University photographer J. Adam Fenster shares his favorite images that he made this year. Plus, a look back at 2024 in video.

For J. Adam Fenster, the key to making compelling photos is checking around the edges or fringes of an assignment, finding where the action isn’t necessarily supposed to be taking place. And he would know—Fenster has been the University of Rochester’s lead photographer for more than 15 years, capturing moments ranging from the intricate to the iconic.

As 2024 comes to a close, we talked with Fenster about his favorite images of the year—taking a look at what happened over, around, and through the University and beyond.

Enter stage left

McKenna Young ’26, Grace Van Der Meer ’25, and Nora Rooney ’25 of UR Celtic prepare for their performance at a welcome concert for attendees of the 2024 American College Dance Association Northeast Conference, hosted by the Program of Dance and Movement, in Feldman Ballroom.

“I was a photojournalist for years,” says Fenster, “and the general wisdom was to arrive early and stay late. And sometimes the photo isn’t always in the most obvious spot. This was the warm-up area, away from where the performances were happening. As soon as I walked in, I saw this composition. There’s great symmetry and natural light, and I like how they’re connected to one another by their hands. And three is always a cool number to have in an image. I think this photo is more interesting than any of the action photos I made that day.”

Waiting to exhale

Each year on Match Day, thousands of medical students across the country find out where they’ll be spending the next four years for their residency. Here, students at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, await the countdown to the reveal at noon.

Fenster says you’ll often hear photographers talk about layers. “This is layered front-to-back and side-to-side. I think I put the camera over my head to get this photo, and that angle allows the viewer to see more of those layers. I had never made an interesting photo of the ‘before’ of Match Day, as it’s usually about the joy and excitement that comes a few moments after this photo. So it was nice to capture the anticipation for a change.”

Another dimension, another dimension

A student tests out a virtual reality (VR) headset in Mary Ann Mavrinac Studio X, located within Carlson Library.

“I spent the morning at Studio X and I made hundreds of photos that day,” recalls Fenster. “This was a staged shoot; they kept bringing in students to populate the space. This photo is total eye candy. It’s colorful, it’s punchy, and you’ve got the thirds thing going on, compositionally, with the vertical color blocks in the window.”

Sky’s the limit

In April, Rochester was in the path of totality for an all-too-rare total solar eclipse. Despite the overcast sky, the day yielded memorable images, with a University community ready to celebrate.

In Fenster’s words, he couldn’t have gotten this photo without a lot of help. “There was so much build-up to the eclipse—so many expectations. I had five cameras working that day. And then the clouds rolled in.”

What might be mistaken as a drone shot was actually taken from the roof of the University’s Brooks Crossing Apartments. “I kept thinking ‘I’m not going to get a good photo today.’ At the last minute, I called the Department of Public Safety and asked to get up to the roof at Brooks Crossing. There, I set up a tripod and programmed the camera’s intervalometer (a feature used for remote shutter release) to make a series of images every few seconds for the duration of the eclipse while I was back on campus capturing the scene on the quad.”

In concert

An Eastman School of Music ensemble performs for inmates in the rehabilitation unit at the Monroe County Jail. This is believed to be the first time live music has been performed within the jail walls—and it’s also the first time the Eastman School has brought musicians there.

“This was one of the most moving experiences I’ve had working on an assignment for this institution,” says Fenster. “The juxtaposition between the musicians, the inmates, and the guards was striking for me, and there was something incongruous about hearing such beautiful music in such an unlikely place.

“For photographers, access is everything, and sometimes you need to ask for a little more than what event organizers are initially willing to provide. Before the concert, I asked the head guard if I could climb a staircase to get this elevated angle, which makes the image possible from a compositional standpoint and shows the important context.”

Lighter than air

As part of Senior Week, members of the Class of 2024 enjoy a picnic on Wilson Quad.

“Any time you have backlit bubbles, it’s worth going after,” says Fenster. “It’s got a nice springtime feel to it.”

Point of pride

Xavier Green gets a hug from his father, Bobby, during Rochester’s 174th Commencement ceremony in May. The event marks the conferral of academic degrees for all undergraduate and graduate students.

For Fenster, “This is the essence of Commencement. As photographers, we’re always looking for emotion. Hundreds of these moments happen throughout the day, but they’re so brief you’re not always able to catch them. This was during the processional before anything was happening on the stage. It’s another example of finding the fringes of the action. I also had enough time to run and get their names.”

Taking flight

Myzomela cardinalis, known locally as kikito, is pictured in flight near Kirakira, the provincial capital of the Makira-Ulawa Province in the Solomon Islands. Rochester Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology J. Albert Uy explores the ecology and genomics of hybridization in this species, using a combination of genetic and genomic approaches with field observations and experiments.

“How much time have you got?” laughed Fenster, when asked how he made this photo, taken during a research trip to the Solomon Islands in June. “I asked myself, ‘What’s the photo here? It’s got to be a bird in flight.’”

Things you should know: It took Fenster two days to travel from Rochester to the Solomon Islands, five flights each way, and several vaccinations. He photographed the birds—which are very small, about the size of hummingbirds—for only about two out of seven days of active photography. His flight home was delayed, allowing him a few extra hours on the day of his departure to go out one final time with Uy, who set up a decoy and a speaker playing myzomela calls, to make this shot, which landed on the cover of the fall 2024 issue of Rochester Review, distributed to approximately 150,000 alumni, friends, and supporters of the institution globally.

“I think it works to tell a story. I made over ten thousand photos during this trip. If I had to pick one, this is probably it. It was an incredible opportunity, an incredible trip. It’s great that the Office of Marketing and Communications sees the value in making these kinds of images, in documenting the research being done by Rochester researchers around the world.”

Letter best

The CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival, of which the University is a sponsor, celebrated its 21st season in June. The event featured numerous musicians from the Eastman School of Music community—current students, faculty, staff, and alumni—as well as students and faculty from the Eastman Community Music School, and concert spaces at the Eastman.

“This was late in the day and I was waiting for something to happen,” shares Fenster, who had made numerous photos already of performers onstage. “The light became more horizontal, and the colors were getting more and more saturated. And then I noticed this little girl playing among the giant letters just off Gibbs Street, near Eastman. It was along the edges of the event, among crowds of people.”

All that and a bag of (sensor) chips

Led by Benjamin Miller, a Dean’s Professor of Dermatology with joint appointments in biomedical engineering, biochemistry and biophysics, optics, and materials science, Rochester researchers are developing microchips with brain and lung tissue to study viral neuroinflammation.

The takeaway here, according to Fenster, is, “Experiment if you have time.” He says, “I was working on finding a groove using different camera angles and different light angles. This is the only photo in the gallery that I lit myself. The wafers are semi-opaque and have a weird iridescence that only occurs when lit from a particular angle.”

Blue-light special 

First-year graduate student Alina Neveroska uses blue light and a special dye to check for corneal abnormalities in the eyes of post-doctoral student and test subject Krish Prahalad after an experiment session in the lab of Michele Rucci, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences.

“The research itself involves contact lenses in someone’s eye, which are attached to a tiny copper cable,” says Fenster. “This was actually at the end of the shoot, and this photo has nothing to do with the experiment they were conducting. They’re checking to make sure those crazy contact lenses didn’t scuff up his cornea. So, I’m wrapping up, putting gear away, and I saw that. It’s not why I was there, but to me, it was cooler than anything else I photographed while I was in the lab.”

A fresh coat

The School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Class of 2028 received their white coats at the annual Dr. Robert L. & Lillian H. Brent White Coat Ceremony in August. Above, Austin Hansen gets a kiss from his wife, Eliza, as he holds their 14-month-old daughter Maggie after the ceremony.

“This is another nice family moment that took place away from the action, on the fringes of the event,” says Fenster. “There’s a sense of release after this ceremony when the students can finally be with their families to celebrate. This photo is sort of a bookend with the one from Match Day. You don’t see a lot of families regularly at institutions like this. And if you can weave that into whatever story you’re illustrating, that’s a nice thing to do. It’s a reminder that behind all these people there are often families supporting them.”

Top-down supervision

Move-in day (or week) is a rite of passage for most Rochester students. With help from her mom, Sharon Xu (top bunk), Koko Connor, a piano major from San Francisco, gets settled into her room in the Eastman School of Music’s Student Living Center.

“This is a transitional time for students and parents, and this was a situation I hadn’t seen before—with the mom directing from the top of the bunk beds,” notes Fenster. “It’s bittersweet. They’re setting up the room, but they’re also delaying the inevitable separation, the goodbye.”

A night to remember 

In August, students in the Class of 2028 attended the annual Candlelight Ceremony on the Eastman Quadrangle on the University’s River Campus.

“The Candlelight Ceremony used to be a much more subdued event; this year it was so different. Credit to John Blackshear, vice president for student life, who got everyone fired up by DJing this event. There was an energy throughout the crowd,” says Fenster. “I’d forgotten about the confetti cannons but fortunately was able to capture that moment, which really conveys the vibe of the evening. There’s a unity here, a class spirit.”

The path to knowledge

Fall in Rochester offers up a wealth of beauty—even indoors. Above, the evening sunlight shines through a doorway from Messinger Periodical Room into the Great Hall of Rush Rhees Library.

“Around mid- to late-October, I start looking around campus for photo opportunities. The leaves are changing, the sun is getting lower. I don’t know what brought me into Rush Rhees Library that day,” says Fenster, “but the light was changing quickly. The Great Hall is not that dark. This was all about exposing the subject—that beam of light—to create a dynamic photo. I like how the light coming through the periodical room door offers up a destination for the subject.”

Four-hundred-plus foot view

Located 40 miles south of Rochester in the Bristol Hills, the University’s C.E. Kenneth Mees Observatory is devoted to research, teaching, and public instruction. The observatory houses a 61cm Boller and Chivens Cassegrain reflector, dedicated on May 8, 1965.

In the Finger Lakes for another shoot that day, Fenster found himself driving around the area, making pictures. “I knew we had the observatory because years ago I made photos from there at night. I worked with one of the caretakers at the time. This trip, I launched the drone to make this photo. Shortly after I sent it up, a guy rolled up in his truck and was like, ‘What are you doing, man? Do you have permission to be here?’ So I introduced myself, and it turns out it was the same caretaker (shoutout to Kurt Holmes from Facilities!) from when I was there last, almost 15 years ago. So he went from being not very pleased to see me to being very helpful and kind. This photo is a great way to show how close the University is to one of the most beautiful areas in the world. And it’s made entirely possible by the drone, which is a great tool to have in our arsenal.”

Democracy in action 

Gar and Cindy Lowenguth place “I Voted” stickers on the grave of women’s suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony on Election Day at Mount Hope Cemetery.

“The last time I was here was Election Day in 2016,” notes Fenster. “A similar thing was happening—there was media there, people waiting to put their stickers on the headstone. There were huge lines in 2016. That wasn’t the case this year. I hung out there for a while, and then this happened. And I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It was a really cool moment.”

A wicked witch releases a horde of flying monkeys. A police detective develops a debilitating fear of heights. A young boy takes an alien for a celestial bike ride. Odds are at least one of these descriptions conjures up not only an iconic visual but also a musical reference. Maybe it’s the swelling of strings or the insistent pulse of a bass line. Such is the power and lasting impression of a film score.

But how do you get from a filmed scene to musical intent to cinematic vibe to actual composition? And why is it important to understand what makes a great film score actually great?

In TH 425: Film Music Analysis, taught by Mark Watters, director of the Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media and an associate professor of contemporary media and film composition at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, students are guided through past and current film scores to understand why choices were made during the scoring process and how to implement that information and vocabulary into their own compositions.

“I’m very proud of this class,” shares Watters, who petitioned to have the course added three years ago. “It focuses on harmonic analysis and, most importantly, how these harmonies—and the orchestration—affect the dramatic impact of the cue.”

 
For Watters, the course curriculum and progression through the history of cinema draws out important questions: “What makes a piece of music sound scary? Or funny? What makes it sound like the scene is set in outer space or a French ballet rehearsal? How are themes created and manipulated to tell a character’s story?”

The scope of the films taught—from King Kong (1933) to Pollock (2000) to Alien (1979) to Lincoln (2012)—provides students with a broad knowledge of film score history, which leads to better informing the compositions that Watters has them create throughout the semester. Adding to the unique nature of the course, students aren’t directed toward a textbook but rather are asked to subscribe to the David McCaulley Film Scoring Analyses YouTube account.

And one session is taught by the Emmy Award–winning composer Jeff Beal ’85E, cofounder with his wife, Joan Beal ’84E, of the Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media and Distinguished Visiting Artist.

“Students must have at least a comfortable knowledge of music theory to take this class,” notes Watters. “All this leads to evaluating the success of whatever the intent was of the composer: What was the filmmaker wanting the audience to feel?”

Film Music Analysis

Instructor: Mark Watters, associate professor of contemporary media and film composition

On the Syllabus

Unit: The Early Years—1930s and 19th-century Romantic era influences
Featured score: The Wizard of Oz (1939) by Herbert Strothart
Assignment: Compose a short motif appropriate for a villain. It should have a pulse!

Unit: Bernard Herrmann: The most distinctive and influential composer of his generation
Featured score: Vertigo (1958): two cues; Psycho (1960): three cues
Assignment: Compose a 30-second piece that incorporates the same signature progression as the “Love Scene” in Vertigo: Major chord with an augmented 11th to a Minor 9 chord but without the 7th.

Unit: John Williams, Part 1
Featured scores: Jaws (1976), Star Wars (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Assignment: Complete an analysis of an assigned excerpt from a cue from one of the Star Wars films.

Unit: Danny Elfman
Featured scores: Beetlejuice (1988) and Batman (1988)
Assignment: Compose a 12-bar piece that matches the quirkiness of Elfman’s earlier scores, such as Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Beetlejuice, or dark and brooding, like his score for Batman.

Unit: Romance and Christmas
Featured scores: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) by Alexandre Desplat and Belles On Ice (2008) by Mark Watters.

This story appears in the fall 2024 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the University of Rochester.

LIGHT MY WAY: Northern lights as seen in the sky at night from a field in nearby Bloomfield, New York.

SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS: Tina Kyriacou, a junior biomedical engineering major, performs various movement and balance tasks on a force plate walkway while wearing shoes instrumented with pressure insoles and a suit outfitted with reflective markers. The research collecting biomechanics data is being conducted in the lab of Cherice Hill, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering.

CLASSROOM WITH A VIEW: Nicky Faustini ’27 leads a Biology 110 workshop as students enjoy a warm afternoon on the University’s Eastman Quadrangle.

PAYING TRIBUTE: Gar and Cindy Lowenguth place “I Voted” stickers on the headstone of women’s suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony on Election Day at Mount Hope Cemetery.

EVER GRATEFUL: Attendees at the University of Rochester’s annual veterans’ recognition ceremony stand at attention during the presentation of the colors and playing of the national anthem.

SPEAK NOW: Amy Arbogast, an associate professor in the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program, leads students in the class Communicating Your Professional Identity: Engineering. Arbogast recently offered six tips on mastering the art of public speaking.

POLE POSITION: “Spirit R” flags fly over Fauver Stadium on River Campus at sunset.

STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE: The 2024 recipients of the Goergen Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching: Mark Buckley (right), an associate professor of biomedical engineering; Kristin Doughty (center), an associate professor of anthropology; and Christopher Niemiec ’03, ’10 (PhD) (left), a professor of psychology. (University of Rochester photo / Matt Wittmeyer)

AUTUMN IN NEW YORK: A student makes their way through Eastman Quadrangle as the leaves change to fall colors.

FALL TOO WELL: Rush Rhees Library stands out among the fall foliage. (University of Rochester photo / Michelle Kleinhammer)

IN THE SHADOW OF THE DAY: A groundhog is photographed behind Susan B. Anthony Halls on the University’s River Campus.

A STAR AMONG US: Earlier this month, Lynne Maquat, the director of the Center for RNA Biology and the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair and Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, received the 2024 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. The prize is in recognition of her research on RNA mechanisms that contribute to a wide range of diseases. Above, Maquat is pictured at the press conference.

MELIORA IN STRIDE: The Meliora letters are seen on the Eastman Quadrangle during Rochester’s annual Meliora Weekend.

A NEW WAY TO LEARN: Yifan Li (left), a computer science PhD student, and Wenyao Gao ’26, a computer science and brain and cognitive sciences student, test the Tabletop Interactive Play System (TIPS) in the lab of Zhen Bai, an assistant professor of computer science. TIPS uses augmented reality and artificial intelligence to help parents learn American Sign Language as they interact with their Deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

AUGMENTING REALITY: Research assistant Yi Zhang adjusts a 3D-printed optical device that, when paired with augmented reality, is designed to help children understand how artificial intelligence is used in preference selection.

IN SUPPORT OF THE FUTURE: The Saunders Foundation, led by University Trustee Emeritus E. Philip Saunders (left), made a $30 million commitment to the Medical Center to support novel research and clinical programs in orthopaedics, faculty in the School of Medicine and Dentistry, and nursing students. The foundation will also establish an endowed professorship in the Department of Orthopaedics named for Dean’s Professor Michael Maloney (right). (University photo / Matt Wittmeyer)

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: In his latest book, Philip V. McHarris, an assistant professor of Black studies, presents a reimagined world without police. His research delves into the weight of policing on people and communities and makes the case that many routine police reforms often only lead to more police.

FIND YOUR LIGHT: Evening sunlight shines through a doorway from Messinger Periodical Room into the Great Hall of Rush Rhees Library.

TRUE COLORS SHINING THROUGH: It’s peak fall foliage season at the University’s C.E.K. Mees Observatory and the surrounding areas of Naples, Gannett Hill, Ontario County Park, South Bristol, and Canandaigua Lake.

FEATS OF ENGINEERING: Elvis Imamura ’26 watches as machine smoke flows over an adjustable 3D-printed wing in a lab he helped design to measure the speed of airflow, and the effect of angle of attack on lift and stalling of an airfoil. The work is part of Introduction to Aerospace Engineering, taught by John Lambropoulos, a professor of mechanical engineering.

THE OTHER SQUASH TEAM: Rochester students were joined by their peers from Monroe Community College and Rochester Institute of Technology for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ annual pumpkin launch on Wilson Quadrangle. (University photo / AJ Pow)

A VIEW FROM THE TOP: Rochester students take a selfie from the Rush Rhees Library tower during the annual Scare Fair, a Halloween season tradition hosted by the River Campus Libraries.

A TOUR TO REMEMBER: Students and staff tour the tower of Rush Rhees Library during the annual Scare Fair. In addition to tower tours, this year’s fair included scavenger hunts, games, prizes, and even a visit from therapy dogs. (University photo / AJ Pow) 

YOU’RE SO VANE: As seen from a drone, a Meliora weathervane atop Rush Rhees Library tower with the Medical Center in the background. (University photo / AJ Pow)

REGAL EAGLES—ER, OWLS: Limestone owls adorning the Rush Rhees Library tower are seen from an aerial drone.

INSPIRATION FROM ABOVE: The Muses statues next to Rush Rhees Library are photographed with an aerial drone.

BLINK AND YOU’LL MISS IT: First-year graduate student Alina Neveroska uses blue light and a special dye to check for corneal abnormalities in the eyes of postdoc and test subject Krish Prahalad after an experiment session in the lab of Michele Rucci, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences. 

ACOUSTIC SET: Sarah Raeman, an ultrasound research technician, adjusts an apparatus for acoustic patterning in the laboratory of Diane Dalecki, the Kevin J. Parker Distinguished Professor in Biomedical Engineering and director of the Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound. Scientists in Dalecki’s lab are leveraging ultrasound waves to organize endothelial cells—the building blocks of blood vessels—into patterns that can promote the growth of new vessel networks within days.

HOLDING COURT: Nobel laureate Donna Strickland ’89 talks with students at the inaugural colloquium In honor of optics leader James C. Wyant ’67 (MS), ’69 (PhD), ’21 (Honorary).

IN HONOR: Area NROTC units hold their annual vigil on the Eastman Quadrangle honoring members of the University community who were killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

ALL IN STRIDE: Members of the men’s track team perform a drill in Fauver Stadium.

SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS: Students on River Campus enjoy a sunny afternoon.

WAY TO BEE: Students in the Laboratory in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology course, taught by Robert Minckley, a professor of instruction in the Department of Biology, perform a census of insects and plant species at pollinator gardens across the University.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF BOARD MEETING: Jeff Engebrecht of Scoreboards Etc. replaces a malfunctioning panel on the Peter S. DiPasquale ’52 Scoreboard in Fauver Stadium.

ON THE BALL(OT): On National Voter Registration Day, Andrew Gold from the Center for Community Engagement and Magdalena Beer ’26 offer students who are eligible to vote the resources necessary to do so—including voter registration and voter education information.

HISTORY EMBODIED: Christine Slobogin, an assistant professor of health humanities and bioethics, leads her History of the Body course at the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

EVER BETTER LETTERS: Jason Nealon (right) and David Miller (middle) of MSM Inc. and John Annechino (left) of McCarthy Events set up the traditional Meliora letters on the Eastman Quadrangle in front of Rush Rhees Library in advance of Meliora Weekend.

Lifelong learners: Grab your backpack, laptop, and #2 pencils. Whether you’re a newly minted grad or gearing up for a milestone reunion, these seven University of Rochester courses will make you want to head back to college faster than you can say “Point me to the registrar.”

Cultivate your inner John Williams
TH 425: Film Score Analysis

Instructor: Mark Watters, director of the Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media and an associate professor of contemporary media and film composition at the University’s Eastman School of Music

From plot to casting to music, we’ve all played couch (or theater) critics when it comes to movies. But what really makes a film score work? Students in TH 425: Film Score Analysis are guided through various past and current film scores to learn and understand why choices were made during the scoring process and how to implement that information and vocabulary into their own compositions. “I’m very proud of this class,” adds Watters, who petitioned to have the course added three years ago.

HGTV could never
ME 204: Mechanical Design

Instructor: Chris Muir, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering

According to student feedback, ME 204: Mechanical Design is one of the toughest and most influential courses Rochester engineering students have experienced—with good reason. Each fall, seniors design and build prototype devices to solve real-world problems, working on four hands-on projects, culminating in the main event: students work in teams to see who can make a balsa wood structure that bears the largest amount of force in ratio to the structure’s weight. The main takeaway for Muir? The Karate Kid-esque “bending bad; axial good.” Learn why here.

Beetles and lichens for fall? Groundbreaking
BIOL 225: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Instructor: Bob Minckley, a professor of instruction in the Department of Biology

Don’t be thrown by the conventional course title—this 200-level biology class is a chance for Rochester students to get their hands dirty in the field. For Minckley, the beauty and excitement of BIOL 225: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is that “you don’t need fancy equipment and you don’t need to go far.” Students explore ecosystems and environments near Rochester’s campus—including Mt. Hope Cemetery and the University’s pollinator garden—while learning how to formulate questions and obtain the necessary data to answer those questions on a series of topics in ecology and evolution. Plus: odds are you’ll get to pick up large bugs.

Newborn this way
NURS 374: Nursing Care and Health Promotion for Childbearing Clients and Their Families

Instructor: Jennifer Truax, an instructor of clinical nursing at the School of Nursing

A high-fidelity maternal care mannequin, skills labs, simulation suites, and yes, even an escape room: NURS 374: Nursing Care and Health Promotion for Childbearing Clients and Their Families really does have everything. “It’s the most fun I’ve ever had designing active learning for students,” says Truax. On the cutting edge, the obstetrical nursing course offers hands-on learning experience—and an increased inclusion of LGBTQ+ patient scenarios. A far better way to spend your medically minded time than binge-watching 20 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy.

And…scene
ENGL 273: Performing as Patients: Using Acting Techniques to Help Train Behavioral Health Professionals

Instructor: Shawnda Urie

Left- and right-brained folks, this one’s for you. In ENGL 273: Performing as Patients: Using Acting Techniques to Help Train Behavioral Health Professionals, students take on the role of a “standardized patient,” one who portrays the history, symptoms, and characteristics of a patient so that trainees can interact with and evaluate them in a quasi-realistic setting. The actors give feedback to trainees on their bedside manner while putting their performance objectives and learning into practice using skills like improvisation and character analysis and development. This course, offered through the English department’s theater track, collaborates with the Department of Psychiatry’s Laboratory for Behavioral Health Skills, connecting River Campus undergraduates with fellow learners at the Medical Center.

Conan O’Brien, Ira Glass, and you
HIST 227: Podcasting History: Hear UR

Instructors: Thomas Fleischman, an associate professor of history, and Stephen Roessner, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering

A quick scroll through any podcast app confirms that a show exists on any subject of interest. But what if you could make one yourself? At Rochester, students in HIST 227: Podcasting History: Hear UR use the semester to research, develop, and produce one season of episodes for Hear UR—a history-oriented podcast that takes on a subject related to the environmental history of Rochester. Previous seasons’ topics include the Genesee River, women’s liberation and cycling, and (no joke) milk. Catch up on past seasons here.

The past and future of a global movement
AAAS 291: 50 Years of Hip-Hop: Reppin’ Black Genders Across the World

Instructor: Jeffrey McCune Jr., the Frederick Douglass Professor and founding chair of the Department of Black Studies

2023 marked the 50th anniversary of hip-hop—a genius art form and global phenomenon that got its start as a subculture of the Bronx in New York City but is now produced across the Black diaspora. AAAS 291: 50 Years of Hip-Hop: Reppin’ Black Genders Across the World examines the representation of genders in hip-hop music and culture—as they are performed, produced, and communicated in visual, sonic, and textual forms. McCune asks students to take on pertinent questions about the music genre’s stakes for Black women and Black men; how Black femme, trans, nonbinary, and queer masculine folks inform the music and culture; and where hip-hop is heading in the future. “My favorite part is the listening party, where students and I bring in music or videos that we think are representative of the week’s theme,” adds McCune. “We listened to artists from LL Cool J to Kendrick Lamar, Meghan Thee Stallion to Lil Simz, and examined hip-hop as both entertainment and political-cultural knowledge—both forms that illustrate hip-hop as an influential music across the world.”

LASER FOCUS: What did you do on your summer vacation? For 17 Rochester-area high school students, summer was spent conducting hands-on research at the University’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, home to the largest laser in the world at an academic institution. The eight-week program, which started in 1989, culminated in the students presenting their research findings to an audience of parents, teachers, and LLE employees. (University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics photo / Jake Deats)

WON’T LOOK DOWN, WON’T OPEN MY EYES: Measuring 14 feet in diameter and 35 feet in depth and coming in at 2.5 tons, the crystal chandelier in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre contains 750 bulbs and 20,000 individual pieces of crystal from Italy and Czechoslovakia. Earlier this summer, the fixture was lowered and cleaned—a full-day process. (University of Rochester photo / Lauren Sageer)

WE HAVE A CONNECTION: Using a wire bonder, materials science PhD student Benjamin Harrington adds electrical connections to special electrical heater structures designed to produce sharp temperature gradients that can be detected with new optical super-resolution nanothermometry techniques.

WASTE NOT: Mechanical engineering professor Douglas Kelley (left) and assistant professor Ting Du from the Department of Neurology examine how cervical lymphatic vessels drain cerebrospinal fluid from the brain. Changes to that flow as we age increase the risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other neurological disorders.

TAKING IT ALL IN: David Linehan, CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center (left),  and David Lambert, senior associate dean of medical student education, watch as students assemble for a class photo after the annual Robert L. & Lillian H. Brent White Coat Ceremony.

LOVE AND PRIDE: Austin Hansen gets a kiss from his wife, Eliza, as he holds their daughter, Maggie, after the White Coat Ceremony.

WELCOME CREW: The rain couldn’t deter student volunteers from cheering as new students moved into Gilbert and Hoeing Halls on Rochester’s River Campus. University campuses saw renewed activity as students moved in, got oriented, and experienced several Rochester traditions in the week leading up to the first day of classes.

BRIGHT SPOTS: Students from the Class of 2028 attend the Candlelight Ceremony on the University’s Eastman Quad.

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE: The Candlelight Ceremony as seen from above the Eastman Quadrangle via drone. (University of Rochester photo / AJ Pow)

THEY SEE US ROLLIN’: Students sign the class roll after the convocation ceremony for Rochester’s Class of 2028.

GIVE US AN . . . : Students in the Class of 2028 pose for the traditional Rochester “R” photo on Wilson Quad on the University’s River Campus.

AND . . . ENGAGE: During this year’s Wilson Day of Engagement—which provides the University’s newest students with the chance to get to know the Rochester community through service—Class of 2028 students work with Shawn Dunwoody (right) of Hinge Neighbors to prepare sites along Bohrer Alley for artists in Rochester’s South Marketview Heights neighborhood.

TAKE CENTER STAGE: The student group Indulgence performs for new undergraduates from the River Campus and the Eastman School of Music during Celebrate Diversity, an evening of music, dance, and poetry. (University of Rochester photo / Matt Wittmeyer)

A TOUCH OF CLASS: University of Rochester students are seen on the River Campus on the first day of fall semester classes.  

PRESERVE AND PROTECT: An aerial drone view of Hariga River and Hariga Village on Makira Island, Solomon Islands. Department of Biology Professor and Chair J. Albert Uy recently visited to meet with villagers and local officials as part of his efforts to assist with the creation of the nearby Yato Protected Area, a 12,000-hectare preserve of continuous tracts of primary forests and critical riverine ecosystems, essential for the preservation of plants and animals unique to Makira-Ulawa Province.

WINGING IT: A myzomela cardinalis, known locally as “kikito,” is pictured near Kirakira, the provincial capital of the Makira-Ulawa Province in the Solomon Islands. Using a combination of genetic and genomic approaches with field observations and experiments, biologist Uy explores the ecology and genomics of hybridization in this species.

SENSOR OVERLOAD: A photonic wafer with sensor chips used in microphysiological systems to simulate infection and treatment of human lungs and brains.

SCHOLARLY PURSUITS: Allison Lopatkin ’13, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, of biomedical engineering, and of microbiology and immunology, in her lab. Lopatkin is one of 22 scientists selected to join the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences this year. The funding will help Lopatkin’s lab explore how changes in bacterial metabolism contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. (University of Rochester photo / Matt Wittmeyer)

HISTORICAL GENEROSITY: Earlier this month it was announced that entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano made a historic $50 million commitment, making it possible to build the Golisano Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Institute at the University of Rochester Medical Center. (University of Rochester photo / Matt Wittmeyer)

ALL (JAZZ) HANDS ON DECK: The University is partnering with the 21st annual CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival, which runs through June 29. The internationally renowned festival features numerous musicians from the Eastman School of Music community including current students, faculty, staff, and alumni.  

THE TINIEST FANS: Attendees (and a pup) are pictured at the 21st annual CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival.

IN THE GROOVE: Bob Sneider, an associate professor of jazz studies and contemporary media at the Eastman School of Music, performs at the 21st annual CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival.

LEADING WITH PURPOSE: Lamar Riley Murphy Award winner Felicia Reed-Watt (center) poses with University President Sarah Mangelsdorf and Chief Human Resource Officer Kathleen Gallucci at the 2024 President’s Staff Awards presentation. The award recognizes a staff member for innovative and proactive leadership. (University of Rochester photo / Matt Wittmeyer)

DESIGNER LOOKS: Optics major Eric Li and other seniors at the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences display their projects during the school’s annual Design Day.

WITH THE FLIP OF A SWITCH: Electrical and computer engineering PhD student Zhengdong Gao adjusts a new all-in-one microcomb device created in the lab of Qiang Lin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and at the Institute of Optics. The device allows users to control the optical frequency comb simply by switching on a power source.

UNBELIE-BUBBLE: A member of the Class of 2024 enjoys a picnic on Wilson Quad as part of Senior Week before Commencement.

IN STYLE: Stylists at ClipDart, owned by a Rochester alumnus, provide haircuts to graduating seniors in Wilson Commons.

STRIKE A POSE, THERE’S NOTHING TO IT: Graduates pose with the George Eastman statue ahead of Commencement.

KNOW YOUR ANGLES: As part of Senior Week, Rochester seniors take a tour of the Rush Rhees Library Tower.

A STEP AHEAD: A graduate poses for photos on the steps to Rush Rhees Library’s Great Hall the day before Commencement.

TOWER TALK: A tour of the Rush Rhees Library tower the day before Commencement.

PACE YOURSELF: A graduate makes his way to Commencement.

PRIDE AND JOY: Commencement attendees look for and cheer on their graduates.

GO FORTH: Graduates recess after this year’s Commencement Ceremony.

FLYING HIGH: Zhuoran Sun celebrates on Eastman Quadrangle following the University’s Commencement Ceremony. (University of Rochester photo / Lauren Petracca)

YOU’RE SO VANE: A red-tailed hawk perches atop the weathervane on the Rush Rhees Library dome.

BLUE RIBBON DAY: The doors are open to the University’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics’ new 66,600-square-foot office and lab expansion. The opening of the addition marks a significant milestone for the national research facility, which was last expanded in 2003 to house the OMEGA EP laser. Participating in the ribbon-cutting ceremony are (from left) Austin Ponce, regional director for US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; Bill Moehle, Brighton town supervisor; Vincent Esposito, vice president for regional economic development at Empire State Development and assistant secretary for upstate intergovernmental affairs under Governor Kathy Hochul; Bill Goodrich, CEO of LeChase Construction; Marc Suriano, deputy assistant and deputy administrator at the National Nuclear Security Administration; Chris Deeney, director of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics; US Representative Joseph Morelle; University President Sarah Mangelsdorf; University Trustees Quincy Allen and Larry Kessler; New York Assemblymember Sarah Clark, Trustee John Kelly; and Susan Hughes-Smith, Monroe County legislator.

IN THE DARK: The University’s River Campus viewed from across the Genesee River during the total solar eclipse on April 8.

TOTAL RECALL: Rush Rhees Library and Eastman Quad as seen during totality (and through a student’s cell phone).

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE: Owen Tu ’25 demonstrates an apparatus used to track eye movements in the lab of Michele Rucci, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences. Researchers led by Rucci have found that blinking plays a pivotal role in processing visual information.

RIDING THE WAVES: Optics PhD students Arjun Iyer and Wendao Xu run experiments in the lab of Will Renninger, an assistant professor of optics. They have a forthcoming paper about using surface acoustic waves for connecting and controlling hybrid quantum devices.

REGALE US: Data science master’s student and bookstore employee Selene Tulsa pulls regalia from boxes as seniors and other graduates of the Class of 2024 gear up ahead of this year’s Commencement.

SPRING IN YOUR STEP: As trees flower outside, people pass through the glass-covered bridge connecting Wilson Commons and the Frederick Douglass Building.

TIME TO CELEBRATE: Seniors Nathalee Arroyo and Alexis Mclemore pose for a photo as they pick up their regalia.

SURVEY SAYS: Mike Jarvis, a professor of history, and students attempt a ground-penetrating radar survey of the Eastman Quad area between Schlegel Hall and Strong Auditorium, trying to map the old Oak Hill Golf Club clubhouse that once stood at the site.

KEEPING IT CLEAN: University employees Phil Piedmont, Linda Battaglia, and Amy Kadrie pick up trash along the east bank of the Genesee River during Celebrate Earth Week.

TICK, TICK, BOOM: Department of Biomedical Engineering seniors Lawrence Chen, Rachelle Gomez-Guevara, Sarah Manning, and Anjali Patel test their senior design project—a tick collection system for use in Costa Rica.

GOING FOR A QUICK SPIN: Maggie Scholes ’24 negotiates a rotating cylinder while emerging from the fun house on Dandelion Day during Springfest Weekend.

SHAKE IT OFF: Students cheer as the YellowJackets a cappella group performs a Taylor Swift cover on Dandelion Day.

IN CONCERT: An Eastman School of Music ensemble performs for inmates in the rehabilitation unit at the Monroe County Jail. The occasion marks the first time live music has been performed within the jail walls by Eastman School musicians.

WHERE WE’RE GOING, WE DON’T NEED ROADS: The UR Baja SAE team unveils its 2024 car in Rettner Atrium. The group is a student-run, nonprofit organization that designs, fabricates, tests, and competes with a single-seater off-road vehicle.