February 2017 - urbanstudiescircular@lists.qc.cuny.edu

[UrbanStudiesCircular] The Latest from Progressive City, February 2017
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 06 Feb '17

06 Feb '17

Progressive City: Radical Alternatives is an online publication dedicated to ideas and practices that advance racial, economic, and social justice in cities. We feature stories on inclusive urban planning practices, grassroots organizing, and civic action. Our contributors and readers are activists, reporters, practitioners, academics, and community members. Check out the website: http://www.progressivecity.net/ SPECIAL REPRINT ISSUE: PRISONS, POLICING AND PLANNING While there has been a long history of the policing and criminalization of marginalized populations - including minorities and immigrants - in the U.S., we have entered a new chapter with election of Trump and recent orders to defund sanctuary cities, build a wall along the U.S. and Mexican border, and block the entry of Syrian refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries. Such orders could be anticipated by the fiery rhetoric of his election campaign, when he cast African Americans as dwellers of poor "inner city" conflict zones and Mexicans as "rapists". The outcomes of such orders are likely to be heightened surveillance, spatial confinement and racial targeting for those in the U.S. as well as the demonization of those individuals (particularly from Mexico and from Muslim-majority countries) seeking to enter to escape violence or poverty. The War on Drugs and the War on Terror will be given a new lease of life, and the privatization and expansion of the U.S. prison industrial complex - one of the fastest growing, for-profit industries in the country - will continue apace. To provide a context for these developments, Progressive City: Radical Alternatives will be reprinting a series of articles from the Spring 2015 Progressive Planning Magazine issue entitled "Prisons, Policing and Planning", which was edited by Planners Network member Sheryl-Ann Simpson and includes an introductory article by Planners Network member Jeffrey Lowe. WE BEGIN WITH THE FOLLOWING TWO ARTICLES: Silky Shah, "Immigration Policy and Planning in the Era of Mass Incarceration<https://goo.gl/Zs79Ou>" Sheryl Ann Simpson, "Prisons, Policing and Planning: Making the Connections Visible<https://goo.gl/cl0yhS>" We welcome readers' comments and responses, as well suggestions for concrete actions moving forward! We are always looking for new submissions to our site! Read through our Submission Guidelines<http://progressivecity.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=919481863786d3f45…> and then send your piece to info(a)progressivecity.net<mailto:info@progressivecity.net>.

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[UrbanStudiesCircular] Care as Culture: Artists, Activists and Scientists Build Coalitions to Resist Climate Change
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 06 Feb '17

06 Feb '17

Care as Culture: Artists, Activists, and Scientists Build Coalitions to Resist Climate Change A Convening Around the Peace Table Sunday, Feb. 12 | 2:00 - 5:00 PM Queens Museum Flushing Meadows Corona Park More info: http://www.queensmuseum.org/events/care-as-culture Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ Peace Table, serves as the site for convenings on peace, from the personal to citywide to global. Ukeles and the Museum have conceived a series of public programs meant to engage and contemporize some of Mierle Laderman Ukeles: Maintenance Art<http://www.queensmuseum.org/2016/04/mierle-laderman-ukeles-maintenance-art>’s important themes. Care as Culture is the final convening that brings the perspectives of eco-artists, activists, and experts on climate change together to interrogate and enrich culture’s place in the movements for environmental justice. Reflecting on a hallmark of Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ practice, one goal of the roundtable is to brainstorm methods for coalition building across these disciplines, effectively multiplying the power to confront an environmental, political, and spiritual crisis in our increasingly antagonistic time. How can we create a broad cultural movement to combat the campaign promises of the United States’ incoming administration to dismantle many of the policies addressing the effects of climate change? To demonstrate the benefits and challenges of coalition building, artists and their interdisciplinary collaborators will present case studies from their own work and brainstorm what future possibilities might exist for this strategic model to continue. These will be followed by a larger discussion with a group of invited eco-artists, activists, and scientists about how successful coalitions can be introduced, and the urgent ways artists can begin the process of coalition building. What prevents us from working together and how can we advocate for change? Case study speakers include Newton Harrison<http://theharrisonstudio.net/>, The Natural History Museum<http://thenaturalhistorymuseum.org/>, Natalie Jeremijenko<http://nataliejeremijenko.com/>, and Mary Mattingly<http://www.marymattingly.com/>. Respondents include Carol Becker<http://arts.columbia.edu/faculty/carol-becker>, Francesco Fiondella<http://iri.columbia.edu/contact/staff-directory/francesco-fiondella/>, Allan Frei<http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/people/fac/frei.html>, Hope Ginsburg<http://www.hopeginsburg.com/>, Alicia Grullon<http://aliciagrullon.com/home.html>, Amy Lipton<http://ecoartspace.blogspot.com/>, Lisa Marshall<http://www.mothersoutfront.org/our_team>, Jennifer McGregor<https://www.wavehill.org/arts/>, Aviva Rahmani<http://ghostnets.com/>, Jason Smerdon<http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/%7Ejsmerdon/>, Stephanie Wakefield<https://sdwakefield.wordpress.com/>, and Marina Zurkow<http://www.o-matic.com/>. Newton Harrison will present on the concepts, outcomes, and collaborations that were part of his 1995 project with Helen Mayer Harrison, A Vision for the Green Heart of Holland. At the request of the Cultural Council of South Holland, the Harrison Studio undertook a consideration of the Green Heart, a vast farm centering a ring of cities including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. The Green Heart can be seen as a great central park for this ensemble of cities, which in turn are an economic and cultural center in Europe. In 1994-5 the value of the site was being debated, its identity questioned, and its very existence threatened by development. In response to this situation the Harrison Studio proposed a new vision for the Green Heart and the Randstad of Holland from their unique position as outsiders in the area. In the proposal, new boundary conditions emerged that would clarify the roles of the urban, the ecological and the farming communities which altogether comprise a major part of the landscape of Holland. The piece redirected the approximately $230 billion economic engine that was needed to develop the area, while saving over 14 villages from being destroyed. In 2001 the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Forestry made official changes to the Dutch map based on the Harrison’s proposal. The Harrison Studio consists of Helen Mayer Harrison (born 1929) and Newton Harrison (b.1932) who are among the earliest and the best known ecological artists. Working with biologists, ecologists, architects, urban planners, and other artists, the Harrison Studio initiates collaborative dialogues to uncover ideas and solutions that support biodiversity and community development. They have had numerous international solo exhibitions, and their work is in the collections of many public institutions, including the Pompidou Center, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. The mission of The Natural History Museum is to affirm the truth of science. By looking at the presentation of natural history, The Natural History Museum demonstrates principles fundamental to scientific inquiry, principles such as the commonality of knowledge and the unavoidability of the unknown. They inquire into what we see, how we see, and what remains excluded from our seeing. Through this inquiry, The Natural History Museum acts as museum anthropologists attuned to the social and political forces inseparable from the natural world. The role of The Natural History Museum is to orchestrate various persuasion, support, and provocation strategies to help move science and natural history museums toward a more engaged practice with the communities they serve, and with those who are invested in a practice of science that is inclusive and reflective of our current and future planetary realities. The museum is the latest project of Not An Alternative, a NY-based collective that works at the intersection of art, activism, and critical theory. Its mission is to affect popular understandings of histories, symbols, and institutions through the occupation and redeployment of popular vernacular, semiotics, and memes. Named in The New York Times and ArtNet’s “Best in Art in 2015” round-ups, the group’s work has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally. Speaking on behalf of the collective is co-founder Beka Economopoulos. In her presentation “Tactics for the Trumpocene” she will address the museum’s latest work to build coalitions between scientists, Indigenous communities and museum professionals. Natalie Jeremijenko is an Associate Professor in the Visual Art Department, NYU and affiliated with the Computer Science Dept and Environmental Studies program. Her doctoral studies include biochemistry, engineering (mechatronics, space-systems and precision engineering), neuroscience and History and Philosophy of Science. Jeremijenko’s practice develops the emerging field of socio-ecological systems design (or xDesign) crucial in the Anthropocene, using attractions and ongoing participatory research spectacles that address the C21st challenge to reimagine our collective relationship to natural systems. This integrates diverse strategies to redesign energy, food and transportation systems that can contribute to the common good, increase soil, aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity and improve human and environmental health. Jeremijenko directs the Environmental Health Clinic<http://www.environmentalhealthclinic.net/>—facilitating public and lifestyle experiments that can aggregate into significant human and environmental health benefits. Mary Mattingly is an artist who takes societal consumption and ecological crisis as points of inquiry. Working with community members ranging from scientists to engineers, students, and neighbors, she co-creates sculptural ecosystems in urban spaces. Mattingly is engaged in questions about how art can influence policy and strengthen the commons. Mattingly will present on Swale, an experiential public space and artwork on New York’s waterways that provides access to free food through perennial urban agriculture. In 2016, Swale launched at Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx with partners Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, the Bronx River Alliance, Rocking the Boat, the Point, the Urban Field Station, Partnership for Parks, and the New York City Department of Parks. On February 12th, Mary Mattingly will be presenting on Swale‘s work along with coalition members Lindsay Campbell, Dariella Rodriguez, Bram Gunther (Co-Director of the NYC Urban Field Station<https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/nyc/>), and docents from the Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice: Brandon Kane and Anthony Lespier.

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[UrbanStudiesCircular] Chaos vs. Order: The New Face of Astor Place
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 06 Feb '17

06 Feb '17

Chaos vs. Order: The New Face of Astor Place Friday, Feb. 10 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM 20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge and the Gehl Institute invite you to join us for a discussion on the past, present, and future of Manhattan's Astor Place and public plazas in New York City. This event will take a critical look at the neighborhood improvements and its benefits to society, with a panel including Andy Wiley Schwartz, William Kelley, Florent Morellet, moderated by Lisa Chamberlain. Astor Place, located at the cultural and historic center of New York's East Village, recently received a major facelift and new pedestrian plaza. For many community advocates, the redesign constitutes an important win in a decades long struggle for improvements. But critics of the new space decry the improvements for their sanitizing effect. Can new urban spaces that receive capital funding ever meet community expectations for delivering a thriving place? Can a balance be struck between messy chaos and sterile control when making significant improvements to neighborhoods? ________________________________ Lisa Chamberlain is a communications and business development strategist with an emphasis on the built environment. She works with clients involved in architecture, urban planning and design, preservation, real estate, sustainability, and placemaking to achieve their messaging, policy and development goals. Lisa's diverse background includes reporting on real estate for The New York Times; leading the Forum for Urban Design, a multi-disciplinary non-profit organization; and working as a legislative aide for a Member of Congress on policies related to the urban environment. She has an MS from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, and studied urban planning at Columbia GSAPP. More information can be found on her website<http://www.lisachamberlain.nyc/>. William Kelley is the Executive Director at the Village Alliance. As a Business Improvement District, the Village Alliance works with area residents, businesses, cultural and academic institutions to ensure the district continues to grow and succeed. Prior to joining the Alliance, Kelley held leadership positions with the Union Square Partnership, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Florent Morellet is a restaurateur, activist and scene-maker born in France. He was the owner of renowned Meatpacking District restaurant Florent, which closed its doors in 2008. Morellet is now based in Bushwick where he works, among other things, on the design of maps, some totally fictional and some focused on real cities. Andy Wiley Schwartz has more than 17 years of experience evaluating, envisioning and developing transportation infrastructure as public spaces. He currently works at Bloomberg Associates, where he assists clients in implementing major road safety efforts and launching new public space programs, as well as facilitating the production of new transportation strategic plans. He was previously Assistant Commissioner for Public Space in the New York City Department of Transportation. ________________________________ This event is part of a discussion series, Moving Towards a More Just, Inclusive, and Democratic Urbanism: Critical Views, co-hosted by the Institute for Public Knowledge and Gehl Institute. ________________________________ The Institute for Public Knowledge is wheelchair-accessible.

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[UrbanStudiesCircular] Two Job Opportunities for Recent Grads with Environmental Focus
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 06 Feb '17

06 Feb '17

Organics Recovery Coordinator at the NYC Compost Project: http://www.bigreuse.org/jobs/organics-recovery-coordinator/ Urban Farm Corps Group Leader at Green City Force: http://www.greencityforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/UFC-Team-Leader.pdf

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[UrbanStudiesCircular] Fwd: CEMS Gender & Transformation Workshop | Katherine Verdery | Feb 10, 4:30-6:00
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 03 Feb '17

03 Feb '17

New York University Center for New York University Center for European and Mediterranean Studies and the Network of East-West Women Gender and Transformation: Women in Europe Workshop *February 10th* *Katherine Verdery * Julien J. Studley Faculty Scholar and Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York *“What I Learned from my Secret Police File”* Center for European and Mediterranean Studies 285 Mercer St, 7th Floor 4:30 to 6:00pm -- Administrative Aide New York University Center for European and Mediterranean Studies 285 Mercer St, 7th Floor New York, NY 10003 212-998-3838 (T) ∙ 212-995-4188 (F)

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