Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

W W W . P A C E . E D U / D Y S O N 13 capabilities by learning more about the various functions of the Blackboard and Zoom platforms. "Instead of panicking, I chose to engage this moment as professional development, as I reassessed how I can better leverage online resources in my course instruction," he said. Dyson Scholars in Residence What did remote education look like for the Dyson Scholars in Residence Program (DSIR), established on the Pleasantville campus around the very idea of living and learning together? According to Associate Professor of English Jane Collins, PhD, DSIR's program creator and director, the greatest challenge was working out plans to continue a service project for the Successful Learning Center (SLC), a community program providing a college experience for alternative learners and students with developmental disabilities. At its final in-person meeting, the DSIR class committed to continuing to serve the SLC students until the end of the semester as planned, and began brainstorming virtual projects and ways to connect via Zoom. "In our first virtual class together, the SLC students made short films that consisted of monologues, which, when connected together, created a story," Collins said. "All of it was improvised; the DSIR students took the assignment I gave them and made it work." A big part of the ongoing partnership between the Dyson College students and SLC is providing mentorship and friendship, and Collins says she believes that aspect has been retained even in a virtual format. "Seeing the SLC program participants smile on the screen made me happy, like I did something productive during my day by making someone else's a little better," digital cinema and filmmaking major Austin Duffy '23 said. Environmental Studies and Science During mandated stay-at-home restrictions, we all experienced our personal environments perhaps a bit more than we would have liked. Department of Environmental Studies and Science Clinical Associate Professor Michael J. Rubbo, PhD, who taught Habitats of the Hudson Valley, a field-based course, had to find a way to give students the experience they expected. "I take the students out weekly to visit habitats throughout the region to assess their condition, so going remote presented a challenge," Rubbo said. "To address this, I held weekly Zoom lectures and created virtual field visits." He went out alone and created his own videos, which students were assigned to watch and then submit answers to follow-up questions via Blackboard. "I'm no David Attenborough, but when life gives you lemons . . . ," Rubbo said. Pace Performing Arts When the spring 2020 semester began, students taking Pace School of Performing Arts's Theater of the Oppressed course planned on completing a service-learning project with Falconworks Theater Company, located in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. That changed when Pace went to remote learning and social distancing became the norm. Reginald Flowers, the adjunct professor teaching the class, moved quickly to find an alternative. Working with the Calling Saves Lives initiative, students contacted members of at-risk populations in Red Hook to check in and assess needs. This included asking basic questions about individuals in the household to determine specific risks or concerns during the shelter-at- home period. The data is delivered to city agencies responsible for intervening on the public's behalf," Flowers said. "It also created a rewarding opportunity for the students and contributed to their own well-being by giving them a purpose during this trying period." Falconworks ran a similar program following Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and at that time, the class worked with Carlos Menchaca, who was subsequently elected to represent District 38 on the New York City Council in 2013. Menchaca connected Falconworks with community organizer Carlos Jesus (CJ) Calzadilla, who was in the planning stage of the Calling Saves Lives program, Flowers said. "It created a rewarding opportunity for the students and contributed to their own wellbeing by giving them a purpose during this trying period." —Reginald Flowers , adjunct professor

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