Know: The 2018-2019 LaGuardia Mellon Humanities Scholars Showcase
May 22, 2019
4 & 5:30pm Little Theater
4-6:30pm LaGuardia Black Box Theater
The LaGuardia Mellon Humanities Scholars took visitors through a curated exhibition of their student-designed projects around this year’s theme of “Know.” The showcase hopes to convey the importance of learning and seeking knowledge, as well as meaningfully connecting to people of different cultures.
View the photo gallery on Google Photos.
Scholars’ Projects
The Story of Carlos Javier
By Juan Sebastian Sepulveda
“The Story of Carlos Javier” is a documentary that narrates the story of a young undocumented Latino immigrant whose dream is to become a professional photographer. This documentary demonstrates how Latino community is conformed by determined, self-driven, and hard-working individuals. The Story of Carlos Javier will definitely encourage immigrant and non-immigrant individuals to outdo themselves in a country where equality of opportunities is granted to those who decide to put their soul and heart in any of their projects. This documentary has been created to inspire those who believe that achieving their goals is impossible.
“You don’t know what you are capable of until you try it. Look at me, I do not have any legal documents in the US and I have been able to achieve amazing things. Imagine what you can accomplish if you just set a goal in your mind” – Carlos Alvarenga
The Labyrinth Of Education
By Matthew Wilson
“The Labyrinth Of Education” is a documentary on the positive and powerful impact higher education has on the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated. Matthew shares his life story for the purpose of sending a message to the world that there is justice and redemption in education. The resources that academic institutions can serve justice involved persons gives them a new direction and opportunity to reinvent themselves through academics, while providing a network that is the true value of college. The Labyrinth Of Education is meant to be the voice of all of incarcerated people on a journey to reintegrate into the community.
PowerThroughTheMusic
By Jean Carlos Santos
This video gives a peek into how music education can build knowledge, discipline, and camaraderie while being in a fun environment. I have seen many music performances and always found myself feeling at home. Everyone was there for the same reason, to enjoy music. It has been an integral part to my personal growth and is why I want to teach so that I may hopefully shine a light on an art that enthusiasts and explorers alike can participate in. I have been working this past year on teaching music at School of Rock. We are a performance-based music school where we combine weekly group rehearsals and playing with an ensemble of peers to create an accelerated musical education. While we find students learn the fastest this way, you will also see that we build a community of people, with a like-minded goal: to play awesome music and have a good time doing it. We have done themed shows such as The Rolling Stones, Pop Punk, and Tom Petty. One of the current shows is Radiohead, a band whose music is riddled with subtle intricacies and depth.
My Dances, My Cultures
By Josselyn Velasquex
Focusing on the connection between dances and culture, this project celebrates the importance of dance in students’ lives. It includes a performance of Festejo, a dance that has various rhythmic movements from African origin and influenced by its people. It is a very energetic dance that involves lots of footwork, different choreography and improvisation as well. All students could value from the historical, cultural and social importance of dances, and would benefit from having a dance club at LaGuardia.
Facing Fear
By Jason Barrera
Inspired by contemporary horror stories like Get Out and Us, Jason has decided to write his first play about four friends trip into the woods, and their deepest fears. Each character faces a unique experience that forces them to face their fears, or not…. For the Showcase, actors will do a reading of an excerpt from the play.
La Pluma del Espectador
By Abel Villamar
“The Spectator’s Pen” magazine is a literary project that presents the importance of linguistic diversity within literature and culture. The magazine includes works of narrative and poetry in different languages. The purpose of this multilingual format is to emphasize the cultural and creative diversity of the students of Laguardia and remember that we all have a story to tell and we can all tell our stories regardless of our language.
x01
By Carlie Guevara
x01 is a play written automatically by an algorithm using Google Trends entries and compiling the text from arbitrary parameters such as time, day, or random color selected. The play is important because it highlights the technical and artistic applications of technology to further production and exploration of ideas. The algorithm itself is simple and allows users to easily interact with and see the fruit of their labor in the play that is generated. For the showcase a play will be generated on site using information derived from the user such as age, day, etc. This will hopefully allow the user to understand how the algorithm has compiled their unique play and think of the vast implications of technology like this in their everyday life.
Invisible Disabilities Behind the Limelight
By Giselle Mendoza
This project was made in order to educate the public on invisible disabilities and to show that things in life are not always black & white. The project displays those in the spotlight who are thought to have a perfect life and unveils their disability. This shows us what they truly live with as well asthings that are not always shown to the public. This project is important to me because it’s not always a topic that is talked about and people who live with these disabilities are not always taken seriously. What I hope people take away from this is the power and motivation to advocate for themselves as well as others around them. I personally connect to this project as a person who lives with a neurological condition that isn’t visible.
Smile New York City
By Anne Husman
Smile New York City blossomed from Anne’s observation of people on the New York subway trains. When she first moved to Brooklyn, Anne felt that every time she was on the train she was excited for new adventures and was energized to explore the city. Nevertheless, she quickly noticed that her high energy was not shared by the people surrounding her, at least on trains. Without putting too much thought into it, she started adjusting to the city and after only 12 months, she noticed that she was becoming more and more like the rest of the subway travelers: annoyed of constant delays, “train traffic ahead” and other obstacles in the way of a normal New Yorker. When challenged to come up with her own idea for the Humanities Scholars, Anne thought about these times and developed her idea for the project about happiness. The project is to find out about different understandings of happiness of random people met in New York City. Every person interviewed gets asked four questions, which were picked by Anne through her interest in different facets to understand happiness. By interviewing different people, she hopes to show that most people think more about negative instead of happy things. Also to bring a smile to anyone who can relate to a story she shares from other New Yorker’s in the constant struggle to be happy and live in the Big Apple. In order to share the stories with as many people as possible, the interviews of the participants are shared on Instagram Page: smilenyc2019.
Pesca NYC, A Youth Fishing Initiative
By Katherine Pinzon
The Pesca NYC fishing initiative was created to empower children ages 6-12 by fishing, arts & crafts, and reflection. Pesca NYC aims to guide the children to develop an authentic individuality, gain leadership skills, develop confidence, and create a connection between self and the world.
A Place to Go When You’re On The Go
By Rupam Adak
In New York City, it is often difficult to find a place to go to the bathroom when you are roaming around the city. There are not enough public facilities, and people in need are often turned away from restaurants and other places of business unless they make a purchase. Like Uber and Lyft have transformed the transportation industry, my business proposal seeks to transform the process of trying to find a bathroom nearby. For my project, I have created a business proposal to develop a simple app where pedestrians can find a bathroom nearby, order a bathroom to come to them, or to travel in a portable facility while using the bathroom. I have done all the research to get this business off the ground. Now all I need are investor business partners – and you can become one!
A Journey to Languages
By Susana Alvis
In my project, I explore the practical ways in which an adult can learn a desired language. I did this by the studying of popular sayings in Italian, French and Mandarin. My main strategy was to do literal translation of each saying to gain vocabulary and also observe the syntax and conjugation of verbs. This also allowed me to learn more about the culture that pertains to these languages and the way of thinking of its people. In addition, I also explore how the environment in which an adult person learns a language can influence their language learning process.
Highlighting Experiences in the Holocaust
By Brandon Francis
Games that are made about the World War II time period often exhibit acts of valor among soldiers. Very rarely do games highlight the experience of those persecuted in the Holocaust. Some believe there is no way to make the event have interesting gameplay and some believe that the event is too emotionally charged to explore in gaming. I wanted to challenge that. “Ucieczka” (pronounced oo-chech-kah) is a game that follows a young polish girl living in a ghetto in her attempt to help her family survive.
