This lecture series, a fundraiser for the Westcott Community Center , has raised over  $20,000 to date. "The lecture series enhances the ability of the Center to provide community programming for the 63,000+ people that pass through the Center's doors," says Steve Susman, Executive Director of the WCC. Proceeds from the lecture series have been used to support our youth and senior programs as well as our arts and cultural programming.  We encourage people to come and  meet their neighbors. We welcome people from outside the neighborhood to come and hear the presenters; join us in dialogue and share refreshments after each presentation.

     2011-2012 LECTURE SERIES
At a Glance

October 2  — Sunday, 3 p.m.
David Ashley
20 FANTASTIC IDEAS FOR SYRACUSE

November 6  — Sunday,  3 p.m.            
Gerald Grant
HOPE AND DESPAIR IN THE AMERICAN CITY                     
                                                        To view a video of this lecture click here

 

 December 4   — Sunday,  3 p.m.     
Timothy Bond   
 Regional Theatre: Building Shows From the Ground Up 

 January 29   —   Sunday, 3 p.m.   
 Carole Brzozowski
 Performing arts: a vehicle for change and opportunity

 February 26   —  Sunday, 3 p.m.            
 Paula Johnson
 The Past is Not Past:  The Work of the Cold Case Justice Initiative.

 April 1  — Sunday, 3 p.m.                
 Karen Mihalyi
 Every voice counts! The Syracuse Community Choir:  Singing For Peace and Justice 

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Details

October 2  — Sunday, 3 p.m.
David Ashley
20 FANTASTIC IDEAS FOR SYRACUSE  

David C Ashley is founder and emeritus partner of the Syracuse architectural firm Ashley McGraw Architects. The firm designed many prominent buildings in Central New York including several at Syracuse University and the City County Criminal Court House.  

David is a visionary.  Years ago, he designed a glass-enclosed Salina Street and upper deck mall connected to Syracuse University by cable car. If it had been built, there might be a thriving downtown today.  He currently has ideas for a Redevelopment Plan for Onondaga Lake, an International Museum of Writing (IMoW), and a Renewable Energy Authority for Central New York. He is one of the founders of GreeningUSA and is the recipient of the 2009 Green Building Advocate award from the annual SUNY ESF Green Conference. 

David is studying to become an author.  His debut novel is titled: The Reluctant Miracle which can be seen on his website davidcashley.com.

 

November 6  — Sunday,  3 p.m.            
Gerald Grant
HOPE AND DESPAIR IN THE AMERICAN CITY  

Gerald Grant, former US Marine and journalist for the Washington Post, is The Hannah Hammond Professor of Education and Sociology Emeritus at Syracuse University.  He is the author of The Perpetual Dream: Reform and Experiment in the American College;  On Competence;  The World We Created at Hamilton High, about Nottingham High School; Teaching in America: The Slow Revolution, as well as articles published in Commonweal, Daedalus, The New Republic, Minerva, the Harvard Educational Review, and other journals.  In recent years, his work has turned to questions of urban social policy. Grant’s latest book, Hope and Despair in the American City, was published by Harvard University Press in 2009.  It contrasts the despair of Syracuse with the hope of Raleigh, N.C. "What is astounding--and profoundly disturbing--is that education reform at the national level has basically ignored the type of findings so powerfully outlined in HOPE AND DESPAIR IN THE AMERICAN CITY."
 Richard D. Kahlenberg, The Washington Monthly "This book is a must-read for anyone interested in urban planning, race relations and education reform."
Publishers Weekly (starred review) A former Research fellow at Harvard and Senior Research Associate at the National Institute of Education, Gerald is a Syracuse native and graduate of Syracuse Central High School. .

 

December 4   — Sunday,  3 p.m.     
Timothy Bond   
 Regional Theatre: Building Shows From the Ground Up 

Timothy Bond is the Producing Artistic Director of Syracuse Stage and the Syracuse University Department of Drama. He has more than 20 years’ experience in leading regional theatres throughout the country. Most recently, he served for 11 years as Associate Artistic Director of the famed Oregon Shakespeare Festival where he directed 12 productions, including works by Shakespeare, August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Edward Albee, Lorraine Hansberry, Lynn Nottage, Octavio Soliz and Pearl Cleage. Prior to that, Bond spent 13 years with the Seattle Group Theatre, serving as Artistic Director from 1991 – 1996. Bond has also directed at such prestigious theatres as The Guthrie, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Indiana Repertory Theatre and Arena Stage. Bond holds a BFA from Howard University and an MFA (magna cum laude) from the University of Washington. He has served on the faculties of the University of Washington and University of Wisconsin (Lorraine Hansberry Professorship Award). He has been a guest director at Juilliard and Seattle’s Cornish Institute.

 

January 29   —   Sunday, 3 p.m.   
Carole Brzozowski
Performing arts: a vehicle for change and opportunity 

Carole Brzozowski is Syracuse University’s Performing Arts Presenter and serves as a senior advisor to Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor in the effort to advance the mission to connect Syracuse University's nationally recognized performing art programs and venues to the world. Before advancing to this position she served as Dean of Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) for the eight years. Brzozowski was raised in Syracuse. She received a bachelor of music degree in voice performance from the Syracuse University Setnor School of Music in 1981.  She did her graduate work in higher education administration at SU's School of Education. She serves on the boards of the Cultural Resources Council and Point of Contact (president). Brzozowski continues to perform regionally and internationally, specializing in the sacred literature of the early Baroque and French Romantic and Modern periods. 

 

February 26   —  Sunday, 3 p.m.            
Paula Johnson
The Past is Not Past:  The Work of the Cold Case Justice Initiative.  

Paula C. Johnson is professor of Law at Syracuse University College of Law.  She is co-director of the Cold Case Justice Initiative at SU College of Law.  She is a scholar, activist, and artist.  She has held several distinguished teaching posts, including the Haywood Burns Chair in Civil Rights at CUNY Law School.  She is co-editor of Interrupted Life: Experiences of Incarcerated Women in the United States (UC-Berkeley Press, 2010); and is the author of Inner Lives: Voices of African American Women in Prison (NYU Press, 2003).  She received the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence at Syracuse University in 2011.  Her photographs of the African Diaspora have been widely exhibited.

 

April 1  — Sunday, 3 p.m.                
Karen Mihalyi
Every voice counts! The Syracuse Community Choir: Singing For Peace and Justice  

In 1985 Karen Mihalyi traveled to Nicaragua and witnessed people creating a revolution that was framed and inspired by the arts. Motivated by this vision, and prompted by a Peace Day Concert at Thornden Park, she put out a call for singers. Eighty people, young and old, with different abilities, showed up for the first rehearsal, and the Syracuse Community Choir was born. For 25 years, she has led the choir, sharing  the core values of peace and justice, and putting into practice the ideas that everyone matters and everyone can sing! It has been a sacred and moving journey.