Bryant University CAS Magazine Spring 2018

A Magazine of Bryant University’s College of Arts & Sciences Special Issue: CAS Beyond the Classroom In the College of Arts & Sciences, not all teaching and learning takes place in the traditional classrooms of the Unistructure, or in the modern learning spaces of the Academic Innovation Center. Across our eight departments, students gain valuable hands-on experience both on and beyond our Smithfield campus. The brief reports in this issue of the spring edition of the A&S Magazine typify these innovative teaching and learning activities.

United Nations Headquarters, New York

Issue 6, Spring 2018

Alex Perullo and Andrea Boggio

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

In February, four Global Studies and Legal Studies students and three of their professors traveled to the United Nations to participate in a special session of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, hosted by the Italian mission to the UN. The Bryant students were the only students invited to attend this special session, which continued the ongoing dialogue on developing a comprehensive interpretation of the Right to Science and establishment of guidelines that could be agreed on by a majority of member countries.

The Right to Science is among the least known and poorly understood of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted 70 years ago by the UN. Article 27, in basic terms, calls upon nations to guarantee to their citizens access to the fruits of science – scientific results and applications – as well as the right to participate in and do science.

Bryant Professors Andrea Boggio, Katie Alidadi, and Alex Perullo attended, and Dr. Boggio, along with Professor Cesare Romano of the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, addressed the special session on current trends in the realization of this right, as well as conditions that foster the

conservation, development, and diffusion of science and technology.

Following this official UN session, the group visited Human Rights Watch, a noted independent, international organization that works as part of a movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights.

United Nations Headquarters ..…..…...... 1-2 Math DataFest ..................2 Fed Challenge…..…………3-4 English Pop Up Gallery .….4 Santo Domingo...……....…. 5 Art & Science of Love……...5 EMT………...…....................6 Fall Block Party……..……….6 Communication Department……..................7 Hanoi, Vietnam………….…..8 GFCL Art History…………….9 2018 Grads………………..10-11 Read and share the online version of A&S Magazine, and explore past issues, by searching “Bryant A&S Magazine” at Issuu.com And stay connected to the College of Arts & Sciences on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Layout and Design: Kimberly Keyes Edited by: Bradford Martin and Wendy Samter

UN Headquarters, continued...

Their New York staff consists of human rights professionals including country experts, lawyers, journalists, and academics of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. At Human Rights Watch, the Bryant students participated in a series of meetings on how to build an international coalition in favor of the Right to Science.

Finally, at the end of the day, the entourage met with partners at the law firm of Reed Smith where they discussed guidelines and standards for private firms that wish to have a social impact.

The reactions of students to this trip were universally positive. According to Global Studies major Alyse Beauchemin, “…(It) allowed me to have a taste of international policy making that I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else.” On the trip along with Alyse were Jenny Mitchell, MiaLynne Park, and Claire Gracia.

Congratulations to our Mathematics Students and our Faculty Advisors!

Professors Alicia Lamere and Son Nguyen DataFest 2018, Stonehill College

Team “Data Avengers” won Best Insight (Rachel Cardarelli, Michael Jarosz, Taylor McKinley, Jonathan Ormsbee, and Tammy Yu).

Team “Will Code for Food” won 2nd for Best Visualization (Ryan Brown, Edward Golas, Michael Gough, Bridget Healy, Anthony Pasquarelli, and Cole Sussmeier).

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Final Four—Federal Reserve Bank, Boston Harrison Garrett ‘19 For the fourth time in the last five years, the Bryant team, competing against about two dozen other schools from the Boston Federal Reserve District One, finished among the top four in the Fed Challenge, and second time in a row as runner up – to Dartmouth last year and Harvard this year.

In The Fed Challenge, Bryant goes head to head with such schools as Babson, Bentley, Boston College, Boston University, Dartmouth, Harvard, Middlebury, Mount Holyoke, Northeastern, Quinnipiac, Roger Williams, Tufts, Trinity, UConn, and Yale. On the day of the Challenge in early November, teams were divided into groups for the preliminary round, made their presentations, and answered questions from the judges. Bryant was selected to move on to the final round in which the team made and defended its presentation again to a different panel of judges, and fielded additional questions.

This time, Harvard prevailed, with Bryant coming in second. Since 2011, teams from Bryant have either won or earned Honorable Mention in the first round five times.

This is no small accomplishment Boston Regional Fed Challenge winners have more national championships (5) than any other competing district across the country. In addition, the winner of the Boston Regional has placed first or second nationally 8 times out of 11 competitions since 2006.

presentations. Each team member had to be conversant with the state of the economy and monetary policy of the Federal Reserve.

Upon return to campus in the fall, they met three times a week, exchanging ideas and giving their own presentations. After hours of group meetings and independent research, the team members came up with their final group recommendation. All during this process they built cohesion as a group, something which the judges evaluated on the day of the competition.

In the final week before the actual competition, after agreeing on the last details of their presentation, the team presented to peers and faculty members here on campus and took questions from audience members. They each had memorized every word of their detailed script.

Below is this year’s team”final four” team: Tim Colletta ’18, Mark Dyer ’20, Soala Ekine ’19, Ryan McKenzie ’18, Eva Nesline ’20, Trevor Perron ’18, Bryanna Seefeldt ’18, and Elizabeth Willmonton ’18.

Each year, teams engage in extensive preparation for the competition. The Bryant team, coached by Dr. Aziz Berdiev (Economics), Drs. Kevin Maloney and Peter Nigro (Finance) and Professor Susan Baran (Communication) spent a good deal of their summer researching topics for the

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English & Cultural Studies Pop Up Gallery , December 2017

COMING UP‌ ECS Spring Pop Up Event!

Celebrate Creative Student Work: Design, Writing, Music, Performances May 4, 2018 4-5:30 PM Interfaith Center, West Room

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Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Brianna Sutherland ’19 is a Biology major with minors in Biotechnology and Human Resources. She’s an Honors student, a Peer Mentor, a member of Bryant’s Health Education Awareness Leaders, and the Academics Chair of the Delta Zeta sorority. In her spare time she’s a registered EMT, and a member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Ocean State. You would probably guess (correctly) that she’s interested in a career in health, and also likes to help others who need help. So it’s no surprise that she spent part of her summer last year in a shadowing experience, closely observing the midwifery unit of a teaching hospital in the Caribbean nation of Dominican Republic, where the infant mortality rate is 17.5 per 1000 births (worldwide low is Monaco at 1.8 per 1000).

This learning abroad experience was arranged through an organization in the U.K. called Gap Medics. Gap provided transportation, housing, meals, and arranged group activities for the 20 or so who stayed at the same house as Brianna.

Each day, she and three others shadowed doctors and staff in Hospital Materno Infantil San Lorenzo De Los Mina.

While most of the staff did not speak English, the mentors did. They generally supervised the experiences of the international students for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week.

During that time, Brianna and her group observed about twenty births, both natural and Ceasarian, swaddled the babies in the nursery, dressed them, delivered them to their

mothers who were in the recovery unit, and asked loads of questions. The mentors also showed them the NICU and the newborns in it, and arranged for the visitors to sit in on OB/GYN consultation appointments.

When not in the hospital, there were opportunities to experience the local culture and make field visits, including one to a local orphanage for disabled children.

Prior to her visit, Brianna had been contemplating a career in medicine, possibly as a physician assistant. As a result of this outside of the classroom experience, she’s more convinced that working with newborns and their mothers is the path she should follow.

Brianna recounts, “I made connections with other medical students, and together we all learned much…about the birthing process. Shadowing in this environment allowed me to see so much more than I could have otherwise.”

The Art & Science of Love—February 14, 2018 The College of Arts & Sciences took over the Fisher Student Center Living Room to collaborate on the Art & Science of Love, a set of whimsical activities and presentations through the lenses of our CAS disciplines.

Fall 2015

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Burrillville, RI Richard Blais, EMT-C, EMS I/C It’s March 2, 2018, the day the “Weather Bomb” – a combination of hurricane force winds and water, including in several frozen forms – hit Rhode Island and much of the rest of New England. In anticipation of the expected bump in the number of emergency calls, many of the faculty of Bryant’s SCI ST 300 have gone on active or stand-by duty at various fire departments or emergency medical services units across the state.

When they’re not doing that, these highly experienced EMTs are managing the various classrooms of SCI ST 300, a Special Topics course in which 11 students this semester are learning the fundamental skills and knowledge required to become an Emergency Medical Technician. This is the second year of collaboration between Bryant and New England Emergency Medical Training RI, Inc. of East Providence, a certified training firm and national testing center. Professional EMTs from the firm, in conjunction with Bryant’s Physician Assistant program, see that course participants are prepared with academic and practical training to pass the national exam for Emergency Medical Technician at the basic level, Advanced Emergency Medical Technician, or Rhode Island Cardiac Emergency Medical Technician.

This isn’t a done in a traditional whiteboard, projector and screen classroom environment. Students gain some of their early training alongside Physician Assistant candidates in the high tech facilities and laboratories of the School of Health Sciences building, or at NEEMTs main headquarters in East Providence in which, among other specialty rooms and labs, is a simulation of the back of an ambulance.

A highlight of the semester is Extrication Day, this year executed in conjunction with Burrillville Fire Department.

EMT students are first shown how people are removed from vehicles that have been involved in crashes, then “invited” to practice with the Jaws of Life.

Beginning in March and April, students are scheduled for ‘ride-alongs’ with local fire and emergency medical services units, where they have to accumulate at least 10 patient contacts. During a contact, the EMT student observes what the attendants and drivers (called by their co-workers “chauffeurs”) are doing. If a student is quite advanced, she or he may be assigned by the preceptor on the run to assist, by helping with CPR or some other necessary task.

Once students have completed classroom activities, time in the mock and simulation laboratories, extrication day, and ride-alongs, then they take their examinations for certification. They also fulfill all the obligations necessary to earn undergraduate course credits.

Bryant is the only college or university in Rhode Island that has an EMT training course. Rick Blais, Director of NEEMT, describes his company’s experience with Bryant students as “wonderful.” He says, “…in the two classes we’ve had to date they have been quite knowledgeable, and with high drive to get through the program.”

Many of the students who register for SCI ST 300 are contemplating a career as Physician Assistants, and the hours they work as registered EMTs can be used to satisfy clinical experience requirements of their PA candidacies.

Most Bryant students who have enrolled in the EMT program have been successful with their PA applications.

Save the Date!!!

College of Arts & Sciences Block Party Wednesday, September 26, 2018 Fall 2015

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1150 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, RI Professor Tom Zammarelli and Dr. Kevin Pearce

Bryant’s Television Studio gets quite a workout over the course of a semester. Daily (and sometimes at night and on weekends) professors, experts in the broadcast business, and students from more than half a dozen courses of Bryant’s nationally ranked Communication Department (number 10 in New England, top 15% in U.S., College Factual, 2018) head over to The Studio. The mission is to acquire skills and share experiences in such areas as Studio Production, Writing and Reporting for Broadcast and Digital Media, Video Journalism, Script to Screen, Sports Media Production, and others.

According to Professor Tom Zammarelli, while students learn about the operations of studios and the more technical aspects of broadcasting, the goal is not to create broadcast technicians. This curriculum is not geared toward skill sets like rolling cable or laying down gaffer’s tape. Rather, the real emphasis is on higher level capabilities, including four elements that differentiate these Bryant courses from those of other programs. “We teach students how to write conversationally, how to conduct a proper interview, how to present themselves, and how to work as a team. And we stress that team environments are very different from group environments. You cannot rely

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on one or two people doing the majority of the work. Everyone must perform.” These are the broader skills that will make Bryant graduates employable in a variety of careers.

We also offer courses in which the learning takes place both in the field as well as in studio. For instance, in Sports Media Production, students are required to capture footage at an athletic event on site, after which they interview coaches or athletes on set in Bryant studios. Then editing takes place, and ultimately the budding broadcasters present their work for peer evaluation led by a professor.

Professor Susan Baran, who previously was weekend news anchor in a national TV market (Philadelphia), and Professor Mike Montecalvo, an awarding-winning journalist who presently co-anchors newscasts on WPRI 12 and on FOX Providence.

The broadcast market is changing, and The Studio, which supports both online and digital journalism, plays a key role in preparing quality students to break into the business.

Among the faculty members reviewing students’ work are

Spring 2018

Hanoi, Vietnam Kristie VosWinkle (‘18) and Dr. Kirsten Hokeness This summer, Kristie VosWinkle (’18) will be packing and preparing for her next academic venture as a student in the Physician Assistant program at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Last summer was a little different, however, as she found herself getting up early each morning and heading to The National Hospital of Traditional Medicine in Hanoi, Vietnam. During her three week placement, arranged through Projects Abroad, while stationed on the surgical floor she observed and assisted in techniques associated with traditional Eastern approaches, including acupuncture, cupping, massage therapy and herbal medicine.

While her mornings were occupied with learning about these techniques commonly used for pain management and rehabilitation, in the afternoon, she scrubbed and gowned, and assisted in over 25 surgical procedures. She reports “This was very hands on. I learned to do pre- and post-operative exams, and during surgeries I was able to do everything from simply holding and releasing clamps to cauterizations.” She also was present in operating rooms for numerous tumor removal surgeries (frequently undertaken with only local anesthesia), gall bladder removal, salivary gland removal, and the excision of cysts from organs. Kristie says, “the doctors I worked for were so happy to teach me and even happier when I got better at a skill.”

I used Google translate a lot, which was very helpful.

There were a few doctors there who were pretty good with their English. They taught me traditional medicine and I taught them English. It was like a deal we had, and the language barrier enhanced my experience. The saying really is true, ‘we all smile in the same language.’”

Each day she and her American colleague would go to lunch with the son of the Chief of Surgery. “The Chief really made us feel welcome and made it a point to always way we were a part of the staff.” She says her experience in Vietnam “truly made an impact on (her) applications for PA school. I loved, loved, loved my experience.”

Kristie has been described by professors in Bryant’s Department of Science and Technology as a “model student...” and “…one that all professors dream of having.”

Among the lessons she had to learn early was time management, balancing the rigors of academics with the stress of being a serious Division 1 varsity athlete. She has credited a good deal of her success to relationships she built with faculty in the Science Department, which she described as allowing her to get a “personalized” education.

She continues, “There was definitely a language barrier. A lot of the time I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking at, but thankfully there was another American student with me, and we bounced ideas and laughs off one another.

ARTS & SCIENCES ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS Applied Psychology  Joseph Trunzo, Chair Communication  Kevin Pearce, Chair Economics  Sam Mirmirani, Chair English & Cultural Studies  Janet Dean, Chair History & Social Sciences  John Dietrich, Chair Mathematics  Kristin Kennedy, Chair Modern Languages  Tony Houston, Chair Science & Technology  Gaytha Langlois, Chair

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GFCL Art History & Creative Expression Professor Maura Coughlin GFCL students in Professor Maura Coughlin’s Art History & Creative Expressions sections worked on a “slow looking” exercise that asked them to re-stage a narrative European painting from the 15th to 17th centuries. In additional to research, this playful exercise explores how artists used many compositional elements to tell a story. Creating a parody is a way of learning about composition by doing it.

Nicholas Poussin’s Et in Arcadia Ego: Andrew Nicholas Ian Kastrinos Martin Gauba

Rogier Van der Weyden’s St. George and the Dragon: Brody Hopkins

Artesmesia Gentileschi’s Susanna and the Elders: Kayla Haddad Cadri Folami Marcus Navarro

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Spring 2018

Celebrating CAS Student Outcomes Kathleen Everson Christopher Buccheri Congratulations to Christopher Buccheri who was accepted to his number one choice graduate school, North Carolina State, for admission into their Ph.D. program for statistics. Below he describes his journey to this decision.

“I came to Bryant as an Actuarial Mathematics major at the recommendation of my High School guidance counselor. I joined the Actuarial Association immediately, conferred with the Executive Board members of the club on Exam P, took the Exam and passed in the summer after my freshman year. I have also served as Treasurer of the Bryant Outdoor Adventure Club, Mixed Martial Arts Club, and the Actuarial Association. As a Student Senator in my junior year, and now an events planning co-chair with the Student Programming Board, I have sought to help others to achieve their goals and build diverse, meaningful relationships with students at Bryant.

Between all of the above, I was accepted to the Summer Institute in BioStatistics (SIBS) program at NC State University in my sophomore year. At the same time, I had placed in the top 20 of the Travelers Actuarial Individual Case Competition. I was invited to meet with Travelers for a special shadowing day along with the other contestants. Having already committed to NC State's Program, I opted not to apply for an Actuarial internship and instead to go to NC State for six weeks. I am glad I did.

After the SIBS program, I changed my major from Actuarial Mathematics to Applied Mathematics and Statistics. I also added a minor in Biotechnology. My career goals changed from working in the private sector to joining the ranks of academic and government researchers in saving lives and changing the world. I also took a position in Bryant's Office of Planning and Institutional Research, where I assist the President's Office in making decisions affecting the student body using various quantitative analyses. This winter, I was accepted into NC State's Statistics PhD program, my number one choice for graduate school.

Chris’ words of advice: “Stumble into strange places, branch out in your experiences, and you too will discover your passion.”

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Kathleen Everson, a senior Applied Psychology major, has been accepted to the doctoral program in School Psychology at St. John’s University in New York City.

Kathleen has spent her 4 years at Bryant exploring career options in a variety of settings, both in and out of the classroom.

She was a National Institutes of Health Fellow in Professor Heather Lacey’s research lab, funded by the Rhode Island IDeA Network for Excellence in Biomedical Research (RI-INBRE) grant. Kathleen was one of three Bryant Applied Psychology majors who assisted Professor Lacey in researching probability, risk, and decision making during the fellowship, which is ongoing and available to new students. She currently serves as an intern at Sparadeo and Associates, a private practice in psychology that specializes in administering neuropsychological tests to a wide variety of patient populations. This breadth of experience helped Kathleen’s application standout amongst a competitive pool for St. John’s doctoral program.

Reflecting on her experience as an Applied Psychology major at Bryant, Everson states, “The psychology program at Bryant has given me the opportunity to conduct my own research as well as work alongside professors on their research. This has helped me expand my academic experience and lay a proper foundation for my dissertation research.”

Everson adds, “The size of Bryant’s College of Arts & Sciences, specifically the Department of Applied Psychology, has allowed me to establish personal relationships with professors. The ability to get to know each psychology professor has provided me with multiple research and internship opportunities. The one on one attention from faculty is rewarding and helpful in determining career directions.”

On behalf of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Applied Psychology, congratulations to Kathleen and good luck!

Spring 2018

Celebrating CAS Student Outcomes

Claire Gracia Global Studies senior Claire Gracia will join the the Peace Corps in the fall of 2018. The Peace Corps, a highly selective government organization, sends volunteers to countries around the world for two years to assist communities on a variety of issues from water and sanitation to heath and wellness.

Claire will travel to Peru and work in the area of youth and development where she will be responsible for educating young people. Claire previously lived in Peru for six months while she was in high school. The ability to return to Peru provides an ideal means for Claire to reconnect with people she previously met and to make a strong impact on the next generation of Peruvian leaders.

Claire will make use of her Global Studies education through applying aspects of human rights, development, and cultural understanding. Her fluency in Spanish attained at Bryant and during her study abroad semester in Spain will come in handy during her time in Peru.

Congratulations Claire!

Soala Ekine Soala Ekine is second-semester Junior Applied Economics Major. He applied and was admitted to the Summer Research Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His interest is in high-level research in Economic Development in Africa with the primary focus on issues related to poverty and income inequality.

The MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) seeks to promote the value of graduate education; to improve the research enterprise through increased diversity; and to prepare and recruit the best and brightest for graduate education at MIT. MSRP seeks to identify talented sophomores, juniors, and non-graduating seniors who might benefit from spending a summer on MIT’s campus, conducting research under the guidance of MIT faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and advanced graduate students. Soala embodies these qualities, making him an ideal selection for the program.

Participants in MSRP become prepared and motivated to pursue advanced degrees, thereby helping to sustain a rich talent pool in critical areas of research and innovation.

Good luck on this exciting opportunity Soala!

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