Bulletin News

School of Education Marks Sesquicentennial

02/07/2019

From the day Cortland Normal School opened its doors in 1868 through the century and a half of growth and progress that evolved the modern College of today, one thing has remained constant: SUNY Cortland has taught teachers.

This semester, SUNY Cortland’s School of Education will celebrate 150 years of preparing outstanding educators with an event series that includes talks, a panel presentation, an educator’s symposium, an historic photo exhibit and an evening of live storytelling by teachers.

The School of Education’s SUNY Cortland Sesquicentennial series — which will feature nationally recognized speakers exploring how equity, inclusion and social justice are at the heart of the educational process — will kick off on Monday, Feb. 11.

Prison talk. A panel discussion, “Education and Incarceration: School and Community Impacts and Opportunities,” will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. Panelists include Phoebe Brown, Central Region coordinator at Alliance of Families for Justice; Jaime Coleman, case manager at Opportunities, Alternatives and Resources (OAR) of Tompkins County; and Roger Dennis, a retired teacher from the New York City Department of Education. For more information, contact Rhiannon Maton or Jeremy Jimenez in SUNY Cortland’s Foundations and Social Advocacy Department.

Cortland_Normal_School_BioLab_WEB — **Future educators conducted experiments in a biology laboratory inside the Cortland Normal School building some 150 years ago.**

Historic images. An exhibition of historic photos of the Cortland Normal School will be permanently displayed starting on Wednesday, Feb. 13, in the School of Education Building Second Floor Atrium. The installation, which continues the yearlong SUNY Cortland Sesquicentennial celebrations, will feature an opening reception for the exhibit, “Cortland Normal School through the Generations,” on that day from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., in the atrium. Memorial Library archivist Jeremy Pekarek will provide opening remarks. Refreshments will be served. The exhibition and event are sponsored by the School of Education. For information, contact Ronnie Casella, School of Education associate dean.

Inclusive Education. Mara Sapon-Shevin, a professor of inclusive education at Syracuse University, will discuss “Working Towards Social Justice and Inclusion: Challenges and Possibilities” on Tuesday, March 5. The lecture will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 105. For information, contact Kim Rombach, associate professor of childhood/early childhood education.

Making a difference. Kevin Kumashiro, the author of Bad Teacher and Teaching Toward Democracy: Educators as Agents of Change, will talk on Tuesday, March 26. Kumashiro, former dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco, will present “Naming the Moment, Building the Movement: Five Lenses for Democracy, Education, and Social Justice,” from 7 to 8:30 p.m., in Jacobus Lounge. Previously a professor of Asian American Studies and Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Kumashiro is a past president of the National Association for Multicultural Education. For information, contact Anne Burns Thomas, associate professor of foundations and social advocacy.

Symposium. Educator and author Nicole Sieben will deliver the keynote speech at the Literacy Department’s third Annual Symposium on Saturday, March 30. Sieben, the author of Writing Hope: Strategies for Writing Success in Secondary Schools, will discuss “Teaching for Hope, Actions for Change.” The symposium runs from 7:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Sperry Center. Attendance is free and open to the public, but pre-registrationis requested. For information, contact Nance Wilson, professor and department chair.

Transformations. Anthony Rigazio-Diglio ’73, professor emeritus of educational leadership at Central Connecticut State University, will speak on “The ‘3 Cs’ of Learning Organizations: Confidence, Competence and Cooperation” on Friday, April 12. The event will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 204. Rigazio-Diglio’s speech is the keynote lecture at “Transformations: A Student Research and Creativity Conference,” the College’s annual academic showcase.

Storytelling. The series will conclude with an evening of live storytelling with funny and poignant reminisces by teachers and teacher educators, on Monday, April 29. The event, “Classroom Confessions: True Tales from the Field,” will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Dowd Fine Arts Center Lab Theatre.

For more information, contact the School of Education.