OCTOBER PUBLIC PROGRAMS

The City University of New York Graduate Center announces the following public programs with to be held during the month of October at the Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street. For further information about the Graduate Center and its public programs, visit www.gc.cuny.edu.

Through Sunday, October 11:

Silent Pictures
(art exhibition) James Gallery, Tuesday–Friday, 12-8 PM; Saturday & Sunday, 12-6 PM
Opening reception: Thursday, September 10, 6-8 PM
Inspired by Art Spiegelman's collection of wordless comics and the recent anthology Abstract Comics, edited by Andrei Molotiu, Silent Pictures focuses on aspects of comic-book structure and syntax that do not depend on words to advance an image sequence. Featuring selections from Spiegelman's collection -- mostly black and white artist books from the 1930s -- as well as more recent “abstract comics,” the exhibition also includes a wall drawing by Renee French, an animation by Rachel Cattle and Steve Richards, and a project for the Fifth Avenue lobby windows by Gail Fitzgerald and Carl Ostendarp. In addition, Noam Elcott will curate "Comic-Film-Strip,” a related film program featuring mostly wordless, animated historic films. Presented by the James Gallery; free, for more information call 212-817-7138 or visit www.gc.cuny.edu/events/art_gallery.htm.
 
Through Saturday, October 31:

ITINERARIES
(art exhibition) building hours, Exhibition Halway
ITINERARIES, works 1979-2009 by Alan Turner, is an exhibition of drawings and paintings exploring abandoned locations -- ruins of antiquity, inventive shelters of the homeless, playgrounds of children -- with side trips in the natural world. Turner paints quirky images that mark an uncomfortable relationship between the body, containers, and consciousness. During the last few years, he has made paintings (Box Houses) based on models he has built from corrugated cardboard, which grew out of observations of the structures the homeless build for shelter. Recently, Turner’s trips to Rome have further shaped his artistic vision. An acute draftsman, his painting technique has become increasingly austere -- the newest "paintings" are simply graphite on canvas. Free, for more information call 212-431-5149.
 
Wednesday, September 30—Saturday, October 3:

Prelude .09: Ecologies, Economies, and Engagement
(performances, readings, & discussions) Martin E. Segal Theatre
The sixth-annual Prelude Festival celebrates over 20 of NYC's most groundbreaking performance artists and theatre-makers. From Wednesday, September 30, through Saturday, October 3, Prelude .09 will offer a sneak peek of the 2009/10 seasons and beyond, as well as conversations and symposia with the most dynamic risk-takers in downtown theater and performance. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; free, for more information call 212-817-1860. Visit www.preludenyc.org for complete schedule and participants.

Thursday, October 1:

Secularism and Liberty of Conscience:
Abullah Ahmed An-Naim & Patrick Weil in Conversation
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Scholars have recently made strong arguments that legitimate Islamic faith requires religious freedom. Join two prominent scholars and policymakers as they discuss the viability of secularism as a barrier against religious coercion. Participants include Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Professor of Law at Emory and author of Islam and the Secular State, and Patrick Weil, Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School and Director of the Center for the Study of Immigration, Integration, and Citizenship Policies at the University of Paris, Pantheon-Sorbonne. Weil has also worked extensively with the French government, including participation in a Presidential Commission on secularism. Moderated by John Torpey, Professor of Sociology, the Graduate Center. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.
 
Monday, October 5:

Andrei Serban and the Traveling Academy
(performance & discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Acclaimed U.S.-Romanian theatre director Andrei Serban leads ten Romanian actors in a presentation following their participation in the Traveling Academy, an experimental theatre workshop. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in partnership with the Romanian Cultural Institute; free, for more information call 212-817-1860.
 
What's Sex Got to Do with Family?
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Proshansky Auditorium
Sex is both at the core and the edge of the family life. This panel seeks to explore family formations through their deepest open secrets: sex, sexuality, and sexual practices. Panelists include Lisa Duggan, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, and author of The Twilight of Equality?: Neoliberalism, Cultural Politics, and the Attack on Democracy; Elizabeth Grosz, Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers University, author of Volatile Bodies: Toward a Corporeal Feminism; and Gayle Salamon, Assistant Professor of English, Princeton University, whose forthcoming book is titled Assuming a Body: Transgender and Rhetorics of Materiality. Kyoo Lee, Resident Mellon Fellow at the Center for the Humanities, will moderate. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.
 
Tuesday, October 6:

EOAGH: A Journal of the Arts
(publication launch) 6:00 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
The Center for the Humanities presents the launch of Issue 5 of EOAGH: A Journal of the Arts with Emily Beall, Julian Brolaski, Thomas Fink, Paolo Javier, Vincent Katz, Dorothea Lasky, Sueyen Juliette Lee, Kimberly Lyons, Uche Nduka, and Anne Tardos, as well as Graduate Center students Kate Broad, Louis Bury, John Harkey, Stefania Heim, Benjamin Miller, and Emily Moore. Hosted by Tim Peterson, editor. Free, for information call 212-817-2005.
 
Boulevard of Dreams: Heady Times, Heartbreak and Hope along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx
(book talk) 6:30 PM, Elebash Recital Hall
In Boulevard of Dreams (NYU Press), Constance Rosenblum, long-time editor of the City Section of the New York Times and currently author of the Habitats column in the paper's Sunday Real Estate section, details the colorful history of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx and surrounding neighborhoods. In this book, published to coincide with the boulevard's centennial in November, Rosenblum shines a spotlight on a unique section of the Bronx, a borough often overlooked by historians, and brings to life the history, personality, plights, and triumphs of an iconic urban street. Presented by the Gotham Center for NYC History. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events. For further information, call 212-817-8215.
 
Wednesday, October 7:

Nationalism, Liberalism, and Zionism:
A Discussion Commemorating the Centennial of the Birth of Isiah Berlin
(discussion) 6:00 PM, Elebash Recital Hall
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sir Isaiah Berlin, a group of scholars will gather to explore Berlin's ideas concerning nationalism, liberalism, and Zionism, and their relevance for our time and the future. Participants include Richard Wolin, Professor of History & Comparative Literature, the Graduate Center; Mark Lilla, Professor of Humanities, Columbia University; Ian Buruma, Henry R. Luce Professor of Democracy, Human Rights, and Journalism, Bard College; Helena Rosenblatt, Professor of History, the Graduate Center. Moderated by Joel Rosenthal, President of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Policy, with opening comments by the Graduate Center’s Provost Chase Robinson. Presented by the Center for Jewish Studies; free, for information call 212-817-1950.
 
Afghanistan: Faultlines and Resistance
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Proshansky Auditorium
A panel discussion examining escalating conflicts and violence on the eighth anniversary of U.S. intervention in Afghanistan. Featuring Jeremy Scahill, Nation columnist and author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army; Bill Fletcher, Jr., Executive Editor of The Black Commentator; and a representative of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). Presented by the Center for Place, Culture and Politics; free, for information call 212-817-1880.
 
Harold Pinter in Krapp's Last Tape
(screening) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
England's great modern playwright Harold Pinter performed a stunning interpretation of Samuel Beckett's one-man play Krapp's Last Tape at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2007. Join us for a screening of the BBC film of that performance, followed by a panel discussion featuring actor and director Matthew Burton, who directed the film Working with Pinter, and playwright John Guare, among others. Mr. Burton will offer a full-day workshop on Pinter for actors. To register, please contact the Segal Center. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; free, for information call 212-817-1860.
 
Thursday, October 8:

Music in Midtown: Elebash String Quartet
(concert) 1:00 PM, Elebash Recital Hall
Music in Midtown's second concert of the fall showcases the talented Elebash String Quartet, comprised of players from the Graduate Center's DMA performance program. These young instrumentalists, all of whom have appeared nationally and internationally, will perform Maurice Ravel's luminescent Quartet in F Major, as well as Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, op. 110, by Dmitri Shostakovich. Members of the quartet are Heesun Shin, violin; Karen Rostron, violin; William Hakim, viola; and Marta Bedkowska, cello. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events. For further information, call 212-817-8215.
 
Digital Media Studies:
Old and New Net Wars over Free Speech, Freedom, and Secrecy
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
A Seminar in the Humanities with Gabriella Coleman, Assistant Professor of Media Culture, and Communication at New York University. Trained as a cultural anthropologist, Coleman examines ethics and online collaboration as well as the role of the law and new media technologies in extending and critiquing liberal values and sustaining new forms of political activism. Her book Coding Freedom: Hacker Pleasure and the Ethics of Free and Open Source Software is forthcoming from Princeton University Press. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.
 
Friday, October 9:

Truth Values: One Girl's Romp Through M.I.T.'s Male Math Maze
(performance) 6:30 PM, Elebash Recital Hall
Writer-performer and recovering mathematician Gioia De Cari offers a woman's perspective on this question, as she shares her experiences in the exotic boys club of higher mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in this autobiographical solo show, directed by Miriam Eusebio. While making the most of the comic absurdity of being pawed by nerds, being asked to serve cookies at a seminar, and retaliating with fashion experiments, De Cari also seriously explores the world of elite mathematics and the role of women in science. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events. For further information, call 212-817-8215.
 
Wednesday, October 14:

Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Nashqbandi
(screening & discussion) 6:30 PM, Proshansky Auditorium
Fixer (2009) documents the relationship between Ajmal Nashqbandi, an Afghani interpreter, and his American client, journalist Christian Parenti until Ajmal is kidnapped and executed by the Taliban. Join director Ian Olds, recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival’s 2009 Best New Documentary Filmmaker award, and Christian Parenti, correspondent for The Nation, and author of The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq, for a discussion about the social and cultural politics of producing journalism from the heart of the 21st century’s killing fields. Presented by the Center for Place, Culture and Politics; free, for information call 212-817-1880.
 
Thursday, October 15:

Music in Midtown: Viennese Expressions
(concert) 1:00 PM, Elebash Recital Hall
Soprano and Graduate Center faculty member Susan Gonzalez and pianist Geoffrey Burleson present a program of works of the Second Viennese School—Berg, Webern, and Schoenberg. Gonzalez has an active career in both opera and concert repertoire. Her opera credits include leading roles with the Lyric Opera of Chicago at Grant Park, Chicago Opera Theater, and New Orleans Opera, among many others. Geoffrey Burleson has performed to wide acclaim throughout Europe and North America, and is equally active as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician, and jazz performer. Gonzalez and the dynamic Baco Quartet conclude the program with Schoenberg's String Quartet No.2, op. 10. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events. For further information, call 212-817-8215.
 
Monday, October 19

Keen Company on Wilder
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Challenging the irony pervasive in contemporary popular culture, Keen Company, led by Artistic Director Carl Forsman, produces “sincere plays” that are “unafraid of emotional candor, vulnerability, and optimism.” Mr. Forsman takes the stage for a discussion of Keen’s unique approach to theatre, including the company’s take on the short plays of Thornton Wilder. Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; free, for more information call 212-817-1860.
 
2009 New York Sanjo Festival and Symposium
(performances & discussions) 9:00 AM–10:00 PM, Elebash Recital Hall & Proshansky Auditorium; also Tuesday, October 20
This two-day festival of performances and lectures features some of the world’s leading Asian and Korean music performers and scholars, including Korea’s foremost sanjo and sinawi masters, who are recognized as “National Human Treasures of Korea.” The festival concludes with a Concert by Sanjo Masters on Tuesday, October 20, at 8 p.m. Presented Sanjo originated in the music of the Korean indigenous shaman culture, and it grew to be the greatest instrumental genre of the 19th century. Adopting elements and stylistic features from the court and folk music traditions, it has come to reflect a “pan-musical” style that is quintessentially Korean. As solo instrumental music, sanjo offers many opportunities for dazzling virtuosic display in the course of its multi-movement form. by the Ph.D/D.M.A. Music Program; free, for information call 949-295-2383 or visit http://web.gc.cuny.edu/Music/events/special_Korean.html

Tuesday, October 20:

New York Sings: 400 Years of the Empire State in Song
(concert & discussion) 6:30 PM, Elebash Recital Hall
In honor of New York’s Quadricentennial, folksinger and musicologist Jerry Silverman will present a lecture-concert drawn from his recently published New York Sings (SUNY Albany Press). From the Half Moon to the Clearwater; from the Erie Canal to Lake Champlain; from Montauk to Niagara Falls; from the Sidewalks of New York to the Lumber Camps of the Adirondacks; from Castle Garden and Ellis Island to Tin Pan Alley, the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium, Silverman’s book features 136 songs about the people, places and events reflecting life in New York through 400 years. Presented by the Gotham Center for NYC History. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events. For further information, call 212-817-8215.
 
Wednesday, October 21:

Quantum Quest
(film screening & discussion) 7:00 PM, Proshansky Auditorium
In collaboration with the Imagine Science Film Festival, Science & the Arts presents the NYC premier of this animated film about space exploration, followed by a panel discussion featuring film writer-director Harry "Doc" Kloor. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey, featuring the voices of a cast of major actors, was initiated by NASA and is based upon ongoing missions, science, and discovery. The film interweaves actual space imagery captured from NASA missions with an adventure set in an imaginary universe. Quantum Quest is also the first film featuring Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, who lends his voice to a character. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events. For further information, call 212-817-8215.
 
Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits
(discussion) 7:00 PM, Skylight Room (9100)
With Linda Gordon, author of the recently published Dorthea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits. Join the Leon Levy Center for Biogrpahy to celebrate publication of this highly anticipated biography of a complex figure in the American cultural and political landscape. Widely regarded as the most influential American female photographer of the twentieth century, Dorothea Lange is known for her iconic documentary photographs of the Depression era. Linda Gordon is the Florence Kelley Professor of History at New York University. She won the Bancroft Prize for The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction in 2000. Free, for information call 212-817-2005.
 
Thursday, October 22:


Science Film Shorts
(film screening & discussion) 7:00 PM, Elebash Recital Hall
In collaboration with the Imagine Science Film Festival, Science & the Arts presents an evening of short films. The annual juried festival features the work of filmmakers who create accurate science-in-fiction films that focus on characters in science- or math-related fields, or that deal with scientific and technological themes. Fantasy, drama, documentaries, and animations -- the evening will reflect a wide range of entries from filmmakers across the globe. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events. For further information, call 212-817-8215.

Friday, October 23:

On Quentin Skinner, from Method to Politics
(discussion) 3:00–6:00 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Quentin Skinner’s pathbreaking essay “Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas.” This afternoon conference will celebrate and critically evaluate Skinner’s work. Participants include Quentin Skinner, Barber Beaumont Professor of the Humanities at Queen Mary, Univeristy of London; Bryan Garsten, Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale Univesity; Melissa Lane, Senior Lecturer in History, Cambridge University; Philip Pettit, Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values, Princeton University; and Nadia Urbinati, Nell and Herbert M. Singer Professor of Contemporary Civilization, Columbia University. Moderated by Helena Rosenblatt, Professor of History, the Graduate Center. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.
 
Monday, October 26:

Knickerbocker: The Myth Behind New York
(book talk) 6:30 PM, Skylight Room
Join the Gotham Center for NYC History and author Elizabeth L. Bradley, deputy director of the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, for a book talk and signing of Knickerbocker: The Myth Behind New York (Rutgers University Press). Diedrich Knickerbocker was created in 1809 by a young Washington Irving, who used the character to narrate his classic satire, A History of New York. Bradley’s book offers a surprising and delightful glimpse behind the scenes of New York history and invites readers into the world of Knickerbocker, the antihero who surprised everyone by becoming the standard-bearer for the city's exceptional sense of self, or what we now call a New York "attitude." Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events. For further information, call 212-817-8215.
 
An Evening with Playwright Thomas Bradshaw
(reading & discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Playwright and 2009 Guggenheim Fellow Thomas Bradshaw joins the Martin E. Segal Theater Center for a discussion and reading of excerpts from his new play, The Bereaved. Mr. Bradshaw, one of Time Out New York’s Ten Playwrights to Watch, was Soho Rep’s 2008-2009 Streslin Fellow and a Playwriting Fellow at the Lark Play Development Center. His plays, all published and produced, have included Strom Thurmond is Not a Racist; Cleansed; Purity; Southern Promises; Dawn; and Prophet. Free, for information call 212-817-1860.
 
Tuesday, October 27:

Third Annual Symposium on Primo Levi
(discussion) 1:00 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre & Proshansky Auditorium
On the 90th anniversary of Levi’s birth, this symposium will explore the translation and potential impact of Primo Levi’s powerful work across the globe, in multiple media and in many languages. The Center for the Humanities and the Graduate Center are pleased to host the third and final day of the symposium, which will focus on the controversial reception of Levi’s work in both Germany and in the Arab world (other events will take place at the Center for Jewish History and NYU). Participants include Susan Stewart-Steinberg, Brown University; Talal Asad and Ammiel Alcalay of the Graduate Center; and Abraham Radkin, the Aladdin Project. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.
 
Wednesday, October 28:

Tarell McCraney with Emily Mann
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Emily Mann produced Tarell Alvin McCraney’s brother/sister play trilogy, including the acclaimed The Brothers Size, at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ, in Spring 2009. Parts 1 and 2 of this trilogy, set in the Louisiana projects, will travel to the Public Theater beginning October 21. Mr. McCraney and Ms. Mann join the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center to discuss this project which has brought this extraordinary young playwright into the public spotlight. Free, for information call 212-817-1860.

Jazz Legacies: George Wein & Gary Giddins in conversation
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Proshansky Auditorium
George Wein, founder of the Newport Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and others, is arguably the most influential non-artist in jazz history. Join Wein and the critic Gary Giddins as they discuss his legendary career as a jazz impresario. Gary Giddins is the author of 10 books, including 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 information call 212-817-2005.
 
Thursday, October 29:

Music in Midtown: Songs without Words
(concert) 1:00 PM, Elebash Recital Hall
Music in Midtown presents one of the world's foremost wind soloists, Paula Robison, in a program with renowned guitarist, Frederic Hand. Robison has appeared with orchestras and in recital in major concert halls and music festivals in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Far East, at the United Nations, and at the White House. Hand's versatile performing style and concert programs feature his own works that have brought him renown as both a Grammy-nominated and Emmy-winning television composer and recording artist. This program will include Italian love songs and lullabies, Sephardic songs, selections from The Bird Fancyer's Delight, and American hymns and dances arranged for flute and guitar. Free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.gc.cuny.edu/events. For further information, call 212-817-8215.
 
Tendencies: Poetics and Practice
(discussion) 6:30 PM, Skylight Room (9100)
A new series of talks by major poets, curated by Tim Peterson and titled in honor of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, will explore the intersection of contemporary poetic manifesto, practice, queer theory, and pedagogy. Featuring Trish Salah, Robert Gluck, and Rachel Zolf, followed by a discussion and Q&A session. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.
 
Friday, October 30:

Atlantic Studies: The Brink of Freedom, David Kazanjian
(discussion) 4:00 PM, Martin E. Segal Theatre
A Seminar in the Humanities with David Kazanjian, who is is Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, where he specializes in transnational American literary and historical studies through the nineteenth century. His is the author of The Colonizing Trick: National Culture and Imperial Citizenship in Early America and co-editor of Loss: The Politics of Mourning and The Aunt Lute Anthology of U.S. Women Writers, Volume One: Seventeenth through Nineteenth Centuries. He is currently completing work on The Brink of Freedom, a study of social movements at the edges of the early U.S. empire. Presented by the Center for the Humanities; free, for information call 212-817-2005.