The Core 100 program invites students and faculty from the College to join us for our weekly lecture series. Each week all of the first-year students participate in lecture-discussions in groups of about 400 of their classmates. We have space in the Center for the arts (Building 1P) Williamson Theatre to accommodate individual guests (no permission needed) and can have as many as two additional classes at each of the weekday lectures. (There is no space available in the Lecture Hall where Saturday sections meet for their group lecture.)  Permission is not needed for classes to attend, but please notify Donna Scimeca at 718.982.3405 if you plan to bring a class.

The weekday lectures are 50 minutes in length and are all in the Williamson Theatre. They meet on the following days/times: Wednesdays at 1:25pm and 3:35pm; on Thursdays at 9:05am, 11:15am, 5:30pm, and 6:30pm; and on Saturdays at 10:30am in the Center for the Arts Lecture Hall.

Schedule of Lectures for the week of Apr. 21, 2014

Wednesday, April 23:
1:25pm Lecture:  “Contemporary Fiscal Policy,” presented by Joseph Frusci: This lecture will focus on the contemporary fiscal policy of the United States, through examining federal budgets and policies that affect spending and tax revenue.

Joseph Frusci earned a BA and a MA in History.  He is the author of the latest Reacting to the Past game for Core 100 – The 2008 Bailout.

3:35pm Lecture: “The Great Depression and the New Deal” presented by Calvin Holder: This lecture will explore the causes of the Great Depression, the presidential election of FDR, and his set of programs and policies designed to promote economic recovery and social reform known as the New Deal.

Calvin Holder is a member of long-standing of the History Department at the College of Staten Island.

Thursday, April 24:  
9:05am Lecture:  “Government Response to Poverty from the 1930s to the Present,” presented by Sean Doyle: This lecture will study the FDR’s New Deal, Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s, and contemporary attitudes and responses to the poor in the U.S.  The lecture will chart changing cultural attitudes and legislative responses to a perennial problem in U.S. society.

Sean Doyle earned both his BA and MA degrees from the College of Staten Island.

11:15am Lecture: “Government Response to Poverty from the 1930s to the Present,” presented by Sean Doyle: This lecture will study the FDR’s New Deal, Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s, and contemporary attitudes and responses to the poor in the U.S.  The lecture will chart changing cultural attitudes and legislative responses to a perennial problem in U.S. society.

Sean Doyle earned both his BA and MA degrees from the College of Staten Island.

“The Great Depression:  Hard Times in the Heartland,” presented by Edward Manganel:  This lecture will discuss the unprecedented economic collapse from a statistical perspective, but make the point that, above all else, the Great Depression had a tragic and sometimes overlooked human dimension; an example will be the farmers of the heartland, battered by falling prices, high mortgages, and the Great Drought of 1933. The story is told by Steinbeck in his novel and unforgettably in the movie The Grapes of Wrath.

Edward Manganel earned an MA in American History from the University of Colorado, and a BA in History/Political Science from Marist College.  He has been teaching Core 100 since 2004.

6:30pm Lecture: “The Great Depression: Causes of the Worst Financial Crisis in Our Nation’s History,” presented by John Comfort: This lecture will discuss the causes of the Great Depression, and will also briefly discuss how President Roosevelt tried to correct this financial crisis.

John Comfort earned his MA in History from the College of Staten Island in 2003 and has taught classes at CSI in the Core Program and also the American Studies Program since 2006.