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García-Colón Publishes “Colonial Migrants at the Heart of Empire: Puerto Rican Workers on U.S. Farms”

CSI Associate Professor of Anthropology Ismael García-Colón has recently published Colonial Migrants at the Heart of Empire: Puerto Rican Workers on U.S. Farms (University of California Press, February 2020).

A labor history and an ethnography, Colonial Migrants evokes the violence, fieldwork, food, lodging, surveillance, and coercion that these workers experienced on farms and conveys their hopes and struggles to overcome poverty. Island farmworkers encountered a unique form of prejudice and racism arising from their dual status as both U.S. citizens and as “foreign others,” and their experiences were further shaped by evolving immigration policies. Despite these challenges, many Puerto Rican farmworkers ultimately chose to settle in rural U.S. communities, contributing to the production of food and the Latinization of the U.S. farm labor force.

“Colonial Migrants at the Heart of Empire brilliantly examines the experience of Puerto Rican migrant farmworkers in the United States within an immigration regimen that categorizes them as racially inferior citizens and inefficient, expensive workers. Relying on a thick historical ethnography, it bridges the study of labor, colonialism, immigration, and race. This is scholarship at its best!”—Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, author of Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America.

By Editor

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Technology Training Program -March Is Office 365 Month

The OTS Training Team is excited to continue our Lunch & Learn training program. 

At noon* on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays the team will meet you online to demonstrate a 15-minute technology topic. The team will stay online for another 15 minutes to answer any questions you have on that day’s topic.

Join as many of the sessions as you like. There is no need to register in advance. You can access the session in the online calendar.

March is Office 365 Month. 

Topics will include:

  • MS Office 365 Overview
  • MS Word 365 Overview
  • MS PowerPoint 365 Overview
  • MS Excel Overview
  • OneNote
  • Teams
  • Forms
  • Sway
  • OneDrive

We look forward to meeting you in one of the sessions.

*You can join the session 15 minutes prior, to conduct a link and audio check. The sessions require speakers. Please call 718.982.2345 if you have any questions.

By Doriann Pieve-Hyland

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Available Resources for Student Concerns

The spring 2020 semester is in full swing and I would like to take this opportunity to remind us all of the resources available in the event that you encounter students in distress, disruptive student behavior, or students facing other personal challenges.  

First and foremost, the College of Staten Island has many mechanisms in place to promote an environment of personal well-being and campus safety. At the same time, we must always be prepared to respond to individuals and situations that require intervention. To that end, please be aware of the following:

The Office of Public Safety.  If at any time you encounter a student or situation that requires an immediate response, you should contact Public Safety at 718.982.2111 or dial 911. Public Safety is the only entity on campus that can provide an immediate, emergency-based response. Public Safety is located in Building 2A, Room 108. To learn more about services provided by Public Safety, please visit their Website.

Incident Reporting.  If at any time you encounter a student or situation that is a cause for concern but does not require an immediate response, you may report as listed below.

  • Contact the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.  Staff members are available to address disruptive student behavior that is in potential violation of College policy. To report behaviors that are disruptive to teaching and learning or College operations, or critical student concerns, such as food insecurity or homelessness, please contact either Danielle Dimitrov, Interim Executive Director of Student Services, at danielle.dimitrov@csi.cuny.edu or Ashley Ware, Student Conduct and Services Specialist, at ashley.ware@csi.cuny.edu. Both of us can be reached by phone at 718-982-2335. 
  • Campus Assessment Referral and Evaluation System (CARES) Team. The purpose of the CARES Team is to provide early intervention and response in situations where students are experiencing distress or engaging in harmful or disruptive behaviors.  To report concerning student behavior to the CARES Team, please visit the CARES Webpage and fill out an online reporting form.

Campus Resources.  The College of Staten Island has offices and resources designed to assist students in academic and personal distress. We encourage faculty and staff to contact the following offices with questions or concerns related to students:   

  • Counseling Center. The Counseling Center offers personal and academic counseling services to matriculated students. It is located in Building 1A, Room 109. For guidance in helping students in emotional distress, please go online for additional information.
  • Health and Wellness Services. Health and Wellness Services provides a variety of programs and services designed to promote healthy lifestyles and general wellness. Health and Wellness Services is located in the Campus Center (Building 1C), Room 112. For more information, see their Website.  

Best wishes for a successful semester.

By Danielle Dimitrov, Esq.

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Mandiberg Maps Wiki Contributors in “The Atlantic”

Michael Mandiberg has created the first maps of Wikipedia contributors for The Atlantic, revealing both reassuring and troubling patterns: high contributions across the most politically consequential battle-ground states, low contributions from a set of very religious counties in the Plains and the West, and low contributions from the predominantly Black rural South and Native American reservations. These last two absences are particularly troubling, as the maps point to a set of intersecting systems of inequality preventing people from contributing: poverty, education, Internet connectivity, and racial inequality.

Read more in The Atlantic.

By Cynthia Chris

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Tournées Film Festival: “Mrs. Hyde”

Join us as we screen the second film in the Tournées Film Festival, Mrs. Hyde, on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 10:10am in Building 5S, Room 125. More information is available online.

We hope you can see some terrific film making while attending a CLUE event.

Look forward to seeing you.

By the Tournées Festival Team, the Department of Media Culture, and the Department of World Languages and Literatures

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The Vagina Monologues

Please join us for the exciting reading of The Vagina Monologues by the staff, students, and faculty,  today, Tuesday, Feb. 25 from 2:30pm to 4:00pm in the Center for the Arts (Building 1P), Room 221 . All are welcome.  

More information is available online.

By Catherine Lavender

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Commencement Awards

As the Spring semester is in full bloom, it’s time to start thinking about Commencement and all the exciting activities that showcase our students. Honor’s Convocation is a great way to recognize the many accomplishments of our students. By donating to a Commencement award, you will show our students that CSI faculty and staff are invested in our students and proud of their many achievements.

Please consider showing your support to our students by donating to the CSI Foundation either by check or by credit card or online by clicking, Please give now!  Please remember to note on either the memo line of your check or the comments box in the link which Commencement award your gift will support.

For more information, please contact either the Provost’s Office or the CSI Foundation.

Division of Academic Affairs