Who am I? Where did I come from? How do I feel?
I was born in Romania during the Cold War and I was educated in the military system - went to 4 years of Military High School (much like the Citadel in North Carolina here), then to 4 years at the Military Academy of Land Forces where I chose the Tanks/Armor specialty. I was commissioned as lieutenant and spent 4 years in the system.
Exactly 20 years ago I left Romania and after spending almost a year in Italy, I arrived with a suitcase at JFK airport. Looking back, it feels very strange and unique what I did. My wife told me that my traveling story warrants a movie!
I married my wife here in the metro area NY-NJ, and we have 3 beautiful children. I am very proud of my background, including my native language and customs, to a point where I stop to talk with people if I hear them talking Romanian!
Sometimes I feel that I do not belong here because I was not born here, and I do not belong there because I decided to leave! But these moments are rare and I dedicate my time to raise a strong and happy family.
International Migration
Spring 2015
International Migration - GEOG 301 Spring 2015
You can either call me Prof. Bradley or Prof. Gardener. (My preferred email is bradley.gardener@sps.cuny.edu) Please send all questions to this address.The first thing you should do is read the course syllabus. After you finish reading the syllabus please log into e-portfolio. It is absolutely essential that you log into e-portfolio right away as a large portion of this course will take place there. For instructions on how to log in please see the e-portfolio link on the left hand side of your home page. You should have received notification from SPS about your log in information.
This course is a quantitative and qualitative examination of historic and contemporary international migration patterns. Emphasis is on spatial demographic impacts of immigration policy in the United States with special attention to major urban centers. A comparative analysis of ethnic and racial minorities in the United States will also be offered.
There are two important parts to our course. In addition to a traditional Blackboard course, we will spend a significant time in the Digication learning environment, E-portfolio.
To get to ePortfolio… https://cunyonline.digication.com/portfolio/directory.digi
Once you sign in, please open your page for our course, “GEOG 301.01 Spring 2015.”
In Blackboard…
- You will find all of the readings
- You will find the syllabus.
- You will find instructions on how to log into ePortfolio
- You will find the announcements sections, the primary way in which I will communicate with the class.
- You will find discussion boards that will be used several times of the course of the semester.You need to check blackboard frequently, as I will communicate with you frequently through announcements on the front page.
In the low stakes ePortfolio…
- You will post low stakes assignments
In the individual ePortfolio...
- You will submit most assignments (Landscape Assignment, Building Towards the Final Paper, and Peer Review)
- You will find detailed descriptions for all assignments.
- You will find evaluation rubrics
Course Structure
The second trajectory has to do with the research paper. On several occasions you will have the task of completing one part of a 10-15 page research paper due at the end of the semester. This method, called scaffolding, enables you, the student, to build your paper step by step over the course of the semester. Please go to the ePortfolio page for more details.
There is also a field assignment and several discussion boards you must participate in. Please see explore our blackboard page and ePortfolio for more information.
- Explore and become comfortable with the learning enviornment, both in blackboard and ePortfolio
- Make sure you can access our Group Low Stakes ePortfolio - Geog 301.01 Spring 2015 Low Stakes
- Make sure you create an individual ePortolio from our class template, which is Geog 301.01 Spring 2015 Template
- Post at least once on the introduction discussion board in response to my prompt.
- Post a response to my prompt in the first discussion board (Discussion #1) - By the end of our second week (February 4th - February 11th) you should at least make two responses to your classmates' intital posts.
If you have questions - the best way to reach me is through email.
1. Bradley Gardener
This is great. I like your introduction!
02/18/15, 03:51 pm