Tisch Special Programs

In our continuing series of video conversations with Special Programs' student, faculty and administrators, Tisch Undergraduate Film student Nick Brennan shares his experience at the Tisch Havana program in documentary film.

Join us for this presentation of student work produced in Cuba in collaboration with the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, the Cuban National Institute of Film and Television (ICAIC), and the University of Havana. The student experience of living and studying in Havana is narrated through photo essays and the short films bear witness to aspects of life in Cuban society.

Moderated by Robert Pietri.

Light refreshments will be served.

R.S.V.P to Mariangela Lardaro by Wednesday, October 8.
Email: tisch.rsvp@nyu.edu

In our continuing series of video conversations with Special Programs' student, faculty and administrators, Helmos Hernandez, President of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba discusses Cuban life and the value of experiencing the Cuban way of being. Studying in Cuba is a unique experience for any student as you'll soon see:

The number of students studying abroad is on the rise.

The Washington Square News reports today that applications to NYU's 10 study abroad sites increased 8 percent this year. Read the article.

Go global! Tisch School of the Arts also has study abroad programs in five locations this spring, which are open to all NYU students : Dublin, Havana, Johannesburg, London, and Prague.

Tisch spring study abroad applications are due October 12. Apply now or get started at the Tisch Special Programs Open House.

On Wednesday, September 24 several alumni of the Tisch Special Programs study abroad program in Havana, Cuba had the opportunity to reunite with a very special visitor to New York.

Helmo Hernandez, President of the Ludwig Foundation in Havana, is in town for the month and the event was a chance for alumni of the program to reconnect and reminisce with Helmo and fellow alumni. Helmo is an art historian and specialist in visual arts, theatre, and cultural policy and development; curator and critic. He teaches classes to our students at the foundation which serves as a hub for young artists who study, display their work, and network there.

The Office of Special Programs hosted the event here on the 12th floor of 721 Broadway and all who attended were thrilled to get a chance to meet with their Cuban mentor and discuss the unique country's life and art and their time in the program.

You can read more about the Ludwig Foundation here and about the study abroad program in Havana here.

From Havana Times:

HAVANA TIMES, August 22 (IPS) - His blog taught him to share apprehensions with people who think differently, to humanize and to become humanized, to benefit from the most heated controversies, and - especially - to demonstrate that one must not consider themselves the sole possessor of truth, but only someone desperately in search of it.

“I don’t know who I am; a résumé is only a display of one’s ego in 80 lines. I only know that ‘I blog, therefore I exist,” was all that Cuban intellectual Juan Antonio García Borrero had to say in the introduction to his web log Cine Cubano: La Pupila Insomne (Cuban Cinema: The Insomniac Pupil), a site that has fulfilled its original aim of fomenting a “culture of controversy.”

The idea came out of the electronic debate that occurred in the wake of a January 6, 2007 broadcast on Cuban state television that praised the “contributions” to Cuban culture made by Luis Pavón, an official tied to the censorship of cultural works, artists and intellectuals in the 1970s.

The site seeks to speak about Cuban cinema with a comprehensive look that includes not only the official line but also alternative viewpoints, as well as ones from abroad. It seeks to recover the story from the inside and out, from those who live in Cuba, but also from those who for decades have worked in the most divergent of countries.

Read More

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced in her New York University commencement address on May 13 that funding for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program will increase by more than 40 percent.

Photo courtesy of CNBC

"You know, study abroad is like spring training for this century. It helps you develop the fundamentals, the teamwork, and the determination to succeed. And we want more American students to have that opportunity," Secretary Clinton said last week.

The Gilman Scholarships provide funding for undergraduate students seeking to study abroad for a semester or a full year. Additional funding is offered to students who wish to study in 'non-traditional' study abroad places. Read more about this scholarship on the Web site for the U.S. Department of State.

Secretary Clinton received an honorary degree at the 177th NYU Commencement held at Yankee Stadium. Watch Secretary Clinton's video for her full commencement address.

New York University Tisch School of the Arts offers semester-long fall and spring study abroad programs for all undergraduate NYU and visiting students. Short-term summer undergraduate and graduate programs are also available.

Skateboards were designed. Cockroaches climbed the walls. A metal device dipped like the Dow Jones.

These art installations and more could be found in Havana April 3 to April 30. The biennial includes works from more than 300 artists and 54 countries. The theme, "Integration and Resistance in the Global Age," invites artists to incorporate issues of globalization, immigration, and the economy in their pieces. The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is hosting the biggest exhibition by American art galleries in Cuba since the 1959 revolution. Read more in the New York Times.

Undergraduate students at New York University can create their own art with Tisch School of the Arts in Cuba. Three programs are offered during the spring semester: Directed Research Topics: Seminar on Cuban Arts, Documentary Video Production in Havana, and Photography: On Location in Havana.

Sarah Ryndak, our Student Services Coordinator, has been diligently keeping up with our students studying in Havana, Cuba. As you may know, communication in and out of Cuba can be quite challenging—phone calls are plagued by delays in signal, internet speed is not what most of us are accustomed to—so having the students send us blog entries directly is all but impossible. Through her many phone calls, Sarah has learned that as soon as the reception desk in Cuba picks up the phone and says, "hola," she has to cut them off or risk being hung up on by a person who is not aware of the 3-second delay as she is.

Here are some of our students' comments, tips, and insider information that only one living and breathing everything Havana could provide, courtesy of Sarah:

Frank Lopez, Documentary Video, says the projects have been really rewarding and he’s been working on a short documentary about Cuban musicians, visiting their homes and going to jam sessions.

Another Documentary student, Gisella Bustillos, says they have been filming intensively every day and that the program is an amazing experience. She's also glad that she brought her own laptop and recommends that future students do the same.

Kathleen Ching is a Photography student and has been mingling more and more with the Cubans. She says her Spanish is getting better (all of our students enroll in a Spanish class and take a placement test at the beginning of the semester). Kathleen reports that the food is not too bad but misses the food at home and has been dreaming of cupcakes.

Tamara Davidson, one of our Directed Research students, is studying Afro-Cuban music and is being mentored by the rumba singer, Alfred Saien who she says is fabulous.

Rom Meredith, another Photography student, says that the classes are very hands-on and are focused on experiencing Cuban culture rather than merely studying it.

Thanks to all of our students in Havana, and Sarah here in New York!