“All of the things that we teach and talk about at Fordham—the city as our campus, research with justice and solidarity, attention to those on the margins—those are all at the center of this project,” said Brenna Moore, Ph.D., project co-leader and Fordham theology professor.

The organization, LSA Family Health Service, was founded by the Little Sisters of the Assumption in 1958. It’s a community-based organization that provides free services to disadvantaged families in East Harlem, with the goal of strengthening and empowering them to uplift the entire community. Last year, LSA enlisted two Fordham professors—Moore, a theology professor who serves on LSA’s board of directors, and Carey Kasten, Ph.D., an associate professor of Spanish—to help them tell their story. The resulting research project, “Mutuality in El Barrio: Stories of LSA Family Health Services in East Harlem,” will be the first academic study of LSA’s 63-year history and its long-term impact in the community, said Moore. 

In February 2020, Moore and Kasten launched their project, thanks to funding from CCEL’s Faculty-Led Initiatives program, which supports interdisciplinary projects that serve the local community and advance social justice. 

“We thought it was a great fit for CCEL and Fordham,” said Julie Gafney, Ph.D., executive director of CCEL. “This entire project, from conception to implementation, is about practicing mutuality.”

Mutuality is the guiding spiritual principle of LSA, which was originally founded by Catholic nuns, said Moore.

“They are now run by a more secular staff, but they’re still grounded in this principle of mutuality that distinguishes them from other organizations. They have a two-way relationship where both parties cultivate their strengths and learn from each other,” said Moore. 

In spring 2020, Moore and Kasten hired seven Spanish-speaking student researchers from Fordham—three undergraduates and four students from the Graduate School of Social Service—to help them interview immigrant families who have used LSA’s services. In fall 2020, the team interviewed 19 mothers in their native language about what brought them to the U.S. and how the skills they learned through LSA have empowered them and their families.

The women’s stories were emotional and poignant, said Moore. 

“There were several people in one household who had COVID, along with a little sister who had leukemia. There was so much trauma and struggle in these interviews. But it was also remarkable to hear about the resilience and the creativity these women possessed, as well as their desire to give back to their community through volunteering and helping their neighbors,” said Moore.  

The hour-and-a-half long conversations were emotional for the interviewers, too, said Kasten. 

“Those women are trusting you with so much at that moment—their story of coming to the U.S., with both trauma and reflection,” said Kasten, a fluent Spanish speaker who spearheaded the interview process. “The students were also moved by the interviews and drawn into the project because many of them are members of Spanish-speaking households whose parents have stories similar to the women that they interviewed.” 

This past spring, Moore and Kasten’s team transcribed their interviews and researched LSA’s history, spirituality, and ministry. In November, they were awarded the $15,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation’s Religion and Theology Program to take their project to the finish line. From now until January 2023, the team will complete their book, present their research at a conference, and host a public event where all project participants can celebrate their work. Their project is now under advance book contract with Fordham Press’s Empire State Editions. 

“It means everything for us to have our stories told,” said Trish Gough, director of volunteer services at LSA. “We’ve lived within this community for 63 years. Our history is so rich, and capturing it in a book filled with research means so much to us and our community.”

As we saw during the Papal transition earlier this year, Fordham faculty are often interviewed in the media. As such, we’ve decided to share key stories our faculty are quoted in on a weekly basis.

This week’s news clip involves a hot Democratic mayoral primary race in New York City. Following the Democratic debate on Sept. 4, Costas Panagopoulos, associate professor of political science and Director of Fordham’s Center for Electoral Politics and Democracy, weighed in on how it went in the Wall Street Journal:

“There were no knockout punches. Overall, my impression was the dynamics of the race were not shaken up in any meaningful way … ” Panagopoulos said.

Read the rest of his comments, and the entire article, here.

And to maintain that flow of information, certain conditions need to be in place for the press. One of these conditions, theorists contend, is media pluralism, the existence of many, diverse media outlets that can present a cross section of news and a wide range of opinions.

That’s the theory—but is it working?

A new book coming out of Fordham’s Donald McGannon Communication Research Centerand Fordham University Press argues that the concept of media pluralism has been stretched to suit different political purposes, reduced to empty catchphrases, and become mixed up with consumer choice and market competition.

According to Kari Karppinen, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Social Research at the University of Helsinki, Finland, the concept needs to be rescued.

In his book, Rethinking Media Pluralism (Fordham University Press, 2013), Karppinen explains that because of the breakdown of media pluralism, important questions about social and political values, democracy, and citizenship are ignored. Karppinen calls for a re-envisioning of media pluralism that puts the focus on challenging inequalities and creating a more democratic public sphere.

“Uncertainty or disagreement over how to conceptualize media pluralism is a persistent stumbling block in academic and policy debates,” said Natali Helberger, Ph.D., of the Institute for Information Law. “Tackling this difficult issue is an important, brave, and necessary exercise, and it is what this book does.”

The Donald McGannon Communication Research Center conducts, supports, rewards, and disseminates research that informs communications policymaking processes and ethical decision-making within media organizations.

Rethinking Media Pluralism marks the second volume in the Center’s Everett C. Parker Book Series, a series dedicated to the publication of research that addresses social and ethical issues in communication policy.

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The Week Ahead for the Department of Justice for January 5-January 9, 2009
PR Newswire 2/1
The following was released today by the U.S. Department of Justice…the International Conference on Cyber Security… Fordham University at Lincoln Center…

FORDHAM WESTCHESTER

Houlihan is home to fifth generation
Journal News 25/12
(E)arlier this year it signed a lease with Fordham University to take over space at 400 Westchester for classes and support space that the school formerly had at Marymount.

SCHOOL OF LAW

Weil Gotshal Gives $1 Million Gift to Fordham Law
New York Law Journal 29/12
A gift of $1 million from Weil, Gotshal & Manges to fund a classroom in the new central building of Fordham University School of Law was announced last week by Dean William M. Treanor.
(Print Only)

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

New Adventures
Public television icon keeps going after ‘retirement’
Greenwich Post 18/12
At Fordham, Mr. Baker is working with students in the Education Department on a television program on Abrahamic religions, on a film about the history and importance of
parochial education in the world, and on educational projects and techniques that use media and broadband.
(Print only)

Sea-Tac staff excelled in storm
Seatlle Post-Intelligencer 23/12
Tom Murphy directs the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham University. He wrote “Reclaiming the Sky: 9/11 and the Untold Story of the Men and Women Who Kept America Flying.”

SCHOOL OF LAW FACULTY

ABNER GREENE
Senate Seat Dispute May Head to Court
Wall Street Journal
The argument for blocking the appointment of Mr. Burris is “weak” in light of provisions in the U.S. Constitution, said Abner Greene, a professor of constitutional law at Fordham University.

ABNER GREENE
Democrats Seek to Block Appointee to Obama’s Seat
New York Times 30/12
“I think the best reading of the text of the Constitution and the Powell case together is that the Senate has to seat Burris,” said Abner S. Greene, the Leonard F. Manning professor of law at Fordham University School of Law.

ABNER GREENE
Senate Leadership Weighs Blocking Burris Appointment
Newshour with Jim Lehrer 31/12
For that, we turn to political reporter Carrie Budoff Brown and Abner Green, professor at Fordham University’s School of Law in New York.

THANE ROSENBAUM
The War on Terror Has Not Gone Away
Wall Street Journal 28/12
Mr. Rosenbaum, a novelist, essayist and law professor at Fordham University, is the author of “The Myth of Moral Justice” (Harper Perennial 2005).

SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION FACULTY

FRANK WERNER
Are Airlines Cutting Back on the Necessities?
KCBS.com 24/12
Just take a look at airline employment for example, just since the end of 2007 they’ve cut 2,000 plus jobs here in the United States,” said Frank Werner is an associate professor of finance at Fordham University.

ARTS AND SCIENCES FACULTY

MARK CALDWELL
Home on the Corner of Boom and Bust
New York Times 1/1
Those first settlers lived “in pits they dug in the ground and then covered over with wood,” explained Mark Caldwell, a Fordham University professor and the author of “New York Night: The Mystique and Its History.”

GAIL LANGOLETTO
What every NEW gardener should know
Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald 4/1
An entomologist by training, (Gail Langoletto’s) research at Fordham University in New York City was to develop a better understanding of how gardens can support natural pest control and pollination services.

ROGER PANETTA
Hudson River Museum Announces Dutch New York: The Roots of Hudson Valley Culture
ArtDaily.org 5/1
Dutch New York is curated by Roger Panetta, Hudson River Museum Adjunct Curator of History and Visiting Professor of History at Fordham University;

ATHLETICS

Turnaround at Rose Hill
New York Post 4/1
Despite a winless season last year, Fordham women’s basketball coach Cathy Andruzzi kept a positive attitude, and it has paid dividends in a big turnaround for the Lady Rams.
(Print Only)

At 19, college swimmer faces mortality
Danny Thrall battles heart problems, which have kept him out of the pool
MSNBC.com (from The AP) 4/1
Danny Thrall, 19, a sophomore on the swim team at Fordham University in New York, forms his hands in the shape of a heart over the scars from open heart surgery he had about six weeks earlier during workouts at a downtown Chicago health club.
AND
Multiple stories on this topic

STUDENTS

Sojourners are there to try to make life better for detainees
South Coast Today (from The AP) 4/1
One booth over, Sojourner Stephanie Crane, a 21-year-old Fordham University student, chats with a 19-year-old high school student from Trenton, N.J., who was picked up in a raid at his home seven months earlier.

ALUMNI

The Possible Dream
Washington Post 30/12
Anh “Joseph” Cao…obtained a master’s degree at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York.

Family Man, Bro
New York Post 30/12
Acting brothers Matt and Kevin Dillon may have gone Hollywood, but they’ve never missed a Christmas home with their parents – Paul Dillon, Fordham University’s standout golf coach, and his wife, Mary Ellen – and their other four siblings.

New Moc Football Coach Huesman Introduces Assistants
Chattanoogan 2/1
Before coaching at Richmond, (Mike) Elko worked with former Spiders Head Football Coach Dave Clawson at Fordham University as his linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator in 2002 and 2003.

Family emphasized at Positive Image Awards
Register-Star (Hudson, N.Y.) 5/1
Robert Galluscio…(received)…the Positive Image Award given by the Columbia County Sons and Daughters of Italy #659…Galluscio attended Fordham University in the Bronx, as his father had…

Silbermann Filled Two Top Jobs And Kept Busy in the Courtroom
New York Law Journal 2/1
A 1972 graduate of Fordham University School of Law…

Combatting Crime in Brooklyn, a Curious Mind Takes a Scientific Approach
Brooklyn Eagle 4/1
It’s a perspective that (Executive Assistant District Attorney Linda) Wancel keenly understands, having received her undergraduate degree from Fordham University…

Fordham Law Kicks Off $100 Million Campaign
Bolivian President Outlines Plans for Sharing Nation’s Wealth
Documentary Shows that Kindness Gets Results

We’ll resume regular blogging tomorrow.

The student bloggers, Sharai among them, were announced in the November issue of the print edition (“with Ashley Tisdale on the cover” Sharai writes).

So for those of you who’ve had to click past a warning screen this morning, we apologize. We’ll resume our regular programming as soon as Google wetware gets to our account.