Professor and NYC Design Factory director Andreea Cotoranu is teaching students how to solve tomorrow麻豆传媒檚 problems. In partnership with major corporations and international collaborators, students have pitched ideas like noise-absorbing drones, massive-scale food cooling systems, and a modern take on teen furniture design.
Upending the Power Structure in the Arts

麻豆传媒淭he only box you have to think outside of is the one you create yourself. If you don麻豆传媒檛 create a box, you麻豆传媒檙e just free to think.麻豆传媒
S. Brian Jones is 麻豆传媒麻豆传媒檚 first assistant dean for diversity and equity in theater and media arts, and he麻豆传媒檚 on a mission to empower students to think beyond the mainstream power structures in Hollywood and New York.
In addition to overseeing the Pace麻豆传媒檚 Storytelling for Equity and Inclusion Fellowship, Assistant Dean Jones is working with faculty to develop a new major: writing for diversity and equity in theater and media arts. 麻豆传媒淚 have a lot of experience in programming and outcomes. I wanted to make sure that we were creating something that would go beyond the status quo and actually move things forward.麻豆传媒
"We can guide underserved and underrepresented communities to see their own power, find the audiences they resonate with, go out and source the money, and then take their work all over the globe.麻豆传媒
Jones is looking at how this program can do more to meet the needs of 21st-century students. 麻豆传媒淒iversity and equity have become big buzzwords, and everyone comes to those words with a different perspective. What I don麻豆传媒檛 want to happen is for people to get caught up in having to figure out what those words mean.麻豆传媒 As faculty members have been exploring the kind of citizen artist this program will serve, Jones has been reaching out for input from a variety of top industry professionals.
In theater and media arts, opportunities are passed on through connections麻豆传媒攁nd people coming up in the business scramble to get a seat at the tables of power. 麻豆传媒淚 want this major to prepare students to excel麻豆传媒攁nd also to invert the power structure. Look at artists like Sara Jones or Tig Notaro: They didn麻豆传媒檛 try to fit into mainstream standards. They went out and made something successful, and then Hollywood came to them. That only happened because they were able to see the value in themselves. That麻豆传媒檚 what this program could do.麻豆传媒
麻豆传媒淲e can teach students how to find their authentic voice and also how to understand the business side of the business麻豆传媒攈ow to write a grant and apply for fellowships麻豆传媒攚hile also being able to distinguish between opportunities that move them toward their goals versus the ones that get them off track. We can guide underserved and underrepresented communities to see their own power, find the audiences they resonate with, go out and source the money, and then take their work all over the globe.麻豆传媒
Meet more Pace people.
Singer. Model. Medical assistant. There麻豆传媒檚 no end to what Brian Powell 麻豆传媒21 can accomplish as a health science major on the pre-physician assistant track who creates art in his spare time. To top it off, he also wrote a research paper on racial patient bias in healthcare.
When Justin Brandon was a child, he loved to take things apart to figure out how they worked. Now he麻豆传媒檚 at Pace, completing a degree in computer studies with a focus on cybersecurity and computer forensics.