Panhia Lee

Historic Bryant Builds initiative culminates with two cornerstone projects

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Two premier projects of the historic Bryant Builds initiative, which has already generated record philanthropic support and resulted in the completion of more than 250,000 square feet of new facilities, will be celebrated and dedicated on September 23-24, Bryant’s homecoming weekend. Under the leadership of Bryant President Ronald K. Machtley, in his 21st year at the University, Bryant Builds is the largest and most transformative facilities initiative since Bryant’s move from Providence to Smithfield 45 years ago. The construction is made possible by unprecedented levels of philanthropic support for Bryant’s capital campaign, Expanding the World of Opportunity: The Campaign for Bryant’s Bold Future, which has already raised more than $62 million towards the campaign’s $75 million goal.

Answering the call for innovative leaders prepared with skills essential for the 21 st century, Bryant will unveil its trailblazing Academic Innovation Center on September 23, 2016, at 1 p.m. The grand opening will feature demonstrations of innovative teaching styles and tours of the facility.

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Shifting Our Collective Consciousness

The last time newly hired Associate Professor of Sculpture Lisi Raskin was as disturbed by the political landscape as she is now was when she was a kid growing up during the Reagan/Cold War era. Her work has been focused on fears of war and terrorism since the World Trade Towers collapsed under attack on 9/11 – soon after she moved to New York – and she continues to turn to her artistic practice to “figure out a creative way through,” noting that “performance and objects are good outlets.”

For 10 years Raskin created large-scale architectural installations referencing the Cold War-era fallout shelters, bunkers and missile silos she visited “on a magic carpet ride” starting in 2003. “That Cold War militarized palette is everywhere,” she says. But once she began questioning the purpose of this work several years ago, she “lost the desire to create things [she] didn’t want to see in the world.”

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A summer of science thanks to undergraduate research fellowships

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Ekta Chugh ’19, a biology and accounting major who hopes to become a cardiothoracic surgeon, recently discussed some of the findings of her research project made possible through the R.I. Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. (Photo courtesy of RI EPSCoR)

Six Bryant students spent their summer immersed in projects ranging from studying nanoparticles that can cause brain tumors to exploring microbial communities in estuaries as part of the Rhode Island Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. This experience conducting methodical and intensified research breeds a deeper involvement in the science, and allows students to delve into expansive research projects.

“This is truly graduate-level research” that not many undergraduates get to experience, says Associate Professor of Science and Technology Christopher Reid, Ph.D.

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Creating Healthy Narratives

At RISD Illustration major Yuko Okabe 17 IL has learned that being a good illustrator is not just about developing and expressing your own voice, it’s about reaching out and communicating with others. As a summer Maharam STEAM Fellow, she’s using her character development talents to reach kids at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) who are dealing with mental health issues such as anxiety and hyperactivity.

“Children respond to stories,” Okabe points out. “The project I’m working on uses storytelling to help psychotherapists and other caregivers communicate with kids and teach them different skills related to executive function and other cognitive behaviors.”

Okabe has teamed up with game developers at Neuro’motion, a startup that works closely with clinicians in BCH’s Department of Psychiatry, to contribute to a biofeedback game for children aged 6–12 that helps them regulate intense emotions via therapeutic coping skills. When young players follow the game’s narrative, their heartrates are monitored as they face increasingly difficult challenges. They can see how high their heartrate is rising by looking at a gauge on the screen and can only move up to the next level by staying calm enough to keep their heartrate below a certain number.

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