Impact Summit

Join the CLCE on Friday, March 16, for the 2018 IMPACT Scholars Summit, an all-day, student-led conference focusing on the ways that students, community partners, and faculty members confront issues of race, class, power, and privilege within Wagner’s civic and community initiatives. Presentations will have a particular focus on Wagner's Port Richmond Partnership.

Space is limited. Please RSVP to george.mottola@wagner.edu.

Join the CLCE on Friday, March 16, for the 2018 IMPACT Scholars Summit, an all-day, student-led conference focusing on the ways that students, community partners, and faculty members confront issues of race, class, power, and privilege within Wagner’s civic and community initiatives. Presentations will have a particular focus on Wagner's Port Richmond Partnership.

Space is limited. Please RSVP to george.mottola@wagner.edu.

Schedule of Events

9:30 - 10am
Check-in, Breakfast, and Voter Registration 

10 - 10:15am
Welcome: Kevin Bott, Dean for Civic Engagmeent

10:15 - 10:45 am
Privilege Walk & Discussion
(Philippe Lerebours & Deyja Gentile)

Concurrent Sessions
11 am - 12:15 pm

Microaggressions and Misunderstandings: Wagner and the Minority Student Experience
Main Hall 22
Presenters: Kaela Teele, LEAD Academy; and Kenya Hyman, Women of Color Dialogue Circle.

This session will be a structured conversation about student and faculty experiences of microaggressions on Wagner’s predominantly white campus.  The history of racial violence in the United States causes many minority students to feel as though they can’t fully express themselves -- in white society or on a white campus. These feelings are reinforced by the many microaggressions experienced each day. These subtle, indirect, and often unintentional forms of prejudice and discrimination have a deep impact, and affect everything from social life to academic performance. What exactly does a microaggression look and feel like? How can students and faculty of color find relief from these feelings? What efforts are already underway to build a community within a community here at Wagner, and what else can people of color do together? What roles, if any, might white students and faculty play to confront microaggressions and build more inclusive spaces on campus?

Art, Objecthood, and Community Portraiture 
Location: TBD
Presenters: Dr. Sarah J. Scott, Professor, Wagner College; Natalia Radzik, undergraduate student (Art); Andrew Russo, undergraduate student (Art); Anna Ward, undergraduate student (Art).

What do we mean by “community” and how is our own identity represented within it? In this session, participants will reflect on these ideas through the creation of a group-composes painting.  In the first part of the session, participants will share ideas about an object of meaning they value, and explore how personal identity and self-reflection are projected onto these objects. Through a series of visualization and symbolization exercises, images will then be created that reflect these ideas about identity.

In the second half of the workshop, participants will draw images on a collective canvas that illustrate these ideas. Finally, they participants will embellish this collective drawing with paint, resulting in a collective “portrait” of the group. The goal is to produce a collective portrait that symbolically represents values, beliefs, and ideas that are at once individual yet result in a collective identity that is egalitarian. Such an activity may be useful for group reflection and community building in multiple educational and non-profit settings. No previous art experience required!

Civic Engagement and Social Media to Support Small Businesses in Port Richmond
Main Hall 23
Presenters: Dr. Shani Carter, Professor of Business, Wagner College; and Chelsea Carbajal, Wagner College undergraduate student (Business).

There are more than 100 small businesses operating on and around Port Richmond Avenue. Despite the neighborhood having a wide variety of vibrant businesses, the merchants are lacking for customers. Analysis indicates that only 25% of the businesses have a web site and, unlike other business districts on Staten Island and in other large cities, there is no single location for customers to locate information about shopping options, or a way for potential visitors to see Port Richmond as a destination to spend the day.

This presentation will demonstrate the method used to create the new business district website, “Port Richmond Shopping” and the associated social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Flikr.  The presentation will provide examples of web sites for other business districts that were the inspiration of the new Port Richmond site.

12:30 - 1:45 pm
Manzulli Boardroom
Lunch & Keynote Address (Manzulli Boardroom)

Keynote Presentation:
Isabelle Garbani, The Power and Importance of Socially Engaged Art 

Concurrent Sessions
2:00 - 3:15 pm

Women Empowering Each Other: Collaboration Between Community, Students, & Faculty
Main Hall 22
Presenters: Dr. Bernadette Ludwig, Assistant Professor of Sociology; Director of Civic Engagement Minor,  Wagner College; Adama Fassah, Founder and Executive Director, Napela;  Abigail Dorcin, undergraduate student (business major, civic engagement minor) and Bonner Leader.

In this session, the three presenters will discuss how they have built a collaborative relationship among Wagner College and Napela, a community-based organization led by and serving West African refugees and immigrant women. The session will highlight the ways in which this collaboration has empowered the West African and immigrant women, as well as Bonner student leaders and other Wagner students.

Game Play Session:  Game of Life, Immigration Edition
Main Hall 11
Presenters: Isabelle Garbani, artist and adjunct faculty (Sculpture, Public Art), Wagner College

“The Game of Life, Immigration Edition”, takes the original Milton Bradley “Game of Life”, and replaces the game tiles with new pieces that are related and relevant to the life of an immigrant to the United States. The game aims to educate native-born residents of the United States about the difficulties and joys of immigrating to America -- all the cultural misunderstandings and rejections, the loss of a sense of home and belonging, as well as new opportunities and cultural freedom that come with making this radical change in one's life.

In this session, participants will play the game and discuss its impact with the players, and the audience.

Los Promotores: Intercultural Connections
Main Hall 23
Presenters: Dr. Katia Gonzalez, Associate Professor of Education, Wagner College; Dr. Rhoda Frumkin, Associate Professor of Education, Wagner College; Suzanne D'Amatto, Administrative Assistant and graduate student (graduate student, Early Childhood and Literacy), Wagner College.

Faculty, students, and community partners will engage the audience in an interactive workshop in which culturally responsive practices and the impact of intercultural connections will be discussed. Suggestions on ways to develop a group vision, together with short and long terms goals, will be explored. Case studies outlining the growth of a five year Port Richmond partnership. Los Promotores, will be shared and utilized during the workshop.