Faye Duchin, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, describes this as an exciting time for the school. "We have many innovative and interesting projects going on," said Duchin.

Ralph Rolnicki, director of the iEAR studios, has been featured recently in newspapers including The New York Times for his collaborative work in a new, highly technological musical piece entitled "The Technophobe and the Madman."

Rolnick said that this piece is the "first Internet-2 distributed musical work that has been made to date. While an actress and two musicians presented "The Technophobe" part of the musical in the iEAR space, another actor and two other musicians presented "The Madman" part at New York University at the same time.

Professor Kathleen Ruiz’s computer game Bang, Bang (You’re not dead?), was nationally hailed for its depth, analysis, and purpose. The game was exhibited in a Woodstock, N.Y., gallery and on the Internet. Through the game, Ruiz wanted to raise a familiar question: What is the link between real violence and the virtual violence in video games?

The dual major program in Product Design and Innovation is jointly offered by the Schools of Engineering, Architecture, and Humanities and Social Sciences. "PDI is a unique program. Engineers learn the whole front-end design process and it provides them with a social context for their products," said Department of Science and Technology Studies Chair David Hess.

Next fall, the program will be expanded to include a dual degree between STS and mechanical engineering. Some of the projects that were done in the class include electronic toys that were developed for students in a local school, and useful tools and gadgets for vendors in an open market.

Professor Chris Csikszentmihályi’s work on the www.dj-i-robot.com website was nominated for "best artistic software" at Berlin’s Transmediale. He is currently serving on a yearlong appointment to the National Academy of Science’s Computer Science and Telecommunications Board to study the future of "IT & Creativity." Csikszentmihályi was also appointed to co-host a lecture series at NYU’s Center for Advanced Technology on media, art, and technology.

Joel Taylor, chief studio engineer, and Adjunct Professor Scott Smallwood are co-producing a new music performance series at the Arts Center in downtown Troy, which takes place on the first Thursday of every month.

"The series features a mix of experimental musicians from the local area, including some of the musical members of the electronic arts department," said Taylor. It also includes some well-known artists from New York City, Boston, and California. The next concert is Thursday, March 1, at 8 pm and will be performed by Professor Curtis Bahn, Smallwood, and Taylor.

Taylor is currently writing an experimental orchestra piece for the RPI Student Orchestra. The piece will be performed at Troy Music Hall on April 1.

Bahn will be performing at Galapagos in New York City and the Boston Cyber Arts Festival, a workshop residency for the interactive performance series cosponsored by Aulos Festival in Italy.

Professor Paulina Shur’s playwriting class is planning for "The First Playwright’s Festival" for the end of this semester. Shur said that the festival will showcase the best written and staged plays by the students and will most probably take place in the Union.

Nancy Campbell, the new director of the Science and Technology Studies Internship Program said that the main goal of the program is to stimulate student interest in state and local government. The program has had an average enrollment of 65 students per semester. These students were involved in a variety of programs,.including the state assembly, state legislators’ offices, the attorney general’s office, League of Women Voters, Boys and Girls Club, Unity Sunshine House, the Junior Museum, the Ark Program, local hospitals and gardens, and many others.

"Students who go through this program are always surprised at how much they learn," said Campbell

Another part of the internship program is a focused sub-program called "Community Informatics." The program, which is directed by Campbell and Dr. Ron Eglash, aims to bridge the digital divide in Troy and to bring together information technology and community development. "CI focuses a lot on the social aspect of computing," said Campbell.

Bridging the digital divide is also the goal of a new course in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Professor Terri Harrison and Professor James Zappen teach the course Web Design for Community Networking.

Harrison said that the class is perfect example of "communi-versity." The students work with organizations in Troy to make websites that will benefit the local community and reach beyond it. Some of these projects include the official City of Troy website and a virtual tour of the Oakwood Cemetery. "The students bring ideas to encourage the Troy community to do things electronically," said Harrison.

The economics department has received a grant of $300,000 to do research with the Hudson River Foundation. The research will involve the modeling and measuring of the consequences of land use change in the Hudson River watershed.

Other sources for research grants include the National Science Foundation, New York State Department of State Grants, Sandia National Laboratories, Rensselaer Strategic Investment Grant, and others. Some of the research going on includes topics on bridging resource conservation and economic development, economic impact study on the Hudson Waterfront Development Project, and Chinese energy and greenhouse gas modeling.

The Ecological Economics, Values, and Policy program, directed by Steve Breymen, also received a $300,000 grant three years ago from the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment. The grant, which is still effective, has been used to fund a "green" purchasing coordinator, student recruitment efforts, and other "very interesting projects," said Hess.

Some of the projects include a worm bin composting project and a sustainable landscaping design proposal for the Rensselaer Union.

Karen Lefevre, director of the Writing Center, said that the Center’s short courses have had tremendous success with the students. One of these courses, "Creating Electronic Portfolios," is funded through a $110,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Fund. "This course makes students think beyond the one course and instead at the whole picture," said Lefevre. Since the course is part of an ongoing research program, it has seen many changes and improvements in its structure and goals.

The Writing Center also held workshops on how to make a successful electronic portfolio. "Since many employers are asking for portfolios, many students find the class and the workshops very useful," said Lefevre.

Keeping up with technological changes, the Center also provides instant messaging writing services. Students could instant message their questions during working hours to "instantwriter" and have an expert from the writing center answer them.

Lefevre said that although instant messaging is very convenient and makes it easier to reach more people, there are times when person-to-person meetings are necessary.

The Writing Center’s website is also being revised. "An incredible number of people use our website and its vast recourses," said Lafevre.

A new class this semester, The Politics and Economics of IT, was created to provide relevant humanistic and social science material for IT students. Students in the class form entrepreneurial ventures with a commitment to social advocacy. Professor Atsushi Akera said that in the first week of the course he asks twenty students to volunteer to be CEOs. "In week three we have a jobs fair, during which CEOs are able to interview and enlist other students to join their team."

From week four through 14 of the course, all of the teams receive weekly requests for proposal that ask them to come up with a project that promises to use IT to help some disadvantaged group or

community.

Students in Intermediate Video, a course taught by Adjunct Professor Ralph Pascucci, are learning to make live video productions. Pascucci graduated from RPI with a mechanical engineering degree in 1970. Some of the work he has done includes productions for PBS, NBC, New York City Ballet, All Rock Concert, the Olympics, and four Emmy-award productions. Pascucci is also the owner of Myriad Productions in Saratoga.

Although the Electronic Media and Performing Arts Center project will not be completed for another three or four years, much of the excitement and the plans in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences are tied to it. Professor Larry Kagan said that the center will help in creating "a very strong national and international recognition for the EMAC program." The center will be a place to showcase artwork by students and provides space for research in multimedia and the arts. "In addition to knowledge and thoroughness," referring to the Rensselaer’s motto, Kagan said "there needs to be a vision and creativity."