February's Program of the Month - Now and Then: The History of Black Music

Stuyvesant Park RA Bianca Mills' program "Now and Then: The History of Black Music" was a program about exactly that.

In honor of Black History Month, Bianca thought it would be interesting as well as important to depict how music played a role in African American Culture both in the past and the present. The program was a semi-elaborate way of comparing and contrasting the similarities of today's music with the music from the past. Everything was covered, from old time Jazz to current Hip-Hop, Rap, and R&B.

In order to best capture the essence of what Bianca wanted to portray, she asked Music Professor Richard Harper to come in as a guest speaker to educate residents about the different messages that music sends in Black Culture. Having him as part of the program is one of the things that made it so successful. He is very knowledge on the topic and new exactly how to bring this program full circle.

Another reason this program brought great success is because there was just the right balance of hands on interaction and discussion as well as learning. Since the program covered music from both the present and the past, residents were able to learn a few things as well as relate and participate.

In addition to all of the elements of the program itself, the overall success of the program heightened from the contributions of Dan Spicer, Alex Gleason, and Jacob Hernandez. They were all there to lend a helping hand as well as give their input to make this program possible.

January's Program of the Month - Begin.Eat.Balance

Soon after the January new student check-in, the William Street RAs put together a program designed to help the 60+ new students start off on the right foot academically, and also to adapt to some of the special challenges that living at William Street presents for new students. 

The program, "Begin.Eat.Balance", consisted two distinct parts. The first phase featured several different "stations" around the student lounge, each offering different information and one-on-one counseling to help new residents begin the semester properly. Some of these stations included a table with information on where to purchase cheap art supplies, a table with information and counseling on time management and organization, a table with subway information and maps, and a table with information and assistance just for the new Pace University students living amongst our New School students. 

The second phase consisted of a fun "cooking show", where three RAs provided recipes and showed new residents how to use the convections ovens located in each apartment. A convection oven was brought down to the lounge, printed copies of recipes including gnocchi, cornbread, and chili were provided, and residents got to actually sample the tasty delight of each of these. 

Later on, all recipes were posted on the very active William Street facebook page. All in all, this program served a great need, and was a blast for all involved!

Here are some of the great resources from the event:

A list of ingredients for a great meal for 10 under $10!

Pickles Prove Perfect for Programming

Pickling is an important survival skill, particularly for those living on limited supplies in enclosed spaces. In fact, the word pickle derives from an old Dutch word, ‘pekel’, for ‘brine’; a salty testimonial to the historical importance of pickling to those who lived for many months at sea. When the nutritional role of vegetables in the prevention of scurvy (a common disease amongst mariners) was recognized, pickled vegetables became a staple of thesea-diet. At present, scurvy is fortunately rare amongst New School students. But we can never be too vigilant.

The December- January program of the month, represents an inspired attempt on the part of its organizer, Camryn Mothersbaugh, to teach the residents of the Stuyvesant Park residence hall the art of pickle-making. Camryn’s goal was to teach students cooking skills that they could use in the dorm. She chose to run a class on pickling because, not only would the outcome be delicious, but pickling is an easy skill to acquire, and well-suited to the constraints of the dorm kitchens. Unsurprisingly, given this event’s unique character and the exciting promise that every student would depart “with a jar or two of pickles”, the program was very wellattended.

Camryn elected to follow a recipe for sweet and sour cucumber pickles. She began by demonstrating how to make the spiced vinegar used to preserve the cucumbers, and then let the students fill the jars with the vegetables and vinegar. Camryn says that her favourite part of the program was the student reaction over the following week, as students would approach her to tell her how well their pickles had turned out. Thanks to Camryn’s great program idea, the students at Stuyvesant Park now have the skills to survive long sea voyages, and the supplies with which to do so; something that will no doubt be appreciated even more as midterms approach.

Written by Simone Gubler- Philosophy Major at The New School for Social Research

Hip Hop Rules as February Program of the Month

February was Black History Month, and 13th Street RAs Grace Sanford, Mark Josephson, Avalon McKenzie and Malia Okuzi wanted to teach history in a very active way. In collaboration with The New School Hip Hop Club, the team set out to celebrate hip hop and the culture it was born from. Hip hop began in the late 1970's right here in NYC so the RA team recognized the importance of connecting our experiences while celebrating it during Black History Month!

In addition to the celebration, Grace shared that many students had a desire to learn, but they may not always have the extra time or cash to take a class uptown. In an attempt to remind students of all of the services we have right here on our campus, it only made sense to connect with the Hop Hop club to get things started. With the club's support, RAs and residents gathered in the Loeb hall lounge.

After introductions, they jumped right into a quick hip hop combination
utilizing techniques of popping and locking, and waving. It was a great workout and
a lot of fun. To conclude the program, a representative of The New School Hip Hop Club was on-hand to discuss how great of an impact a weekly hip hop class could have on our lives as students and New Yorkers.