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 and can have as many as two additional classes at each of the lectures. No permission is needed 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 and are all in the Williamson Theatre. They meet on the following days/times: Wednesdays at 1:25pm and 3:35pm; on Thursdays at 8:00am, 10:10am, 4:40pm, and 6:30pm; and on Saturdays at 10:10am.

The Lecture Series Schedule for the Week of Monday, Oct. 10, 2016

Wednesday, Oct. 12:

There are no Wednesday lectures this week.

Thursday, Oct. 13:

-8:00am: Core 100 Election Series: “Women-Equal Pay'” presented by Artemida Tesho

Equal pay is not only an economic concern but also a question of civil rights: Are we living up to our ideals? Despite the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and President Obama’s signing into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, there still persists a gender wage gap. This lecture will provide a brief overview of the history of wage disparity and provide students with the positions of Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump on the topic of equal pay for equal work.

Artemida Tesho earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from University of Tirana, Albania. She holds a Master of Arts degree in History from the College of Staten Island, CUNY.  Professor Tesho also has a strong background in education, and earned a Post-Master’s Advanced Certificate for Leadership in Education from CSI.  She has been a member of the History and Core faculty since 2006, and a member of the Women Studies faculty since 2008.

-10:10am: Core 100 Election Series: “Labor Unions,” presented by Michael Batson

As union membership has declined in the past three decades, organized labor has experienced decreasing political power. However, the past couple of election cycles have seen a resurgence of sorts, at least in campaign contributions by labor organizations. From the recent Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case at the Supreme Court to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement proposal being vigorously debated within and between both political parties, labor has a lot at stake in the current election cycle. This issue is complicated by the fact that while unions might represent large numbers of members, those members will at times disagree with each other and with their union leadership on party affiliation and on economic and political issues.

Michael Batson has been teaching at the College of Staten Island since fall 2000. He teaches Core 100, History, and occasionally in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. He earned his Master’s degree in Liberal Studies. Professor Batson specializes in labor and social history (the history of ordinary people and historically marginalized groups).

-4:40pm: Core 100 Election Series: “Immigration Policy,” presented by Natalia Brennan

The goals of this lecture are to discuss the problem of illegal immigration in the United States as a hot topic during the Presidential campaign of 2016. How do we repair our “broken immigration system? How should we deal with the issue of illegal immigration? Which candidate will you support, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?

Natalia Brennan earned a Bachelor’s degree in History from Moscow University and Master of Arts degree in History from the College of Staten Island. She has been teaching history at St John Villa Academy High School since 2004. Professor Brennan became a member of the Core faculty in 2011.

-6:30pm: Core 100 Election Series: “Immigration Policy,” presented by Michael Matthews

This topic has been a controversial issue in the U.S. from the days of the Founding Fathers and the American Revolution. Professor Matthews will outline some of the views of nativism from the earlier days of U.S. history. He will then outline the views of the two Presidential candidates. Among the major topics for discussion are such matters as “open borders,”,he “wall,” and security. This is certainly an issue that is now linked to terrorism throughout the world and in our own country. Students will have the opportunity to give their views on these critical issues.

Michael Matthews has been teaching at the college level for 18 years, beginning at St. John’s University, where he is still involved. Professor Matthews has been teaching in the Core program at CSI for ten and a half years. He also teaches in the State University of New York at Maritime College and the College of Old Westbury. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Brooklyn College of CUNY in 1971, a Master of Arts in History from Brooklyn College in 1979, and a Master in Business Administration (Finance) from Fordham University in 1980.

Saturday, Oct. 15:

10:10am: Core 100 Election Series: “Deconstructing the Legacy of Race,” presented by Debbie-Ann Paige

This lecture examines the role of race and gender in the context of “dog whistle” politics from the “Southern Strategy” employed by Richard Nixon to its current use during the 2016 election cycle. The aim is to help students understand the role that race and gender continue to play in contemporary politics.

Debbie-Ann Paige earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Human Resource Management from Southern New Hampshire University and both her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in History from the CSI/CUNY. She became a member of the Core faculty in 2013. Professor Paige’s research focuses on antebellum African American history, antislavery politics and abolitionism, and local history and the Underground Railroad.  She is a charter member of the local Alpha-Xi-Theta Chapter of the National History Honor Society, Phi Alpha Theta here at the College of Staten Island. In 2012, she appeared on the Emmy Award-winning show Secrets of New York as an historical interpreter. One of her recent projects included the successful application for designation of the “Louis Napoleon House” as the first Underground Railroad Site with the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom here on Staten Island.