csi undergraduate conference on research, scholarship ... - CSI Today

Research Poster PresentationsP O S T E R 6 1Collaborative Translation of aFree Culture Design TextQimei LuoFaculty Mentor: Professor Michael MandibergDepartment of Media CultureDigital Foundations is a digital media instructionbook licensed under a Creative Commons license.This free culture licensed text has been portedfrom the original Adobe software to open sourcesoftware (GIMP, Inkscape, Processing, etc.)Encouraged and instructed by Professor MichaelMandiberg--one of the authors of the book--I, QimeiLuo, a senior Communications major, initiated andmanaged a collaboration with more than tendifferent volunteers to translate this book fromEnglish into Chinese. All the translators for thisChinese translation project are located either inHong Kong or mainland China. The volunteersnever met each other in person and werecommunicating purely via the Internet from theproject’s inception to its completion. Eachcontributor to the project has been given credit forevery edit and revision they made through theversion control software that the translationsoftware is built upon.Translating this book from English to Mandarin willhelp to expand the availability of free culture ofChinese content and allow more Chinese speakers,especially Chinese educators, to have access to thebook. This translation work enhances participants’understanding of digital media, and allows them tobe part of software education reform and the freeculture movement.P O S T E R 6 2Painting Staten Island: AHistorical Analysis of FrederickStahr’s The Evolution of StatenIsland from 1620-1935Gabriella LeoneFaculty Mentor: Dr. Catherine LavenderDepartment of HistoryIf one visited Staten Island's Borough Hall, he or shewould be able to take a brief trip throughapproximately four hundred years of the borough'shistory. This unique opportunity is provided by aseries of murals, called The Evolution of StatenIsland from 1620 to 1935, which were funded bythe Works Progress Administration (WPA) andpainted by a local artist named Frederick C. Stahrduring the late 1930s. The paintings, based on acombination of historical fact, local legend andartistic interpretation, highlight a variety of eventsin the history of the island from Europeandiscovery through the building of the BayonneBridge. The scenes shown vary in obvious, historicalsignificance and cause one to question why theywere chosen specifically. Not only are the worksintriguing for the events they depict, but also forthe style in which they were created. Indeed,Stahr's more traditional style was rare amongst theprogressive artistic spirit of the Depression Era.Although he was singular in relation to his fellowWPA artists, Stahr meshed quite well with JohnCarrere and Thomas Hastings, the architects ofBorough Hall and the main branch of the New YorkPublic Library, who also favored a more traditionalapproach to design.55