LIU Post’s Steinberg Museum of Art Showcases Work By This Year’s MFA Graduates

May 2, 2018

14(2) — Shidan Xiao's "Keep a Beginner's Heart," a mixed media composition on wood panels, is part of the MFA Thesis Exhibit at the Steinberg Museum of Art.

Five talented young artists with distinctly different styles all share something in common: Their graduate work is currently on display in the Steinberg Museum of Art as part of the LIU Post M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition for 2018, now through May 11.

Under the theme “Veritas” (which means “truth” in Latin), the exhibit showcases the audacious creativity of Hyon Hee Cho Hartberger, Meiyao Che (Phyllis), Laura Helen Sweeney, Shidan Xiao (Joselyn) and Xiaohui Xiao (Emily).

Seung Lee, director of Fine Arts and Graduate Studies at LIU Post, is rightly proud of their accomplishments here.

“I’m hoping that these graduating artists will return home as successful and confident artists in the future,” Lee said, “as our professional faculty worked hard to prepare our students to be independent, to form a personal vision and to have a personal language to be successful in a very competitive art world.”

Hyon Hee Cho Hartberger, born in South Korea, has been active in the Korean art community for three decades. She was given the title of Master Artist in 2016 before coming to the United States. Her autobiographical style evolved from traditional Korean art and calligraphy to incorporate brush strokes and layers of texture epitomized by modern expressionism.

“One day I just started putting random colors and familiar images together,” she wrote in her artist statement. “I put owls and clouds and horizon lines together, and it came together to create the new series that I have now.”

Meiyao Che (Phyllis), a Chinese graphic designer, makes her unique characters come to life through her mastery of a colorful palette thanks to her command of spray paint and her own illustrative power. When she’s not working on a canvas, she does pottery, printmaking and graphic design.

“Exaggerated movements and characters are what I do best,” Che wrote in her statement.

Laura Helen Sweeney, an illustrator based on Long Island, makes stylized portraits in a variety of mediums that combine dreamy pastel renderings with hypnotizing line work. She’s been drawn to pop culture figures as well as portraits of family and friends that she represents in a Japanese style known as “cosplay,” which fuses “costume” and “play.”

“There is something magical about being able to capture someone’s likeness,” she said in her statement. “Trying to find all the colors in a face is like a puzzle.”

Born in Shanghai, Shidan Xiao (Joselyn) has found a compelling way to combine flowers and koi fish in her work shown here. The koi seem to swim through water thanks to her careful layering of delicate brushwork in acrylic paint and coats of glossy resin that add depth to her creations.

“Through this painting I want to convey the idea that no matter what difficulties we encounter on the road through life, our initial heart should not change,” she wrote in her statement.

A graphic artist from China, Xiaohui Xiao (Emily) uses ceramics and digital art in her work while playing with two-dimensional and three-dimensional space to render her Chinese zodiac symbol, the horse, in many guises.

“I free my mind of conventional art and set the creative stage to pursue concepts rich in proportion and pure in form,” Xiao explained in her statement. “I think the exploration of strong visual relationships often reveal unexpected imagery.”

As Laura Helen Sweeney put it in the exhibit catalogue’s preface, “Each artist has found ways to challenge themselves through the Master of Fine Arts program and evolve their artistic vision.”

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Museum hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, call 516-299-4073 or go to liu.edu/museum.

LIU Post Library Archives Helps the Met Make a Connection to the Dead Sea Scrolls

April 27, 2018

ane-and-bible-case — This Dead Sea Scroll jar, now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, once spent some quality time in the exhibit room at the LIU Post Library. (Photo courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Recently, Jarron Jewell, acting director of Archives and Special Collections at LIU Post, was contacted by a research associate in Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to help determine the provenance of a jar more than 2,000 years old that reportedly once contained some of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Jewell is a graduate of both the Rare Book and Archives and Records Management Programs at LIU Palmer School of Library and Information Science, one of the leading archives and records management schools in the country.

After Anne Dunn-Vaturi, a researcher at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, reached out to her, she subsequently posted a blog, “From Qumran to New York: Documenting Provenance of a Dead Sea Scroll Jar,” as part of the Leverhulme International Network Project for the Study of Dispersed Qumran Cave Artefacts and Archival Sources.

Dunn-Vaturi’s post prominently featured a yellowed clipping from LIU’s The Post Pioneer of a story that had run on Dec. 6, 1963, with the headline, “Dead Sea Relic Loaned to Post.” Apparently, an original Dead Sea Scroll jar excavated from one of the Qumran Caves of Jordan was brought to Long Island by Dr. Richard J. Ward, associate professor of economics at Post who had just served the Hashemite kingdom in his role as an economist from the United States Agency for International Development.

The jar in question had been put on display in the exhibit room at the Post library for a special lecture series on the Scrolls before it was officially presented to the Metropolitan Museum as a gift from Jordan.

Key to the Post Pioneer story was the accompanying photograph of the jar that had “protected” the Dead Sea scroll, according to the caption.

As Dunn-Vaturi recounted, “Although the information about Cave 1Q was known from the time of the acquisition of the jar, the provenance and published references of the object were not fully documented in our database.”

That jar is currently on view in the Met’s exhibit case, “Ancient Near East and the Bible,” in Gallery 406.

The original Post Pioneer article is housed in the LIU Post Library’s Archives and Special Collections.

A Wide Range of Academic Accomplishments Go on Display as LIU Brooklyn Hosts Discovery Day

April 27, 2018

IMG_8026[3] — Student presenters making new connections at LIU Brooklyn's Discovery Day.

More than 100 presentations of scholarly works by students and faculty filled the Steinberg Wellness Center on April 25 as LIU Brooklyn held its annual Discovery Day to celebrate these academic achievements across many disciplines.

On display were posters that covered topics ranging from tapping the energy of black holes to the restorative powers of chocolate milk and the relative impact of concussions in high school sports, just to name a few. All told there were 108 presentations including 19 faculty publications and two interactive installations—one on virtual reality and the other commemorating the 200^th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” Also on hand to chat with the presenters was LIU President Dr. Kimberly Cline.

As LIU Brooklyn’s Vice President of Academic Affairs Gale Stevens Haynes put it, “Discovery Day provides the opportunity for meaningful dialogues within and across disciplines, schools and areas to take place, helping to foster a culture of ongoing learning, creativity and research at the Brooklyn campus and beyond.”

“We hope you’ll take some time to visit these installations and browse among the many posters offered today,” Dominick Fortugno, associate dean for the School of Health Professions, told the students in the gym. “Ask questions. Learn about some interesting research avenues you might not have otherwise considered, and take down contact information to build your network. Remember: the students you learn alongside today may be your coworkers and fellow researchers after you graduate.”

Standing next to her poster, titled “Chocolate Milk as a Recovery Drink Post-Workout and Competition,” was Gina Ascolese, who plans to graduate in May with a master’s degree in athletic training. She picked the subject because “it’s a hot topic now in sports and mainstream media.”

A power lifter as well as a personal trainer, Ascolese used athletes on the football team at Wagner College, her clinical site, as her study group to compare chocolate milk and powdered supplements. She found that an 8-ounce serving of chocolate milk “would do the trick. My take on it is that it definitely lives up to the hype. It’s a total recovery.”

Nearby stood Megan Lajoie, now in the second year of her master’s in microbiology program, who was presenting her research on how certain drugs interacted with antibiotic-resistant bacteria that causes lung infections that lead to pneumonia. Her poster was titled “The Role of Catalese-Encoding Genes (katA and katB) in Oxidative Stress and Antiobiotic Susceptibility in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.” The goal, she explained, is to find better treatments “so more people will survive when they get this kind of pneumonia.”

Shamim Al Jubaer, an international student from Bangladesh about to get his master’s degree in cellular and molecular biology, recounted how he’d spent his spring and summer breaks in the apple orchards of Pennsylvania to do research for his thesis. His presentation was called, “Evaluating the Response of Pests and Natural Enemies to Reduce Risks of Management Programs in Apple Orchards.” As a result of his research, he said he’s developed a greater appreciation for the role of beneficial arthropods in agriculture.

Rosalba Munoz, now in the first year of her master’s degree in speech language pathology, presented her research titled “Vowel Perceptual Differences: Comparing Bilingual English-Spanish Speakers and Monolingual Spanish Speakers.” Born in the Dominican Republic, Munoz did her undergraduate work at LIU Brooklyn. Accompanying her was her speech language pathology professor, Dr. Martha Tyrone, who nodded approvingly as Munoz elaborated on her findings that monolingual speakers had an easier time understanding the differences than she had hypothesized.

LIU Global senior Jaimo Mothershead showed the fruits of her case study from her fall semester in Thailand, where she had an internship with Akha Ama, one of the first specialty coffee social enterprises in the country.

“It’s basically put Thai coffee on the map,” said Mothershead, whose project was called, “From Beans to Caffeine: An Exploration of Akha Ama’s Social Enterprise Model.” The founder, Lee Ayu Chuepa, started the company in 2010 to give the members of his rural village community a better future by letting them reap the profits of their harvests rather than continuing to be exploited by middlemen.

“It’s very good coffee,” she enthused. “I did bring some back but unfortunately it’s all gone!”

At her table LIU Global senior Kiki Peterson proudly stood behind a section of wire fence that she explained is similar to the one on the border between the U.S. and Mexico at Friendship Park in San Diego.

“The holes are similar—they’re barely big enough to fit your pinky fingers through,” she explained. Her presentation was inspired by her fall semester spent working with a non-profit humanitarian organization in California called Border Angels (Angeles de la Frontera), which is dedicated to easing the plight of migrants.

“What we basically found is that walls don’t stop migrants. In fact they just funnel them to the dangerous parts of the border, which translates into the desert,” she said, adding that the two leading causes of migrant deaths are extreme hyperthermia and extreme dehydration.

During her freshman year with LIU Global in Costa Rica, she did a two-week independent research project on what she called “the porous border” between Mexico and Guatemala on the Pan-American Highway.

“What is a border if people can cross back and forth?” she asked. “What does it mean?”

Looking ahead, she said she hopes to continue her research. “I want to work with migrants and families,” said Peterson, who’s from Boulder, Colorado. “I want to be in the field and share the knowledge of what’s going on to create dialogue around these issues.”

Looking around the Steinberg Wellness Center it was easy to see that many discoveries were being made that day thanks to all the presentations on display.

Fios Catches Up With Steve Israel Teaching at LIU Post

April 26, 2018

Fios News caught up with former Congressman Steve Israel, Chairman of the Global Institute at LIU and author of the recently released novel “Big Guns,” on the campus of LIU Post.

Fios sat in on Congressman Israel’s Honors College class, “Politics, Media, and Culture,” where the former chairman of the House Democrats’ campaign arm was teaching students by conducting a mock congressional campaign.

Congressman Israel told Fios, “Ever since leaving Congress, I’ve been doing a lot of smiling.” See the story to find out why: FIOs1-LongIslandNews-480_2

Accomplished Entrepreneur Michael Sonnenfeldt Discusses New Book with LIU Post Students

April 26, 2018

Approximately 70 students from the LIU Post College of Management took advantage of the opportunity to hear from one of America’s most accomplished entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Michael Sonnenfeldt.

Sonnenfeldt is the founder and chairman of TIGER 21 (The Investment Group for Enhanced Results in the 21st Century), the premier peer membership organization for high-net-worth wealth creators and wealth preservers in North America, London, and Switzerland. He is an accomplished serial entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Sonnenfeldt participated in an event at the College of Management moderated by former Congressman Steve Israel, Chairman of the Global Institute at LIU, to discuss Sonnenfeldt’s book “Think Bigger: And 39 Other Winning Strategies from Successful Entrepreneurs.” The students received signed copies of the book following the event and were excited to hear directly from Sonnenfeldt.

Through his private investment company, MUUS & Company, Sonnenfeldt has holdings in solar, battery, and other technologies related to alternative energy infrastructure applications. From 1991 to 1998, Sonnenfeldt founded and led Emmes & Company, a real estate investment boutique that was a major buyer of distressed portfolios in the early 1990s and grew to over a billion dollars in assets by the time he sold his interest in 1998.

The book draws on the wisdom, insight, and experience of members of TIGER 21, and supplementing that with additional research and interviews, Sonnenfeldt offers real-world guidance and often counter-intuitive advice and conclusions.

Among the book’s topics which Sonnenfeldt discussed with the LIU students:

Why grit and focus trump intelligence just about every time.
Why having—and listening to— a wise mentor will create shortcuts to getting more done.
What you need to do to avoid getting in your own way. And why.
‘Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations’ can be avoided by taking some simple, commonsense steps.

All proceeds from the book support the TIGER 21 Foundation for young entrepreneurs.

Sanford Harmony and LIU Visit a Brooklyn Kindergarten to Improve Long-Term Student Relationships

April 23, 2018

Through its regional partnership with Long Island University, the Sanford Harmony Program came to a kindergarten class at PS 282 in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood on April 20 as part of the “Week of the Young Child” commemoration.

The Sanford Harmony Program is a research-based social emotional learning project designed to promote positive peer interactions and relationships among all students through lessons and activities that encourage communication, collaboration and mutual respect. This program is credited with improving academic performance, increasing empathy and promoting a more positive attitude towards school. The research also found that the program led to reduced stereotyping and less classroom aggression.

Mrs. Nicole Lopez’s kindergarten students welcomed the chance to play with the lovable “Z”, the central character in Sanford Harmony’s elementary curriculum.

Sanford Harmony was envisioned and initially funded by noted philanthropist Denny Sanford. Currently it is impacting more than 200,000 students in New York through its regional partnership with Long Island University, and more than 1 million students nationwide through its affiliation with National University.

LIU Students Earn Top Honors at New York Business Plan Competition April 2018

April 23, 2018

Three LIU students won first and second places in the New York City regional round of the New York Business Plan Competition, which was hosted on April 15th by LIU Brooklyn’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the School of Business, Public Administration and Information Sciences (SBPAIS).

The business plan competition pitted nearly 40 teams of students from LIU, Brooklyn College, Baruch College, Columbia University, City College of New York, Cornell (downstate), FIT, Lehman College, New York University, Parsons School of Design, Queensborough Community College and Queens College.

LIU Pharmacy Doctor of Pharmacy candidate Ed Kim won first place in the advanced technology category for his health-tech startup, WeCare, a healthcare technology company that uses motorized robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), material science, and artificial intelligence to improve the distribution of pharmaceuticals.

LIU SBPAIS Computer Science students Andre Garvin and Reynaldo Salcedo’s team won second place in the IT/software category for an AR (augmented reality) art experience application called Paint The City. Interestingly, their other three teammates were from Queensborough Community College, Queens College and New York City College of Technology.

Next up, they’ll go to the SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany for the statewide competition on April 27, when some 120 teams from across New York will vie for 18 cash prizes and recognition.

LIU Brooklyn’s Dawn McGee Strickland, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, said that what Ed Kim, Andre Garvin and Reynaldo Salcedo are doing truly embodies the entrepreneurial spirit by finding concrete solutions to problems and making them reality.

“What I especially appreciate about these three is that their ideas are out of their heads—they’re building them,” she added. “Ed is working on a prototype for his first product; Brooklyn-based 3D-printer manufacturer MakerBot has been assisting him with his 3D-printing needs. Paint The City’s team is comprised of software engineers serious about their craft.”

“Once again, LIU students have shown that a good idea, backed with solid research can make a lasting impression,” said Dr. Edgar E. Troudt, assistant dean for research and strategic partnerships, School of Business, Public Administration and Information Sciences, LIU Brooklyn. “We wish them, and all teams from the NYC regional, the best of luck as they advance to the state-wide competition.”

LIU Students Chosen to Be Youth Representatives at the UN

April 20, 2018

Led by Dr. Scott Carlin and Dr. Lester Wilson, Long Island University participates in an ongoing relationship with the United Nations Department of Public Information, which involves contributing collaborative ideas that advance international NGO concerns. Dr. Carlin, the Director of LIU Post’s Center for Sustainability, and Dr. Wilson, who oversaw LIU Brooklyn’s United Nations Graduate Certificate Program until his recent retirement, have chosen students Kristen Royal and Danny Mendoza as youth representatives to join in UN DPI briefings, events, and conferences.

Royal and Mendoza were chosen because of their personal strengths.

“As youth representatives to the UN, both students view this as an opportunity to take what they have learned at LIU and to apply those skills at the UN,” said Dr. Carlin, who added that Royal co-authored a white paper that will be shared with UN colleagues. Titled “GreenTech LIU: A Roadmap for a Collaborative, SDG Campus,” it summarized the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted in 2015.

At a meeting on April 12^th, the four agreed that Long Island University academic programs should explore new opportunities to participate in more UN DPI initiatives.

This semester 19 students and LIU Post Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Nate Bowditch attended a UN DPI event titled “STEAM Education for Global Citizenship to Achieve the SDGs.” Dr. Carlin moderated a panel co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Tunisia and Sri Lanka to the United Nations, UNESCO New York Office, NGO Steering Committee for an International Day of Education for Global Citizenship, and the NGO-DPI Executive Committee.

“It really opened up new worlds for students who attended the event,” said Dr. Carlin, who cited a student display in the recently completed library on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as a student-run recycling drive and a mini-conference on child sexual abuse to be held at the end of the month—all inspired by the conference.

Dr. Carlin believes that the United Nations-LIU relationship can have a far-reaching effect on LIU students.

“In its own way, the UN is a university,” said Dr. Carlin. “They run lectures and discussions every day. It is an incredible place for networking, and it is an incredible place for students to learn and to develop strong skills in public speaking, communication, diplomacy, public policy, et cetera.”

LIU Brooklyn’s Relay for Life Raises Record Amount

Brooklyn Campus News

April 20, 2018

This year’s Relay for Life event at LIU Brooklyn raised a record $46,487.47 for the American Cancer Society as hundreds of people packed the WRAC gym on April 19. It was the highest tally since the annual charity fundraiser began on campus in 2016.

The Brooklyn Blackbirds spirit was on full display.

“Relay for Life at LIU Brooklyn really demonstrates how close we are as a community and how we can work together to accomplish any goal!” said Fiona Callagy, a senior.

“Knowing we have each other to lean on when we are struggling in the fight against cancer makes me proud to be a Blackbird,” said Jessica Rudick, a freshman.

Margo Potts, a first year student, said she came a long way from home to attend LIU Brooklyn so she truly appreciated how Relay for Life brought the extended campus community together.

“Relay for Life was one of the first ways I was able to connect with my fellow Blackbirds,” she said. “Planning this event and participating in fundraising for the American Cancer Society has been a truly amazing experience that I will never forget.” She’s already looking forward to next year’s Relay for Life.

Julianna Morse, a recent graduate, felt so strongly about the connection that she returned to campus so she could join in.

“Relay for Life is one of my favorite LIU Brooklyn traditions,” she said. “I graduated in January but had to come back for this incredible event. I was a part of Relay for Life since its start in 2016 and it’s truly amazing what we’ve accomplished in three years.”

Since 2016, LIU Brooklyn’s Relay for Life events have raised more than $100,000 for the American Cancer Society.

“I am grateful to be connected to a community that’s this passionate about a cause so close to my own heart,” Morse said.

LIU Brooklyn Students Make Their Mark at the 2018 Alpha Chi National Convention

Brooklyn Campus News

April 20, 2018

IMG_3624[1] copy — Attending the Alpha Chi National Convention are LIU Brooklyn Honors College students, from left, Jung Kim, Muge Dinc, Michael Ramsey, Nasia Duke, Leanna Narain and Gabrielle Bernadotte.

Half a dozen LIU Brooklyn students had a very impressive showing of their scholarship at the 2018 Alpha Chi National Honor Society Convention recently held in Portland, Oregon, from April 5-7.

“The group performed brilliantly,” observed Dr. James Clarke, director of the Honors College at LIU Brooklyn, and the campus sponsor for Alpha Chi. He accompanied the student scholars to the convention with Melissa Antinori, the associate director.

For the first time ever an LIU Brooklyn Honors College student, senior Michael Ramsey, won the Jim Kirby Prize in Physics, Geology and Astronomy. But he was not the only LIU student to win acclaim there.

Four students presented posters of their research—Nasia Duke (Biology/Physics), Jung Kim (Biology), Gabrielle Bernadotte (SLP), and Leanna Narain (Pharmacy)—and two of them won regional prizes for their presentation. Gabrielle Bernadotte in the Health Sciences Category won for her poster, “West Indian Attitudes Toward Communication Disorders,” and Nasia Duke won in the Social Science Category for her poster, “Politics of Substance Use: Are African Americans Targeted and Discriminated Against Compared to Whites When It Comes to Criminalizing Marijuana Use?”

Gabrielle earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Science and Disorders (CSD) along with a minor in Psychology, in May 2016 from LIU Brooklyn. A graduate of the Honors College, she is currently completing a Master of Science degree in Speech Language Pathology (SLP), also at LIU Brooklyn.

Nasia, a current member of the Honors College, will be graduating this May with a Bachelor of Science degree in both Biology and Physics. She is also in the campus Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (C-STEP), advised by Dr. Timothy Leslie of the Biology Department.

Muge Dinc, a senior in the Honors College majoring in psychology, delivered a 15-minute oral presentation in her field while Michael Ramsey gave his 15-minute talk on theoretical astrophysics.

All told, the Alpha Chi Nation Convention brought nearly 600 delegates from across the U.S. and highlighted more than 230 student presentations. LIU Brooklyn is part of Alpha Chi’s Region VI, which includes Maine to Maryland.