Snapping photos with just a smartphone,  spent four months traveling across southeastern Europe to create a powerful collection of images that capture life in a region still shaped by its history of conflict and resilience.

The results from Strong’s overseas endeavor are now on display. The new “Call to Me, Balkans” photo exhibition is open on campus in the Schine Student Center’s Panasci Lounge. The exhibition, also simultaneously on display in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, features black-and-white images from Strong’s travels to the region during his 2023 sabbatical and two subsequent trips.

The timing is significant: “Call to Me, Balkans” commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords, the agreement that ended the Bosnian war of the 1990s.

“‘Call to Me, Balkans’ captures the rich, diverse and interconnected cultures of the region,” says Strong, an associate professor of visual communications who teaches photo and video storytelling at the . “It celebrates the resilience and beauty of an area heavily impacted by such a devastating conflict.”

Strong has said he hopes the exhibition also fosters connections with Central New York’s Bosnian immigrant community.

Strong is The Alexia Endowed Chair at the Newhouse School. Through grants, scholarships and special projects for photographers, filmmakers and other visual creatives,  promotes the power of visual storytelling to shed light on significant issues around the world.

The November opening of the exhibition at Schine featured remarks from , dean of the Newhouse School; , senior associate dean for academic affairs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; , professor and undergraduate director of Maxwell’s anthropology department; and Imam , assistant dean for religious and spiritual life at Hendricks Chapel.

The exhibition is curated and designed by his wife, , the curator of communications, design and exhibitions for The Alexia, who also teaches graphic design and writing courses at Newhouse. Strong’s travels took him through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovenia.

Strong developed the Schine exhibition with support from the Newhouse School’s , which funds faculty and student research. The National Gallery exhibition in Sarajevo was funded by the University’s .

Strong said he challenged himself on this project to work exclusively with a smartphone in order to push creative boundaries and prove that powerful storytelling doesn’t always require expensive equipment.

This project has already received international acclaim, with work from the exhibition awarded by the Sarajevo Photography Festival and featured in China as a solo exhibition at the Pingyao International Photo Festival in 2024.

On April 28, 2025, a major power outage affected millions across Spain, Portugal and parts of southern France due to what authorities described as a “.” Although the exact cause was not immediately confirmed, concerns quickly arose about the possibility of a cyberattack. Such trepidation highlights how in today’s interconnected world, something as simple as a phishing email can trigger a chain reaction that jeopardizes the safety and well-being of millions.

Recognizing the exponentially growing importance of cybersecurity, the College of Arts and Sciences’ (A&S’)  (Forensics Institute) offers a  in partnership with the  (iSchool). This program is designed to equip future professionals with the critical skills needed to safeguard sensitive information and infrastructure while holding malicious actors accountable. The M.S. blends courses in digital forensics, cybersecurity and data analytics with advanced forensic science and crime scene investigation.

What Are Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics?

While closely interconnected, these disciplines represent proactive and reactive approaches to managing digital threats. Whereas cybersecurity focuses on preventing attacks and protecting digital infrastructure, digital forensics is concerned with investigating breaches in established cybersecurity and identifying the cause, scope and perpetrators of the attack.

With digital evidence now central to over 90% of criminal cases, as reported in the , the program equips students for careers in cybersecurity, digital investigations and intelligence analysis. They also gain hands-on experience through fieldwork at top-tier facilities, including federal agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense, along with various crime laboratories and prosecutor’s offices.

Learning from Leaders in Cybersecurity

A key strength of the program is the access students have to faculty who are actively engaged in cutting-edge, practical research. A prime example is , courtesy research professor and adjunct professor of forensics who also received a master’s degree in forensic science from A&S and a Ph.D. in cybersecurity from the Federal University of Technology Paraná in Brazil. When not teaching courses at Syracuse, he is conducting international research with organizations like the Brazilian Army at the Military Institute of Engineering.

“We focus on developing advanced simulated environments that can replicate everything from energy substations to entire distribution systems,” says Lemos about his current work. “These environments allow us to simulate cyberattacks and study system and device behavior, including the integration of physical equipment.”

Over the past decade, Lemos says the significant rise in attacks on critical infrastructure, such as the  in 2015 and the  in 2021, which significantly affected fuel supply to the U.S. East Coast, emphasize the growing need for highly trained professionals to work in both prevention and incident response.

Ensuring Grid Resilience

Lemos’ work in Brazil involves safeguarding that country’s power supply by exploring how systems react before, during and after an incident—without the risks or costs associated with testing real infrastructure.

“These simulations help uncover vulnerabilities, assess system resilience and evaluate the effectiveness of various detection and defense mechanisms. They also support the development of robust incident response plans and recovery protocols,” Lemos says. In turn, he brings this expertise and a deeper, more practical understanding of how to protect critical systems into the classroom at Syracuse, enriching the learning experience for students.

In his course, Computational Forensics, students are introduced to cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. These tools are vital in the field of cybersecurity to sift through vast amounts of network traffic data to detect unusual patterns. By tackling practical forensic problems, students develop both the technical expertise and an analytical mindset essential for careers in cybersecurity and digital investigations.

Lemos sees sharing the professional knowledge he’s gained as a meaningful way to give back, recognizing the pivotal role his A&S education played in shaping his career.

“My education at Syracuse University was foundational to the work I do today,” he says. “The combination of strong theoretical grounding and hands-on experience—guided by professors who are both researchers and practitioners—gave me the tools to engage with real-world cybersecurity challenges. I’m grateful for the opportunity to support students as they prepare for impactful careers in high-stakes fields like military operations and critical infrastructure systems.”

By combining rigorous academic instruction with applied learning and direct engagement with faculty leading global initiatives, the Forensics Institute equips students to confront today’s complex digital threats. This integrated approach aligns with the University’s and A&S’s priorities of preparing students for careers in emerging and innovative technologies.

University researchers with groundbreaking ideas in semiconductors, microelectronics or advanced materials are invited to apply for an entrepreneurship-focused hybrid course offered through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program.

The free virtual course runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, with an opportunity for an in-person immersion experience at SEMICON West, North America’s premier microelectronics conference, in Phoenix, Arizona, Oct. 7-9. Interested individuals can .

Hosted by Syracuse University and the University of Rochester as part of the Interior Northeast I-Corps Hub (IN I-Corps), this NSF-sponsored course is open to faculty, postdocs, Ph.D. and master’s students, undergraduates and community-based startups working on semiconductor-related technologies with commercial potential. Syracuse’s NSF I-Corps program is a partnership between , �����Ի���.

Teams selected to participate may receive up to $5,000 in travel reimbursement, enabling participants to conduct in-person customer discovery interviews and attend specialized workshops during SEMICON West. Participation in this conference provides unmatched exposure to global industry leaders, cutting-edge technologies and potential collaborators or customers. Conference attendees include executives, engineers, startups and policy leaders shaping the future of chips.

The course provides hands-on entrepreneurship training and one-on-one coaching tailored to researchers working in far-reaching sectors, from advanced lithography and transistor miniaturization to artificial intelligence hardware and high-power materials. The course emphasizes emerging areas critical to the next generation of semiconductor innovation. Applications can range from 3D integrated circuits, system-on-chip integration and computing chips that mimic the human brain’s neural architecture for tasks like pattern recognition, learning and sensory processing. Big data and machine learning innovations are of interest, as well as conventional semiconductor design and manufacturing applications.

The course is of benefit to anyone interested in being part of the research, design, commercialization and supply chain associated with these industries.

Visit the to read the full story.

For two weeks, Paris, France became the epicenter of elite athletic competition as the Summer Olympics brought thousands of players, coaches, family and fans to the City of Light. Among those working at the games this year was Maggie McCrudden ’14, a alumna serving as a food and nutrition registered dietitian for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. She graduated in 2014 with a .

“My foundation was built at Syracuse,” McCrudden says from the Team USA High Performance Center (HPC), set up exclusively for Team USA to provide American athletes with a place to eat, train, relax and get a reprieve from the stress and chaos of the games.

“They can do some recovery—whatever that looks like for them—and then we also have a lot of outdoor space, so people are in hammocks or on chairs and there are games. It’s like camp,” McCrudden says.

The HPC is about 20 minutes from the Olympic Village, featuring training facilities, meal options, sports medicine, private meeting spaces, recovery space, video review areas and dorm accommodations. The complex includes pools, indoor and outdoor track and field equipment, strength and conditioning facilities, volleyball and basketball courts, fencing strips and archery targets. McCrudden says the goal of the HPC was to provide a “home away from home” for the athletes.

McCrudden has worked for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for three years, but this was her first time working at an Olympic Games. She and a food service team from Colorado Springs, Colorado, prepared and packed pallets of USA-branded food tailored to athletes’ preferences that were shipped to Paris before the Olympics.

She says her education at Falk College and her experience as a collegiate athlete on the put her on the path to success.

“Being a part of a major sports school and an athlete has helped me so much in my current role because I feel like I understand what the athletes are going through,” McCrudden says. “I understand the ‘go, go, go’ mentality and sometimes just needing a little help.”

McCrudden ran into other members of the Orange family at the Olympics, including fellow Falk College alumnus and ’17 and her former rowing teammate, Hattie Taylor ’17, who she watched for Great Britain.

“I always say wear red, white, and blue but bleed Orange!” McCrudden says.

McCrudden will return to the U.S. after transitioning responsibilities to a colleague for the Paralympic Games, which run Aug. 28 through Sept. 28.

Story by Cathleen O’Hare

The following article was written by , a member of the Board of the Ukrainian Library Association and a visiting assistant teaching professor at the in the .

Ukraine is suffering. Our communities are being ruined. Our souls are devastated. But we are alive. On February 24, 2022, the Ukrainians suffered a powerful blow from Russia. Nowadays, the Ukrainian people are facing destruction and heavy losses. Our communities and people’s lives are being destroyed, and we need support and protection more than ever. Libraries, created thousands of years ago to support the vitality of communities, nowadays help Ukrainians to survive in war conditions and provide physical, informational, psychological, and spiritual protection.

Here are the many ways libraries support the community:

• Libraries are bomb shelters. From the first days of the war, many libraries provided physical protection. For example, Central City Library for Children in Mykolaiv is a 24/7 bomb shelter that can accommodate up to 180 people at a time.
• Libraries are volunteer centers. Many have become hubs of volunteer activity. Librarians, library patrons and community members are cooking dinners for those who fought and are being treated at local hospitals. Together with volunteer organizations, librarians and community residents collect and make clothes and products for refugees and for the front. In this way, a community of practice is being built – providing a sense of unity, social integration and security for new members of the community who left their homes to escape the war. Along with weaving camouflage nets, people are creating social nets in library spaces.
• Libraries are territories of goodness. Since 2014, when the first forced migrants from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea appeared, libraries have taken a proactive position. The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine adopted an Order to launch the project, “Libraries as Community Support Centers in the Conditions of a War Threat: Working with Internally Displaced People.” According to the Order, libraries participate in helping those in need by actively participating in information, legal and educational work.
• Libraries help displaced people. Cooperating with state authorities, charity foundations, state structures, employment centers, psychological, social and legal services, libraries help displaced people find temporary housing and work, get information about their rights and ways to use them, renew social ties, get access to the Internet and computer equipment to continue studying, attend language courses, improve and acquire IT skills, and more.
• Libraries are hubs of digital education. About 6,000 libraries joined the national digital literacy campaign in Ukraine. Through the signing of the Memorandum on Cooperation between the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Library Association, many libraries have become digital education hubs.
• Libraries are media literacy training centers. An important direction of libraries is to increase the level of media literacy and the formation of critical thinking of the population, which is essential during this era of the information war. Many libraries organize lectures, trainings and webinars, and participate in media literacy weeks. Libraries joined the nationwide media literacy project from the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. One of the latest initiatives supported by the Ukrainian Library Association is the recording of a series of conversations with famous Ukrainians about information hygiene and its role in everyday life through the lens of cultural, historical and personal experience.
• Libraries are sites of remembering. It is where the memories of the past are housed. Ukrainian Institute of National Memory noted that this war has brought up issues related to cultural characteristics, spiritual values and ideals, which determine the uniqueness of a community and its identity. The library is a memory institution that collects and preserves documented historical and cultural heritage. As such, libraries are integral to the politics of memory, helping people protect their values and identity.

Ideally, libraries’ memorial, socio-political, cultural, educational and other activities must be directed to the formation and establishment of national memory, contribute to the state’s information security and help its integration into the world humanitarian space.

Ukrainian culture is under the gun. Many libraries’ funds were lost, and buildings were damaged. 700 public and university libraries are damaged or destroyed and more than 4,000 are under occupation. An important achievement of the Ukrainian Library Association was the establishment of interaction with partners for reconstruction and the preservation of library and information resources, assistance to libraries to maintain service, and organization of efforts to restore damaged library buildings and lost library collections. At the same time, the American Library Association, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Library Association, launched the Fund for the Support of Ukrainian Libraries.

I am proud to say that among all the changes, what remains unchangeable is the dedication of librarians to their readers and the library work, the belief in victory and the capacity of the library community.

Visit the Syracuse Libraries website to .