (May 1-18, 2024).
Proofread the FIT-ZSTU contracts and agreements for cooperation.
Science and Math
JUNG-HYUN AHN
Publications
Under Review - Fostering Computational Thinking Skills through Unplugged Debugging
Activities with Gesture and Embodiment, Educational Technology Research and Development.
Conference presentations
Ahn, J., Yap, S., & Kim, C. (2024, March). NFTs in Education: Analyzing NFTs and addressing
societal disparities. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International
Conference (pp. 537-540). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
(AACE).
Under Review - Beyond Code: How Embodied Debugging Enhances Persistence in K-12 Computational
Thinking Education, EdMedia.
DEBORAH BERHANU
Guest Lecture
March 2024: SC/TD204 - Introduction to Nanotechnology.
October 2023: Advanced Conservation - Analytical Chemistry in Textile and Art Conservation.
Grant
Spring 2024 - Learning Nanotechnology from Ancient Romans to Produce Dichroic Biomaterials,
Faculty Development Grants and Awards.
Fall 2023 - Material Science Led Prototyping, Release Time for Research Program.
Conference
April 2024 - Deborah Berhanu and Evelyn Rynkiewicz: Designing Equitable and Inclusive
Science Courses for Non-Science Majors. Nontraditional Employment & Training Conference:
Pedagogical Tools & Curricular Reforms: Creating Inclusive Classrooms and Campus Spaces
for Students Pursuing Gender Nontraditional Fields of Study.
November 2023 - Deborah Berhanu and Evelyn Rynkiewicz: Designing an Equitable and
Inclusive Science Course for Diverse Non-Major Students. SUNY DEISJ Conference, SUNY-Albany.
Workshop Attendances
May 2024 - Research Experience for Undergraduates: Mentors Workshop- CCA Flatiron
Institute- Simons Foundation.
April 2024 - SEM Masterclass: Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, Nanoscience Instruments
Completed all requirements for the Doctor of Education (May 2024) Temple University,
Philadelphia, PA Dissertation: Leveraging Confirmatory Program Evaluation to Statistically Assess the Effectiveness
of the Upward Bound Math and Science Program at Temple University, 2008–2021.
Dillard, B.L. “STEM Support for Students with Disabilities,” European Modern Studies Journal, Volume 8, Number 2 (May 2024), pp. 338–342.
MARIA HWANG
Publications
Under review for CSCW (Computer-supported cooperative work): An Automated Tool for
Educators in Forming Student Groups Using Multimodal Learning Analytics (MMLA)
Conference
Pre-CHI Germany: was invited by host and host university to attend the conference.
AUDREY NASAR
Over the last few years, I created and illustrated a deck of cards referred to as
the “Symmetry Card Game” which can be used to teach rosette symmetry groups. 2024
FDGA Grant for $1,000 to produce "Symmetry Card Game" to use in MA 142.
Conference Presentations
Presented “Symmetry Card Game” at the Gathering 4 Gardener G4G15 Conference in Atlanta,
Georgia, 2024.
Scholarships
Recipient of scholarship to attend the Gathering 4 Gardener G4G15 Conference, 2024
KAREN PEARSON
Conference/invited Talks
The Science Based Fashion Talks at Lineapelle in Milan, Italy
American Association of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
Other
Chair, FIT Sustainability Council
New York Coalition for Sustainability in Higher Education (NYCSHE) Annual Conference Planning and Awards committee member Downstate Regional Representative
GEOFFREY ROGERS
Publications
In-publication: "Transparent coating on a color surface" that was just accepted for
publication by the Journal of the Optical Society of America A. It will be published
this summer. In the paper I develop a random walk model of reflectance to predict
the change in color with application of transparent coating, or laminate, on a color
surface.
EVELYN RYNKIEWICZ
Conferences and Invited Lectures
9/15/2023: Invited speaker, SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry School: SciPi
Seminar, speaking to graduate students on careers in science education.
5/23/2024, Guest lecture in HA319: History and Art Conservation, presented on sustainability
and ecological conservation.
2024 Nontraditional Employment & Training Conference: Pedagogical Tools & Curricular
Reforms: Creating Inclusive Classrooms and Campus Spaces for Students Pursuing Gender
Nontraditional Fields of Study.
Invited speaker: Deborah Berhanu and Evelyn Rynkiewicz: Designing Equitable and Inclusive
Science Courses for Non-Science Majors (April 25, 2024)
June 24-27: Organize “Lunch and Learn” workshops on teaching (integrating research
projects into courses and teaching to large enrollment classes), Ecology and Evolution
of Infectious Diseases Meeting at Stanford University, San Francisco, CA.
Biodesign Challenge Summit 2024, June 13-14 2024: Mentored team Terra Doma (students
Emma Davis and Lena Man) who will present their project designing sustainable building
materials for low-impact and low-cost housing for unhoused individuals using sustainable
design for reducing water use and energy consumption, along with programs to support
the local community.
THEANNE N. SCHIROS
Awards
National Geographic Society Wayfinder Award - Induction as National Geographic Explorer
(June 2023)
Competitive Grant Awards
National Geographic Society Wayfinder Award (Human Ingenuity) Biomimetic, Microbial Textiles for a Regenerative Materials Economy. $100,000
Empire State development Fashion Innovation Center award (with RPI, SUNY Morrisville, Made x Hudson, Hudson Valley Textile Project consortium),
September 2023. $9.000,000
NYC EDC Gotham Foundry Material Innovation Hub, contingent award letter, April 2024. $22,000,000
Committee Service
Member, Empire State Development Fashion Innovation Center Internal Advisory Committee
Member, Ray of Hope Prize selection committee (2022, 2023, 2024).
Steering Committees GoGreen: Education in Green Conservation. Scientific Committee, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (2024-2025). Builds Bio+ Steering Committee (2023-2024). Art Bio Matters Steering Committee (2023-2024).
Museum Exhibitions
Microbial Bioleather Sneakers, Artist: Theanne Schiros with Public School NY. Invisibles. La vie cachée des microbes. Musée de la main UNIL-CHUV. May 2024 - Jan 2026.
GAIRAI DOUGUI. Artists: Theanne Schiros and Susanne Goetz. Touch me: Feeling Fashion. University Galleries, William Paterson. Feb - May 2024
Microbial Bioleather Sneakers, Artist: Theanne Schiros with Public School NY. Parall(elle)s: A HistoryofWomen in Design, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Feb - June 2023.
Documentary Research Features
CNN International, Bold Pursuits Ep 01 (2023).
CBS Mission Unstoppable, S04 E09. Couture, Colors and Connections (2023).
Invited Editorials
T. Schiros, R. Antrobus, H.H. Lu. “Old Meets New - High Performance Bioleathear”, Materials World 39-42, 2023.
Textile Biomaterials -- Ancient and Modern - Susanne Goetz, FIT and Theanne Schiros,
PhD, William Paterson University Galleries, February 2024.
FIT Sustainable Business and Design Conference, Reimagining Our Future, April 2024.
Panel speaker: Designing with Emerging Materials Fashion Innovation Center
JENNIFER SHLOMING
Publications
Shloming, J. R. (2024). Maybe not. The Fib Review, Issue #47.
Shloming, J. R. (2024). I leave. The Fib Review, Issue #47.
Shloming, J. R. (2024). I just spent. The Fib Review, Issue #47.
Shloming, J. R. (2024). Snow Day in NYC. The Fib Review, Issue #47.
Shloming, J. R. (2023). Belonging to the night sky. The Fib Review, Issue #46.
Shloming, J. R. (2023). Current Soundtrack. The Fib Review, Issue #45.
Shloming, J. R. (2023). Now Boarding. The Fib Review, Issue #45.
Shloming, J. R. (2023). Untitled (Let Me Escape). The Fib Review, Issue #45.
Shloming, J. R. (2023). Untitled (The light flickers). The Fib Review, Issue #45.
Shloming, J.R. (2023, September 12). Back to School with Brightspace The Center for Online Teaching Excellence at Open SUNY.
Presentations
Creating an Ideal OER Textbook for Your Students: (co-presented with Calvin Williamson): presented at the Conference on Instruction
and Technology (CIT), Buffalo, NY, May 2024.
Engaging Students in Online Math-Related Courses: co-presented webinar for SUNY Online, May 16, 2024.
Creating an Ideal OER Textbook for Your Students: co-presented webinar with Calvin Williamson for National Distance Learning Week (NDLW),
November 9, 2023.
Awards and Certificates
FACT2 Excellence Award for Excellence in Instruction at a Community College, Spring
2024.
Lumen Circles Fellowship Program and Certificate of Effective Teaching Practice in
Evidence-Based Teaching, Spring 2024.
SUNY Online Teaching Community Leader Badges from SUNY Online, May 2024; November
2023.
JULIAN SILVERMAN
Presentations and workshops
Silverman, J., Tie-Dyeing with Tannins and Iron, Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community, Beyond Benign, Virtual Resource,
2023.
Gajitos, A., Bautista, A., Tan, A., Silverman, J., in collaboration with the FabLab
“Making Soaps from Waste Resources” Sustainability Awareness Week, October 19th,
2023, Fashion Institute of Technology. Workshop, NY, NY.
Machado, C., Silverman, J., “Tie-Dyeing with Onions, Tea, and Iron” January 19th,
2024, Trinity School, New York, New York, Laboratory Demonstration
Silverman, J., “The Material History of Soap” First Fridays, February 2nd, 2024, Science
History Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Public Lecture
Silverman, J., Silage to Sillage: Designing Materials From Waste, February 23rd, University
of Kansas LGBTQ+ STEM Symposium, Keynote Speaker, Virtual
Marshalek, A., Ceraso, S., Silverman, J., in collaboration with the Woodshop and MA
145, “Earth Week Papermaking Workshop” April 25th, 2024, Fashion Institute. NY, NY.
Awards
FIT President’s Sustainability Council Grant Award, “Waste Reduction through Agricultural
Packaging Solutions: Upcycling Corn Husks for W.R.A.P.S.” Awarded for 2024 - 2025
CALVIN WILLIAMSON
Conference Presentation
Creating an Ideal OER Textbook for Your Students: (co-presented with J. Shloming): presented at the Conference on Instruction and Technology
(CIT), Buffalo, NY, May 2024.
Creating an Ideal OER Textbook for Your Students: co-presented webinar with J. Shloming for National Distance Learning Week (NDLW),
November 9, 2023.
Social Sciences
DANIEL LEVINSON WILK
Public Scholarships and Other Initiatives
On October 11, 2023, after twelve years of work on the board of the Remember the Triangle
Fire Coalition, dedicated a permanent memorial to the victims of the 1911 Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory Fire on the Asch/Brown Building where the fire took place.
With Amy Werbel and Taur Orange, organized commemorations of the 60th anniversary
of the March on Washington and the 160th anniversary of the Civil War Draft Riots,
mostly in the fall of 2023—eleven on-campus exhibits, events, and meetings and two
major course projects in the classes of Susanne Goetz and Brendan Leach. These commemorations
were planned in partnership with the Presidential Scholars Program, the FIT Black
Student Union, the Museum at FIT, United College Employees-FIT, the Penn South Archives
Project, and countless FIT administrators, faculty, and staff.
Arranged and coached the participation of FIT students in the Queer Work research
seminar in three conferences/presentations: the Barnes Conference in Philadelphia
on March 23rd, 2024, the Shop Girls to Show Girls conference at FIT on April 12th,
and a presentation at FIT dedicated solely to the Queer Work project on May 17th.
Invited Lectures and Teaching Activities
Spoke on “Labor History and BIPOC Union Members” at the New York State United Teachers
Grants and Awards
With Rebecca Bauman and Amy Werbel, won a $182,444.00 grant from the National Endowment
for the Humanities to teach two week-long seminars on Italin American monuments to
college professors from around the country during the weeks of June 10th and June
17th.
Conferences
Spoke on “Labor History and BIPOC Union Members” at the New York State United Teachers
Community College Conference in Saratoga Springs, November 4th.
Presented a paper on hotelier E.M. Statler at the Business History Conference in Providence,
RI on March 15th.
YUNIYA KAWAMURA
Public Scholarships and Other Initiatives
March 2024 — Co-founded a charity project, “NY Close-Knits”, with Rhonda Navojosky,
an FIT alumna in Accessories Design. The project donates knitted and crocheted hats,
scarves, blankets, and teddy bears to hospitals and other nonprofit organizations,
both domestically and internationally. Hats and blankets have so far been hand-delivered
to The Bowery Mission, New York City’s oldest service organization for people struggling
with homelessness, and the SSNAP (Supporting Sick Newborn and Their Parents) Unit
at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, UK. Aside from being charitable, the endeavor
is also a sustainable one—finding a new use for yarn that would otherwise be discarded.
Invited Lectures and Teaching Activities
September 2023 – Invited to the “FIT Authors Talk” event organized by the FIT library
to talk about the third edition of Fashion-ology (Bloomsbury 2023) with a new subtitle, Fashion Studies in the Postmodern Digital Era, and two additional chapters on “The Diversification and Changing Landscapes in the
Fashion Systems”, and “Ecological and Social Sustainability in Fashion.”
Sep-Dec 2023 - Invited to teach a remote class “Communications of Fashion” to MA students
in the Fashion Design Program at the Graduate School of Design, The Polytechnic University
of Milan (POLIMI).
April 2024 - Invited to join a panel discussion with Frédéric Tcheng, a documentary
filmmaker of “Dior & I” (2014) and “Invisible Beauty” (2023), and Mitaali Katoch,
a doctoral student at the Oxford Brookes Business School, UK, to discuss the legitimacy
of using documentary films in academic fashion research. The event took place as part
of the 4th International Creative Industries Festival at Oxford Brookes University,
UK. Kawamura’s trip was funded by a multi-business investment company, CHARLESMATZ,
based in London and New York
April 2024 - Invited to give a presentation on “Globalization of Korean Hallyu and
Cool Japan: Past, Present, and Future” at the CET event with Vincent Quan, Assistant
Chair of the FBM Department.
