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Hudson Valley Residency

Workshop Schedule | Followup Studies

The Hudson Valley Residency will take place April 18 - 19 at the Roosevelt Presidential Library’s Wallace Center, Hyde Park. This will be an interdisciplinary study that will focus on the history, literature, art, architecture, music, sociology and ecology of the Hudson Valley. The residency may satisfy SUNY general education requirements in several different areas. Students will have a choice of workshops and will be required to attend four workshops as part of the credit requirement. Independent follow-up studies on individual topics will be available in the January, March and May terms for 2-4 credits. Students wishing to stay overnight will be provided with a list of nearby accommodations.

This residency offers a special opportunity for students to work together in the Henry Wallace Educational Center located at the scenic Roosevelt estate on the Hudson River. Space is limited. Please register under "Additional Options/Residency" in your term guide or contact your mentor for registration advisement. Register for the two credit Hudson Valley Residency through the online registration process. Once you have registered, you will receive a packet of information and an additional registration form from the Hartsdale office.

Workshop Schedule: April 18 - 19, 2009

Agenda: Saturday, April 18, 2009

9:00 - 9:30 a.m.: Registration and Refreshments

9:30 - 9:45 a.m.: Welcoming Remarks/Introduction of Keynote Speaker

10:45 – 11:30 a.m.: Keynote Address: Jean McEvoy
Jean Valla McEvoy has lived in the Hudson Valley all her life and can't imagine calling another place home. Born in the Bronx, raised in northern Yonkers and settled in Dutchess County for 25 years, she has spent half a lifetime learning and teaching about the valley through word and song. In recent years, McEvoy has been a student of the Hudson River itself, working as education coordinator for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation's Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve. She relishes the opportunity to combine her love of teaching, songwriting and canoeing on behalf of the magnificent Hudson.

11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.: Concurrent Workshops

Eleanor Roosevelt: Ordeal and Fulfillment
Rita Alterman
This session examines some of the personal triumphs of one of the most famous and beloved women of the 20th century: Eleanor Roosevelt. First Lady four times, United Nations ambassador, author and lecturer, she emerged from an anguished childhood. She married her distant cousin, Franklin, and as his political career flourished, she eventually developed her own voice. Her extraordinary commitment to humanitarian causes earned her the admiration of the world. This session will include an introduction to Eleanor Roosevelt’s life and a brief video clip, with an emphasis on group discussion.

Sojourner Truth
Carleton Mabee
Pulitzer Prize winning historian Dr.Carleton Mabee will discuss Sojourner Truth's residency in the Hudson River Valley, where she lived both as a slave and a free woman. Dr. Mabee's presentation will include suggestions for historical spots to visit, for students who want to trace the steps of this remarkable fighter for freedom. Dr. Mabee's writing about Sojourner Truth appears in several books, including Feminist Legal Theory: A Primer. This inspiring workshop will provide a base of information that all students interested in Sojourner Truth, or the Abolitionist Movement in America, can build upon with their own research.

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Catered Lunch

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Concurrent Sessions

The Effects of War in the Hudson Valley
Larry Winters
Author of The Making and Unmaking of a Marine, subtitled One Man’s Struggle for Forgiveness, Larry Winters is a Vietnam vet, a therapist at Four Winds Hospital, and a principal member of Soldier's Heart, a national project addressing the emotional and spiritual needs of veterans, their families and communities. In this workshop participants will address the cost of war on veterans in the Hudson Valley, their families and the society they live in.

Writers of the Hudson Valley
Lawrence Carr
“Writers of the Hudson Valley” is both a discussion and a hands-on writing workshop that addresses how the Hudson Valley has been and remains one of the country’s most vibrant literary regions in the country. The text, Riverine: An Anthology of Hudson Valley Writers, published by Codhill Press, will be used to illustrate a variety of literary treats in regional memoir, fiction and poetry. The session also will explore writing from one’s own Hudson Valley experiences, creating deep and interesting reflections and narrating past events. Through a series of easy writing exercises, group discussion and mentor lectures, participants will learn how to select subject material, organize it, and write a working draft ready for professional submission for publication. Laurence Carr is on the faculty of the SUNY New Paltz Creative Writing Program and is widely published.

Hudson River School of Painters
Keiko Sono
This presentation will highlight the major artists of this movement, its historical and social background, and its impact on the course of the art world. These artists’ strong affinity to this region will enrich the experience to those who live, visit and study in the Hudson Valley.

Agenda: Sunday, April 19, 2009

9:30 - 10:00 a.m.: Registration/Refreshments

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: Concurrent Workshops

Art and Architecture in the Hudson Valley
Leontine Temsky
We will be looking at historic homes (including Lyndhurst and Sunnyside) within a social and historical context. We will be examining the stylistic characteristics of American architecture from the Colonial period to the late Victorian period. We also will discuss resources for the study of the arts in the Hudson Valley.

Waking Washington Irving
Mara Mills
The Life & Times of Rip Van Winkle, as told by Diedrich Knickerbocker (aka Washington Irving). Through the eyes of Rip Van Winkle, we will look at the place, life and mores of life along the Hudson. Washington Irving's themes and influences and his stories have influenced our perception of the Hudson Valley.
NOTE: If you select this workshop, read Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving before attending.

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.: Catered Lunch

1:00 - 3:00 p.m.: Concurrent Workshops

Hudson River Environmental Issues, Threats and Opportunities
Manna Jo Greene
Manna Jo Greene is the environmental director for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and founder of the Hudson Valley Sustainable Communities Network (HVSCN). She currently serves as contribution editor of the Hudson Valley GREEN Times, on the HV Green Building and Renewable Energy Working Group, the board of the Hudson Valley Materials Exchange, and is active in numerous civic organizations. She will discuss Hudson River environmental issues, assets, threats and opportunities, including the "real deal" on PCBs and other contaminants, impacts of power plants, and the opportunities for truly sustainable development. This presentation will emphasize solution-oriented approaches such as the four principles of The Natural Step, the collaborative land use planning process (http://www.landuse.org/), and resource-based planning that starts with an assessment of habitat values in a living landscape. Manna is committed to the beliefs that humans can live in harmony with each other and the Earth, and that if your cause is just and you are persistent, you will eventually triumph.

Local Land-Use Battles: The Promise and Reality of Democracy in the Contemporary Hudson Valley
David Porter
We will examine common political obstacles and opportunities for local citizen participation in land-use decision making in the Hudson Valley. While emphasizing environmental impact review, other critical political, economic and social issues also will be discussed. We will explore particular case studies drawing from experiences of the workshop leader and students alike. As well, we will compare realities from such examples with models of participatory democracy.

Hudson Valley Residency Followup Studies

The Abolitionist Movement in America
Anna Bates
January, March and May 2009 terms - 2 credits, advanced, liberal
This is a follow-up study to Dr. Carleton Mabee's presentation about Sojourner Truth at the 2008 Hudson Valley Residency. All students who register for this study must attend the residency (April 18-19), and Dr. Mabee's presentation at the residency. Students will select a figure associated with the American movement to abolish slavery, and write a 10-15 page research paper about that person. Students may write about Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass or any other abolitionist. The paper should include references to Dr. Mabee's presentation, and at least 10 additional academic sources.

Washington Irving in Time and Place
Sabrina Fuchs-Abrams
January, March and May terms – 2 credits, liberal, advanced
In this follow-up study to the Hudson Valley Residency session on Washington Irving and the literature of the Hudson River Valley, students will read The Sketchbook and write a research paper on an aspect of time and place in Washington Irving’s writing. Students are expected to visit Washington Irving’s Sunnyside estate in Tarrytown.

Literature of New York
Sabrina Fuchs-Abrams
January, March and May terms - 4 credits, liberal, advanced
This study will consider the literature of New York City and the Hudson River Valley region. Possible authors include Washington Irving, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Edith Wharton, Langston Hughes, Anzia Yezierska and F. Scott Fitzgerald. We will look at themes of regionalism, nature, industrialization, social class, race, gender, immigration and identity in relation to the historical, geographical and cultural context of New York.

Waking Washington Irving
Mara Mills
May term – 2 credits, liberal studies, advanced or introductory
For this follow up study, students have three choices. They may write a short story using the Hudson River, its environs and/or its myths as inspiration; use textual information in Rip Van Winkle and write a short story imagining the life of one of a character or the village during the time Rip Van Winkle slept; or write an essay examining the European and American (including Dutch and English) influences in Rip Van Winkle.

Art and Architecture in the Hudson Valley
Leontine Temsky
January, March or May term – 2 credits, liberal studies, advanced or introductory
For this follow up study, students have three choices. They may write a paper on Lyndhurst which will include a site visit. They may do a documentary project on the Victorian architecture of their town. Finally, students may write a paper on architecture in the Hudson Valley as it reflects the Romantic Revival and Victorian attitudes toward nature.