HASTAC Scholars at SHU change the way science, humanities interface

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — For the first time ever, three Seton Hall students have been selected to join the Class of 2017-2019 in the HASTAC Scholars fellowship program: Luis Raul Alicea of Jersey City, Robert A. Del Mauro of Montville and Ashley Wilson of Parsippany. Seton Hall joins the ranks of more than 200 colleges and universities around the world as an institutional member of the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory community.

HASTAC is an international and interdisciplinary community of artists, scientists, social scientists and technologists who are exploring new methods of teaching and learning. Seton Hall’s HASTAC scholars are receiving both technical and monetary assistance from the university to ensure their success.

Alicea, a Ph.D. candidate in organic chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, is building on his existing relationship as an instructor with Upward Bound to implement a project that will fuse hip-hop music and science. He is working in collaboration with his adviser, Cecilia Marzabadi, chair of the department of chemistry and biochemistry.

“For me, the value of the HASTAC program is the opportunity to bring different disciplines – science, technology and, in this case, music -together,” Alicea said. “Scientists should learn from arts and humanities as well as science; everyone should learn from each other. HASTAC brings everyone to the table.”

Wilson returned to Seton Hall after receiving her undergraduate degree in art, design and interactive multimedia to pursue a master’s degree in strategic communications in the College of Communication and the Arts. Her research project focuses on how virtual reality can change the way people in different cultures view their perceptions of others. Participants will better understand diversity and privilege while also developing more empathy. Wilson has teamed up with Renee Robinson, professor of communication, to implement this project.

“Asking Renee Robinson to be my adviser in this process was a no-brainer,” Wilson said. “She is extremely knowledgeable in computer-mediated communication and she inspired me to think outside of the box for this project. She urged me to link my personal interests and talents into an academically stimulating direction for research.”

Wilson is passionate about diversity and inclusion and is looking forward to utilizing her HASTAC Scholars research project to further promote diversity on Seton Hall’s campus.

“I want to help others understand the changes they can make in themselves to be more inclusive,” Wilson said. “Rather than tell them what to do I want to make sure they can see it and experience it for themselves.”

Only 11 percent of the HASTAC Scholars Class of 2017-2019 are undergraduates, including Del Mauro, a senior economics major in the College of Arts and Sciences. Del Mauro is spending his final semester at Seton Hall preparing his project, which focuses on oral histories.

Del Mauro is recording a series of podcasts about his family’s oral history and is creating a website to post the podcasts. He will then utilize the extensive HASTAC network to circulate the website and invite listeners to comment on his podcasts or to share their own oral histories. As he collects more stories, he will organize them into different themes. The point, he said, “is not to separate the storytellers by heritage or ancestry but rather to emphasize how we are all human and to promote a concept of inclusivity.”

Del Mauro asked Ki Joo “KC” Choi, chair of the department of religion, to advise his research and construction of his stories.

“Since religious identity is so central to the stories I want to tell — and likely the stories others will want to tell as well — I wanted to work with an adviser who had experience with religion, a topic I have not had the opportunity to study in depth,” Del Mauro said.

To construct his website, Del Mauro has partnered with Space 154, Seton Hall’s on-campus digital creation space. The staff at Space 154, which supports active learning by providing an open and informal environment for students and faculty to explore 21st-century tools and technologies, is assisting Del Mauro with designing his website for this project.

The HASTAC scholars will premiere their research at an event on Wednesday, April 11, in Space 154 on the ground floor of the Walsh Library.

  Seton Hall University