FALL 2001 SPECIAL PROGRAMS AT THE NEW SCHOOL

Contacts:

George Calderaro
212 229-5353
[email protected]

FALL 2001 SPECIAL PROGRAMS AT
THE NEW SCHOOL

LECTURES, DISCUSSIONS, READINGS & FILMS
SEPTEMBER THROUGH DECEMBER 2001

World Policy Institute Lecture
THE FIRST NINE MONTHS: BUSH AND THE WORLD
Thurs., Sept. 20, 6:00 p.m., Free Admission

With Walter Russell Mead, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, among others. For information and reservations, call (212) 229-5808 x101.

HIP-HOP: CUBA AND THE USA
2-day symposium: Sat. & Sun., Sept. 29-30. $15
Danny Hoch, performance artist and Fellow, The Vera List Center for Art and Politics, coordinator.

Hip-Hop has spread from the inner cities of the United States to the four corners of the world carrying with it messages that range from the crassest greed and violence to reports on racism, poverty, police brutality, the criminal "justice" system, and rebellion. Youth in other countries are reshaping these messages according to their local socio-political realities. Ninety miles from our shores, Cuba has not been exempt from the influence of Hip-Hop, but the reaction of Cuba's government and its arts community has moved from initial disapproval to support. Why? This first-of-a-kind symposium brings together Hip-Hop artists and critics from Cuba and the U.S. to discuss the revolutionary potential of this rebellious musical culture, its potential for co-optation, and what its popularity in the U.S. and Cuba tells us about both countries and their relationship.

Invited from Cuba: Hip-Hop artists Doble Filo, Instinto (female rap group), Primera Base, and RCA and commentators Ariel Fernandez Diaz (Union of Young Communists), Pablo Herrera (University of Havana), and Rodolfo Rensoli (Director, Casa de Cultura Fayad Jamis). Invited from the USA: Hip-Hop artists and activists Monifa Bandele (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement), Ras Baraka (politician), Dead Prez (rappers, Uhuru Democratic People's Organization), Mos Def and Talib Kweli (rappers), Russell Shoats III (rapper), Akiba Solomon (The Source magazine political columnist), Kofi Taha, and Billy Wimsatt (philanthropist).

Sept. 29, 3-7 p.m.      Hip-Hop in Cuba/Hip-Hop in the USA
Sept. 30, 1-3 p.m.      Globalization of Hip-Hop Culture
Sept. 30, 4-6 p.m.      Hip-Hop Activism and Philanthropy for Generations X, Y, Z

Sponsored by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics in association with the Caribbean Cultural Center.

1919 REVISITED: REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT
Mon., Oct. 1, 6:00 p.m. $5

Orlando Patterson, Professor of Sociology, Harvard, and author of Ethnic Chauvinism, Freedom, and The Ordeal of Integration, revisits course no. 5, offered in 1919 by Harold J. Laski.

Some eighty years ago, the founders of The New School undertook to offer a series of courses to the New York City public as an experiment in a new concept of democracy and adult education. In honor of Senator Bob Kerrey, who was installed as the seventh President of New School University earlier this year, The New School invited a group of today's scholars to continue that discourse by revisiting in lectures the topics of the seven original New School courses. Our hope is to capture the spirit of those first lectures and apply it to our moment, to speak to the dilemmas facing democracy in the post-modern age. Four topics have been revisited to date, and this fall, we offer the concluding lectures.

A TRIBUTE TO A.R. AMMONS
Tues., Oct. 2, 7:00 p.m. Free admission
David Lehman, moderator

The New School Graduate Writing Program hosts a memorial tribute to esteemed poet A. R. ("Archie") Ammons, who died last February at the age of 75. Among the distinguished authors who have agreed to participate are John Ashbery and Richard Howard.

ART IN NEW YORK: WHAT'S HOT THIS FALL?
Wed., Oct. 3, 6:00 p.m. $5
Calvin Reid, critic; John Zinsser, art historian

Using current shows at area museums and galleries as examples, Reid and Zinsser debate such issues as artist's intent, subject matter, and historical relevance. After the initial presentations, the audience is invited to join an open discussion of the cultural functions and social significance of art galleries and museums today. Calvin Reid writes for leading journals such as Art in America and International Review of African American Art. John Zinsser teaches at The New School and writes a regular column, "Painter's Journal," for artnet.com. Presented by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics.

LONG TERM CARE: A MULTIGENERATIONAL ISSUE
Thurs., Oct.4, 3:00 p.m., $5

Trudy Lieberman, an outstanding investigative journalist for consumers, respected for her coverage of health care and insurance issues for Consumers Reports, offers the first in a series of talks on "Our Future Selves." Ms. Lieberman has won numerous awards for articles on life insurance to protect families, Medicare, and nursing homes. She is the author of The Complete Guide to Health Services for Seniors, enabling readers to negotiate the maze of health-care services and insurance for themselves as well as young and old family members. Ms. Lieberman notes the 25 percent of adults over age 40 are already attending home duties, their own children, and caregiving for their parents or partners and the impact that this has for the different generations today and in the future.
Sponsored by the Institute for Retired Professionals.

World Policy Institute Lecture
RECONCILIATION DIPLOMACY: HOW TO OVERCOME HISTORICAL WRONGS
Thurs., Oct. 4, 6:00 p.m., Free Admission
For information and reservations, call (212) 229-5808 x101.

JOAN DIDION: POLITICAL FICTIONS
Fri., Oct. 5, 6:00 p.m., $5

Author Joan Didion presents a reading from her new book, Political Fictions, based on her penetrating observations of the last dozen years in American politics, and reveals a political class increasingly intolerant of the nation that sustains it. As described by Joyce Carol Oates, Didion is "an articulate witness to the most stubborn truths of our time."

THE PUBLIC ART FUND, "TUESDAY NIGHT TALKS" WITH MAURIZIO CATTALAN
Tues., Oct. 9, 6:30 p.m., $5
Stefano Basilico, curator New School University art collection, coordinator.
Presented by the Public Art Fund in association with the New School University art collection.

For the last six years, the Public Art Fund has produced "Tuesday Night Talks," an ongoing series of presentations and discussions by some of today's most influential artists, critics, and curators, including Jeff Koons, Rachel Whiteread, Matthew Barney, Gabriel Orozco, Pipilotti Rist, Tony Oursler, Catherine David, Kasper Konig, Okwui Enwezor, and Lynne Cook. Topics have included emerging trends in art, the shifting focus of artists engaged with public issues, and cultural issues confronting curators in an international art world. The New School is proud to host "Tuesday Night Talks" this fall. For more information, please call the Public Art Fund at (212) 980-4575.

RESfest DIGITAL FILM FESTIVAL
Wed. through Sat., Oct. 10-13. Admission fee to be announced.

The New School Department of Communication is pleased to host this annual celebration of digital film, which features an exciting lineup of short films, features, music videos, and animations for the web. All festival films are projected using state-of-the-art digital systems. RESfest is produced by RES Media Group, creators of the acclaimed RES Magazine, a Bi-monthly that profiles creative people working in digital media and reviews the latest desktop film/video tools and techniques. Every year, RESfest tours San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo, and other cities. Visit their website www.resfest.com for more information.

CAPITALISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY:
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE AMERICAN MODEL?
Mon., Oct. 15, 8:00 p.m., $5, and online Oct. 17-31 at www.dialnsa.edu
Sherle Schwenninger, fellow and former director, World Policy Institute, moderator. Invited panelists Walter Russell Mead, Saskia Sassen, Lester Thurow, Martin Walker, Alan Wolfe, and Mort Zuckerman.

The nineties saw not just the end of the Cold War but also, seemingly, the end of intra-capitalist competition. The much-debated "beauty contest" among U.S., West European, and East Asian models ended in a wave of American triumphalism--confirmed by chronic high unemployment in Europe and total economic stagnation in Japan. But with the bursting of the NASDAQ bubble, some of the bloom has come off the U.S. model. Economists and political philosophers are again looking to Europe to see if it might offer a more stable and socially attractive form of market economy, one more readily exportable to the still-developing world. Will the next decade show American capitalism to be too subject to extremes of boom and bust, too destructive of social community, too callous with respect to the huge disparities of wealth it creates? If America boomed in the early stage of the information era, could it be Europe that prospers in the next? Sponsored by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs and the World Policy Institute.

ARTISTS WRITING ABOUT ART: TRIBUTE TO JOE BRAINARD
Tues., Oct. 16, 7:00 p.m., $5

Frank Bidart, Kenward Elmslie, Brad Gooch, Constance M. Lewallen, and Ron Padgett join others in honoring this great artist and writer on the occasion of a retrospective exhibition of his work at P.S. 1.

Co-sponsored by Artforum and The New School Writing Program.

CLINTON AFTER THE FALL
Thurs., Oct. 18, 6:00 p.m. $5

Dick Morris, pollster and TV commentator, author of The New Prince and Vote.com and Jerome D. Levin, fellow of the Wolfson Center for National Affairs at The New School, author of The Clinton Syndrome: The President and the Self-Destructive Nature of Sexual Addiction. Moderated by Evan Wolfson, Senior Fellow of the Wolfson Center for National Affairs at The New School.

There is a respected tradition in the political and social science that examines political behavior in terms of psychopathology. Is this a fruitful approach to use with respect to our contemporary political leaders? Or should more straightforward political motivations be our operative mode of interpretation? This discussion uses the presidency of Bill Clinton as a case study in comparing and contrasting these two methods of understanding recent political history. Former Clinton advisor and intimate Dick Morris and psychotherapist Jerry Levin discuss the former President's career and in particular some of the highly controversial things he did while he was President, the political ramifications of his behavior, and the use of psychopathological categories to describe and understand it.

World Policy Institute Lecture
IS RUSSIA TURNING AUTHORITARIAN?
Thurs., Oct. 18, 6:00 p.m., Free Admission
For information and reservations, call (212) 229-5808 x101.

WRITING LIVES CONFERENCE
Thurs. through Sat., Oct. 18-20. $25 for the conference; single admission tickets to panels and readings, $5, and online Oct. 22-Nov. 5 at www.dialnsa.edu

The New School has invited distinguished and provocative writers, artists, and scholars from several disciplines to examine in a comprehensive public forum the nature of biography and how storytelling is changing in our culture. Panel discussions feature biographers, memoirists, poets, and novelists alongside anthropologists, literary scholars, documentary photographers, and filmmakers. Conference participants have also been invited to read or screen their work at a series of evening programs organized in collaboration with the Poetry Society of America. Participants include Frank Bidart, Pamela Clemit, Rosalind Morris, Jeanne Moskal, Nell Painter, Rick Woodward, and others to be announced.

For a complete conference program, a schedule of events, and advance registration information, contact the New School Writing Program at (212) 229-5611 or send e-mail to [email protected].

Co-sponsored by the New School's Writing Program and Department of Social Sciences, the Poetry Society of America, Fence, and the Columbia Univ. Department of Anthropology with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and New York State Council for the Humanities.

THE ROSENBERG CASE REVISITED
Tues., Oct. 23, 6:00 p.m. $5

Sam Roberts, Deputy Editor for Week in Review, New York Times, and author of The Brother: The Untold Story of Atom Spy David Greenglass and How He Sent His Sister Ethel Rosenberg to the Electric Chair. Invited discussants: William Reuben, Ronald Radosh, Ellen Schrecker. Moderated by Evan Wolfson, Senior Fellow at the Wolfson Center for National Affairs at The New School.

The execution in 1953 of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, convicted of spying for the Soviet Union, did not end the debate about their guilt or innocence nor the larger debates about U.S. foreign policy after World War II and the role of Communists in American politics that were sparked by their prosecution. Long after most of the actors have died, the arguments have passed into the realm of the great historical controversies. Will there ever be closure of the Rosenberg case? Occasioned by the publication of Sam Roberts' book, a panel of distinguished writers revisits the story from a different perspective. Presented by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs at The New School.

THE PUBLIC ART FUND, "TUESDAY NIGHT TALKS" WITH SHIRIN NESHAT
Tues., Oct. 23, 6:30 p.m., $5
Stefano Basilico, curator New School University art collection, coordinator.
Presented by the Public Art Fund in association with the New School University art collection.

AN EVENING WITH CAVE CANEM
Wed., Oct. 24, 7:00 p.m. Free admission.
Toi Derricotte, moderator, with Lucille Clifton and Sonia Sanchez

The "home for African-American poetry," Cave Canem brings two of our nation's most distinguished poets to The New School for an evening of readings and discussion. Lucille Clifton's recent collection of poems, Blessing the Boats, won the National Book Award for poetry. Sonia Sanchez won an American Book Award in 1985 for homegirls and handgrenades; her most recent collection is Shake Loose My Skin. Co-sponsored by the New School Writing Program and Cave Canem.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: WOMEN’S HOUSING ISSUES
The Estelle Tolkin Memorial Lecture
Thurs., Oct. 25, 6:00 p.m., $5
Deborah Briceland-Betts, Executive Director, Older Women's League (OWL)

OWL is the only national membership organization devoted exclusively to the concerns of women after the age of forty. It is dedicated to advancing economic, political, and social equity for midlife and older women through education, research, and advocacy. In this fall's Tolkin Lecture, Ms. Briceland-Betts addresses a topic of increasing concern to OWL: access to affordable, safe housing and housing alternatives (including issues of accessibility of community services). Adequate housing is a prime requisite for a healthy later life. Housing that is inadequate, insecure, and/or inaccessible to services leads to living conditions for older women that contribute to serious mental and physical health problems and increase their vulnerability to accidental injury and violence. Ms. Briceland-Betts has been Director of the National Long-term Care Campaign and has experience with organizations ranging from the American Red Cross and the Urban League to the University of Oregon. The Estelle Tolkin Memorial Lecture is Co-sponsored by the Institute for Retired Professionals and the Wolfson Center for National Affairs.

World Policy Institute Lecture
THE FAILURE OF GLOBALIZATION: WHY TRADE TREATIES AREN’T WORKING?
Thurs., Oct. 25, 6:00 p.m., Free Admission

For information and reservations, call (212) 229-5808 x101.

CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE, KNOWLEDGE, AND HUMANITY: ARE WE LOSING FAITH IN OURSELVES?
3-day conference, Friday- Sunday, Oct. 26-28

Sponsored by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs in association with the Institute of Ideas in London as part of the British Council’s festival "UKinNY."

Since Galileo, scientific inquiry has generated not only enlightenment but consternation by repeatedly upsetting our understanding of the world. At the same time, scientific technology has opened up vast opportunities for human intervention in the natural world that have helped people live freer, healthier, and longer lives than our ancestors could have imagined. But the dawn of the 21st century is haunted by a growing ambivalence about the wisdom of technological manipulations of nature and, among some, by a parallel ambivalence and confusion about scientific knowledge per se.

What does this ambivalence imply? Are popular anxieties reasonable responses to technologies controlled by corporate greed, or are they expressions of an ill-founded pessimism about human achievement? This conference brings together eminent scientists, social scientists, writers, journalists, and activists from both sides of the Atlantic to examine complex issues of fact, rumor, myth, mass communication, and the very nature of human existence.

Topics include: What Is It to Be Human? Who’s Afraid of Science? Folklore vs. Scientific Lore (viz. food biotechnology and alternative medicine); The Future of Progress; The Ethics of Progress (knowable but unthinkable); Local Wisdom vs. Scientific Universalism; Cognitive Science, Evolutionary Psychology, and their Limitations; Is the Future Human?

Participants include: Bruce Ames, Ron Bailey, Jim Chatters, Napoleon Chagnon, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Jonathan Entine, Mike Fitzpatrick, Frank Furedi, Sarah Glazer, Joseph Ledoux, Kenan Malik, Steven Pinker, and Ullica Segerstrale.

For a complete program and pre-registration information, contact the Wolfson Center for National Affairs, (212) 229-5684, or the office of New School Special Programs, (212) 229-5353 or e-mail [email protected].

POLITICS, PROBLEMS, AND PERILS: A CONVERSATION WITH BOB KERREY AND BARNEY FRANK
Mon., Oct. 29, 4:00 p.m. $5

Bob Kerrey, President of New School University; with U.S. Representative Barney Frank (Dem.-Mass.).

New issues of globalization, technology, and a widening gap between rich and poor (at home and around the world) and our increasingly bitter ideological struggles over issues of civil rights and liberties and control of the judiciary are all battering our traditional party politics, even if some politicos act like it's business as usual. What are the most pressing problems and perils facing the United States today? How will the Bush administration and the unexpectedly reconfigured Congress face up to them? New School University President Kerrey, a U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 1988 to 2001, and Congressman Frank, one of the more analytical, forthright, and witty members of the House of Representatives, exchange views.

THE LONG ARM OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Tues., Oct. 30, 6:00 p.m. $5, and online Nov. 1-15 at www.dialnsa.edu
Judith Mara Gutman, author of Through Indian Eyes and Lewis W. Hine and the American Social Conscience, moderator. Panelists: Alberta Arthurs, consultant, MEM Associates, and former senior program officer, Rockefeller Foundation; Denise Bethel, Director of Photographs and VP, Sotheby's; Michael Danoff, Director, Art Programs, Neuberger & Berman.

The power of photography to affect viewers has been apparent since its invention in 1839, but only since the 20th century has it and its related media of film and video become ubiquitous--dominating advertising, aesthetics, fashion, and documentary expression. Today, some critics claim that these high-powered visual forms have inflamed all the arts--even re-routed the direction of fiction writing. How does this overdetermining presence affect the development of the critical and analytic mind? Has the emotional impact of photographic imagery deadened critical sensibilities and desensitized viewers? Or have these all-pervasive artistic forms sharpened critical faculties, helping to build a more sophisticated intellectual-visceral fusion? Presented by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School.

World Policy Institute Lecture
CAN GLOBAL POVERTY EVER BE SOLVED?
Thurs., Nov. 1, 6:00 p.m., Free Admission
For information and reservations, call (212) 229-5808 x101.

WEST 47TH STREET
Preview screening and discussion, Fri., Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m. $5
Bill Lichtenstein, June Peoples, filmmakers.

West 47th Street is a special preview screening of the documentary film produced and directed by Bill Lichtenstein, a longtime member of the film faculty at The New School, and his wife, June Peoples. It follows the daily lives of four mentally ill people over three years: on and off the street, in and out of hospitals and homeless shelters, healthy... and psychotic. The film represents a radical return to cinema verite, without interviews or narration. One critic wrote, "...fiction could never invent such beautiful characters." Following the screening, Lichtenstein and Peoples are joined by fellow filmmakers Michel Negroponte (Jupiter's Wife), Dempsey Rice (Daughter of Suicide), and Jeff Shames (Stutter Step) and invited mental health professionals for a panel discussion about how mental health issues are portrayed in the media. Sponsored by the Department of Communication.

1919 REVISITED: THE PRICE SYSTEM AND THE WAR
Thurs., Nov. 8, 6:00 p.m. $5

James K. Galbraith, Professor of Public Affairs and Government, Univ. of Texas, and author of Created Unequal: The Crisis in American Pay and Inequality and Industrial Change, revisits New School course no. 6, offered in 1919 by Wesley Clair Mitchell.

World Policy Institute Lecture
NATO AND THE EC: CAN THEY BE PARTNERS?
Thurs., Nov. 8, 6:00 p.m., Free Admission
For information and reservations, call (212) 229-5808 x101.

THE THREE WILLIES, PART 1
Sat., Nov. 10, 3:00 p.m., $5
Moderator, Treva Offut, Director of Education and Outreach, The Kitchen

In collaboration with The Kitchen, the Vera List Center at The New School will host two public dialogues, based on "The Three Willies," a performance piece that will have its New York premiere at The Kitchen on November 7 and run through November 17 (Wed. through Sat.). Participants will include artists, activists, politicians and journalists. For more information, call (212) 255-5793, ext. 15. On November 10, the topic of discussion is "Racial Profiling: The Black Man as Perpetual Suspect."

At The Kitchen, interdisciplinary artist Homer Jackson, composer/violinist Leroy Jenkins, and director Talvin Wilks join forces to present "The Three Willies." This multimedia jazz opera explodes the stereotype of "Black men as perpetual suspect," and the manipulation of this stereotype by the media. The action takes place during the 1988 presidential campaign, in which a Republican Party TV commercial used the controversial figure of Willie Horton to invoke racial and social fears. Set in a family living room, it follows the charged relationships among three generations of Black men, as TV newscasts interrupt their interchange with all too familiar "criminal" images.

DANCING DEMOCRACY
Wed., Nov.14, 6:00 p.m., $5
Ann Daly, Associate Professor of Performance Studies at the Univ. of Texas at Austin, moderator. Invited guests: Benjamin Barber, Gershon and Carol Kekst Professor of Civil Society and Wilson H. Elkins Professor of Government and Politics, Univ. of Maryland; and Liz Lerman, artistic director of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.

In recent years, dance has become a vital and vibrant site of democratic discourse. Choreographers such as Bill T. Jones and Liz Lerman address pressing social/political issues and engage communities in the dance-making process. Increasingly, the stage is self-conscious civic space, where differences are imaginatively and emphatically investigated. What is the relationship of the performing arts to a free, democratic society? How can dance open out the possibilities for productive civic dialogue? What models exist for developing and sustaining such dialogue? How can we claim studios and theaters as community meeting places? How are civic issues related to aesthetic concerns? How can dance criticism extend the discourse? And how do market forces and funding trends affect the potential of dance as a meaningful civic space? Presented by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School.

World Policy Institute Lecture
CHINA VS. INDIA: WHICH SHOULD THE US SUPPORT?
Thurs., Nov. 15, 6:00 p.m., Free Admission
For information and reservations, call (212) 229-5808 x101.

THE THREE WILLIES, PART 2
Sat., Nov. 17, 3:00 p.m., $5
Moderator, Treva Offut, Director of Education and Outreach, The Kitchen

In collaboration with The Kitchen, the Vera List Center at The New School will host two public dialogues, based on "The Three Willies," a performance piece that will have its New York premiere at The Kitchen on November 7 and run through November 17 (Wed. through Sat.). Participants will include artists, activists, politicians and journalists. For more information, call (212) 255-5793, ext. 15. On November 17, the topic of discussion is "Media Manipulating the Image of the Black Man."

GOING SOUTH: THOUGHTS ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Tues., Nov. 27, 4:00 p.m. $5, and online Nov. 29-Dec.14 at www.dialnsa.edu

Debra L. Schultz, author of Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement, Director of Women’s Programs at the Open Society Institute; with Blanche Wiesen Cook, professor of History and Women’s Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice at CUNY, and Dorothy M. Zellner, SNCC staff veteran, now Director of Institutional Advancement and Publications, CUNY School of Law.

Several Jewish women who left home in the early 60s to take part in the African-American civil rights movement in the south discuss their motives and their experiences as freedom riders, field organizers, freedom school teachers, doctors, media specialists, and office workers. Growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust and deeply influenced by Jewish notions of morality and social justice, they rejected the post-war idyll of middle-class life in the suburbs to risk hardship and even danger in a cause that had not, at the time, won widespread public admiration. In part, the conversation attempts to build bridges between the civil rights era and efforts today to move beyond the limits of identity politics. Presented by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs at The New School.

THE PUBLIC ART FUND, "TUESDAY NIGHT TALKS" WITH JEFF WALL
Tues., Nov. 27, 6:30 p.m., $5
Stefano Basilico, curator New School University art collection, coordinator.
Presented by the Public Art Fund in association with the New School University art collection.

QUESTIONS OF SUBVERSION:
STEREOTYPIC IMAGES IN CONTEMPORARY ART
Tues., Nov. 27, 8:00 p.m. $5
Valerie Mercer, independent curator and art historian, and Jorge Daniel Veneciano, independent curator and cultural critic, moderators. Invited panelists: Michael Ray Charles, bell hooks, and Kerry James Marshall.

Racial and ethnic caricatures and stereotypes are finding renewed acceptance among exhibitors, collectors, and critics of contemporary art. What changes in attitudes and which aspects of recent art theory are driving this? In hope of contributing to a thoughtful debate over the role of stereotypic images in the visual arts, this panel addresses the following questions: Why has this type of work become popular now? Have the arts professions maintained an intellectual distance from critical examination of such work and the assumptions behind it? Have vital distinctions among diverse artists been lost or left unexamined as a result? Discussants consider specific works of art by Michael Ray Charles, Robert Colescott, Kerry James Marshall, and Kara Walker, among others, and analyze the aesthetics both of individual artists and of curators. Presented by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics.

World Policy Institute Lecture
WHY DO COUNTRIES GO BANKRUPT?
Thurs., Nov. 29, 6:00 p.m., Free Admission
For information and reservations, call (212) 229-5808 x101.

NEW SCHOOL FILM SHOW
Fri., Nov. 30, 7:00 p.m., Free Admission

New School Film Production students are invited to screen their completed films at public shows held February, June, and December each year. These shows are qualifying screenings for The New School Invitational Film Show held every April. Qualifying shows are open call, and films are selected on a first-served basis. Applications must be received no later than one month prior to the screening. Completed films must be received two weeks prior to the screening. Deadlines will be firmly adhered to. All prints must display a credit stating the film was "made in cooperation with The New School." Shows are held in the Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street. For more information, call (212) 229- 8903.

MAINTAINING COGNITIVE VITALITY
Thurs., Dec. 6, 3:00 p.m., $5

In mid-life, most of us become concerned with issues related to memory and thinking – both our own and those of people about whom we care. Dr. Howard Fillit discusses the latest bioscience discoveries underlying the improvement and protection of brain functions. Dr. Fillit, once of the Mount Sinai Geriatrics Department and now Executive Director, The Institute for the Study of Aging, will address the latest findings and experiments. Sponsored by the Institute for Retired Professionals.

1919 REVISITED: THE MIND VIEWED AS A FACTOR IN SOCIAL ADJUSTMENTS
Thurs., Dec. 6, 6:00 p.m. $5

Howard Gardner, Professor of Cognition and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and author of The Disciplined Mind and Intelligence Reframed, revisits course no. 7, offered in 1919 by Frederick W. Ellis.

GAY VISIBILITY
Thurs., Dec. 6, 8:00 p.m. $5, and online Dec. 10-21 at www.dialnsa.edu
Moderated by Evan Wolfson, Fellow of the Wolfson Center for National Affairs at The New School. Panelists: Lisa Duggan, Associate Professor of History, American Studies, New York University, Josh Gamson, Associate Professor of Sociology, Yale University, Richard Goldstein, Critic, Village Voice, and Suzanna Danuta Walters, Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Women’s Studies, Georgetown University.

Typified by the public outing of Ellen DeGeneres and news coverage of the vicious murder of Matthew Shepard, gay lives have definitely become part of American public life, visible everywhere, from the White House and Congress to Disney's Magic Kingdom. But are gays seen without being known? Is the new visibility a sign of social acceptance or mere window dressing that obscures the dogged persistence of discrimination? Professor Walters, the author of All the Rage and Materials Girl: Making Sense of Feminist Cultural Theory, leads a critical discussion of the meaning of gay visibility in contemporary American life.

HAVANA--PATRIMONY, PATIENCE, AND PROGRESS: URBAN PLANNING AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN CUBA
1-day symposium: Fri., Dec. 7, 9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. $25, including lunch.
Co-sponsored by Heritage Trails World Wide and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics.

Cuban planners, architects, and preservationists discuss the present and future of the city of Havana. They are joined by counterparts in the United States who compare the issues in Cuba with their own experiences in the United States. Invited participants: Peg Breen, President, New York Landmarks Conservancy; Leland Cott of Harvard University, AIA, urban planner; Mario Coyula Cowley, urban planner; Victor Marin Crespo, architect; and Eusebio Leal Spengler, Historian of the City of Havana.

Historic Preservation: The recent renovation of historic Havana is amazing, but how has it been supported given Cuba's economic hardships? How can it keep up with the deterioration caused by decades of neglect? Will it go beyond the neighborhoods favored by tourists?

Architecture in Cuba Today: What noteworthy has been built in Havana in the last five years? Is there a new Cuban architecture? Who do architects work for? Can non-Cuban architects work there? What is the state of architectural education?

City Planning: What are the priorities, not only for Old Havana but also for the entire city? How are planners facing the daunting obstacles of crumbling infrastructure, inadequate transportation, and limited technological capabilities combined with a growing population that needs housing, schools, and public facilities. Plans have been approved, but are they being implemented? Is Havana prepared for the 21st century?

For a complete program, call (212) 229-5684 after Sept. 24 or send e-mail to [email protected]

ARTISTS WRITING ABOUT ART: TRIBUTE TO MANNY FARBER
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 7:00 p.m., $5

This American film critic and painter receives the tributes of Jonathan Crary, Jim Lewis, Greil Marcus, Patricia Patterson, Robert Polito, and Luc Sante, among others.
Co-sponsored by Artforum and The New School Writing Program.

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LOCATION: The New School, 66 West 12th Street (Between 5th and 6th Avenues)

TICKETS: By phone with a credit card, Monday through Friday, 5 to 8 PM at (212) 229-5488.
In person at The New School Box Office, 66 West 12th Street (bet. 5th and 6th Avenues), main floor, during Box Office hours: Monday-Thursday 1-8 p.m., Friday 1-7 p.m. (box Office opens Sept.19)
By fax with order and credit card information to (212) 352-0213. Most events are FREE to students with ID.

E-MAIL: Questions or requests for New School Special Programs information by e-mail to [email protected].

INFORMATION: For more information or special needs requests, call (212) 229-5353. Event information is also available online at www.nsu.newschool.edu. Questions can be emailed to [email protected].