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A Pace University film class—made up of 20 graduate and undergraduate students from around the country—was set to embark on a trip to Paris, France, last spring to produce a documentary on urban beekeeping and spotlight the rooftop bees that survived the historic Cathedral of Notre Dame fire.

Passports were secured. Tickets were booked. And all of the groundwork and arduous pre-production work, including setting up interviews and securing location approvals, were complete for a week-long shoot overseas. For many of these students, it would be a working Spring Break unlike most others.

But that was March 2020.

Weeks prior to the scheduled departure, the global pandemic ensured all international travel came to a halt, and the University, like most others around the world, immediately pivoted to remote learning.

The disappointment was real. The frustration palpable. But it was also short-lived, as these filmmakers—known as the PaceDocs Team—knew the show must go on.

Professor Maria Luskay, EDd, whose “Producing the Documentary” course is part of the Department of Media, Communications, and Visual Arts on Pace’s Pleasantville Campus, is a highly-regarded program, garnering over 34 prestigious film festival awards to date. (She’s been teaching the class for more than 20 years.)

“The experience I had was invaluable,” said Austin Braun, a graduate student. “We had a special experience. We learned how to produce a film online. We learned that we can make a powerful film with all of the technology we have… It’s the future of filmmaking.”

Professor Luskay (also the showrunner, or director), assisted by Professor Lou Guarneri, scrambled and came up with “Plan Bee.” They dispatched this group of budding filmmakers to beekeepers closer to home—New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.

Now, roughly a year after the initial setback and long after their class had ended, the PaceDoc Team’s film premiered on April 22, 2021—Earth Day.

“The experience I had was invaluable,” said Austin Braun, a graduate student from Stockholm, New Jersey. “We had a special experience. We learned how to produce a film online. We learned that we can make a powerful film with all of the technology we have… It’s the future of filmmaking.”

While it may very well be a sign of things to come in the industry, getting there was no small accomplishment. In addition to finding new locations to film and experts to speak with over the summer, the class had to learn how to edit together while working remotely across the region.

“We worked our tails off,” Braun added. “Through hard work and determination, we got it done.”

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When Christine Suddeth ’21 enrolled in the Pace School of Performing Arts as a musical theater student, she was in the midst of recovering from a voice injury—one that her voice teacher, PPA Professor Amanda Flynn, helped her recover from. Her injury and subsequent recovery lead her down a path of research and investigation.

When Christine Suddeth ’21 enrolled in the Pace School of Performing Arts as a musical theater student, she was in the midst of recovering from a voice injury—one that her voice teacher, PPA Professor Amanda Flynn, helped her recover from.

“I suffered a voice injury in high school and went through a hard recovery process. When I came to Pace, Amanda helped me rehabilitate and get me back to where I was—and further,” said Christine.

Several years later, as she began to conduct her honors thesis, an opportunity came around for Christine to channel that experience for the better—Flynn had emailed a select group of students inviting them to apply to the Provost’s Undergraduate Student Faculty Research program. Sensing an opportunity to broaden her undergraduate experience, Christine immediately went for it—one email later, and Flynn and Christine started brainstorming potential topics.

“I have a published paper in the Journal of Voice looking at vocal health in undergraduate performing arts training programs—looking at how we teach vocal health, is it effective, are students able to navigate through their performing careers—this survey study left a lot of questions,” said Flynn. “Christine got excited at looking at the student experience going through a very intense, fast-paced BFA program coming in injured. We crafted this survey study looking at the student experience—what was it actually like to be injured in school. Christine is also a psychology minor, so this was a nice tie-in.”

Flynn and Christine developed a thorough survey study, and with considerable effort to find an adequate sample size of individuals who fit into the research category, were able to analyze and synthesize the responses to the study. The duo hopes that their findings—which will be more widely displayed through presentations at both the NCUR and the Voice Foundation, and potentially a published paper—will be used to better educate voice teachers, universities, students, and faculty as to how to best manage a vocal injury.

“Doing this research opened my mind a bit more—as a performing arts major, you can get tunnel vision,” said Christine. “It was liberating in a way that I could expand my breadth of study.”

“I’m grateful that Pace has such an initiative to get undergraduate involved in research because I think it’s a really fulfilling experience,” said Flynn. “You learn a lot, and it opens people’s minds that there’s more out their than what they’ve been doing for the last four years.”

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As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the world, the intersection between public health, safety, technological data, and the law became rather complicated.

“I took Professor Magaldi’s Digital Media Law Class. It got into interesting territory—we really focused on how new media and the law meshes together—how new technologies are introduced, and how the law catches up or doesn’t catch up, and how you might interpret that,” said Lubin student Joseph Peterson ’22.

Peterson was thinking about these ideas at a time in which they were arguably more prevalent than ever. As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the world, the intersection between public health, safety, technological data, and the law became rather complicated. These questions prompted Peterson to formulate a research topic titled “Who Has Your Health Data, What Are They Doing With It, and What Can You Do About It?: Legal and Technological Issues Related to Contact Tracing of COVID-19 Infections.”

Thus, with the assistance of Lubin's Ivan Fox Professor and Scholar of Business Law Jessica Magaldi, JD, Peterson dove into the contract tracing process, and spent his summer working with Magaldi and conducting empirical research focusing on the intersection between the law and different contract tracing policies; interpreting laws; and doing a ton of reading to better understand the vital and contingent relationship between health information and personal privacy.

Through the Provost’s Undergraduate Student-Faculty Research award, Peterson, an arts and entertainment management student, was able to fully immerse himself in a subject previously unfamiliar to him. The experience has really enabled him to reimagine what is possible for both his education, and his career going forward.

“I’ve never thought law was something I could understand. It’s really cool that I can. It shows that if you really focus and learn something, you do learn it,” he said.

Magaldi, who has worked with students in a research capacity for quite a long time, finds the current model of student-centered research espoused by the Office of the Provost and Center for Undergraduate  Research Experiences to be effective, rewarding, and a great way to empower student researchers.

“Joe did the work. I was a sounding board, but he was the driving force behind it,” said Magaldi. “My role is to support, assist, lift up—I was incredibly impressed with Joe’s work. He defined his research goals and determined where he was going with his project.”

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When her summer internship plans fell through as a result of COVID-19, Isabelle Labianco '22 was able to rebound quickly. She spent the next several months researching the intersection between behavioral economics and media messaging; particularly, how they combined in rather unique fashion during the early months of the pandemic.

When her summer internship plans fell through as a result of COVID-19, Isabelle Labianco '22 was able to rebound quickly. Instead of a summer in an office cubicle, Isabelle was accepted to the Provost’s Summer 2020 Student-Faculty Undergraduate Research award program, and spent the next several months researching the intersection between behavioral economics and media messaging; particularly, how they combined in a rather unique fashion during the early months of the pandemic.

“I was talking with my dad; we had the news on while we were chatting. I remember listening to what was going on in the news and seeing and remembering how people might use that information to make decisions,” said Isabelle. “I decided I wanted to look at how the news affected consumer behavior in the early months of the pandemic.”

Specifically, Isabelle looked at how the news media affected consumer behaviors at grocery stores. The results she found were quite interesting.

“What we found was that consumers who relied on the media as the main educational point throughout the pandemic were influenced in their consumer patterns at grocery stores,” said Isabelle. “For consumers who watched news outlets that were more left leaning, they demonstrated behaviors including stockpiling; mass purchasing of items at one time to sustain their need. On the other hand, we found more right leaning news consumers demonstrated the virus as less of a risk—we called that the 'status quo' bias.”

In addition to presenting at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research, Isabelle presented at the Eastern Economics Association Conference—an experience that both Isabelle and her faculty advisor, Dyson Economics Professor Joseph Morreale, PhD, highly valued.

“We have found over the years that it’s really important to have students do this kind of innovative research,” said Morreale. “In Isabelle’s case, she’s crossing two disciplines. Secondly, the experience going to a conference to deliver the paper gave her tremendous feedback—which she would not have necessarily gotten if she was just here. We’re hopeful that once it’s revised, we’ll try to get it published. We think it’s valuable enough to put forward.”

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One distinguishing feature of a Pace education is that research isn’t just for faculty and advanced graduate students—it’s also for undergraduates. In fact, Pace has spent the past several years taking undergraduate research to the next level.

Through the newly centralized Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) Pace is ensuring that our students are empowered to participate in faculty-mentored research and creative inquiry to enhance both their individual undergraduate experience and the overall University research culture. Originally housed in Dyson College and now based in the Office of Research and Graduate Education, CURE leads, supports, and facilitates student-faculty research collaborations throughout the schools and colleges of Pace.

The Center’s work is building upon forty years of undergraduate research in Dyson College as a high-impact educational practice that advances student success.

“CURE is working to broaden participation in undergraduate research because students benefit in significant ways,” said Assistant Provost for Research and the Director of CURE Maria Iacullo-Bird, PhD. “For example, student learning is enhanced by mentoring relationships with faculty who serve an essential role as expert advisers in undergraduate research."

While the benefits of CURE have manifested itself in myriad ways, the most tangible outcome for students is the opportunity to present their work, and get their research in front of accomplished scholars and academic leaders—something a number of students have been able to do over the past year. In addition to field-specific conferences, CURE sponsors an annual Student Research Day, where students are able to showcase their work to the Pace Community and academic professionals.

"Student engagement in undergraduate research also contributes to higher retention and graduation rates, clarifies career goals and increases enrollment in graduate and professional schools,” said Iacullo-Bird.

One such student who has taken advantage of Pace’s research opportunities is Samantha L. Smith ’21. She curated the art gallery exhibition Substance, which brought together 5 artists whose abstract artworks create meaning through the materials they use rather than through objective forms. For two semesters, Smith and her faculty mentor—Pace Art Gallery Director Sarah Cunningham—researched the history of abstract art, virtually met with potential artists, wrote text for the show, installed artworks, and completed a myriad of other tasks needed for an exhibition. Smith’s hard work resulted in an artist residency, Zoom artist talks, a window installation, and two virtual exhibitions—with one coming up in the fall. Smith, who also presented at Student Research Day, found the experience quite rewarding.

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“Having the opportunity to research as an undergraduate student was amazing,” said Smith. “I was able to expand my understanding of my future field as a curator while having funding, something that I was especially grateful for because of the effects of the pandemic on employment. Being able to research a topic that I genuinely was interested in was also a great opportunity because it allowed me to really delve into art academia without the pressures of a professional work environment.”

Iacullo-Bird believes championing undergraduate research is a win-win for the University, and is excited to continue to build upon Pace’s considerable commitment to this arena.

"Student engagement in undergraduate research also contributes to higher retention and graduation rates, clarifies career goals and increases enrollment in graduate and professional schools,” said Iacullo-Bird. “Additionally, by cultivating critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and oral and written communication skills research experiences help prepare students for the twenty-first century workplace.”

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With the inaugural class of Teaching Fellows, Pace University’s Faculty Center is building upon its strong foundation to become a major hub for interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation at Pace.

As the old adage goes, there’s no I in team. Similarly, as Pace’s faculty members are demonstrating through the newly restructured Faculty Center—there is no I in Pace faculty.

For two decades, Pace’s Faculty Center been an important component of the University’s DNA. Its mission has been to provide a place—physically and virtually—for professors to discuss teaching practices and general concerns across disciplines. Whereas a biology professor and a marketing professor may be focused on teaching completely different subject matter, their ultimate objective is quite similar: to share knowledge, innovate in their field, and provide an enriching classroom experience that can prepare each student for future success—whether it’s in the lab or the boardroom.

“As a faculty member, you have a role to play that’s beyond teaching academic content,” said Interim Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Faculty Center Director Joan Walker, PhD. “Each of us has a subject matter expertise. And we teach that, but there’s a difference between—the way I like to frame it—is, do you teach biology to undergraduates, or do you teach undergraduates about biology? Which comes first, the subject matter, or the people?”

Walker, an expert in the learning sciences and the development of professional expertise, is leading the restructured Faculty Center alongside Faculty Center Assistant Director Ally Kimmel. And while they have maintained much of the Faculty Center’s traditional grounding, the pair have presided over the Center’s most significant change: the implementation of the inaugural class of Teaching Fellows.

What does this mean? Traditionally, each school at Pace has had a faculty representative, appointed to serve in an advisory capacity as a member of the Faculty Center Advisory Board. Now, under the new and improved structure, each school is appointed a Teaching Fellow. Each Teaching Fellow has decision-making control over a school-specific budget for faculty development priorities within their school, and is tasked with collaborating with their faculty colleagues to identify common goals and initiatives. Ultimately, Walker, Kimmel, and the Teaching Fellows are envisioning that this structural change will foster exciting University-wide initiatives such as boundary-pushing thematic programming. In turn, increased collaboration across schools will build a stronger, more united, and increasingly innovative faculty body.

"What if we think of ourselves as a University that's training the leaders that we need for the future—whether that's leaders in business, whether that's leaders in the environment, whether that's leaders in questions of racial justice or social justice,” said Kreitz. “I think we could be that institution."

“I’m really happy to be part of this group because it’s interdisciplinary,” said Seidenberg Teaching Fellow Christelle Scharff, PhD. “I’m learning a lot about what my colleagues are teaching in other areas, and what can be in fact integrated in more technical aspects of teaching. What I’m interested in, is to bring to Seidenberg more ideas for teaching at scale.”

Scharff, as part of her role as a Teaching Fellow, organized a virtual event featuring the Associate Computer Science Chair at Stanford University Mehran Sahami, which focused on the very issues she wants to foster at Seidenberg. Scharff’s event, “Scaling Introductory Programming Courses: Harnessing Both the Human and the Humane,” was beneficial not just for Seidenberg faculty members, but for all Pace faculty members interested in effective ways to teach complex topics to introductory, large-sized classes. The ethos of the Faculty Center has made these sorts of conversations—and cross discipline research and teaching possibilities—much more readily possible.

“The Faculty Center enables me to do what I tell my students to do, which is build a network of people who share your values, who you can trust their opinion,” said Lubin Teaching Fellow and Ivan Fox Professor and Scholar of Business Law Jessica Magaldi, JD. Magaldi is continuing her ongoing research focused on “revenge pornography” and the law, looking at the legal remedies women have when confronted with this particular type of malicious online harassment. By working with the Teaching Fellows, Magaldi has been able to get feedback on her own work from academics outside her particular area of study, enabling possibilities for further interdisciplinary perspective and opportunity to build upon her work; while simultaneously offering her own expertise to others.

“It’s a really nice cross-pollination opportunity,” said Magaldi.

Additional Teaching Fellows include Dyson STEM Teaching Fellow Marcy Kelly, PhD; Dyson Humanities Teaching Fellow, Kelley Kreitz, PhD; College of Health Professions Teaching Fellow Sophie Kaufman, DPS; School of Education Teaching Fellow Jennifer Pankowski, EdD; and Elisabeth Haub School of Law Teaching Fellow Emily Waldman, JD. Each Fellow has a specific focus for their individual school—ranging from improving outcomes in STEM Education for underrepresented students, to exploring ways to improve and enhance experiential learning at Pace. Yet all have also been able to draw upon their collective experience as Fellows to improve interdisciplinary communication, and expand the possibilities of teaching and scholarship at Pace.

“Realizing the amount of overlap, and just how we’re far more similar than we are different in a lot of our goals, has been fantastic,” said Pankowski.

All in all, Walker, Kimmel, and the Teaching Fellows are re-envisioning what it means to be a faculty member at the Pace—that it is not just a commitment to your individual research and teaching, but a commitment to a larger quest for shared innovation; a philosophy steeped in the ethos that a rising tide does indeed lift all boats.

"The Faculty Center enables me to do what I tell my students to do, which is build a network of people who share your values, who you can trust their opinion."

“What if we think of ourselves as a University that's training the leaders that we need for the future—whether that's leaders in business, whether that's leaders in the environment, whether that's leaders in questions of racial justice or social justice,” said Kreitz. “I think we could be that institution. But we won't be that institution, unless we find ways of coming together and talking to each other, celebrating the successes that we have in our individual courses and fields—but also the things and the values that we share and the soft skills that we're providing to students that come out of our curriculum as a whole.”

To learn more about the Faculty Center, the Teaching Fellows, and this year's virtual Institute on Teaching and Learning, visit the Faculty Center website.