Photo: Georg Mayer (CC: by-nc-nd)
- The Goal of Williams in New York
- 1 Program Proposed to the CEP
- 2 CEP legislation of Williams in NY
- 3 9/11 Halts Progress
- 4 Gaudino Fund Sponsors NYNY
- 5 WSP 2004 a Success
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6
Pilot Program
Sponsored for Fall '05 - 7 Fall '05 Students in Fieldwork
- 8 Fall '05 Students in Seminars
- 9 Craft & Consciousness Seminar
- 10 Arts & the City Seminar
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11
Fall '05 Students Present
Fieldwork Experiences
The Williams in New York program combines immersion in fieldwork with traditional scholarship and deliberation. The program aims to help students develop critical, reflective habits of mind to carry with them into the world of affairs. And it provides an ideal forum to engage alumni and alumnae in the ongoing intellectual work of the College, a milieu to stoke the unbroken dialogue between generations of Williams men and women.
In fall 2000, Professor Jackall submitted a proposal to the Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) to be considered by the Committee on Educational Policy as part of the curricular initiative of then-new President Morton O. Schapiro.
In May 2001, the CEP version of the fall 2000 Williams in New York proposal was approved by a two-thirds vote of the Williams faculty. The legislation envisioned a one-semester program for about 20 students to be offered in both fall and spring semesters. The legislation explicitly charged the Williams in New York program with developing an experiential education program grounded in fieldwork, as distinguished from internships or service learning.
The terrorist atrocities of 9/11 put the plans for the Williams in New York on the College's backburner.
In spring 2003, the Gaudino Fund made funding available for a New York New York course to be taught in fall 2003. The course was co-authored by Professor Robert Jackall and Marissa C. M. Doran '05. The Gaudino Fund also authorized funding for a prototype Williams in New York course to be taught in WSP January 2004. From the large enrollment for the fall course, Professor Jackall selected four students to participate in this prototype. These were, along with Marissa Doran, the co-author of the course,: Michelle Cuevas '04, Nathan Winstanley '04, Dana K. Fassler '06, and Ainsley O'Connell '06. The students lived at the Williams Club and used the Club as a center for the program.
The WSP 2004 prototype program was a huge success. Professor Jackall placed Michelle Cuevas at the Whitney Museum; Nathan Winstanley at the New York City Department of Environmental Control; Dana K. Fassler at ABC News Special Events; Ainsley O'Connell at the New York City Department of Investigation; and Marissa Doran at the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
In February 2004, the College decided to sponsor a pilot program of the Williams in New York program, beginning in fall 2005. The program was to be housed at the Williams Club, which, after the January 2004 prototype course, had expressed great interest in hosting it. Professor Jackall was asked to direct the program for its initial semester in fall 2005.
The initial fall 2005 program consisted of six students: The students and their field placements were: Brandon Carter and Krista Nylen: ABC News Special Events; Andrew Lazarow: Dodger Theatricals; Kara Brothers: Women's Commission for Women and Children Refugees; Walden Maurissaint: United States Attorney, Southern District; and Lily Gray: Manhattan Institute. All students were from the class of 2007. The field placements were part of a tutorial called: Fieldwork in New York. All students wrote five papers and met every other week in pairs with Professor Jackall, and every other week as a group to discuss their field experiences with their peers.
The students also participated in three seminars. These were WNY 303 Slow Motion Riot: The Social Life of the Metropolis, taught by Professor Kasinitz of the Graduate Center, City University of New York; W@NY 305 Craft & Consciousness, taught by Professor Robert Jackall; and W@NY 307 Arts & the City, taught by Professor Jean-Bernard Bucky.
The Craft & Consciousness seminar hosted several guests. These were:
- September 21. Robert Margolis '78.
- Independent Filmmaker. Discussed his new release: The Definition of Insanity.
- September 28. Herbert A. Allen '62. Allen & Company.
- W October 5. John Kifner '63,
- Senior correspondent, New York Times.
- October 12. Detective Mark Tebbens and Detective Garry Dugan, NYPD.
- The two detectives are the protagonists of the book by Robert Jackall, Wild Cowboys: Urban Marauders & the Forces of Order (Harvard University Press, 1997; paperback 2005). Filmmaker Jessy Terrero and filmmaker/actor Vincent Laresca also attended and participated in the seminar.
- October 19. Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer,
- Chief, Trial Bureau 80, District Attorney of New York and Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Levy '92, Southern District of New York on the dilemmas of prosecutorial work.
- October 26. Arthur Levitt, Jr. '52,
- former chairman of the American Stock Exchange, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, author of Take on the Street.
- November 9. Charles W. Johnson,
- Parliamentarian of the United States House of Representatives, Emeritus, and Peter Willmott '59, former chairman of the Executive Committee, Williams College Board of Trustees, current Chairman of the Board of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Paul Neely '68 was an active participant in the discussion.
- November 30. Laurel Blatchford '94,
- Chief of Staff, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and Tim Ross '87, Research Director, Vera Institute, talked about their careers in public policy-making in the city.
All of the participants who were Williams graduates were asked to reflect on the relationship between their liberal-arts education and their careers in the world of affairs. In addition to alumni featured in the seminar, several alumni and alumnae visited different sessions of Craft & Consciousness. These were:
- Valentin von Arnim '03
- Christine Choi '90
- Hope Coolidge '75
- Barton Jones '68
- Paul Francis '05
- Ilunga Kalala '05
- Ashley Kidd '00
- Harry Matthews '67
- Paul Neely '68
- Charles Sena '79
- Abid Shah '02
- Briscoe Smith '60
- Jeffrey Urdang '90
The seminar engaged students and alumni and alumnae in a unique way. It was a successful first step toward creating the kind of ongoing public forum that nurtures a cross-generational community of teaching, learning, and reflection that is essential to creating leaders in the world of affairs.
Professor Bucky put together a remarkable array of classical and avant-garde cultural activities for the students for his Arts & the City seminar. These became the subject of Friday morning seminars. The events included:
- September 15
- Limitless Joy, International Wow Company
- September 22
- Guggenheim Museum. Visit with Thomas Krens
- September 29
- New York City Opera. Madame Butterfly.
- October 6
- Tour of Ground Zero and lecture by Professor Michael Lewis
- October 13
- Soldier's Play. Second Stage Theatre.
- October 14
- New York Philharmonic. Lincoln Center (rehearsal)
- October 20
- Sweeney Todd. Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
- October 27
- St. Oedipus. LaMaMa.
- October 28
- Law and Order with Stephen Wertimer '77.
- November 3
- Radio City Music Hall, Christmas Spectacular.
- November 4
- 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Circle in the Square.
- November 10
- Martha Graham Studio, class and rehearsal.
- November 11
- Breakfast with Bill Finn '74
- November 17
- A Touch of the Poet. Roundabout Theatre/Studio. Dinner with Byron Jennings and Carolyn McCormick '81.
- December 1
- Movement Research Improv Festival. Students' reports followed.
- December 2
- Upright Citizens Brigade. Students' reports followed.
- December 8
- Prone at the Kitchen. Students' reports followed.
- December 9
- Sarah Bernhardt Exhibit. Jewish Museum. Professor Carol Ockman.
Before their participation in the W@NY program, none of the students had ever attended an opera, or a professional symphony concert. Few had seen experimental theatre, or observed a famous television program in the making. Some had never been to a major art museum. The cultural program developed by Professor Bucky presented students with an explosive array of cultural experiences. They responded by seeking out still more cultural experiences in their free time, including attending other plays, concerts, and museums. Professors Jackall and Kasinitz attended several of these cultural events with students. And other alumni and alumnae in the theatre world also accompanied students to different performances. These included: Gregory Pliska '84; John Bedford Lloyd '78; Alex Neil (formerly Diane Thompson '77); Jessica McLeod '02; and Joanna Adler '86.
In addition to the events arranged by Professor Bucky, Robert Lipp '60 hosted the students for dinner followed by a concert by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on October 16, 2005.
On November 16, 2005, the six students in the W@NY program gave a public presentation on their fieldwork experiences to fieldwork sponsors and to alumni/alumnae. More than 50 people attended the event including:
- Thomas Belden '76
- Doris Beyer '84
- Mario Chiappetti '78
- Hope Coolidge '75
- Tad Drouet '90
- Brooks Foehl '88
- Nancy Gannon '88
- Wendy Hopkins '72
- Barton Jones '68
- Ilunga Kalala '05
- John Kifner '63
- John Leathers pa '05
- Richard Lee '59
- Richard Levy '74
- Mary Lydecker '04
- Paul Lieberman '71
- Harry Matthews '67
- Nasrallah Misk pa '07
- Ariel Norris pa '09
- Patricia Oey '95
- William Parsons '46
- John Pritchard '57
- Dale Riehl '72
- John Schmitz '68
- William Suda '74