Intersections: The RIT Podcast

It all started in 1987 with a community project, a handful of faculty, and 37 students. Now, the RIT Big Shot is a larger campus tradition than anyone anticipated. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, get a glimpse of the history behind the RIT Big Shot, and a taste for the team’s future plans, in celebration of a new exhibit, RIT Big Shot: 35 Years of Painting with Light. Michael Peres, Gannett Chair in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences (SPAS), has worked on the Big...

When people think of printing, they think of copiers, toners or pamphlets, but the print industry is growing and new technologies are impacting how products are developed and printed. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, alumna Stephanie Fallon, management, publishing leader at Wayfair, talks to Cecilia Savka and Emi Knape, undergraduate students in the Graphic Media Science and Technology Program about creativity, learning to be a “jack of all graphic trades” and the skills...

Performing arts at RIT offer students a unique opportunity to pursue their passions of performing, while earning a technical college degree. In July 2022, RIT opens a new School of Performing Arts to offer additional creative opportunities for thousands of students who wish to pursue their passions in performance while majoring in a range of other fields. The school’s first director, Erica Haskell, has been named following a nationwide search. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT...

RIT is a global university. And this includes in the heart of Europe – home to RIT Croatia. RIT Croatia has locations in the capital city of Zagreb and the historic coastal city of Dubrovnik. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, RIT Croatia president and dean Don Hudspeth talks with Bob Finnerty, RIT’s associate vice president of communications, to discuss the 25th anniversary of RIT’s presence in Croatia and the opportunities that exist with its strategic location in central...

In virtually every art course and studio environment at RIT, technology is integral to the delivery of content and production of work. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Elizabeth Kronfield, director of the School of Art and School for American Crafts, and Abigail Benkovich, a second-year MFA metals and jewelry design graduate student, discuss the university’s never-ending focus on intersecting technology, art, and design, and how RIT is in a unique position to blur the line...

RIT is a global university. And that includes the United Arab Emirates, which is home to RIT Dubai. A newly-built campus, located in the Dubai Silicon Oasis, recently opened featuring high-tech learning, research, and spaces for collaborative innovation. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, RIT Dubai President Yousef Al-Assaf speaks with Bob Finnerty, RIT’s associate vice president of communications, to discuss the new campus and the vision for RIT Dubai in this emerging part...

In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast we meet Jackie Nicholson, who became just the fifth athletic director in RIT's history last summer, and the first woman to ever hold the position. Listen in as she talks with Lauren Zeglen, co-captain of RIT's women’s soccer team and president of the university’s Student Athlete Advisory Council(SAAC) about the future of RIT Athletics, the experience of student athletes on campus and the role of sports in creating a more equitable university....

In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast we hear from Jill Bradbury, chair of the Department of Performing Arts in RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Andy Head, assistant professor in the Department of Performing Arts in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, as they discuss what the recent collaboration between the theater departments of NTID and CLA will mean, including more inclusive and accessible theater experiences for audience members with varying disabilities. Read...

RIT is diversifying its faculty in many ways, and the Future Faculty Career Exploration Program is one of the most important avenues for doing so. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Katrina Overby assistant professor in RIT’s School of Communication and a past participant in the program, talks with Donathan Brown, assistant provost and assistant vice president for faculty diversity and recruitment, about why the program is seen as a model nationally in launching the careers...

RIT Space Exploration, or RIT SPEX, gives students hands-on experience on projects in the growing space industry. Their missions range from designing CubeSats to building model rovers and using drone technology for imaging. In this edition of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, current student leader Ryan Brown talks with RIT SPEX alumni Evan Putnam and Amber Dubill, who took their experiences to industry leaders Raytheon Intelligence and Space, and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Read...

Complex manufacturing processes of semiconductors and growing demands along the global supply chain for computer chips is impacting numerous industries—from defense and intelligence to consumer electronics and the Internet of Things. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Robert Pearson, professor of microelectronic engineering, and Steven Carnovale, assistant professor of supply chain management, discuss how the semiconductor supply chain has been disrupted and provide insights...

Contentious battles are often fought over the dinner table around what and how much a child should eat. RIT researcher Barbara Lohse, head of the RIT Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition, and colleague Ellyn Satter, have rigorously tested and validated a common-sense approach used by pediatricians, nutritionists, social workers, and child psychologists to identify and prevent nutrition risk in children. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, they discuss their research that has...

New restrictive voting laws in states across the country present obstacles to the polls via voter ID laws, voter role purges, and poll closures. The collective impact on American citizens’ right to vote follows the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment and women’s suffrage. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Nickesia Gordon, associate professor in the School of Communication at RIT, and 2021 criminal justice alumna Trinity McFadden, explore the convergence of race,...

Design must play a critical role as society faces difficult discussions and works to create a new balance in a troubled world. In this episode of Intersections: the RIT Podcast, Josh Owen, director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT, and 2006 industrial design alumnus Seth Eshelman, founder of sustainable design firm Staach, discuss their Metaproject collaboration. In the collaboration, students have designed objects, which in their own unique ways, deploy educational content...

It’s been quite the ride for RIT’s Theme Park Enthusiasts. The club started as a casual group of roller coaster fanatics. Today, club members have won national design competitions and have found co-ops and jobs in the growing field of theme park entertainment. In this episode of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Travis Faircloth, a current student and club leader, talks to RIT alumnus and former member Robert Cybulski, CAE Analyst at Roush Industries, and Michael Deneau, vice president of...

Anticipating rapid changes in the workplace—further accelerated by lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic—RIT is seizing on the opportunity to guide students to new economy majors that are multidisciplinary, transformative, and future-focused. These new economy majors break down traditional boundaries and open students up to a new world of possibilities. In this episode of Intersections: the RIT Podcast, Ian Mortimer, vice president for Enrollment Management; Steven Carnovale, assistant...

As our society reckons with issues of racial disparity and mental health, RIT’s Counseling and Psychological Services is working to address some of the unique mental health challenges facing RIT’s students of color. In this episode of Intersections: the RIT Podcast, three mental health therapists who identify as people of color—Odessa Despot, Isabel Chandler, and Jaime Castillo—discuss issues related to mental health stigma, the impacts of racism and racial trauma, and ways to support those...

These Tigers are the champs. RIT took home the top trophy at the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition international finals in 2021, beating out student teams from 63 other schools in the ethical hacking simulation including Stanford, Cal Poly and Carnegie Mellon. In today’s edition of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, team captain Sunggwan Choi, a fifth-year RIT computing security BS/MS student, and Spencer Roth, a third-year computing security BS/MS student, share their experiences from...

The KEEN Engineering Unleashed network is driving change in engineering education. Since 2019, RIT has been a part of the network of universities that focuses on graduating engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset. In this edition of Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Jennifer O’Neill, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering Technology, and Patti Cyr, lecturer in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, discuss what the entrepreneurial mindset is and how connections to the network...

Joshua Rashaad McFadden is an award-winning and internationally recognized assistant professor of photography at RIT’s School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, nationally recognized for its degree programs. A transformative artist, social justice advocate, and change agent, he possesses a unique vision of the Black American experience. In this episode of Intersections McFadden talks with Todd Jokl, dean of RIT’s College of Art and Design, about how his artwork transcends the genres of fine...