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 (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 12:20pm; on Thursdays at 8:00am, 10:10am, and 6:30pm; and on Saturdays at 10:10am.

The Lecture Series Schedule for the Week of Monday, Mar. 20, 2017:

Wednesday, Mar. 22:

-12:20pm: “Lead-up to the Civil War,” presented by Robert Grosso

This lecture will review the timeline and lead-up to the U.S. Civil War, discussing the deep divisions in the country in the 1850s, and the socio-political problems that occurred in a decade.

Robert Grosso has been teaching with the Core program since 2014, and has covered numerous topics in history, civics, and economics in that time. He also teaches at Union County College in New Jersey, mostly on the subject of Western civilization.

Thursday, Mar. 23:

-8:00am: “LGBTQ Rights Today,” presented by Jeremiah Jurkiewicz

What are the issues of importance to the LGBTQ community and what has been happening as of late? LGBTQ rights are being debated and voted on at the state and federal levels, as well as in the courts. What does a florist refusing service to a gay couple and the deaths of trans women across the country mean for us as a nation? Join the conversation as we explore where LGBTQ rights are today and where they may be going.

Jeremiah Jurkiewicz is the Coordinator of the LGBTQ Resource Center in the Office of Student Life. He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Dramatic Arts and minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from CSI in 2012.

-10:10am: “Presidents and Civil Rights: Andrew and Lyndon Johnson,” presented by Richard Gid Powers

Presidents have enormous power to set the agenda on social issues. Andrew Johnson was resolutely against equal rights for African Americans. He campaigned fiercely against the 14th and 15th Amendments, vetoed the Civil Rights and the Freedmen’s Bureau acts, and conspired to undermine military reconstruction that alone protected the interracial state governments of the South from terrorism. In doing so, he encouraged the white South to resist any concession of political rights to the freed slaves. By contrast, Lyndon Johnson, a son of the South, embraced the Civil Rights movement led by Martin Luther King, Jr., and used the power of the federal government to protect the voting rights of African Americans in the South and end legal segregation. Paradoxically, the political legacy of the two Johnsons in the South was similar. Andrew Johnson’s policies encouraged the white South to use the Democratic party as the instrument of its power, while Lyndon John’s policies turned the white South away from the Democratic party to create a white Republican party in power everywhere in the states of the Old Confederacy.

Richard Gid Powers is a Professor of History at CSI, and was a debater in high school and college, not that formal competitive debating has much to do with what goes on in these every-four-years spectacles.

-4:40pm: “Corelandia,” presented by Victor Miller and Vincent DePaolo

Last week in Corelandia: Corelandians elected representatives to their Progressive government and those representatives began to tackle societal issues such as slavery, citizenship, and labor.

This week in Corelandia: Corelandians have successfully seated 18 Senators and elected a Senate leader in their unicameral legislature. The nominees for President of Corelandia will be announced. Additionally, the legislature will continue to reconcile whether the El Azul will be enslaved to a farm or be freed. A speech will be given by Song Da, a lawmaker from the Indeterminate Warriors, on the El Azul. How will the newly installed government tackle this issue? How will they quell the sporadic violence? Stay tuned this Thursday at 4:40pm to find out.

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 Adjunct of Core 100 since February 2012 and currently also works for the Center for Advising and Academic Success. Professor Miller is the of author of the “Summer of ’87” Reacting to the Past classroom simulation and also recently served on the Core 100 textbook editing committee.

Vincent DePaolo 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 Advanced Graduate Certificate in United Nation Studies at Long Island University-Brooklyn Campus. He has also received his MSeD in Secondary Social Studies from the College of Staten Island/CUNY.

-6:30pm: “Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in New York,” presented by Donna Scimeca

The second of the three mandates of the Core 100 curriculum asks students to answer the following questions: What are the historical causes of racial inequality in the United States, and how has American democracy tried to achieve racial justice?  Specifically, how have American ideas on race changed from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement, and how have these ideas expanded to include other forms of social injustice involving women and other minorities?

To help students answer the last of these questions, the Core Program is pleased to partner with the CSI Library in celebrating the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York. A number of upcoming lectures will be highlighting this important moment in history.

Donna Scimeca is the Coordinator of the Core Program and Learning Communities, and has been teaching Core 100 since 2003.  She has earned an Associate’s, Bachelor’s, and Master’s degree all from the College of Staten Island.

Saturday, Mar. 25:

-10:10am: “Civil Rights,” presented by Peter Ronalds

Peter Ronalds is a Doctor of Arts Modern World History, St. John’s University, 1998. He has been teaching Core 100 and history classes since 1998.