Class of 1973
Arpadi, Judy
Reading Teacher
I am a 1973 graduate of Ithaca College (B.A. History). I continued my education after I.C., earning two Masters Degrees. I am an elementary school reading teacher at Vails Gate High Tech Elementary School in New Windsor, New York. I previously taught kindergarten and first grade in the East Harlem section of New York City, where I resided for 24 years.
I wasn't the best student the History Dept. has ever seen but thanks to terrific professors like Paul McBride and Frank Falcone I left with a good foundation to continue my studies.
My daughter, Leah, incidentally, is currently an Art History major (class of 2010) at Ithaca College.
Scheiner Gillis, Georganne
Assoc. Professor of Women and Gender Studies
I have enjoyed receiving the newsletter over the past year. I was a 1973 Social Studies Ed major, so it is fun to see names that I recognize from the past, like Paul McBride, David McKeith and Joe Tempesta. One of the best experiences that I had as a major was when my advisor, Frank Falcone, offered me and Marci Shulman Gruber a tutorial on “American Heroes and Anti-heroes.” That course helped guide my own research interests in the emerging field of social history. After graduation, I began an MA in Educational Technology at Syracuse. It was there that I signed up for my first course in Women’s History and it literally changed my life. I changed my major and completed a masters in History with an emphasis in Women’s History. After teaching secondary school for a few years, I received a Ph.D. in History from Arizona State. My mentor was chairing Women’s Studies, so I became her TA and began teaching for the program. I continued to teach for Women’s Studies as a faculty associate, lecturer, until finally getting a tenured track line. I am now an associate professor of Women and Gender Studies at ASU. My research interests include girlhood and adolescence and visual and narrative cultures. I am the author of Signifying Female Adolescence: Film Representations and Fans (Greenwood, 2000) and am finishing my manuscript, Haven for Hopefuls: The Hollywood Studio Club and Narratives of Stardom. I teach courses on Girlhood and Adolescence, Women and the Body, Feminist Pedagogy and Epistemology, and the History of Feminist Thought. In 2004, I received the Faculty Teaching Award from the ASU Alumni Association.
I have very fond memories of my days at IC, and I am looking forward to attending my 35th reunion this May. Thanks again for keeping us informed.
Levinsohn, Judy
Coordinator of New Teacher Induction Program
I really enjoyed the History Department Newsletter I just received. "Catching up" with where my former professors are and knowing that they are enjoying their retirements was terrific. I will be returning to IC in May for my 35th Reunion. I am not sure where the time has gone, but I look forward to returning and joining many of my classmates from 1973. IC provided me with many opportunities and it will always have a special place in my heart.
After teaching in Montgomery Co., Maryland for several years, our famiily moved to Southern California where I continued as a classroom teacher. In 1992, I became an elementary principal at Peters Canyon ES in Tustin, California. I left Tustin in 12001, to become a Senior Research Associate for WestEd, working with low-performing schools throughout the West. In July, 2007, I left WestEd to become the Coordinator of the New Teacher Induction Program for Orange County Department of Education.