Founded in 1961, The International Center in New York (ICNY) is a unique community where immigrants, refugees, students and other newcomers to the United States come to practice English and learn about American culture. Each year, we provide 2,500 newcomers from 95 different countries with a wide range of language and cultural programs through our corps of 1,000 volunteers.

In order to share our expertise and serve more immigrants, the International Center works with a number of public schools and community-based organizations in different New York City neighborhoods. By bringing our Conversation Partner model to these organizations, we add an important component to their existing ESL programs. Volunteers provide individual attention and build the confidence adults need to progress in English. Since 1999, these collaborations have helped spread the spirit of volunteerism and facilitate deeper connections between immigrants and Americans, resulting in stronger and more integrated communities.

We are currently recruiting for our Fall term community-based programs, starting September through early December. We will be working in Manhattan (Chinatown, East Village, Harlem, and Midtown), Brooklyn (Cobble Hill), Queens (Astoria and Flushing), and the Bronx (Mott Haven).

THREE TO FOUR-MONTH COMMITMENT: one hour per week. (Fall term runs from September/October to December. Spring term runs from January/April to May/June.)
TRAINING: three two-hour sessions.
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.intlcenter.org/volunteer.html

From a CUNY BA student:

The Planning Committee of the first ever CUNY Social Forum is happy to announce that we are now accepting proposals from groups and organizations that want to host sessions at the Forum!

Sessions can take the form of workshops, discussions, films and after-film –talks, or cultural/fun/music/art events…..or forms we haven’t even thought of yet….

We are also looking for organizers who want to help make the forum happen.

To find out more about the upcoming CUNY-wide social forum or to get involved, please visit our website at:http://www.cunysocialforum.blogspot.com/, or read below.

Feel free to contact us with any questions at:

cunysocialforum@gmail.com

This past weekend, CUNY BA student Diane Ingino worked on a team participating in the 48 Hour Film Project — a crazy competition which gives all teams entered just 48 hours over a weekend to make a short movie.

All aspects of production must not begin until the official kick-off on Friday evening - including the writing.  The finished product (4-7 minutes long) had to be submitted on time Sunday evening.  Just 48 hours to write, get locations, design the set, shoot, edit, and output to tape or DVD.  Every team must incorporate specific elements in their film (a character, a line of dialogue, and a prop), and then the team leaders literally pull a genre out of a bag; no one on any team knows what kind of movie they’ll be working on until then. 

Diane’s team’s genre was “Comedy.”  The Producers leading her team were Stephanie Sellars of Immortality Productions (lead actress) and Marc Dole of Hatchling Studios and about 20 team members, including seven actors.  Diane served as Associate Producer and Script Supervisor. 

So come to the screening!  You’ll get to see the work of about a dozen teams and have a chance to vote for Audience Favorite.  Diane’s team’s work was “In the Cards” by Immortality Productions. 

There are four screenings to accommodate all the teams.  “In the Cards” will be shown:
Wed., June 25th at 9pm 
Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema, 143 E. Houston St., New York, NY
Tickets can be purchased online at: http://www.landmarktheatres.com/tickets/
(Be sure to choose the 9pm screening time)
and at the Sunshine Theater box office.

Tickets will sell out, so be sure to get yours early!

Diane Ingino
Member, CineWomenNY and NYWIFT

For the first time, we have made arrangements for students, alumni, faculty, etc. to purchase various items with our new logo. Go to http://www.cafepress.com/cunyba where you can purchase t-shirts, sweatshirts, mouse pads, mugs, notepads, tote bags and baseball hats, all quality materials with the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies logo! Not only is each item reasonably priced, but a percentage of each sale directly benefits the CUNY BA Alumni Fund (which supports Alumni Scholarships and other alumni activities).

We are very pleased to announce that we’ve created a new Meetup for all CUNY Baccalaureate students and alumni.

Would you like to connect with other alumni in your area? Organize a campus event for fellow student? Find an alum in your field to mentor you? Hang out with other students and alumni? Meetup is the perfect tool!

Click on the link below to join. Each request needs to be approved to make sure only CUNY Baccalaureate alumni join the group, so please include your name, date of graduation and your home college when you request to join.

Tuesday, May 6 at 6pm
Visual Arts Theater
333 West 23 Street, New York
Free and open to the public

As part of the 19th annual Dusty Film and Animation Festival, the School of Visual Arts (SVA) will present Screenwriters Night, a showcase of thesis screenplays of the Master Class in Screenwriting at SVA. Held at the newly acquired Visual Arts Theater in Chelsea, the evening, directed and produced by CUNY Baccalaureate Student Cathy Haase, will feature a repertory of professional actors reading excerpts from thirteen screenplays, along with video interviews with each of the screenwriters.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies and The Howard Gilman Foundation cordially invite you to:

The Cohen-Nunn Dialogues

PRESERVE, PROTECT AND DEFEND:
THE CHALLENGES TO AMERICA’S HOMELAND SECURITY

Monday, April 28, 2008
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
New York University - Tishman Auditorium
40 Washington Square South (between MacDougal and Sullivan)

Hosted by
The Honorable William Cohen
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, and former U.S. Senator (R-Maine)
The Honorable Sam Nunn
Chairman, CSIS Board of Trustees, and former U.S. Senator (D-Georgia)

Welcome:
John Sexton - President, New York University
Introduction:
Admiral James Loy, Former Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security

Discussants:
The Hon. Michael Bloomberg, Mayor, New York City
Stephen Flynn, Author, America The Vulnerable
Jessica Stern, Author, Terror in the Name of God

RSVP to Ethan Frish (CUNY BA Student and Gilman Foundation Policy Associate), efrish@gilman.org or 212-408-0432

Wednesday, April 9

Men Can Stop Rape, 12pm – 4pm and 6pm – 7:30pm, TH 105

Sponsored by the Hunter Women’s Rights Coalition (HWRC)

After our successful Bringing In The Bystander training on March 19, you all wanted to know about the “train the trainer” series. Here it is!

Whether or not you attended, please come to this event
TO LEARN THE TOOLS ON HOW TO ENGAGE MEN ABOUT ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN..

A co-ed team of trainers is coming in from Men Can Stop Rape to teach the program to all students, faculty and staff who are interested. Men Can Stop Rape mobilizes male youth to prevent men’s violence against women. They build young men’s capacity to challenge harmful aspects of traditional masculinity, to value alternative visions of male strength, and to embrace their vital role as allies with women and girls in fostering healthy relationships and gender equity. Their holistic Strength Campaign is grounded in the four-level social-ecological model that considers the complex interplay between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors. This approach is more likely to sustain prevention efforts over time than any single intervention.

PLEASE COME TO ONLY PART OF THE TRAINING IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND THE ENTIRE EVENT.

FREE FOOD!

Questions? Contact (917) 843-2186 or wrc-usg@hunter.cuny.edu or stop by TH 309

Women at Work is a creative forum developed by artist and educator Kayhan Irani, a soon-to-be graduate of the CUNY Baccalaureate Program, bringing women together across class and race to discuss their singular struggle for respect and equality. Join us for an evening of special screenings and conversation with and about the experiences and struggles of domestic workers, featuring:
MAID IN LEBANON, a documentary film directed by Carol Mansour
tracing women’s journeys from Sri Lanka to Lebanon,
and exposing the little known world of the domestic migrant worker.
WORK AND RESPECT, a short film from Domestic Workers United (DWU)
and Third World Newsreel, documenting the work of DWU in organizing domestic workers and educating them about their rights.
SWEPT UNDER THE RUG, an audio slideshow created by Human Rights Watch,
based on the research they have done since 2001 on abuses against domestic workers.
Wednesday April 23 at 7pm: The Puffin Room (435 Broome Street btw. Broadway & Crosby)
Tickets are free but space is limited! Reserve now at www.cultureproject.org or 212-352-3101

Women Center Stage Festival: April 8 - 27. Learn more at www.CultureProject.org

Thanks to Eowyn, a CUNY BA student, there is a CUNY Baccalaureate Program group on Facebook. I am still working on getting us recognized as a network and will let you know if I make any progress. Also, if anybody needs an invitation to join Facebook, please e-mail lmarkes@gc.cuny.edu.