December News: Education Program

The Gottesman Libraries Education Program informs students, faculty and staff about the latest thinking in education, in ways that engage members of the community with one another and with a broad range of educational experts. The program also provides understanding of work being done throughout the college. Read more about offerings in December!

Workshops

Regularly scheduled instructional offerings include workshops, tours, orientations, and course-specific instruction in coordination with staff and faculty of the College.

The Lit Review Revisited, Thursday, 12/10, 2-3pm

We are into finals, and you may be finishing up a paper or researching for your proposal. So, it is never too late to review the possible ways to conduct a good literature review! In so doing, you will become acquainted with key tools and strategies for tackling your topic, and also develop your search preferences as you grapple with the universe of information.

An essential step in the process of writing a thesis or dissertation, or any paper for publication, the lit review asks that you read and critique articles, books, and other sources that have already been written on your topic or related topics. You are required to find sources and evaluate the best way to focus your research so that you can contribute to a body of scholarly literature.

Please rsvp by Tuesday, December 8th with your interest and details and we'll follow up with a link to the workshop.

Zotero or Mendeley?, Thursday, 12/17, 3-4pm

Managing bibliographic references is key to the research process, especially as you embark on a major, paper, thesis, or dissertation, or even as you organize readings for class.

This workshop compares Zotero, "your personal research assistant" -- a citation management tool that allows you to collect, organize, cite, and share research, with Mendeley, an alternative tool for managing citations. For example, while both Zotero and Mendeley allow you to extract metadata, including title and authors from PDFs, Mendeley automates the process, as it allows you to organize your files directly in a customizable manner. Mendeley also enables highlighting and annotations directly on the article PDF.

Please join us for this workshop and find out which tool you may prefer. You may rsvp via online support and we'll follow up with a Zoom link prior to the session.

News Displays

Need to keep current, look to the past, teach a topic? The Everett Cafe features daily postings of news from around the world, and also promotes awareness of historical events from an educational context. Be sure to check the Cafe News postings on the library blog.

Smallpox Is Declared Eradicated, Wednesday, 12/9

Jane Austen Is Born, Wednesday, 12/16

Winter Solstice, Monday, 12/21



Everett Cafe: Coming Together Post Election, through mid-January

The 2020 huge and historic election records the highest number of popular votes; oldest person to win the presidency; and first woman and first woman of color elected as Vice President -- a remarkable achievement in a nation beset by deep political divisions; mounting civil unrest over racial injustices; continuing global pandemic; major economic downfalls; and serious climate issues on all levels -- physical, social, and emotional. Temperatures are running high, with Democrats celebrating the Biden-Harris victory, and Republicans alleging voter fraud, ignited by Trump's refusal to concede the election, as the world tunes in.

The United States is moving forward into a new year and new era, however we cast our votes, and it's fitting to take stock through reading and deeper conversation about the political process, meaning of democracy, and other influences shaping our health as a nation. Coming Together: Post Election invites us to reflect on this unprecedented time, while encouraging greater unity in the sharing of our concerns and challenges as educators and citizens, despite whatever political differences we may have.

At the Everett News Cafe, you'll find a new book collection every few weeks that relates to current affairs, education, or learning environments.

Staff Picks: Education and the Martian Frontier

"From the summer of 2017 to spring, 2018, the Gottesman Libraries staged Mars Mission, “an out-of-this-world immersive experience” in the Smith Learning Theater. The 70 minute production simulated a mission to the Red Planet during which participants, divided into teams, worked together to solve problems of human settlement on Mars, from the scientific to the technical. While the idea of travel to (and visits from) Mars has long been a staple of fantasy and science fiction, recent developments have brought that prospect closer to reality. Mars One, a Dutch nonprofit, made international news in 2013 when over 200,000 people submitted applications for 100 places on a one-way trip to the planet. NASA’s “Moon to Mars” initiative aims to send at least one man and one woman to the Moon by 2024 in order to “[establish] sustainable exploration” for settlement on Mars. Among the private enterprises collaborating with NASA on that initiative is SpaceX, the company founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk with the mission of enabling the colonization of Mars.

Like Gottesman Libraries’ Mars Mission, media coverage of the prospective colonization of Mars has considered the issue as largely a set of scientific, technological, and funding problems. But histories of colonization on our home planet point to deeper questions about the philosophy and morals of colonization itself. This collection looks at literature about Mars alongside literature about colonial education to more fully consider the implications of human settlement on Mars."

-- Anika Paris, Library Associate

Staff Picks is curated each month by the Gottesman Libraries' staff to highlight resources on educational topics and themes of special interest. Education and the Martian Frontier is on display through December.

Highlighted Databases: Holidays and Celebrations

Looking forward to December holidays -- Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa -- and the festive spirit all around that draws us together, we feature databases that are useful in the broad field of education, including the study and teaching of curriculum, family, culture, and religion. Read more on the library's news page.

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To request disability-related accommodations contact OASID at oasid@tc.edu, (212) 678-3689, or (646) 755-3144 video phone, as early as possible.