Appropriate for this time of uncertainty—the event was one of the last held on campus before the University canceled events due to the new coronavirus—the day’s keynote lecture focused on anxiety and environmental stressors. David Marcotte, S.J., associate professor of psychology, known for his teachings on the psychology of well-being, was asked to deliver the Romero Lecture, sponsored by the Romero Center of Camden, New Jersey. Teresa Garibay, director of the Romero Center Ministries, said it was the first time a Romero lecture was given outside of South Jersey and not to their local supporters. For several years, students from Fordham volunteered with the center’s Urban Challenge Program, a service-learning retreat that brings students into contact with Camden’s underserved communities. Fordham students who participated in the program over winter break were on hand to welcome Romero Center staff to campus.

“We have had a relationship with Fordham for years, but for this lecture, it is a very different audience,” she said. “It’s nice to see professors and students who came and volunteered in January.”

Father Marcotte’s lecture followed the panel of Fordham professors who discussed how they were integrating community-engaged scholarship into their classrooms. He encouraged the audience to foster a “culture of engagement,” but he reminded participants to maintain their own well-being. Seeing the need and suffering of fellow community members can take a toll on students and faculty alike, he said.

He said humankind has made significant progress, including a global poverty rate that dropped from 90% in 1900 to 10% today and a literacy rate of 90% worldwide for those under 25 years of age. And yet, while global challenges have become more integrated, worldwide responses have become more fragmented.

“We may enjoy many advances, but they’re not universal,” he said.

He noted that 91% of American young people from 15 to 21 years of age experience some physical or emotional symptoms of stress. Anecdotally, he said, his own students say they are under a lot of stress in school, but mostly affected by factors off-campus. Specifically, he cited an American Psychological Association study that found that 75% of young people are scared of mass shootings, 57% are concerned about deportation, and 53% experienced sexual harassment. He emphasized that the World Health Organization defines well-being not simply as an absence of disease or physical harm, but also of being mentally well with the ability to thrive. He charged the crowd with taking care of themselves first before going about their business of engaging with others.

“In building programs for both students and for the community, the more you can focus on building on strengths and abilities, I think you’ll get further down the road than trying to fix weaknesses later,” he said.

It’s a notion that Arto Woodley, Ed.D., executive director of Community Engaged Learning, referred to as an “asset-based approach” to community engagement.

“Community leaders are not waiting for us to save them,” he said. “Their needs will always exist and we don’t have the capacity to help that, but the question should be, ‘How can we strategically combine our assets with their assets to build great capacity?”

He noted that many of the professors who participated in the morning session found that by teaming with community organizations, they and their students developed as “humble listeners.”

Michael “Mick” McCarthy, S.J., vice president for Mission Integration and Planning, said the new service-learning courses took professors well beyond their stated disciplines.

“They’re incredibly creative and they are all moving past their own expertise in ways that are pedagogically very helpful in advancing the mission of the University,” said Father McCarthy.

But several in the audience, including Woodley, said they hoped the symposium would advance service learning beyond the perception of novelty courses.

“The faculty need more incentives than disincentives, but they have all these barriers,” he said. “Most departments will say wait till you’re tenured before doing this kind of work, but this is an institution that says it values this work. We need to work it into the tenure system.”

Jackie Reich, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies and member of the Reimagining Higher Education Initiative, echoed a recent talk at the University given by Cathy N. Davidson, Ph.D., author of The New Education (Basic Books, 2017). Davidson suggested reworking the academic reward system so that there is parity between all aspects of a faculty member’s work.

“We need to restructure the academic reward system of teaching, research, and service so that they’re not separate silos,” said Reich. “We need to bring those all together and I think community-engaged learning and scholarship provides such a great model for that. We need to create a reward system for faculty who do this kind of work because it is so labor-intensive.”

An afternoon session examined the very specific angle of community-engaged learning with a panel of scholars teaching and researching within the criminal justice system. Professors from Columbia University, Nassau Community College, Pace University, Fordham, and the nonprofit Prison-to-College Pipeline discussed the challenges and opportunities of each of their programs.

The symposium wrapped up with a breakout session of roundtable conversations focused on defining engaged scholarship specifically at Fordham. Fordham College at Rose Hill junior Nathaniel Guenther went so far as to say that community-engaged learning should become part of the core curriculum, particularly for first-year students.

“I was able to voice my opinions on what community-engaged learning has meant to me in the past and what improvements can be made on in the future,” he said of the session. “To have my opinions heard by Fordham alumni and professors looking to expand these kinds of courses was helpful for both parties.”

Despite these achievements, women still remain underrepresented in the film and television industry, according to panelists who spoke on Sept. 23 at Fordham University.

A panel discussion, “Women in Media: The Future is Female,” featured five female professionals working behind and in front of the camera. It marked the final presentation of Storytelling in the 21st Century Summit 2017, a daylong conference in which New York City-based media professionals shared insider industry knowledge and professional advice to Fordham students and aspiring media professionals. It was co-sponsored by the Department of Communication and Media Studies and the Fordham chapter of the New York Film & Television Student Alliance, among others.

About, for, and by women

Although she was “thrilled” with the Emmy results, Barbara De Fina, vice-chair of the Producers Guild of America, cautioned, “it’s just one season—we can’t get complacent.”

“If we want awards for women and people of color, we need to have film and television made about, for, and by women and people of color,” said De Fina, the producer of such feature films as Goodfellas, The Last Temptation of Christ, and The Grifters.

Other panelists noted that the barriers to female recognition often become even greater after monumental wins.

Still, increased demand for content on streaming services creates both new opportunities for women and people or color, new platforms where “irregular” content is more welcome, and more role models.

“If you can see it, you can be it,” said moderator Chrissy Guest, film producer and assistant professor of television production at Ithaca College.

Systematic changes in the industry are still necessary to increase opportunities for those who lack access to the industry, said panelists. Lisa Goldman, president of the New York Chapter on Women in Animation, noted that more than 60 percent of animation and art school students are women. Yet, they hold only 20 percent of the creative jobs in animation.

Evening out representation

She said Women in Animation has set a goal to reach 50/50 representation in the field by 2025.

Christina DeHaven-Call, academic director at the Undergraduate Film and Television Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, said that her program is committed to admitting an even ratio of female and male students.

But the future of the film and television industry, although encouraging and empowering, will also require being cognizant of one’s implicit biases in hiring and business decisions, said panelists.

“Change is in the air, but every single person in the industry needs to commit to changing the way the industry works,” said Terry Lawler, Executive Director of New York Women in Film and Television.

Also on the panel were: Kathryn Sheldon, freelance photographer and former MTV and NBC producer; and Terra Bliss, vice president, Panavision.

— Rebecca Sinski