OCTOBER PUBLIC PROGRAMS

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

Wednesday, October 1

Civil Rights in the 60s: Basketball and Race Relations
(discussion) 7:00 pm, Proshansky Auditorium
Forty-five years after Dr. Martin Luther King's famous speech, a panel of legendary NBA players will discuss race relations and the impact of the Civil Rights Movement on their sport and vice versa. The players will address both their college and pro experiences, and there will be ample opportunity for questions from the audience. Panelists will include Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, flamboyant New York Knicks-Baltimore Bullets star who recently produced "Black Magic," an ESPN documentary on the experiences of players at historically black colleges; Knicks all-star Dick Barnett; the Boston Celtics great "Mr. Clutch" Sam Jones, who was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History; and Thomas "Satch" Sanders, who was named to the Hall of Fame for his thirteen years with the Celtics. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events, or by calling 212-817-8215.

Thursday, October 2

Music in Midtown: CUNY Piano Quartet
(concert) 1:00-2:00 pm, Elebash Recital Hall
The popular free lunchtime chamber concert series continues with the CUNY Piano Quartet (Eva Leon, violin; Ji Hyun Son, viola; Miho Zaitsu, cello; SunYoung Park, piano) performing Piano Quartet in E flat major, op. 47, by Robert Schumann (1810-56). Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events, or by calling 212-817-8215.

Great Issues Forum: A Conversation about Political Power
(discussion) 7:00 pm, Proshansky Auditorium
What is the most effective way to influence the exercise of political power? Can genocide be halted? What are the natural limits of political power? Join three preeminent policy and opinion makers as they discuss the violation and defense of human rights by national and international powers. Featuring Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor; Nicholas D. Kristof, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times; and Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Moderated by Thomas Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events, or by calling 212-817-8215.

Thursday, October 2--Saturday, February 28

People "Weekly"
(art exhibition) Tuesday-Sunday, 12:00-8:00 pm, James Gallery
The inaugural show of the Amie and Tony James Gallery comprises seven installations that respond to the Graduate Center as site and context. The projects include a small group show and a specially commissioned project for the building's lobby display windows. Free, for more information call 212-817-7138.

People "Weekly" October Schedule:

Yunhee Min, For instance
October 2-November 30
(Inaugural Reception for People "Weekly" & Yunhee Min, October 2,
6:00-8:00 pm)

What You Wish
For October 8-22
Barbara Kruger, Justice, 2007
Rachel Mason, My Cabinet, 2004-8
William Pope.L, One Substance, Eight Supports, One Situation, 2008;
BIN (Version 2), 2008
Art Spiegelman, Breakdowns, 2008
Meredith James and Jacques Louis Ramon Vidal, True Stories, 2008
William Klein, In and Out of Fashion, 1998
(Reception: October 16, 5:00-7:00 pm; performance: "Songs of My Cabinet" by Rachel Mason, 7:00 pm)

Linda Pollack, Habeas Lounge
October 29-November 6
(Reception: October 30, 5-7 pm; poetry reading: "State of the Union: 50 Political Poems," 6:30 pm; Rachel Mason, My Cabinet, continues)

Barbara Kruger, Untitled
October 2 - February 28
(window installation)

Monday, October 6

Shifting Sands: New Plays by Betty Shamieh
(play readings & discussions) 3:00- 9:00 pm Segal Theatre
Palestinian-American playwright Betty Shamieh's works explore fraught, modern-day issues, often through a historical lens. This event features her plays Territories and Kingmakers and panel discussions about the politics of success for political artists. Shamieh's plays include The Black Eyed (New York Theatre Workshop, Theatre Fournos of Athens), Chocolate in Heat (The Tank), Roar (The New Group), and Territories (The Magic Theatre)--to premiere at the European Union's Capital of Culture Festival in 2009. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; free, for more information contact 212-817-1860.

Tuesday, October 7

Gotham Center History Forum:
Trying Leviathan: The Nineteenth-Century New York Case That Put the Whale on Trial and Challenged the Order of Nature
(book talk) 6:30-8:00 pm, Elebash Recital Hall
D. Graham Burnett, Associate Professor of History, Princeton University, recovers the strange story of Maurice v. Judd, an 1818 trial that pitted the new sciences of taxonomy against the then-popular--and biblically sanctioned--view that the whale was a fish. The trial fueled a sensational public debate in which nothing less than the order of nature--and how we know it--was at stake. Falling in the middle of the century between Linnaeus and Darwin, the trial dramatized a revolutionary period that saw radical transformations in the understanding of the natural world. Burnett is recipient of the New York Society Library's 2007 New York City Book Award. Book signing to follow. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events, or by calling 212-817-8215.

Thursday, October 9

Cassandra Wilson and Gary Giddins in Conversation
(discussion) 6:30 pm, Elebash Recital Hall
Cassandra Wilson, the iconic vocalist, discusses her prolific career as a bandleader, songwriter, and producer with Gary Giddins. Over the course of nineteen solo outings, including the Grammy Award-winning New Moon Daughter, Wilson has pushed the boundaries of jazz song and captivated audiences with her original improvisations and a repertory ranging from avant-garde jazz to funk. 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 the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for more information call 212-817-2005.

Saturday, October 11--Tuesday, October 211

Doctor Atomic Symposia
(discussion series) see below for schedule
The creators of the Metropolitan Opera's Doctor Atomic, about the making of the atom bomb, will participate with historians, philosophers, and scientists -- including 10 veterans of the bomb project -- in a series of Doctor Atomic Symposia, followed by two related lectures. Doctor Atomic (composed by John Adams, libretto by Peter Sellars), opening at the Met on October 13, explores the psychological and intellectual pressures felt by the leading players in the top-secret Manhattan Project. Presented by the Science & the Arts Series; free, for more information call (212) 817-7524.

Saturday, October 11:
History, Science and Scientists of the Bomb
1:00 -3:00 pm, Proshansky Auditorium
Speakers include Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes, Nobel Laureate Norman Ramsey, Edward Gerjuoy, and Robert S. Norris. Moderated by CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein.
The Making of the Opera Doctor Atomic
4:30 - 6:30 pm, Proshansky Auditorium
Speakers include composer John Adams, director Penny Woolcock, set designer Julian Crouch and baritone Gerald Finley, in the role of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Moderated by Peter Gelb, General Manager of the Met.

Tuesday, October 14:
J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Man, the Manager, and the Physicist
6:30- 8:00 pm, Elebash Recital Hall
David Cassidy, historian and author will discuss "Oppenheimer and His Physics;" philosopher and author Robert Crease, "Oppenheimer: A Tragic Hero?," and Jeremy Bernstein, physicist and author, "Personal Reflections on Oppenheimer."

Friday, October 17:
The Manhattan Project: Places, People and Power
3:00-5:00 pm, Proshansky Auditorium
Participants include photographers Rachel Fermi and Esther Samra, Harold Agnew, former director of Los Alamos, and about 10 veteran scientists of the Manhattan Project.
Wartime Decisions and the Atomic Age
6:30pm-8:30pm, Proshansky Auditorium
With speakers Martin J. Sherwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Harry Lustig, Professor of Physics at the City College of New York; and Gar Alperovitz, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland.

Monday, October 20:
Doctor Atomic Lecture
6:30 pm-8:30 pm, Elebash Recital Hall
Ruth Howes, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Marquette University, will discuss her book Their Day in the Sun: Women of the Manhattan Project.

Tuesday, October 21:
Doctor Atomic Lecture
6:30-8:30 pm, Skylight Room
Best-selling and highly acclaimed novelist Joseph Kanon will discuss his mystery novel Los Alamos.

Tuesday, October 14

Radical Urbanism: A Conversation with Mike Davis
(discussion) 6:15 pm-8:15 pm, Proshansky Auditorium
A panel discussion with Mike Davis, author of In Praise of Barbarians: Essays against Empire (2007) and City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles (1990, 2006). Presented by the Center for Place, Culture and Politics; free, for information call 212-817-1880.

An Evening with The Talking Band
(performance) 6:30- 9:00 pm, Martin E. Segal Theatre
The Talking Band's Flip Side is the product of an unconventional collaboration, inverting the traditional creative process by designing a set first and then writing the play inspired by the visual/physical environment. Hungarian-born designer Anna Kiraly produced set designs that were then used as inspiration for a text by Ellen Maddow and music by "Blue" Gene Tyranny. The Talking Band creates richly textured works which seek to illuminate the extraordinary dimensions of ordinary life. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center. Free, for information call 212-817-1860.

Pearl Harbor Blues: Black Southerners and World War II
The Herbert G. Gutman Memorial Lecture
(discussion) 6:30 pm, Skylight Room
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Leon Litwack speaks about the pivotal role Black Southerners played during Americ's engagement in World War II. He is Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of American History Emeritus at the University of California Berkeley and author of, among other books, Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Wendesday, October 15

Organs in Art / Organs as Art
(conference) 9:00 am-6:30 pm, Elebash Recital Hall & Martin E. Segal Theatre
A conference dedicated to the examination of the relationship between organs and their architectural surrounding, organ design as represented in visual arts, and organs in film. Presented by the Research Center for Music Iconography; free, for information call 212-817-1992.

Thursday, October 16

Music in Midtown:
Robert White, Tenor, Sings Beethoven and Weber Songs with Piano Trio
(concert) 1:00-2:00 pm
Robert White is perhaps best known for his artistic versatility. His recitals have ranged from Medieval and Renaissance songs to premieres of works by Hindemith, Menotti, Schuller, Babbitt, and Corigliano. He has the unique distinction of having sung for six U.S. Presidents -- Truman, Kennedy, Carter, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. The piano trio that will accompany White features Mark violinist Mark Peskanov, artistic/executive director of Bargemusic; pianist Norman Carey, director of the D.M.A. Performance Program at the Graduate Center; and cellist Iris Jortner, who has performed throughout the world; along with flutist Roberta Michel, whose credits include Carnegie Hall. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events, or by calling 212-817-8215.

Monday, October 20

Great Issues Forum: A Conversation about Economic Power
(discussion) 7:00 pm, Proshansky Auditorium
What is the role of the U.S. in the disposition of the world's economic and environmental resources? How are the world's financial markets best defended from economic shock? Does liberalization ensure prosperity? Influential economists Hernando de Soto and Joseph Stiglitz join journalist and activist Naomi Klein to debate their different economic approaches in a conversation moderated by David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center. Hernando de Soto is President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy, in Peru. Naomi Klein is the award-winning journalist and author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz is an economist and Professor of Economics at Columbia University. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events, or by calling 212-817-8215.

Wednesday, October 22

Gears for the Greeks: The Purpose of the Antikythera Mechanism
MALS Bioethics, Science and Society Lecture Series
(discussion) 6:00-7:45 pm, Skylight Room
Professor Alexander Jones of New York University speaks on the Antikythera Mechanism. Incomplete fragments of this Greco-Roman gearwork device, built during the second or first century B.C., were recovered a century ago from an ancient shipwreck. After reviewing the most recent research from high-resolution computed tomography and surface imaging, Jones will address the unsolved problem of the mechanism's purpose and intended audience. Reception to follow. Presented by the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program; free, please reserve by calling 212-817-8481.

Monday, October 27

Theatre of the Eighth Day
(performance) 6:30-9:00 pm, Martin E. Segal Theatre
The Files is an avant-garde docudrama using real Communist-era police files to reveal the government surveillance and harassment endured by Poland's venerable Theatre of the Eighth Day. Founded as student theatre at the University of Poznan in 1964, the company had become the most famous of the underground alternative theatre groups by the 1980s. Initially performing drama and poetry, the development of a more physical, non-verbal theatre stemmed from their association with a practitioner of Grotowski's laboratories and the experience of the student protests of March 1968. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; free, for information call 212-817-1860.

Tuesday, October 28

The Theater of Jean Claude van Itallie
(play readings, screenings, & discussions) 2:00-9:00 pm, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Jean-Claude van Itallie was a central force in the explosive off-Broadway theater movement of the 1960s. His works include the award-winning America Hurrah, considered the watershed anti-Vietnam War play. This day-long symposium features readings, screenings, and panel discussions of the playwright's extensive body of more than 30 plays. Afternoon screenings include van Itallie in War, Sex and Dreams and Joseph Chaikin in Struck Dumb. Readings include excerpts from America Hurrah, The Serpent, Light, Bag Lady, and the new musical MILA, to be followed by a dialogue with van Itallie and William Coco, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre; free, for information call 212-817-1860.

Wednesday, October 29

Gotham Center History Forum:
34th Street, Part I: Italian-Americans, Hell's Kitchen and Mario Puzo's The Fortunate Pilgrim
(discussion) 6:30 pm-8:30 pm, Elebash Recital Hall
One of the cornerstones of Italian American literature, set between the Wars on the westernmost edge of 34th Street in Hell's Kitchen, is Mario Puzo's classic novel, The Fortunate Pilgrim (1964). Panelists Robert Viscusi, Professor of English, Brooklyn College; Anthony Julian Tamburri, Professor and Dean, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College; and Fred Gardaphe, Distinguished Professor of History, Queens College will discuss issues of ethnicity, class, assimilation as well as resistance to it. Award-winning actor John Turturro, who starred in the 1988 mini-series, is also scheduled to appear. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events, or by calling 212-817-8215.

Thursday, October 30

Music in Midtown: Ying Quartet
"Musical Dim Sum"
(concert) 1:00-2:00 pm
Ying Quartet -- a family affair of musical siblings, Timothy and Janet (violins), Phillip (viola), David (cello) -- is in its second decade as a ground-breaking chamber ensemble. It regularly performs in the world's most important concert halls, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House, and is a major presence on the music festival circuit at Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Caramoor, and elsewhere. Their most recent recording, "Dim Sum," a Telarc release, fuses the sound of a Western string quartet with traditional Chinese music in works by Chinese-American composers. Three of those works will be performed at Elebash, along with String Quartet in G minor, op. 10, by Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events, or by calling 212-817-8215.

State of the Union: A Poetry Reading
(poetry reading) 6:30 pm, James Gallery
William Carlos Williams wrote: "It is difficult/to get the news from poems/ yet men die miserably every day/ for lack/ of what is found there." Join John Ashbery and other contributors to the anthology State of the Union: 50 Political Poems in Linda Pollack's Habeas Lounge (part of the James Gallery's exhibition People "Weekly"). Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.

Friday, October 31

Enchanted States: The Shaman's Flight in Modern Times
(discussion) 4:00 pm, Martin E. Segal Theater
Marina Warner explores the manifestations of traditional magical thought in contemporary culture and media. Warner is a Professor of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex and the author of several studies of belief and narrative, most recently, Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, Metaphors, and Media into the Twenty-first Century. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.