Pham first saw the urgency of this challenge in her 可乐视频 classrooms, where even some of her most capable students struggled with career planning. Rather than viewing AI as a threat, she recognized its potential as a tool students could learn to use thoughtfully, ethically, and strategically.

Supported by The Tow Foundation, her research explores how AI can strengthen career readiness, professional growth, and access to opportunity. What began as a campus-based initiative has expanded into a broader ecosystem of research, programming, and partnerships focused on AI literacy and workforce development.

Pham鈥檚 efforts have grown through the , which brings together students, faculty, and industry leaders to explore the practical and ethical use of AI while helping students develop career-ready skills. The initiative emphasizes hands-on learning, professional communication, and industry engagement, creating stronger connections between classroom learning and workforce needs.

A key outcome of this work is the BRIDGE Framework, a research-based model examining how students can develop both AI competencies and the human-centered skills needed to succeed in a rapidly changing economy. Pham is also developing the , which extends this research by connecting AI literacy more closely with workforce and industry needs. The lab serves as a hub for exploring how higher education can create scalable, equitable models that prepare students for an AI-enabled future.

What continues to distinguish Pham’s work is its collaborative spirit. Students are not assistants working behind the scenes. They serve as co-researchers, helping design studies, conduct interviews, analyze data, and present findings. Many have shared their work at conferences, contributed to publications, and engaged with industry professionals.

Student researcher and business major Jason Lin considers the opportunity to work with Pham an honor. 鈥淚 feel like I used up all my good luck in college just by being in her class. This AI research project not only supports her important work on the future of technology but also challenged me to strengthen my writing and time-management skills as I prepare for graduation.鈥�

Learn more about Pham鈥檚 perspectives on AI literacy and workforce readiness in her recent and on a recent interview for the 听podcast.

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For Lee, this work is not abstract; it鈥檚 personal.

鈥淏orn with a physical disability, I navigated the challenges of being a student with special needs both in Seoul, South Korea, and the United States,鈥� she explains.

These experiences shaped her understanding of how family, school, and culture deeply influence the lives of children with disabilities鈥攁nd how often their voices go unheard.

Her scholarship explores social inclusion in early childhood classrooms, the cultural dimensions of disability, and the lived experiences of individuals with disabilities. By centering real stories and personal narratives, Lee aims to challenge deficit鈥慴ased models and replace them with humanizing, culturally grounded understandings. Her work seeks to foreground the voices of individuals with disabilities and their families, voices often overlooked or misunderstood.

可乐视频 students regularly encounter Lee鈥檚 research in her courses, where discussions center on disability, reflective practice, and inclusive teaching. In one of her recent articles, 鈥�,鈥� she highlighted three former graduate students whose intersecting identities shaped their journeys as educators. Her findings reaffirm a message she hopes all students carry forward: They can be powerful agents of change.

Lee鈥檚 work resonates deeply with the Brooklyn community. Many students are first鈥慻eneration, multilingual, or navigating their own cultural identities; many are preparing to become educators themselves. Her research speaks directly to their lived realities: navigating educational systems that may not understand them, reconciling cultural beliefs about disability, and learning to advocate for themselves and their future students.

Ultimately, Lee hopes her work fosters more inclusive classrooms and more empathetic communities. By elevating the experiences of disabled individuals and their families, she invites all of us to reimagine what inclusion can, and should, look like.

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A member of the Macaulay Honors College and 可乐视频鈥檚 Coordinated B.A.鈥揗.D. program, Chinnadurai is pursuing a double major in psychology and philosophy, with a concentration in medical ethics. The aspiring physician has already built an impressive record of research, leadership, service, and academic achievement.

Chinnadurai鈥檚 selection places her among a distinguished group of 可乐视频 students who have benefited from the vision and generosity of Bernard Garil 鈥�62 and his wife, Ethel. The couple established a pair of internships in memory of their children, Michael and Stacey, both of whom passed away from cancer. Transforming their loss into an enduring opportunity for future generations, the Garils created summer research experiences that give students hands-on exposure to cancer research at world-class institutions.

Over the years, the Garils鈥� commitment to 可乐视频 has enabled dozens of aspiring doctors and scientists to spend summers at prestigious centers such as Dana-Farber and Johns Hopkins, gaining invaluable mentorship and research experience while helping advance the fight against cancer.

For Chinnadurai鈥攚hose own interest in oncology is shaped in part by family members鈥� experiences鈥攖he opportunity represents both a professional milestone and a chance to contribute to work that has the potential to change lives.

We spoke with Chinnadurai about her research journey, her passion for medicine, and what she hopes to learn during her summer at Dana-Farber.

Tell us a little about your background and how you got to 可乐视频.
I grew up in Nassau County and came to 可乐视频 through the Macaulay Honors College and the B.A.-M.D. program. I鈥檝e always been interested in medicine, and my high school adviser encouraged me to apply for the program. It felt like a good fit.

听When did you first know you wanted to pursue a career in medicine?
It鈥檚 kind of always been on my radar. In middle school and high school, I started exploring that interest by volunteering in hospitals. I volunteered at Nassau University Medical Center and at the Ronald McDonald House, where I worked closely with families of sick children. That experience really showed me a different side of health care, not just the clinical aspect, but the emotional and community side, too.

You鈥檝e already built a strong research background. How did that begin?
In high school, I took research classes and worked on a project about synesthesia, which is how people associate sounds with colors. It was my first exposure to the scientific method, and it made me realize how much I enjoyed research. When I got to 可乐视频, I knew I wanted to continue that, so I joined a psychology lab in my freshman year.

听What kinds of research have you worked on at 可乐视频?
I鈥檝e been in Dr. [Laura] Reigada鈥檚 lab for three years now, and I鈥檓 currently working on my honors thesis there. I鈥檝e worked on both qualitative and quantitative projects. One of my major projects focused on HPV-associated cancers, where I helped analyze open-ended survey responses about people鈥檚 perceptions of risk and attitudes toward vaccination.

That experience connected me to the 可乐视频 Cancer Center (可乐视频CC-CURE), which is how I learned about the internship at Dana-Farber. It also made me realize I wanted to go deeper in cancer research and ideally interact more directly with patients or do lab-based work.

What drew you specifically to oncology?
It鈥檚 something I鈥檓 still exploring, but it鈥檚 definitely one of the specialties I鈥檓 most interested in. I鈥檝e had family members affected by cancer. One didn鈥檛 make it, and one did. Seeing both the impact of the disease and the long-term effects of treatment is something that has stayed with me. It made the field feel personal, and it鈥檚 part of why I want to explore it more deeply through research.

听What are you hoping to gain from your summer at Dana-Farber?
I鈥檓 really hoping to gain a more hands-on perspective on cancer research, whether that鈥檚 working in a lab or interacting more directly with patients in clinical research. Most of my experience so far has been survey-based, so I鈥檓 excited to expand into new methods and deepen my understanding of oncology as a field.

听The Garil internship has a powerful story behind it. What does it mean to you to be selected?
It means a lot. Knowing that this opportunity exists because of a family who turned personal loss into something that helps students is really inspiring. It motivates me to make the most of the experience and to contribute meaningfully to the work I鈥檒l be doing.

Outside the lab, you鈥檝e also been deeply involved in campus life, especially dance. Tell us about that.
Dance has been a huge part of my life since I was three or four. At 可乐视频, I joined Macaulay鈥檚 competitive dance team, and it鈥檚 been one of my favorite experiences. We practice a lot, and it鈥檚 taught me time management and given me a creative outlet outside of STEM.

I鈥檝e also been involved in tutoring, peer mentoring, and clubs like SPARK, where we worked with elementary school students on leadership and anti-bullying activities. Those experiences are really meaningful to me because they connect back to community and education.

听Looking ahead, what are your long-term goals?
I鈥檒l be continuing on to medical school through the B.A-/M.D. program, and I鈥檓 definitely interested in oncology, though I鈥檓 keeping an open mind. I鈥檓 also really interested in philosophy and ethics. I鈥檓 even thinking about possibly pursuing a master鈥檚 in that area one day. I think ethics plays such an important role in medicine, and I鈥檇 love to integrate that into my career.

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We spoke with him about filmmaking, finding his audience, and what’s next.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a filmmaker?

I got interested in filmmaking around 2014, when YouTube creators were really starting to take off. Seeing young people making videos and building careers from them inspired me. I started doing media work at my family’s church, handling cameras and visuals, and that gave me my first hands-on experience.

I went to high school at the Academy for Careers in Television and Film in Long Island City. That gave me a foundation in filmmaking.

What was your experience like in the film program here?听

It definitely shaped me. This program is very rooted in traditional filmmaking, which is not my style. Honestly, as a Black filmmaker with a very different style and perspective, there were moments when people didn’t fully understand what I was trying to do.

At the same time, there were some key people in the department who always encouraged me to pursue my vision. There were a lot of experiences that taught me independence, in a good way. I learned how to trust my own voice and move forward even when not everyone saw the vision. That’s a lesson I’ll carry for the rest of my career.

Who were the key people who had a particularly positive impact on you?

[Professor] Mustapha Khan and Judith Kenny 鈥�13, [the department鈥檚 director of academic affairs and operations], were huge influences.

Professor Khan immediately understood what I was trying to accomplish with Almond Avenue. He told me, “This seems exactly like you,” and he encouraged me to lean into the project.

Judith helped me think about my motivations as an artist. She challenged me to create from a place of purpose rather than simply trying to prove people wrong. That advice really stuck with me.

Tell us about Almond Avenue. Where did the idea come from?

The concept started with an old Dave Chappelle joke about how strange Sesame Street would be if it were an actual neighborhood. I heard it years ago and couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Eventually, I developed my own version of that idea. In my world, familiar archetypes become exaggerated adult characters. It’s a comedy, but it’s also a commentary on the environments and personalities we encounter in everyday life.

You produced the project independently. How did you make it happen?

Very carefully and very cheaply.

My sister works in production. She helped me think through the logistics. My former high school also loaned me equipment for much of the shoot, which was a huge help.

I own a photography and videography business, so I used money from that to purchase my own camera, sound equipment, and editing setup. In total, the project cost about $700 to produce. I’ve since made that money back through merchandise sales connected to the project, which was amazing.

How have audiences responded?

Better than I could have imagined.

I’ve screened the film several times in front of completely different audiences, including at 可乐视频, at my high school, and in the community. The reactions have been very positive. People laugh, engage with the characters, and want to know what happens next.

The first public screening was especially emotional for me. Honestly, it felt more like my graduation than graduation itself. Seeing people connect with something that started as an idea in my head was surreal.

What’s next for Almond Avenue?

Right now, is out, and I’m working on Episode 2. The long-term plan is six episodes, although I’d love for a studio or production company to become interested before then.

I’m also using social media heavily, releasing short commercials, skits, and promotional content between episodes. That strategy has helped me build an audience and keep people engaged with the world of the show.

I鈥檝e been talking to a lot of people in the industry, too. The actor who plays the main character in the show happened to be at an event with [actor and comedian] Craig Robinson. He ended up introducing me to him. I gave him my 30-second quick pitch, and he put me in touch with his agent at 3 Arts Entertainment, which is a huge player in the industry. So, we鈥檙e in talks. I鈥檓 not saying they鈥檙e going to pick it up, but they鈥檙e looking at it, which is very exciting for me.

That鈥檚 huge! Good luck. What are your ultimate goals as a filmmaker?

I want to be an independent filmmaker with real recognition and impact.

I admire creators who have built their own platforms rather than waiting for someone to give them permission. That’s the path I’m trying to follow. Whether I’m making films, creating new stories, or mentoring future artists, storytelling will always be at the center of what I do.

At the end of the day, I want to create work that connects with people. That’s the goal.

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D鈥橭razio鈥檚 new memoir, A Shot in the Dark (Blackstone Publishing, 2025), traces his journey from growing up in Brooklyn to working at the top of his profession in the fashion field. Here, D鈥橭razio reflects on his early influences, his evolution as a photographer, and the experiences that have shaped his perspective and his art.

Photographer Sante D’Orazio’s memoir of life in high fashion and Hollywood.

You grew up in Brooklyn.

I was raised in Flatbush and went to Erasmus Hall High School. The area is now called Kensington, but back then it was just Flatbush to me. I still have family there, though most have moved away.

In your memoir, you say you got into photography early because of a man who lived around the corner.

I didn鈥檛 know much about him except his name鈥擬r. [Lou] Bernstein鈥攁nd that he lived around the corner from me when I was about 10. He became my mentor in photography and life. He鈥檇 been part of the old New York Photo League, with photographers like Robert Frank, Walker Evans, Weegee, and Berenice Abbott. He never worked commercially; he shot on weekends and worked at Willoughby Peerless, the equivalent today of B&H Photo.

Six-year-old Sante D’Orazio playing stickball in his Brooklyn neighborhood.

You started at a junior college and then transferred to 可乐视频.

After my father passed away, I went into survival mode. I studied commercial art at a New York Community College, thinking I might become an art director. I hated it. I was already painting nudes at the Brooklyn Museum and the Art Students League, so I transferred after researching the 可乐视频 faculty. was teaching there, he was a leading Realist painter concentrating on the nude. I also discovered how strong the faculty was in the fine arts and the humanities. I鈥檓 grateful I wasn鈥檛 at a full-time art school; the humanities helped round out my aesthetic education through literature, philosophy, history, and widened my scope of knowledge of the Arts. And I loved the campus.

Your cousin, who was a hairdresser, suggested you get into fashion photography.

I went into the city with my portfolio鈥攏o appointments, no experience. I tracked down Avedon, Penn, Scavullo. I didn鈥檛 get past the front desk at Avedon鈥檚. Penn didn鈥檛 open the door. Scavullo told me to get out. I eventually got a job as a second assistant, doing gofer work and building a portfolio.

Model Helena Christensen in Leningrad for British Vogue, 1990

You eventually made your way to Milan.

Italian Vogue was down the street from my hotel. I brought my portfolio expecting rejection. Instead, they gave me a two page-spread assignment of 鈥淏eauty鈥� nudes, which translates to skincare, makeup, and fragrance. I was 25.

What was it like photographing the supermodels and rock stars of the 1980s and 1990s?

There was a whole new zeitgeist in the 80s. I had my first assignment with Italian Vogue, soon after my first Vogue cover with German Vogue. In Rome, while shooting the collections, I met a 15-year-old Christy Turlington with her mom in the hallway of our hotel. I became friends with Cindy Crawford, Tatjana Patitz, and Stephanie Seymour before they became the new generation of superstars, they were the first to be termed supermodels. Our careers rose in parallel.

By the 1990s, Hollywood glamor had waned and needed revitalizing. Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts, and I brought glamour back to the movie industry through the magazine world. Once we put actresses like Michelle Pfeiffer and Kim Basinger on a Vogue cover, sales shot up, and fashion magazines shifted to celebrities.

Model Tatiana Patitiz on British Vogue

And famous people like Prince.

I took this assignment because it was Prince. I was early to the studio; Prince arrived early too, with fedora, makeup, and no entourage. Though the client hadn鈥檛 arrived, he asked if we could shoot. We finished in about 20 minutes. He left before the client showed up. They weren鈥檛 happy, but I was thrilled, we got some great shots.

You have an unnerving story about taking a photo of Mike Tyson with his tiger.

I went to shoot Mike at his home in Las Vegas for Esquire magazine. I was looking for a place to shoot; he directed me out to the backyard. What he didn鈥檛 tell me was that he had pet tigers!

Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, 1996

When I walked out, I thought a dog was running at me from behind鈥攊t was a tiger. It jumped on me. Mike came out laughing and said, 鈥淪he鈥檚 just a puppy.鈥� So I took it in stride and acted like it was nothing, though it wasn鈥檛 the case! I asked him to take off his shirt, and he started wrestling with the 200 lb. puppy. That鈥檚 the shot.

So you鈥檙e also a painter. How do your photography and painting practices relate?

I paint images on film that become small abstractions, scan and print them large, collage them, and paint over them. The mixed media feeds itself.

What do you think about art and artificial intelligence?

AI can only remix what it鈥檚 fed. It can鈥檛 produce the true idiosyncrasies that only the human mind can create. Perfection is machine-made and meaningless, soulless. That energy from hand to paper鈥擜I can鈥檛 replicate that.

There鈥檚 a growing interest among young people in film and analog processes. Have you seen that?

My son used to make fun of me for not understanding digital manuals. Now he asks me about film. I like that people are going back to handwriting and notebooks. I wrote my memoir by hand. I believe in that process, it extends your sensory perception.

What advice do you have for today鈥檚 young photographers and artists?

Know your history, or you鈥檒l copy people without realizing it. Have chutzpah鈥攌nock on doors. Show up, even if you鈥檙e mopping floors. That鈥檚 how artists always learned and grew, from the past, and the bottom up! Most of all take criticism, if you can鈥檛, you鈥檙e not ready.

Anything else you want students to know?

If you spend your time trying to satisfy the right and the left, you鈥檙e stuck in the middle鈥攖hat鈥檚 the definition of mediocre. Reach inside yourself, fail and get up again. Don鈥檛 be afraid of who you are, as long as it鈥檚 real to you. And study, always study. 可乐视频 is exceptional when it comes to the quality of education, it鈥檚 the best kept secret in the N.Y.C. school system. But then I鈥檓 biased鈥擨 have a real soft spot for my alma mater

The post A Life in Focus appeared first on 可乐视频.

鈥淭ake your time,鈥� one her peers yelled from the audience.

If the pause betrayed any nervousness around giving the student address in front of the boisterous crowd in the Claire Tow Theater, it quickly gave way to a fiery speech that struck a chord with the assembled.

Adversity? 鈥淪een it. Lived it. Felt it,鈥� she said defiantly, after invoking Langston Hughes and recounting a childhood that taught her that life won鈥檛 always look like what you expected.

鈥淥ur accomplishments,鈥� she told her fellow graduates, 鈥渓ive in every sacrifice, every setback, every reason we could have stopped, but didn鈥檛.鈥�

Chin-Phillips says she certainly had her share of challenges growing up between Brooklyn and Barbados. Born in the United States, her mother was deported when she was 6 years old, so she was raised mostly by aunts and other family members in New York while her mother stayed in Barbados.

As she prepares to apply for doctoral programs in occupational therapy, the transfer student talks about growing up apart from her nuclear family, learning that support would always show up when she needed it, and her gratitude for the community and mentors at 可乐视频 that reminded her of her worth.

What was your childhood like?

My family is from Barbados and Guyana, and I spent a lot of time going back and forth between the two places. Every summer, I was in Barbados almost immediately after school ended, and I鈥檇 come back right before the school year started again.

We kept in touch however we could鈥攍ots of Skype calls, emails, all of that before FaceTime and texting were really a thing. It wasn鈥檛 easy, but it definitely taught me resilience and adaptability very early on.

What brought you to 可乐视频?

可乐视频 actually wasn鈥檛 my first stop. I originally attended LIU Brooklyn as a health science major. Eventually, I realized I wanted to pursue a path connected to speech pathology, so I decided to transfer. A family friend encouraged me to apply to 可乐视频.

You鈥檙e now majoring in linguistics with a minor in communicative sciences and disorders.

Linguistics overlaps a lot with CSD, especially when it comes to language development and communication. I believe courses like these should be required for people studying education, literacy, sociology, and child development because language impacts everything.

What opportunities have stood out to you during your time at 可乐视频?

One of the biggest was participating in the Mellon Undergraduate Transfer Student Research Program with [Assistant] Professor Anne Fredrickson. My group researched how accredited colleges in New York prepare future speech-language pathologists to work with bilingual populations.

I really loved that experience because it combined research, language, and questions of equity and representation. It also gave me confidence in my own voice and perspective as someone who grew up between cultures.

I also received the Zicklin Scholars Degree Completion Grant, which was incredibly helpful during my academic journey.

Outside the classroom, what communities or organizations have been important to you?

A lot of my extracurricular involvement has centered around Black Faculty and Staff initiatives on campus. This past year, I became treasurer of the Black Solidarity Day Committee, which has been a really meaningful experience.

When I first transferred to 可乐视频, I didn鈥檛 know much about Black Solidarity Day or some of the history behind it. Through mentors, faculty, and staff members, I became more involved and started to understand how important community-building and cultural advocacy are on campus. That work really helped me feel connected here.

Looking ahead, what would your dream career look like?

I always struggle to answer that because I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 one perfect path for me yet. But I know that whatever I do, I want it to connect back to culture, community, and the Caribbean.

Anything involving the West Indies or Caribbean culture immediately interests me. I already do work with the West Indian American Day Carnival Association here in Brooklyn, and I love being part of spaces that celebrate where I come from.

At the end of the day, I think I just want a career where I can help people while still staying connected to my roots and my community.

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The glitch was fixed, and Khaimov was in. From day one, he knew he would be taking business classes, with the idea that an accounting degree could support a future career in law. But then he started an internship at PBS and became absorbed in his role working for an executive producer affiliated with the station. It was his first exposure to the inner workings of a professional accounting environment. 鈥淭he executive producer was working on a biographical piece for the network,鈥� says Khaimov. 鈥淲e interns were in the back office working on finances and tax-related items.鈥�

鈥淚t was pretty awesome going back and seeing people who had helped prepare me for my career, polishing my r茅sum茅 and interview style, among other things.鈥� Khaimov also received help through the Harvey L. Young 鈥�59 Family Scholarship in Accounting, graduating magna cum laude in 2006.

Today, Khaimov is a real estate tax partner at global accounting, tax, and advisory firm EisnerAmper. He also serves as a director-at-large for the 可乐视频 Alumni Association, regularly returning to speak with students and offer the same kind of guidance he once sought.

When asked what advice he gives prospective business students, he doesn鈥檛 hesitate. 鈥淗ard work matters. Proactiveness matters even more,鈥� says Khaimov. He stresses that, especially in accounting, what students learn in class truly follows them into their careers. He also says that employers can teach technical details, 鈥渂ut they can鈥檛 teach work ethic or initiative.鈥� Those qualities, which he sees consistently in 可乐视频 students, are what set them apart.

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Now, just over a year into his new role, Rodriguez is bringing new energy and vision to BLMI, a program he describes as 鈥渁 one-stop shop鈥� for students who need support, community, and a place to belong. The initiative provides personalized academic advisement, peer and faculty mentorship, career planning and leadership workshops, and prioritizes finding mentors that its mostly black and brown student population can relate to. (The program is open to students of all races and genders.)

Rodriguez talks about his path, the challenges students face, and what it means to build a space where students feel like they鈥檙e home.

You鈥檝e had a remarkable journey. Can you share a bit about your background and how it shaped your work today?

听I was born in Puerto Rico and came to New York when I was nine鈥攐riginally just for vacation. But my mom decided to stay, and we ended up navigating some tough times, including homelessness and eventually foster care. I lived in public housing and then with foster families. That experience shaped everything. I always wanted to be a doctor, and I pursued that dream all the way to medical school. But due to financial issues鈥攎y loan was canceled鈥擨 couldn鈥檛 complete it. That鈥檚 when I found myself in education, working with foster youth, and realized this was my calling.

What drew you to BLMI and 可乐视频?

Honestly, it felt like destiny. Through my master鈥檚 program in higher education, I focused on men of color in STEM. When I saw the opportunity at BLMI, it aligned perfectly. What impressed me most was the legacy鈥攆ormer students returning as staff, alumni staying involved. That speaks volumes about the impact of the program. It鈥檚 not just a student initiative, it鈥檚 a community.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see students facing, and how is BLMI addressing them?

听Resource gaps are a major issue鈥攖ransportation, housing, food insecurity, tuition. We鈥檝e had students come from programs where they received MetroCards, and suddenly they鈥檙e here without that support. We鈥檙e working to build emergency funds, scholarships, and partnerships to help fill those gaps. We also sent students abroad this summer鈥攖wo to Japan, one to Spain鈥攂ut rising costs meant we could only send three instead of six. We want to do more.

What鈥檚 your vision for BLMI moving forward?

听I want BLMI to be a true one-stop shop for students. We鈥檙e implementing student success plans that include academic, career, and social-emotional components. We鈥檙e using tools like Navigate to help students track their progress and goals. My background in ASAP taught me the value of intrusive advisement鈥攃hecking in regularly, using data to identify roadblocks, and creating targeted support. We鈥檙e also building stronger ties with other campus programs and departments to ensure students are connected across the board.

What has surprised you most since joining 可乐视频?

The level of collaboration. I鈥檝e worked in different higher ed spaces, and it鈥檚 rare to see such strong partnerships across departments鈥�Africana Studies, Sociology, LGBTQ+ Resource Center, Women鈥檚 Center, ISSO. Everyone is invested in student success. We had a summer institute where staff, faculty, and alumni all came together to engage new students. That kind of unity is powerful.

What鈥檚 the vibe like in the BLMI space?

It鈥檚 home. Students walk by and hear conversations in Spanish, see people who look like them, smell jerk chicken鈥攊t鈥檚 familiar, comforting. I had two Latino students stop by and say, 鈥淵ou guys are speaking Spanish in there?鈥� That sense of belonging is everything. It鈥檚 not just about programming; it鈥檚 about creating a space where students feel seen and valued.

If resources weren鈥檛 an issue, what鈥檚 your dream for BLMI?

听I鈥檇 love to create dedicated internships for our students鈥攖ailored to their majors, with alumni mentors and networking opportunities. We took students to a Latino leadership conference in New Jersey, and it was transformative. Imagine if we could send them to national conferences in Seattle or California. I鈥檇 also love to take students suit shopping before galas or professional events. We鈥檝e had to rely on donations, but how amazing would it be to say, 鈥淟et鈥檚 go to Men鈥檚 Warehouse together鈥�?

What impresses you most about 可乐视频 students?

听Their talent and drive. I sit down with students for success planning, and they鈥檙e already building portfolios, launching businesses, developing software. They鈥檙e not waiting for permission鈥攖hey鈥檙e doing it. We just need to make sure the system isn鈥檛 getting in their way. If we鈥檙e not ready to support them, we鈥檙e the barrier.

Outside of work, what keeps you grounded?

听I鈥檓 a father of two鈥攁 15-year-old son and a two-year old daughter. We鈥檙e big on road trips and hiking. Every Father鈥檚 Day, my son and I go camping. It鈥檚 our tradition. We鈥檝e hiked in New York, Vermont, Maine, even Costa Rica. It鈥檚 how we stay connected and recharge.

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Pursuing a business administration degree in finance, Edwards juggled one or two classes while working full-time, taking semesters off to meet financial demands. She says visits to the Student Activities, Involvement, and Leadership (SAIL) Center helped her with a tight-knit staff that included Afro-Caribbean women who understood her experiences and championed her goals. They guided her through funding processes for the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) club, for which she was president, and encouraged her to stay involved in campus activities. 鈥淭he women at SAIL kept me focused,鈥� says Edwards. 鈥淚 could tell everyone there wanted the best for me. They saw that I was definitely driven and had tenacity. They made themselves available for me any time I needed guidance or had questions.鈥�

In addition to SAIL, Edwards found support from staff and counselors at the Magner Career Center. She shared that they were instrumental in helping her obtain internships that aligned with her career goals. Her first was at Playfair Planning, an independent financial firm based in Brooklyn that provides holistic financial planning. She then interned at the NYC Small Business Resource Network run by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. Bloomberg L.P. came next鈥攁n internship that led directly to a full-time offer once she graduated. Edwards worked in financial products, analytics, and sales while there, and also served as a campus ambassador, helping to recruit fellow 可乐视频 students for internships at Bloomberg.

A stint in the Consumer Insight and Marketing Department at Black Entertainment Television (BET) Media Group rounded out Edwards鈥� internship portfolio before she joined Bloomberg full time in June 2019. Most of her internships would not have been possible without stipends鈥攁 Magner Career Center stipend, a Robert J. Sisti Memorial Internship (overseen by the 可乐视频 Foundation)鈥攁nd scholarships from the New York chapter of and the CUNY Mexican Studies Institute, the latter of which paid for Edwards鈥� final year of college.

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Most recently, Delamater co-authored (with Michael Domjan) an undergraduate textbook, The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning, and he concluded his tenure as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, where he helped shape the direction of the field by guiding rigorous, theory-driven empirical research to publication. Delamater reflected on his scientific journey, his perspective on the evolution of animal learning research, and the insights gained from years at the editorial helm of one of his discipline鈥檚 leading journals.

You started at 可乐视频 in 1994. What drew you to teaching psychology here?

I saw in 可乐视频 opportunities to develop a productive research program along with highly motivated students who possess the curiosity and eagerness to learn more about how the world works. In addition, I was attracted to the Psychology Department because it housed several key senior faculty members who not only expressed the types of academic values that I shared but who also had already developed inspiring careers of their own. I knew there was a great deal I could learn from each of them.

Your work has long combined traditional behaviorist methods with more recent neurobiological tools and computational modeling approaches to understanding basic learning processes. How has your thinking about what animals 鈥渒now鈥� or represent internally changed over the course of your career?

I鈥檝e always found the question of knowledge representation a fascinating one to study scientifically. My adventure began with a simple question about how anticipations might influence perceptual experiences. If I鈥檓 thinking about something very sweet, for example, does that thought of sweetness make me perceive the beverage I happen to be consuming in the moment as being sweeter than it really is? There is plenty of evidence in nonhumans and humans alike that the answer to this question is yes. So, how does that work?

When I first came to 可乐视频, I approached this sort of question at a purely psychological level of analysis. When something makes us 鈥渢hink鈥� of sweetness, for instance, the simple answer is that we imagine something sweet and that activates in the mind鈥檚 eye some incipient perceptual representation of the thing that we previously experienced as being sweet. Thoughts can activate perceptual representations.

Over the course of my career, I have become increasingly interested in understanding neurobiological mechanisms of basic learning processes. We now have tools that allow us to measure neural activity patterns in various brain regions when we instruct a rodent to anticipate sugar water. We can then ask whether that pattern of activity resembles what occurs when the sugar water is itself presented.

But my interest in knowledge representation goes beyond neural activity patterns with sweet rewards. We also try to devise fairly simple neural network models that simulate how a brain can learn to anticipate something and how complexities in that network might give rise to more sophisticated, context-specific forms of knowledge (e.g., the word 鈥渁pple鈥� means one thing when we think about food, but something quite different when we think about the classic rock band The Beatles and Apple Corps.). How does the brain encode context-dependent forms of knowledge? We try to approach these questions at multiple levels of analysis鈥攆rom neurons to behavior to perceptions to computational systems.

Comparative psychology asks us to look across species to understand learning and behavior. What have nonhuman animals taught you that you think is especially relevant to understanding human cognition?

Psychologists have long understood that very simple nonlinguistic processes鈥攐nes we are often unaware of鈥攃an go a long way toward explaining how our minds work. Humans use language to great effect, but research has shown time and again that humans are notoriously bad at explaining the origins of their own thoughts, memories, feelings, and emotions. Most likely, a host of underlying neurobiological and psychological processes are at work that are opaque to conscious awareness.

More concretely, someone who has experienced something extremely traumatic may partly re-experience that trauma when exposed to some triggering event in their environment. It could be obvious or subtle, but in both cases the underlying mechanism is very likely associative in origin, with accompanying neurobiological processes at work.

For me it鈥檚 an extremely interesting question to ask how far a simple associative neurobiological process can go in explaining seemingly complex forms of cognition. One of my current hobbies is to ask how a brain that consists of neurons that simply excite or inhibit one another can produce an ordered representation of number. Our brains do encode quantity, but it is not at all clear how. That question relates to another issue I am deeply interested in鈥攖he representation of time. It鈥檚 clear to me that language is not necessary for either of these types of cognition.

During your tenure as editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, what shifts or emerging trends in the field stood out to you most?

My field developed out of an interest in studying the evolution of mind鈥攈ow various cognitive faculties may have emerged in different species throughout the animal kingdom. Progress has been complicated by our increasing appreciation of how difficult it is to measure underlying psychological and neurobiological mechanisms in a single species, let alone in many different ones. The field has developed increasingly sophisticated behavioral and neurobiological tools to uncover those mechanisms, and that gives me hope that significant progress will continue.

Beyond that, there is certainly more application of computational modeling to assist us in understanding how complex interacting systems like the brain explain behavioral and psychological phenomena. When the AI movement began in my field in the 1980s, I saw promise in early connectionist network approaches. After a period of enthusiasm, interest waned. But more recent successes in AI have shown scientists the power of so-called deep learning systems in explaining aspects of thought.

Some researchers are now using AI systems as new types of 鈥減articipants鈥� in experiments to see if those systems learn tasks in ways similar to humans and other animals. This research is in its infancy, but researchers are discovering that various forms of AI learn quite differently than humans. That means there needs to be more interaction among psychologists, neuroscientists, and computer scientists in devising biologically plausible systems. Currently, AI is largely produced through engineering approaches aimed at accomplishing functional tasks. Its true power may be realized when we can use these tools as reasonable models of how the mind and brain actually work. Then, many interesting and relevant applications may become possible.

For students at 可乐视频 who are interested in research careers, what questions about learning and cognition do you think are most exciting and relevant today?

I鈥檝e always thought the field has been dominated by three basic questions: (1) What are the conditions necessary and sufficient for learning to take place? (2) What is the underlying content of that learning? and (3) How does that learning become translated into observable performance?

The first question is intensively studied in neuroscience. It attempts to identify the rules by which new connections between neurons get established鈥攖hat is, what governs neuroplasticity in the brain.

The second question attempts to understand what aspects of the world become encoded in the brain as we learn. For example, sometimes behavior is automatic and habitual, and sometimes it is deliberate and goal-directed. These forms of behavioral control reflect distinct representational systems, and important questions concern how those systems interact to influence response choices. Moreover, other research increasingly points to how nonhuman animals acquire abstract representations of time, number, categorical information, and even other organisms and oneself. I expect these studies to continue to yield interesting discoveries.

Finally, the third question concerns how we use information encoded by the brain. This is closely related to decision-making鈥攗ncovering the rules we use in choice situations. Sometimes we 鈥渒now鈥� something is true but decide not to act on that knowledge. There are many interesting questions that arise from problems like that.

Overall, my advice to a student interested in research would be to learn enough about a discipline to identify a basic question that excites them, and then learn about the tools available to study that question. As students become more familiar with how the scientific process works, whether they answer their question definitively or not, this can lead to real insights, enthusiasm, and possibly a research career.

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