SLIDESHOW: See What These Faculty Members Did on Their Summer Vacation
Syracuse University’s three study away locations, which provide distinct and wide-ranging opportunities for students, are an equally valuable resource for their professors.
Several faculty members capitalized on those resources this summer, supported by funding from the new Study Away Summer Awards program offered by the Office of Academic Affairs. The awards were established as a direct result of work done on the University’s academic strategic plan, “Leading With Distinction,” with the aim of facilitating faculty use of the study away locations in Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C.
“These locations give our faculty a rare kind of reach,” says Elisa Dekaney, associate provost for strategic initiatives. “These are fully embedded footholds in three of the most influential cities in the world. They provide an opportunity to extend the classroom into the center of the industries our students are preparing to enter, and to let that experience shape both scholarship and pedagogy in expansive ways.”
Participating faculty members agree that the experience enhanced their professional work and helped lay the groundwork for new academic experiences. Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, was one of them. He conducted archival research at the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library and think tank collections with an eye toward building a study away program centered on peacekeeping and global governance. “New York City is one of the world’s great cities and a hub for innovation, international business, civil society and global governance,” he says. “It has been great spending the summer learning how to access the best of what the city has to offer to enhance the education of Syracuse students.”
Li “Lily” Jiang, assistant professor of fashion design in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), went to Los Angeles to research the adaptive apparel needs of performing artists with disabilities. Here, Jiang (left) is pictured with Vanessa Hernández Cruz, a multidisciplinary dance artist, choreographer and disability justice consultant.
Jiang met with members of the AllStar Dance Team at Straight Up Abilities, a performing arts organization. She plans to develop an LA-based course on inclusive and functional apparel design and to adjust her Inclusive Performancewear Design Requirements Toolkit based on what she learned during the trip.
Gina Pauline and Scott Tainsky, sport management faculty in the David B. Falk College of Sport, went to Los Angeles to develop two new interdisciplinary courses. Here, Pauline poses with Jack Wentzell ’14, director of operations for the Intuit Dome, which hosts the LA Clippers and will serve as a venue for the 2028 Olympic Games (LA28).
Pauline met with Olivia Cheng ’12 (right), vice president of marketing and digital engagement at LA28, to discuss possible student internships in the lead-up to the 2028 Olympic Games.
Kerianne Rubenstein, assistant professor of sport analytics in Falk College, began development of a women’s sports analytics study away program in New York City. While there, she visited the headquarters of Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Women’s Soccer League and the Women’s National Basketball Association, among others, and built relationships with alumni and other women working in sports.
David DeAngelis (right), assistant professor in the School of Education (SOE) and the College of Visual and Performing Arts, led music education students on field observation trips in New York City, where he also connected with public school music educators and explored pathways for music education students to pursue teaching roles in New York City Public Schools.
DeAngelis identified the need for a “reverse” professional development opportunity, where K-12 music teachers provide lessons to music education faculty. He also explored ways to integrate music education students into SOE’s Bridge to the City program.
Elizabeth Kubala (center), teaching professor and executive director of the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic in the College of Law, sought to expand the Washington, D.C., location as a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration, alumni engagement and experiential learning in military and veteran law, administrative practice and public policy. Here, she is joined by interns and young alumni at a networking event.
Kubala and Seth Owens, staff attorney at the Veterans Legal Clinic (VLC), visited the U.S. Supreme Court. VLC students recently authored an amicus curiae brief urging the court to hear a case involving drug prosecutions in the military justice system and the use of testimonial statements in courts-martial.
