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Getting to know Dr. Nina Bambina

June 19, 2015

Start with a heaping serving of Italian gusto, add a generous scoop of New York mentality, combine with hard work ethic, sprinkle with humor and you've got Dr. Nina Bambina, director of the Honors Program.

The Honors Program maintains an average of 500 students and Bambina enjoys the challenge of working with some of USI's brightest and most dedicated students. Guiding these students to the next level and providing leadership opportunities is what she does best.

She also enjoys having her best friend and husband, Dr. Andrew Buck, associate professor of sociology, close by.

Let's get to know this vivacious conversationalist.

What are some of the goals and objectives of the program?
To offer our best and brightest students something more, both socially and academically. Academically they can take classes that challenge them; give them experiential opportunities. We've had students who leave here published.


10697292 10152722995817034 7007471949772345022 OHow do faculty support these goals?
The faculty support our students by offering Honors courses, advising them on their progress in Honors and working with them on Honors projects. We don't have the resources to reimburse them for the vast majority of the work they do with our Honors students each semester. Our program is a success because we work hard, and the students work hard. But just as significant is the hard work of the faculty who generously give their time out of a desire to see their students be the best they can be.

What do you want to see for the future of the program?
I like the fact that our Honors Program is part of the University here. Honor students are mixed in everywhere; they're just part of the University. But if they want an extra challenge, they have the opportunity without segregating themselves.

What's some of your favorite things about working with honor students?
They're great kids, raised well, dedicated, hard-working, respectful and they're interesting. It's fun to help them plan their path, create their future, because you're a team - it's you and them.

Do you believe academic assignments should go outside the boundaries of the classroom and into the community? If so, why?
I will say yes and no, because I don't teach every subject, so there may be times and places where that isn't helpful. But I'm a sociologist, so for me, life is about people and how they interact. Service-learning gives students a great opportunity to see real life. It's experiential learning because you are having a real experience. It's not armchair sociology, it's real world experience.

That's why I, as a sociologist, love the experiential part because it's easy to write things off when it's just on a piece of paper. It's much harder to meet and interact with a person and forget the person.

The thing about experiential learning in any field is it's real. They're not studying something for the test and then forgetting it. It imprints on people differently when they're experiencing it rather just reading or hearing about it in class.  

What are some things students in the Honor's Program are seeking?
Leadership - the Honor Student Council has 14 positions and they select them according to their interests. It's nice for them to learn how to organize, how to advertise and get people there.

Just for fun

1781232 10152194055752034 115376923 OWhat's it like having your husband on campus?
It's great and it's also great to be married to a sociologist, because we help each other.  We bounce ideas off each other and ask one another for advice all the time. We're on the same page. He's my confidant.

Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Williams Sonoma, because I love to cook, and I love cooking gadgets. I have a lovely giant Le Creuset pot that I use all the time. Every time I use it, I fall in love again.

Where did the love of cooking come from?
I'm Italian. My dad is from Italy and we would go to Sicily every summer. He was the youngest of seven, and the only one who came to America. My zia [aunt], my dad's sister, was much older than my dad, so she was a motherly figure.

My mom, who is Irish, didn't know how to do anything except mashed potatoes, corned beef and cabbage - the typical Irish cook of the 40's. There were a few good things, but a lot of overcooked and killed vegetables. They [my mother's family] had mashed potatoes almost every single day.

My aunt, on the other hand, was a fabulous cook. For the most part, Italians are good cooks, because cooking is such a big part of their culture, especially in Sicily. They use really good, fresh ingredients. She was a natural cook. When she would "throw something together" with whatever was around, it would be the most delicious thing. I'd be eating it and I'd say "Oh my God, zia, this is so good. What is it?" She'd say "I don't know. I just had to throw it together. It was just what we have."

She was forever forcing me, an American teenager - "you have to learn how to cook, make the bed and iron" - and I just wanted to go to the beach and run outside with my friends. She taught me all these things whether I liked it or not.

When I reached my late 20s and she had passed away, I wished I would have been old enough to know I really wanted to cook, because I could've learned so much more from her.

10295469 10152371536577034 3450852742263400935 OWhat's your best dish?
It's probably a toss-up between my chicken cutlet and pasta al forno, which means pasta in the oven.

What are the 5 words that best describe you?
Fun:
I'm definitely a fun-loving gal.
Hard-working: I'm also a hard-worker. I work hard and play hard.
Direct: I'm definitely a very direct person, for good or for bad. There are times it gets me in trouble and there are times when it resolves situations in a way that nothing else can. It's a New York thing and growing up with an Irish Catholic mother and a Sicilian father, there's no need to hide your feelings about anything.
Team player: I'm a team player and it bums me when someone doesn't value everyone's input. You're limiting yourself from wonderful, fresh contributions.
Helpful: I also like to be really helpful. When I see someone in need, small or big, I'm going to try to help them. As much as being direct, I think that's a New Yorker thing. I know New Yorkers have the worst reputation for being rude, but we're in a hurry, we're not rude and if someone's in the way, we're not patient. I've never seen anyone ask for help or need help in New York and not get it. It's one of those things that make the world a better place and I'm trying to instill that quality in my son.

 

Listen to Nina Bambina on The Trend discussing the "Sociology of Food."

 

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