Nearly 17,500 American soldiers died as captives of the British during the Revolution, more than twice the number to die in combat, says Edwin G. Burrows, Distinguished Professor of History at Brooklyn College. Prof. Burrows estimates that of the 200,000 Americans who took up arms, about 25,000 were prisoners in New York, the epicenter of British operations, under conditions so horrific the mortality rate often exceeded 70 percent. “Americans denounced the death of so many POWs as systematic, cold-blooded murder,” Prof. Burrows said at the Gotham Center History Forum at the Graduate Center, where he also read from his latest book, “The Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War.”
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One joke at a time, American-Muslim comedians are working to break down stereotypes and angry attitudes towards their community. Mucahit Bilici, assistant professor of sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, says that in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Muslim ethnic comedy emerged as a way to counter the subsequent rash of anti-Muslim sentiments. “Muslim ethnic comedy in the U.S. is a journey from fear to laughter,” said Prof. Bilici in his lecture “Islamophobia and American Muslim Comedy,” hosted by the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center at The Graduate Center. “It aims to bridge the divide that separates Muslims from the rest of America society by reaffirming the common humanity of both sides.”
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Rep. Maurice Hinchey and part II of Tria Case, executive director for the Center for Sustainable Energy at Bronx Community College. “Green Meter” inventor Dr. Craig Hunter on saving gas and the environment. Featured green artist: Chrissy Coughlin and Sustainable CUNY Shorts video contest features a top prize of $500 for winning submissions posted to Youtube.
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In his report to the Board of Trustees, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein discusses efforts to obtain support from the federal government for the University’s capital construction program. To protect and invest in its core mission, the University is proceeding with a second “Invest in CUNY” campaign, building upon the initial outreach that raised more than $1.2 billion in private funds. The Chancellor also discusses the University’s search for new faculty, the creation of a pharmacy program and efforts to increase graduation rates at the community colleges.
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Public meeting of the Board of Trustees, January 26, 2009.
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The actions of many tragic heroes in classic literature culminate in self-awareness, but according to David Bromwich, Sterling Professor of English at Yale University, that’s not always the case in Shakespeare. “Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello and King Lear remain resistant to self-knowledge as they come close to death,” says Prof. Bromwich. A prolific critic and essayist whose work has appeared in The Nation and the New York Review of Books, Prof. Bromwich delivered the Irving Howe Memorial Lecture, “What Shakespeare’s Heroes Learn,” at the Graduate Center. “Though they use the language of self-knowledge, they continue to deepen the self-deceptions that have marked them from the start,” he said.
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One-third of America’s children are obese or overweight and fast-food TV commercials are partly to blame, says a new study co-authored by CUNY Distinguished Professor of Economics Michael Grossman of the Graduate Center. The report, “Fast-Food Restaurant Advertising on Television and Its Influence on Childhood Obesity,” directly links the ads and childhood obesity. “We combined data on kids’ weight with both the number of hours they spent watching TV in a week, and the number of fast-food restaurant ads that were aired in their area,” says Grossman. “The kids who watched these ads were more likely to be overweight.” He and colleagues say banning the ads would reduce the number of overweight kids by up to 18 percent.
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Subcommittee meeting of the Board of Trustees, Subcommittee on Investment, Thursday, January 22, 2009.
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Public hearing on items on the Board of Trustees Calendar for the June meeting of the Board, and the Manhattan Borough Hearing of the CUNY Board of Trustees, January 20, 2009.
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Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, testifying before the state Legislature in Albany on the proposed 2009-2010 budget, said, “the University is committed to maintaining its role as a key generator of workforce and economic development and the producer of a highly educated citizenry.” Listen to the complete testimony.
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