Many Voices, One Call Podcast
What is Many Voices, One Call?
It is the podcast you did not know you wanted! It is a space for courageous, honest, open, and unscripted conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, teaching, learning, and all the other things that move us. It is where students, faculty, staff, leadership and community guests reinvent higher education one episode at a time.
See the transcript of Season 4, Episode 2
How are students processing the election? What do they expect and what do they need
from us - their educators, peers, and supporters? And how divided are we, really,
over politics? Are our divisions truly as deep as they might appear judged from social
media or from some of the political discourse in the nation? Or are we actually more
polarized emotionally, and much less polarized when it comes to issues?
Please join host Babette Faehmel, new student co-host Archer Abbott, and their guests,
to find out!
The guests in this episode are: Zoe Oxley, Professor of Political Science at Union
College, Marion Porterfield, Schenectady City Council President, Omar McGill, Schenectady
County Legislature, Caroline Buff, Academic Librarian and Information Literacy Expert,
and Sean Mullen, Counselor in the Office of Wellness and Support Services at SUNY
Schenectady. And most importantly, of course, our student contributors Cassie, Nadine,
and Dylan.
The views voiced on this episode reflect the lived experiences and uncensored opinions of the guests; they do not necessarily capture the full diversity of attitudes within a larger community, nor do they express an official view of SUNY Schenectady.
See the transcript of Season 4, Episode 1
Politics is not a topic that many Americans bring up voluntarily. According to the Pew Research Institute, 65% of survey participants stated they "always or often feel exhausted when thinking
about politics." More than half "feel angry,” only 10% feel "hopeful," and even fewer
(4%) are excited.“ With a national election barely a month away, we wanted to know
how our students experience the current climate. What do they see in politics? How
does it matter to their lives? Are they engaged? Do they think their peers are?
Please join host Dr. Babette Faehmel and guests for an energized and highly insightful
discussion of partisan polarization, misinformation, the role of social media in shaping
our politics, and of what we ourselves can do to be empowered civically literate participants
in political debates. The guests are: Sean Millington, Political Science Major, member
of the SUNY Student Assembly, and the President of the College Democrats* at SUNY
Albany; Daniel and Saeed with the SUNY Schenectady Student Government Association;
SUNY Schenectady students Nadine and Cesarina, and Rae Doyle, Professor of Communication
and Chairperson of the Academic Senate at SUNY Schenectady.
*We reached out to the Student Republicans at SUNY Albany as well but had not heard
back at the time of this recording.
Looking for reliable information on current events and election matters? Check out
these resources:
Retro Report
What they say about themselves:
“At a time when misinformation is rampant and there’s disagreement over objective
facts, our team of award-winning journalists and educators is creating trusted documentary
videos and classroom resources. Our work brings a greater understanding of current
events, fights misinformation and encourages inquiry.”
The Center for Artistic Activism
What they say about themselves:
“At the Center for Artistic Activism we help people use their creativity and culture
to effect power.”
U.S. Vote Foundation
What they say about themselves:
“Every Citizen Is a Voter. The foundation aims for every citizen to have open access
to voter information and the ability to easily engage in their democracy and civic
life with voting as a central action.
What they say about themselves:
Vote 411 is a “one-stop shop” for election-related information. It provides nonpartisan
information to the public with both general and state-specific information on many
aspects of the election process.
Ground News
What they say about themselves:
"Ground News was created to offer clarity in an increasingly chaotic media landscape.
Our vision is positive coexistence where cooperative, civil debate is the norm, media
is accountable, and critical thought is the baseline of our information consumption.
We’re on a mission to well inform the world by empowering readers to think freely
about the issues of our times."
The views voiced on this episode reflect the lived experiences and uncensored opinions of the guests; they do not necessarily capture the full diversity of attitudes within a larger community, nor do they express an official view of SUNY Schenectady.
Joining us for this conversation are TRIO Academic Learning Specialist Maura Davis, and the students Lonny Davenport (Communication Concentration), and Wesley Rush (Business Concentration).
Note to listeners: We originally expected to be joined by Kirk Winans, who teaches the course “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” at Hudson Valley Community College and who has extensive experience teaching foundational aspects of AI technology to non-specialists. Kirk was unable to join us due to family matters, but he reviewed the recorded episode and provided a guest commentary.
The views voiced on this episode reflect the lived experiences and uncensored opinions of the guests; they do not necessarily capture the full diversity of attitudes within a larger community, nor do they express an official view of SUNY Schenectady.
Please join student host Alexandre Lumbala for his first solo podcast moderation on these fascinating topics. Alexandre's partners in this discussion are SUNY Schenectady County Community College students Jennah Kegler, Amarianna Canteen, Victoria Morris, Sovereign Strickland, Emanuel Joseph, and Wesley Rush. They are joined by special guest of honor, President of the college Dr. Steady Moono.
The views voiced on this episode reflect the lived experiences and uncensored opinions of the guests; they do not necessarily capture the full diversity of attitudes within a larger community, nor do they express an official view of SUNY Schenectady.
See the transcript of Season 3, Episode 5
On October 7, the Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas (an acronym for the Arabic name of “Islamic Resistance Movement”) launched a brutal invasion of Israel. Attacking kibbutzim and other Israeli settlements, Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people, wounding thousands, and taking around 150 Jewish hostages. A day later, Israel attacked the Palestinian territory of Gaza with the goal of destroying Hamas. At the time of this writing, an estimate of 10,000 to 18,000 Palestinians have died, most of whom are reported as civilian deaths; medical care is at the brink of collapse, and food insecurity is rampant.
This conflict seems remote and not a natural fit for this podcast. Undeniably, however, it has entered our communities, classrooms, SUNY campuses, and other colleges nearby. Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Jewish students report experiencing hate speech, intimidation, harassment, and even assault. Both antisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise, tempers are flaring, biases spreading, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to have a dialogue across differences.
SUNY Schenectady County Community College is standing firmly against antisemitism, Islamophobia, and discrimination of any form, and for this episode, cohosts Alexandre Lumbala and Dr. Babette Faehmel took this statement to heart. We invited several guests who are all familiar with the region, to dialogue with us and each other and we are incredibly grateful for all of those who agreed, or who helped us find partners for this conversation.
Please join us for a difficult and painful, albeit sincere dialogue about historic hurts and present anguish – all in search of a just, dignified way forward. Our guests are Paula Weiss - co-founder and leader of the Children at the Well interfaith youth storytelling program and member of the Woodstock Jewish Congregation; Dr. Ahmad Abu-Hakmeh – a Muslim Palestinian American and member of the Greater Albany Muslim Community; Rabbi Matthew Cutler of the Congregation Gates of Heaven; and Cooper Patschureck – a student in SUNY Schenectady’s Communication Concentration and aspiring journalist.
We usually remove pauses from our recordings. For this episode, however, we decided to leave them in. We pause to listen and to process. In a conversation about a topic of this gravity, pauses are necessary and meaningful.
Please Note: This episode includes content that listeners might find distressing. If you or anyone around you experiences emotional distress while listening, please pause or stop and take care of yourself and your loved ones first. If you are a listener in the US, you can call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for support.
Want to find out more or get involved? The following organizations (which were mentioned in the podcast) consist of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis working together for a new future:
The views voiced on this episode reflect the lived experiences and uncensored opinions of the guests; they do not necessarily capture the full diversity of attitudes within a larger community, nor do they express an official view of SUNY Schenectady.
Since its days as a Dutch settlement in the midst of Mohawk country, Schenectady has been a place where different cultures met upon one another. One of the most recent examples for such a meeting of diverse peoples is the arrival of large numbers of Guyanese and Guyanese-Americans who moved here from either New York City's Richmond Hill district in Queens, or from Guyana itself, in the early 2000s.
But what do we actually know about our Guyanese neighbors? On this episode, co-hosts Alexandre Lumbala and Dr. Babette Faehmel are joined by SUNY Schenectady students Deviyani Singh, Varsha Gopilall, and Parsram Pernanand, and by SUNY Albany University's Dr. Alejandra Bronfman, Professor in the Department of Latin American, Caribbean & U.S. Latino Studies, to learn more. You are invited to join us in this conversation that at times took us into rather unexpected territory.
Please note: The views voiced on this episode reflect the lived experiences and uncensored opinions of the guests; they do not necessarily capture the full diversity of attitudes within a larger community, nor do they express an official view of SUNY Schenectady.
Want to learn more? Research on the Guyanese community in Schenectady is still rather scarce. But for one in-depth look at the impact of these communities on Schenectady and the Capital District, see Tyler Bellick; Michael Barton; Samantha Friedman; and Matthew Douglas, "Guyanese Immigration, Homeownership, and Crime in Schenectady, NY: 2000–2017. City & Community, October 08, 2022.
On this episode, new (!) student co-host Alexandre Lumbala and Dr. Babette Faehmel discuss the significance of A.I. for education with an impressive panel of guests! From SUNY Albany's AI+ Initiative, we are joined by Dr. George Berg, Associate Professor of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity; Dr. Justin Curry, Associate Professor of Math and Statistics; Dr. Alessandra Buccella, Assistant Professor of Philosophy; and Dr. Rukhsana Ahmed Associate Professor for Communication. In addition, we will hear from SUNY Schenectady's very own Professor of Cybersecurity Keion Clinton, and Director of Library Services, Jackie Keleher.
The recording of this episode was possible thanks to the School of Music’s - and in particular Sten Isachsen’s – continuing generous support with the technical details. Music students Luke Bremer, Jacob DeVoe, Jean-Vierre Williams-Burpee, Rowan Breen and Evan Curcio helped with editing, mixing, and recording. Heather Meaney, Karen Tanski, and Jessica McHugh Green deserve credit for promoting the podcast, and the SUNY Schenectady Foundation for its financial support. Last but not least, we want to thank Vice President of Academic Affairs Mark Meachem and College President Steady Moono for supporting our work.
See the transcript of Season 3, Episode 2
The recording and editing of the podcast was possible thanks to Sten Isachsen and the School of Music. A special thanks goes to Rowan Breen and Jean-Vierre Williams-Burpee for help with recording and editing of this episode. Further thanks go to the SUNY Schenectady Foundation for financial support, the ReaCh Initiative Leadership team, the Student Mentoring Program, the Student Government Association, and the Student Activities Advisor.
For tickets to the “March to End Fossil Fuel” and to learn more about the Capital Region Climate Network, go to https://www.nyclimate.org/capitalareaclimatenewtwork
To learn more about “New York Renews” – “a coalition of over 360 environmental, justice, faith, labor, and community groups … and the force behind the nation’s most progressive climate law,” go to: https://www.nyrenews.org/
To learn more about “Climate Can't Wait” – a “collaborative of organizations that have joined together to demand that the New York State legislature and the governor take urgent and bold action on climate,” go to: https://www.climatecantwait.org/
See the transcript of Season 3, Episode 1
For a couple of years now, legislators in a number of states have proposed - and at
times passed - legislation aimed at restricting what topics and subjects should be
allowed in K-12 history classes. Many of these efforts are aimed at controlling how
much students should be permitted to learn about so called “divisive concepts”: race/racism,
the history of sexuality, or LGBTQIA+ experiences. Recently, the state of Florida
attempted to extend these efforts to regulate academic freedom into higher education,
and although a federal appeals court, in March 2023, declared the "Stop W.O.K.E. Act"
unconstitutional, many educators and academic freedom advocates fear for the future
of honest classroom discussion and research.
For this first student-produced and moderated episode of Many Voices, One Call, history
concentration majors Grace, Alexa, Roman and Jessabelle interviewed educator and equity
advocate Thearse McCalmon, Professor of History Dr. Dean Bennett, SUNY Schenectady
student and former history teacher Joseph Berlant, as well as William Ernst and Michael
Asbury with the organization Braver Angels about what the current debate on teachable topics in history might mean for learning,
teaching, and academic speech.
The recording and editing of the podcast was possible thanks to Connor Raab and Sten Isachsen at the School of Music. Heather Meaney, Karen Tanski, and Jessica McHugh Green deserve credit for promoting the podcast. We are grateful for the SUNY Schenectady Foundation's continuing financial support. Further thanks go to the School of Music, the Division of Liberal Arts, and the REACH Initiative at SUNY Schenectady.
This has been a project for the course HIS 250-01: Topics in History: The American Revolution, at SUNY Schenectady (Spring 2023)
Podcast artwork created by Alexa Powers.