Tag: hilary broman

CNM Clubs to Join This Summer

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ASL Flyer 1ASL flyer 2June 1, 2017 By Hilary Broman

Senior Staff Reporter

CNM offers plenty of clubs for students to join and participate in. Clubs are a way for students to learn a new skill, be a part of a group of people with similar interests, or to simply relax and have a good time. Listed below are five clubs that are accepting new members for the summer term.

  1. Club: Montoya Writing Group

When and Where: Starting June 7th, the group will meet every Wednesday through the end of July in H 129 at Montoya campus from 3:30-5:00pm.

Club activities: This group invites writers of all genres to develop their voice, cultivate a supportive creative writing community, and learn more about their craft. This summer, the creative writing group has invited local writers to share their work and lead the group through activities and exercises that will help us develop our craft, all of whom are also CNM Faculty. See below for list of scheduled presenters.

Wednesday June 7th 3:30-5:00pm  Brian K Hudson

Wednesday June 14th 3:30-5:00pm  Jennifer Krohn-Bourgeois

Wednesday June 21st 3:30-5:00pm  Erin Hodges 

Wednesday June 28th 3:30-5:00pm  Jennifer Schaller

Wednesday July 5th   3:30-5:00pm  Jenn Givhan

Wednesday July 12th   3:30-5:00pm  Rebecca Aronson

Wednesday July 19th   3:30-5:00pm  Adam Crittenden

Wednesday July 26th   3:30-5:00pm  Katherine Page

Why students should join: This group is open to students, faculty, staff, and the greater community.  Our club is for anyone who has always wanted to finish that novel, play with poetry, or simply cultivate a creative outlet.  No writing experience necessary! Newcomers welcome.

Contact: Maria DeBlassie, Lead Faculty of the Montoya Campus Writing Group at mdeblassie@cnm.edu

 

2. Club: Improv Club

When and Where: Coal Avenue Theatre at 4:30pm on Fridays

Club activities: The club practices different types of comedic Improv (improvisational acting). On occasion, they will also perform.

Why students should join: The students should join if they like to laugh and make people laugh.  They should join, if they plan on a profession that requires quick thinking and team work.

Contact: Leonard Madrid, faculty mentor of Improv Club, at lmadrid35@cnm.edu

 

Community of Gamers
Community of Gamers: Community of Gamers gather to take a self timed photo. Photo courtesy of: Dominic Alarcon

3. Club: Community of Gamers

When and Where: Currently waiting for permanent room assignment. Contact club president for details.

Club activities: We meet up as a group in our club room and we play games, have tournaments, have group meet ups outside of school, discuss all things gaming.

Why students should join: Students should join because it’s a fun place to hang during the stressful semester to relax have fun and meet new people.

Contact: Dominic Alarcon, President, at dalarcon8@cnm.edu

 

4. Club: American Sign Language Practice Group

When and Where: Tuesdays from 4:30-5:30pm in MS 313 at Main campus and Fridays from 1:00pm-2:00pm in the H building commons at Montoya campus.  Meetings will occur every week until the end of the summer term.

Club activities: That will depend on the level of the students who show up. We may start with the alphabet and simple conversation. If the students are more advanced, they may want to review more advanced vocabulary. Basically, we will be practicing American Sign Language.

Why students should join: It is really fun and it’s a great way to practice ASL and meet interesting people. The club may even get some deaf people to come and sign with them.

Contact: Robin Ramsey at robinr@cnm.edu

Montoya Campus Flyer                   Main Campus Flyer

5.Club: Entrepreneurial Club

When and Where: E-Club does not do a lot during the summer but they could use help planning for next term.

Club activities: Planning for next academic year; also setting up a pop-up showcase for entrepreneurs

Why students should join: Students should join if they are interested in learning how to start a business

Contact: Linda Shul, Faculty Advisor, at shul@cnm.edu

 

For a list of clubs at CNM click here.

 

Students who are interested in creating a new club click here.

 

 

Jimmy Santiago Baca to Read at Leonardo Release Party

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By Hilary Broman

Senior Staff Reporter

As part of the CNM library authors event and the Leonardo release party, award winning poet, Jimmy Santiago Baca is scheduled to share his work.

The event will be held on April 19th from 6-8pm at the main campus library.

Many of our students read his work in their English, composition, and poetry courses, said Rebecca Aronson, English instructor.

“He is a local and national celebrity,” she said.

Aronson said that Baca is a role model and even a hero to many CNM students, faculty and staff.

“He is just such an amazing writer and he is such a force of a person,” she said, “His life experience is so compelling and I think a lot of people connect to his struggles and his triumphs.”

After Baca shares his work there will be time for questions and answers from the audience as well as a book signing.

Baca will bring books to sell, Aronson said.

Leonardo, CNM’s literary magazine, will be releasing their 2017 issue.

Four students who were published in the magazine are scheduled to share their work prior to Jimmy Santiago Baca.

The CNM library authors event is an annual event where authors come and share their work with the CNM community.

Last year was the first year that the CNM library and Leonardo teamed up to host two events in one, Aronson said.

The event was a success so they wanted to combine the events again this year.

“We loved that,” Aronson said, “It was so nice to have student readers involved.”

Previous authors that attended the authors event were Arthur Sze and Jamal May.

LGBTQ Support Group Looking for New Members

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Story by Hilary Broman,

Senior Staff Reporter

Efforts to reestablish the LGBTQ support group at CNM are currently underway, said group adviser, Mark Danley.

The group is intended to be a place where people who were lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or questioning can safely meet, and provide emotional support for each other and educate each other in a friendly, peer-centered environment.

“I’d like to see those roles continued and possibly expanded with outreach, community service and coordination with other organizations in the Albuquerque area,” Danley said.

Interested students can contact Danley directly through his email address, mdanley@cnm.edu.

The group needs to meet the minimum number of eight members in order re-form the organization, he said.

So far, only five students have expressed interest in becoming a part of the group.

Danley thinks that it is important to have an active LGBTQ support group at CNM because right now is a scary time for LGBTQ people, he said.

“The current political environment of the country is pretty adversarial to people who don’t fit into a preconceived notion of “normal.” Trans people have been singled out recently as “boogie-men” of sorts because their gender identification does not match the gender of their birth certificate.”

Danley believes that there has been an upswing in domestic acts of terrorism and violence committed by people who support the authoritarian tone being expressed by the current presidential administration, he said.

“I think that many people are concerned about their personal safety and well-being as well as those of others.”

The group was active about a year ago under the advisement of Philip Lister, but the group fell into inactivity.

This year Lister’s schedule doesn’t allow him the time to facilitate the group so he asked Danley to take over.

“It would be great to see the group become active again,” Lister said.

Danley said that he wants to help the students in the group accomplish what they’d like to do.

“As an advisor, I don’t see my role as being the leader who makes the plans for the group. I’d prefer that the students organize and plan their activities and the direction of the group themselves,” he said.

CNM does provide designated safe space areas around the campuses for LGBTQ students such as: The Office of the Dean of Students, the Disabilities Resource Center and the Connect Centers, Danley said.

Although a specific counselor for LGBTQ students is not an official position, there are people at the Connect centers who will provide support resources.

“The goal of re-forming is not to supplant the work of these offices, but rather to act as a synergist to expand ways in which LGBTQ students may engage with the CNM Community as well as other organizations in Albuquerque and New Mexico,” he said.

 

 

Featured content graphic at the top of the post is by by Heather Hay.

Students Connect Through Poetry and Literature

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April 4, 2017. Story and Photos by Hilary Broman

Senior Staff Reporter

To wrap up the Around the World in 30 Days event Montoya Campus held an international poetry and literature reading event where students volunteered to read poems in different languages or a piece that they had written themselves.

The event took place on Thursday, March 30th and it was hosted by Jean Silesky, Spanish instructor, and Maria Deblassie, English instructor and Montoya Campus writing group facilitator.

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Emily Bjustrom is no stranger to reading her poems in front of a crowd. Her response to those who were performing for the first time was, “I think it’s beautiful and exciting. It’s obvious that this was the beginning of something special for them.”

CNM tutor and former slam poet, Emily Bjustrom, opened by performing three of her original pieces.

Greg Cappetto, Montoya tutoring center manager, said that he enjoyed watching Bjustrom perform at a previous event so he invited her to read at this one.

“I hope she continues to write and affect the community like she affected me,” he said.

 

Poetry Reading 2
Madeleine Allerheiligen takes a breath before reading Eiel Brouillé. She has been has been studying French for five years.

Madeleine Allerheiligen, Psychology major and Montoya writing group member, read a poem by Charles Baudelaire titled Eiel Brouillé in French.

She chose to read this poem because she liked the imagery of the spring weather and how it can be cruel, soft and sweet, she said.

She also loved the rhythm of the poem, she said, a lot of poems tend to lose the rhythm when they are translated and this one didn’t.

 

 

 

Many students who read were reading their work out loud for the first time including Rachel LaPore.

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Rachel LaPore reads from one of her many journals that she has kept over the years. She is currently enrolled in a creative writing class, surrounded by other writers.

LaPore had been writing since she was seven years old but never felt encouraged to cultivate her creative talents, she said.

“I was a real estate developer and I never knew other writers or literary people,” she said. “Writing was like a secret life.”

The piece she decided to share was about identity and the struggle to find the true essence of self, she said.
“I was nervous about sharing this piece because it has a personal meaning and I was concerned that no one would like it,” she said.

Following LaPore, many students took to the podium to share pieces of writing that they had been working on or pieces of literature that stood out to them.

 

To close the event instructor, Maria Deblassie, shared an essay from her personal blog about finding the everyday joys in life.

Travel Around the World in 30 Days with CNM

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March 2, 2017

By Hilary Broman

Senior Staff Reporter

Around the World in 30 Days, an event celebrating global education and awareness, is scheduled to take place throughout the month of March on Main and Montoya campuses, said Ari Senghor Rosner-Salazar, event committee member.

Many events are scheduled to take place throughout the month ranging from enlightening panel discussions to dance and self-defense workshops, Salazar said.

International Education Week and International Women’s Day both take place in March, so the Around the World in 30 Days committee decided to create a month-long event that focuses on celebrating both, Salazar said.

Members of the event committee include; Ari Senghor Rosner-Salazar; Jean Silesky, Spanish instructor; Paula Smith-Hawkins, Associate Dean in CHSS; and Suzanne Buck, CHSS Faculty member, Salazar said.

Committee member, Jean Silesky, said that students can get something from every event.

“The panel discussions will be informative and the dance workshops will be fun, entertaining and relaxing,” she said.

The first event is scheduled to take place on Thursday, March 2nd and it will be a panel discussion with the performers from “Motown the Musical,” Salazar said.

International Women’s day will be on Wednesday, March 8th and there will be various events on both Main and Montoya campuses thorough the day including; a Jiu Jitsu, “Refuse to be a Victim Workshop,” and a “Women in Non-Traditional Roles” discussion panel, Silesky said.

Anyone can participate in the self-defense workshop, Silesky said.

“By no means is it just for women,” she said.

The “Women in Non-Traditional Roles” panel will include women who have professions in fields such as math, science, computer programming and law enforcement, Silesky said.

There will be a belly dance demonstration from a part time CNM instructor on Thursday, March 9th in the Main Campus Cafeteria, she said.

“With a snake!” Silesky said.

The “International Travel Panel” will include instructors who have either lived or studied abroad or who are from other countries and they will be sharing their experiences with the audience, Silesky said.

That panel is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 22nd, she said.

There are three dance workshops scheduled where students can learn African dance, Flamenco dance and Salsa dance, Silesky said.

“We think those are fun things that students would love to do,” she said.

There will be huge world maps at Main and Montoya campuses where students can put a push pin in a place where they are from or have lived for an extended period of time, she said.

“It will show that there already is a global presence at CNM that we are unaware of”, Silesky said, “We are called a community college and I think that makes people think small and local when really our community and Albuquerque in general is much more, people are from everywhere.”

The maps will be located in H Commons at Montoya campus and in SRC at Main campus, she said.

Around the World in 30 Days is about new learning experiences taking place outside of the classroom, Salazar said.

Silesky also thinks it is important to create a community outside of the classroom, she said.

“The focus is on the students,” she said, “Community building is really important for us and making students feel welcome at all times on campus.”

Students interested in attending any of the events do not need to sign up beforehand and they can attend as many events as they want.

“We want to encourage our students to participate, even if they can only come for 15 minutes between a class, or maybe if they are working on campus, during a break,” Salazar said, “We want as many people as possible to come to as many of these events as they can get to.”

It’s important to have a global perspective, Salazar said.

“We live in a big world and it’s important for folks to be aware of differences,” he said, “It’s never a bad thing to understand different cultural ways of communicating and different political and religious differences.”

For the past two years CNM held an event for National Foreign Languages Week, but it was too hard to squeeze all the events into one week, Salazar said, Around the World in 30 Days is an expansion of that event.

This event is sponsored by The Executive Counsel of Students, The Around the World in 30 Days Committee and Connect Services, Salazar said.

For a full schedule of events click here.

 

“Motown the Musical” Panel Discussion

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February 26, 2007.  By Hilary Broman,  Senior Staff Reporter

To kick off the Around the World in 30 Days event, CNM is hosting a panel discussion with the cast members of “Motown the Musical,” said Ari Rosner- Salazar, member of the event committee.

The event is scheduled to take place on Thursday, March 2nd, from noon-1pm at Main Campus in SRC 204, he said.

There will be live music and refreshments, he said.

 

321-16 HWPS Black History Month Motown Flyer.jpg

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CNM Instructor Publishes Her 2nd Book

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February 20, 2017. By Hilary Broman, Senior Staff Reporter

Rebecca Aronson, CNM English instructor, recently published her second book of poems, “Ghost Child of the Atalanta Bloom,” she said.

The book starts with a field on fire, Aronson said, it has several themes such as fire and drought, parenting and loss.

About two years ago, Aronson decided to make writing more central to her life, so she teamed up with fellow CNM English instructor, Erin Adair-Hodges, and they worked simultaneously on their manuscripts while providing each other with feedback, Aronson said.

Both Aronson and Adair-Hodges submitted their final manuscripts to press contests and both of them won, Aronson said.

Aronson’s first book, “Creature, Creature,” was published in 2007 and it was composed of a lot of work that she did in graduate school, she said.

Aronson’s poetry has changed a lot over the years and her new book reflects that, she said.

“This book feels much more true to who I am,” she said.

Amidst her busy work schedule and family time, Aronson carves out time to write, she said, even if that means forgoing a weekend event or staying up late at night.

“I feel better when I’m writing,” she said.

Aronson recalls the best piece of writing advice that she received; she was talking to another writer about grading loads and responsibilities, she said.

“She grabbed me by my shoulders and said, ‘Just know that the writing has to come first.’ Aronson said.

It’s always problematic for Aronson to find that time because she wants to give everything she does her full attention, she said.

“I want to teach with integrity, I want to give my students good feedback, I want to give my son attention and I want to give my marriage attention,” she said, “Making a commitment to yourself to do it is the best thing and not to hold yourself to too high a standard.”

Aronson participates in National Poetry Month every April where she writes a poem a day for 30 days.

“At the end of the month I have 30 terrible drafts but then at least it gets my brain moving and it’s material to start revising,” she said.

Aronson is also involved with many CNM writing events, she said, she facilitates the Main campus writing group and organizes the CNM visiting writers series.

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Rebecca Aaronson’s new book Ghost Child of the Atalanta Bloom is scheduled for release on April 4, 2017.  While this is her second book to be published, Aaronson said it is just as exciting as her first book “Creature, Creature” published in 2007.  (Wade Faast/CNM Chronicle)

Aronson and Adair-Hodges also co-host a reading and music series outside of CNM called “Badmouth,” she said.

It’s a mix of performances by musicians and writers, she said.

“It’s something that we wanted to go to, but that didn’t exist, so we decided to do it,” Aronson said.

The upcoming Bad Mouth event will be on March 11th at Tortuga gallery and the ticket sales will be donated to Planned Parenthood, Aronson said.

Find out more about upcoming events on the Bad Mouth Facebook page.

Rebecca Aronson is scheduled to read from her new book at Sunday Chatter music on March 26th and at Book Works on April 20th, she said.

Aronson’s books can be found for sale at the Orison Press Website and on Amazon.

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Erin Adair-Hodges to Publish Her Debut Book, “Let’s All Die Happy”

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February 20, 2017.  By Hilary Broman

Senior Staff Reporter

Erin Adair-Hodges, CNM English instructor, is scheduled to release her first book of poems titled, “Let’s All Die Happy,” this fall, she said.

She was the winner of the Pitt Poetry first book prize at the University of Pittsburgh Press, Hodges said.

The book is told through a woman’s lens and is very much about the world as experienced as a woman in this culture, she said.

“It investigates lots of different ways in which the world can wear on girls and women,” she said, “as young girls, as daughters, for some of us, as mothers, and as lovers.”

It is also an investigation of apostasy and a loss of faith in religious and cultural institutions, she said.

“What happens when you no longer find meaning in those, where do you find meaning?” Hodges said.

There is also a real dark humor throughout the book, she said.

Hodges has always been interested in Creative writing and she received a Masters degree in poetry, she said.

She stopped writing after she received her degree because she had to work many jobs to make ends meet and she felt, in many ways, that her voice didn’t matter, she said.

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Erin Adair-Hodges, full time instructor at CNM in the English department has her first book of poetry being published this fall.  (Wade Faast/CNM Chronicle)

“I had been led to feel as if my voice and my perspectives weren’t valuable,” Hodges said.

About three years ago, after the birth of her son, Hodges began to think about bringing poetry back into her life, she said.

“I started thinking about who I am outside of my obligations, which is something I think that’s especially important for women to do because too often we get defined by our relationships and obligations to others,” she said.

Hodges decided to commit to making poetry a priority, she said.

“I only started getting published in journals and then getting my book taken when I treated poetry like a job and not just a fun hobby,” Hodges said.

Hodges ended up creating an early draft of her manuscript at the end of 2014 and the version that won the Pitt Poetry Prize was complete in early 2016, she said.

“It was pretty fast”, she said, “but I think it happened so quickly because it had been years of me storing up all of that energy and focus and because I felt like since I was getting a late start, I had no time to lose.”

Hodges worked closely with Rebecca Aronson, another CNM instructor who also published a book this year, to provide each other feedback, she said.

“Although we write very differently, we’ve become really good critics of each other’s work,” she said.

Hodges and Aronson both won contests within six months of each other and Hodges is genuinely happy for Aronson’s success, she said.

“There is plenty of space for lots of great work to be out there. I like to celebrate my friends who get their work recognized,” she said.

Hodges’ poetry was recently featured on PBS NewsHour, she said.

She was asked to submit a poem that spoke to the current climate in this country, she said.

She submitted a poem called, “The Jennifer Century.” Click here to read.

Hodges attributes a lot of her success to being able to rediscover her own weirdness, she said.

“I was a deeply creative, weird thinker and then I lost it for a long time,” Hodges said, “I think becoming a more successful writer was a process of getting back to that original, almost childlike way of processing the world.”

Hodges said that she sees this in students all the time. They give her answers that they think she wants to hear and that’s not the case.

“What I want is their unique, fresh take, formed by their experiences,” she said, “What can you, as an entirely unique person, with entirely unique perspectives bring to this that we’ve never heard before?”

With that, Hodges encourages students to explore classes that are not just a part of their degree program but classes that will help them see their lives differently, she said.

“Poetry has absolutely been that in my own life,” Hodges said.

Hodges’ book is scheduled to be released in the fall, she said.

Her book will be able to be purchased through her website and the University of Pittsburgh Press website.

Emmy Pèrez Performs Her Poetry at CNM

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February 2, 2017.  By Hilary Broman

Senior Staff Reporter

In the featured photograph, Emmy Pèrez reads a poem called And It’s You from her new book “With the River on Our Face.”  Photo credit Hilary Broman.

Emmy Pèrez, a recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship for poetry, read from her new book, “With the River on Our Face,” at CNM on Friday evening.

Pèrez shared poems that were about topics that were concerning her, she said, one subject in particular is the wall on the Mexican American border.

“Lots of bits of the wall have already been erected since 2008,” she said, “I think it’s important for me to share the poems that talk about how this has been happening for a long time and that we don’t want more to come.”

Pèrez also chose to read poems that had a lot of repetition and were musical sounding because they are the most performative poems from her book, she said.

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Pérez describes her writing process to the audience.  Photo credit Hilary Broman.

Pèrez lives in South Texas but she traveled along the Rio Grande River to do research for her book, she said.

She spent time in Colorado where the river begins, and spent time in Taos, New Mexico, she said.

“Poets just look at stuff and try to see beyond the surface and make connections,” Pèrez said.

Pèrez used the things she saw during her research as a starting point to make images in her poems, she said.

“I try to write things in a way that you haven’t quite heard before,” she said.

Pèrez tends to write most when she is feeling a lot of emotion, she said.

The best piece of writing advice was given to her by Joy Castro, an award-winning author, in a writing workshop, Pèrez said.

“Joy quoted Natalie Goldberg who said ‘Go for the jugular,” Pèrez said.

Now Pèrez uses that in the creative writing classes that she teaches, she said.

“When I say, ‘Go for the jugular,’ it is the time when you are supposed to push yourself to say what you are uncomfortable saying or might be avoiding,” she said, “We need to say what we really want to say.”

Pèrez encourages students to attend poetry readings as well as perform their own poetry when given the chance, she said.

By reading poetry out loud it allows the audience to hear the musicality in the poem as well as have a conversation with the poet, she said.

“Poetry is a living art form and I don’t think it’s only meant to be read,” she said.

Pèrez’s new book, “With the River on Our face,” is on sale at the CNM bookstore for $16.95, as well as her previous book, “Solstice,” for $14.00, said Ann Heaton, CNM bookstore area manager.

Students can also visit Pèrez’s website to purchase her books and see upcoming events at www.emmyperez.com.

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