Marisa Pierson

Senior Program Coordinator
Rutgers-Newark

Phone: 973-353-3896
Email


Marisa joined IECME in Newark as its program coordinator in December of 2004, following 16 years managing a variety of projects at Rutgers-New Brunswick campus.

A graduate of the School of Visual Arts, NYC, Marisa began her Rutgers career in the Department of University Relations on the Livingston Campus, as part of the former Office of TV and Radio, where she wrote and produced The Rutgers Forum, a weekly TV show that showcased for Rutgers academic experts, and was broadcast on WNET-13.

She was also the series producer and writer/narrator for the 5-year award-winning radio series, New Jerseytimes, which illuminates New Jersey history, folklore and public affairs issues. The series was broadcast on 27 commercial and noncommercial radio stations in the tri-state region. Marisa regularly collaborated with Institute director, Dr. Clement Alexander Price, and other Rutgers experts and key constituents from the historical community to create programming for the series. Among its many honors, New Jerseytimes received the prestigious National Award of Merit in 1997 from the American Association for State and Local History.

Marisa also worked with the Rutgers Foundation for a number of years producing the annual Year in Review video, which highlights the academic year on all three campuses. With the advent of RU-TV on the New Brunswick campus, Marisa produced the weekly RU-TV program Inside Rutgers which explored campus life and issues, and she mentored Journalism students learning the television craft.

As a member of the Community Affairs team of University Relations in 2004, Marisa was instrumental in helping to launch the first New Faculty Traveling Seminar, in which 35 Rutgers professors and President McCormick embarked on a five-day “living classroom” bus tour of New Jersey to experience its people, places, and perspectives.

Prior to Rutgers, Marisa worked at a number of radio and television broadcast facilities in Pennsylvania. In Harrisburg, PA, she produced documentary segments for the Pennsylvania Public Television Network (PPTN) statewide series, Pro/Con. She also wrote and anchored newscasts for Radio Pennsylvania, a radio satellite network specializing in state-related news and business reports.

Among some of her notable achievements in video production:

•Families and AIDS. Marisa was the producer of short documentary about a Newark-area family coping with the HIV-virus, which was nominated for a Mid-Atlantic Emmy

•Connections. Collaborating with Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, Marisa produced an award-winning documentary, profiling two faculty artists at Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts: jazz pianist Stanley Cowell and modern dance professor, Julia Ritter.

•A Journey. Marisa produced this independent video project, profiling the philosophy and performance works of the late ethnic dance artist/choreographer, Ibrahim Farrah of New York City.

As an instructor in Middle Eastern Dance, Marisa has taught for local school districts and at Rutgers-New Brunswick. She is a frequent lecturer on ethnic dance history for educational institutions, such as the College of New Jersey, and community groups; a member of the professional dance troupe Casbah Dance Experience in NYC; and producer and organizer of ethnic dance seminars and workshops, enabling students to study with master teachers from around the country.