Category Archives: Introductions

Getting to know Professor Belli :)

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I’m an Assistant Professor of English at New York City College of Technology, CUNY (City University of New York) and Co-Director of the OpenLab, the college’s open-source digital platform for teaching, learning, and collaborating. One of my favorite things to do here a the college is to teach courses on science fiction, utopias, dystopias! One of the most recent science fiction book I read is Station Eleven, a heart-wrenching post-apocalyptic narrative that I really enjoyed.

I’m also a founding member of the Writing Studies Tree, an online, open-access, interactive academic genealogy for the field of writing studies, and serve on the Steering Committee, the Teaching Committee, and as the web developer for the North American Society for Utopian Studies (utopias/dystopias overlap quite a bit with science fiction, an intersection we’ll be discussing throughout the semester!).

I stumbled upon this cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was delighted to see its name almost mine (close enough!). In Russian, it means "once upon a time" ...

I stumbled upon this cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was delighted to see its name almost mine (close enough!). In Russian, it means “once upon a time” …

I earned my Ph.D. from The Graduate Center, CUNY, and my current research interests are in utopian studies, happiness studies/positive psychology, writing studies, digital humanities, American studies, and education/pedagogy (feel free to ask me what any of these areas are!).

I played ice hockey in college (right wing), and have played the violin since I was two years old (and have played with the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, though I’m taking a break at the moment to focus more on my scholarship). I practice yoga pretty regularly, love Thai food (the spicier the better!), kale, & tzatziki, and adore watching old sitcoms from the 70s and 80s (some of my favorites are Maude, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, Soap, All in the Family, The Golden Girls (I’m even writing a book chapter on this show!), The Facts of Life, & Family Ties).

I also really enjoy traveling: two summers ago (when that photo above is from) I spent five weeks wandering abroad, in Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, and Switzerland, and spent much of this past Winter Break in Thailand … what amazing experiences!

I look forward your reading your Introductions and getting to know you, first virtually and then in person, as the semester progresses, and to discussing all-things-science-fiction together over the coming months! :)

Creating your “Introduction” Post

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“Introduction” Posts (HW for W 2/1)
In order to start exploring the site, getting comfortable with posting/adding media (blogging), practicing reflective writing, and getting to know one another, please make sure to create an initial post that introduces yourself to the class.

*This Introductory Post is due no later than Wednesday, February 1st @11:59pm, but I encourage you make this initial post as soon as possible to become comfortable with OpenLab and to give others a chance to learn a bit about you).

Content of Posts
Tell us a bit about yourself … what are your interests, hobbies, desires? Current job or internship? Career goals? What did you do over summer break (and what do you plan to do over the upcoming winter break)? Share some photos of you (you can either pull a photo from the web if you have one up there, upload one from your computer, or … you can even take one with your smartphone right now!) and your family, friends, neighborhood, etc. Practice adding a link and maybe even a video to your post too.

At the end of your post, please address (in at least a paragraph) the following questions (not necessarily in this order):

  • What your strengths & weaknesses as a writer, reader, & thinker?
  • What do you enjoy/dislike most about writing, reading, & (critical) thinking?
  • What is your background with using OpenLab & technology more generally (it’s OK if you don’t have any!)?
  • What’s your experience with (and interest in) Science Fiction? Favorite books, short stories, movies, TV shows, games?
  • How do you see Science Fiction connecting with your major and career interests (&/or personal interests/hobbies)?
  • What are your expectations for this course/semester (what you think you will learn and what you hope you will learn)? Any questions? Some of you had some great points and questions about science fiction today, so feel free to ask stuff like that here. Maybe your classmates will weigh in and give their thoughts on your questions.

Categorizing/Commenting on Posts
Don’t forget to categorize your post as “Introductions” (and uncheck “Uncategorized” if it is checked already by default). If you forget to do so before you “publish” you post, you can go back and edit/update it after the fact.

I made an Introductory post about myself (if I’m asking you to share some of your personality/background with the class, it’s only fair that I do the same!), so you can get to know me a bit better as well and also so you get a sense of what this type of post might look like/include.  Browse through everyone’s posts (if you choose the “Introductions” category for the right side of the homepage, you will be taken to all of these posts) and drop comments to get some conversation going and start building our class community for the semester!