GRCC In the News, 3-26-15

Global Experience Festival

March 25, 2015; WZZM

Grand Rapids Community College students will share cuisine and cultures from around the world during the Global Experience Festival on March 27.

Rolling Stone journalist to discuss ‘wealth gap’ Wednesday at GRCC conference

March 25, 2015; MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi will give the keynote address Wednesday for Grand Rapids Community College’s 2015 Race, Ethnicity and Identity Conference.

Songs of nostalgia with the Oakland East Bay Symphony

March 25, 2015; San Francisco Chronicle

Maestro Michael Morgan got a taste of Diana Gameros’ pure, pretty voice at the Fox Theater in Oakland last winter, when the Mexican-born San Francisco singer performed with the Magik Magik Orchestra. Morgan, who was conducting other pieces on the program celebrating the flexible orchestra’s fifth birthday, pretty much booked her on the spot for this week’s Notes From Mexico concert with the Oakland East Bay Symphony at the Paramount Theatre.

… Gameros studied classical piano and recording technology at Grand Rapids Community College, singing in a chorus that made it to Carnegie Hall. But she opted to pursue songwriting and performing in a personal style influenced by the quiet intensity of artists like the late, great Brazilian singer Elis Regina and her daughter Maria Rita, and bossa nova singer Rosa Passos. She also digs Bjork, the Canadian indie-rock band Patrick Watson, and the late Costa Rican-born Mexican ranchera singer Chavela Vargas, called la voz áspera de la ternura, the rough voice of tenderness.

Council of Independent Colleges names school president to board

March 25, 2015; Grand Rapids Business Journal

A national nonprofit that supports independent higher education institutions has selected a local academic leader to serve on its board of directors.

… He (Juan Olivarez) worked at Grand Rapids Public Schools for more than 11 years and at Grand Rapids Community College for roughly 20 years.

Hometown Heroes 2015 Profiles: Judge Sara Smolenski

March 24, 2015; therapidian.org.

Each year the American Red Cross celebrates the community heroes who inspire us through their commitment to service and their recognition of the humanity of their neighbors down the street, across the country, and around the world.

… The American Red Cross of West Michigan is proud to honor Judge Sara Smolenski with the Mabel Boardman Spirit of Volunteerism Award. Judge Smolenski has proven her commitment to her community through the many services she provides including her active volunteer efforts. Through the years, Judge Smolenski has donated her time and effort to organizations such as Hospice of Michigan, St. John’s Home for Children, the American Red Cross, YWCA, the American Cancer Society, Resources Against Violent Encounters to Women of West Michigan, Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids Laughfest and many other community events.

(Article doesn’t mention it, but Judge Smolenski is a GRCC alumna.)

Geography and Urban Studies Professor Speaks Tonight on Racism and Prisons

The last keynote lecture of the annual symposium on Race, Ethnicity, and Identity will be delivered tonight by Dr. Anne Bonds, Assistant Professor of Geography and Urban Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Colorblindness and Geographies of Racial Violence. Dr. Bonds has a record of extensive research addressing issues pertaining to poverty and inequality, especially with regard to racism and incarceration. The lecture begins at 7:00 pm this evening in Sneden Hall Room 108 on the DeVos Campus.

In commemoration of the institution’s centennial, GRCC Social Sciences Professors Steve Abid and Dillon Carr will be making a presentation today as well: GRCC 100 Year Anniversary: Exploring the Relationship between your Community’s College and the Community. Their talk will also be held in Sneden Hall Room 108, and it will take place between 1:00 pm and 2:30 pm.

The conference is sponsored by the GRCC Social Sciences Department and Grand Rapids Community College, as well as Pearson Education, the International Geographical Honor Society, and the Association of American Geographers. The lectures are free and open to the public.

GRCC Anthropology Professor Attracts Standing-Room-Only Crowd

Dillon Carr, assistant professor of anthropology, lectures as part of the Race, Ethnicity and Identity Conference.

On Tuesday, Dr. Dillon Carr, Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Social Sciences Department, delivered a lecture titled, Race, Class and the Legitimacy of Power: An Anthropological Perspective on Ferguson, MO, which captivated an audience of more than 140 people attending the annual symposium on Race, Ethnicity, and Identity. Dr. Carr discussed the importance of community policing in fostering the stability of local communities characterized by socioeconomic and racial disparities. He also showed that in some cases a seemingly arbitrary imposition of citations and fines is encouraged by municipalities seeking to generate revenue to support local governments, and this can fuel unrest.

Also on Tuesday, Dr. Courtney Gallaher, Assistant Professor of Geography at Northern Illinois University, delivered a keynote lecture on environmental justice, and on Monday, Dr. Marie Price, Professor of Geography at George Washington University, delivered a keynote lecture on immigration. GRCC Sociology Professor Cedric Williams gave a talk on income inequality on Monday as well. All lectures drew in large numbers of students, as well as faculty and members of the local community. The conference continues today with a Diversity Lecture Series presentation by Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi at Fountain Street Church at 7:00 pm this evening. Events are also scheduled to take place on Thursday. Professors Carr and Abid will discuss the role GRCC has played in the local community throughout the last hundred years, and Dr. Anne Bonds, Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will give a talk on the geographies of racial violence.

This year’s Race, Ethnicity, and Identity Conference is sponsored by the GRCC Social Sciences Department and Grand Rapids Community College, as well as Pearson Education, the International Geographical Honor Society, and the Association of American Geographers. All lectures are free and open to the public.

Distinguished Geographer Speaks Tonight at GRCC’s Annual Conference on Race, Ethnicity, & Identity

Dr. Marie Price, Professor of Geography and International Affairs at George Washington University opens the annual conference on Race, Ethnicity, and Identity with a keynote lecture titled: Diffusion, Deflection and Diversity: A Geographic Perspective on Immigration. The conference is sponsored by the GRCC Social Sciences Department and Grand Rapids Community College, as well as Pearson Education, the International Geographical Honor Society, and the Association of American Geographers. An author of Migrants to the Metropolis: The Rise of Immigrant Gateway Cities in addition to Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World, Dr. Price has received numerous honors and awards for her research and service. She is currently the Vice-President of the American Geographical Society. The lecture begins at 7:00 pm this evening in Sneden Hall Room 108 on the DeVos Campus.

‘Rolling Stone’ journalist to speak at GRCC on March 25

The Diversity Lecture Series and Race, Ethnicity, and Identity Conference will bring Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone journalist, to campus next Wednesday. Mr. Taibbi will present “The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap” at 7 p.m. at  Fountain Street Church.