CONFERENCES & PAPERS 2012-13

WAC-7 World Archaeological Congress, King Hussein Conference Center, Dead Sea, Jordan, February, 2013.   Paper presentation,  Curator & Exhibitor.  Paper: Top Ten Endangered and/or Lost Archaeological Sites in Jordan, and exhibit of mixed-media painting Endangered Jordan in curated exhibit of seven artists and photographers on Jordan's Treasures.

ASCHA - Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art, Los Angeles, CA, Paper presented: "Beauty for Ashes Project: Appropriation and Transformation--Brazilian Artist Duda Penteado," in symposium "Christianity and Latin American Art: Apprehension, Appropriation, Assimilation." 

CAA - College Art Association Conference, February, 2012,  Los Angeles, CA

CAA - College Art Association Conference, February, 2013,  New York, NY.

SOURCE - Student Original Undergraduate Research & Creative Expression, NY April, 2012 (annual advisor for NYIT Amman students who attend SOURCE). 

AMERICAN TEILHARD DE CHARDIN ASSOCIATION, Union Theological Seminary, April, 2012

ECCE HOMO CONVENT, Jerusalem,  Inter Religious Dialogue Conference on "Jerusalem, City of Peace"  2012.

COMMITTEES

ACADEMIC COUNCIL SINCE 2009 as Chairperson, with responsibilities of Assistant Dean, directing Fine Arts/Computer Graphics Dept. REcording Secretary of meetings regarding student complaints.

ACCREDITATION COMMITTEE, Amman NYIT campus.  Involved meetings, preparation of documents, bibliographies for books for library, inventory of equipment, preparation of budgets.

ACCREDITATION COMMITTEE, Abu Dhabi NYIT campus.  Prepared revisions of Art History and Aesthetics syllabi, travelled to Abu Dhabi with NYIT team to meet with Ministry of Higher Education for Accreditation. 

OTHER COMMITTEES:  Curriculum Development Committee, Assessment Committee

DEPARTMENT CHAIR 2009-present

• Create schedules for each semester, in co-ordination with faculty and administration.
• Hold monthly faculty meetings to review student progress, plan activities, discuss IT issues, review policies and procedures
• Attend Academic Council meetings
• Advise students, review student evaluations, plan their schedules so they meet the requirements for graduation
• Create student enrichment tutorials to enable students to successfully complete graduation requirements for "teach-out" in shorter, compressed timeframe.  Courses created both on-campus by our faculty, who are paid for their time if adjunct instructors, and also made available off-campus at local computer graphics studios with computer professionals.
• Plan End of Term Exhibit (The EYE); find location, create publicity, announcements etc. in co-ordination with available faculty.
• Oversee maintenance of physical plant including computer labs, photography studio, graphics & printing studio, painting/drawing studio.  Troubleshoot issues of Internet access, electrical and water failures, heating or air conditioner problems, toilets, sinks, and general health and safety issues in building.
• Regular meetings with IT Dept. to insure computers, Internet and equipment is functioning properly.
• Create networks with other art, design and computer graphics programs in Amman.
• Create networks with art community and institutions: galleries, museums, art studios and historic sites.
• Create liaisons with professional art and art history organizations, i.e. Jordan Artists Association, ACOR (American Center for Oriental Research), FOAH (Friends of Archaeology)
• Organize trips relevant to course content
• Prepare Capital Budgets for Department on yearly basis
• Maintain records of expenses and inventory of equipment
• Provide informal counseling for students and faculty and conflict resolution when necessary.
• Meet with parents and families of students when necessary
• Create career and internship programs together with faculty
• Quality assurance for all courses in program; communicate on a regular basis with faculty to insure they have conditions necessary to meet their academic goals. 
• Host informal social get-togethers to maintain department morale and support.  Liaison with faculty in other departments.
• Support faculty research, travel and professional growth
• Write letters of recommendation for students and faculty
• Maintain Department achieve of student projects, senior thesis, portfolios and animations.
• Plan graduation activities; i.e. trips
• Maintain alumnae mailing list and regular communications.

LECTURES 2012-2013:

Govinda Azad Sah: Clouds of Hope and Healing  Art Konsult Gallery, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi, India, Sept. 2012

 Top Ten Endangered and/or Lost Archaeological Sites in Jordan, Friends of Archaeology, Amman, February, 2013

"Role of the Arts in Health and Environmental Management in the Secular West and in Islam, derived from chapter in text Sustainable Management, Sustainable Development and Human Health, ed. by Laboy-Nieves, Schaffner, 2009.   British Ladies of Amman, March, 2012 

COMMUNITY SERVICE NYIT & PUBLIC 2012-13

NYIT

Edited and Published monthly newsletter for NYIT and general public "ARTS/Amman - listing monthly cultural events with art criticism and student commentary.

Created End of Year Exhibit (THE EYE) for Dept. of Fine Arts/Computer Graphics students; designed announcements, publicity, curated exhibits  at Picasso Restaurant Gallery, 2010, Foresight Gallery, 2011; The Music House, 2012.  

Created Faculty Enrichment Projects as Department Chair,  enabling our faculty to exhibit, travel, network and increase their professional profiles in Jordan and internationally.  Example:  At WAC-7 (World Archaeological Congress) I enabled George Bandak and Ahmed Azzouni Hussein to meet with Prince Hassan, who engaged both in future projects:  Azzouni was invited to create animations for the Dept. of Archaeology for Prince Hussein's projects;  Bandak was invited to exhibit his art at Jordan National Museum by Princess Sumaya; Dr. Pierre Pepin travelled to NY for SOURCE conference with me, and to Cyprus for conference for enrichment of CG classes.  Ahmad Azzouni will travel to NY for this year's SOURCE conference and collaborated in students' projects with me.  Faculty have operated closely as a team, and collaborate often outside of class time, working with students or on creative research and projects.  This often involves trips to sites in Jordan, as well as international trips to New York, Egypt, Jerusalem and Palestine. 

Initiated Team-teaching for Senior Thesis classes to insure quality of both written and visual materials.  Working together with Dr. Pierre Pepin, I correct and edit the written materials for the thesis, while Dr. Pierre supervises the visual materials.  We use Adobe Creative Suite software programs, mostly Illustrator and Photoshop for the Thesis, which includes submission of a professional portfolio.  Students are assisted in this with our photography instructor, Henk Bos.  

Volunteered to teach on-line Art History courses 2010 and 2012 to NYIT Bahrain, which in 2010 included travel on weekends to Bahrain, and in 2012 involved lengthy extensions of courses due to technological problems teaching classes fully on-line during political unrest in Bahrain, with IT problems on both ends.  

Sponsored yearly Women's Month events at NYIT, including distinguished Jordanian women example: "Panel for Women's History Month: "Women and Social Change" Jordanian Senator Amal Farhan (our faculty member), Jordan's first woman Attorney General, Ihsan Barakat, lawyer/activist Abu Hassan Obeidat, plus a speaker from the US Embassy and power point I designed of women's art in Jordan.  

Created NYIT Expat Faculty Committee along with other faculty, to address the unique needs and problems of expat faculty in Amman.  

PUBLIC

Invited to be guest sponsor of yearly student exhibit by Jordan Artists Association, 2013.  

Coordinated Art & Culture Group for Jordan branch of InterNations group. Organized monthly visits to galleries, museums, lectures on the arts, trips to art history and archaeological sites.  

Facilitated Microphone/Sound Engineering Workshop by Andreas Ederhof, German Sound Engineer for Royal Film Commission at SAE, Amman, June, 2012.

Support for local artists, galleries and museums - regular attendance at openings, receptions and events and contributing press releases, publicity etc. i.e. 

• Baba's Gallery (Ali Maher) new art school and gallery (photography, Public Relations), 2013
• Hilda Hiary's exhibit "2Thousand12," Orient Gallery, Amman,  March, 2013, Press Releases for her website.  Sample:

   

   "This installation is an important statement of all the multi-layers of suffering experienced in the region by men and women during its political and social unrest. Women especially carry the burden of vulnerability: they are mothers, wives, daughters who, together with men, hold the responsibility of keeping their families together, protecting themselves and each other. While considered weak, with low status and few rights, they are strong and together with men, endure all the horrific experiences bluntly printed in ink and text in this installation. Both the men and the women have paid in their blood, their honor, their psyches and their hope for the future. The repetitive words of the installation that surround the viewer, enforce the trauma and evoke the sense of desperation, fear and frustration all experience on a daily basis surrounded by violence, destruction, discrimination and death."
  "

"Endangered Jordan" inviting 7 Jordanian and expat artists and Photographers  (Ihsan Bandak, Jalal Ariqat, Suheil Baquaeen, Ahmad Azzouni Hussein, Abdulraheem Al Arjan,  Henk Bos, Kelvin Bown)

Representative to Diplomatic Community for NYIT:  regular attendance at Embassies for events (i.e. Bastille Day celebration at French Embassy, Japanese, Dutch, and US Embassy receptions,) represented NYIT at diplomats' table with wives of American, French and Lebanese ambassadors, and US Embassy personnel, for Jordan Breast Cancer Prevention campaign kick-off by Princess Sumaya.  

Coordinated Arabic classes for Jordan branch of InterNations group.  Organized films and activities for expats trying to learn Arabic.

Instructor for Religious Education classes for Our Lady of Nazareth Church, Amman, Jordan

Clothing drives for Syrian Refugees - organized community and student clothing drives - ongoing 2011-13