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About Cultures of New York
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About Cultures of New York |
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"This is a City where 140 languages are spoken. Since the days of the Dutch, wave after wave of immigrants have transformed this city. They have flourished, because of the culture of tolerance and acceptance that characterizes New York." — New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg |
About the Site
Welcome to the Cultures of New York web site. For more information on the Cultures of New York pilot, see About the Project below. This section provides a brief description of what you will find as you explore the Cultures website.
The pilot project focused on a number of significant ethnic groups living throughout the five boroughs. This web site contains six main areas, one for each culture (Asian, Russian, West Indian, Latino, South Asian and Haitian). To find out more about a group, simply click on that culture's name in the skyline at the top of the page. Each area is your link to information on an ethnic group in New York City, including resources such as a directory of community centers, religious institutions, restaurants and more. You can read and listen to translations of common phrases in languages, including: Mandarin, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Creole. You will also find videoconference-related specifics, including speaker biographies and course content. Finally, you will have the opportunity to test your knowledge of that culture in New York in our Interactivities area.
One last note: Information was added to the culture areas as each videoconference took place. For a list of the videoconferences click here. Good luck and happy browsing!
About the Project
Project Overview
Cultures of New York is a joint project of the New York City Distance Learning Collaborative (NYCDLC) and the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) in cooperation with the New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS).
The project was designed to: 1) address an unmet need for critical training in cultural awareness in a diverse urban environment; 2) implement a program for asynchronous/synchronous learning in a New York City government agency; and 3) launch an initiative for distance learning replicable for subsequent expansion to other cultures and for other public and not-for-profit entities.
The project integrates asynchronous technologies and videoconferencing to deliver training about diverse ethnic groups in New York City. This training focuses on the cultural norms and mores of major immigrant groups in New York City. The pilot featured the Asian, Latino, West Indian, Russian, South Asian and Haitian communities.
Project Description
The Cultures pilot blended asynchronous resources with seven 90-minute videoconferences held during Spring 2002. Course content focused on areas of importance to child welfare workers, including: family structure; communication styles; child discipline; view of authority; medical practices; religion. Each videoconference featured a guest expert from the CUNY faculty, joined by a community representative from the featured community. A series host provided continuity. Registrants were encouraged to participate throughout, at each videoconference and via a range of asynchronous resources including a website and a project-wide listserv.
The listserv featured background information, maximizing strategic use of the weekly videoconferencing session. The listserv also provided a forum for discussion of case studies and experience-sharing.
The Website features resources gathered during course production and provides ongoing access to experts and community resources. Interactive design encourages participants to build on-line skills and explore web-based links for cultural information.
Spring 2002 Project Components
The pilot project consisted of an introductory session and six content modules — Asian, Russian, West Indian, Latino, South Asian and Haitian — coupling bi-weekly videoconferences with a range of asynchronous resources. There was a mid-session project luncheon where all participants met face-to-face with content experts and project producers.
The Role of Culture in Child Welfare Practice
Child welfare practice requires caseworkers to form professional helping relationships with culturally diverse clients. Caseworkers are expected to use the assessment and service planning processes to actively discover and utilize the strengths and resources specific to their clients' varying cultural circumstances. Further, as part of a strategy for facilitating the stages of the relationship in accordance with the established child welfare outcomes, caseworkers are directed by the framework of practice in New York City to discover the needs, underlying conditions, and contributing factors currently at odds with the well-being of children. Successfully meeting these expectations is dependent on developing the cultural competence of individual caseworkers.
Doug Muzzio, Program Host
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A professor of public affairs at Baruch College (CUNY) and widely quoted pundit on New York politics and culture, Doug Muzzio has had extensive political, governmental and media experience. A specialist in the study of American electoral behavior and New York City government, politics, and public policy, Muzzio is the co-director of the Center for the Study of Leadership in Government and the founder and former director of the Baruch College Survey Research Unit.
Muzzio is also the political analyst and on-air commentator for WABC-TV and has done polling and political analysis for ABC News, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and other news organizations for more than two decades. He currently hosts a public affairs program, "City Talk," on CUNY-TV (New York).
His governmental experience includes: twice-elected trustee of the Pequannock Township (New Jersey) Board of Education; chief-of-staff to New York City Councilmember At Large Antonio Olivieri; consultant to the New York City Charter Revision Commission (1988-89); research director for the 1989 Dinkins mayoral campaign; consultant to City agencies and not-for-profit organizations, among others, the New York City Council, the NYC Sanitation Department, the New York City Board of Education, the New York City Parks Council, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, and the Hispanic Federation of New York City. He is also in his fourth year of developing and delivering cultural diversity training programs for the New York City Police Department. In this capacity, Professor Muzzio developed and conducted training for "Streetwise", a cultural-awareness education program that has provided classroom training to over 5,000 New York City police officers.
He is currently writing a book, The Reel City: The American City in Cinema, 1896-2001 on the images of the American city in movies.
Patricia Dempsey, Academic Consultant, Social Work
Patricia Dempsey is a professor of social work at the Hunter College School of Social Work where she teaches clinical practice, policy and administration. Ms. Dempsey has specialized in the area of child welfare and family practice for over twenty-five years. Ms. Dempsey is also the clinical director of the Children's Aid Society's National Adolescent Sexuality Training Center, and a long-time consultant for New York's Administration for Children's Services and its predecessor agencies.
Production Team
Project Producers
Michael Forte, Mary Milton, Sandra Poster
Associate Producer: Dore Nash
Information Architect: Bill Bly
Web Developer: Jonas Reitz
Production Staff
Research: Deborah Griffin Bly
Listserv Moderator: Laura Fantone
Project Assistant: Meghna Krishna
Graphics: Jon Yue
Illustration: Robert Schulenberg
Acknowledgements
ACS working group: Andrea Bennett, Ardeshir Dargahi, Joy Fieulleteau, Lydia Ithier, Carl Jones, Gabby Keisler, Ervine Kimerling , Estee Leger, Sandra Neville, Mayra Juliao Nuñez, Rosemary Sherman, Dave Williams
And special thanks to the many other people who helped in the creation of this project, including: Emmanuel Appian, Alathia Ashman, Russell Banks, Stephen Calenzani, Carlton Campbell, William Campos, Dave Conlon, Pablo De La Cruz, Wanda Del Villar, Francis Dumont, Janice Evans-Barksdale, Dean Freedman, Harriet Goodman, Nkechi Greene, Leo Guevara, Gerard Johnson, Manjeet Kaur, Mansha Kinger, Bogart Leashore, Yi-Chun Tricia Lin, José Linares, Ann Lino, Sonia Michel, Gloria Otoya, Chin Suk Pak, Salvador Peres, Josephine Pierre, Preet Rathor, Mayra Rodriguez, Joe Salvo, Esperanza Sandoval, Lenny Smith, Lorraine Stanislaus, Barry Steinman, Mimose Valborne, Jenia Valentine, Frank Vardy, Shauntay Williams, and Bingshu Yang.
Funders
This project is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Administration for Children's Services.
© 2002 The Graduate Center, CUNY