On May 21, 2021, the Tishman Center gathered to celebrate the students who received grants during the Spring 2021 semester. The virtual event was spearheaded by Tishman Center research assistant Mariana Sanson. She brilliantly utilized her skills as a Media Studies major and festival organizer to create an interactive virtual gallery that featured all of the student projects. As a reminiscence of our school, the virtual gallery featured backdrops of the New School campus complete with a city soundscape. The interactive elements were especially useful to display several of the sound-based projects.

For it to be a true virtual celebration, we wanted to create a more fun experience than a regular Zoom meeting. In order for all the students to celebrate from their distinct locations around the world, the students who received grants also received a yoga mat, a Goldbelly gift card to buy a snack for the celebration, and a historic postcard from The New School to remind them of our campus. Instead of a traditional presentation, all students gathered on Zoom and were given the opportunity to scroll through the virtual gallery themselves and view their peer’s projects alongside Tishman staff and faculty members who posed some great questions about the projects during the Q&A portion.

View the virtual gallery to see all the student projects. Short descriptions of each project are below.

KAN MO MOM ÀDDUNA? (WHO OWNS THE WORLD?)

Devin Hentz

Parsons, MA Fashion Studies ‘22

Kan Mo Mom Adduna aims to interrupt imperialist roots in Senegal through fashion activism by reclaiming the means of creative production of cotton textiles. Devin focused on artisanal and traditional methods of processing raw cotton into thread.

Indigenous Nations on Turtle Island (United States) in Rediscovering and Rebuilding Regenerative Food Systems for Tribal Food

Ashley Lituma

Eugene Lang, BA Global Studies ‘21

For this project, a series of interviews was conducted with Indigenous people across Turtle Island . who use traditional regenerative food systems to reclaim tribal food sovereignty and focus on Nations most vulnerable to food scarcity and climate change.

https://www.communitynewscommons.org/our-city/education/reflections-on-reconciliation/

Your Mating Call Is Important To Us: A Sonic Apothecary for Synanthropes

Maria Dominguez, Hannah Rose Fox, Anjali Nair, Miriam Young

Parsons, MFA Transdisciplinary Design ‘21

This project aims to create a library of soundscapes that reclaim auditory peace in the city. It is an audiovisual speculative fiction – a group of vigilantes, the Resounders, who believe urban landscapes can be healed through various sonic prescriptions.

Food Sovereignty Land Projects

Kaija Xiao and Genesis Abreau

Milano, MS Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management ‘21

The project focuses on queer land projects that support, uplift, and facilitate food sovereignty that center counter-hegemonic queer liberation, Indigenous land rematriation, and decolonization of the food system in the northeast occupied New York State.

Faithfully Sustainable

Zainab Koli

Milano, MS Environmental Policy & Sustainability Management ‘22

This project aims to create a non-profit community organization whose mission is to bridge Islam with environmental, climate, and social justice by equipping Muslim Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) with the educational and financial resources needed to develop their own sustainable communities.

Mapping Tool to Track Waste Flows to Incinerators on Long Island in New York

Gabrielle Houston

Milano, MS Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management ‘21

This project created a mapping tool to help local communities of color fight municipal solid waste incinerators that disrupt their neighborhoods, pollute the air they breathe, and diminish their quality of life. This tool was developed in partnership with GAIA.

Slow Movement: A Musical Exploration of Tempo in the Fashion Industry

Bergamot Quartet: Ledah Finck, Sarah Thomas, Amy Tan, & Irene Han

Mannes, Graduate String Quartet in Residence ‘22

The project is a sonic and visual concert experience that interweaves contemporary and experimental music with multimedia social commentary. It reckons with the pace of “fast fashion” through the lens of the string quartet by tracing the path and challenges of making sustainable choices as clothing consumers and as a musical ensemble.

A Luta Continua Dialogues: The Struggle Continues

Anya Isabel Andrews

Eugene Lang & New School For Social Research, BA Sociology ‘21 & MA Liberal Studies ‘22

The project interviewed a total of 6 people from the African Diaspora for a 2 hour environmental justice episode of the web series “A Luta Continua Dialogues: The Struggle Continues” and the following episode with the Haki Compost Collective. The episode focused on shifting the mainstream narrative around organized action for climate change to one that both addresses systemic barriers to climate justice and centers BIPOC environmental knowledge, healing, innovation, and preservation practices.

Student Awards Celebration