CONVOCATION TO BE HELD SEPTEMBER 3
New School students, faculty, and staff are invited to mark the opening of the 2009-2010 academic year at the Convocation Ceremony. The ceremony will take place on Thursday, September 3, 3:00 p.m., in Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street. The program includes a welcome from President Bob Kerrey and University Student Senate President Tushar Gogia, remarks by Provost Tim Marshall, and presentation of the Distinguished University Teaching Awards. Julia Foulkes, associate professor of history at The New School for General Studies, will give this year’s Aims of Education Address.
The 2009 Distinguished University Teaching Awards will be presented to Jinsook Erin Cho, Parsons The New School for Design; Lisa R. Rubin, The New School for Social Research and The New School for General Studies; Susan Shapiro, The New School for General Studies; and Mary R. Watson, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy.
The 13th Annual Welcome Block Party, on West 12th Street, will immediately follow the ceremony. This year's Block Party will feature information tables for the University Student Senate and other student organizations, and university and community resources. There will also be voter registration and Constitution Day information available as well as free food, henna tattoos, caricatures, and live music performed by students enrolled in the Jazz and Contemporary Music Program. Rain location: Arnhold Hall, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, 55 West 13th.
Updated information on this year’s Convocation is available on the university’s website.
PARSONS APPOINTS NEW DEAN OF SCHOOL OF DESIGN STRATEGIES
Parsons has appointed Miodrag Mitrasinovic as Dean of the School of Design Strategies. One of five thematically organized schools at Parsons, the School of Design Strategies addresses the intersection of cities, services, and ecosystems through undergraduate programs in Integrated Design, Design and Management, and Environmental Studies, and the first-year Foundation program. The School is also currently developing new graduate programs in Transdisciplinary Design, Design Management, Urban Design Ecologies and Urban Design Studies. Mitrasinovic is an architect, author, and was previously Chair of Urban and Transdisciplinary Design.
"I am deeply confident that in this new position Miodrag will successfully lead the ongoing development of the School of Design Strategies and, together with the other School Deans and Parsons leadership, work to advance our core mission: delivering the highest level art and design education possible for our students and supporting our remarkable faculty in their research and teaching," said Parsons Dean Joel Towers.
Mitrasinovic has over 15 years of teaching and curriculum development experience in architecture, integrative design education, design studies and transdisciplinary design. Since 2006, he has led the development of urban design and urban studies programs at Parsons as well as across The New School; he currently serves as co-chair of The New School Academic Committee on Urban Programs. He has also led the development of a new, undergraduate transdisciplinary curriculum for the Integrated Design BFA program, which will launch this fall.
MORE UNIVERSITY-WIDE EVENT CALENDARS LAUNCHED
More university and school event calendars have been launched. The university event calendar includes all public events being held at The New School. The school and department events calendars include events hosted and sponsored by those divisions, as well as events that are open only to the school and/or department.
You may access the events calendars through the university homepage and the school and department homepages. Links to the university’s different event calendars are:
University Event Calendar
India China Institute
The New School for General Studies Event CalendarBachelors Program
Documentary Studies
International Affairs
MATESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages)
Media Studies
Riggio Honors Program: Writing and Democracy
The Writing Program
The Vera List Center for Art and Politics
The New School for Social Research Event Calendar
Anthropology Department
Economics Department
Philosophy Department
Political Science Department
Psychology Department
Sociology Department
Historical Studies Department
Liberal Studies Department
Bernard Schwartz Center for Economic Policy AnalysisMilano The New School for Management and Urban Policy Event Calendar
Parsons The New School for Design Event Calendar
Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts Event Calendar
Mannes College The New School for Music Event Calendar
The New School for Drama
The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music Event Calendar
NEWS FROM THE INDIA CHINA INSTITUTE
INDIA CHINA INSTITUTE LAUNCHES A THIRD FELLOWSHIP IN SOCIAL INNOVATION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTS
The India China Institute (ICI) at The New School has announced the third round of its signature fellowship program, choosing as its theme “Social Innovation for Sustainable Environments.” A total of six fellows, two each from China, India and The New School, will be chosen for the program, which runs from January 2010 to June 2012.
The program seeks to build on ICI’s previous fellowships, including the 2006 to 2008 cohort focusing on “Urbanization and Globalization,” and the 2008 to 2010 program on “Prosperity and Inequality.” This third round of the fellowship takes advantage of the unique history and strengths of The New School in social sciences, design, and environment, as well as over 30 distinguished ICI Fellows.
The new Fellowship Program will focus on addressing the complex and interconnected problems associated with climate change and environmental sustainability. Social innovation will aim to develop creative solutions, skills, knowledge, and entrepreneurship as drivers to mitigate and overcome multi-faceted challenges and achieve environmental sustainability. Through collaborative research and debates, fellows will critically examine definitions and parameters of both social innovation and sustainability in India and China, and prompt a three-way dialogue that includes perspectives from the Unites States. The fellows’ work will develop ways to reframe policymaking and implementation, reinvigorate local governance, and redirect material flows and market forces that would have direct or indirect impact on the environment.
The Fellowship award amounts to approximately $40,000 in research, travel and support funds.
The India China Institute was established in 2004, and is emerging as the hub of an international network of institutions and activities that nurture conversations about India, China, and the United States and deepen our understanding of global processes. Made possible in part by a generous $10 million grant from the Starr Foundation, ICI is committed to analyzing major issues and trends in India, China, and the United States and helping leaders, managers, public intellectuals, and opinion builders in all three countries address key challenges through collaborative solutions.
NEWS FROM EUGENE LANG COLLEGE THE NEW SCHOOL FOR LIBERAL ARTS
PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY:
THE GLOBAL AND NATIONAL LANDSCAPE
IS INEQUALITY MAKING US SICK?
Though many believe that health is a human right, health disparities are posing increasingly complex challenges to policy makers, health care providers, and human rights workers. Interdisciplinary Science and Race and Ethnicity Programs of Eugene Lang College will be hosting a year-long series of events that highlight these challenges, present innovative solutions, and demonstrate the growing need for a public health workforce capable of using an interdisciplinary lens that addresses the biological and social determinants that influence health outcomes.
The first event “Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” will be held on Wednesday, September 9, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. In response to recent reports highlighting the escalating and disproportionate rates of disease in low-income communities, leading scholars will explore the role that social determinants of health play in this ever-increasing health gap. A special screening and panel discussion of the PBS series Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? will be held with invited speakers including, Alondra Nelson, assistant professor of Sociology, African American Studies and American Studies, Yale; Samuel K. Roberts, associate professor of History, Columbia University; and Ferentz La Fargue, assistant professor of Literature and Ethnicity Studies, Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts.
This free event, which is being sponsored by the Lang Interdisciplinary Science and Lang Race and Ethnicity Studies, will be held in the Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor.
NEWS FROM PARSONS THE NEW SCHOOL FOR DESIGN
PARSONS APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR FOR SHEILA C. JOHNSON DESIGN CENTER
Parsons recently appointed New York-based curator and writer Radhika Subramaniam director and chief curator of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center. The center, which opened in 2008, develops exhibitions and programs that place art and design in the context of larger social and cultural issues. In addition to her role as director, Subramaniam will serve as an assistant professor of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons.
"The New School is an extraordinary place of intersecting cultures, academic scholarship, and global social consciousness," said Subramaniam. Before coming to Parsons, she served as director of Cultural Programs at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), where she organized symposia, dialogues, public art, and performances that advanced the organization’s mission to galvanize downtown New York through innovative and critical artistic and cultural programming.
"With a curatorial practice that is both cross disciplinary and dialogic, Radhika has a demonstrated commitment to public pedagogy, critical urbanism, and questions of political and social justice," said Parsons Dean Joel Towers. "These are values that are very much in line with the institution as a whole."
The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center houses two exhibition spaces as well as the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Archives. Currently on view in the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery is “Dormitorium: Film Decors by the Quay Brothers,” an exhibition of rare film sets from the works of cult stop-motion animators Stephen and Timothy Quay, which runs through October 4. In the Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries, thesis work by graduating students in the MFA Photography program is on view through September 11.
For more information on the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, including programming and visitor information, please visit their website.
NEWS FROM THE NEW SCHOOL FOR JAZZ AND CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
NEW SCHOOL JAZZ FALL 2009 FACULTY CONCERT
On Wednesday, September 2, at 7:00 p.m., the New School Jazz fall faculty concert will take place featuring the group Nation Beat, directed by faculty member Scott Kettner.
Which nation and which beat? What makes this group special is that it offers no simple answers. They are rhythm gatherers, harvesting the fruit of 500 years of cultural crossbreeding, which is why the sounds of the northeast of Brazil and the southern United States blend together so seamlessly. NPR's All Things Considered music writer Banning Eyre calls them "the most original and alluring fusion group I have heard in years."
The group features Scott Kettner, drums and percussion; New School Jazz alumni Skye Steele, fiddle; Aaron Schafer-Haiss: percussion; and Lilian Araujo, voice; Raphael McGregor, guitar & lap steel; Mike Lavallee: bass; Petr Cancura: saxophone and mandolin. Special guests include New School faculty member Richard Boukas, guitar and Rob Curto, accordion and piano.
The free concert will take place at the Jazz and Contemporary Music Performance Space, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 5th floor.
NEWS FROM THE NEW SCHOOL FOR GENERAL STUDIES
BY ANY NAME: INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY AT THE NEW SCHOOL:
A CALL FOR CONTENT FROM THE NEW SCHOOL COMMUNITY
This year, The New School commemorates its 90th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics (VLC) is partnering with Parts & Labor Gallery (a nonprofit arts organization) in an exhibition examining the legacy of The New School’s founding principles in a contemporary context. The project is part of the VLC’s program cycle “Speculating on Change.”
Established by three New School alumni, Brooke Chroman, NSGS, BA program and Parsons, MFA, Fine Arts; Bryan Mesenbourg, Parsons, MFA, Fine Arts; and Meghan Roe, NSSR, MA, Liberal Studies, Parts & Labor Gallery is a mobile exhibition space housed in a renovated commercial box truck, rendered transparent by Plexiglas walls (see attached image files). From October 19 to 24, the gallery will be parked in the curb lane outside one of The New School’s buildings as a public installation, research and performance space. The installation—a reimagining of a New School university archive—will serve as a physical and symbolic framework for a series of lectures and discussions by The New School community, creating a forum for multidisciplinary debate about the university’s past in relation to its present and future incarnations.
In addition to the onsite programming, an exhibition catalog will be produced, and made available in the gallery in both print and electronic forms. This catalog will be composed of faculty, staff, and student statements (academic or creative, 500-word max) on the university’s legacy that reflect personal experiences at the institution, relevant scholarship, recent university events, etc. The hope is that many in the university community will contribute a statement to this publication. To help generate content, a questionnaire has been created. The New School community is welcome to answer all of these questions, use one as starting point for a short essay, or respond to them in any way you see fit.
If you have any questions about this project please contact the Vera List Center at 212.229.2436. All text responses (in Word-document form) and other supplementary material can be submitted by email.
The deadline for submissions is September 10, 2009
NEW FROM THE NEW SCHOOL FOR DRAMA
DRAMA ALUMNA NAMED 2009-10 DRAMATIST GUILD PLAYWRITING FELLOW
The Dramatists Guild of America recently awarded Janine Nabers, class of 2008, a Dramatists Guild Fellowship. The program is designed to augment the training of emerging American dramatists and enhance the sense of community among them, and to nurture the next generation of American dramatists. The nine-month program includes group sessions with theater professionals, one-on-one mentoring, and opportunities to become interns or observers with dramatists involved in professional productions.
“I am very excited and honored,” Nabers says as she prepares for the program beginning in September. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to share my work with professionals, as well as with my peers, and drawing on and learning from their own experiences.”
DRAMA ANNOUNCES 2009 FALL SEASON
The New School for Drama will open their 2009 fall season with William Shakespeare’s Richard III, directed by Stephen Fried. This tale of the cruel Richard and his ambitious plot to clear his own way to the crown-by whatever means possible-runs October 8-10, with performances Thursday-Saturday at 8:00 p.m., with a Saturday 2:00 p.m. matinee.
The first offering of the FIRST LOOK Workshop Performance Series is The Rimers of Eldridge by Lanford Wilson, directed by Hal Brooks. A man has been murdered. The mystery is, who he is, who murdered him, and what were the circumstances? And to solve it, one must look at the inhabitants of a tiny, mid-western town. FIRST LOOK is work staged in a final rehearsal atmosphere with minimal sets, lights, costumes, and props; this production runs October 29-31, with performances Thursday-Saturday at 8:00 p.m., with a Saturday 3:00 p.m. matinee.
The season will continue with Drama’s New Visions Play Festival, November 30-December 12. The festival will feature seven contemporary plays in repertory over 12 days, highlighting the work of Drama’s graduating directors and actors. Productions include: Orestes 2.0 by Charles L. Mee, directed by Sarah Bellin; Normal: The Düsseldorf Ripper by Anthony Neilson, directed by Lucia Peters; On The Verge or The Geography Of Yearning by Eric Overmyer, directed by Elizabeth Carlson; Amazons and Their Men by Jordan Harrison, directed by John Hurley; Desdemona, A Play About a Handkerchief by Paula Vogel, directed by Joan Kane; 4:48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane, directed by Mason Beggs; and The Drowned World by Gary Owen, directed by Barrett Hileman. Please visit the Drama School website for the complete festival schedule of performance dates and times.
All presentations are at The New School for Drama Theater, 151 Bank Street, third floor. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. For reservations, please call Ticket Central at 212.279.4200. For more information and complete schedules, visit the Drama School website.
Student Housing and Residence Life welcomed over 1,100 new students to their new homes during Welcome Weekend, August 20-23, 2009. In preparation for new and returning students living in housing this academic year, a number of improvements were made in each of the four existing residence halls (Loeb Hall, 13th Street Residence, 20th Street Residence, and William Street Residence). Student Housing and Residence Life also celebrated the opening of a new building home to 629 students at the Stuyvesant Park Residence on East 15th Street between First and Second Avenues.
Throughout the year, hall directors and resident advisors offer students many activities and events in each of the residence halls that support the academic mission of the university as well as build community among the residents, helping them to develop life skills and form long-term friendships. Robert Lutomski, Director of Student Housing and Residence Life, commenting on the upcoming year said he hopes that “our residents will appreciate all of the wonderful additions and improvements we made to our facilities and that they will be active members of our vibrant residential community.”
To learn more about Student Housing and Residence Life, please visit their website.
THE NEW SCHOOL WELCOMES NEW FRESHMEN AND THEIR PARENTS
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| New Freshmen at the Central Park Zoo during Welcome Weekend |
Over 1,000 new freshmen from Parsons, Lang, Mannes, and Jazz along with parents and family members attended the fall 2009 Welcome Weekend. The program was organized by the Student Services’ Office of Student Development and Activities. New freshmen checked into the residence halls on Thursday, August 20 and Friday, August 21, including the newly-opened Stuyvesant Park Residence on East 15th Street. On these two days, students and parents also attended a special information session with Linda Reimer, Senior Vice President for Student Services along with other key staff members to learn about university resources. On Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23 freshmen participated in a number of on-campus and off-campus events and activities with their orientation leaders. Welcome Weekend culminated with the annual Sunday evening boat cruise around lower Manhattan with over 500 freshmen in attendance as well as orientation leaders, members of the University Student Senate, and resident advisors.
Monday, August 24 marked the beginning of the week-long New Student Orientation for both undergraduate and graduate students. Orientation events included academic sessions, recreational activities, and social events designed to welcome students and make them feel part of the New School community.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Earn $50! Psychological testing volunteers are needed for fall 2009—spring 2010. Doctoral students in the NSSR Clinical Psychology program need supervised experience giving a range of tests, some you may have heard of. Find out how psychologists work and learn something about your self! Volunteers meet with one clinical PhD student several times throughout the year. Volunteers must be available both fall 2009 and spring 2010. Total testing time is about six hours, plus an hour of feedback in the spring 2010 semester after testing is completed. The test is strictly confidential and is supervised by PhD clinical psychologists on The New School faculty. Clinical students may discuss anonymous test results in small groups, but only the PhD student conducting the tests and the instructor will know each volunteer’s identity.
If you would like to volunteer, please contact the teaching assistants, Rebecca Rosen and Laura Kirmayer, to arrange a telephone interview. Email Roser694@newschool.edu or Ikirm04@yahoo.com with any questions for the instructors, Dr. Andrew Twardon and Dr. Doris Chang, and queries will be forwarded.
USE YOUR FREE ADMISSION TO DROP IN ON MOMA’S AFTER HOUR THURSDAY NIGHTS IN
JULY AND AUGUST
Thursday, July 2, 2009, marks the first of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA’s) Thursday Nights, a series of Thursday evenings in July and August when the Museum will remain open until 8:45 p.m. We encourage New School students and employees to drop in after work and enjoy access to the entire Museum. In order to receive your free admission, go to the lobby information desk and show them your valid New School ID. Students, faculty, and staff receive one free admission for themselves. Faculty and staff may also obtain an additional two tickets for their guests.
There will be live entertainment as well as drinks and cocktails available for purchase. MoMA is located at 11 West 53rd Street, New York City. Enjoy!
TIME OUT NEW YORK DISCOUNT OFFER
Start your year off being in the know about things free or fancy. Time Out New York is offering all students, faculty, and staff at The New School a full year's subscription for just $20! That's 51 issues for the entire year and only 39c an issue. Steal this deal for yourself or a gift to another.
THE BEST DEAL FOR AFFORDABLE THEATER, Dance, and concert TICKETS:
THEATRE DEVELOPMENT FUND
An exciting spring theater, music and dance season is under way: Why pay $100 or more, when you can pay $20-$36 for Broadway shows and Off-Broadway shows, dance performances and concerts? An inexpensive way to enjoy the best of New York culture is to join Theatre Development Fund (TDF).
To be eligible, you must be a full-time student or teacher, senior citizen (62+), civil servant, union member, staff member of a not-for-profit organization, performing arts professional, or member of the clergy or armed forces. Annual membership fee is $27.50, and you can join online.
A small sampling of performances recently available to TDF Members for $20-36 per ticket include: 33 Variations, The 39 Steps, Altar Boyz, American Ballet Theatre, The American Plan, August: Osage County, Avenue Q, Ballet NY, Beast, Big Apple Circus, Blithe Spirit, Christopher Cross at B.B. King's, Distracted, Enter Laughing, Exit the King, The Fantasticks, Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab, Fueerzabruta, Gypsy, Hedda Gabler, Impressionism, Irena's Vow, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, London Philharmonic at Lincoln Center; The Marvelous Wonderettes, Mourning Becomes Electra, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, Next to Normal, Pal Joey, Patti Austin at Brooklyn Center; Paul Taylor Dance Company, The Phantom of the Opera, Reasons to be Pretty, Rock of Ages, Ruined, Shrek: The Musical; Speed the Plow, Spring Awakening and Uncle Vanya.
So don't miss this great opportunity to see great theater at great prices.
The New York Times is offering a 60 percent discount ($.40/per day Monday-Saturday, $2.50 on Sunday) for home or office subscriptions to all faculty, staff, and students.
Here's how it works. Unlike traditional subscriptions, the education rate can be set up by semester or in a combination that best reflects your schedules for both delivery and billing. New School faculty, staff, and students can have a subscription Monday-Friday, Sunday only, weekends only, or any combination.
To take advantage of the special discount to the Times or to change a current subscription, students, faculty (full-time and part-time), and staff should contact the customer service center at 888.NYT.COLL, to order a single subscription or a classroom subscription of up to eight copies for required reading in the classroom.
To order a classroom subscription of eight or more copies for required reading in the classroom, contact the education program's customer service center at 800.631.1222.
WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO SAVE TIME AND MONEY ON ENTERTAINMENT?
As a member of The New School, you have access to exclusive entertainment benefits through Plum Benefits! From theater and dance to sports and comedy, you can use this benefit to save time and money when ordering tickets for great seats to the hottest events in town! Log on 24/7 to enjoy:
Exclusive offers for premiere entertainment
Discounts of up to 50% off
Access to hard-to-get seats
Cost-free service
No ticket-ordering obligations
Easy ticket ordering
Helpful Customer Service at www.plumbenefits.com, 212.660.1888, or contact@plumbenefits.com
Already Signed Up to View Your Entertainment Benefits Online?
Log in now at www.plumbenefits.com to view this month's entertainment offers.
Not Yet Signed Up to View Your Entertainment Benefits Online?
Simply visit www.plumbenefits.com, click the "Sign-Up Now" button and follow the on-site instructions to create your profile and password. Registration is free and takes just a few moments-all you need is your groupwise email address.
The Weekly Observer, The New School online publication, is sent to everyone with a University email account. It is also available on the University web site. To add an external address to the email list, please send a message from the account you wish to add to majordomo@listserv.newschool.edu. In the message, on a line by itself, type "subscribe observer".
To submit at item for publication in The Observer, please email observer@newschool.edu.
Submissions deadline for the Observer:
Submissions for the Observer must be received by Wednesday afternoon to appear in the following issue.
