Christine is a creative innovator working to educate young people and reshape national conversations about the arts and humanities by writing articles, books, and guide books for the next generation. She believes that social transformation happens by building partnerships, including diverse voices, and empowering everyone. Most importantly, she believes in the need for more creative and humanistic approaches and voices to build a more purposeful tomorrow.
In Students Call for Social Change, Christine empowers young people to express what’s on their mind and call the public to action. Through a series of courses at Union College and through independent projects, participants write and publish blogs and books to inspire the change they wish to see in their world. They publish these books on Amazon and donate all proceeds to an after-school tutoring program for kids. To reframe our national dialogues, Christine edited a book that seeks to shift our thinking about the crisis in the arts and humanities to one that bespeaks of rise and renaissance. In How Extraordinary Partnerships: How the Arts and Humanities are Transforming America, the personal accounts of cultural community leaders, artists, educators, scholars and business professionals from all fields and disciplines enter into dialogue to showcase how deeply social and responsible transformations are being driven in partnership with the arts and humanities. In addition, and since most publications in defense of the arts and humanities today are not reaching or speaking to the needs of the next generation of students, Christine is designing an advice guide for and, most importantly, by students and young professionals who want to understand why they should pursue a degree in the arts and humanities. Through their voices, Arts & Humanities: Don' Leave College Without Them addresses what the next generation needs to know now about where, why and how the arts and humanities can play a foundational and transformative role in their lives and careers. Christine continues to build The Arts & Humanities in the 21st Century Workplace webpage and to work with current college students to capture new and exciting voices and visions to creatively redirect and reshape the future of higher education. |
Who am I ?
I am a parent, partner and professor who believes in the importance of empowering our next generation. What do I do? I advocate for the Liberal Arts and the Humanities among the next generation of youth, their parents, and the people and organizations that influence their college decisions. What problem am I trying to solve? Despite an ever-increasing need and the existence of exciting career opportunities, the Liberal Arts and the Humanities get a bad rap, and as a result fewer kids are enrolling in these programs. What is my solution? I make a strong case for the role and value of the Arts and the Humanities across all fields and disciplines. I engage and empower students and young professionals to share their understanding of what the arts and humanities are and how they can lead to both profitable and purposeful careers. I build bridges between professional and academic communities to enhance communication and share mutually beneficial ideas and solutions. What makes my work different? Like many, I want to show students and parents the wondrous world of the arts and humanities and the cross-disciplinary opportunities they afford. But I do so with an eye toward the future and the needs of the future workforce. I also include the voices and visions of the next generation through a holistic approach to our work-lives and to the building of diverse and inclusive communities. Why do I do what I do? Because I had wanted to go to art school when I was young. I had no mentor, no money, no understanding of what I could do with a degree in the arts. So I took a different path. I don’t want any other kid not to be able to follow their passion. Instead, I want to demonstrate, through concrete case studies, how passions can turn into creative careers. And because I believe that this world of ours needs the kind of social innovation that the Arts and Humanities afford. ---- |