NO LONGER IN EXILE:
GENDER STUDIES CONFERENCE AT THE NEW SCHOOL
 |
| Susan Faludi |
Susan Faludi of Backlash fame and many other distinguished speakers will attend a weekend-long conference on March 26-27 at the Theresa Lang Center 55 West 13th Street, hosted by the Gender Studies Program at the New School. Inspired by distinguished visitors from all over the world, students and faculty will explore this interdisciplinary field's history, its changing boundaries, and its current cutting edge.
No Longer in Exile: The Legacy and Future of Gender Studies at the New School begins Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. with the “The State of the Art: Gender Studies,” with Bonnie Thornton Dill, Nancy Fraser, Dina Georgis, Mary Hawkesworth, Valerie Smith, Katie Detwiler, and Chelsea Estep-Armstrong. The conference continues all day on Saturday with discussions such as “What Histories Do We Want to Claim?” and “Gender Studies and Body Politics: Intersections, Directions, Representations.” The art show, Inspiring Women, showcasing images by 16 artists who attended Parsons from the 1910s to the 1990s, will take place simultaneously adjacent to the conference, and will continue to be on view through May 31.
For a full listing of talks and panelists please visit: http://www.newschool.edu/lang/academics.aspx?id=47785.
This conference is free and open to the public. No registration is required.
THE NEW SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT TO BE HELD ON MAY 21
 |
| Bruce Edward Babbitt |
Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Edward Babbitt will deliver the address at the university’s commencement ceremony on Friday, May 21, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
President Bob Kerrey will address the graduates and confer honorary degrees on:
- Bruce Edward Babbitt, environmentalist
- Jerome Seymour Bruner, psychologist and educator
- Dr. Chen Yi, classical composer
- Dr. Rita R. Colwell, scientist and educator
- Jeremy Grantham, investment banker and philanthropist
- Alfredo Jaar, artist and architect.
All information on the university graduation, as well as divisional ceremonies including guest and ticket information, can be found at the www.newschool.edu/commencement/.
THE NEW SCHOOL HONORS SESAME STREET VISIONARY
JOAN GANZ COONEY SCHOLARSHIP
The New School honored Joan Ganz Cooney at its annual LaGuardia Award Dinner on February 25 at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The Fiorello H. LaGuardia Award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to New York City and who embody the legacy of the legendary New York City Mayor. Previous honorees include former President Bill Clinton, Senators George Mitchell and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and business leaders such as Felix Rohatyn and David Rockefeller.
The evening’s high notes included syndicated columnist Liz Smith, who wowed the crowd with her wit and antics. First Lady Michelle Obama also sent a tribute letter to Cooney, which was read by President Bob Kerrey. Senator Al Franken, D-Minnesota, was scheduled to provide the keynote address on education but could not attend because of a health care vote. He did send a humorous video message to kick off the dinner.
Cooney co-founded the Children’s Television Workshop—since renamed Sesame Workshop—in 1968. Sesame Street was the first preschool program to integrate education and entertainment and feature a multiracial cast. Cooney has been a lifelong advocate for helping children to be literate, educated, and responsible citizens of the world.
Guests joined to celebrate Cooney’s contributions and a scholarship was created in her name. The Joan Ganz Cooney Scholarship will provide support for two fall 2010 students at The New School. The scholarship, $2,500 per year, will be granted to two students continuing their education in the Masters for Media Studies Program.
ETHICAL DILEMMAS
“DOING RESEARCH ETHICALLY: MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES,” A ROUNDTABLE
On Tuesday, March 9 at 12:00 p.m., the first in a new series of faculty research lunchtime presentations hosted by the Office of the Provost will explore different approaches to ethics in research practices across varied disciplines. This free event will take place in the Orozco Room, 66 West 12th Street, 7th floor.
Speakers include Katayoun Chamany, associate professor of Biology, Interdisciplinary Science, Lang College; Vyjayanthi Rao, assistant professor of Anthropology, The New School for Social Research and the Graduate Program in International Affairs at The New School; Miriam Steele, associate professor of Psychology, The New School for Social Research; Carlos Teixeira, assistant professor of Design and Research, Parsons The New School for Design; and moderated by Ron Kassimir, associate provost for Research and Special Projects.
The continuing series will include presentations from faculty across the university, with an emphasis on research that has been developed during sabbaticals or with the support of university research grants. Faculty, students, and staff are invited to attend these hour-long presentations, which will continue on Tuesday, April 6 and Tuesday, April 27.
NEWS FROM THE NEW SCHOOL FOR JAZZ AND CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
SIZZLING WITH SUPERSOUND
JAZZ PRESENTS CHARLI PERSIP SUPERSOUND WITH STUDENTS AND ALUMNI
Jazz faculty member Charli Persip leads his big band Supersound, which includes alumni and students, in an eclectic performance at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music Performance Space, 55 West 13th Street, 5th floor on Wednesday, March 10, at 8:00 p.m.
With a long drumming career for several big band and post-bop ensembles, Persip continues to showcase his unrelenting swing and dramatic accenting strokes that signify his style. Persip is the author of How Not to Play the Drums.
Supersound includes New School Jazz faculty member Charli Persip, drums; Saadi Zadin, bass; James Gordon Williams, piano; Rick Henly, Nabate Isles, alum Sharif Kales, Jean Caze, trumpets; Eric Hoffman, Kevin Cerovich, James Zeller, trombones; alum Marc Guilford, tuba; Camille Thurman and Mike Bomwell, tenor saxophone and flute; Ian Young and Mike McGarril, alto saxophone and flute; Erwin Snow, baritone saxophone; and alum Chelsea Crowe and Eric Hoffman, vocals.
Admission is $10; free to all students and New School faculty, staff, alumni with ID, and seniors with ID. For tickets call The New School Box Office at 212.229.5488 or email boxoffice@newschool.edu.
CHARLES TOLLIVER DIRECTS ART BLAKEY/JAZZ MESSENGER ENSEMBLE
AT SAINT PETER’S CHURCH PREZFEST
Through instruction and performance, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music has long upheld the legacy of legendary drummer and bandleader Art Blakey.
On Sunday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m., the tradition continues when The New School’s Art Blakey/Jazz Messenger Ensemble, directed by faculty member Charles Tolliver performs at PrezFest, a celebration of Blakey’s life and music at St. Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington at 54th Street. The ensemble features Alexey Ivannikov, piano; Emily Wheaton, bass; Joseph Pramik-Holdaway, drums; Joo Chan Im, drums; Casey Francis, alto saxophone; Pablo Moser, tenor saxophone; Nash Guillermo, trumpet; and Linton Smith, trumpet.
New School Jazz faculty’s Art Blakey Legacy Band will also perform, featuring Joanne Brackeen, piano; Reggie Workman, bass; Charli Persip, drums; Billy Harper, saxophone; and Charles Tolliver, trumpet. Admission is a suggested donation of $20.
NEWS FROM PARSONS THE NEW SCHOOL FOR DESIGN
A DOLL FOR ALL ORGANS
PARSONS ALUMNA RECEIVES PATENT FOR THESIS PROJECT
Parsons BFA Integrated Design alumna Polina Ulendeeva recently received a U.S. patent for her thesis project, Comfort. Play. Teach, a toy that educates children about human anatomy in a way that is both didactic and entertaining.
The plush dolls unzip to reveal various organs and come with a coloring book and set of washable markers. Each page of the coloring book educates children about a different organ with illustrations and clues to help identify them. Through this process, children are taught how the body works as a living system.
“My project was influenced by such classic children's toys as The Visible Man and Operation," said Ulendeeva. "I also was inspired by the many contemporary works produced by young artists and designers, such as Ugly Dolls —the popular toys created by a pair of Parsons alumni— the store Kid Robot, and the television show South Park.”
Now that she has received the patent, Ulendeeva is reaching out to major toy companies with the hope of having the dolls on the market in the near future.
THE INCREDIBLE LIGHTNESS OF PARSONS
SCE STUDENTS SWEEP 2010 NYC STUDENT LIGHTING COMPETITION
 |
| J. Parkman Carter |
Students in the Master of Fine Arts in Lighting Design and Master of Architecture programs at the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons received high honors in the Illuminating Engineering Society’s 2010 NYC Student Lighting Competition. J. Parkman Carter was awarded first place; Megan Pfeffer, third place; and Gabriella Grullan received honorable mention for the use of materials in her project.
Under the guidance of Parsons faculty members Nelson Jenkins and Matthew Tanteri, these students developed three-dimensional, abstract lighting compositions. Inspired by the theme Liminal Luminosity, students interpreted the numerous ways light facilitates, defines, or bridges a point of transition, while exploring the spatial, psychological, physiological, and temporal realms of their chosen concepts.
Carter, who is receiving a dual graduate degree in lighting design and architecture, titled his project Edge: Problems and Promise, inspired by ecological, geopolitical and spiritual boundaries. Carter visually shows that simple edges demarcate everything that we encounter in our lives: the human body, thresholds, buildings, and the horizon.
Pfeffer, a student in the lighting design program, titled her project Liminally Enlightened, which explores British cultural anthropologist Victor Turner’s psychological theories on luminality. The installation takes viewers through the steps of liminal enlightenment by providing a “false” space in the reflections of the light that seems to continue forever.
Grullan, who also is in the MFA Lighting Design program, titled her project Liminal Datum. Here, a transparent structure allows viewers to observe the relationship between light and materials, in this case soft paper that captures the quality of light along its natural gradient.
NEWS FROM THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH
KRITISCHE GESAMTAUSGABEDER WERKE VON HANS JONAS
HANS JONAS’ CRITICAL EDITION OF PHILOSOPHY PUBLISHED
The first volume of a major critical edition of philosophy professor emeritus Hans Jonas’ work has just been published. Jonas fled Germany in 1933 when Hitler came to power, and taught in Jerusalem and Canada, before coming to New York to teach at The New School for Social Research in 1955. Jonas was chairman of the Philosophy department from 1957 to 1963 and the Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy from 1966 until his retirement in 1976.
This new edition will include Jonas’ German and English works and is edited by Herausgegeben von Dietrich Böhler, Michael Bongardt, Holger Burckhart, Christian Wiese, and Walther Ch. Zimmerli.
Jonas was born in Mönchengladbach, Germany on May 10, 1903. He studied philosophy and theology in Freiburg, Berlin, and Heidelberg, and finally earned his Doctor of Philosophy at Marburg where he studied under Martin Heidegger and Rudolf Bultmann. In Marburg he met Hannah Arendt who was also pursuing her doctorate. The two of them remained friends for the rest of their lives. Jonas became world-known for his book The Imperative of Responsibility and drew wide attention in 1964 when he repudiated Heidegger for his infatuation with Nazi ideology.
HUGH RAFFLES’ INSECTOPEDIA HITS THE STANDS
Insectopedia, Anthropology Chair Hugh Raffles’ new book out on March 23, is an exploration of the ties that bind us to the beautiful, ancient, largely unknown species with whom we share the world.
Organized alphabetically with one entry for each letter, weaving together brief vignettes, meditations, and extended essays, Insectopedia includes history and science, anthropology and travel, economics, philosophy, and popular culture. The book illustrates how insects have triggered our obsessions, stirred our passions, and beguiled our imaginations.
Raffles previous book, In Amazonia: A Natural History won the Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing and was selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title by The American Library Association. Last year, the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation named Raffles one of 10 recipients of the 2009 Whiting Writers’ Awards. These highly-prestigious awards, which are $50,000 each, have been given annually since 1985 to writers of exceptional talent and promise. Among the past recipients are Denis Johnson, Mona Simpson, Tony Kushner, Michael Cunningham, Alice McDermott, Ian Frazier, David Foster Wallace, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Mark Doty.
NEWS FROM THE NEW SCHOOL FOR DRAMA
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
THE NEW SCHOOL FOR DRAMA’S NEW VISIONS PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
Don’t miss the New Voices Playwrights Festival, a novel series featuring seven original plays performed in repertory from April 8-24 at The New School for Drama Theater. This festival, advised by award-winning director and faculty member Jim Simpson, highlights the work of the graduating MFA playwrights, directors, and actors and is free and open to the public. Working with professionals in the New York theater world like Simpson is one of the foundations of the Drama students' experience at The New School.
“An ambitious program of seven new plays - a season’s worth of work!” said Simpson. Simpson has been teaching Directing The First Production to third-year students earning an MFA in directing.
Simpson is the founder and artistic director of The Flea Theater (2004 Drama Desk Award cited for Downtown Adventurous Theater), a two-time OBIE-award winner, and has been cited for artistic leadership in Downtown New York by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2002. He has directed more than 70 works at the most prestigious regional theatres in the United States and has also directed for film and television.
For the complete schedule of performances visit: www.drama.newschool.edu.
New Voices is generously supported by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
MAKING LEMONADE IN PARIS
DRAMA ALUMS TO STAGE CHARLES L. MEE’S LIMONADE TOUS LES JOURS
Joie de Théâtrale with the New Voice Project proudly present the New York City premiere of Limonade Tous les Jours, a romantic comedy (in English), written by Charles L. Mee, and directed by Drama alum Diana Basmajian (’08). The show will have a limited-run from April 3-18 at the Cell Theatre, 338 West 23rd Street, New York City.
A special party and company fundraiser, Un Peu de Limonade, took place Monday, March 1 to benefit the NYC production. The evening featured Kate Baldwin (Finian's Rainbow), Graham Rowat (Boys in the Band), alumni actors Eleanor Handley (’08), Laura Gourdine (’08), and Austin Pendleton. Pendleton and Handley will be appearing in the production.
"We're thrilled to present this play and our amazing cast at the Cell Theatre in Chelsea," said director Basmajian. "With universal themes of love and companionship, presented with humor and heart, we're sure audiences will delight in seeing this show. How exciting to have the first pairing of two New York theater legends—Austin Pendleton and Charles Mee."
Set in Paris, Limonade Tous les Jours is a delightful romantic comedy that tells the story of an American man who meets a French woman in a cafe. Both of them are recovering from recent ruined love relationships. They spend the day wandering through the city together and speak of all the reasons they shouldn't fall in love. And of course, they do.
Charles L. Mee is a popular and contemporary American playwright, historian, and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting that utilizes radical reconstructions of found texts. Among his other awards, Charles Mee is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award in drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, two OBIE Awards (Vienna: Lusthaus (1986) and Big Love (2002)). Mee's many works include Fire Island, Summertime, Belle Époque, Café le Monde, The Four Seasons, Memory Palace, and Night and Day.
NEWS FROM THE NEW SCHOOL FOR GENERAL STUDIES
SANKOFA SCREENS AT HIRSHON FILM FESTIVAL
“Sankofa is a handsome, urgent slave’s eye view of slavery. Its vantage point is one you’ve never seen from Hollywood, and probably won’t. Cinematically, Sankofa is every bit as rich as The Color Purple, but the similarities end there. Its strength is that it’s not like a Hollywood film. This means it plays out more slowly than Hollywood’s fast-paced industrial products. Sometimes it drags. But it never releases its grip on you,” writes Jay Carr of the Boston Globe.
On Wednesday, March 10, at 7:00 p.m., the 2010 Dorothy H. Hirshon Film Festival begins in Wollman Hall, 65 West 11th Street, 5th floor, as Michelle Materre, assistant professor of Media Studies and Film at The New School introduces director-in-residence Haile Gerima who will screen his 1993 classic film Sankofa.
After the film, Gerima will show excerpts of his newest film, TEZA and discuss his work. Gerima is an Ethiopian film director, screenwriter, writer, producer, and philosopher. He is one of a handful of African filmmakers to earn international fame. He has been a professor of film at Howard University in Washington, DC, since 1975.
Established by a bequest from the late Dorothy Hirshon, a trustee of The New School for 61 years, this annual event promotes excellence and education in filmmaking. The theme of the eighth Hirshon Film Festival is working outside the Hollywood system while creating socially conscious film. The festival will continue on April 23 with a retrospective of Gerima’s work and an interview with cultural critic and Lang College faculty member Margo Jefferson.
THE LITERATI ARE HEADING HERE
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS THIS WEEK
The prestigious National Book Critics Circle Awards Ceremony will be held on March 10-11 on campus at Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street. A chance to see and hear from those considered the best writers of our time. This year’s Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Joyce Carol Oates, presented by Kwame Anthony Appiah, president of PEN American Center, the 2008 winner.
The annual event honors the finest books published in English in the categories of Fiction, General Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry, and Criticism. On the second day of the event, the finalists will read from their work.
Admission is free, and the celebrations will start, on both days, at 6:00 p.m. at Tishman Auditorium. For more information and a full list of finalists, visit: the National Book Critics Circle website.
NEWS FROM EUGENE LANG COLLEGE THE NEW SCHOOL FOR LIBERAL ARTS
THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE
THE NEW SCHOOL CELEBRATES WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH WITH STACEYANN CHIN
“Her engaging spirit jumps off the page and captivates our hearts... We’re rooting for her all the way.” Elle magazine raves of Staceyann Chin’s new book, The Other Side of Paradise. In celebration of Women’s History Month, Chin will be reading from her book on Thursday, March 11 at 6:00 p.m. at Wollman Hall, 65 West 11th Street, 5th floor.
Chin, a writer and activist, is a recipient of the 2007 Power of the Voice Award from The Human Rights Campaign, the 2008 Safe Haven Award from Immigration Equality, the 2008 Honors from the Lesbian AIDS Project, and the 2009 New York State Senate Award. She was a stock feature on the Peabody Award winning HBO series Def Poetry Jam. She went on to co-write and perform as one of the original cast members of the Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, which won a Tony.
This reading, co-sponsored by Eugene Lang College, the Office of Intercultural Support, and the Office of International Student Services, is free, but reservations are required by emailing LangSpecialProjects@newschool.edu.
ACKNOWLEDGING THE PROBLEM:
THE ANTI-URBAN BIAS IN EDUCATION
Urban educators and students face a constellation of known challenges, but they also teach and learn under circumstances that are informed and influenced by a less acknowledged "anti-urban bias." On Thursday, March 11, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., in the Hirshon Suite, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor, educator and author Ron Scapp, faculty member at College of the Mount Saint Vincent, will give a talk titled, "They Skool: The Anti-Urban Bias In Urban Education.”
Scapp will focus on the New York City school system. He argues that that even some advocates of urban public schooling—including many self-identified education reformers, the Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers—play into this dynamic. This free event is part of Lang College’s Interdisciplinary Lecture Series New Perspectives on Contemporary Education.
“ASTONISHED, INTOXICATED, ECSTATIC”
DAVID SHIELDS’ REALITY HUNGER GETS A TABLE AT THE NEW SCHOOL
Renowned author David Shields will read and talk about his latest book Reality Hunger at The New School on Friday, March 12 at 6:00 p.m. at the Theresa Lang Community Center, 55 West 13th Street.
“I’ve just finished reading Reality Hunger and I’m lit up by it—astonished, intoxicated, ecstatic, overwhelmed,” writes novelist Jonathan Lethem. Fresh from his acclaimed exploration of mortality in the genre-defying, best-selling The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead, Shields has produced an open call for new literary and other art forms to match the complexities of the 21st century. Converts will see Reality Hunger as a call to arms; detractors will view it as an occasion to defend the status quo. It is certain to be one of the most controversial and talked-about books of the season.
Admission is free to students and New School faculty, staff, and alumni with ID. Shields will be a visiting writer at the 2010 Summer Writer’s Colony, June 7-24, 2010. To learn more about this colony, which features workshops and literary salons with New School faculty members and visiting writers, please visit: www.newschool.edu/summerwriters/.
NOMADS OF TIBET
PARSONS STUDENT FINALIST IN SMITHSONIAN PHOTO CONTEST
Conway Liao, an MFA student in the Design and Technology program at Parsons, is a finalist in the 7th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest.
Conway’s photo Nomads of Tibet, which won first place in The New School’s 5th Annual International Education Week Photo Contest, was taken in Tagong, Kham (Eastern Tibet), Sichuan Province, China. He is one of 50 finalists in the Smithsonian contest whose winners will be decided by online voting. Category winners will be awarded $500. The readers’ choice winner will be awarded $500, and the grand prizewinner will receive a Grand Canyon trip for two.
You can vote until March 31 by going to www.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/7th-annual/7th-people-2.html.
DISCOUNTS FOR NEW SCHOOL FACULTY, STUDENTS AND STAFF
Discounts for all New School employees can be found on MyNewSchool. Login and click on the employee tab and then under the Human Resources section click on “Discounts for Employees of The New School.”
Discounts for all students can be found in the New York City Resources section of the Student Handbook.
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.
