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: ENG 2420: Science Fiction

Prof. Jill Belli’s Science Fiction course site has a lot happening, and is well-structured so it’s easy to explore and access specific information and resources.  The site is very active, with frequent student posts and interaction in the comments sections.  There are also some great discussions generated in the Class Discussion Posts, where conversation is extended beyond class time.  You can tell from reading through any of these comment threads that students are very engaged with the material they’re studying, as well as their classmates’ ideas.  Each week the class votes on which student post they think should be featured on the site, and the winner is chosen as the People’s Choice Post of the week. We also love that the course avatar (pictured above) was created by a student in the class, Andrew Dutt.

In the Spotlight: Culinary Improvisation

Students in Prof. Claire Stewart’s Culinary Improvisation course are reflecting on their cooking techniques and the foods they use for weekly improvisational challenges in the kitchen.  We were impressed with the detailed descriptions of their process, accompanied by photographs they took themselves.  By reading through their posts and comments they’ve made on each other’s work, you get a sense of the community they’re building in the class.  Take a look at what they’re up to, but with a warning that it might make you hungry!

In the Spotlight: Health Psychology

PSY3405: Health Psychology

Prof. Amanda Almond’s course site is very active and full of interesting assignments and class discussions. Recently, students watched and commented on a video embedded on the course site.  We also like how students engaged with the course policies page by either proposing an addition or elaborating on one of the policies listed.  Take a look!

In the Spotlight: Introduction to Film

The OpenLab site for Professor Sandra Cheng’s Introduction to Film course is well-organized, informative, and visually appealing.  It’s easy to find course information and student work, and she has included plenty of helpful and relevant resources, such as links to City Tech and NYC film-related resources and an RSS feed from the New York Times Movies section.  Course activity has just begun with students introducing themselves, but they’ll be engaging with interesting topics throughout the semester, so be sure to keep checking back to see what they’re writing about!

In the Spotlight: ARCH 3640 – Historic Preservation

In Inna Guzenfeld’s Historical Preservation course, students are considering questions such as how historical significance is determined, and researching examples of cultural heritage preservation.  They’ve also done field research at a historic district in NYC, documenting their observations about the site and its architectural significance.  The course site is clean and well-structured, making everything easy to find.  Take a look!

In the Spotlight: Not Only the Dead Know Brooklyn

This week we’re featuring Professor Rob Ostrom’s ENG 1101 section, Not Only the Dead Know Brooklyn.  Students have just posted some excellent multimedia presentations, in which each group researched a neighborhood in Brooklyn and explored the changes in that neighborhood over time. Students did a great job, and have posted their work on the course site in multiple formats including video, sound, and Prezi and PowerPoint presentations.  Take a look!

In the Spotlight: Culinary Tourism

Professor Michael Krondl‘s Culinary Tourism course is, as the site tagline says, “exploring New York’s exciting food landscape,” and one of the great things about the course site is that it shares those experiences with us on the OpenLab!  The class has already taken a few culinary field trips–or walking food tours–of the Flatiron, Astoria, and Williamsburg neighborhoods, during which they sampled food in each neighborhood and wrote about their experience on the course site.  By the end of the semester students will be creating a culinary walking tour of their own.  They’ve also been trying out a new food and blogging about it, under the “food first” category.  In addition to the great interactive work students are doing, the site includes many resources for all the foodies out there in the Blogroll and Links sections in the right-hand sidebar.  Check it out!