Dean's Research Travel Colloquium

The Dean's Research Travel Colloquium furthers NYUSteinhardt's mission by

• Providing focus and opportunity for multi/interdisciplinary study, research and global travel outside of the regular classroom, with faculty and students who may be outside of one's major
• Introducing students to new perspectives on the human condition
• Building community across Steinhardt and among faculty, students, and adminstrators
• Nurturing student development and a sense of global citizenship

Description

The Dean's Research Travel Colloquium, another dimension of the NYUSteinhardt Scholars Program, offers outstanding sophomores, juniors and seniors enrolled in NYUSteinhardt a unique opportunity to explore questions, policy issues, and practices specific to their academic disciplines through study and international travel.

The final project of the faculty-led Colloquium is a research project dealing with an aspect of the Colloquium's organizing theme. Students develop and complete their research under the guidance of Colloquium faculty.

Prior to travel, Colloquium participants enroll in the Dean's Research Travel Colloquium Seminar, and meet several times (5-6) to explore issues to develop their research proposals. Seminar may include lectures, discussions, field trips, and cultural activities. In a concluding session (s) after travel, participants present the results of their research projects and the relevance of what they have learned to their academic program and emerging professional interests.

Upcoming travel destinations for the 2008-2009 Colloquia are:

Germany (1989-2009): Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin, Germany -- January 8-15, 2009

Borderlands: Moroccan Culture and History through Food
Morocco -- January 8-15, 2009

Identities in Context: Perceptions and Realities
Istanbul, Turkey -- March 16-21, 2009

Download a Dean's Research Travel Colloquium application and a recommendation form. Current sophomore scholars may click here for an application. The deadline for applications is April 3, 2008.

Click here to learn more about the travel destinations from the 2007-2008 Colloquia.

Click here to learn more about past travel destinations from the 2006-2007 Colloquia.

Germany (1989-2009): Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Berlin, Germany
January 8-15, 2009

The dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 served as a major symbol of the end of the Cold War and paved the way for the unification of a country that had been divided since 1945. Educational Theater Professor Joe Salvatore will address the ramifications of Germany's very complex reunification process.

Through an exploration of the city of Berlin, students will examine Germany's turbulent social and cultural history over the last century with a particular focus on the last twenty years. Now, as the largest country by population in the EU, Germany represents something of a super power in Europe. Geographically, it is the center of the continent, and for centuries, the borders of this country have been disputed. Since the reunification, the country has experienced relative peace, although other areas of Central and Eastern Europe have suffered.

How has Germany, and specifically Berlin, managed to recover after decades of division and political unrest? Can Germany serve as a model for other countries dealing with political and social upheaval in the 21st century? How have German citizens dealt with their evolving cultural identity over the past twenty years since the fall of the Wall?

Students will visit what remains of the Berlin Wall and visit Checkpoint Charlie. Given domestic issues around immigration from Mexico into the United States and the current construction of a wall between these two countries, the study of the Berlin Wall can inform discussions about the potential ramifications of division between countries or cultures.

Professor Salvatore has included on the travel agenda the Brandenburg Gate, the new Reichstag, and the Berliner Ensemble. One trip outside of Berlin to a Nazi concentration camp is an important experience that will help to frame the questions surrounding national identity. Finally, the colloquium will provide opportunity for dialogue between NYUSteinhardt students and German university students to discuss national identity. The United States is at a critical juncture around the concept of citizenship; conversation with young people who have grown up in a country undergoing great cultural changes could be valuable and insightful.

Borderlands: Moroccan Culture and History through Food

Morocco
January 8-15, 2009

Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health Gabriella Petrick focuses these research colloquia on the diverse cultures that have shaped Morocco from the 16th-21st century. As a site of trade and invasion, Morocco has an extremely diverse ethnic community. By looking at Imperial Cities and the markets in cities around the country, students will use food as a lens to understand Moroccan history and culture. They will use Paula Wolfert's Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco as a guide to the regional and ethnic diversity of Moroccan cuisine in addition to short weekly readings.

Each student will do a research project on Moroccan culture through a food product or recipe. Students will keep a flavor journal during the travel experience, reflecting on the taste and cultural context of their eating experiences. This will augment their historical research by giving them a sensorial as well as an intellectual understanding of another culture, and a way to reference their experience as they complete their research papers.

The colloquium will travel to several Moroccan cities, to see how foods are used and produced in situ. Visits to markets and farms, and lectures and discussions with anthropologists on the faculty at the Al Akhawayn University illuminate the culture and society that is Moroccan. The experience may also include an archeological site visit to better understand how the objects of every day life can help to understand distant cultures, as well as how those legacies are manifest in current social systems and customs.

Students will have an opportunity to taste the foods they have been researching to better understand how a food can hold meaning and how different it is from a recipe printed in a cookbook. Each of these experiences will help student understand the legacy of Islam, Christianity, trade empires, colonialism, the dynamics of and resistance to change, and the challenges of independence and globalization.

Identities in Context: Perceptions and Realities

Istanbul, Turkey
March 16-21, 2009

Professor of Applied Psychology Selcuk Sirin, and Professor of Applied Psychology and co-Director of Immigration Studies at NYU Carola Suarez-Orozco will explore the questions "How is Muslim identity perceived in the US? To what degree does this perception actually reflect the lives of Muslims?" They have chosen as their travel destination Istanbul, one of the most vibrant, cosmopolitan and unique cities in the world; situated at the intersection of European, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures, Istanbul presents a diverse view of "the Muslim world" that range from jazz bars to folk clubs, from the largest spice bazaar in the world to the largest European mall.

Through the use of surveys or interviews, both in the US and in Turkey, students in the colloquium will systematically gather data on how young people tend to view Muslims. Once they generate their findings, students will verify some of their assumptions with data they will gather through their contacts in Turkey. Each student in the colloquium will be paired with a Turkish student who attends a college in Turkey and who is interested in the study of identity. Student pairs will then collaborate in the field gathering data from Turkish youth.

With this dual data-driven approach, NYUSteinhardt students will gain a deeper understanding of identity as a social construct in general and Muslim identity as a contextual phenomenon in particular. Additionally, students will be able to develop empirical research skills that will prepare them for their scholarly work in the future. At the end of this process, students will present their findings both in written reports and in oral presentations to the NYU community. It is the goal of the instructors of this colloquium to encourage students to publish their research both in popular and scholarly outlets.