For Immediate Release:

 
MARCH PUBLIC PROGRAMS

T he City University of New York Graduate Center announces the following public programs to be held during the month of March at the Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street.

Saturday, March 1—Saturday, April 19

Gerardo Rueda: Spanish Modernist
(art exhibition) Tuesdays—Saturdays, 12:00–6:00 PM
The Amie and Tony James Gallery of the Graduate Center presents Gerardo Rueda, Spanish Modernist, an exhibition of forty-two paintings dating from 1957 to 1996.  The exhibition highlights the abstract, constructivist work of an often overlooked artist who carried the torch of modernism in a country that for much of the 20th century remained isolated—geographically and politically—from the main currents of European art.  On loan from the Fundación Gerardo Rueda in Madrid and Institut Valencia d’Art Modern, the exhibition is curated by distinguished critic Barbara Rose.  The James Gallery is located off the lobby of the Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street.  Free, for information contact 212-817-7394.

Monday, March 3

Jasper Johns: Gray Uncensored
(discussion) 5:30–8:00 PM, Harold M. Proshansky Auditorium
In conjunction with Jasper Johns: Gray, a major exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a group of internationally renowned scholars and curators gather to speak on a widely suppressed topic: the import of Johns’s sexuality and its role in his art.  Participants include Thomas Crow, formerly director of the Getty Research Institute and currently Rosalie Solow Chair in Modern Art History at the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU; Jonathan D. Katz, Clark-Oakley Fellow at the Clark Art Institute and author of the first scholarly article exploring the Johns-Rauschenberg relationship; and Seth McCormack, fellow at the Yale University Art Museum; moderated by James Saslow, Professor of Renaissance Art and Theater, the Graduate Center. Presented by the Center for the Humanities, co-sponsored by the Ph.D. Program in Art History and made possible by the generous support of the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation.  Free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Four Plays from North Africa, A New Publication
(reading & discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
A celebration of the latest Segal Center Publication, Four Plays from North Africa, with editor Marvin Carlson. Readings from the plays will followed by a discussion with Carlson and Dalia Basiouny. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; free, form information, call 212-817-1860.

City of Water
A Short Documentary about the Future of New York's Waterfront
(film screening & discussion) 6:30–8:30:00 PM, Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall
This short film features interviews with public officials, environmentalists, academics, community activists, recreational boaters, and everyday New Yorkers. They discuss the diverse, vibrant waterfront at a time when the shoreline is changing faster than at any other time in New York's history. Interviewees include former Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, US Representative Nydia Velazquez, MacArthur Fellow Majora Carter, Sandy Hook Pilots Captain Andrew McGovern, and many others. The panel, following the screening, will feature William Kornblum, Professor of Sociology, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, and Roland Lewis, President, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, and others. Presented by the Gotham Center for NYC History; free, for information call 212-817-8474.

Wednesday, March 5

Recovering Community History: Puerto Ricans and African Americans in Postwar New York City
(film screening & discussion) 6:00–8:00 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
A film screening and discussion with Lillian Jimenez, filmmaker of Antonia Pantoja: ¡Presente!; Marci Reaven, Managing Director, City Lore; and Craig Steven Wilder, Professor of History, Dartmouth University. The event will consider the challenges that scholars, public historians, and filmmakers face in researching and presenting the histories of communities and neighborhoods that are dramatically under-represented in archives and historical collections. The evening features an excerpt from an hour-long documentary on visionary leader Antonia Pantoja, whose activism sheds light on the quest for Puerto Rican self-identity, educational rights, and bilingual education. Presented by the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning and co-sponsored by Gotham Center for NYC History; free, for information call 212-817-1969.

Left Out in the Open: Are Progressives Evolving from "New Left" to "OpenLeft"?
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Harold M. Proshansky Auditorium
Internet activism has upended American politics by amplifying new voices, connecting disparate social networks, shifting campaign funding, enhancing public scrutiny, and electing unconventional candidates. This impact has been most profound on the Left. This panel will convene leaders and writers from the emerging OpenLeft movement as well as traditional progressives and offline activists for a lively and significant discussion of the past, present, and future of the American Left. Speakers will include Katrina vanden Heuvel, Publisher and Editor of The Nation; Ari Melber, blogger for, among others, The Huffington Post; Matt Stoller, blogger and the president of BlogPAC; Zephyr Teachout, architect of Howard Dean's internet strategy; and others. Presented by the Center for the Humanities, co-sponsored by The Nation; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Thursday, March 6

Music in Midtown:
Peter Vinograde plays the Goldberg Variations
(concert) 1:00–2:00 PM, Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall
An outstanding interpreter of J. S. Bach and contemporary composers, pianist Peter Vinograde annually tours the US, Canada, and Asia. His most recent Asian appearances have included two tours of China, one solo and another with the Macao Orchestra, and recitals in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand with violinist Midori. Free, for more information, please contact the Concert Office at 212-817-8607, or visit www.gc.cuny.edu/MusicInMidtown.htm.

Target Margin Theatre/On the Greeks
(performance & discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
An evening with Target Margin Theatre, featuring selections from their two-year series, On the Greeks, followed by a dialogue with the artists about the process for adapting classics plays for the modern stage. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; free, for information call 212-817-1860.

Monday, March 10

America on the Global Stage: A Performance and Discussion
(performance & discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Scenes from Year One of the Empire, an award-winning documentary play about America's first imperial war, the forgotten U.S.-Philippine War of 1899-1902, will be followed by a discussion on its shocking parallels with the war in Iraq. Panelists include renowned scholars David Nasaw, Arthur M. Schlesinger Professor of American History at the Graduate Center; Neil Smith, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center; award-winning theater critic Elinor Fuchs, Professor of Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism at the Yale School of Drama; Joyce Antler, Samuel Lane Professor of American Jewish History and Culture at Brandeis University; and Metropolitan Playhouse Artistic Director Alex Roe. Alisa Solomon, Director of the Arts and Culture Program of Columbia School of Journalism, will moderate. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Tuesday, March 11—Friday, March 14

Music, Body, and Stage: The Iconography of Music Theater and Opera
(conference) Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall
Jointly organized by the Research Center for Music Iconography and the Répertoire International d'Iconographie Musicale, the conference will provide a forum for discussion of iconographic sources for opera, dance, and music theater of the East and West. In 74 presentations, the following topics will be addressed: scenographies for opera, music theater, and dance theater; monsters and mythological beings in opera and dance theater; portraits of opera composers, singers, dancers, and librettists; religious theater from medieval drama to modern ceremonies; street theater and public spectacles; music in military parades; folklore rituals with music; theater of Asia; music theater on film and video. $75, for schedule and registration call 212-817-1992 or visit http://web.gc.cuny.edu/rcmi/10thConferenceProgram.pdf

Thursday, March 13

Joseph Lowndes & Kimberly Phillips-Fein: The Shaping of the American Right
(discussion) 7:00 PM
Joseph Lowndes, Professor of Political Science, University of Oregon, speaks with Kimberly Phillips-Fein, Professor of History, New York University, about the way that race, nationalism, and economics have shaped the history of the American right. Joseph Lowndes is the author of the forthcoming From the New Deal to the New Right: Race and the Southern Origins of Modern Conservatism. Kimberly Phillips-Fein is the author of the forthcoming Invisible Hands: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan. This event will be the keynote to a conference titled Toward a Comparative Discussion on Rightist Movements.  Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Friday, March 14

A Tribute to Marilyn Hacker
(discussion) 4:00 PM
An award winning poet, translator and teacher, Marilyn Hacker has published 13 collections of poetry and many translations. This evening will honor her life in letters, with tributes from Richard Howard, Marie Ponsot, Mary Ann Caws, Francesca Sautman, and others. Presented by the Center for the Humanities and co-sponsored by the Ph.D. Program in French and the Center for Women and Society.  Free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Monday, March 17

Staging William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury
(performance & discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Opening with an excerpt from the new stage adaptation of William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, which will be performed by the provocative downtown theater company Elevator Repair Service at New York Theater Workshop this spring, this event will bring together directors, literary scholars, and scholars of theater to explore the excitement and challenge of modernist literary adaptation. Participants include John Collins, director of Elevator Repair Service; Sarah Jane Bailes, University of Sussex, England; Morris Dickstein, Distinguished Professor of English at the Graduate Center; and David Savran, Distinguished Professor of Theatre at the Graduate Center; moderated by Julie Bleha. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Wednesday, March 19

Documentary Film: Eyes of the Holocaust
(film screening) 6:15 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
A 60-minute documentary film produced by Steven Spielberg and the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. Directed by János Szász, the son of Holocaust survivors, the documentary focuses on the experiences of survivors who were children during the Holocaust. Presented by the Rosenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies; free, for information call 212-817-1945.
 
Translated Poetry: A New Landscape
(discussion) 7:00 PM
Today in the U.S., the small presses and magazines hailed as "most vital" for poetry are increasingly committed to poetry in translation. What are the effects and politics of translation's newly central role in the contemporary poetry landscape? Participants include Ammiel Alcalay, Professor of Classical, Middle Eastern, and Asian Languages and Cultures at Queens College and of English and Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center; Mónica de la Torre, co-editor of Reversible Monuments: Contemporary Mexican Poetry and senior editor at BOMB Magazine; Kent Johnson, Professor of English and Spanish at Highland Community College and author, most recently, of Epigramititis: 118 Living American Poets; and Anna Moschovakis, editor and designer with Ugly Duckling Press and author of I Have Not Been Able to Get Through to Everyone; moderated by Stefania Heim, co-founder and co-editor of CIRCUMFERENCE. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Thursday, March 20

Music in Midtown:
Dariusz Terefenko: The Art of Improvisation
(concert) 1:00–2:00 PM, Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall
Dariusz Terefenko’s holds two master's degrees (M.M. in jazz, 1998; M.A. in theory, 2003) and a Ph.D. from the Eastman School of Music. His specialty is in Keith Jarrett's translations of standard tunes. At Eastman, he teaches jazz history, theory, and improvisation through the jazz department, and intermediate keyboard skills and tonal improvisation through the theory department. As a pianist, Terefenko frequently returns to his native Poland to present lecture-recitals on the history of jazz at the University of Krakow and the University of Katowice. He also has given recitals at Poland's prestigious Festival of Polish Piano Music. Free, for more information, please contact the Concert Office at 212-817-8607, or visit www.gc.cuny.edu/MusicInMidtown.htm.

Writing Across Borders: Asian American Women Writers
(discussion) 4:00 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
This event brings together award winning poets and writers to discuss border-crossing, genre-crossing, and other contemporary literary challenges.  Participants include Meena Alexander, Distinguished Professor of English, the Graduate Center, author of Quickly Changing River; Jessica Hagedorn, novelist and playwright, author of Dream Jungle; and Kimiko Hahn, Distinguished Professor of English, Queens College, author of Narrow Road to the Interior; moderated by Harold Augenbraum, director of the National Book Foundation. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for in formation call 212-817-2005.

Monday, March 24

BrainWave: The Neuroscience of The Groove
(performance & discussion) 6:30– 8:00 PM
Columbia University neuroscientists Dave Sulzer (a.k.a. composer Dave Soldier) and John Krakauer will explore the brain activity that makes us groove to the beat of music. Krakauer co-directs Columbia's Motor Performance Laboratory and Soldier investigates synaptic connections that underlie memory, learning, and behavior. Featuring the premiere of Soldier's "Quartet for percussion and brain waves," a live performance-experiment with drummers and electroencephalographs. Presented by Science & the Arts; free, for information call 212-817-7522.

Storytelling Through Sound
(discussion) 6:30 PM
This panel will look at hip hop as a storytelling genre. It will explore the narration of life experiences in rap lyrics; the documentation of people's lives in hip hop scholarship, film, and literature; and the non-verbal means such as deejaying and producing beats through which people tell stories. Participants will include La Bruja, a New York based rapper and poet; JLove Calderon, a writer, educator, and activist, and author of That White Girl; and Joe Schloss, New York University, author of Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop and the forthcoming Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Communities of Style. Moderated by Sujatha Fernandes, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Queens College. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Tuesday, March 25

New Visions: Poets & Artists in Collaboration
with Wayne Koestenbaum, Amy Sillman, and Lawrence Weschler
(discussion) 7:00 PM
This program will highlight artistic collaborations between poets and artists, featuring poet Wayne Koestenbaum and painter Amy Sillman, the co-creators of Amy Sillman: Works on Paper. Wayne Koestenbaum is Distinguished Professor of English, the Graduate Center, and the author of several collection of poetry, including Best Selling Jewish Porn Films, Model Homes, and The Milk of Inquiry. Amy Sillman's paintings have been featured in solo exhibition throughout the world, including New York, Italy, and India. With Lawrence Weschler, former staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences.  Presented by the Center for the Humanities and co-sponsored by the Poetry Society for America; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Melinda Cooper: Precipitation and Event
(discussion) 6:00–8:00 PM
A lecture on climate change and the politics of water by Melinda Cooper, a research fellow at the Centre for Biomedicine and Society, King's College, London, and author of Life as Surplus: Biotechnology and Capitalism in the Neoliberal Era.  Presented by the Center for Place, Politics and Culture; free, for information call 212-817-1880.

Wednesday, March 26

Sonny Rollins & Gary Giddins in Conversation
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Harold M. Proshansky Auditorium
Saxophonist and jazz icon Sonny Rollins speaks with Gary Giddins about the history of music, jazz, and ideas. Rollins's long, prolific career began at the age of 11; he was playing with piano legend Thelonious Monk before reaching the age of 20. He has played with the likes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Max Roach, and is the recipient of numerous awards, among them a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement. Gary Giddins is the author of nine books, including Natural Selection: Gary Giddins on Comedy, Film, Music; Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams; and Visions of Jazz: The First Century, for which he won a National Book Critics Circle Award.  Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Gotham History Blotter Reading and Book Signing
(reading & discussion) 6:30–8:00 PM
The Gotham Center recently introduced a new section on its website, The Gotham History Blotter. The Center invites writers, historians, essayists and others to contribute short non-fiction essays about New York City history—recent submissions have addressed everything from changes in Harlem to an infamous nineteenth-century murder trial. This event features several recent contributors including Morton Zachter, author of the award-winning Dough: A Memoir; Harold Schechter, author of The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison and the Trial that Ushered in the Twentieth Century; and Benjamin Feldman, author of Butchery on Bond Street: Sexual Politics and the Burdell-Cunningham Case in Antebellum New York. Presented by the Gotham Center for New York City History; free, for information call 212-817-8474.

Thursday, March 27

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
(discussion) 4:30 PM
Caroline Weber speaks on one of the most intriuging figures in French cultural history. Weber is an associate professor of French at Barnard College whose books include Terror and its Discontents: Suspect Words and the French Revolution and Queen of Fashion: What Marie-Antoinette Wore to the French Revolution. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Friday, March 28

Beyond Boundaries: Music and Israel @ 60
(conference) 9:30 AM–3:30 PM, Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall
This daylong symposium will sample the complex diversity of musical styles, cultures, religions and ethnicities that is Israel today, through papers, discussions, and musical performances.  Scheduled speakers include Benjamin Brinner of the University of California at Berkeley; Ronit Seter of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; and Galeet Dardashti, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas at Austin. The conference will be moderated by Marsha Dubrow, Musicologist and Resident Scholar at the Center. An afternoon concert will feature Continuum, the renowned chamber ensemble, performing works by Olivera, Avni and Yusupov, and Divahn, an all-female band performing ethnic and popular Mizrahi music.  Presented by the Center for Jewish Studies; free, for information call 212-817-1950.

Monday, March 31

The Civilians/Paris Commune
(performance & discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Innovative New York Theater company The Civilians present excerpts from its show Paris Commune, followed by a discussion with Steve Cosson, Michael Freidman and Daniel Gerould.  Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; free, for information call 212-817-1860.

Carlos Suriñach and the Creation of Modern Dance in New York
(concert & discussion) 6:30–8:30 PM, Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall
A concert and a tribute to the composer—renowned for his artistic partnerships with choreographers such as Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, José Limón and others—with Perspectives Ensemble, Adam Kent, and Airi Yoshioka. Born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1915, Carlos Suriñach came to the US in 1951, making his home in New York City. Well known in Europe as a conductor, pianist, and composer of opera, he is best remembered for his compositions for dance from the 1950s to the 80s. As Suriñach himself once said, "Dance is in my blood." A panel discussion moderated by Antoni Pizà will include Candice Agree, Carmen de Lavallade, Stuart Hodes, Aaron Sherber, Ninotchka Devorah Bennahum.  Presented by the Foundation for Iberian Music; free, for information call 212-817-1819.