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 with 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 lectures. Permission is not necessary for classes to attend, but please notify Donna Scimeca at 718.982.3405 if you plan to bring a class.

The 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, and on Thursdays at 8:00am, 10:10am, 4:40pm, and 6:30pm.

In the fall, the Saturday 10:10am lectures are held in the Williamson Theatre, but due to space limitations, we unfortunately cannot accommodate additional classes.

The Lecture Series schedule for the Week of Nov. 2, 2015 is as follows:

Wednesday, Nov. 4:

-1:25pm: “Willowbrook State School and Civil Rights,” presented by John Gordon

We look at the experience of the Willowbrook State School and use Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s discussion of just and unjust law in his seminal “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to help answer the question: What is it that elevates common special interest politics to the status of a genuine civil rights issue.

John Gordon graduated after close to 30 years of teaching in the New York City public schools and after two years graduated as a student from CSI’s MALS program where Professor David Traboulay convinced him that it is not a good idea to forget both the Classical Greek roots and the Judeo/Christian roots of Western political culture.

-3:35pm: “The 10th Amendment v. the 14th Amendment,” presented by Vincent DePaolo and Victor Miller

DePaolo and Miller will debate civil rights issues from the 19th Century to the present. Through the lenses of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, they will be discussing these pertinent issues from the perspective of the 10th and 14th amendments to the Constitution.

Vincent DePaolo is teaching Core 100 for the third semester. He previously was an Adjunct Instructor at Long Island University-Brooklyn Campus in the History Department teaching introductory World History Survey courses. He received his BA in History and MS in Social Science with a concentration in History, and an Advanced Graduate Certificate in United Nation Studies at Long Island University- Brooklyn Campus.​

Victor Miller earned a BA in History at the College of Staten Island in 2005 and an MS in Adolescent Education in 2008. He has been an CORE 100 Adjunct since February 2012, and currently also works for the Office of Academic Support. Victor is the author of the “Summer of ’87” Reacting to the Past classroom simulation and also recently served on the Core 100 textbook editing committee.

Thursday, Nov. 5

-8:00an and 10:10am: “The Economy & The Governments Role: Part 1 – The Great Depression,” presented by John Lentini

From theory to practice, this lecture will cover the historical basis for our contemporary arguments on the proper role of the government in the economy in the pre-World War II era in the United States.

John Lentine graduated from the Pennsylvania State University – Capital College, with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and a Master’s degree in Public Administration. Studying just outside the state capital, he had the distinct honor of working for two of Pennsylvania’s State Representatives. Upon his return to Staten Island, he worked on a City Council campaign management team. He currently works in the Center for Advising and Academic Success and teaches Core 100 at CSI. Recently, with many of his esteemed colleagues, he has also served on the Core 100 textbook editing committee.

-4:40pm and 6:30pm: “ Government and the Market Economy,” presented by Joseph Frusci

A discussion on how government sets the rules by which the market functions.

Joseph Frusci is a prior service Army National Guardsman who earned a BA and MA in History and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education degree (EdD) at Northeastern University. He has been teaching with the Core program since 2012, and is the author of “2008 Bailout,” the newest Reacting to the Past game, which engages students in the complexities of the economic crisis of 2007-2008. He also teaches U.S. history and economics for the New York City Department of Education.