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

[UrbanStudiesCircular] Sept 26: The Crisis in Venezuela
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

The Crisis in Venezuela: Understanding the Origins of the Present Moment Tuesday, Sept. 26th | 5:00 - 7:00 PM The Graduate Center, CUNY 365 Fifth Avenue, Skylight Room Please join us for a presentation by Edgardo Lander (Central University of Venezuela) followed by a conversation with Naomi Schiller (Brooklyn College) and Alejandro Velasco (New York University), moderated by Julie Skurski (The Graduate Center, CUNY). A reception will be held in room 5109 following the event. Edgardo Lander is a Professor of Social Sciences at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) in Caracas, Venezuela. He has written extensively on the critique of Eurocentrism in the social sciences, democratic theory, and politics in Venezuela and Latin America. He was on the Organizing Committee of the World Social Forum meeting in Caracas in 2006, is a member of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation's Working Group on Alternatives to Development, a member of the Political Ecology Working Group (Latin American Social Science Council), and a fellow of the Transnational Institute's New Politics group. He is active in the Citizen's Platform in Defense of the Constitution created in response to the current crisis in Venezuela. Published widely in academic journals and the press, he is the author and editor of books that include: Neoliberalismo, sociedad civil y democracia. Ensayos sobre América Latina y Venezuela; La colonialidad del saber: Eurocentrismo y ciencias sociales. Perspectivas latinoamericanas; and Contribución a la crítica del marxismo realmente existente: Verdad, ciencia y tecnología.

1 0

[UrbanStudiesCircular] Sept 25: Discussing Assembly with Michael Hardt
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

Discussing Assembly with Michael Hardt Monday, Sept. 25 | 12:30 - 2:00 PM Urban Democracy Lab 20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor More info & RSVP: http://urbandemos.nyu.edu/event/discussing-assembly-with-michael-hardt/ In recent years "leaderless" social movements have proliferated around the globe, from North Africa and the Middle East to Europe, the Americas, and East Asia. Some of these movements have led to impressive gains: the toppling of authoritarian leaders, the furthering of progressive policy, and checks on repressive state forces. They have also been, at times, derided by journalists and political analysts as disorganized and ineffectual, or suppressed by disoriented and perplexed police forces and governments who fail to effectively engage them. Activists, too, struggle to harness the potential of these horizontal movements. Why have the movements, which address the needs and desires of so many, not been able to achieve lasting change and create a new, more democratic and just society? With the rise of right-wing political parties in many countries, the question of how to organize democratically and effectively has become increasingly urgent. Drawing on ideas developed through the well-known Empire trilogy (co-written with Antonio Negri) Michael Hardt, offers a timely proposal in Assembly (2017) for how current large-scale horizontal movements can develop the capacities for political strategy and decision-making to effect lasting and democratic change. Co-sponsored by Urban Democracy Lab, Urban Humanities Collaborative, NYU American Studies, and NYU Metropolitan Studies

1 0

[UrbanStudiesCircular] Oct 4: Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence Book Launch Wednesday, Oct. 4 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge 20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor More information: https://ipk.nyu.edu/events/book-launch-uneasy-street/ NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge invites you to join us for a launch event for Rachel Sherman's new book Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence (Princeton University Press, 2017). Sherman will be present in conversation with Ron Lieber. >From TV's "real housewives" to The Wolf of Wall Street, our popular culture portrays the wealthy as materialistic and entitled. But what do we really know about those who live on "easy street"? In this penetrating book, Rachel Sherman draws on rare in-depth interviews that she conducted with fifty affluent New Yorkers-including hedge fund financiers and corporate lawyers, professors and artists, and stay-at-home mothers-to examine their lifestyle choices and their understanding of privilege. Sherman upends images of wealthy people as invested only in accruing and displaying social advantages for themselves and their children. Instead, these liberal elites, who believe in diversity and meritocracy, feel conflicted about their position in a highly unequal society. They wish to be "normal," describing their consumption as reasonable and basic and comparing themselves to those who have more than they do rather than those with less. These New Yorkers also want to see themselves as hard workers who give back and raise children with good values, and they avoid talking about money. Although their experiences differ depending on a range of factors, including whether their wealth was earned or inherited, these elites generally depict themselves as productive and prudent, and therefore morally worthy, while the undeserving rich are lazy, ostentatious, and snobbish. Sherman argues that this ethical distinction between "good" and "bad" wealthy people characterizes American culture more broadly, and that it perpetuates rather than challenges economic inequality. As the distance between rich and poor widens, Uneasy Street not only explores the real lives of those at the top but also sheds light on how extreme inequality comes to seem ordinary and acceptable to the rest of us. ________________________________ Rachel Sherman is associate professor of sociology at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College. Her first book, Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels (University of California Press, 2007), analyzes how workers, guests, and managers in luxury hotels make sense of and negotiate class inequalities that marked their relationships. Ron Lieber is a journalist and author of the "Your Money" column for The New York Times, which addresses a variety of personal finance issues, from investing to paying for college to mortgages and homes. He is also the author of The Opposite of Spoiled, a guide to teaching kids about money and values. ________________________________ Co-sponsored by the New York Institute for the Humanities.

1 0

[UrbanStudiesCircular] 2017 Chynn-CUNY Ethics & Morality Essay Contest
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

Dr. K. York & Noelle Chynn CUNY Ethics & Morality Essay Contest Deadline: Friday, November 3, 2017 More information: http://www.aaari.info/ethics.htm Fall greetings! Hope you had a great summer. The Asian American / Asian Research Institute is currently accepting submissions for the CUNY Ethics and Morality Essay Contest, due Friday, November 3, 2017. Funded by an endowment gift of $100,000 to the City University of New York by Dr. K. York Chynn and his wife Noelle Chynn, the essay contest is open to all currently enrolled CUNY undergraduate and graduate students. The top three essays will be awarded the following prizes: * Best Essay ($1,000) * First Runner-up ($300) * Second Runner-up ($200) This annual award is intended to promote and stimulate thinking by college students at CUNY about the topic of ethics, morality, and virtuous behavior in their lives. More than ever, these issues arise not only in the personal relationships of individuals and family and friends, but also in the context of corporate, government, and social responsibility, whether it is about treating others fairly and honestly, or food safety. Students are asked to submit a 1,000 to 1,500 word essay based on one of eleven virtues and to incorporate the following: * Tell us about your own experience in practicing the Virtue you have chosen to write about and what personal reward or satisfaction have you gained from it. * Why do you think the Virtue that you chose was an important one to practice in your life? * What obstacles did you encounter in practicing this particular Virtue and how did you, or do you, still strive to overcome difficulties? AAARI will award the top three essays at our 16th annual gala in Thursday, November 30, 2017. For full submission details and to read past winning essays, please visit www.aaari.info/ethics.htm<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001GQopOAw1VZk49oLjwyUkRC2yD-8RfILp6YZTzOju40Gq…>. Good luck to all the CUNY students!

1 0

[UrbanStudiesCircular] Setp 15: Investigative Aesthetics in Architecture and Journalism
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

Investigative Aesthetics in Architecture and Journalism Eyal Weizman in conversation with Malachy Browne Friday, Sept. 5 | 7:00 PM e-flux 311 East Broadway More information: http://www.e-flux.com/program/152079/investigative-aesthetics-in-architectu… This evening marks the publication of Forensic Architecture: Violence at the Threshold of Detectability<https://www.zonebooks.org/books/50-forensic-architecture-violence-at-the-th…>, an in-depth introduction into the group and its practice. Founded in 2010, Forensic Architecture has developed a new practice for undertaking investigations into political controversies and human rights abuses. Using architecture, media, and algorithmic analysis, Forensic Architecture assembles complex evidence files from a variety of disparate sources, such as new media, remote sensing, material analysis, witness testimony, and crowd-sourcing. The group's work has already exposed state violence and cover-ups in many places worldwide. The evening will start with Weizman presenting the group's most recent investigative work on enforced disappearance in Mexico, after which he will be joined by Malachy Browne of the New York Times and moderator Nick Axel to discuss new techniques in open source investigations and civil society forensics, and the impact they are having on investigative journalism; moderated by Nick Axel. Eyal Weizman is the founding director of Forensic Architecture, a professor at Goldsmiths, London, and one of the founders of DAAR in Beit Sahour, Palestine. His books include The Roundabout Revolutions (Sterberg Press, 2015), The Least of All Possible Evils (Verso, 2012), and Hollow Land (Verso, 2012). Malachy Browne is a Senior Story Producer with the New York Times. He focuses on international investigative reporting that combines visual forensics with open source data and traditional reporting. Prior to joining the 'Times, Browne worked with social journalism start-ups Storyful and Reported.ly. He co-founded Right to Know, an Irish organization campaigning for access to public information. A recovering computer programmer, he takes an interest in the interface of technology with journalism. Forensic Architecture: Violence at the Threshold of Detectability<https://www.zonebooks.org/books/50-forensic-architecture-violence-at-the-th…> Zone, May 2017 English 7.5 x 9 in, 368 pp, 100 color illus., hardcover ??ISBN: 9781935408864 For more information, contact program(a)e-flux.com.

1 0

[UrbanStudiesCircular] Undergraduate and Graduate Internships at the NY State Assembly
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 11 Sep '17

11 Sep '17

The New York State Assembly Intern Committee is looking forward to the 2018 Session Internship Program as we enter our 47th Year of Academic Tradition. We are excited to offer a quality, comprehensive academic internship for both undergraduate students and graduate scholars. We are pleased to announce that the National College Credit Recommendation Service (National CCRS) revalidated our program, continuing the college credit recommendation for this Internship. A copy of the latest National CCRS credit revalidation site report is available upon request to the Assembly Intern Program. We have been a member since 1978. The Assembly’s Session Internship Program is unique in its ability to offer a strong, evaluated, educational program taught by our Professors-in-Residence, combined with informative Issue Policy Forums, Mock Session, Annual Awards Ceremony and valuable career experience. The Intern Committee provides a stipend of $5,850 and requires no application fee. Enclosed are the 2018 Assembly Session and Graduate Internship Applications, along with our brochure and poster. Undergraduate applicants must be juniors and seniors matriculated in a college degree program. Upper level associate degree students are encouraged to apply. As the Assembly Intern Committee is unable to conduct interviews with all applicants for the Session Internship, we appreciate and rely on your expertise in the vital process of screening and selecting those applicants best qualified for the internship. Applicants may be from any major. Interested undergraduate students must apply to their colleges according to the deadline established by their institution. All undergraduate applications and supporting documents must be submitted to the Liaison Officer and postmarked no later than November 1, 2017. If necessary, an extension may be requested by notifying the Intern Office. Graduate Scholar candidates must apply directly to the Intern Committee by November 1, 2017. The Graduate Scholars receive a stipend of $15,000 for their participation in the Assembly Internship. Please do not hesitate to contact me at (518) 455-4704, or by e-mail, mccartyk(a)nyassembly.gov<mailto:mccartyk@nyassembly.gov>, if you have any questions or would simply like more information. Also, further information and applications can be found on our website, http://nyassembly.gov/internship/. Thank you for your time and commitment to the Assembly’s Internship Program. The program’s success could not be achieved without your dedication and support.

1 0

[UrbanStudiesCircular] 9/21 Climate Change Event at Fordham Law about NYC's GHG Targets
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 07 Sep '17

07 Sep '17

*Creating an Alliance to Achieve 80x50*: If you are interested in NYC's efforts to mitigate climate change, check out a panel discussion at Fordham/Lincoln Center discussing how New Yorkers can work together to reach the City's greenhouse gas reduction emissions targets. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-an-alliance-to-achieve-80x50-panel-di… -- Natalie B. Vena, J.D., Ph.D. Phone (773) 401-1496

1 0

[UrbanStudiesCircular] Sept 24: Queens Hispanic Parade
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 06 Sep '17

06 Sep '17

Queens Hispanic Parade Sunday, Sept 24 | 12 noon - 5:00 PM Northern Blvd. from 69th St. to 86th St. in Jackson Heights, Queens. More information: http://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov/calendar?c_v=evt&c_dt=2458021&c_eid=1597164&c_mid=0

1 0

[UrbanStudiesCircular] Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics w/ Prof. Ida Susser
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 06 Sep '17

06 Sep '17

Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics Book Launch Friday, Sept 22 | 1:00 PM NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge 20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor More information & RSVP: https://ipk.nyu.edu/events/book-launch-fear-city-new-yorks-fiscal-crisis-an… NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge and the OIKOS Working Group invite you to join us for a book launch of Kim Phillips-Fein’s new book Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics, out now from Metropolitan Books. The author will be present in conversation with Ida Susser. When the news broke in 1975 that New York City was on the brink of fiscal collapse, few believed it was possible: how could the capital of the financial world go bankrupt? And yet the city was billions of dollars in the red. Bankers and politicians alike seized upon the situation as evidence that New York’s famous social liberalism was doomed to failure–and promised apocalyptic scenarios if the city didn’t fire thousands of workers, freeze wages, and slash social services. In this vivid, gripping account, historian Kim Phillips-Fein tells the remarkable story of the crisis that engulfed the city, transforming the largest metropolis in the United States and reshaping ideas about government throughout the country. In doing so, she brings to life a radically different New York, the legendarily decrepit city of the 1970s. Drawing on never-before-used archival sources as well as interviews with key players in the crisis, Phillips-Fein guides us through the hairpin turns and sudden reversals that brought New York City to the edge of bankruptcy–and kept it from going over. At once a sweeping history of some of the most tumultuous times in the city’s past, a colorful portrait of the unwieldy mechanics of municipal government, and an origin story of the politics of austerity, Fear City is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the resurgent fiscal conservatism of today. ________________________________ Kim Phillips-Fein is a historian teaching 20th-century American history at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. She has written about twentieth-century political history, the rise of conservatism, the history of free-market economic ideas, and the history of unions and of critics of capitalism. Her work has been published in journals ranging from the Journal of American History to The Nation, The Baffler and Bookforum. Ida Susser is Professor of Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center and adjunct professor of Socio-Medical Sciences at the HIV Center, Columbia University. Her books include The Castells Reader on the Cities and Social Theory (Blackwell, 2001), and Cultural Diversity in the United States (Blackwell, 2001). She received an award for Distinguished Achievement in the Critical Study of North America from the Society for the Anthropology of North America, has served as President of the American Ethnological Society(2005-7), and is a founding member of Athena: Advancing Gender Equity and Human Rights in the Global Response to HIV/AIDS.

1 0

[UrbanStudiesCircular] Sept 8: Building Never Built New York Panel Discussion
by urbanstudiescircular＠lists.qc.cuny.edu 06 Sep '17

06 Sep '17

Building Never Built New York Panel Discussion Friday, Sept 8 | 1:00 PM Wood Auditorium, Avery Hall Columbia University GSAPP 1172 Amsterdam Ave. More information: https://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/718-building-never-built-new-york Greg Goldin, Writer and Co-Curator, Never Built New York Larissa Harris, Curator, Queens Museum of Art Sam Lubell, Writer and Co-Curator, Never Built New York Christian Wassmann, Principal, Studio Christian Wassmann In conversation with Josh Jordan, Fabrication Lab Director, and Tei Carpenter, Adjunct Assistant Professor, GSAPP. Hidden behind New York City��s iconic skyscrapers, sprawling subway system and world famous public parks is the ghost of the city that could have been �C a parallel metropolis that can reveal the city��s goals, strengths and challenges. Never Built New York<http://www.queensmuseum.org/2016/10/never-built-new-york> is an exhibition presented at the Queens Museum. It is co-curated by Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin, designed by Christian Wassman, and fabricated in part by Josh Jordan and GSAPP students. The exhibition collaborators discuss their work bringing speculative architecture about NYC into physical form through original prints, drawings, models, installations, and animations. Speakers Greg Goldin was the architecture critic at Los Angeles Magazine from 1999 to 2011. In 2011, he was awarded a Getty Institute Research Grant which led to his exhibition Windshield Perspective, Architecture and Design Museum (2013), a study of vernacular Los Angeles architecture. In summer 2013, he co-curated and co�\authored Never Built Los Angeles. His last curatorial contribution was to the Getty Museum��s No Further West (2014), an exhibition about the making of Los Angeles��s Union Station. His writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Record, Architect��s Newspaper, and Zocalo, among many others. Larissa Harris is a curator at the Queens Museum of Art. Exhibitions at QMA include Red Lines Housing Crisis Learning Center, a project on home finance by artist and urban designer Damon Rich; The Curse of Bigness, which featured major works by Survival Research Laboratories, J. Morgan Puett, and Dexter Sinister, among others; and the first U.S. solo presentation of Korean video and performance artist Sung Hwan Kim. From 2004-2008 she was associate director at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT where she and staff commissioned and produced new work by Michael Smith, Damon Rich/ the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), John Malpede, and Xavier Le Roy; instituted a visiting artist series (Vito Acconci/ Acconci Studio, Miranda July, Judith Barry, Seth Price, Dexter Sinister, and Rachel Harrison); a student residency program; and a residency for Boston-area artists. Sam Lubell is a Staff Writer at Wired and a Contributing Editor at The Architect��s Newspaper. He has written seven books about architecture for Monacelli Press, Rizzoli, Metropolis Books, and Phaidon. He also writes for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, Architect, Architectural Record, Architectural Review, Wallpaper, *Contract, and other publications. He co-curated the A+D Architecture and Design Museum exhibitions Never Built Los Angeles (2013) and Shelter: Rethinking How We Live in Los Angeles (2015). Christian Wassmann is an architectural designer and the exhibition designer of Never Built New York. Studio Christian Wassmann develops designs influenced by art, geometry, and the cosmos. Projects range from buildings, interiors, site-specific installations, exhibitions, furniture, and lamps. The studio has designed projects such as East Village Radio, Lisson Gallery New York, and the Sun Path House in Miami Beach. Wassmann��s career began as an architectural draftsman in Switzerland at age 15 and since 1997 he has collaborated with like-minded artists and architects. In 2010, Wassmann received the Swiss Art Award in architecture, and in 2012 the studio won the AIA New York New Practice Award. Free and open to the public. Organized by Columbia GSAPP.

1 0