February 2017 Archives

https://www.zoominmuseums.com/

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Hi,

My name is Ulli. I am legally blind and love museums.

I became legally blind about 20 years ago. For many years, visiting a museum on my own seemed impossible. I feared that I would not be able to get around by myself or see well enough to make a visit worthwhile.

Moving to New York from Graz, Austria, I found out that all major museums in N.Y.C have special programs for blind and visually impaired people (VIP). These programs are free and take place once a month on a regular basis, offering live verbal descriptions and touch tours of the prevailing exhibitions.

Thus encouraged and motivated, I started to visit museums on my own again. I also visit museums throughout the U.S, Europe, and other places. In short, wherever my trips take me.

For a VIP there are many obstacles to be encountered when you visit a museum on your own. In my years of exploration by myself, I have found many ways, tricks and tips to overcome these challenges.

When I visit museums now, I view them with other VIPs in mind. I describe my very personal museum experiences in terms of museum accessibility, large print material and audio guide accessibility, map availability and the ease of navigating the museum. I hope that my blog Zoom In Museums will facilitate and inspire others to venture out to museums on their own.

Follow me!

Ulli

https://www.zoominmuseums.com/

DREAM Scholar, This Year's Salutatorian, is Among Graduates

 

Rick Stengel, Recent Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and Former Managing Editor at Time Magazine to Deliver Commencement Address

 

More than 1,500 students will receive their degrees at the Hunter College Winter Commencement, led by President Jennifer J. Raab, on Thursday, January 19, 2017, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Hunter College North Assembly Hall, 695 Park Avenue, between 68^th and 69^th Streets, Manhattan.  

 

Graduates include salutatorian Pablo Aranela, a Math and Spanish Literature double major. He is originally from Mendoza, Argentina and was raised in Brooklyn. Thanks to his DREAM Scholarship, he will be the first in his family to graduate college, and will do so debt free.

 

Other graduates in the limelight will be 74-year-old Cynthia Williams, who was previously homeless and beat her addiction to drugs 24 years ago, will receive a Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the School of Education. She plans to become a counselor for people suffering with substance abuse. Gus Chalkias began losing his vision due to a degenerative eye disease while working as an accountant more than 10 years ago. He has since developed a graduate level class on assistive technology for blindness for NYU, created to inform the designs and practices of engineers, software developers, and occupational therapists. He is graduating from the Master's Program in Rehabilitation Counseling.

 

Rick Stengel, who served as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs until December, and previously was the managing editor at Time Magazine, will deliver the commencement address and receive the President's Medal. His will celebrate the diversity of the Hunter College graduates, and discuss how each new generation of graduates reinvents the American Dream.