October-4-2023-Minutes

The Academic Senate Committee on Senate Committee on Cultural and Archival Resources met on October 4, 2023 (in person)

Committee Members in Attendance:

Jessica Prepetit (chair), Franca Ferrari-Bridgers (Zoom), Faustino Quintanilla (Zoom), Clarence Hall, Julia Rothenberg (Zoom), Guozhen An, Laura Cohen (Zoom), Susan Agin (Zoom), John Talbird, David Pham (secretary)

 

 

Liaisons in Attendance:

KHC representative: Laura Cohen 

QPAC representative: Susan Agin

QCC Art Gallery representative: Faustino Quintanilla

Business:

The meeting was called to order at 12:05 PM

CCAR Committee Meeting:

Date: Tuesday Oct. 4, 2023

Room: S-316

• May 2023 meeting minutes were approved.
• Past charges were approved.
• Susan Agin (director of QPAC) informed the committee that QPAC had recently completed a 15 million dollar renovation which has given the center the feel of an intimate Radio City Music Hall. Susan also discussed the possibility of giving each committee member a copy of the QPAC brochure of events.  Susan then described a number of collaborations between QPAC and QCC faculty and students such as
  • the Dance Department (example: Kwanzaa Celebration 2023 - Dec. 3 and Dec. 10)
  • the Music Department (eight events)
  • the Theater Department (example: production of “Julio ain’t going down like that” which concerns violence against the LGBTQ+ community in Jackson Heights in the 1990’s)
  • the Chemistry Department (example: discussion of chemicals used in theater production to render materials fireproof under stage lighting)
  • the Business Department (example: discussion of the business aspect of ``show business”)
• Susan also provided an overview of QPAC events for the 2023-2024 academic year which include “Uptown!” and “Abba-Mania” (in October).  For December, QPAC will host productions of the “The Nutcracker” and “A Christmas Carol”.  Detailed information on all QPAC events can be found on the QPAC website.
• Franca suggested that Susan send the committee a list of all professors who have collaborated with QPAC for the final report.
• Laura Cohen (director of KHC) discussed a collaboration between the KCH and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum on the issue of Holocaust education for the current academic year. On October 13 and 20, the KHC will host a workshop in collaboration with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum on how to teach Holocaust education within the community college classroom as well as a conversation on how to use KHC resources.  Laura then discussed a number of other events\exhibitions hosted by the KHC which include
  • a continuation of the KHC Human Rights and Museum series on the topic of indigenous cultural institutions, colonialism, and the role of museums; this event features Jeremy Denis, Photographer and Founder of Ma’s House (Oct. 24)
  • a KHC-NEH colloquium titled “Weaponizng the Past: Art, History and the Rhetoric of National Greatness” which studies the role of nostalgia in the United States (Nov. 1)
  • a virtual event on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht on the importance of Holocaust education given the rise of antisemitism, xenophobia, and racism; this event features Dr. Orent Stier, Professor of Religious Studies at Florida International University (Nov. 9)
  • a community event which will feature an original exhibition by the KHC titled: The Concentration Camps: Inside the Nazi System of Incarceration and Genocide (Nov. 14)
• A complete listing of all events\exhibitions can be found on the KHC website.  The KHC is also in the process of organizing two traveling exhibitions from the New York Historical Society.  One of the exhibitions will focus on the American Jewish community’s campaign to combat antisemitism through multimedia in the late 30s and 50s; the second exhibition will focus on black citizenship in the age of Jim Crow.
• Faustino Quintanilla (director of the QCC Art Gallery) discussed a new exhibition on master works (drawings) from Europe which will be on display on Oct. 12. Also discussed was an upcoming exhibit by a faculty member of the QCC Art Department.  The QCC Art Gallery is also collaborating with the Smithsonian Institute on an upcoming book on the topic of death row.  The book would compile the last words\wishes of death row inmates.  
• Committee members discussed efforts to make QCC faculty and students more aware of the QCC cultural centers. Franca suggested creating short videos that would advertise the cultural centers.  It was suggested that the CCAR should contact the marketing department to assist in this effort.   Susan proposed that the attendance problem may ultimately be due to the fact that both students and faculty are inundated with work.  As a consequence of this, finding the time to attend the cultural centers is a challenge.
• Julia suggested that the committee compile a list of all upcoming events for each center and that each committee member be tasked with bringing these events up at their respective department meetings.
• Faustino suggested that the CCAR meetings should be held at one of the three cultural centers on a rotating basis to see firsthand the work done there.
• Dec. 15, 2023 was suggested as a possible date for the next meeting of the CCAR.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 1:01 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

    Jessica Prepetit (chair)

    D. Pham (secretary)

 

Respectfully submitted,

David Pham
Committee on Senate Committee on Cultural and Archival Resources, Secretary

Minutes typed on October 4, 2023