How do we define feminist liberation?

"How Do We Define Feminist Liberation?", a discussion with bell hooks, Kim Sykes and Lisa Fischer at The New School (May 4, 2014)

Click here for Livestream video of this event.

Hollywood blacklist remembered: Walter Bernstein at The New School

The Hollywood Blacklist

a free screening of

The Front (1976)

followed by a Q&A 

with screenwriter Walter Bernstein

at The New School

Thursday, March 6, 6:30 pm

In the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, Sen. Joseph McCarthy carried out a witch hunt for Communists that led to the creation of the infamous Hollywood blacklist, resulting in 150 directors, actors, writers, and others in the entertainment business being banned from making a living for over a decade.

Don't miss this screening of The Front (1976), which received an Oscar nomination for best screenplay. Written by Walter Bernstein, himself a victim of the blacklist, the movie takes a comedic look at what happened during this dark period in American History. Bernstein is the author of "Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist." His other films include: Miss Evers' Boys, The House on Carroll Street, Yanks, Semi-Tough, The Train, Little Miss Marker, to name a few.

Moderated by Brian Rose--Professor of Media Studies, Fordham University; moderator for BAFTA and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Free with registration at

www.cencom.org or by e-mail to info@cencom.org

The New School (auditorium)
66 West 12th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), Manhattan
(map/directions)

In good voice: Black women speak up, sing out

Melissa Harris-Perry
(photo: MSNBC/Heidi Gutman)

Yesterday, the stars aligned. And how!

In mid-afternoon, scholar, author and MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry sat down at The New School for a provocative conversation with scholar and author bell hooks. In the evening, singer-musician Toshi Reagon took to the stage at the Rubin Museum of Art with violinist/fiddler Juliette Jones for an acoustic concert of songs organized around images from the Rubin's collection of Himalayan art. Without question, November 8, 2013 was a Power Day in New York City.

bell hooks

If you missed the (poorly announced) free ticket distribution for the New School event, you could watch via Livestream (complicated sign-up, especially at the last minute, but not impossible). Social media exploded right before, during and after with expressions of frustration (What??? I didn't know you needed TICKETS to get in!!!) and increasing awe as hooks and Harris-Perry addressed, all too briefly, numerous issues, each of which could have launched a thick dissertation. From divergent perspectives on recent Black-themed films (12 Years A Slave, Django, The Butler) to sexual violence against Black women to the relative privilege of having light skin when working in corporate media, hooks and Harris-Perry showed a willingness to take space, give voice and honestly grapple with difficult questions. And difficult people: Ironically, perhaps inevitably, one man chose to waste limited Q&A time by delivering a lecture then shouting over hooks' attempt at a reply. It's useful, though--isn't it?-- whenever a fool helps you prove your point about the arrogance of patriarchy.

Both women invoked the late congresswoman/presidential candidate Shirley Chisolm of Bajan heritage (her slogan: "Unbought and Unbossed") as a role model and, accordingly, spent the ninety-minute session breaking every possible code of silence. I was most amazed by--and even concerned for--Harris-Perry who displayed an outspokenness about her role at MSNBC and a degree of personal vulnerability that I would not have anticipated. I felt hooks--twenty years the broadcaster's senior, as she made sure to note at the beginning of their talk--prodding and then leading Harris-Perry into deep waters but making sure to surround her with loving support. Just breathtaking.

Watch the archived conversation

 on Livestream here.

Toshi Reagon
(photo: Erica Beckman)

Introducing Toshi Reagon at the Rubin, Tim McHenry (Director of Public Programs and Performance) wondered aloud what had taken him so long to invite her. So now that that oversight has been rectified, I'm sure it won't take long to bring her back. McHenry's sold-out audience was not only appreciative but clearly smitten.

The Rubin challenges singer-songwriters in their Naked Soul acoustic concert series to peruse the collection and select three images to build a set list around. Reagon--who looks much like a delighted Buddha herself--clearly enjoyed her opportunity to learn about the legends of Himalayan deities and demons and recognized, in them, a way to talk about her ongoing concerns around social and environmental justice. The connection of her specific song lyrics to the sacred themes wasn't always obvious, but the delicate interplay of her high-flying voice, her bluesy guitar and Juliette Jones's sinuous fiddle work made their own sense and had grounded, and grounding, spirituality--always welcome. Her ease with the audience and her sense of humor were winning. Someday ask Reagon to tell you the story of the warrior goddess, Durga--one of her image choices. The Rubin really ought to hire her as a docent.

******

Future Naked Soul evenings will include appearances by Mary Gauthier (January 3), Susan Werner (Febuary 14), David Wilcox (March 14) and Shelby Lynne (May 30). For information and ticketing, click here.

Vera List award goes to Chicago's Theaster Gates

New School Prize Goes to Theaster Gates
by Randy Kennedy, The New York Times, November 11, 2012

related:

In Grand Crossing, a House Becomes a Home for Art
by Rachel Cromidas, The New York Times, April 7, 2011

Study "The Body"

The Body

a course instructed by Terri Gordon-Zolov

The New School

15 sessions: Tuesdays, 4-5:50pm, beginning August 28

Noncredit tuition: $650

"You do not realize how the headlines that make daily history affect the muscles of the human body," the dancer Martha Graham once commented.  This course examines the relationship between politics, social tensions, and cultural values and muscles, movement, and skin--a relationship that has made the body one of the most visible signs of 20th-century culture.  We study deployments of the body in Europe and the United States, covering the historical and contemporary avant-garde; body culture and life reform movements; war and propaganda; and cabaret, dance, and performance art. How can we "read" the body? How do representations of the body reflect and support prevalent notions of race, gender and nation? In what ways do images of the body critique and subvert cultural norms? We study literature, history, art and cultural documents, including articles in the press and political manifestoes; fictional works by Kafka, Apollinaire, Junger, and Carrington; artworks by Hans Bellmer, Frida Kahlo, Cindy Sherman, and Orlan; and theoretical texts by Freud, Foucault, Kracauer, Sontag, and others.  We also spend class time viewing paintings, photography, and performance art. (3 credits)

Terri Gordon-Zolov, PhD, Columbia U.; assistant professor of comparative literature. New School Bachelor's Program; co-editor of "Citizenship," special issue, WSQ (Women's Studies Quarterly) (Spring/Summer 2010); has published articles on Josephine Baker, cabaret, performance art, and postwar film; recipient of The New School's Distinguished Teaching Award, 2003.

For registration information, visit The New School online.

When the state controls the body

The Body and the State: How the State Controls and Protects the Body

A Social Research Conference
at The New School

Thursday-Saturday, February 10-12

Many competing forces, including religion, science, media, and the market, influence the ideas and policies that control our bodies. Do assumptions about what is a "normal," "healthy," and "acceptable" human body lead to social policies, informal and formal, that are fundamentally unjust?  Join more than 30 distinguished experts in considering the human body as a subject of contention in the international human rights arena.

For a list of speakers, schedule and registration details, click here.

The New School
Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), Manhattan

Art school in crisis

Parsons the New School for Design Criticized for Faculty Cuts
by Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, April 3, 2009

The Turning World (9)

Upcoming events at The New School

The Environment and Politics '08

Wednesday, January 30, 7pm
Admission: $8
Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street (2nd Floor), Manhattan

What role will the environment play in the Presidential elections? Speakers: Steve Fleischli (Waterkeeper Alliance); Rev. Patricia Ackerman (Fellowship of Reconciliation); Richard Perez (Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, SUNY-Albany). Moderator: Anthony Pereira (AltPower).

For additional information, click here.

Focus the Nation: Global Warming Solutions for America

Thursday, January 31 (10am-9pm)
Admission: free
Location: Tishman Auditorium, Johnson Building, 66 West 12th Street, Manhattan

Focus the Nation is a national teach-in on environmental issues involving more than a thousand schools, organizations and businesses. For more information, click here and here.

Nonfiction Forum: Joan Acocella

The New School Writing Program presents Joan Acocella, author of Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints and staff writer for The New Yorker. Moderated by Robert Polito, director.

Monday, October 15, 6:30pm

Admission: $5

The New School
66 West 12th Street, Room 510
Manhattan
212-229-5488 or click here.