Category: Info&Events

In the Spotlight: City Tech Writer

April is National Poetry Month, so in its honor, we shine the spotlight on City Tech Writer (CTW), City Tech’s interdisciplinary journal of student writing.

You might enjoy reading some CTW Collage poetry, or find inspiration on the City Tech Writer OpenLab site to write your own poems. In fact, this year CTW is running a creative writing contest (new deadline: April 15th, 2024) for students to respond to any entry from last year’s edition of City Tech Writer in the following categories:

  • Poetry
  • Fiction
  • Visual Arts (short films and/or comics)
  • Writing About Anti-AAPI Discrimination (700-800 words max)
  • Flash fiction (100 words max)
  • Drama
  • Personal Essay

You can view CTW‘s slideshow to learn more about the writing contest as well. To get into the mood, check out this video of a round table discussion featuring several of the writers from the 2023 issue, discussing the process of revising and reworking their pieces:

Also notice the Writing About Anti-AAPI Discriminiation category. This category is directly tied to May’s AAPI Heritage month–that’s when this category’s winners and all other winning pieces will be published in CTW. The contest is part of an anti-hate initiative. For the category Writing About AAPI Discrimination, contest judges are looking for short reflections from AAPI students responding to the essay and accompanying documentary “Many Years After,” found in the 2022 volume of City Tech writer.

Happy writing–and reading, viewing, and thinking–and good luck!

In the Spotlight: Plan Week Spring 2024

Plan week is here! That means that from March 19 through March 26th, you can take part in Plan Week activities to prepare for advisement and registration for next semester, to ensure you are taking the right courses and asking the right questions to stay on the path to graduation and achieving your future goals.

The Plan Week website has all the information you need to take part and take advantage of all that the week has to offer. There’s also information about how students can enter to win prizes!

On the Plan Week website, you’ll find information about each day in the week, its events, and what to focus on information to help students plan for their next steps at City Tech. Here is the abbreviated list of day-by-day goals–be sure to check out the website for more details:

As you develop your PLAN, remember that you can use the OpenLab to get a preview of the courses you’re interested in registering for, and to develop a better sense of what students are doing as they progress in your major and move toward graduation and their careers. You can use the filters to find courses in particular departments, look at portfolios made by students in your major, see projects related to your studies, and join a club connected to your interests.

Take full advantage of in these events and resources, and happy Planning!

Photo credit: “Lunar Eclipse” by David Yu via Flickr under the license CC BY-NC 2.0 Deed.

In the Spotlight: BIPOC IN DESIGN

Black background with yellow design and BIPOC in grey stylized type
Black background with yellow designs and BIPOC in grey stylized type

In celebration of Black History Month, we’ve been shining the spotlight on Prof. George Larkins’s BIPOC IN DESIGN site honoring BIPOC creators in the fields of art and design.

In addition to the artists and designers highlighted on BIPOC IN DESIGN’s home page, there are additional resources featuring artists and designers from different backgrounds in the BIPOC Designers section of the site.

Visitors can also learn more by browsing through Events and Stories to find links to websites listing recent and upcoming events, useful resources, and more. The sites linked to for their events are themselves useful resources worth browsing.

How has your department or program celebrated Black History Month this year?

Image credit: Avatar from the OpenLab profile of BIPOC IN DESIGN, called BIPOC Resource Site.

In the Spotlight: Science Fiction Symposium

The Spotlight is on the Science Fiction at City Tech website leading up to the Eighth Annual City Tech Science Fiction Symposium. This year’s event, Science Fiction, Gender, and Sexuality, will take place on Thursday, November 30th, from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. EST (GMT/UTC -5 hours) online via Zoom Webinar. It will also be available via YouTube Livestream.

Co-organizers Jill Belli, Wanett Clyde, Leigh Gold, Kel Karpinski, Lucas Kwong, Vivian Papp and Sean Scanlan invite everyone to join for the day-long event or stopping by as schedules permit. The online event is free and open to everyone. Links for registration on Zoom and the livestream on YouTube, along with the symposium program and participant bios, are available on the Science Fiction at City Tech’s event post on their OpenLab site.

Image credit: event poster by Lucas Kwong.

In the Spotlight: PLAN Week Fall 2023

2017 Total Solar Eclipse
“2017 Total Solar Eclipse” by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr CC BY 2.0 Deed

It’s PLAN week! That means that from October 30 to November 3, you can take part in Plan Week activities to prepare for advisement and registration (which starts November 9-17th) for winter and/or spring courses, to ensure you are taking the right courses and asking the right questions to stay on the path to graduation and achieving your future goals.

The PLAN Week website has all the information you need to take part and take advantage of all that the week has to offer. There’s also information about how students can enter to win prizes like gift cards and City Tech swag!

Each day this week has events and will focus on information to help students plan for their next steps at City Tech:

As you develop your PLAN, remember that you can use the OpenLab to get a preview of the courses you’re interested in registering for, and to develop a better sense of what students are doing as they progress in your major and move toward graduation and their careers.

Take full advantage of in these events, and happy PLANning!

In the Spotlight: OpenLab Updates

Hubble Goes to the eXtreme to Assemble Farthest-Ever View of the Universe
“Hubble Goes to the eXtreme to Assemble Farthest-Ever View of the Universe” by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Now that the semester is well underway, you might be open to looking at what’s new on the OpenLab. The most recent set of updates to the OpenLab included some great new features and opportunities. If you haven’t already, you might want to read the This Month in the OpenLab post from the end of August to learn about what’s new, different, or otherwise helpful. You can always find This Month in the OpenLab posts in the category OpenLab News.

OpenLab updates address community needs. They include keeping up to date on software updates, making fixes and adjustments to things that need to work better, and new ideas–big and small–that can make new things possible.

The August installment of This Month in the OpenLab announced features and functionality including new templates for sites, options to give members greater ability to customize sites and profiles, improvements to discussion forums and site commenting, and of course new plugins– which are tools that add functionality to your site. Look for the spotlight to shine on some of these important updates soon!

As always, if you have ideas for improvements, you’re welcome to share either by emailing OpenLab@citytech.cuny.edu or by using the contact form.

In the Spotlight: Connect Day

Clear circular connectors on dark cables against a blue sky background
“Connectors” by Michael Coghlan via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0

Connect Day, the departmental new student orientation, will take place this Thursday, August 31st during Club Hours from 12:45-2:00pm. During this welcome event, students will meet faculty members from their department and student leaders who will share important information and strategies for success with participating new students beginning their educational journey at City Tech. There are also some fun activities and prizes planned for the event!

All first-time, first year, re-entry and transfer students are welcome to attend. Students who have not chosen a major yet can attend the session for Undeclared majors.

A comprehensive listing of all Connect Day locations and information can be found on the Connect Day Student Resource Center on the OpenLab. This site organizes the departments’ information according to which of the three schools they are in: Arts and Sciences, Professional Studies, and Technology and Design. Not sure which department is in which of the three schools at City Tech? You can browse through each list to learn more. There is information about the Connect Day session for Undeclared majors in the list for each of the three schools. The site also includes other information to help orient students to City Tech and college work.

We hope new students find their way to their Connect Day on Thursday, and that faculty and staff members and returning students share this information to help new students find their way to the right place for Connect Day.

Happy connecting!

In the Spotlight: Spring Eggventure!

COMD Spring Eggventure, Spring 2023

Spring is in full bloom, and there is still time to have fun finding eggs with the COMD Spring Eggventure! The COMD Futures Collaboratory, a Communication Design Department site for student and faculty research collaboration, recently shared an updates about their partnership with Membit Inc, to offer everyone at City Tech a fun break from the hectic end of the semester by setting aside some time to look for these eggs at CityTech. It’s an augmented reality experience geolocated on the first floor of the Pearl Hallway at City Tech. When you are on Campus, stop by the Pearl Hallway to catch some or all of the 10 eggs!

To learn more about the Spring Eggventure, and to download the Membit app you’ll need to find the 10 eggs, visit the COMD Futures Collaboratory site.

Want to share the video with others? Remember that you can always embed a YouTube video in a post or page by using a YouTube block. The easiest way to do that is to type /y in a block and choose YouTube from the options that pop up. Add the link and it will appear as a watchable video in your post or page!

In the Spotlight: Literary Arts Festival

Poster with rainbow heart and LGBTQIA+ flag LAF City Tech's 42nd annual Literary Arts Festival Free & Open To The Public Featuring Akwaeke Emezi [includes photo] and City Tech Students For more info: Megan Behrent MBehrent@CItyTech.cuny.edu Thursday April 27 4pm-6pm The Theater at City Tech 285 Jay Street Sponsored by: Coordinated Undergraduate Education (CUE), New York City College of Technology This event is made possible through the generous support of LaGuardia Community College and the New York City Council LGBT and Queer Caucus
LAF 2023 poster

We’re shining the spotlight on this week’s Literary Arts Festival. This Thursday, April 27th, come listen to and celebrate City Tech students whose writing won awards in the LAF writing competition. And don’t miss this year’s featured speaker!

This year’s event features acclaimed multidisciplinary artist, writer, and a National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” honoree Akwaeke Emezi, author of Freshwater and the bestsellers You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty and The Death of Vivek Oji.

Not yet familiar with Emezi’s work? The Literary Arts Festival site on the OpenLab includes some great resources for getting to know Emezi and their work. Check out the LAF 2023 Featured Writer: Akwaeke Emezi page, and scroll through the posts highlighting their work. These posts include links to Emezi’s website and featured content, as well as embedded videos of interviews and readings with Emezi.

You can see in the featured post on the LAF site that there is a link to register for the event, along with all the information you need to attend the 2023 City Tech Literary Arts Festival: on Thursday, April 27, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the Academic Complex Theater, 285 Jay Street.

In the Spotlight: Coworking

“Pollination Hypnosis” by Wayne S. Grazio via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Do you work better when there’s someone else working nearby? Do you seek out spaces like libraries or coffee shops to get work done? You might be interested in coworking !

This idea of coworking and the related idea of body doubling, in which people find better focus or persistence when they have a friend or colleague working in the same in-person or online space, can be effective methods for productivity.

The Open Pedagogy on the OpenLab project is hosting a coworking session this week: Tuesday, April 18, from 1:30-3:30. This is a virtual coworking opportunity, hosted on Zoom. Join at any time from 1:30-3:30, with whatever work you want to accomplish. Check out the Coworking invitation post for more information.

Have other ideas for increased productivity, accountability, and getting through your to-do list? Share them here in the comments!

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