Author: Bree Zuckerman

In the Spotlight: HMGT4997 – Wine of the New World

In Profs. Karen Goodlad and Robert Dagorn’s course, students are learning about the art and science of wine making, blending, and tasting.  They have recently made two visits to Red Hook Winery, where they were able to take part in the wine-making process and create their own blends to pair with a particular meal.  You can view photos and read their reflections on this visit and the excellent hands-on experience they gained.  If you’re lucky enough to visit the Janet Lefler Dining Room at the right time, you’ll be able to taste their blends!

In the Spotlight: Biology Open Educational Resources

(Image credit)

This site, developed as a collaboration between the Library and the Biological Sciences Department and maintained by Prof. Jeremy Seto, contains many wonderfully rich Open Educational Resources (OERs) for students of biology at City Tech (and beyond!).  OERs are materials for teaching and learning that are not licensed under copyright and thus able to be freely accessed and shared.  (For more information, see the library’s great guide to OERs).  The Biology OER contains textual and multimedia resources organized by topic, including descriptions, images, and videos of different biological processes, research tools, and class activities.  Take a look and enjoy this excellent resource!

 

In the Spotlight: ENG 2720: Writing with New Media

Students in Prof. Jill Belli’s Writing with New Media course are considering the ways in which writing practices have been affected by digital spaces.  The course site is very active, with lots of great discussion.  Students have been posting and commenting on Prezi presentations they created about different types of social media.  Coming up next, they’ll be posting internet memes, and reflecting on a recent visit to the Museum of the Moving Image to see the exhibit “How Cats Took Over the Internet.”  They also recently had a visit from some of The Buzz bloggers, including a great follow-up virtual discussion.  Check out their work!

In the Spotlight: LIB/ARCH 2205 – Learning Places

Learning Places is an interdisciplinary course, taught by Profs. Anne Leonard (Library) and Jason Montgomery (Architecture).  Students have been reading, writing, and thinking about the future of Wikipedia, in preparation for an upcoming assignment in which they will choose a Wikipedia article to edit or create, related to the NYC locations they’re studying.  They’ve also added their reflections and site reports about a recent visit to nearby Vinegar Hill and Farragut Houses.  Take a look through this dynamic and well-organized course site!

In the Spotlight: ARTH2101 Healing the Body

Healing the Body is a new interdisciplinary course co-taught by Profs. Sandra Cheng (Art History), Gwen Cohen Brown (Dental Hygiene), and Aida Egües (Nursing).  Students have been analyzing images they’ve chosen from an online database of images about the history of medicine. For their next blogging assignment, they’ll be reflecting on artist Carrie Mae Weems’ ideas and work on race, appropriation, and photography. Check out this excellent course site, and the interesting work students are doing on it!

In the Spotlight: COMD 1167 – Type & Media

Type & Media

Prof. Mary Brown’s students have been blogging about typography by observing, photographing, and writing about examples they have come across in their neighborhoods.  The course site also uses the new theme Twenty Fifteen, with nicely-designed custom backgrounds, and has helpful videos, handouts, and other information on typography.  Check it out — you may think about your corner bodega’s kerning in a new way!

In the Spotlight: Pre-Dental Society NYCCT

This club site is clean and well-structured, and members have been actively writing, with regular posts that include helpful information about dentistry and dental school.  It’s also easy to find out more about what the club does and how to contact them.  Take a look!

In the Spotlight: Thomas Ahrens International Work/Study Programs – Paris

paris2015

A group of Hospitality Management students is participating in an exchange program with students from Universite d’Evry in Paris for the month of June.  They’re taking turns writing “Paris Correspondent” blog posts reflecting on their activities each day, including plenty of photographs!  It looks like a great experience, and we’re happy they’re sharing it with the OpenLab community and beyond!

In the Spotlight: CUE Conference with “The Buzz”

Brianna Vasquez, a student blogger for The Buzz, has written a wonderful post about her experience writing for The Buzz and presenting on it at the CUNY CUE Conference.  As Scott Henkle writes about the conference, “Brianna remained her charming self, speaking knowledgeably and well about her role on the team, and our presentation wouldn’t have been the same without her.”  She also baked an incredible cake (pictured above) for the occasion, which we all got to sample!

Brianna’s thoughts about community on the OpenLab touch on one of the central purposes of the platform, the creation of a virtual space where all members of the City Tech community can come together in a way that doesn’t always get to happen as much as we’d like on City Tech’s physical campus.

In the Spotlight: Exploring Quantitative Reasoning

Created by Quantitative Reasoning Fellow, Yoonhee Kang, as a part of the Math Department’s Quantitative Reasoning (QR) program, this site features many great resources on QR and offers a space where those interested in QR can share and discuss ideas.  The site is well-designed, and contains information on QR, workshops for students, posts on QR in everyday life and various professions, and videos about QR.  Take a look!