The Institute for Retired Professionals at The New School presents
timely lecture programs for IRP students, their friends and members of
the university community. The fall 2005 schedule of Fridays@One programs
offers a varied look at today’s world and at specific issues of
politics, culture and the media. There is no charge for the programs,
but reservations are required. All programs begin at 1:00 p.m. and refreshments
are served afterward. The Estelle Tolkin Memorial Fund provides funds
for the programs.
Here is their fall lineup.
October 21
Deirdre Boyle – What’s All the Fuss About Documentaries?
Documentaries have become a box office favorite in recent years. Deirdre
Boyle of the Media Studies program at The New School for General Studies
talks about the shape of documentaries today. The author of Subject
to Change: Guerilla Television Revisited, and numerous essays and
reviews, Boyle discusses the return of the political documentary, the
continuing appeal of personal documentaries and the experimental forms
that are expanding the horizons of this popular genre.
October 28
Simon Critchley – Poetry, Philosophy and Life As it Is
Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research Simon Critchley
discusses his work on poetry, humor and ethics. With his characteristic
wit and originality, Critchley addresses age-old philosophical concerns
and pressing contemporary issues in a way that is both engaging and accessible.
His many books include On Humour (2002), Very Little…Almost
Nothing (2004) and Things Merely Are: Philosophy in the Poetry
of Wallace Stevens (2005).
November 4
Ken Starrett – Bitter Sweet: Noel Coward Revisited
Noel Coward is best remembered as a significant playwright, but he was
successful in a variety of other careers as well. Director of The Noel
Coward Society Ken Starrett has given vent to his fascination with the
enormous body of work that Sir Noel Coward produced over six decades.
Starrett focuses on Coward’s “alternative” careers as
an actor, producer, director and composer, and discusses the playwright’s
reputation for being a bon vivant and great wit.
November 11
Marci Creaven – Place Matters: How Planners Design and Preserve
Our City
Launched in 1998 as a joint effort of City Lore and the Municipal Arts
Society, Place Matters draws on individual memories and community traditions
to preserve historic spaces. Through research, surveys and public preservation
programs, Place Matters helps New Yorkers tell the history of their city.
Marci Creaven – a public historian, Managing Director of City Lore
and Director of Place Matters – discuses the ways New Yorkers nominate
places with special meaning to them.
November 18
Justin Ferate – A Wonderful Town, An Armchair Tour
New York is rich with secret delights. Waiting to be discovered are myriad
offbeat landmarks, secret gardens, hidden houses and covert byways. Take
an armchair romp throughout New York and explore some of the city’s
great, but often overlooked treasures. Mr. Ferate, honored as New York’s
“Most Engaging Tour Guide” by Governor George Pataki and the
New York State Tourism Council, wrote the official New York City Professional
Tour Guide Licensing Examination for the City of New York.
December 2
Will Power – Hip Hop Theater: Tip-Top Hip Hop Artist Explains
It All
Will Power is an award-winning actor, rapper, playwright, and an insightful
educator. Among his many awards are: the 2005 Joyce Award for theater;
the 2004 Jury Award for Best Theater Performance at the HBO US comedy
Arts Festival; and a 2004 Drama Desk nomination for Best Solo Performance.
His skills have also been captured on television and film as a featured
performer on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC) and Russell
Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam. In addition to his many other projects
he is a founding member of the ground breaking live hip-hop group Midnight
Voices.
December 9
Michael Kimmel – Manhood…and the Impact of the Women’s
Movement
Professor of Sociology at SUNY at Stony Brook and author of numerous books,
including Manhood in America: A Cultural History, Michael Kimmel
discusses masculinity and the politics of manhood in America especially
as they have been shaped by the women’s movement.
December 16
Elders Take The Stage: IRP Theater Class
The desire to perform affects people of all ages. When this desire is
crossed with wisdom and experience, the results can be moving. You are
invited to attend an end-of-the-semester “final exam” for
members of the Institute for Retired Professionals Acting Workshop. Workshop
Director Charles May selects scenes that challenge the participants and
gives them opportunity to demonstrate the skills and techniques learned
in their term-long workshop.
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