More events will be posted soon. For further information, please visit the Mellon Project site on BlackBoard.

Past Events

Summer Summit on General Education: June 26 and 27, 2008

A gathering of faculty to discuss specific curricular issues took place on Thursday and Friday, June 26 and 27. The agenda and background materials from this meeting are posted under the "Meetings Schedule" link on BlackBoard and are available below. Invitations were extended to approximately 80 faculty who have been attending Mellon Project meetings and have expressed interest in the relevant areas of discussion.

Wednesday, May 14, 9:00 am - 12:30 pm and 2 - 4 pm, 1007 HW
Technology Across the Curriculum

Program Forthcoming. Topics to include: 1) how the curriculum should create opportunities for students to think critically about technologies in their social, cultural, and political dimensions (curricular content issue); 2) exploration of the ways in which the curriculum might integrate experiences with new media, particularly in ways that make visible the cognitive processes and capabilities we are trying to help students cultivate, and which we as educators, researchers, and critical inquirers want to understand better ourselves (curricular content and pedagogical issue); and 3) technological training and "information literacy" (databases, search processes, specific technological skills).

Tuesday, April 15, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon, 1007 HW
"Quantitative Reasoning Across the Curriculum"

Panelists include: Manfred Kuechler (Sociology); Cullen Schaffer (Computer Science); Ezra Shahn (Biology); Rob Thompson (Math); Jason Young (Psychology)

October 31, 2007: Map of Knowledge

• Speaker: Alan Hausman
• HW 1007, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
• Focus: How the course, Humanities 110: Map of Knowledge, in its present form, came into being, and the academic principles that guide it. Two important parts of the presentation will be concerned with the writing component of the course and the mentoring of TAs and Writing Fellows. Dr. Roblin Meeks of Princeton University, a former teaching assistant for the course, will discuss its influence on his career. Ms. Inna Goldberg, a graduate of the Thomas Hunter Honors Program, now a teaching assistant for the class and an adviser at the Reading Writing Center, will discuss her experiences in both capacities with HUM 110. Ms. Jessica Watson, a Mellon Fellow and student in the Thomas Hunter Honors Program, will discuss her experience as a student in the course. A question and answer period will follow.
• Listen to the Podcast

October 23, 2007: Innovative Approaches to Instruction in Writing and the Humanities: Two Programs led by Gerald Graff

• Presenter: Gerald Graff, Professor of English and of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago and President of the MLA.
• 2:30 - 4:30 pm: "Teaching Debate with Templates," with Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff
  Often without realizing it, experienced writers are masters of certain rhetorical conventions or "moves" that underlie all persuasive writing. In this session, Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff suggest that these conventional moves are so commonly made that they can be represented in templates: fill-in-the-blank grids or scaffoldings that student writers can use right away to structure and even generate their ideas. The basic template that Cathy and Gerald Graff will focus on is one that, in their recent textbook,They Say/I Say": The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing(W.W. Norton 2006), they call the "They Say/I Say" move, which helps students engage the arguments 0f others ("they say") in a way that sets up their own claims ("I say").
  Location: Faculty Lounge
• 5:00 - 7:00 pm: "Looking Back on the Culture War, or the New Improved Teach the Conflicts"
  In the 1980s and 90s Gerald Graff became known for the argument that the best way educational institutions could respond to the increasingly polarized controversies over the canon and the curriculum would be to "teach the conflicts" themselves. In this talk, Graff reviews some of his earlier positions and the culture war climate then and now and offers a revised and corrected version of his former thesis.
  Location: Faculty Dining Room. Reception to follow.

• Participants: Darcy Kelley, Professor of Biology and creator of Columbia University's common core science course; Donald Stearns, Project Director within Wagner College (SENSOR); and Ezra Shahn, Professor of Biology, Hunter College.
• 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
• Location: President's Conference Room. Lunch will be served and a reception will follow.

• Welcome and Introduction:
  • Jennifer J. Raab, President, Hunter College
  • Vita C. Rabinowitz, Provost and Professor of Psychology, Hunter College
• Panel: “Demystifying General Education within CUNY and Beyond”.
  • Wendy Katkin, Facilitator, Mellon Project, Hunter College, "National Trends in General Education: Issues and Challenges."
  • Judith Summerfield, University Dean for Undergraduate Education, City University of New York, “Liberal & General Education at CUNY:  Promises and Practices”
  • Donald M. Scott, Professor of History and Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Queens College, "Reforming General Education:  Visions, Proposals, and Politics"
  • Francisco Soto, Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Staten Island, "General Education at CSI: Renewal and Assessment."