Urban heat islands and flooding are closely studied in the living lab of New York City and beyond by experts at The City College of New York (CCNY). Now this knowledge base is going global to benefit a world of communities at risk, researchers, educators, and policy makers. On this episode of From City to the World, learn how the United Nations University (UNU) has established its first United States hub at CCNY.

The new UNU hub — Remote-Sensing and Sustainable Innovations for Resilient Urban Systems (R-SIRUS) — draws on CCNY's long-standing leadership in remote sensing research (the use of satellites and sensors to collect climate data) and its application to address climate change, especially in under-resourced communities. Hear CCNY President Vincent Boudreau explore the hub and its goals with experts Reza Khanbilvardi and Kaveh Madani.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Reza Khanbilvardi, PhD, NOAA Chair and Professor, CCNY's Grove School of Engineering, and Co-Executive Director, UNU Hub at CCNY; Kaveh Madani, PhD, Research Professor, CUNY-CREST Institute at CCNY, and Director, UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health

Recorded: November 21, 2024

The imperative for communities to actively and equitably determine their destinies, when it comes to land use and the built environment, sparked the creation in 1964 of the Architects' Renewal Committee in Harlem (ARCH). Considered the first community design center, ARCH and its visionary architects and planners provided resources and gave voice to Harlem residents facing urban renewal, slum clearance and commercial development pressures. This episode of From City to the World, hosted by President Vincent Boudreau of The City College of New York, features the upcoming symposium "ARCH @ 60: Bridging Past Visions & Present Realities," which takes place Nov. 15 and 16 at CCNY. 

Joining the conversation are Shawn Rickenbacker, director of the symposium host organization, the J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures at CCNY, and the Hon. Karen Dixon, Land Use Committee Chair of Manhattan's Community Board 10 and Executive Director of Harlem Dowling-West Side Center for Children and Family Services. Learn from Rickenbacker about ARCH's legacy and how his own CCNY organization — named for an ARCH leader and former CCNY dean — is pioneering collaborative tools that pair community input with data on development outcomes to guide decision-making on project proposals. The Hon. Karen Dixon shares her expertise on building affordable housing and how Community Board 10 is leveraging Rickenbacker's work and equipping Harlem for informed, equitable development today.

 

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Shawn Rickenbacker, Associate Professor, Director of the J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures, CCNY; Hon. Karen Dixon, Chair, Land Use Committee, Manhattan Community Board 10, and Executive Director, Harlem Dowling-West Side Center for Children and Family Services

Recorded: October 30, 2024

In New York City, new programs are leveraging the hard and soft skills of digital gaming into preparation for tech-forward, future-ready careers. On From City to the World, President Vincent Boudreau of The City College of New York hosts a conversation with CCNY alumnus and faculty member Stan M. Altman, Cofounder of the Harlem Gallery of Science, and Alia Jones-Harvey, Associate Commissioner of Education and Workforce Development in the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME). Learn how Altman's vision for engaging young people from under-resourced communities in STEAM education and innovation is bringing interactive exhibits to Harlem and a new degree program to CCNY. Hear from Harvey how MOME's support for these educational initiatives advances New York City's game plan for its growing tech sector and urban workforce.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Stan M. Altman, CCNY Faculty and Cofounder of the Harlem Gallery of Science; Alia Jones-Harvey, Associate Commissioner of Education and Workforce Development in the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment

Recorded: September 25, 2024

From City to the World looks at climate change from the skies to the streets: In this episode, hosted by CCNY President Vincent Boudreau, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Prof. Kyle C. McDonald outlines his collaboration with NASA through research and the new NISAR satellite mission's revolutionary capabilities. Since NISAR findings on climate effects will be public, how can this data be harnessed by organizations advocating on the ground for sound policy and environmental justice? Peggy Shepard, a national leader in training, mobilizing and inspiring urban communities that often suffer disproportionately from climate impacts, details the mission and achievements of WEACT.org for Environmental Justice, which she leads. Learn about Shepard's work in Harlem and other under-resourced New York City communities as well as in the policy arena, through Shepard's national advisory roles and WEACT's office in Washington, D.C.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Kyle C. McDonald, Terry Elkes Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, CCNY; Peggy Shepard, Cofounder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

Recorded: April 11, 2024

As 2023 nears its close, challenges to book titles are tracking up from 2022, a year that saw a more than ten-fold increase since 2020 in attempts to restrict access to library books and materials, the American Library Association has reported. In an atmosphere where freedom of expression is threatened and, increasingly, attempts are made to suppress discovery and cultural representation, what are the challenges and roles of libraries today? And what part can public art play in redefining community access and engagement with art? In conversation with host President Vincent Boudreau of The City College of New York are Mario H. Ramirez, CCNY's new Associate Dean and Chief Librarian, and Savona Bailey-McClain, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the West Harlem Art Fund. 

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Mario H. Ramirez, Associate Dean and Chief Librarian at CCNY; Savona Bailey-McClain, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the West Harlem Art Fund 

Recorded: Nov. 29, 2023 

The first Afro-Latina Hip Hop DJ, Gail Windley, and Rev. Conrad Tillard reflect on five decades of this essential cultural movement. With The City College of New York President Vincent Boudreau as host, hear Windley's experience as a pioneer, in the Bronx of the 1970s, in this emerging musical youth culture. In recent years, she has combined religion with Hip Hop on the radio and at Kurtis Blow's Hip Hop Church in Harlem. Rev. Conrad Tillard, who teaches classes on Hip Hop history and the civil rights movement at City College, joins Windley in a conversation that ranges from Hip Hop's origins as a positive platform giving voice to young people in under-resourced communities to mentoring emerging talent and combating negativity in Hip Hop for the next generations of artists and listeners.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Gail Windley / DJ Flame, host of "The Anointed Mic Check" show on WHCR 90.3 FM, The Voice of Harlem. Rev. Conrad Tillard, activist, author, and instructor in CCNY's Black Studies Program.

Recorded: Sept. 27, 2023

For Harlem-based experts in educational leadership, imbuing local students of all ages with an understanding of the importance of living, learning, and thriving at the very center of Black life in America is one of the most important lessons of all. Teacher education, postmortems on the pandemic's effects, and curriculum development may look different in neighborhoods that are some of the richest in culture yet most under-resourced in New York City. The stark politicization of education nationally and extreme discourse around race, equity, and Black studies heightens the work to be done to mobilize communities and families in the service of education.

In this episode, President Vincent Boudreau of The City College of New York explores challenges and solutions with Dr. Sean L. Davenport, a longtime District 5 principal now serving as community superintendent of the Harlem School District, and Dr. Terri N. Watson of City College, a specialist in effective school leadership and the ingenuity of Black women in their roles as mothers, other mothers, teachers and school leaders.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Sean L. Davenport, Ed.D., Community Superintendent of the Harlem School District, NYC Public Schools. Terri N. Watson, Ph.D., CCNY Provost Fellow; Director of the Office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging; Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, CCNY School of Education; also affiliated with the CUNY Graduate Center.

Recorded: April 10, 2023

How does one lead in an atmosphere of uncertainty? As leaders, where do we go when no one has ever gone there before? When information is incomplete or ambiguous? When objectives may differ across perspectives and cultures? For Dr. Jane Chu, there are leadership lessons in the experiences of individuals who have immigrated to the United States. The former chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2014-2018, Chu is the daughter of Chinese immigrants, a practicing visual artist, and a leader whose expertise spans academic research and professional practice in the arts, philanthropy, and business administration. In this special episode of From City to the World, hosted by City College President Vincent Boudreau, hear Chu deliver the 2023 Sternberg Family Lecture in Public Scholarship. Opening remarks are by Andrew Rich, Richard J. Henley, and Susan L. Davis Dean of CCNY's Colin Powell School of Civic and Global Leadership. Students engage Chu with questions following her talk, and President Boudreau provides closing remarks.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Speakers: Andrew Rich, Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of CCNY's Colin Powell School of Civic and Global Leadership; Dr. Jane Chu, former chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts and Leader-in-Residence at CCNY's Colin Powell School of Civic and Global Leadership; CCNY students

Recorded: March 15, 2023

On February 9, The City College of New York holds its 44th Langston Hughes Festival and awards its Langston Hughes Medal to a highly distinguished writer of the African diaspora: Lynn Nottage. With a mission to celebrate and expand upon the legacy of Harlem Renaissance icon and "poet laureate of Harlem" Langston Hughes, the Festival awarded its first medal, in 1978, to James Baldwin, followed by an honor roll of the greatest Black writers of our time—among them Toni Morrison, Chinua Achebe, and Rita Dove.

In this episode, host Vincent Boudreau, president of City College, previews the 2023 festival by convening a conversation with Nottage and Jodi-Ann Francis, associate director of the CCNY Black Studies Program —one of the first established in the U.S. Francis is also the moderator of the Langston Hughes Festival symposium, prior to the award ceremony. Hear from Nottage, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, and librettist, how she centers Black lives, listens deeply to create resonant characters, and views her work as both artist and activist.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Jodi-Ann Francis, Associate Director of the CCNY Black Studies Program; Lynn Nottage, playwright, screenwriter, librettist, and 2023 Langston Hughes Medalist

Recorded: January 19, 2023

Health, wellness, and food security in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic environment are paramount concerns globally, as they are in New York City's minoritized communities. At The City College of New York, where efforts to combat food insecurity are underway year-round, World Food Day is an annual fall observance dedicated to raising awareness, raising funds, and mobilizing campus and community partners. In keeping with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's 2022 World Food Day theme, "Leave No One Behind," City College President Vincent Boudreau presents "Prioritizing Wellness in Our Community," a special episode of From City to the World. It captures the panel discussion with community organization leaders that Boudreau moderated this month at CCNY World Food Day.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Jaclinn Tanney, president of The Migrant Kitchen Initiative; Richard Cox, managing director of Market in the Heights Farmers' Market and CSA at CCNY; Angelo Lampousis, Ph.D., interim executive director of CCNY’s Rangel Infrastructure Workforce Initiative

Recorded: Oct. 13, 2022