News & UpcomingEventsSpring 2010 BCC is committed to Diversity!CSIU director Charles Bordogna will head the college's steering committee for our forthcoming Diversity Plan! As an integral part of CSIU's ongoing commitment to diversity pedagogy and intercultural programming, the center will collaborate with myriad constituencies of the college community to see our mission realized.
The Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation CenterDirected by Professor Keith Chu, the PJR center will continue its dynamic programming with a Spring essay contest! The center will likewise continue to sponsor academic and artistic programs throughout the Spring, and a detailed schedule of events will be available shortly.Director Keith Chu also advises BCC’s new Peace Club!More info: kchu@bergen.edu.Global Speech Competition In April, CSIU will again host a global speech competition in which BCC students will present papers on a host of international issues, many of which speak to the UN's Millennium Development Goals. The competition is held annually and is coordinated by Prof. Jane Phelps of the Department of Communications. http://www.bergen.edu/documents/PR/events2010/Speech%20Competition%20Poster%202010.pdf
Seminar Series:Cosmopolitanism and the Community College ClassroomThis is a monthly faculty seminar coordinated by Dr. Jessica Datema and Professor Roya Kowsary, which focuses on the impact of cosmopolitanism--that more sophisticated and intercultural approach to multiculturalism that Kwame Anthony Appiah heralds as a more efficient means of fomenting intercultural understanding in an increasingly global community...and classroom. More information: jdatema@bergen.edu.
Intercultural Communications Research Database/”Web Library”This pedagogical resource was created to provide academic course materials to faculty members interested in integrating diverse texts into their syllabi. Created in the Spring of 2009 by Prof. Stacey Balkan, Prof. Tobyn DeMarco, Dr. Jessica Datema, Prof. David Eichenholtz, and Dr. Diane Krumrey, it now houses six annotated bibliographies in the areas of Literature, Philosophy, Women's Studies, International Business, Native American Studies, and the Psychological Effects of Poverty. We will be expanding this effort to include several additional academic departments; and we invite new contributions.
Cafe BergenProduced by Prof. Andew Krikun, Cafe Bergen is a multimedia and interdepartmental program that celebrates the diverse cultural productions of our global community. Cafe Bergen has historically participated in many of BCC's diversityprojects including Native American Heritage Week, Black History Month, and Women's History Month to name just a few!
Center for DialogueAfter several years of developing dialogue training and running many dialogues, CSIU's Dialogue Center, headed by Cristina Haedo, is scheduling regular dialogues. Examples include the November dialogue on Hispanic identity and the December dialogue on forgiveness--the latter was the theme of last year's Interfaith Month.The Hispanic Institute Under the guidance of Prof. Lillian Ostrander, the Hispanic Outreach Advisory Committee is working to address the needs of Hispanic students; to assist in recruitment and retention; and to reach out more effectively to the Hispanic community.
Intercultural Competency Corps Created by Annique Nestman, this body has been formed to expand cultural competency training on campus. Specific program details are forthcoming.
The Literary Arts Series Now in its eighth year of programming, the Literary Arts Series will join CSIU as it continues to celebrate the global literary community. LAS is co-chaired by Jessica Datema, Stacey Balkan, and Kelly Keane of the Division of English. Please join us in the Fall to welcomenovelist Joseph O'Neill, author of Netherland. www.bergen.edu/las Solving the Darfur Genocide: United Nations Interactive Learning Tool Based on a real mercy mission in 2007, students are assigned to draft a UN Resolution, conduct a Security Council meeting, and to recruit, mobilize, and manage the Darfur crisis facing massive human rights violations on the ground requiring multiple problem solving scenarios. Available in two learning modes: Powerpoint and via "Second Life" a simulation in real time. This video has already been approved by the United Nations as part of a NGO petition and authored by Dr. Amarjit Kaur and Professor Susan Baechtel.
Learning to End Hunger After their successful “Malaria Awareness” program and several correlative efforts toward fighting global hunger, Dr. Barbara Davis and Professor Mary Flannery are looking forward to presenting a paper entitled “An Interactive Session to Establish a Campus-Wide Hunger Program with Service Learning Opportunities" at the Connecting Classrooms and Communities Conference to be held at Raritan Valley Community College on April 9, 2010. The presentation will focus on s a campus wide World Hunger program and initiate an interactive program to develop a campus Hunger Program with co-curricular activities and service learning. The Millennium Development Goals CSIU is committed to programming that focuses on the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. MDG Goals include: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and empower women Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases Ensure environmental stability Pursue a global partnership for development
Model UN Club BCC’s Model UN Club, advised by Professor Paul Eckstein, is incorporating the MDG goals into its programs in various ways—students are developing position papers, participating in a national Model UN conference, etc.The conference will consist of a mock United Nations session, including General Assembly plenary sessions and committee meetings; and opening and closing sessions take place at the UN itself. In addition to the Millennium Development Goals being at the top of the plenary session agenda, we have also been assigned to committees concerned with sustainable development and the regulation of atomic energy on an international level.More info: peckstein@bergen.edu.
Past ProjectsSeptember 2009Native American Heritage Week Events Next Week!Monday 9.21 @ 1:40, A104 & Tuesday 9.22 @ 11am:Professor Robert Shotgun, Instructor of Native American Culture at Chief Dull Knife College, will address the campus. Mr. Shotgun will be accompanied by two students from the college, and will be speaking about life and the college experience on the reservation. This is an exciting opportunity for our students to examine their experience of community college life while learning about someone else’s.Monday 9.21 & Tuesday 9.22, various times, A104The Exiles, a film by Ken Mackenzie, will be screened on Monday @ 9:30am, 11am, and 3pm in A104, and on Tuesday @ 9:30, 1:40, and 3:10pm also in A104.Gritty, realistic and far ahead of its time (in a period when Hollywood films featured noble savages), the script for THE EXILES was created exclusively from recorded interviews with the participants and with their ongoing input during the shooting of the film. Native American writers and activists have long considered the film as one of first works of art to portray modern life honestly and as an important forerunner for the cultural renaissance of American Indian fiction, poetry, filmmaking and theater starting in the 1970s.Tuesday 9.22:Birds of Prey with Jennifer Pena @1pm in the student center.Luncheon in honor of Chief Dull Knife College @12:30, TEC128B. Space is limited. Please RSVP by Thursday 9.17 to Anne Marie Prendergast: aprendergast@bergen.eduWednesday 9.23:Drum and dancing with Red Storm Drum and Dance Troupe. Their first performance will be at 12:30pm in the student center, and there will be various performances throughout the day.Thursday 9.24:Grammy winning flutist Mary Youngblood, "First Lady of the Flute," will perform at 7pm in the Ciccone Theatre.October 2009Thursday October 8th:Professor Peter Balakian will address the campus. Prof. Balakian is a renowned novelist and poet, and his award winning memoir Black Dog of Fate succinctly chronicles the Armenian genocide. This has become a leitmotif of his work, and Prof. Balakian will present excerpts from his work and lead a discussion on like issues affecting the Armenian community locally and globally.Professor Balakian's visit is precipitated by the creation of a new center at BCC--The Center for Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation. The creation of this center, which will be directed by Professor Keith Chu of the department of History, catalyzes BCC's commitment to both intercultural understanding and more specifically to the promotion of local and global peace and justice.Specific details of the Balakian event TBA.Monday October 19th:Pulitzer Prise winning novelist Junot Diaz will present excerpts from his internationally renowned novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Diaz, who is also a professor of creative writing at MIT, will hold two seperate discussions with our student body in the Ciccone Theatre, and professors are encouraged to bring their students and to teach the novel as well as selections from Drown, a collection of shorter prose. The Literary Arts Series (LAS)will be disseminating pedagogical materials before the event. Primary and secondary texts will be available both in our library and electronically via the LAS web site; and discussion questions for faculty instruction will likewise be available on the site. www.bergen.edu/lasThis program has been made possible by the Office of Student Life, the Latino Heritage Week Committee, the Literary Arts Series, and CSIU. Specific information TBA.NovemberA special presentation by Dr. Jon Yasin on Hip-Hop as a form of communicating valuesA special presentation and poetry workshop by poet Martin Espada, arranged by Professor Stacey BalkanA college-wide speech competition on topics from the Millennium Development Goals, run by Professor Jane PhelpsA Diversity Seminar on Human Rights, Citizenship, and Liberal Education, involving twenty faculty members, directed by Dr. Diane KrumreyA course in Cultural Competency for Police, created by Professor Rich KuitersThe Conversations Cafe dialogue sessions, run by Professor Cristina HaedoProfessor Michael Lees' Religions of the World forumsThe Golden Rule dialogue sessionThe initial programs of the Peace, Justice, and ReconciliationCenter, directed by Dr. Keith ChuThe Intercultural Communication Trainer Corps, directed by Annique NestmannCafe Bergen special music for Native American Week, planned by Professor Andrew KrikunOctober 17-19, Stand Up and Take Action! - a part of the global movement to stamp out extreme world povertyAdditional Past Programs...“About Face: Turning Away from Hate” kioskPeace Workshops including the "Golden Rule Dialogue Workshop"Co-Curricular ProgramsCSIU supports the Heritage Week events planned by the Office of Student Life. To encourage faculty application of these events in their teaching, CSIU offers stipendsfor initiatives that link co-curricular events and classroom instruction. Faculty members are encouraged to plan ways to incorporate the event or artistwith classroom instruction. They are also encouraged to have their classes attend the events to enhance the goals of the currciulum and courses. CSIU is eager to brainstorm with professors to explore how co-curricular events can complement their instruction. This would involve setting specific learning objectives and measuring the results. CSIU also encourages collaborative efforts among professors to facilitate the integration of activities into classes to enrich instruction.In the fall of 2008, CSIUsponsored the poet Martin Espada, who came to the college to give a presentation and to work with students.Internationally acclaimed poet and essayist martin Espada read from his award-winning poetry collection, The Republic of Poetry, On Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 6 p.m. in the Anna maria Ciccone Theatre. This program was co-sponsored by Latino Heritage Week and the Office of Student Life.
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