News and Events - History and Social Studies Education

Celebrating Students and Service

norrisma1 — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:47:20 +0000

Author:

Mary A. Durlak

Published Date:

May 6, 2013

The Volunteer and Service-Learning Center will hold its annual Celebration of Service awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 7, at 12:15 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 210.

Stephanie Zuckerman-Aviles, director of the Career Development Center where the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center is housed, will moderate the event. Hal Payne, vice president of student affairs, will welcome guests and the keynote speaker, Dove Russo, regional recruiter for the Peace Corps and current student in the master of public administration program.

“Celebration gives us the opportunity to recognize the dedication of so many Buffalo State students,” said Zuckerman-Aviles. “We are very pleased that so many faculty members have developed service-learning classes, and we are grateful to the community partners who enable us to provide such a valuable experiential learning opportunity to our students.”

The following student-awards will be given:

Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award for Community Service in a Service-Learning Course (15 hours or more of community service): Megan Jones
Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Community Service in a Service-Learning Course (15 hours or more of community service): Paige Decosse
Outstanding Service-Learning and Academic Learning Connection Award: Katherine Somerville
Outstanding Student Volunteer Award: Tina Rinaldi
Outstanding Community Work-Study Student Award: Paul Gabriellini
Outstanding AmeriCorps Peer Leader Award: Jasmine Milton

The following awards will recognize outstanding service-learning courses, the students enrolled in them, and the faculty:

Outstanding Service-Learning Course Award (14 hours or less of community service required): Robin Harris, associate professor of earth sciences and science education, and students enrolled in SCI 445/545 Literacy for Teaching Science

Harris will also receive the Outstanding Faculty Commitment to Service-Learning Award.
Outstanding Service-Learning Course Award (15 hours or more of community service required): Jill Gradwell, associate professor of history and social studies education, and students enrolled in MST/SSE 632 Teaching with Historic Places

The Buffalo State Rotaract Club (student rotary club), whose faculty adviser is Carol DeNysschen, associate professor of dietetics and nutrition, will receive the Outstanding Community Service by a Student Organization Award. The American Red Cross will receive the Outstanding Service-Learning Community Partner Award.

In addition, the students who took part in the alternative winter break and/or the alternative spring break will be recognized, as will students who completed at least 120 hours of service work.

More than 85 service-learning courses were offered in 2012–2013. Buffalo State has more than 200 community partners who benefit from, and contribute to, students’ educational experience.

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Museum Studies Program Exhibits Flexibility and Growth

norrisma1 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:10:08 +0000

Author:

Mary A. Durlak

Published Date:

February 28, 2013

“This internship is an amazing experience,” reported Laura Anzalone, a graduate student who is interning at the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia in Lisbon, Portugal. She is helping to create a database of objects from Bautus, an archaeological site. Anzalone is also assisting at the Geology Museum in Lisbon, and she couldn’t be happier.

“It’s so exciting to be part of the life of a museum,” she said. “Doctoral students are conducting research, conservationists are reconstructing old vessels, and curators are creating new exhibits for the public.” She applied to SUNY Buffalo State’s master’s program in museum studies after graduating from the University at Buffalo, where she pursued her passion for Mediterranean archaeology by studying both anthropology and the classics.

The museum studies program offers three tracks: collections management and curatorial practice; museum operations; and visitor experience and education. “We’re flexible enough to accommodate students’ different backgrounds and goals,” said Cynthia Conides, associate professor of history and social studies education and museum studies program coordinator. “We get a lot of inquiries from all over the world.” Alumni include students from Taiwan and Wales.

When Conides joined Buffalo State’s faculty, the college offered courses in museum studies, but no program existed. “Western New York has so many museums and art galleries, as well as many small collections and historical societies,” said Conides. “It seemed like a great opportunity for such a program, especially with the art conservation program and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.”

Conides was instrumental in starting an undergraduate minor and a graduate certificate program in museum studies at Buffalo State. “We had two or three graduate students ten years ago,” recalled Conides. “Since our master’s degree in museum studies launched in 2011, our total graduate enrollment has grown to about 30 students.”

The program is meeting a demand not just from students but from institutions. Students have interned at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Burchfield Penney Art Center, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, and the Science Museum. Many alumni have taken positions with these institutions; others are playing pivotal roles at small but growing museums, such as the Steel Plant Museum of Western New York, and at major institutions including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Students’ backgrounds include archaeology, chemistry, fine arts, and history. Master’s theses have researched topics such as analyses of museum visitors, Leonardo da Vinci’s two “Virgin of the Rocks” paintings, and the issue of returning artifacts to their country of origin.

In Lisbon, Anzalone is enjoying the opportunity to combine her interest in archaeology and museums while furthering her graduate studies. She said, “Someday I hope to manage collections and create memorable exhibits that may change someone's life, the way they did mine.”

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March 4, 2013

Graduate Curates Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Stories

norrisma1 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:45:19 +0000

Author:

Mary A. Durlak

Published Date:

January 17, 2013

He has no ties to Buffalo, no memories of the skies glowing red when Bethlehem dumped its slag into Lake Erie, no nostalgia for childhood trips downtown to see the Christmas windows in AM&A’s. Yet Spencer Morgan, ’12, has fallen in love with Buffalo. He sees it as a growing place with a bright future—partly because of its past, and partly because of its unique character that owes a lot to the city’s blue-collar roots.

“I think my love for history is genetic,” Morgan said as he conducted a tour through the Steel Plant Museum of Western New York. “My grandmother was in the historical society of Allegany, the town where I grew up. My parents are Civil War enthusiasts, so I spent a lot of my childhood on Civil War battlefields.”

Morgan is the curator of the museum, which recently moved to the Heritage Discovery Center, a building at 100 Lee Street that’s owned by the Western New York Railway Historical Society. The idea of a “heritage discovery center” is close to Morgan’s heart. “Museums show what ordinary people went through,” he said.

The museum’s current exhibit underlines Morgan’s point. From the baskets that once contained steelworkers’ personal items—they were hoisted to the ceiling and locked while the men worked—to the salt pills they took to replace salt lost while working near red-hot steel, visitors are connected to a way of life that made Western New York the steel-making capital of the world a mere 100 years ago. Images show steelworkers’ families tending garden plots owned by Bethlehem Steel and workers standing just a few feet away from molten steel inside the plant.

Spencer discovered his love of museums when he interned at the Barker Historical Museum as part of earning his bachelor’s degree in history at SUNY Fredonia. He applied to Buffalo State’s museum studies graduate program, where he completed an internship at the Steel Plant Museum.

Megan Hahin, a graduate student in the museum studies master’s program, has prepared a new exhibit, The Art of Steel as Seen through the Eyes of Norman Rockwell. It’s scheduled to open in April. “The exhibit will show rare prints of a series of paintings by Norman Rockwell,” said Morgan. The paintings were commissioned by the Sharon Steel Corporation in 1966 for a company booklet.

Morgan hopes that the paintings will “merge two muses”—the artistic muse and the muse that inspires him, a love for the history of ordinary people. “Art is the representation of people’s lives,” Morgan said. “Museums that feature public history let their collections tell the story of those lives directly.” To the extent that they succeed, Morgan believes, the community will support them. “We have to show relevancy,” he said. “The community has the power to decide our worth.”

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Insertion Date for Daily Bulletin Feature:

January 18, 2013

Faculty and Staff Recognition Ceremony: November 15

norrisma1 — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:03:01 +0000

Author:

Brian Kantz

Published Date:

November 13, 2012

A recognition ceremony to honor faculty and staff accomplishments will be held on Thursday, November 15, at 12:15 p.m. in Warren Enters Theatre.

The event will recognize Buffalo State recipients of Chancellor’s and President’s awards (see list below). In addition, all new faculty and staff members for fall 2011 will be welcomed to campus.

Download the ceremony program booklet (PDF).

The campus community is invited to participate in this inaugural recognition ceremony and to help launch this new tradition at Buffalo State. A reception will follow in the lobby of Bulger Communication Center.

The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service

Pamela M. Bohin, agency program aide in the Registrar’s Office

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities

Valentin E. Brimkov, professor of mathematics

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service

John L. DeNisco, interim chair and associate professor of business

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

Michael I. Niman, professor of communication

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service

Daniel C. Vélez, assistant to the vice president for student affairs

President’s Award for Excellence in Academic Advisement

Kelly G. Boos, assistant to the dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences

President’s Award for Excellence in Career Achievement for Faculty

Douglas P. Easton, professor of biology

President’s Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity

Ilya Y. Grinberg, professor of technology

President’s Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity

Kenneth J. Orosz, associate professor of history and social studies education

President’s Award for Excellence in Service to the College

A. Paul Reynolds, training team consultant with Computing and Technology Services

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November 14, 2012

American Identity in Transition Course Embraces the Year of the City

norrisma1 — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:43:01 +0000

Published Date:

October 18, 2012

By taking advantage of Buffalo State’s location, Misty Rodeheaver, assistant professor of history and social studies education, is giving her students first-hand experiences about the evolution of the American identity and the refugee experience in Western New York.

"Tying this course into Buffalo State’s Year of the City is something I’m really concerned with," Rodeheaver said. "These students are in Buffalo for school so they should really explore what the city has to offer."

"I never really thought about what my identity was or what it meant to be an American," said Brittany Vesper, a student in Rodeheaver's course. “Seeing the diversity at Buffalo State while learning about different cultural identities made me more aware of people's differences."

Besides learning about American culture and identity, the students will learn what the refugee experience is like.

"I didn't realize how many refugees come to Buffalo," Vesper said. "I sympathize with them more because of this class, and it’s great that Buffalo is bringing them in."

In the first service-learning project of the course, students will create a history kit that middle-school teachers can borrow from the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society to teach about refugees and the refugee experience. Rodeheaver said this helps the community and the Historical Society because many refugees settle in Buffalo.

In order to put the kits together, Rodeheaver split the class into groups. One group will research the difference between refugees and immigrants, the process of obtaining refugee status, the resettlement process, and what life is like as a refugee living in Buffalo.

A second group will gather and recreate tangible refugee artifacts, such as clothing and paperwork, which will help tell the refugee story. A third group will complete lesson plans to be included in the kit, along with supplemental materials such as films, handouts, and PowerPoint presentations.

"It's not just reading out of a book," Vesper said about the history kit. "The students using the history kit will learn more about refugees because it includes authentic lessons with the right research."

Students will also create a website to share observations and research on the cultural importance of food.

"Food has a different purpose for each of us," Rodeheaver said. "Certain foods have different sentimentalities, or you’re tied to them for different reasons."

The students can choose one of three projects to post onto the website. The first choice is to film a how-to video showing how to make a certain recipe. The second choice is to go to a new restaurant or order a dish they wouldn’t normally order and blog about their thoughts and experiences. The third choice is to research a food or an ingredient and explain its meaning and importance.

"Buffalo is very typical of lots of different areas around the world," Rodeheaver said. "Creating this website gives my students an opportunity to see what Buffalo has to offer as for cultural and ethnic cuisines."

Rodeheaver said that the projects will be completed by December. "They all combine nicely and show the beauty of Buffalo State and the Buffalo community."

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The First Step to Freedom

norrisma1 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:58:06 +0000

Author:

Laurie Kaiser

Published Date:

October 1, 2012

The traveling exhibition The First Step to Freedom: Abraham Lincoln’s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation comes to Buffalo State’s Burchfield Penney Art Center October 5 and 6.

The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, issued 150 years ago in the midst of the Civil War, is the only surviving copy of this document in Lincoln’s own handwriting. Lincoln donated it to the U.S. Sanitary Commission, which raffled the document at an Albany Army Relief Association Fair in 1864. It was later purchased by the New York State Legislature.

To mark the sesquicentennial of the proclamation, the New York State Museum has organized an exhibition that is traveling to eight cities across the state this fall, beginning September 21 with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City and ending at the New York State Museum in Albany November 9-10.

First Step to Freedom features historical background and interpretation of the proclamation. It also includes the manuscript of a speech the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote and delivered in New York City in September 1962 for the proclamation’s centennial.

The two documents, both in the collections of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education, will be displayed for the first time together to mark the 150th anniversary of one of American history’s defining moments. The First Step to Freedom exhibition was designed and developed by the New York State Museum using collections and images from the New York State Library and the New York State Archives.

State Education Commissioner John B. King co-authored the exhibit text with Khalil Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Harold Holzer, an award-winning Lincoln historian.

King noted that the documents stand as important markers in the path to freedom and equality for African-Americans and are among the state’s greatest treasures.

“America was born with the declaration that all men are created equal,” King said, “but it took almost 100 years after our nation’s founding—until President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union achieved victory, and the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were added to the U.S. Constitution—to begin to make that declaration a reality for people of African descent brought here as slaves.”

The Burchfield Penney Art Center hours are 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. October 5 and 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. October 6. Admission to the exhibition is free.

Learn more about the exhibition at http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/ep /.

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October 3, 2012

Scholarship Profile: Victoria Hahn, '13

norrisma1 — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:13:36 +0000

Published Date:

September 12, 2012

Zachary John Beveridge, '08, Scholarship Fund Recipient

By all accounts, Zachary Beveridge, '08, had the heart of a lion: strong, just, and caring. He loved life and he let it show.

After graduating from Buffalo State with a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in coaching, Beveridge returned to his hometown of Oakdale, Long Island, where he worked for Allstate Insurance Company. He then decided to apply to become an officer with the New York Police Department. Tragically, just two weeks after passing the department’s physical exam, he suffered a ruptured aortic aneurysm. He passed away on Easter Sunday 2011 at the age of 24.

To honor Zachary’s memory, his family and friends established the Zachary John Beveridge, ’08, Scholarship Fund to provide financial assistance for students with a declared major in either the Philosophy and Humanities Department or the History and Social Studies Education Department and demonstrated, ongoing involvement in community service. Three students have benefited from the scholarship so far. One is Victoria Hahn, a junior social studies education major from Blasdell, New York.

"Being a recipient of this award is an honor," said Hahn, who works two jobs during the academic year and a third during the summer to make her Buffalo State education a reality. "In a way, I feel as if I could be carrying on a part of Zachary’s legacy."

Read the full story at 1300elmwood.buffalostate.edu.

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September 13, 2012

In the News: Chesterton in Times on Paraguayan President's Ouster

norrisma1 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:56:42 +0000

Author:

Mary A. Durlak

Published Date:

June 26, 2012

Bridget Chesterton, assistant professor of history and social studies education, focuses her research on Latin America, with a particular emphasis on the countries of the Southern Cone, including Paraguay. The president of Paraguay was ousted earlier this month, in what Chesterton describes as a “parliamentary coup.” She shared her expertise with the New York Times in an article published on Tuesday, June 26.

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Insertion Date for Daily Bulletin Feature:

June 27, 2012