March Newsletter: Education Program
Gottesman Libraries
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 March.
Workshops
Regularly scheduled instructional offerings include workshops, tours, orientations, and course-specific instruction in coordination with staff and faculty of the College.
Your Research Journey is a five-part library workshop series to help guide you in your research throughout the semester, by providing you with manageable tools and resources to use along your journey. Whether this is your first time conducting research, or you are a well-seasoned researcher and looking for a refresher, each workshop introduces fundamental information to lay a foundation of knowledge on which you can build your scholarly work. While the workshops in this series are designed to build upon each other, you are welcome to attend any workshop individually. All are held on Wednesdays, 3-4pm.
Elevate Your Research builds upon the foundational series, Your Research Journey, by presenting valuable new topics, resources, and methodologies to make you an even stronger and highly proficient researcher. Held on Thursdays, 3-4pm, this series also invites deeper, collaborative work to strengthen academic research initiatives.
Searching Strategies, Wednesday, 3/5, 3-4pm
How do you know you are retrieving all the relevant information needed for your research topic? Do you find your catalog and database searches are not giving you the best results? This workshop will cover the strategies and concepts needed to give you confidence that you are finding the best results in your searches and take you beyond conducting simple searches by using tools to search in a variety of contexts. The workshop host will review how to use Educat+, the catalog of the Gottesman Libraries; CLIO, the Columbia University Libraries catalog; and database providers, like EBSCO and Proquest. We will then show how you can optimize your queries by using Boolean logic and punctuation to refine your search style and retrieve exactly the resources you seek.
Presenter: Ava Kaplan, Research and Instruction Librarian
Where: 101 Russell / Online
Building a Classroom Library, Thursday, 3/6, 3-4pm
Join us for our ‘Building a Classroom Library' workshop, where you'll learn how to create a dynamic, inclusive, and effective library space for your students. Explore theory behind a well-designed K-12 classroom library, including its role in literacy development and curriculum support. We will discuss practical strategies for curating, organizing, and maintaining a diverse collection. You'll also dive into the logistics of selecting materials utilizing K-12 and library resources. We hope you leave the workshop with new ideas and tools to begin building a classroom library that reflects your teaching goals and your students’ needs!
Open to all students, staff, and faculty.
Presenters: Abby McGuire, Library Specialist for Circulation and User Experience; Ava Kaplan, Research and Instruction Librarian
Where: 101 Russell / Online
Managing Your Citations with Zotero, Wednesday 3/12, 3-4pm
This workshop provides a quick start introduction including: downloading; tour of the interface; nuts and bolts of how to ingest references through a web connector; and different ways of citing. This workshop will be followed by others in the Elevate Your Research series, offering more advanced features of Zotero and an introductory session for Endnote -- all within ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) Frames.
Presenter: Ava Kaplan, Research and Instruction Librarian
Where: 101 Russell / Online
The Literature Review, Wednesday, 3/26, 3-4pm
The Literature Review is an essential element of scholarly inquiry, allowing researchers to understand the context and conclusions around a specific topic. A literature review can be conducted as a section in a main project such as a thesis or dissertation, or it can be a standalone project for a course or publication. For whatever reason you are embarking on your literature review process, this workshop will introduce you to the concepts and guidelines behind the three primary types of literature reviews; the narrative review, scoping review, and systematic review. We will also cover strategies for locating the sources you need for your literature review.
Presenter: Ava Kaplan, Research and Instruction Librarian
Where: 101 Russell / Online
Understanding Primary Sources, Thursday, 3/27, 3-4pm
Come learn about introductory techniques for locating, accessing, and analyzing historical documents. Our goal in this workshop is to provide participants with a preliminary skill set useful in the discovery, access, and analysis of primary source documents. Objectives of this workshop are to:
- Define and identify primary sources and “archival” material as well as a basic understanding of knowledge organization;
- Discern the relationship between primary sources and secondary sources;
- Recognize how archives can be a valuable resource for certain types of projects, and how archivists can be helpful research partners; and
- Understand the basic methodology of conducting research with primary sources.
Additionally, students and participants will have the opportunity to work directly with primary source material from the Gottesman Libraries' Special Collections.
Presenter: Conrad Lochner, Special and Digital Collections Librarian
Where: 104b Russell / Online
Highlighted Databases
Every month we draw attention to select databases that strengthen learning, teaching, and research in academic areas and their relevance to current offerings and programs.
In March we feature resources in Anthropology and Education, demonstrating the interdisciplinarity of the field and its relevance to understanding the human condition at many levels. Read more on the news feed.
Talks
We host a variety of talks, from book to guest to art, to encourage thinking , conversation, and action on a broad range of interesting and relevant topics and needs.
Guest Talk: Playing in the Dark? Blackness, Humanity, and Studies of Black Life in Education, with Chezare A. Warren, Wednesday, 3/23, 4:30-6pm
Please join us for the second talk in the Spring 2025 speaker series organized by the Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Advanced Study.
Chezare A. Warren, PhD is Associate Professor of Education Policy and Principal Investigator of THE POSSIBILITIES PROJECT at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development. He holds a secondary appointment in Peabody’s Department of Teaching & Learning and is affiliated faculty in African American and Diaspora Studies in the College of Arts and Science. Dr. Warren is a scholar of race and intersectional justice whose research interests center on understanding the conditions that enable Black students’ education success and wellbeing. A former secondary math teacher and school administrator from Chicago, Dr. Warren has held visiting faculty appointments at Stanford University, New York University, and University of Pennsylvania. He is recipient of numerous national recognitions including two early career awards from the American Educational Research Association, and the Charles DeGarmo Award, presented by the Society of Professors of Education and given to a scholar who is a “prominent and distinguished figure in American Education.” He is also a 2019 National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Ford Postdoctoral Fellow and 2024 TED-Ed Fellow. His TED talk on empathy in education—an area for which Dr. Warren has published extensively—has more than 400,000 views since publication. Warren is author of Urban Preparation: Young Black Men Moving from Chicago’s South Side to Success in Higher Education (Harvard Education Press, 2017) and About Centering Possibility in Black Education (Teachers College Press, 2021). His research has been published in top peer-reviewed journals including Educational Researcher, Journal of Teacher Education, and Urban Education. He is a widely sought after speaker and consultant on issues of race and equity in education. For more information, visit www.chezarewarren.com
This guest talk is co-sponsored by the Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Advanced Study and the Gottesman Libraries.
Register HERE.
Where: 306 Russell / Online
Artivism: Beyond Beauty: Art as a Catalyst for Social Imagination and Transformation, with Jacqueline Cofield, Monday, 3/24, 4:30-5:30pm
Jaqueline Cofield explores how art can serve as a powerful tool for nurturing social imagination and addressing systemic inequities.
This presentation will explore how art can serve as a powerful tool for nurturing social imagination and addressing systemic inequities. Drawing from my experiences as an educator, arts consultant, and researcher, I will discuss how collaborative and interdisciplinary art practices can foster meaningful social transformation. The talk will include examples of arts-integrated projects that empower marginalized communities and amplify underrepresented voices. I will also reflect on the legacy of Maxine Greene and bell hooks and the principles of reciprocity, dignity, and community in shaping a more equitable society.
Key Points:
- The transformative role of art in addressing social inequities
- Collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to artistic practice
- Lessons from arts-based projects that reflect and empower marginalized voices
Dr. Jacqueline M. Cofield is an educator, award-winning researcher, and arts advocate dedicated to fostering social transformation through the power of art. As the founder of CulturED Arts Consulting and host of the Beyond Beauty podcast, she integrates arts and education to address inequities and amplify marginalized voices. Dr. Cofield holds an Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University, where her research focused on Black women artists’ epistemologies and aesthetic practices. She has collaborated with global cultural institutions, facilitated arts-integrated programs in six countries, and engaged diverse audiences in conversations about art’s potential to inspire critical social change. Currently, she serves as an Assistant Adjunct Professor at Hunter College Graduate School of Education.
Where: Online
Register HERE.
Connect with Dr. Jacqueline M. Cofield:
Personal Website
Linkedin
Instagram
Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation is jointly sponsored by Adelphi University, Sing for Hope, and the Gottesman Libraries. A movement with committed social artivists, Artivism: The Power of Art Social Transformation, grew out of Illuminations of Social Imagination: Learning From Maxine Greene, (Dio Press, 2019), edited by Teachers College alumni Courtney Weida and Carolina Cambronero-Varela, and Dolapo Adeniji-Neill, of Adelphi University.
Book Club: Men We Reaped, by Jesmyn Ward, Tuesday, 3/26, 12-1pm
Join a group of enthusiastic readers to discuss great memoirs of significance to the broad field education! Our second Book Club choice for the Spring Semester is Men We Reaped, by Jesmyn Ward (New York : Bloomsbury, 2013). This memoir that examines rural poverty and the lingering strains of racism in the South by the author of Salvage the Bones, (New York: Bloomsbury, 2011); Sing, Unburied, Sing (New York: Scribner, 2017); and Let Us Descend (New York : Scribner, 2023).
"In five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five young men in her life-to drugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the question: Why? And as she began to write about the experience of living through all the dying, she realized the truth-and it took her breath away. Her brother and her friends all died because of who they were and where they were from, because they lived with a history of racism and economic struggle that fostered drug addiction and the dissolution of family and relationships. Jesmyn says the answer was so obvious she felt stupid for not seeing it. But it nagged at her until she knew she had to write about her community, to write their stories and her own." -- publisher's description
Book Club is co-sponsored by the Graduate Writing Center. It meets once a month throughout the semester, with a program for three memoirs, and is open to all students and staff. The first eight people to rsvp will receive a free copy.
Where: 305 Russell
Live Music
The Everett Cafe Music Program sponsors performances by TC student and affiliated musicians. Come enjoy a variety of genres and styles! Please contact us if you are interested in playing! We welcome solos, duets, and trios.
Jackson Potter and Melanie Giselle, Tuesday, 3/4, 4-5pm
Jackson Potter is an up-and-coming guitarist and composer on the NYC jazz scene. Since moving to NYC in 2021, Potter has performed with highly esteemed musicians such as Troy Roberts, former members of the John Pizzarelli Quartet, Konrad Paszkudzki and Mike Karn, Erena Terakubo, 2023 Ella Fitzgerald Vocal Competition Winner, April Varner, Kenny Shanker, and others. He has performed at iconic NYC venues such as Dizzy's, the Django, The Atrium Stage at Lincoln Center, and Nublu. Jackson released his debut album, Restless, in 2021, on Wise Cat Records where it received enthusiastic reviews from critics and was featured on RMR's Top Jazz Album Chart for the Year 2021. Recently, Jackson completed a Master of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music.
Jackson will be accompanied by Melanie Giselle, a jazz singer who studied formally in New York after performing as a solo artist in her hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She also has played bass and guitar in several bands of the New York scene. Her venues include The Club Room, Colby Club, Canary Club, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, Hermana, and more.
Nicholas DiMaria Duet, Thursday, 3/13, 6-7pm
Nicholas DiMaria is a trumpeter, teacher, and composer based in New York City. He draws inspiration from multiple genres and art forms in his compositions and is continuously inspired by expressing visual art in a musical medium. His music is described by audiences as introspective, passionate, and eclectic; influenced by jazz, hip-hop, and classical music.
Nicholas has lead groups at Carnegie Hall, The Northeast Wine and Jazz Festival, The Syracuse Jazz Festival, The Central New York Pride Festival, and restaurants and clubs across New York State. He has also performed at The Great New York State Fair, The CNY January Jazz Festival, the Disneyland All-American College Band, and opened for Grammy-Winner Lalah Hathaway. Nicholas is well-adapted to playing with jazz ensembles, wedding bands, and funk groups. He currently holds a weekly performance residency at Oliva Tapas, NYC (Thursdays and Fridays from 6-8pm). Nicholas is also a faculty member at Larchmont Music Academy, where he teaches trumpet and a jazz ensemble. In 2020, he received his Bachelor's in Jazz Arts from Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Scott Wendholt, Ingrid Jensen, Jim McNeely, and Jon Faddis.
Claremont Strings, Wednesday, 3/36, 4-5:30pm
Claremont Strings features music for classical strings, from the symphonies of Mozart and Haydn, to well known arias from the operas of Puccini and Bizet. You may hear a selection of continental Viennese waltzes and French cabaret. Musicians of The Claremont Strings Ensemble have performed collectively at Weill Hall, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and throughout the Northeast, playing a diverse range of symphonic and chamber music, eclectic jazz, and gypsy swing. Wadsworth Strings, emanating from the Washington Heights area, is a division of Claremont Strings, founded by Vivian Penham, a graduate of the Juilliard School and Columbia University.
Book Displays
Book displays are curated and designed by library staff to share the joy of books and reading, while encouraging greater awareness of available resources and their significance to the Library and College.
Everett Cafe: Indigenous Ways of Knowing
Indigenous Ways of Knowing examines the interconnections of all living things — humans, animals, plants, nature — as well as the critical consideration of multiple approaches to education, research, and sustainability. Moving behind "colonial" paradigms — perhaps described as qualitative, quantitative, or increasingly data-driven — we turn to alternative methodologies and more holistic ways of thinking — teachings of the natural world; application of oral tradition; art of storytelling; embodied traditions; and the value of ethnography.
At a time when Earth is increasingly vulnerable to complex systems of environmental, climate, governmental, political, social, and economic change — and when education aspires to impact change for a healthier, more equitable and just world, we can but build upon wisdom and reconfigure a relationship with the Earth in which human and non-human actors are seen as co-constitutive, non-hierarchical contributors. From pedagogical to fictional to curricular, here you will find exemplary books that serve to encourage reflection, continuing conversation, and richer paths to knowledge production.
Curated and designed by library staff, Indigenous Ways of Knowing builds upon the grant project, Qualitative Inquiry for Sustainable Multi-Species Futures, led by Srikala Naraian, Professor of Education, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, in collaboration with Oren Pizmony-Levy, Associate Professor of International and Comparative Education, and Director of the Center for Sustainable Futures; Tran Templeton, Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, and Faculty Co-Director, Rita Gold Center; and Natacha Roberts, Research Assistant, Center on History and Education.
At Everett Cafe, you'll find a new book collection every few weeks that relates to current events, education, or learning environments.
March Staff Picks: Multilingual Mosaic: Children's Literature Across Cultures
"In an increasingly interconnected yet culturally diverse world, Multilingual Mosaic: Children's Literature Across Cultures invites readers to explore the enchanting universes created by storytellers from different cultures. This exhibit celebrates literature's power to bridge gaps, foster understanding, and instill empathy among readers of all ages and backgrounds. Each featured book represents not just a story, but a unique voice, perspective, and cultural narrative that enriches our understanding of the world.
By presenting stories in diverse languages, March’s Staff Picks emphasizes the significance of multilingualism. Delving into the plethora of children's books available in different languages at the Gottesman Libraries allows us to understand and appreciate the differences that make us stronger." -- Chyanika Bajaj, Library Associate
Multilingual Mosaic: Children's Literature Across Cultures is curated by Chyanika Bajaj, Library Associate / Reference and Reader Services, and designed by Ashley Wang, Library Associate / Art and Design.
Where: Second Floor
Staff Picks is curated and designed each month by the Gottesman Libraries' staff to highlight resources on educational topics and themes of special interest.
Rocket Cases: Step Into Spring
Spring officially begins Thursday, March 20th with the vernal equinox, although meteorologists may actually refer to March 1st as the beginning of the new season. At Teachers College, we will be in the middle of much-needed Spring Break -- a time for our students and faculty to rest from -- and recharge for -- classes that conclude with final examinations in May. What better way to highlight Spring than to launch a charming selection children's books in the rocket cases?
Step Into Spring is curated by Kaili Ebert, Library Associate / Reference and Readers Services, in collaboration with staff.
Where: Second Floor
The Rocket Cases feature award winning and notable children's pop up book displays, with seasonal, educational, or other themes drawn from the juvenile collections.
Curiosity Cabinets: Portraying Faculty: Eclectic Views
Fitting for the Curiosity Cabinets this Spring is a selection of publications by and about leading members of the Teachers College faculty who are featured in the Offit Gallery black and white photographic exhibition, Faculty Portraits: An Historic View. Due to the breadth of their individual and institutional impact, we can only offer a limited example of their scholarship. In so doing, we hope to shed light on our institutional history and spark curiosity into areas that demonstrate innovative research and thinking in their represented fields: history, philosophy, and religion; educational administration; international and comparative education; anthropology; economics and sociology; adult education; and psychology.
Portraying Faculty: Eclectic Views takes us as far back as Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Teachers College, 1889-1891, then President of Columbia University, 1902-1944, and as far ahead as the noted historian Lawrence Cremin, who earned his doctorate from Columbia University; began teaching at Teachers College shortly thereafter; served as President from 1974-1984; and taught until his death in 1990. Twenty-three faculty members, including the eminent philosopher of education John Dewey, are showcased, with insight and inspiration for continuing research and maintaining the record of scholarly achievement to help safeguard freedom of inquiry, in teaching, and of thought.
Interestingly, tenure, or the right to indefinitely hold a position of office, was introduced into American universities in the early 1900s – partly to limit the dismissal of faculty members who held unpopular views. Tenure is historically linked to defending the principle of academic freedom which benefits education and society over time, provided academics are free to hold and express a variety of views. Tenure typically mandates faculty to publish, and becoming published requires fresh ways of thinking through learning at high levels.
Portraying Faculty: Eclectic Views is made possible through the generous support of the Myers Foundations and the creative contributions of Soeun Bae, Library Associate for Art and Design in collaboration with Jennifer Govan, Library Director and Senior Librarian, Conrad Lochner, Special and Digital Collections Librarian, and Victoria Santamorena, Processing Archivist. It builds upon the Offit Gallery Exhibit, Faculty Portraits: An Historic View.
Where: Third Floor Reading Room
The Curiosity Cabinets showcase interesting and insightful material from the historical collections to inform and enhance concomitant art exhibitions and book displays.
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.
Supreme Court Upholds the Feinberg Law, Monday, 3/3
First Telephone Call, Monday, 3/10
Patti Smith Hill Is Born, Thursday, 3/27
Exhibits
Educational exhibitions are mounted in partnership with the Teachers College community and others with an interest in displaying unique and innovative educational materials, while also regularly showcasing Teachers College's Historical Art Collections.
The library has several spaces in Russell Hall to exhibit diverse materials, and also features digital and web-based exhibitions when possible.
Paintings by Pre-Adolescents from the Golden Age
Angiola Churchill (b. 1922), an Artist and Art Educator, was Professor Emeritus of New York University and former Chair of the Department of Art and Arts Professions, 1975-2005. She was the Founder/Director of the New York University studio art program in Venice, 1974-2006; and co-director of the International Center for Advanced Studies in Art. She has had numerous one-person exhibitions and participated in more than 54 group shows, biennials, and art fairs. Angiola earned her Ed.D in 1967; her dissertation, under advisement from Justin Schorr and Dwayne Huebner, is entitled, Painting for the Preadolescent : A Guide Book for the Prospective Teacher. She taught in the Program at Teachers College, Columbia University from 1996-2006, and is author of the classic text Art for Pre-Adolescents (New York, McGraw-Hill, [1971]).
These paintings were collected as part of Angiola Churchill’s research into the creative potential and personality of pre-adolescents, baby boomers who set paint to paper to capture their understanding of themselves and world around them – in the country, city, in industry and nature. Striking is their use of shape, line, color, texture, and movement which are telling of the nature of the painting and the nature of the child.
In her dissertation, Angiola remarked that “painting has special potentiality for the pre-adolescent, whose needs and growing skills can be geared to the process with good effects on personality, ego strength, sense of identity, and security. Whether or not he becomes an artist, the painting experience has a correlation with the child’s general education and may affect later adjustment in life.” (p.3, Painting for the Preadolescent : A Guide Book for the Prospective Teacher).
Created in the 1950s and 1960s from different countries, including Japan, Italy, and the United States, the works were donated to the Library of Teachers College in the early 2000s. While we know very little about the artists, it is understood that international relations following World War II would take time to rebuild. Postwar decades would usher in America’s “Golden Age” – a time of prosperity and social change that would lead into a period of social disruption or activism, known as the Civil Rights Movement, a movement that would have repercussions throughout Asia and Europe in urging equality, justice, and self-determination.
This exhibit is made possible through the continuing generosity of the Myers Foundations.
Where: First Floor
When: February 7th through March 28th
Faculty Portraits: An Historic View
Represented in Offit Gallery is an eclectic mix of faculty who served at Teachers College, some also in administrative roles – from the presidency of Nicholas Murray Butler (1889-1891) to the progressive teachings of John Dewey (1904-1930), through to the educational histories written by President Lawrence Cremin (1961-1990). The subjects were photographed from the early to mid-twentieth century, prior to the advent of digital photography, likely by numerous skilled photographers – who, through monochrome, evoke a certain import and nostalgia in covering over 100 years of education. The framed portraits are being shown collectively for the first time in Offit Gallery, and they are supplemental to the Historical Photographs of Teachers College, as well as Historic Portraits of Teachers College Faculty in the Teachers College Digital Collections.
While the portraits do not present a comprehensive picture of the extraordinary and wide-ranging achievements of our faculty across many academic departments and programs, they reflect teaching, scholarship, and commitment in the fields of history, philosophy, and religion; educational administration; international and comparative education; anthropology; economics and sociology; adult education; and psychology. And true to their medium, the portraits speak volumes about their subjects, capturing personality, identity, and essence of character through lighting, composition, and pose.
Paired with the black and white portraits are faculty book publications, necessarily selective due to their large volume of research. The book pairings provide a snapshot of scholarship, with additional historical materials on display in the adjoining Curiosity Cabinets of the Third Floor Reading Room.
Where: Offit Gallery
When: through March 27th
