Long Runs (Short Shorts)
AIC runner ponders his passion
Guest Blogger: Jeremy Antivo
MAY 1, 2013
Last Sunday, American International College hosted its second annual Run for Education, a 5k race that celebrates the preK–12 educators in our children's lives and in our communities. This year’s event was a huge success, both for our local runners and educators. Today, guest blogger Jeremy Antivo, a sophomore from Rahway, NJ, describes through text and photos what running means to him and his compatriots on the AIC cross country team.
Becoming a competitive distance runner for a collegiate cross-country or track team takes a lot of control over your self. Gearing your body into the exact shape it takes to run 5,000 meters (a little over 3 miles) at a fast, consistent pace is not something that can be achieved overnight. It takes months of self-motivation, self-discipline, and most of all: months of straight-up running.
Set Girl
AIC set designer works for play
Guest Blogger: Megan Lanier-Gomez
APRIL 16, 2013
AIC's theater department is putting on a production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons this weekend. The play, which chronicles one family's downfall after the loss of their son in WWII, will be performed three times: at 7:00 p.m. April 19 and 20, and at 2:00 p.m. on April 21. Today, guest blogger and set designer Megan Lanier-Gomez offers readers a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes before an AIC theater production goes live.
Stage crew is one of the most important jobs in theater. Our main goal is to create a stage environment to help the actors live in the moment and the audience to believe what they see. We brainstorm together and work hard for a successful show.
We first mapped out how our set would look by measuring the actual stage, then cutting sections of Styrofoam to create a model. This week, April 14–18, is our tech-week, and that’s when all of the construction begins. Here, some of our set crew are creating a model of the stage setup, just to give the actors an idea of what the stage scenery will look like. We will be creating the whole entire stage. Boy, this is going to be a challenge.
Guest Blogger: Tilia Gjata
MARCH 11, 2013
President's Day Speaker Instructs... and Inspires
Keynote speaker Dr. Timothy McCarthy, director of the Sexuality, Gender, and Human Rights Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, delivered an extensive and informative lecture on the topic of "Presidents and the People: The Politics of Social Change in America” at AIC's annual President's Day lecture. Impressively audible as he turned off the mic in front of him, Dr. McCarthy addressed every corner of the audience and was overtly passionate about his premise and ready to teach as well as inspire.
Delving into the heart of the topic, Dr. McCarthy argued that while the president is his (and maybe someday her) own person, major political shifts and policies have been and continue to be the product of social and radical movements promulgated by the American people themselves. Referencing both the founding of the United States and the Declaration of Independence, and even quoting the "All men are created equal” passage, Dr. McCarthy pointed out that America has been run by social movements since its birth.
AIC's Harlem Shake
What? Did you guys think we were going to sit this one out?
Between the Pipes, Behind the Scenes: Hockey at AIC
Guest Blogger: Ryan Kerpan
FEBRUARY 28, 2013
My name is Ryan Kerpan, and I'm a goaltender for the AIC Yellow Jackets hockey team. I had the opportunity to shoot some behind-the-scenes photos at our recent game against Sacred Heart University. My goal for this project was to provide a glimpse inside our dressing room both before and after a game - a perspective that most sports spectators never experience (which is a shame, since it's really quite a show).
We're Back: New Friends, New Photos
FEBRUARY 26, 2013
Yes, Dispatches From State Street was AWOL for a little while there. But now we're back, and boy do we have some exciting news to announce: we've just begun a collaboration with Professor John Nordell and his students from Digital Photography I and Digital Photography II, and they'll be sharing their work with us on a semi-regular basis. And well, we think that's a pretty sweet idea. In fact, we think it's so sweet that we'd like to start sharing a whole lot more of the excellent work that AIC students and faculty are churning out all the time. So, if you'd like to write, photograph, or video something to share in this space - or just suggest an idea for a blog post about something cool that's happening on campus - shoot us an email, and we'll be ever so grateful.
Nordell, who's been teaching in an adjunct capacity at AIC since last fall, is relatively new to the world of higher education. Prior to his arrival at AIC he taught for five years at the Hallmark Institute of Photography. Before that, however, he made his living as a photojournalist, travelling the world capturing key moments in political and cultural history. (Over the course of his prolific career, he published work in Newsweek, Time, the New York Times Magazine, the Christian Science Monitor, and many other outlets.) Now Nordell is in a position to pass on some of his real-world experience to students who may have academic backgrounds that have nothing to do with photography, an experience Nordell says he relishes.
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