Division of Interdisciplinary Studies

Professor Juan Carlos Mercado, Dean

Professor Carlos Aguasaco, Chair

25 Broadway 7th Floor

New York, New York

Telephone: 212-925-6625

Virtual Front Desk (Established in response to COVID19)

https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/918023431aec47bd9ac8ad299acb9d25

+1-571-392-7650 PIN: 767 683 2815

General Information

The City College offers the following undergraduate degrees through the Department of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences:

B.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

B.A./M.A. (combined degree) in the Study of the Americas

The Center for Worker Education, first established in 1981 by a collaboration of The City College, public employers, and public employee unions became the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies in 2006. The Center for Worker Education name has been retained as the name of the City College satellite campus at Bowling Green, where the Department of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences and the Undergraduate Program in Early Childhood Education are housed. Classes and offices are located in the historic Cunard Building at 25 Broadway, 7th Floor, near Battery Park and South Ferry.

Mission Statement

The primary mission of the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education (CWE) is to provide an excellent education to working adults from New York City and surrounding regions. CWE offers an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts degree (in person), an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts degree (online), a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education, and a B.A./M.A. in the Study of the Americas. CWE serves a population that would otherwise be underserved by the College, and its courses and educational programs are specifically designed for students whose access to higher education may have been limited or interrupted due to financial limitations, work responsibilities, and family obligations.

A spirit of open inquiry, curricular innovation, and academic integrity are linchpins of the CWE mission. Equally important are respect for diversity among faculty, staff, and students, and a continuous search for our common ground as learners, teachers, and scholars. In providing its program, CWE seeks mutually beneficial relationships with labor unions, community-based organizations, city agencies, and employers in both the non-profit and private sectors who share our educational mission. With a dual focus on excellence and access, and by reaching out to the community, CWE aims to be a positive force in lower Manhattan and the New York metropolitan area.

Programs and Objectives

Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences offers a flexible education customized for working adults and transfer students and provides them with a framework that allows them to connect their learning in the classroom in ways that are relevant to the workplace and the world. Students learn to think, read, and write critically through a curriculum that emphasizes approaches for evaluating and communicating information in a variety of formats: written, oral, and digital .

Most courses are 4 credits and meet once per week in the evenings and during the day on Saturdays. Delivery modes: In person, online synchronous, asynchronous, hybrid and hyflex courses are also available.

The Center also sponsors research, conferences, and events that reflect its interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning, including the Women and Work Conference, the Book Talk Series, the Is Hip Hop History? Conference, The CCNY Human Rights Forum, The International Conference on the Historical Links between Spain and America, The Americas Poetry Festival of New York, The Americas Film Festival of New York, The Critical Perspectives on Human Rights Conference; and the Patai Lecture Series.

Admissions

Students must apply for admission directly at CWE. Students with a high school diploma, GED, or Associate’s degree or other accumulated undergraduate transfer credits are eligible to apply. The program is geared for students twenty-five years and older; exceptions may be made for younger students who are working full time. Prospective students are strongly encouraged to attend an orientation/admissions workshop before applying. Please check the CWE website (https://ccny.cuny.edu/cwe) for workshop dates. After you have been accepted, you will be required to see an advisor by individual appointment in order to select and register for courses.

Academic Advisement

Advising has been at the heart of the academic experience at CWE since the beginning of the program. From the point of admission, students meet with an advisor at least once a semester to discuss academic and intellectual goals and strategies, to register for classes, and to plan their academic careers in conjunction with work, family and personal schedules.

CWE Academic Advisors:

• provide guidance, assistance and information to students regarding course selection for their chosen concentration (B.A.) or co-concentration (B.S.);

• facilitate the development of a coherent course plan aimed at successfully completing a B.A. or B.S. degree;

• provide information about college policies, offices and services and assist students in course withdrawals, appeals, degree verification and planning for graduate school;

• serve as liaisons between students, CWE, and the uptown CCNY campus and refer students to appropriate resources provided by CCNY and CWE

Autobiography and Life Experience Program

CWE offers two separate, unique experiences designed to award students college credit for previously learned knowledge.

Autobiography component:

Students take the Seminar in Autobiography which prepares them to write a 50-150-page Autobiography. After completing the Seminar, students can choose to work independently to write their Autobiographies. Two anonymous readers will then evaluate the Autobiographies. Students can earn up to a total of 8 Life Experience credits (tuition-free) for their Autobiographies.

Life Experience component:

Students take the online Life Experience Program workshop which is designed to introduce them to the requirements for petitioning for life experience credit and to help them develop a Life Experience Portfolio. Students examine their previous professional and/or volunteer experience to determine whether their previous work aligns with a college-level course. Following the workshop, students work with a mentor to complete their portfolios. Portfolios are then submitted for external review. Students can earn up to 12 Life Experience credits (tuition-free) for their Portfolios.

Faculty

Carlos Aguasaco, Associate Professor and Chair
B.A., National University of Colombia; M.A., CCNY, Ph.D., Stony Brook University

Gail Russell Buffalo, Assistant Professor
B.S., Appalachian State University; M.Ed., University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Ed.M., Ed.D., Teachers College, Columbia University

Marlene Clark, Associate Professor
B.A., Ramapo College; M.A., Stony Brook University; Ph.D., The Graduate Center, CUNY

David Eastzer, Assistant Professor
B.S., Cornell University; M.S., CCNY; Ph.D., University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)

Vicki Garavuso, Associate Professor
B.A., Lehman College; M.S., M.Ed., Bank Street College of Education; Ed.D., Teachers College, Columbia University

Elizabeth A. Matthews, Assistant Professor
B.A., New York University; M.A., M.Phil., Columbia University; Ph.D., The Graduate Center, CUNY

Kathlene McDonald, Associate Professor and Chair
B.A., Colgate University; M.A., SUNY (Binghamton); Ph.D., University of Maryland

Joan H. Robinson, Assistant Professor
B.A. Syracuse University; J.D. (Law), Brooklyn Law School; Ph.D., M.Phil., M.A., Columbia University

Susanna Rosenbaum, Associate Professor
B.A., Wesleyan University; M.A., Ph.D., New York University

Seamus Scanlon, Librarian
HDipEd, University College Galway, Ireland; MLS University of West London; MFA, City College

Susanna F. Schaller, Associate Professor
B.A., Barnard College; M.A.,MCRP, University of New Mexico; Ph.D., Cornell University

Justin C. Williams, Associate Professor
B.A., Columbia College, MO; M.A., Ph.D. Stony Brook University

Martin V. Woessner, Associate Professor
B.A., University of San Francisco; Ph.D., The Graduate Center, CUNY

Danielle A. Zach, Assistant Professor
B.A., Hunter College; M.A., Ph.D. The Graduate Center, CUNY

Department: Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences