Queens College Today
Founded in 1937, Queens College is dedicated to the idea that a first-rate education should be accessible to talented people of all backgrounds and financial means. The college’s strong liberal arts curriculum—with over 170 undergraduate and graduate programs—assures students an education for a fulfilling life and career.
The mission of Queens College is to prepare students to become leading citizens of an increasingly global society. The college accomplishes this by offering a rigorous education in the liberal arts and sciences under the guidance of a faculty dedicated to teaching and expanding the frontiers of knowledge. Students also can take advantage of the college’s numerous opportunities to study abroad and to intern with leading companies and top researchers. Queens College students graduate with the ability to think critically, address complex problems, explore various cultures, and use modern technologies and information resources.
Queens College is highly regarded for its academic quality, diversity, and affordability. It is named a top college by the Princeton Review, and considered a top public regional university by U.S. News and World Report, where it ranks among the best in undergraduate teaching. It has been named a best-value college by the Princeton Review and U.S. News and World Report, while Business Insider deems it #4 in the nation for best return on investment and Money considers it a best college. Queens College has long been recognized for fostering the social and economic mobility of students from all backgrounds and, among returning students, its outstanding record of admitting and offering extensive services to veterans and their spouses is recognized by Victory Media.
The students of Queens College represent a vibrant mix of cultures; they hail from over 100 countries and speak 83 languages and dialects, providing an extraordinary educational environment. About 35 percent of them are from the first generation in their families to attend college.
It would be easy to think of Queens College as an 80-acre city. The college offers all the benefits of a city—excellent cultural attractions including the only comprehensive art museum in the borough of Queens, readings by renowned writers, performing arts events,
Scholarly conferences, and numerous places to eat—on a peaceful and attractive campus with a magnificent view of the Manhattan skyline. Students find the campus a comfortable and appealing place to be, with cybercafés and more than 100 clubs and sports in which they can participate. Queens is also the only City University College that participates in Division II sports. It also offers a residence hall, the Summit Apartments, an environmentally friendly building that features fully furnished two- and four-bedroom suites.
Funded by the State of New York, Queens College serves all the people of the state. The campus is located off Exit 24 of the Long Island Expressway (I-495) on Kissena Boulevard in Flushing, close to the Long Island Rail Road and New York City public transportation.
Enrollment
Queens College, with one of the most rigorous admissions standards in the City University of New York system, has nearly 20,000 students enrolled in its four schools of Arts and Humanities, Education, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. Our students are both dedicated to learning and highly achievement oriented. More than half work at least part time to support their education.
Student Achievement
Recent Queens College graduates have won fellowships, scholarships, and assistant ships for study at many leading graduate schools, including Harvard, Yale., Columbia, Duke, Sarah Lawrence, MIT, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College, London, and SOAS, University of London. A number of our students have received prestigious awards for graduate or undergraduate study, including Salk Fellowships, Marshall Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships, NSF awards, Beinecke Scholarships, a Truman Scholarship, a Clark Foundation Fellowship, a National Security Education Program (NSEP) Boren Scholarship, a Rangel Scholarship, Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarships, and a remarkably high number of Fulbright Grants.
Faculty
Queens College has an outstanding faculty of 600 full-time and more than 1,000 part-time teachers and scholars. They have been the recipients of numerous fellowships and research grants, including prestigious Guggenheim and Fulbright awards. There are currently twelve Distinguished Professors on the Queens College faculty; appointed by the City University to the highest rank in the system, they are known for their superior research, scholarship, and teaching,. They have held the title of Distinguished Professor in fields as diverse as biology, chemistry and biochemistry, economics, English, earth and environmental sciences, history, Italian-American studies, mathematics, physics, psychology, sociology, and urban studies.
Research
The college receives millions of dollars in funding for research each year. Support comes from such organizations as IBM, Google, the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the Ford Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense. Recent awards have included grants to monitor the health of workers who were involved in the cleanup at or near ground zero after the destruction of the World Trade Center; to promote ethnic studies projects; and to establish a Reference Resource Center for the New York State Department of Social Services.
Undergraduates are often deeply involved in faculty research projects, working in laboratories, classrooms, or in the field, gaining important insight into potential career paths.
Academic Structure
Queens College offers day and evening classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, there is a Weekend College and Winter and Summer Sessions. The college has four academic schools: Arts and Humanities, Education, Mathematics and the Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. Each school is divided into academic departments and programs, each with its own chair/ director and the faculty members who teach within it.
The School of Arts and Humanities includes the departments of Art; Classical, Middle Eastern, and Asian Languages and Cultures; Comparative Literature; Drama, Theater, and Dance; English; European Languages and Literature; Hispanic Languages and Literature; Library; Linguistics and Communication Disorders; Media Studies; and the Aaron Copland School of Music; as well as programs in Film Studies; Honors in the Humanities; Religious Studies; and World Studies.
The School of Education includes the departments of Elementary and Early Childhood Education; Educational and Community Programs; and Secondary Education and Youth Services, which includes the TIME 2000 honors program in secondary education mathematics.
The School of Mathematics and the Natural Sciences includes the departments of Biology; Chemistry and Biochemistry; Computer Science; Family, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences; Mathematics; Physics; Psychology; and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences; plus programs in Neuroscience and Honors in the Mathematical and Natural Sciences.
The School of Social Sciences includes the departments of Accounting and Information Systems; Anthropology; Economics; History; Philosophy; Political Science; Sociology; Urban Studies; and the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies; as well as programs in Africana Studies; Applied Social Science; Business Administration; Business and Liberal Arts; Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies; East Asian Studies; Honors in the Social Sciences; Interdisciplinary and Special Studies; Irish Studies; Italian-American Studies; Jewish Studies; Journalism; Labor Studies; Latin American and Latino Studies; Student Personnel; and Women and Gender Studies.
Honor Societies
Phi Beta Kappa, a nationwide organization and the oldest active college society, honors good character, intellectual enthusiasm, and outstanding scholarship in the liberal arts and sciences. The Sigma Chapter of New York was authorized at the college in Fall 1949 and installed
on January 9, 1950. Each year it elects as members a limited number of students whose records in the liberal arts are superior in breadth and depth of study. Election to membership in a student’s senior (or, exceptionally, junior) year is a unique distinction. No one may apply to join PhiBeta Kappa, but the nominating committee takes care to find those students whose programs live up to the society’s ideals. More information may be obtained from the officers of the Queens College chapter.
Golden Key International Honor Society is an interdisciplinary undergraduate academic honors organization with over 300 chapters around the world. The purposes of Golden Key are to recognize and encourage scholastic achievement, to unite with faculty and administrators in developing and maintaining high standards of education, to provide scholarships to outstanding members, and to promote altruistic conduct through voluntary service. The award-winning Queens College chapter was chartered in 1986. Invitations are extended to sophomore, junior, and senior students who rank in the top 15 percent of their class.
Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, is a nonprofit society of nearly 75,000 scientists and engineers who were elected to membership because of their research achievements or research potential.
Founded in 1886, Sigma Xi has more than 500 chapters at universities and colleges, government laboratories, and industry research centers. The Queens College chapter was organized in 1968. In addition to publishing the American Scientist, Sigma Xi awards grants annually to promising young researchers, holds forums on critical issues at the intersection of science and society, and sponsors a variety of programs supporting honors in science and engineering, science education, science policy, and the public understanding of science. Each April, the Queens College Chapter of Sigma Xi also hosts a symposium where faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students present their research.
Membership in Sigma Xi is by invitation. Those who have shown potential as researchers are invited to join as associate members. Full membership is conferred upon those who have demonstrated noteworthy achievements in research.
Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education founded in 1911, recognized the Kappa Gamma Chapter at the college in 1964. Kappa Delta Pi encourages excellence in scholarship, high personal standards, improvement in teacher preparation, distinction in achievement, and contributions to education.
It is the largest and most prestigious international honor society for educators in the world. Invitations are extended to students on the basis of their cumulative education accomplishments and promise in the field of teaching. For more information, visit www.kdp.org.
Alpha Sigma Lambda, Upsilon Chapter, is a national college honor society. The opportunity to join is offered to a small group of nontraditional students in recognition of superior academic achievement. Criteria for consideration include diversity of program, credit load, and a distinguished cumulative academic average. Of those eligible, only a limited number are nominated each Spring for membership.
The following honor societies have chapters at Queens College:
Beta Delta Phi (Biology)
Beta Delta Chi (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Upsilon Pi Epsilon (Computer Science)
Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics)
Phi Upsilon Omicron (Family and Consumer Sciences)
Pi Delta Phi (French)
Delta Phi Alpha (German)
Phi Alpha Theta (History)
Gamma Kappa Alpha (Italian)
Pi Mu Epsilon (Mathematics)
Pi Kappa Lambda (Music)
Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science)
Psi Chi (Psychology)
Dobro Slovo (Slavic)
Alpha Kappa Delta(Sociology)
Sigma Delta Pi (Spanish)
Accreditation
Queens College is registered by the New York State Education Department (Office of Higher Education and the Professions, Cultural Education Center, Room 5B28, Albany, NY 12230; 518-474-5851). It is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2680; 267-284- 5000. The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education includes Queens in its list of member colleges.
Specific programs at the college are accredited by their disciplinary associations:
American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences American Audiology and Speech Language Pathology,
Council on Academic Accreditation American Chemical Society
American Dietetic Association
Commission on Accreditation
American Library Association
American Psychological Association
Committee on Accreditation
Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation National Association of Schools of Music
Commission on Accreditation
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
Facilities
The college’s campus, lined with trees surrounding grassy areas, sustainable rain gardens, and open spaces, consists of 36 buildings on 80 acres. Some of the original stucco-and-tile buildings from the early 1900s still stand, contributing to the pleasantly eclectic style of the campus. A major building program is continuing and includes greatly expanded classroom and research facilities, as well as spaces for varied campus activities. Virginia Frese Hall houses the offices of the Vice President for Student Affairs and other student service offices. High-tech Powdermaker Hall is home to the social sciences and education departments.
Just off Melbourne Avenue is the Science Building, which houses several laboratories and offices for five science departments. At the western edge of the Quadrangle is the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, which received a major renovation and modernization on the second and third floors. West of the library is an expanded parking facility and several rebuilt athletic fields.
Facing Reeves Avenue is the Music Building, adjacent to Colden Auditorium and Goldstein Theatre. Klapper Hall is home to the art and English departments as well as the Godwin-Ternbach Museum. On the eastern edge of the Quad are Kiely Hall, with the college’s administrative offices, and Jefferson Hall, which houses the One Stop Service Center, Admissions, Bursar, Registrar, and Financial Aid offices. Delany Hall, Colwin Hall, Razran Hall, and Remsen Hall are at the southern edge of the Quad.
FitzGerald Gymnasium is home to the physical education and athletics programs. Located between Rosenthal and FitzGerald Gym is the college’s first residence hall, the Summit Apartments, with 500 beds and 200 parking spaces. East of the Summit are a large Student Union and Dining Hall. These two buildings provide the college community with food services and recreation areas.
Queens Hall, the former CUNY Law School Building, is located on the western edge of the campus facing Main Street. The old classrooms were upgraded to state-of-the-art teaching facilities, adding 26 classrooms, one auditorium, and one lecture hall to the college portfolio. The building houses the Departments of Classical, Middle Eastern & Asian Languages & Cultures, European Languages & Literature, Hispanic Languages & Literature, Comparative Literature, the Queens College Psychological Center, the Dean of Arts & Humanities, and Athletics offices.
Queens College Venue Rentals
Queens College offers venues able to accommodate from ten to 10,000 people for a variety of occasions,including conferences, seminars, retreats, meetings,fundraisers, cultural events, and film shoots. Spaces range from high-tech classrooms and state-of-the-art concert halls to beautiful outdoor locations, formal reception rooms, and a multi-use athletics complex. All spaces are ADA-compliant and have optional amenities for persons with disabilities. For more information, visit www.qc.cuny.edu/venuerentals.
THE MISSION OF QUEENS COLLEGE is to prepare students to become leading citizens of an increasingly global society. The college seeks to do this by offering its
exceptionally diverse student body a rigorous education in the liberal arts and sciences under the guidance of a faculty that is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence and the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge. Its goal is that students learn to think critically, address complex problems, explore various cultures, and use effectively the full array of available technologies and information resources.
Within a structured curriculum and in an atmosphere of collegiality and mutual respect, the college fosters an environment in which students learn the underlying principles of the humanities, the arts, and the mathematical, natural, and social sciences. The college also prepares students in a variety of professional and pre-professional programs that build upon and complement the liberal arts and sciences foundation.
Recognizing the special needs of a commuting student population, the college strives to create a broad range of intellectual and social communities. The college offers a spectrum of curricular and co-curricular programs that serves individuals and distinctive student constituencies.
In support of the need for advanced study in the liberal arts and professions, the college offers a variety of master’s degree and certificate programs. In particular, the college recognizes and accepts its historic responsibility for providing high quality programs for the pre-service and in-service education of teachers.
As a partner with the University’s Graduate School, the college provides faculty and resources in support of the University’s mission in doctoral education and research. The college employs University graduate students and prepares them for careers in higher education and research, and it supports faculty who serve as mentors for doctoral students and engage in related scholarly activities.
For its faculty, the college seeks productive scholars, scientists, and artists deeply committed to teaching. It endeavors to enhance the teaching effectiveness of faculty and to encourage their research and creative work. The college recognizes the importance of having a diverse faculty responsive to the needs and aspirations of students of all ages and backgrounds.
As a public institution, Queens College provides affordable access to higher education and embraces its special obligation to serve the larger community. It is a source of information in the public interest; it is a venue for cultural and educational activities serving the general public. Through its graduates’ contributions to an educated workforce and through the leading roles they assume in their local communities, the college is vested in the economic future and vitality of New York.
As one of the most culturally diverse campuses in the country, Queens College faces special challenges and opportunities. By balancing tradition and innovation in the service of this diversity, it represents the future of the nation.
From the 1995 Queens College Self-Study presented to the Middle States Association’s Commission on Higher Education.
Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library
The Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, which opened in 1988, is the centerpiece of the campus, with six levels of space for study and research. A community landmark is its distinctive Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Clock Tower, dedicated to the memory of the three civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer of 1964. One of those three was Andrew Goodman, who was a Queens College student at the time. The tower also houses the Queens College Bells, five beautifully crafted instruments that chime each quarter hour during the daytime.
Collections
Print and electronic books, reserve textbooks, electronic journals and databases, and other resources are available in the library to support students’ coursework and research. Materials from other CUNY libraries can be delivered here for student use, and many electronic resources can be used online even from off campus. Librarians work with faculty to develop Open Educational Resources (OER) and other digital tools that help to reduce textbook costs and make learning more convenient. The building’s top floor, which features stunning views of the Manhattan skyline, contains one of New York City’s best art history collections and is also home to the Queens College Art Center, an intimate exhibit space with a rotating schedule of vibrant, community-based art and events.
Located in the Aaron Copland School of Music, the Queens College Music Library has the largest music collection in the CUNY system. Along with scores, books, and music, there are laptops and iPads to borrow, and a state-of-the-art computer lab with keyboards and the latest music-composition software.
Our Special Collections and Archives are a major research collection used by faculty and students. Rare books, political papers, materials on the civil rights movement and social activism, and documents covering the history of Queens College are all being integrated into digital learning tools, displayed in special exhibits, and used in classes and scholarship.
Computers and Study Spaces
Students have access to quiet study floors, social areas, individual study pods, and group study rooms with whiteboards and computers throughout the library. They may check out a laptop at the borrowing desk (iPads, calculators, and other tools also are available). They can use a desktop, print, and copy in the Computer Commons. Digital scanners are fast, easy to use, and can print or email documents.
Services
Students can request detailed research help for a paper or project, or answers to a quick question, at the research and information desks. They may either drop in or schedule a consultation with a subject specialist, and can also ask librarians questions by chat, email, or phone. The library’s experts can also help analyze, assess, and visualize qualitative or quantitative data, or find the right digital tool for student projects. In the QC Makerspace, students may design and print 3D objects, explore the Internet of Things, or learn how to use a laser cutter or CNC machines.
Information Technology Services
The Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) offers in-person, email, and phone Help Desk support (located in the Dining Hall, Room 151). It provides QWIFI on-campus wireless access, network and telephone services, web services, and audio/video and digital media classroom and event services. ITS also administers access to the following accounts for faculty, staff, and students:
■ CUNYfirst
■ QC username (CAMS: Campus Access Management Systems)
■ Mymail (email services for faculty and staff)
■ Office 365 student email
■ Office 365 Pro Plus faculty and staff
■ CUNY Portal and Blackboard
■ Authentication services for Lynda.com and Google for Education
ITS manages the QC Technology Fee Committee process and promotes compliance with the CUNY Information Technology security policy (security. cuny.edu). ID Cards are issued at the QCard office located in the Dining Hall (Room 116A). ITS computer labs are open Sunday–Saturday in the I Building and Powdermaker Hall. ITS administrative offices are located in I Building, Suite 200. For online help, visit www.qc.cuny.edu/computing.
Laboratories
Laboratory facilities house up-to date scientific instruments for research in biology;chemistry and biochemistry;earth and environmental sciences; family, nutrition,and exercise sciences;physics; and psychology. Over the past few years the college has renovated biology, chemistry, neuropsychology, and preplabsi n the Science Building and Razran and Remsen Halls.
The Academic Senate
The Academic Senate is the chief legislative body of the college and, subject to the Board of Trustees, is responsible for the formulation of policy relating to the admission and retention of students, curriculum, granting of degrees, campus life, and the nomination and review of academic (full) deans. It also establishes rules governing the use of the college name by organizations and clubs, and conducts all educational affairs customarily cared for by a college faculty. There are twenty student representatives and forty faculty delegates/senators. Student representatives are elected every Spring by the student body. In addition, there are eleven active Academic Senate standing committees, three special committees, and two college committees, all of which have student members. These committees deal with issues ranging from curriculum and academic standards to campus beautification. Applications for committee membership are available at www.qc.cuny.edu/academicsenate.
The Academic Senate usually meets one Thursday of each month from September through May. Meetings are held in Kiely Hall 170 and are open to all. Members of the college community-faculty, staff, and students-are encouraged to participate in discussions. A complete description of the Academic Senate is available in the Senate office in Kiely Hall 141 (718-997-5880; fax 718-997-5884; www.qc.cuny.edu/academicsenate).
The Curriculum:
To Develop the Whole Person
The college’s original curriculum was planned by its first president, Dr. Paul Klapper, after the liberal arts model of the University of Chicago: developing the whole person through a required sampling of the humanities, social sciences, sciences, language, and the arts; a more intensive preparation in one subject; and freedom of choice in a third group of courses.
During the 1960s and 1970s the college experimented with different requirements. Under President Saul B.Cohen in1980, the Academic Senate voted to institute new college-wide academic requirements, which reinvigorated the tradition of a well-rounded liberal arts education.
In 2006 the Academic Senate passed new General Education requirements based on a presidential task force, and in 2012 CUNY introduced “Pathways” General Education requirements to ensure ease of transferability.
The College and The Community
A municipal college funded by the State of New York, Queens College is particularly aware of its mission in the broader community. College-community services include Professional and Continuing Studies courses and lectures and Student Union facilities and programs.
Kupferberg Center for the Arts
The Kupferberg Center comprises ten distinguished institutions that offer programming in music, dance, drama, literature, and the visual arts. Since 1961 the Kupferberg Center for the Arts has provided affordable, world-class cultural entertainment to the region. With offerings from classical and pop performances to concerts and school residencies for children and a wide range of family programs, the center attracts more than 350,000 individuals each year. Located on the campus at Queens College, Kupferberg Center is easily accessible from the Long Island Expressway at Exits 23 and 24.
For tickets and information, visit www.kupferbergcenter.org.
Golden Auditorium (2,085 seats) and Goldstein Theater (475 seats) are multi-use venues appropriate for a wide range of live events. Golden Auditorium is available for rental year-round (please call 718-570-0920 for rental information). Recent renovations include expanded lobbies, modernized restrooms, and updated box office facilities with improved access for the physically challenged. The surrounding building complex also houses the Gertz Speech and Hearing Center and two academic wings: Karol Rathaus Hall and Rufus King Hall.
The Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Concert Hall (489 seats), located in the Aaron Copland School of Music, is acoustically designed for almost any musical performance and is also available for rental year-round (please call 718-570-0920 for rental information). Visually stunning with an expanse of natural wood and a magnificent pipe organ, the hall hosts concerts by students, faculty, and visiting artists.
The Godwin-Ternbach Museum in Klapper Hall, a part of the Selma and Max Kupferberg Center for the Arts, presents historical and contemporary exhibitions and programs that provide exciting educational opportunities and aesthetic experiences to students, their families, and the general public. Internships and independent studies for credit are offered in collaboration with academic advisors. The museum-— which houses over 6,000 objects that date from ancient to modern times introduces many individuals to a museum experience for the first time and to art and artifacts they might not otherwise encounter. Lectures, symposia, gallery talks, workshops, films, concerts, and tours as well as digital displays, catalogues, and an active website interpret and complement the art on view, particularly to serve the needs and interests of the diverse academic and local communities. All exhibitions and programs are free. For information call 718-997-4747 or visit www.qc.cuny.edu/godwin_ternbach.
The Queens College Choral Society, founded in 1941, performs great masterpieces of choral literature, such as Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. The Choral Society is open to students, faculty and staff of the college, as well as members of the surrounding community, with a total membership of approximately 130 singers. Two concerts are given annually-—in December and May-—together with the Queens College Orchestra. Rehearsals are held every Wednesday evening when the college is in session. For more information, contact Professor James John at 718-997-3818 or james.john@qc.cuny.edu.
The Queens College Speech-Language- Hearing Center (Gertz Building) serves children and adults living in Queens and the greater metropolitan area who have speech and language disorders or developmental delays. Its staff of licensed and professionally certified speech-language pathologists provides speech-language evaluations and treatment to individuals needing those services. These include children with language disorders resulting from autism, delays in speech and language development, dysfluency, or school-related learning disorders. It also serves adults with speech-language disorders resulting from a stroke, neurological disorder, developmental challenges, or head trauma as well as voice and swallowing disorders. The center is part of the Department of Linguistics & Communication Disorders. For more information, contact speechcenter@qc.cuny.edu, call 718-997-2930 or visit www.qc.cuny.edu/slhc.
The Queens College Campus Ministers is an association of the Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, and Protestant ministries. Its purpose is to foster harmony among religious traditions and to join in on-campus efforts to promote spiritual and ethical growth. The ministers are a resource for religious and ethical information and insight for the academic and the wider Queens community. All students, faculty, and staff are welcome to participate in the activities of the various centers.
The Catholic Newman Center (Student Union 207 and 208; 718-793-3130 [fax same number] or 718-997- 3969; email frpaw@yahoo.comfrpaw@yahoo.com)) is the Catholic parish on campus. The center celebrates the sacraments, sponsors spiritual, cultural, and social programs, and offers pastoral counseling to all students, faculty, and staff.
Mass is celebrated in the chapel every Sunday at 1 pm, Tuesday and Wednesday at 12:10 pm, and Thursday at 5:15 pm. Queens College Hillel (Student Union 206; 718-997- 3980 or 718-793-2222; www.qchillel.org facebook.com/ qchillel, Instagram.com/qchillel) envisions a world where every Jewish student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel. QC Hillel helps students discover and explore their Jewish identity, learn about Jewish peoplehood, experience Jewish holidays and Shabbat, and develop as leaders and volunteers.
The Ikaros Hellenic Orthodox Club (Student Union 209; 718-997-3576) provides religious, cultural, and social programming, counseling, and outreach for Greek Orthodox students, faculty, and staff. It also offers information on worship and Bible study. For other matters, contact the Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies (Jefferson Hall 302; 718-997-4520; fax 718-997-4529).
The Protestant Center (Student Union 203; 718-261-1550 or 718-997-3979) welcomes students, faculty, and staff from the various Protestant denominations for worship and Bible study, counseling, and a variety of programs.
The Muslim Students Association (Student Union 217/218; 718-997-3659; MSA@qc.cuny.edu serves to empower students on campus by creating significant opportunities to learn from and build coalitions with the campus community at large.
The Asian/American Center (A/AC) is a community-oriented research center dedicated to the development and analysis of the multicultural experience of Asians in New York City as well as their diasporic communities in the Americas. The center is located in Kissena Hall 315.
For information contact Director Madhulika Khandelwal or Associate Director Hong Wu at 718-997-3050; fax 718-997-3055; www.qc.cuny.edu/aac.
The Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment (formerly the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems) is an environmental and occupational health research center. Its mission is to identify and help to rectify environmental and occupational threats to human health. The center uses real-world occupational and environmental problems as its entry point for needed research, emphasizing a scientific approach that facilitates public participation in gathering information and developing solutions, and interacting extensively with people and organizations that determine or are affected by these policy choices. Current projects include air pollution monitoring, medical screening of nuclear weapons workers, heart disease and asthma among World Trade Center workers, and occupational hazards of immigrant construction workers. Professor Steven Markowitz, MD, DrPH, is director of the center, located in Remsen Hall 311.
For information call 718-670-4180; fax 718-670-4189; www.commonercenter.org
The Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies promotes Byzantine and Neo-Hellenic scholarship and publications, supports and coordinates the teaching of Byzantine and modern Greek subjects at the college, and relates academic research and teaching to the needs of the Greek community of Queens and beyond. The center publishes an annual Journal of Modern Hellenism as well as occasional monographs. For information about the center and special events, contact Prof. C.P. Ioannides in Jefferson Hall 302, 718-997-4520; fax 718-997-4529; email qc.byzantine. center@gmail.com www.qc.cuny.edu/moderngreek.
The Center for Ethnic, Racial & Religious Understanding (CERRU) is a diversity education center located on the Queens College campus that provides nonviolent communication tools to bridge social differences and create a more equitable society. It works with students, faculty, staff, and administration in order to build an inclusive campus community.
CERRU offers three competitive fellowships that run throughout the year; these allow students to understand the ways we’re all affected by racism and sexism and the ways we all contribute to these oppressions in how we live and communicate. The third fellowship, offered in the Spring, provides tools for de-escalating racialized and gendered harm while communicating in ways that center compassion and honesty. In addition, CERRU provides campus training open to the public on nonviolent communication, interrogating and understanding implicit bias, social identity storytelling, de-escalation, and other topics. For more information on how to get involved, email info@cerru.org or visit https://cerru.org.
The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute is a University-wide institute under the aegis of Queens College. It is devoted to organized research on the Italian American experience as well as to instruction, training, counseling, and service involving Italian American students and community. It is located in midtown Manhattan at 25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor. For information call 212-642-2094 or visit https://calandrainstitute.org.
The Michael Harrington Center for Democratic Values and Social Change promotes public, democratic discussion of social issues, advocates for social change, and works in partnership with others to build a more just, equitable, and democratic society. For more information, contact Director John Vogelsang at 718-997-3078 or visit www.qc.cuny.edu/mhc.
The Queens College Center for the Improvement of Education engages in innovation, professional development, and research in curriculum design, administration, and effective school/family/ community relationships. Staff from the center conduct projects involving the creative, intellectual, emotional, and physical growth of children that are primarily concerned with finding ways to improve instruction. The center also serves as a major conduit for promoting effective school/college collaborations. As part of that process, partnerships are established with elementary, middle, and high schools. The center publishes occasional papers and monographs. For more information, visit www.qc.cuny.edu/Academics/Centers/EducationImprovement.
The Center for Jewish Studies is the research and outreach arm of Jewish Studies on campus, promoting Jewish knowledge, scholarship, and culture in and out of the classroom. It is the patron of the undergraduate Jewish Studies Program, which offers a major and minor in Jewish Studies. The center also serves as a bridge between the academic program and the community, organizing a wide array of exciting extra- curricular events that make it a preeminent Jewish intellectual and cultural resource for the region. For information contact the center at 718-997-5730 or visit www.qc.cuny.edu/centerforjewishstudies.
The Research Center for Korean Community promotes research on Korean Americans (and other overseas Koreans) and disseminates data and information about them to the Queens College community, the Korean community, Korean and American government agencies, and scholars conducting research. For more information contact Director Pyong Gap Min at 718- 997-2810 or visit www.qc.cuny.edu/Academics/Centers/ RCKC.
The Taft Institute. Queens College has a long- standing collaborative relationship with the Robert A. Taft Institute of Government, an autonomous non-partisan, nonprofit entity dedicated to promoting informed citizen participation in public life. Collaborative efforts with the Taft Institute have included professional development for elementary and secondary school teachers aimed at enhancing their teaching of civics and social studies; curriculum development, including a nationally distributed 9/11 curriculum; training of leaders in low income, new immigrant, and minorities communities; and adult civic education. For information contact the institute’s co-directors, Profs. Jack Zevin (jack.zevin@gmail. com) and Michael Krasner (makrasner@gmail.com, or Associate Director Prof. François Pierre-Louis (fpierrelou@aol.com); call 718-997-5546; or fax 718-997-5333.