Category: Cover to Cover

Culture Watch: QC Library Recommends (Oct. 2020)

by Michael Deering

October is in swing! Autumn colors are starting to appear and Halloween is coming! This month, we tapped more of our own Queens College venues including the Kupferberg Center for the Arts and the Godwin-Ternbach Museum of Art.

Theatre

  • From Friday, October 9 through Thursday, October 15: Brooklyn venue St. Anne’s Warehouse will be streaming a trilogy of Shakespeare on film beginning with Julius Caesar. Entirely cast by women, the trilogy was filmed at Donmar Warehouse in London and is hailed as “one of the most important theatrical events of the last twenty years” by The Observer.
  • From Friday, October 16 through Thursday, October 22: St. Anne’s Warehouse brings Henry IV to your home this week. 
  • From Friday, October 23 through Thursday, October 29: The trilogy of Shakespeare on film presented by St. Anne’s Warehouse ends with a personal favorite of mine: The Tempest.
  • Friday, October 30 through Sunday November 1: In case you missed any, all three of the Shakespeare on Film will be available this weekend from St. Anne’s Warehouse!

Music

  • Wednesday, October 7 at 7:30PM: This month, The Met Opera will be featuring one composer each week in their Nightly Opera Streams – which makes an opera available for 23 hours beginning each night at 7:30PM. The first week in October is Wagner Week. Wednesday night they will show the first part of the infamous Ring Cycle: Das Rheingold. The other three will be featured the following nights.
  • Monday, October 12 at 7:30PM: The Met Opera begins Donizetti Week. My favorite L’Elisir d’Amore, will be airing on Wednesday evening.
  • Tuesday, October 20 at 7PM: The Kupferberg Center of the Arts presents the Slavo Rican Assembly. The SRA unites some of the most notable musicians from the Caribbean and the Slavic worlds today. I have had the pleasure of seeing Jan Kus perform before. As a saxophone player and bandleader, he blends rich musical traditions from around the world in immensely entertaining and engaging ways. Followed by a Q&A session.

Literature

Poetry

  • Friday, October 16 at 12PM: Poets House broadcasts Canadian poet, essayist and translator Lisa Robertson reads prose from The Baudelaire Fractal.
  • Friday, October 30 at 12PM: Poet and writer Yona Harvey reads from her forthcoming collection You Don’t Have To Go To Mars for Love. Presented by Poets House.

Art

  • Ongoing: Need some art? The Godwin-Ternbach Museum resides on Queens College Campus but has been delivering virtual exhibitions and gallery talks to our screens at home. HUMAN/Nature: Portraits From the Permanent Collection is available as a virtual exhibit with information to pair with the art!
  • Tuesday, October 13 at 7:00PM: Join artist Azikiwe Mohammed as he talks us through his gallery from the Godwin-Ternbach Museum. Azikiwe hopes to offer a look at what Black people look like as told by Black people, not to / at Black people, as is too often the case. Registration is free but required.
  • Wednesday, October 28 at 6:00PM: In this Artist Talk, Queens College alumna and artist Deja Patterson will address how the ideals of beauty have changed throughout the course of history. Presented by The Godwin-Ternbach Museum. Registration is free but required.

Featured Resource: Alexander Street Press

If you’re looking for videos, you might want to check out Alexander Street Press!

This huge resource includes videos on all sorts of topics, from astronomy to gastronomy, and many different types of content as well! For instance, it includes:

  • Theatrical, musical and dance performances
  • Documentaries (including PBS documentaries)
  • Interviews
  • Instructional videos
  • Historical newsreels

A “channels” feature allows you to easily locate multiple videos on the same topic. A few examples:

Of course, there is much more!

The database includes some useful features to go with the videos.  Each video includes a transcript to help you navigate through it. Additionally, you can make clips or playlists to share with your class.

-Nancy Foasberg, Scholarly Communications Librarian.

New Digital Platform for Special Collections and Archives

Queens College Library is proud to launch a new digital platform for its Special Collections and Archives in partnership with the JSTOR Open Community Collections initiative. The site launches with close to 700 digital objects from our civil right collections, institutional archives, and rare books and manuscripts. The content is openly accessible on the web through JSTOR, a scholarly database used by more than 81 million scholars and students across 170 countries and territories every year. 

Working remotely this fall, Special Collections and Archives staff will catalog and upload hundreds of additional items to the site. Intern Kuba Pieczarski (funded by the Félix V. Matos Rodríguez Internship Fund) is expanding the new COVID-19 Collection documenting the experience of the Queens College community during the pandemic; Graduate Fellow Victoria Fernandez (funded by the Freda S. and J. Chester Johnson Endowment) is working with civil rights movement materials; and Archives Assistant and recent GSLIS graduate Caitlin Waldron is posting images of the campus through the decades. 

The collections benefit from JSTOR’s features and interface, including full-text search; citation management tools; filtering and faceting; content download; and sharing. Make sure to check out the site at https://www.jstor.org/site/queenscollegearchives/, including the Silhouette yearbook form 1941-2011; original photographs documenting the involvement of Queens College students in the Civil Rights Movement of the early to mid 1960s; rare manuscripts from our “Pages from the Past” collection; and the scrapbooks of Dr. Andrew Greller, Professor Emeritus of Biology.

You can learn more about the JSTOR Open Community Collections initiative at https://about.jstor.org/whats-in-jstor/open-community-collections/.

Queens Memory COVID-19 Project Featured on Queens Public Television

Episode 2 of the Queens Memory COVID-19 Project series Navigating a Pandemic was broadcast on Queens Public Television on August 25.  This episode highlights our schools, messages of hope, and the Black Lives Matter movement.  Missed the broadcast? This and other Queens Memory programs are available on Queens Memory’s main Facebook Page, and at Queens Library’s Aviary site, which also features Queens Memory’s weekly podcast, The Borough We Became.

Culture Watch: QC Library Recommends (Sept. 2020)

by Michael Deering

Culture Watch – Back to school edition! No matter what your September brings, Culture Watch is here to highlight free events to enjoy from the comfort of your home.

Lastly – and most importantly – we wish everyone a safe and happy start to the school year!

Music

  • Ongoing: Thursdays at 4PM: Norah Jones continues to perform short and charming sets live on facebook each week. 
  • Tuesday, 9/8 at 7:30PM: The Metropolitan Opera’s Nightly Streams continue with Gounod’s realization of Romeo and Juliet. Nightly Opera Streams remain available until 7PM the following day to make way for the next opera.
  • Tuesday, 9/22 at 7:00PM: Sofia Tosello’s Chuño Experimental – Latin American traditional music will be bringing their sounds to our homes thanks to Queens Colleges own Kupferberg Center for the Arts. This is Part of their Music Makers: An Alumni Concert Series, which features graduates from the Aaron Copland School of Music.
  • Wednesday, 9/23 at 10:30AM: National Radio Series is featuring the music of George Crumb for Program 52. Crumb’s music is wholly unique and magical. It will be permanently available once it is posted on The Chamber Music Society website. 
  • Friday through Sunday, 9/25 – 9/27 at 8PM: The Monterey Jazz Festival will be live on Youtube starting at 8PM each night. 

Art

  • Monday, September 14 at 6:30PM and Wednesday, September 16 at 2PM: The Guggenheim is taking a look at previous rotunda installations. These works make use of Frank Lloyd Wright’s unique architecture to create something powerful. Space is limited, RSVP here.
  • Tuesday, September 29 at 7:00: Housed at Queens College, The Godwin-Ternbach Museum will introduce everyone their newest exhibit: Human/Nature: Portraits from the Permanent Collection. This program is being presented by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts.

Comedy

Nature

Storytelling

  • Ongoing: The National Theatre has a unique new program for children. Madame Kalamazoo will send handcrafted tales starring your young one right to your inbox. It is free but will require signing up here.

Fall Library Programs Will Explore Racial, Social Justice

QC Library is pleased to announce How Can We Do Better? Creating a More Just and Inclusive Future, a series of online programs to be held this fall which focus on issues of racial and social justice and their connections to higher education.

The events will be broadcast live on Queens Memory’s Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/queensmemory/ They are free and open to all, and no advance registration is required.

Co-sponsored by the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding [CERRU], Queens Memory COVID-19 Project of Queens College and Queens Public Library, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, Percy Ellis Sutton SEEK Program, and the Queens College Black Latinx Faculty Staff Association [BLFSA].

Schedule of Programs:

1. Black Lives Matter and Anti-racism in Higher Education. Moderated by Queens College President Frank Wu. Tuesday, September 22 at 4PM.

2. Fighting For the Future: Political Engagement and Student Leadership. Moderated by Norka Blackman-Richards. Director, Percy E. Sutton SEEK Program, Queens College, CUNY. Tuesday, October 6 at 4PM.

3. Power and Oppression in the Archive: Building a Diverse Historical Record Through Oral History. Moderated by James Lowry, PhD. Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College, CUNY. Tuesday, November 17 at 4PM.

Image credit: Jules Antonio. Used under Creative Commons license: https://www.flickr.com/photos/julesantonio/49992664316/ 10 June 2020.

Featured Resource: SWANK Video Streaming Service

undefined

Have you already seen everything in your Netflix queue? Looking for the next treasure trove of Hollywood movies you can stream legally, and for free? You need to check out SWANK! This platform provides access to hundreds of great movies.

Users may create a SWANK account with their QC email. To learn how to get started, or just browse what’s available, please see our Swank Research Guide.  

QC Libraries also offers access to several other streaming platforms. Please see our Streaming Videos Research Guide for more information.

Culture Watch: QC Library Recommends (Aug. 2020)

by Michael Deering

August Culture Watch coming through! Here is our latest roundup of free entertainment and events to enjoy from the comfort of your home. Enjoy!

Music

  • Ongoing: Lincoln Center has the 2013 production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, Carousel, available through September 8.
  • Thursday, August 6 at 5PM: The QC Aaron Copland School of Music has started a new online lecture series called QClass. This week features renowned viola soloist Brett Deubner discussing self management and artistic leadership.
  • Thursday, August 6 at 7:30PM: The Metropolitan Opera’s nightly stream is Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. It will be available until the following evening.
  • Friday, August 7 at 2PM: Lincoln Center brings Ms. Yvonne to explore body percussion and dance in this week’s Pop-Up Classroom that will air on facebook.
  • Thursday, August 13 at 5PM: ACSM Orchestra Director Mark Powell addresses artist strategies to continue growing artistically and personally during pandemic time.
  • Sunday, August 9 at 7:30 PM: The Nightly Opera Stream from The Met Opera is Mozart’s opera buffa Don Giovanni.

Theatre

  • Ongoing: Noël Coward’s comedy Present Laughter is available until August 29th courtesy of PBS.
  • Ongoing: PBS makes Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing available through September 12.

Comedy

Nature

Storytelling

  • Ongoing: The National Theatre has a unique new program for children. Madame Kalamazoo will send handcrafted tales starring your young one right to your inbox. It is free but will require signing up here.

Art

  • Thursday, August 6 at 12PM: What Makes a Photograph? This is the question being explored during this episode of Art History from Home by The Whitney Museum of American Art. Discuss everyday cell phone shots alongside works from the museum’s collections. It is free but make sure you register!
  • Friday, August 14 at 2PM: Lincoln Center’s Pop-Up Classroom will be using recycled materials to create woven paper projects with Ms. Taryn.
  • Friday, August 21 at 10AM: The Whitney presents Verbal Description Online, a monthly class to allow the visually impaired to experience and appreciate art. This event is free but space is limited, so be sure to reach out to the contact on the event page.
  • Friday, August 21 at 1PM: Have extra wire hangers and milk cartons lying around? Try your hand making suspended sculptures with help from The Whitney during their program Artmaking From Home. Free with Registration.

Dance

  • Ongoing: Tuesdays at 3PM: The New York City Ballet is hosting Virtual Access. Free movement classes for individuals with disabilities. Tuesday classes are designed for teens and adults. These classes happen over Zoom. Register for the classes here.
  • Ongoing: Wednesdays at 12PM: The New York City Ballet’s program Virtual Access is for younger participants on Wednesdays. Register for the Zoom classes here.