Are you a resident of UHall and a blogger? Would you like to contribute to the UHall Blog? Would you like to start a blog of your own?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then drop us a line at uhallblog@gmail.com. If you’re already a blogger, we’d love to add your link to our blogroll. If you’re not yet a blogger, we’d love to help you start a blog of your own or deploy your talents to make the UHall blog an exciting destination online.

Send us your name, room number, and what you’re interested in doing, and one of the UHall Blog’s administrators (RA Becca or FFIR Cyrus) will get in touch with you.

Every Sunday, we’ll be posting a question about something notable from the history of New York City or NYU. To enter the contest, submit your answer before the following Wednesday at 11:00 p.m. One winner will be chosen at random from among those who submitted correct answers. Check the blog on Friday morning to find out the answer and the name of the week’s winner.

So let’s get started …

What is going on in this picture and where is it taking place?

To enter, click here, fill in the required information, and write your answer in the space provided. This week’s winner will receive two passes to AMC Cinemas.

Welcome to UHall and to the UHall blog! If you’re a resident of UHall this year, we hope that you’ll make it a point of stopping by the blog on a regular basis and contributing comments and even content. The blog will offer a wealth of information about events at UHall, at NYU, and around the city. You’ll also find weekly contests and will be able to sign up for many of the programs offered by the RAs and the Faculty Fellows-in-Residence (FFIRs). While your here, be sure to take a look at the pages devoted to the Staff, the FFIRs, and the Media Rentals available at the Resource Center. And then bookmark the site — or better yet, subscribe to the RSS feed.

UPDATE: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MIDNIGHT!

The UHall Resource Center lends out DVDs to residents of the building. Over the summer, your RAs looked over the selection of films that are currently available and made suggestions about DVDs that should be added to the library. (The “Rentals” link above lists DVDs, video games, and board games that are available at the front desk.)

The UHall Faculty Fellows want to know which of these films appeal to you the most. We will buy your top FIVE choices. And two lucky respondents will each receive one DVD of their choice from the list.

The survey closes at noon on Labor Day. Here are the films that have been nominated:

Alien
Annie Hall
Avatar
Big Fish
Clue
The Dark Knight
The Departed
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Gangs of New York
Gone Baby Gone
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
Iron Man
Midnight Cowboy
Moulin Rouge
On the Waterfront
The Prestige
Shaun of the Dead
Shutter Island
Star Trek
Synecdoche, New York

To complete the survey, click on this link, which will take you to our account at Wufoo.com. Enter in the requested information and make your selections. There’s also a space for you to nominate one film to be added to the list for our next survey.

Much of the Faculty-in-Residence programming at University Hall is oriented around the theme of COSMOPOLITANISM.
Originating in the idea of the world-citizen and conceived in contradistinction to nationalism, cosmopolitanism can be understood as a way of building community by embracing rather than avoiding difference. Unlike philosophical universalism, which seeks to link individuals and peoples together by finding the lowest common denominator, cosmopolitanism sees difference as an opportunity to be sought rather than a problem to be solved. Bridging but not eliminating the gaps created by cultural difference, cosmopolitanism becomes a way for cultures to engage in dialogues with one another, fostering both the respect for another’s culture that is the lesson of multiculturalism and the sense that cultures have the ability to influence and interact with one another. In the aftermath of the tragic events of 9/11, a commitment to cosmopolitan perspectives seems more valuable than ever.

Cosmopolitanism is also an idea that allows us to take advantage of the rich cultural resources that city of New York has to offer. We view New York as the most cosmopolitan of U.S. cities and share our History Department colleague Thomas Bender‘s belief (articulated most recently in The Unfinished City [2002]) that, since the eighteenth century, New York has offered an alternative to the Puritanism and agrarianism that have dominated U.S. cultural mythologies, presenting instead a “cosmopolitan understanding of the promise of American life.”

The Faculty Fellows, therefore, have sought to create programming that encourages students to understand cosmopolitanism, to engage in dialogues about cultural difference, and to explore the opportunities that New York offers for cosmopolitan experiences. In the past, we have further divided our programming into a number of sub-themes, designed to demonstrate the capaciousness of the cosmopolitan idea: adaptation and adaptability; East meets West; and New York neighborhoods. We offer our residents the opportunity to participate in one major event in each month, usually an outing to a play, opera, or dance performance. We supplement these major outings with other activities such as movie outings, book groups, and informal gatherings, all designed to foster discussion and dialogue. Where possible, we choose programs that cut across our sub-themes.

Our goal is to encourage students to expand their intellectual horizons in two ways: by experiencing shows, venues and ideas that are unfamiliar to them and by thinking about familiar cultural objects ideas in new and unfamiliar ways. In all of our programming, we seek to foster the idea that the both the residence hall and the city of New York can be extensions of the NYU classroom, laboratories for learning and discovery.
Stay tuned for more information about this year’s Faculty Fellow programs.

A good diet is a big part of wellness. Instead of grabbing a burger or some pizza, try one of these healthy recipes!

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus