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Drew University The Gateway Messenger Volume 8, Issue 4 for Wednesday, 16 April 2014
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TOO BIG: Money, Debt, Access, and Opportunity
Nationally-known director helps Drew students produce an original play that explores young adult issues.
Barbara Pitts McAdams, from Tectonic Theater Company, is bringing her Laramie Project expertise to help seniors produce an original show on campus.Madison, NJ – Finding a job, paying for college, coping with debt – these are all topics that weigh heavily on the minds of college students, so much so, they can become TOO BIG.
TOO BIG is the theme of a national performance project created by Associate Professor Lisa Brenner and Drew is one of four universities nationwide exploring that theme with an original play. www.toobigproject.com Drew’s Theatre and Dance Departments will perform TOO BIG from April 24-26 at the Kirby Shakespeare Theatre. The first two shows are at 7 p.m. and the Saturday performance is at 2 p.m.
The play is satirical, serious and funny in parts and takes on social media, student debt, selfies, the generation gap and includes original music played on a ukulele.
The play features original songs and choreographed dance numbers by Drew students created as part of their senior Capstone projects. The play was written by Brenner and is Directed by Tectonic Theater Company member Barbara Pitts McAdams. McAdams is a professional director and part of the original theater company that produced The Laramie Project.
“Each project creates an environment to discover things about yourself,” said Professor McAdams. I hope the audience is first and foremost entertained and invested in the characters we’ve created and the way we’ve chosen to tell the story.”
For more than six months, Drew students majoring in Theatre, Dance and Sociology, collaborated to put on the play, which explores issues facing the Millennial generations – including how to pay for college and find a job after graduation. The students studied interviewing skills and surveyed their classmates about topics that stress and overburden them – all of which has been incorporated into the play.
The tagline is: TOO BIG: An original play about Millennials’ take on money, debt, access, and opportunity.
“We’re talking about Millennials and their place in the world, the economy and how it’s affecting the Millennials,” said Courtney Cooke, a senior and member of Drew’s Dramatic Society. “We wanted to really immerse people into the story. There’s something in the show to connect to everyone. It’s such a relevant topic.”
“It impacts us directly no matter what our background is,” said Senior Cassidy Nogueira. “It’s a problem that seems too big, but the more information you have, the better you can battle it.”
“We want to activate people, to give the younger generation a greater understanding of what’s going on,” said Professor Brenner. Brenner said the play explores the theme of the transition from childhood to maturity and from camaraderie to competition– symbolized in the production by two popular book series’ – Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.
Funding for the project was underwritten, in part, by an Andrew W. Mellon grant.
The students plan to invite high school students to watch and get a head start on the issues they will be facing in the future, said Senior Cassidy Nogueira.
Admission to the shows is free. Talkback with community organizations will follow the performances.
Palestinian Textiles Showcased Korn Gallery Textile Exhibit Showcases Palestinian Craftsmanship
Art History students curate a Korn Gallery exhibition of textiles from the collection of President Bull and her late husband, Robert J. Bull.
It started with a shopping trip at a Jerusalem market in 1957 and the purchase of a metal tray that was a gift for her future mother-in-law.Over the years, President Vivian A. Bull and her late husband, Robert J. Bull, also collected hand-crafted textiles, ethnic gowns, jewelry and other items from their travels and scholarly work in the Middle East.
Now, many of those treasures have been put on display at Drew’s Korn Gallery. The Palestinian Textile exhibit opened March 24 and will be on display for one month. The opening reception is April 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The textile pieces have elaborate patterns made of rich colors—reds, greens, browns, oranges and yellows. The hand-sewn embroidery depicts flowers, vines, animals, patterns and Cypress trees that reflect different villages and regions. Many date back to the early 20th century.
The textile exhibit was curated by art history students in a class titled Islamic Art under the direction of Professor Rita Keane and Korn Gallery Coordinator Gabriele Hiltl-Cohen.
“I’m just delighted,” says President Bull. “They have done a marvelous exhibit both in interpretation and installation. I am very proud of the students.”
The students were divided into two teams—the Education team and the Installation team. They education team researched the objects and the areas where the textiles came from, while the Installation team prepared the display cards and discussed ways of grouping the materials, discussing size, pattern and color.
They also read materials on how museums represent culture and studied previous exhibits of the textiles as part of their course work.
“It’s such a different exhibit for the gallery. There’s a lot to think about,” says junior Kether Tomkins. “You could tell they were really personal objects.”
The collection includes the metal serving tray from Jerusalem, a man’s cloak—or abayeh, dresses from the regions around Ramallah and Jenin and Bedouin sites, carnelian jewelry and decorative embroidered pillowcases that held a bride’s dowry.
President Bull noted that the items were not simply display pieces: the
dresses were worn by their original owners and the elaborately
embroidered panels could be removed and re-sewn into new gowns as fabric deteriorated or to accommodate a woman’s changing size
The colorful pieces are striking against the white walls of the gallery and visitors can view them up close and see the detailed hand-stitched embroidery.
“It’s really exciting,” says junior Kate Fisher. “In our career path, we wouldn’t be able to do this until we were in an actual job. It’s physically a piece of history, a piece of people’s lives.”
Though the items have been displayed in other galleries, President Bull said it is the first time they are being exhibited at Drew.
There are also two lectures scheduled on campus that relate to the exhibit:
Hanan Munayyer, an author and co-founder of the Palestinian Heritage Foundation, will speak on “The Origins of Palestinian Embroidery” on April 3 at 4 p.m.
Anna Badkhen, author and war correspondent, will speak on “Weaving Stories from the Global South” on April 10 at 4 p.m., with support from the Women and Gender Studies Visiting Scholar Fund.
The Korn Gallery is open from Tuesdays through Fridays from 12:30 to 4 p.m., select weekends and by appointment. For more information, please call 973-408-3758 or email: korngallery@drew.edu. —Liz Moore
Drew Poet Honored
Gerald Stern, Drew's Distinguished Poet-in-Residence, receives the Frost Medal from Poetry Society of America in recognition of his lifetime achievement.Gerald Stern Receives Accolades from Poetry Society of America
When the Poetry Society of America meets in New York City – it will be awarding its top prize, the Frost Medal, to Gerald Stern, Drew’s Distinguished Poet-in-Residence.Stern has been awarded the most prestigious prize from the nations’ oldest poetry organization, for a distinguished lifetime achievement in poetry. With the honor, he will be joining the impressive ranks of past recipients including Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Gwendolyn Brooks and Allen Ginsberg.
“This is a big one,” admits Stern, who often writes at his home near the Delaware River. He said he is looking forward to the annual national gathering of poets who will attend, along with Drew representatives, and will be giving a 15 or 20-minute presentation of his own works.
“This is very special,” he says. “This, I am delighted in.”
Stern, who is in his 80s, has won numerous prizes and remains a prolific producer of poetry. He published two books in 2012 and says he is planning on releasing another book this fall.
“We are thrilled at the announcement that Stern has been awarded the academy’s highest honor for an American poet. Stern—or “Jerry” as he is known to all the MFA students—is not just one of America’s most acclaimed poets, but is a beloved and gifted teacher here at Drew,” says Sean Nevin, director of Drew’s MFA in Poetry and Poetry in Translation program. “He has been called an “American original” for his ability to move us from the conversational “I” in his poetry across history, religion and humanity with a uniquely intimate and necessary voice.”
Stern, a former Poet Laureate of New Jersey, is the winner of many distinguished awards—including a National Book Award, the Wallace Stevens Award, induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and accolades from the Paris Review, Poetry and American Poetry Review. Stern was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1991. –Liz Moore
Drew in the News
•Jim O'Kane's new book 'Jefferson Avenue' Presents 1950s Bedford Stuyvesant
James O'Kane's New Book 'Jefferson Avenue' Presents 1950s Bedford Stuyvesant: The Gangs, Lives, Loves and Humor
In his new book, 'Jefferson Avenue', James O’Kane brings the ’50s neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Bedford-stuyvesant to life. He depicts gypsies, pedophiles, early feminists, and weekend shows at the Monroe theater.
http://youtu.be/cXFNkZrijr4
Jefferson Avenue, a book by James O'Kane
The inspiration for writing Jefferson Avenue was to preserve an era gone by, and O’Kane does so lovingly but realistically. Readers see the often harsh realities of mixing ethnic cultures that were at first slow to trust each other.
Madison, New Jersey (PRWEB) March 26, 2014
In his new memoir, Jefferson Avenue: Stories from a Brooklyn Boyhood, 1941-1958, Dr. James O’Kane reveals the boyhood that launched a life in criminology. His career has spanned four books, fifty articles, and forty years of teaching Drew University students in the classroom and on the streets of New York City.O’Kane, a sociologist whose previous book was Wicked Deeds: Murder in America, is also known for his work in ethnic studies and urban problems. His passion was fueled as he came of age on the gang-ridden streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant during times that were both politically incorrect and colorful in a way he’s never been able to recapture living in suburbia. Old habits die hard, though, and he writes:
"Even where I live in affluent, safe Madison, New Jersey, I often lock my front door as I bring out the garbage since I never know who might break in and jump me. Paranoia lingers."
Jefferson Avenue is a story that chronicles and celebrates a life and an era. It follows O’Kane’s family’s emigration from Ireland; his father’s death from tuberculosis at thirty-eight; the tough endurance of his mother, Tilly, who raised three children in apartments on Jefferson Avenue and other nearby streets; and the moral guidance provided by the priests of Our Lady of Good Counsel parish.
O’Kane brings the ’50s neighborhoods to life. He depicts gypsies, pedophiles, early feminists, and weekend shows at the Monroe theater. He shows readers an age in which gangsters controlled city streets and children were sent to fetch a jar of ale from the local gin mill.
The inspiration for writing Jefferson Avenue was to preserve an era gone by, and O’Kane does so lovingly but realistically. Readers see the often harsh realities of mixing ethnic cultures that were at first slow to trust each other:
"The Italians had arrived on the block in the late 1940s. As these newcomers moved in, many old-timers believed that they would be murdered in their beds, with their throats slit with that most popular Italian weapon —the stiletto. One had best sleep lightly so as to avoid falling prey to a Sicilian assassin! The next wave comprised the blacks, or African Americans, as they are currently called. As they arrived on Jefferson Avenue, new fears emerged as the Irish, Germans, Jews, and their new comrades, the Italians, convinced themselves that this new group would murder them with their preferred weapon of choice — the switchblade knife.
"Of course, we youngsters eventually realized that no one had actually been sliced, stabbed, or hacked by anyone else, and we gradually acclimated to each other."
But O’Kane employs humor as well. Readers meet a host of interesting people, including Moose, the teen who pretended to be mentally disabled to avoid being lynched by a gang. They also get a lesson in carbohydrates as a young O’Kane mused on how long it took one of his Italian friends to eat dinner with his family:
"How could anyone eat that much spaghetti and avoid life’s most gratifying food, the magnificent, all-purpose potato?"
Dr. James Gray of American University writes, "In the pages of this book the old will remember and the young will learn.” And Andrew Baron, a New Jersey attorney whose career was inspired by O’Kane’s teaching, calls Jefferson Avenue a “folksy and fascinating story”.
“With almost thirty years of experience in a variety of legal roles, I still rely on humane lessons learned while sitting on the edge of my seat in Dr. O'Kane's classroom at Drew University,” Baron said. “They remind me that defendants, police, and probation officers are also individuals entitled to the respect and decency that all of us deserve in the criminal justice system.”
Jefferson Avenue: Stories from a Brooklyn Boyhood, 1941-1958, will be released in paperback in March 2014 and can be purchased at Amazon. Look for it in eBook format soon.
If you'd like more information, or to schedule an interview with James O’Kane, contact him through his press page at http://www.jim-okane.com.
•Drew University to host Rwanda genocide survivor
Madison university to host Rwanda genocide survivor
MADISON – Twenty years ago, Eugenie Mukeshimana was a wife and a mother-to-be who had studied accounting in high school and lived in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city.
Today she is a survivor of genocide, and more -- an advocate for other survivors and the support they need in the struggle to rebuild their lives and their society.
In 1994, when she was pregnant with her daughter, Mukeshimana’s life turned upside-down. An ethnic Tutsi, she and her husband went into hiding to stay alive as Hutu extremists began a campaign of genocide that would eventually claim a million lives.When it was over, Mikeshimana and her daughter survived, but she lost her husband, father, sister and many other family members.
Over the years, Mukeshimana worked to rebuild her life and came to the United States in 2001, attending college -- and founding the Genocide Survivors Support Network.
A resident of New Jersey, she travels around the United States to educate people about the genocide in Rwanda and serves as executive director of the support network.
‘Back From Abyss’
Drew University will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda with a program featuring Mukeshimana as the guest speaker at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, at Crawford Hall in the Ehinger Center on the campus at 36 Madison Ave.
Her talk will be “Twenty Years after the Genocide in Rwanda: A Survivor Reflects on the Journey Back from the Abyss.”
The program is co-sponsored by the Drew University Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study and the Pan-African Studies Program.
“The 20th century was a century of genocides, beginning with the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks in 1915 and ending with the genocide in Rwanda,” said Ann Saltzman, director of the Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study. “It is essential that we learn from each genocidal ‘episode,’ with hopes that we will be able to detect genocide before it occurs and then prevent another one from occurring.”
Saltzman added, “We also need to understand what happens to a society after the genocide is over. We are fortunate to have Eugenie Mukeshimana speak with us about not only her own experience, but the experience of others who are still struggling with the genocide’s aftermath.
“It is imperative that we understand that genocide is never really over."
Mukeshimana will share stories of her personal experience and also talk about the emotional, legal and socio-political hurdles survivors face in the wake of genocide.
The talk is free and open to the public, but registration is requested. To register or for information, email Yasmin Acosta at Drew’s Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study at: yacosta@drew.edu.
Holocaust Center
For the past two decades, the Drew University Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study has served as one of northern New Jersey’s leading providers of public education about the Holocaust and genocides in Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur and Rwanda.
A nonprofit and self-supporting entity on the Drew campus, the center invites membership and donations.
For information about the center and its programs, call (973) 408-3600 or email ctrholst@drew.edu.
•INTO NY at Drew
Drew and INTO University partnerships form joint venture to enrich international learning experience
Drew University and INTO University Partnerships announced a joint venture to support and enhance international education on campus and greatly expand learning opportunities for international and domestic students. The partnership, formed under the name INTO New York at Drew University, will support Drew’s strategic internationalization goals in several ways:
· Grow and diversify the international student population on campus;
· Establish international educational programs and support services that will expand all students’ social, global and professional engagement; and
· Further build the university’s global reach and reputation.
INTO partners with leading universities in the United States, United Kingdom and Asia to advance each institution’s comprehensive internationalization efforts and expand their global reach and impact. The joint venture with Drew reflects INTO’s commitment to improve global access to quality higher education and to provide students with an increasing breadth of study options.
The partnership comes at a time when record numbers of international students are studying in the United States with more than 800,000 students enrolled in academic year 2012-2013, according to the Institute of International Education. Through INTO’s extensive global recruitment network across 75 countries, the partnership plans to seize this opportunity and grow Drew University’s international student population at an optimal rate. The first cohort of students at INTO New York at Drew University will enroll in academic year 2014-2015.
The INTO New York at Drew University model is unique in that it leverages Drew’s distinctive qualities as a supportive liberal arts institution, offering a small-school environment with a big-world experience less than an hour from midtown Manhattan. Drew’s promise, “We Deliver Full-Impact Learning to the World,” melds a challenging academic curriculum, a global learning culture and extensive New York City experiential opportunities, all of which enable a student’s greatest success.
“The INTO partnership is an exciting venture for the Drew community and helps us build on our longstanding international programs at home and abroad, including launching the first United Nations Semester in the country in 1962,” said Drew President Vivian A. Bull. “Inviting more international undergraduates to join the Drew community offers the rest of the student body the opportunity to learn with, and from, their global peers, giving them an advantage in a highly connected world.”
INTO New York at Drew University will offer international students a unique program in which they complete the first two years of undergraduate academic and English language coursework at Drew. Upon successful completion, students will then be eligible to complete the remaining two years of a degree program at Drew or they may choose to finish their degree at a number of well-known institutions in the New York metropolitan area.
An INTO partnership transforms a campus through broad engagement of the entire university community by creating opportunities for faculty and staff, enhancing the educational experience for domestic students and improving outcomes for international students. Drew University will retain control of all academic aspects of the partnership and its brand.
“Comprehensive internationalization cannot be a ‘one size fits all’ effort. One of the great advantages of the U.S. higher education system is that it is a rich tapestry of models and structures,” said John Sykes, Group Managing Director, INTO University Partnerships. “Smaller, private, well-established liberal arts institutions like Drew have much to offer international students, but may not have the resources to reach them. We are excited to introduce this unique study option to prospective international students while investing in Drew’s efforts to foster global perspectives through comprehensive internationalization.”
Drew University joins other successful INTO partnerships in North America, including Oregon State University, University of South Florida, Colorado State University, Marshall University and George Mason University. Since 2006, INTO has successfully launched partnerships with 19 universities around the world.
For more information about Drew University, please visit www.drew.edu or follow the university @DrewUniversity. More information on INTO University Partnerships can be found at http://www.into-corporate.com or follow INTO @INTOnetwork.
About Drew University
Drew University is a private, liberal arts university located in Madison, N.J., just 29 miles west of New York City. Ranked among the top liberal arts institutions nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes and Washington Monthly, Drew is also listed in Princeton Review’s Best 378 Colleges. The Drew promise—We Deliver Full-Impact Learning to the World—emphasizes the university’s commitment to borderless education that enables a student’s greatest success in a globally connected world. Drew has a total student enrollment of more than 2,000 in three schools: The College of Liberal Arts, the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies and the Drew Theological School. The undergraduate program offers degrees in 30 different disciplines, while Caspersen and the Theological School offer degrees at the masters of arts and doctorate levels.
About INTO University Partnerships
Universities partner with INTO to advance their ambitious comprehensive internationalization agendas. INTO’s deeply embedded joint ventures create a globally diverse and integrated campus, improve the overall student experience, and increase international students’ access to higher education. Through INTO’s resources and expertise, institutions expand their ability to create highly supportive academic environments, establish state-of-the-art learning and living spaces and deliver university-designed programs. Since 2006, INTO has established partnerships with 19 universities in the UK, the US and China. These partnerships have helped more than 7,500 international students from over 100 countries begin their academic studies at partner institutions in North America, including Oregon State University, the University of South Florida, Colorado State University, Marshall University and George Mason University.
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In the Spotlight
Drew alumni are newsworthy!Kevin Murphy '89, Greg Cooper '10 and Jennifer Velez '87 made headlines recently for their work on Broadway, with the Land Conservancy of New Jersey, and as the #1 healthcare power player in the state. Upcoming Events | View Full Events Calendar
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Inside the Gate
4/16 20 Years after the Genocide in Rwanda
4/16 Shilpa Raval Memorial Lecture: Women's Private Letters from Greek & Roman Egypt
4/24 Civic Engagement Awards & Showcase
4/25 Introducing Change in Church4/26 Annual Rugby Student vs. Alumni Games
4/26 Fern Fest
4/26 Drew Chorale, Choral Union, & Festival Orchestra: Mozart Requiem
5/2 Korn Gallery: Senior Thesis Exhibition
5/4 Arts & Letters Salon
5/17 Commencement 2014
through 5/29 Collecting Byron: An Exhibition
5/30-31 Reunion 2014
5/31 celebratedrew: The Campaign Dinner
Outside the Gate
5/1 Wall Street Semester Reception
5/18-22 Drew Chorale Tour
6/9 Blue & Green Golf Outing
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Office of University Advancement
Alumni House
Drew University
Madison, NJ 07940 United States
(973) 408-3229 alumni@drew.edu
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