CUNY Dominican Studies Institute News

Dominicans In U.S. Subject of Special Issue of Journal ‘Camino Real’

Dominicans In U.S. Subject of Special Issue of Journal ‘Camino Real’

First Time a Multidisciplinary Journal Devotes an Entire Issue to Dominican Studies

NEW YORK -- “Camino Real,” the journal of the Instituto Franklin of the University of Alcalá, Spain, has published a special issue devoted to Dominican studies, a growing field in the United States focused on the study of people of Dominican ancestry.  This is the first time a multidisciplinary academic journal has published an entire issue devoted to the field.  Dr. Ramona Hernández, director of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute (CUNY DSI), based at The City College of New York, and Anthony Stevens-Acevedo, CUNY DSI assistant director, edited the issue.

“This monograph issue is an important recognition for the emerging field of Dominican studies and Dominicanists, as well as for the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute,” said Dr. Hernández.  “It furthers CUNY DSI’s stature as the leading institution in the United States devoted to the study of people of Dominican ancestry.” 

The journal comes out at a time of significant demographic changes in the Dominican population in the United States.  Defined as people who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic, they have become one of the largest Latino immigrant groups in the country, numbering more than 1.4 million people.  Single women head more than one third of U.S. Dominican families, noted Dr. Hernández, a sociologist who focuses on labor and migration studies.

Additionally, there has been significant movement of Dominicans away from traditional Latino gateways such as New York City. According to Dr. Hernández, “In 1980, three out of four Dominicans living in the United States lived in New York. By the mid-2000s, that proportion had dropped to about half.”

These changes, combined with a growing second generation that is driving educational attainment and deepening Dominicans’ civic and cultural engagement, point to the community’s growing influence in the popular culture, politics, business, the arts and literature.

Dr. Hernández notes, however, that sparse attention is being paid to the study of the Dominican population in the United States. Academic research continues to focus on the view of Dominicans as a “transnational” migrant community, she adds.

“We want to move beyond the vast amount of literature on Dominicans as immigrants with one foot in the United States and the other in the Dominican Republic, and to offer new perspectives on the vibrant culture and society Dominicans have built in the United States.”

Dr. Hernández expressed hope that this special issue of “Camino Real” augurs well for the future of Dominican studies.  “It is our hope that the broad range of topics and the multidisciplinary approach of the selected papers demonstrates the richness of the field and encourages new lines of inquiry,” she said.  “Courses in Dominican history, culture, and society are still extremely rare in U.S. colleges and universities despite a very long history of political and cultural engagement between the United States and the Dominican Republic.”

Highlights of the articles that appear in the special issue:

• Sarah Aponte provides a statistical analysis of the more than 600 doctoral dissertations published in the United States on Dominican-related topics since 1939;
• Dr. Daisy Cocco de Filippis writes about the history of the tertulias (literary circles) of Dominican women writers in New York City;
• Emilia María Durán Almarza provides a reading of playwright and poet Josefina Báez's performance text “Dominicanish;”
• Ofelia García and Lesley Bartlett write about the notions of “trust” and “care” in a Dominican-run high school for newly arrived immigrant youth in Washington Heights;
• Sydney Hutchinson explores the musical influence of New York merengue bands on merengue típico, which is the most folkloric expression of the merengue, the Dominican Republic’s national dance;
• Juleyka Lantingua-Williams interviews Pulitzer prize-winning writer Junot Díaz;
• Danny Méndez examines the racial and affective gaps in the New York memoirs of Pedro Henríquez Ureña; and,
• Marisel Moreno writes about the Afro-Dominican identity of immigrant poets like Marianela Medrano and Sussy Santana.

The special issue is available on Instituto Franklin’s website by subscription:
http://www.institutofranklin.net/en/publications/revista-camino-real

About “Camino Real”

“Camino Real” is an official publication of the Instituto Franklin, established in 1987 as Centro de Estudios Norteamericanos, a university research institute of the University of Alcalá, Spain. “Camino Real” is a peer-reviewed and multidisciplinary publication, and is published twice a year, spring and fall.  It is divided into four sections - critical articles, interviews, reviews and creative writing - and includes articles that reflect the different sensibilities and peculiarities of the Hispanic world in the United States, including artistic, political, economic, sociological, cultural, literary and historical perspectives.

About Instituto Franklin
The Instituto Franklin is a research institute of the University of Alcalá, Spain.  Its main mission is to serve as a cooperative and unifying communication platform between Spain and North America, with the goal of promoting mutual understanding.  The Instituto Franklin fulfills its mission by: fostering and nurturing the creation of groups of researchers in collaboration with different North American universities; offering official post-graduate training (master’s degrees and doctorates in North American Studies); disseminating the knowledge about North America through diverse publishing venues, and organizing academic meetings of national as well as international character on themes inherent to the mission of the Institute itself.



About the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute
Founded in 1992  at The City College of New York, the Dominican Studies Institute of the City University of New York (CUNY DSI) is the nation’s first university-based research institute devoted to the study of people of Dominican descent in the United States and other parts of the world.  CUNY DSI’s mission is to produce and disseminate research and scholarship about Dominicans and about the Dominican Republic.  The Institute houses the Dominican Archives and the Dominican Library, the first and only institutions in the United States collecting primary and secondary source material about people of Dominican descent.   CUNY DSI is the locus for a community of scholars, including doctoral fellows, in the field of Dominican studies.  It sponsors multidisciplinary research projects and organizes lectures, conferences, and exhibitions that are open to the public.

 

CUNY DSI Contact:
Altagracia Diloné Levat, 347-739-7664, alevat@ccny.cuny.edu

On the Internet:

CUNY Dominican Studies Institute
http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/dsi/

Profile of Dr. Ramona Hernández
http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/ci/dsi/about/ramona-hernandez.cfm

‘Camino Real’
http://www.institutofranklin.net/en/publications/revista-camino-real

Instituto Franklin
http://www.institutofranklin.net/en

Media Contact
Ellis Simon     P | 212-650-6460     E | esimon@ccny.cuny.edu

Photo Captures Historic Moment for Dominicans in New York

Maestro Bulluma Landestoy, foreground, reacts to a performance of his piece, Fantasía Sobre un Tema de la Empaliza, performed by Pedro Rincón, violin, and Angel Ulerio, piano.

Some photos, because of the special moments they register, say more (and more openly) than others. I find this one particularly telling. Here is New York-based Dominican composer Bullumba Landestoy (foreground) risking pain by clapping enthusiastically with an obviously still-healing hand, in celebration of the sharp and energetic performance just rendered of one of his compositions by violinist Pedro Rincón and pianist Angel Ulerio.

The moment occurred during the concert of Landestoy's works co-sponsored by the Association of Dominican Classical Musicians and the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at The City College. Rincón and Ulerio in turn clap with equally visible emotion celebrating the composer that with his work, who knows how many decades before, made their moment of performance possible.

One can only imagine Landestoy's joy seeing and hearing his music come potently alive in the hands of younger musicians, as well as the satisfaction of the performers to see and feel just from a few feet away the vigorous acknowledgment of the senior maestro. Human interaction at its best, a magical instant with a strong diasporic flavor in the midst of New York City's winter, shared and witnessed by a lucky public that was living a small historic moment (small, but historic) that everybody present will probably remember for a long time, and preserved for an even longer time by the alert photographic eyes of Javier Pichardo, CUNY DSI.

(For more photos from that historic concert, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cunydsi/sets/72157626335413412/)

__________

Anthony Stevens-Acevedo is assistant director and founding member of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. He is a historian and focuses his research on the early colonial history of the Dominican Republic. He is the lead investigator in CUNY DSI's Dominican colonial research projects.

CUNY DSI'S FIRST POST-DOC FELLOW: PATRICIA KRUEGER-HENNEY

Since its founding in 1994, the Institute has attracted students at practically every stage of their schooling, from high school to college and university. But this year the Institute marked a new milestone with the establishment of its first post-doctoral fellowship and the hiring of Patricia Krueger-Henney, Ph.D. as the first Postdoctoral Education Research Fellow.

Having completed her Ph.D. dissertation and being well on her way to her first tenure-track faculty position, Dr. Krueger-Henney joined CUNY DSI in October 2010 to expand the institute’s outreach to teachers, graduate education students, and high school students in the New York City Public School system. 

Working directly with DSI’s Chief Librarian Sarah Aponte, and using books, video, and audio resources from the Library’s large collection, Dr. Krueger-Henney organized a series of workshops on Dominican history and culture for graduate students in the City College School of Education. She also authored and presented interactive, student-centered workshops to high schools on the influence of Dominican culture and history on the arts, politics, economy, and popular culture in the United States.  (Click here to see a sample workshop outline.)

A former social studies teacher in New York City public high schools, Dr. Krueger-Henney has committed her efforts to teacher education, teaching courses as an adjunct professor at various graduate and undergraduate schools. She focuses her research broadly on educational policies and their impact on educational opportunities for Black, Latino and immigrant youth.

Dr. Krueger-Henney earned a Ph.D. in Urban Education from The Graduate Center at The City University of New York; an M.A. in International and Intercultural Management from The School for International Training; and a B.A. in Spanish and French from the University of Oregon.

Dr. Krueger-Henney will join the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Boston in September as a tenure-track assistant professor in the doctoral program in Leadership in Urban Schools. She will teach doctoral and master’s level courses and will continue her research in the field of urban education.

CUNY DSI DOCTORAL FELLOW UTKU SEZGIN RECEIVES IVO DUCHACEK AWARD FOR ARTICLE ON U.S.-BORN DOMINICANS

CUNY DSI Doctoral Fellow Utku Sezgin has received the Ivo Duchacek Award from the CUNY Graduate Center for his article “Second Generation U.S.-Dominicans in New York City and the Question of a Transnational Orientation,” co-authored with Dr. Ramona Hernández and published in the journal Camino Real published by Instituto Franklin, University of Alcalá, Spain. The award is presented by the school to “the best article published in a national or international refereed journal or in a referenced book in the past year.” The article challenges the prevailing view among academics that people of Dominican descent born in the United States are “transnational”—that there exists a quasi mechanical link between U.S. born Dominicans, the Dominican Republic, and Dominican heritage.

Sezgin is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the CUNY Graduate Center and adjunct instructor in politics and sociology at CUNY. For his fellowship at CUNY DSI, Sezgin has conducted research on issues pertaining to the cultural, political, and social identity of second-generation Dominicans living in New York City, particularly Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. In addition, he is designing the methodology for a subsequent study with second-generation Dominicans living in Berlin and several other European cities.

CUNY DSI'S SARAH APONTE PROMOTED TO CHIEF LIBRARIAN

Sarah Aponte, founder and head librarian of the CUNY DSI Dominican Library--and to date the only librarian in the United States specializing in Dominican Studies--has been promoted to the position of chief librarian. The announcement was made by CUNY DSI Director Ramona Hernández and Associate Dean Pamela Gillespie, Chief Librarian of The City College of New York. This is the second important milestone in Aponte’s advancement in academia in the past two years. In 2009, she was appointed to the faculty of the City College Libraries at the rank of assistant professor.

In addition to her teaching and writing, Aponte conducts workshops and presentations on Dominican Studies at public and private schools throughout the United States. In May 2011, she will be presenting a paper “Preserving and Documenting the Presence of Dominicans in New York during the Early 20th Century” at the annual meeting of the Seminar on the Acquisitions of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM), of which she is a member.

CUNY DSI Receives Donation of Important Book on Environmental Preservation in Dominican Republic

NEW YORK (24 May 2011)-- The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute welcomed Campos S. De Moya, vice president for institutional communications and relations for VICINI, one of the most successful economic enterprises in the Dominican Republic. De Moya met with Institute Director Dr. Ramona Hernández and Chief Librarian Sarah Aponte who gave him a tour of the facilities. He presented the Institute with copies of a first tome on environmental preservation titled Áreas Protegidas de la República Dominicana, Naturaleza en Estado Puro ("Protected Areas of the Dominican Republic: Nature Unspoiled"), published by VICINI and the Pan American Institute of History and Geography of the Organization of American States.  

The book, illustrated with stunning photography, is the first scientific overview of the 120 distinct geographic areas in the country’s ecosystems that are protected by environmental regulations. The book is the first of two that will be published and covers 59 of the protected areas. The series co-authors are José Manuel Mateo Feliz, an agrarian engineer with more than 25 years working in environmental protection, and Adolfo López Belando an ecologist and environmentalist who specializes in archeology and prehistoric art.

 De Moya explained that VICINI undertook the publication of the tome because of its value as both an academic reference book and as a guide for those interested in environmental tourism in the Dominican Republic.

Founded in the 1870s as an import-export business, which in time was vertically integrated through the acquisition of cane fields and sugar mills, today VICINI manages widely diversified businesses in the areas of finance, tourism, construction, the food and beverage, and the automotive industry

PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION OPENS MAY 27 "A CULTURAL PORTRAIT OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC"

 

 

 

 CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

Cordially invites you to

A CULTURAL PORTRAIT OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
A photographic exploration of the country’s cultural and natural beauty through the portrait and landscape photography of Katherine Taylor.

ON VIEW:
May 27 through July 31, 2011

OPENING RECEPTION:
Friday, May 27, 2011
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

CUNY DSI Gallery
CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Archives and Library
The City College of New York
North Academic Center, Second Floor, New York, NY
Enter at 137th St. and Amsterdam Ave.

The opening reception and the exhibition are open to the public free of charge, but registration is required for the opening reception due to space limitations.

Please register at http://cunydsi-taylor.eventbrite.com

ABOUT KATHERINE TAYLOR
Katherine Taylor is a Boston-based photographer specializing in photojournalism, portraiture, and events. A graduate of Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts, Taylor has worked as a freelance photojournalist for The New York Times and The Boston Phoenix. She travels frequently to the Dominican Republic and has developed a strong interest in the people, culture, and dramatic landscape of the country’s ecosystems. In 2010, she collaborated with a sponsored research project in the western part of the island undertaken by The Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York, examining the environmental impact of the expansion of Lake Enriquillo.

ABOUT CUNY DSI GALLERY
The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Gallery (CUNY DSI Gallery), housed in the multipurpose room of the Institute's Archives and Library facility at The City College of New York, is the only exhibit space in New York City devoted exclusively to works of art by and about people of Dominican descent. The Gallery celebrates and showcases artists who have a unique perspective on the Dominican experience.

Ada Balcacer, Renowned Dominican Artist, to Speak at CUNY Dominican Studies Institute May 17, 2011

CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

Cordially invites you to
an evening with

ADA BALCÁCER

Speaking on

Aportes de la creatividad dominicana en Nueva York al desarrollo nacional de la República Dominicana

Contributions of Dominican Artists in New York to National Development in the Dominican Republic

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2011
6:00 p.m.

CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Archives and Library
The City College of New York
North Academic Center,Second Floor, New York, NY
Enter at 137th St. and Amsterdam Ave.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required as seating is limited.

Ada Balcácer, one of the most prominent Dominican artists and gallerists, will discuss the importance of work by artists of Dominican ancestry living and working in New York -- including artists trained through the Parsons-Altos de Chavón partnership -- to the cultural, social, and economic development of the Dominican Republic.

Master Balcácer will deliver her remarks in Spanish. (Simultaneous English translation will be provided.) The audience will have an opportunity to engage in a conversation with Master Balcácer during the Q&A session.

About Ada Balcácer

Ada Balcácer is a major Dominican artist, educated in the Dominican Republic's Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes as well as in New York City, who came to prominence in the 1960s as part of the "Arte y Liberación" (Art and Liberation) cultural movement connected to revolutionary movements of the period. Her work has been exhibited throughout the world and she has influenced generations of artists at home and abroad.

In her native Dominican Republic, Master Balcácer is known not only as a great artist but also as an advocate of women's issues. She has worked tirelessly to promote the arts among women of all social classes, founding Mujeres Aplicadas a la Industria (MAI), a women's co-operative whose members produce a wide range of arts and crafts.

A renowned curator, Master Balcácer founded the ABRO Gallery in Miami, which specializes in art by emerging and established Dominican artists.

CUNY DSI LAUNCHES ITS NEW WEBSITE AND ITS NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO CREATE THE DOMINICAN ALUMNI NETWORK!
http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/dsi .

May 6, 2011
Queridos y Queridas,


I am pleased to announce the launch of the Institute’s new website! But first allow me to share a personal reflection about the story it tells.


People still ask me about the Institute’s first website even though it has since gone through many revisions. They remember that site because it told a story, in a brief series of photographs, about Dominican migration to New York. It was a romantic story that began in a lush green countryside, on a burrito. We love those images. They evoke memories, nostalgia, and pride.

But today, nearly half a century and three generations after that journey began, we find ourselves committed to telling the continuation of that story—the piece that sees Dominicans in the United States as a rooted people and honors their contributions in every aspect of life in this country. Our new website—sporting a new design, new and updated content, and easier navigation—will help us tell that story, a story the Institute is best positioned to tell because of the unique role it plays in documenting the Dominican experience in the United States.

A New Idea
I am particularly excited about the new “Alumni” section of the site and what it will showcase. The idea is to expand a campaign we began in 2007 with the gala honoring CUNY alumni of Dominican descent and Don Oscar de la Renta. Our goal now is to reach out to individuals of Dominican ancestry who have graduated from institutions of higher education in the United States to build the Dominican Alumni Network. Expanding on a campaign we began in 2007 with the gala honoring CUNY alumni of Dominican descent and Don Oscar de la Renta, we will reach out to all individuals of Dominican ancestry who have graduated from institutions of higher education in the United States to build the Dominican Alumni Network.

The Dominican Alumni Network will be a space where we all can celebrate extraordinary educational achievements we rarely hear about. From time to time, we will post alumni profiles so that their stories can be an inspiration to new generations and remind us of everything we have accomplished as a people. As often as we can, the Institute will invite the community to a grand celebration of our college and university graduates of Dominican ancestry.


If you are a graduate of any college or university in the United States, we want to hear from you! Please visit our website and click on “Send Us Your News” in the “Alumni” section. Tell us how you are making your mark in the world.

What Else Is New
Beyond content and substance, the site redesign achieves a number of strategic objectives for CUNY DSI, including: establishing a strong brand identity; integrating with our growing number of friends on Facebook and our new sites on Flickr and YouTube; and, most importantly, facilitating your online donations to support the Institute’s growth and expansion. Just as critical, especially for site maintenance, the Institute now has greater administrative access to the content management system, making updating the site that much easier.


A Team Effort

This redesign has been many months in the making and engaged a terrific team of professionals led by our consultant, Altagracia Diloné Levat, who has extensive experience managing creative teams to produce print and web collateral for higher education and nonprofit organizations. Altagracia led the team of graphic designer Kathi Georges and in-house designers Pablo Rodríguez and Javier Pichardo; web developer Colin Lange of Monaco Lange; and the Institute’s senior staff, Assistant Director Anthony Stevens-Acevedo, Head Librarian Sarah Aponte, and Chief Archivist Idilio Gracia Peña, who were consulted during the process to ensure internal consensus on design, usability, and content.

In addition, the team used a site survey to solicit comments from the entire CUNY DSI staff, a very helpful process highlighting the importance of viewing these projects from the user’s perspective. I thank them all for their contributions to this project.
 


Give Us Your Opinion

I hope that you agree with all of us that this iteration of the Institute’s website is a significant step forward in our effort to communicate who we are, what we do, and where we dream to go. Please visit the new site and let us know what we can do to make it even better.


Click here to visit the site http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/dsi .

Abrazos,

Ramona

CUNY DOMINICAN STUDIES INSTITUTE LAUNCHES
"FRIENDS OF CUNY DSI"
MEMBERSHIP FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN

Queridos y Queridas,

I am very happy to announce the Institute's first membership campaign, Friends of CUNY DSI! Yes, we are asking for your financial support, but more than that, we are asking that you become an important partner with us in assuring the future growth of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute.

Throughout its history, but especially in the formative years, the Institute has been able to count on the support of friends and colleagues. Many of you can remember that our Library, which now has more than 4,000 bibliographical references, including an important audiovisual collection, was started by Sarah Aponte with a call for donations to the Council of Dominican Educators. To this day, Sarah can still walk into the homes of Council members and walk out with a suitcase full of books. Even more amazing, more than 50% of the entire collection was donated by members of the community!

The Institute has been built by vision, passion, hard work, endless hours, many gifts-in-kind, and steadfast support from the City University of New York, from our home college The City College of New York, and an extraordinary capital grant from the New York City Council for the construction of our new Archives and Library facility to house the Dominican Archives and the Dominican Library, two entities without equal in the United States. But, like all other not-for-profit institutions, we are looking to build alternative funding sources as budget cuts start to impact our ability to grow and expand. And we need to expand to reach the level that academic research on Dominicans, and the dissemination of that knowledge, ought to have.

The Institute will mark its 20th Anniversary in 2012, and we can be proud of the international reputation it has achieved through the publication of pioneering research and other support for scholarship on Dominican Studies. But one important goal remains elusive despite 20 years of advocacy: There does not yet exist in any academic institution in the United States a comprehensive and regularly offered college-level program in Dominican Studies. This remains one of the challenges still ahead.

Now more than never, with a rapidly growing second generation and a migration that is now over 40 years old, we need the support of all those who believe that a people’s history and contribution to humanity must be preserved and shared so that all that is good continues and all that may shame us is not repeated.

I have identified the growth of our endowment as the most important opportunity we have to assure the Institute's ability to survive and grow. As you know, an endowment is a very special savings account, one that is created, invested, and managed in such a way that the interest generated, and only the interest, is used as a steady source of income for its beneficiary institution. But the capital invested in the account needs to reach a sizable level, so that the interest allows for the type of initiatives we want to fund. Our challenge is to grow this account to a sum that will generate enough income to help shelter the Institute from the vicissitudes of external funding.

You may, of course, prefer to designate your gift for a specific area of operation such as the Institute’s Dominican Archives or Dominican Library. When you are ready, please click on the DONATE link below to access our donation form. You will find a menu of options from which to choose the one that is dearest to you.

Donations to CUNY DSI will go to The City College Fund. The account will be managed on behalf of CUNY DSI in accordance with the City University of New York’s guidelines regarding receiving and soliciting donations for its units. Your gift is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

By becoming a member of the CUNY DSI family, you express in unequivocal terms your commitment to the future growth of the Institute, your support for the academic and cultural work it carries out, and your belief that people of Dominican descent in the United States deserve to have a world-class academic institution devoted to documenting and preserving their cultural and historical legacy.

I hope that you will join us by sending your membership gift in support of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. Send what you can, any amount you send will be deeply appreciated, and please encourage your family and friends to donate. Every gift is a demonstration of support for the Institute's future.

DONATE TO CUNY DSI AND JOIN OUR FAMILY OF SUPPORTERS

Abrazos,
Ramona

Ramona Hernandez, Ph.D.
Director, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute
Professor of Sociology, The City College of New York
Doctoral Faculty in Sociology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York

 

CUNY DSI DIRECTOR TO APPEAR ON WABC-TV TIEMPO

CUNY DSI Director Dr. Ramona Hernandez will appear on WABC-TV Tiempo with Joe Torres on Sunday, February 6 at 11:30 a.m. speaking about important findings in the CUNY DSI survey of Dominicans living in Manhattan and the Bronx. The video will also be posted on their website at:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news&id=5790398