![\"Erie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Erie-Canal-Bicentennial-768x432.webp.webp\")
<\/p>\nA symposium that revisits and reflects on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute\u2019s (RPI) connection to the Erie Canal featuring a series of musical performances will be held on Friday, November 14 from\u00a09:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.\u00a0in the Center For Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) Auditorium at RPI.<\/p>\n
Presented along the Erie Canal during its 200th anniversary, the symposium \u2013 titled\u00a0Reflections on Waterways: Intersections of Arts, Culture, and the Environment in New York\u00a0\u2013 explores how art, history, and the environment converge in shaping New York\u2019s cultural identity.<\/p>\n
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The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute collaborated with the Albany Symphony<\/a>, the New York State Canal Corporation \/ New York Power Authority, and WMHT, for the symposium.<\/p>\n Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal was the largest state-funded public works project of the 19th century and the first navigable waterway linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. The Canal transformed commerce, accelerated westward expansion, and forever altered the trajectory of U.S. history. Today, though its primary use is recreational, the Erie Canal<\/a> remains a powerful symbol of innovation and community. Its legacy is preserved through museums along its corridor and recognized nationally as the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.<\/p>\n When Stephen Van Rensselaer founded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1824, he envisioned a new kind of education. At that time, the college experience was passive; the typical college student attended lectures and took exams. Van Rensselaer wanted students to be active. He wanted them to participate in lectures, engage with the material, experiment and go into the field to learn and apply their knowledge. Now, as RPI enters its third century, in tandem with the Erie Canal, the institution stands ready to redefine what it means to lead in higher education.<\/p>\n \u201cRPI is committed to supporting and sharing local history through the arts,\u201d said\u00a0Rebecca Doerge, Provost at RPI. \u201cThe Erie Canal, often called the internet of its day, had just opened when the first class of RPI students earned their degrees. The completion of the canal system revealed vast new opportunities for Rensselaer graduates to shape revolutions for an industrializing nation. Today, in partnership with some of New York State\u2019s most innovative organizations, RPI faculty, students, and graduates are continuing to shape revolutions. This free symposium offers a forum for curious people from all disciplines to push the boundaries and embrace the transformative power of knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n The two and one half-hour program will feature screenings of videos on the history of the Canal and musical works originally commissioned for the Erie Canal Bicentennial, with RPI thought-leaders providing deeper academic, engineering, and music technology context and inquiry. The music, scholarship, and public dialogue will celebrate the ongoing legacy of both RPI and the Erie Canal, while also considering the role of waterways in shaping both past and future cultural life in New York State.<\/p>\n Program highlights include:<\/p>\n Opening remarks\u00a0by Rebecca Doerge, Provost of RPI; a representative of the New York State Canal Corporation; and David Alan Miller, Music Director of the Albany Symphony.<\/p>\n Screenings of short documentary films produced by WMHT\u00a0on the interlinking history between RPI and the inception of the Erie Canal, as both institutions embark on their third century of operation.<\/p>\n Screenings of Albany Symphony-commissioned musical works\u00a0including\u00a0Canton Tea Man\u2019s Tale(Dai Wei) and\u00a0Earth and Water\u00a0(Clarice Assad).<\/p>\n Scholarly responses and commentary\u00a0from RPI faculty, including Chris Tozzi (Science and Technology Studies), Rob Hamilton (Arts), and Kate Galloway (Games and Experiential Media).<\/p>\n Student presentations\u00a0will highlight cutting-edge interdisciplinary work that engages themes of waterways, culture, and environment.<\/p>\n The symposium is free and open to the public.\u00a0\u00a0Coffee and light refreshments will be available in the morning, and boxed lunches will be available first-come, first-serve for those continuing to network after the closing address.<\/p>\n To attend, please register online<\/a>. More information is available at\u00a0AlbanySymphony.com<\/a>. Reflections on Waterways: Intersections of Arts, Culture, and the Environment in New York\u00a0<\/p>\n A symposium co-presented by RPI, New York State Canal Corporation, WMHT and Albany Symphony<\/p>\n Friday, November 14 \u2013 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.<\/p>\n 9:30 AM \u2014 Morning Refreshments and Networking<\/p>\n Coffee and light refreshments available in the CBIS lobby<\/p>\n 10:00 AM \u2014 Welcome and Introduction<\/p>\n Rebecca Doerge | Provost, RPI<\/p>\n A Representative from New York State Canal Corporation \/ New York Power Authority<\/p>\n David Alan Miller, Music Director of the Albany Symphony<\/p>\n 10:10 AM \u2014 WMHT Screening: The Canal That Sparked America\u2019s Engineering Revolution<\/p>\n Will Pedigo | Vice President and Chief Content and Engagement Officer, WMHT<\/p>\n 10:25 AM \u2014 RPI Presentation:\u00a0How Horizontal and Vertical Waters Shaped Troy\u2019s Past and Present<\/p>\n Chris Tozzi | Senior Lecturer of Science and Technology Studies, RPI<\/p>\n 10:40 AM \u2014 WMHT and Albany Symphony Screenings: (1) What Happens When a Historic Waterway Inspires a Modern Symphony?\u00a0and\u00a0(2) Earth and Water by Clarice Assad<\/p>\n William Gibbons | Dean of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, RPI<\/p>\n David Alan Miller | Music Director, Albany Symphony<\/p>\n 10:55 AM \u2014 RPI Presentation: Ecological Engineering interplay of earth and water engineering, design, degradation, and restoration<\/p>\n Kate Galloway | Assistant Professor, Games and Experiential Media, RPI<\/p>\n 11:10 AM \u2014 Albany Symphony Screening: Canton Tea Man\u2019s Tale by Dai Wei<\/p>\n David Alan Miller | Music Director, Albany Symphony<\/p>\n 11:25 AM \u2014 RPI Presentation: Music Technology and Live Performance<\/p>\n Rob Hamilton | Associate Professor and Head of Arts, RPI<\/p>\n 11:40 AM \u2014 RPI Student Presentations<\/p>\n Moderator: William Gibbons | Dean of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, RPI<\/p>\n 12:00 PM \u2014 Closing Remarks<\/p>\n William Gibbons | Dean of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, RPI<\/p>\n Angelyn Chandler | Vice President of Planning, New York State Canal Corporation \/ New York Power Authority<\/p>\n David Alan Miller | Music Director, Albany Symphony<\/p>\n 12:15 PM \u2014 Conclusion<\/p>\n Boxed lunches available first-come, first-serve in the CBIS lobby<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A symposium that revisits and reflects on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute\u2019s (RPI) connection to the Erie Canal featuring a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[11431,136,919,138,137,11432],"class_list":["post-15319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-albany-symphony","tag-erie","tag-erie-canal","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-rpi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/RPI-Fieldhouse-768x512.webp.webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/canal_system-1903-768x405.jpg\")
Map showing Present and Proposed Canal System, to accompany report of Edward A. Bond, State Engineer and Surveyor of N.Y. (from:Annual report of the State Engineer and Surveyor of the State of New York, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1903 (Oliver A. Quayle, Albany, 1904) \u2014 facing p. 60)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/slide-27-on-the-dh-canal-1976.7.2__Henry-768x297.jpg\")
Before the Days of Rapid Transit
\nEdward Lamson Henry (1841-1919)
\nc.1900
\nPencil and watercolor, ht.13 3\/4\u2032 x w.34 3\/4\u2033
\nAlbany Institute of History & Art Purchase, 1976.7.2<\/p>\n