"New York
Times" Staffers Visit Macaulay Honors College Class
September 29, 2008, Staten Island, NY:
The students who are enrolled in the Macaulay Honors College seminar
“Science and Technology in New York” had some special visitors recently, as
they attended class in Manhattan, New York Times reporter Marc Santora and
photographer Ruby Washington observed their class and followed them on a
side trip to the American Museum of Natural History. Santora subsequently
published an article in the Times on the Macaulay Honors College and its
mission.
The seminar’s instructor, Charles Liu, who is an Assistant Professor of
Engineering Science and Physics, and no stranger to media coverage, notes
that Santora and Washington “were very respectful of the learning
environment. They stood out of the way. They asked questions not during
class time, but in a very inquisitive and respectful polite way.” Liu
continued, “I welcome the opportunity to share what we have going on in the
classroom, in the learning environment, in the things that we’re trying to
do to bring knowledge to people.”
Liu explains that his seminar, also known as “Seminar 3,” is a cross-campus
course that is required of all Macaulay Honors College students. “The idea
of the course is to help the students learn the difference between
scientific knowledge and nonscientific knowledge, and learn how to obtain,
conduct, process, and understand scientific knowledge and its applications.”
Although the seminar’s focus is on science, Liu adds that “it doesn’t take
away from the importance of nonscientific knowledge. Nonscientific
knowledge—history, art, literature, all the humanities—are extremely
important and valuable also; they shape all of our lives just as much. So
what Seminar 3 does is to help these students—there are about 20 of them in
a section—to understand what science is and what technology is, to know the
difference between science and nonscientific knowledge and to be able to do
that science.”
As far as the curriculum is concerned, Liu notes that “we look first at
scientists who have written books for nonscientists, so you can see what
they’re trying to convey and how they try to convey it. Then we look at
scientific journal articles, at scientific research…so they can see how the
professionals do it, how scientists conduct it on the professional level,
and then all through this time, the students are setting up their own
scientific research projects. They conduct them, so at the end of the
semester, they produce original scientific knowledge following a
well-understood scientific research paradigm and then they present it at a
symposium at the end of the semester.”
One of the most significant aspects of “Seminar 3” is its cross-campus
aspect, says Liu, as students from all seven CUNY senior Honors College
campuses take part. “The combination of the subject matter and the
opportunity to interact academically with other CUNY Honors College students
from other campuses is what makes this particular section especially
interesting. The students, when they finish at the end of every semester,
invariably consider the opportunity to interact with students from other
campuses one of the most significant and rewarding parts of the course.”
Deborah Popper, Professor of Geography and Director of the Macaulay Honors
College at CSI comments on Macaulay’s impact and the attention that it
continues to draw from the community and the media, “The Macaulay Honors
College was begun with great ambition but also a bit of trepidation as to
whether it would deliver on its promise to provide an exceptional and
distinctive education to New York City's finest students. What we've seen is
that it is meeting expectations, and, if anything, the ambition is growing
for what it and what its students can do.
The Macaulay Honors College at CSI is home to a select group of University
Scholars, who are highly motivated students enrolled in a special Honors
curriculum of innovative and challenging courses. Macaulay Honors College
classes of twenty or fewer students feature field trips as well as
independent and collaborative research, and other creative activities, which
students may present at undergraduate research conferences. In recent years
Macaulay Honors College classes have visited such destinations as West
Point, the National Museum of the American Indian and the Tibetan Museum.
At CSI, Macaulay Honors Seminars are taught by some of CSI's
prominent faculty. CSI's Macaulay Honors College staff also includes a
professional counselor who offers guidance and support as University
Scholars adjust to college life, choose their majors, and make other
important decisions. CSI's Macaulay Honors College houses a student lounge
and a state of the art computer lab. Both of these facilities provide
comfortable spaces in which Macaulay Honors College students can work
together, socialize and meet informally with faculty.
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