News and Events
Graduate Center scholars innovate, advance social justice, and promote public debate through their work. Our hundreds of free, public events with prominent GC scholars and artists as well as guests are designed to spark conversation, inspiration, and action.
Featured News

March 20, 2023
A new job yields an unexpected alumni network
- GC Stories
- Alumni News

March 8, 2023
End of the English Major? Hardly!
- GC Stories
- Faculty News

March 8, 2023
Student Shows What’s ‘Fresh, Fly, and Fabulous’ About Hip-Hop Style
- GC Stories
- Student News
Upcoming Events
Join us for an upcoming event.
Monday, April 3, 2023
Three Decades Working with Islamic Maps: An Overview
12:00 pm
Online
Monday, April 3 — Tuesday, April 4, 2023
CUNY Symposium on Recent trends in Nonlinear and Geometric Analysis
4102: Science Center
Monday, April 3, 2023
AI Care and Art: Chloë Bass & Hannah Zeavin
6:00 pm
1218: Segal Theatre
Monday, April 3, 2023
DMA Recital: Martine Thomas, Viola
6:00 pm
Hybrid (see description for details)
Recent Books

Textures of Terror
The Murder of Claudina Isabel Velasquez and Her Father's Quest for Justice
Investigating the unsolved murder of a female law student and the pervasive violence against Guatemalan women that drives migration.
Part memoir and part forensic investigation, Textures of Terror is a gripping first-person story of women, violence, and migration out of Guatemala—and how the United States is implicated. Accompanying Jorge Velásquez in a years-long search for answers after the brutal murder of his daughter Claudina Isabel, Victoria Sanford explores what it means to seek justice in "postconflict" countries where violence never ended.
Through this father's determined struggle and other stories of justice denied, Textures of Terror offers a deeper understanding of US policies in Latin America and their ripple effect on migration. Sanford offers an up-close appraisal of the inner workings of the Guatemalan criminal justice system and how it maintains inequality, patriarchy, and impunity. Presenting the stories of other women who have suffered at the hands of strangers, intimate partners, and the security forces, this work reveals the deeply gendered nature of power and violence in Guatemala.
Published May 2023
University of California Press

Men As Friends
From Cicero to Svevo to Cataldo
Neither a cautionary tale nor a polemic, Men as Friends is about a variety of male friendships and a variety of men. A “coming-of-old-age story,” it speaks to an audience of men who love or have loved other men but are too embarrassed to say so, opening the reader to the deep sadness of loss as well as the joy of its acknowledgment.
Published May 2023
Köehler Books

The Forgotten Borough
Staten Island and the Subway
What sets Staten Island apart from the rest of New York City? The island’s identity has in part been defined in opposition to the city, its physical and cultural differences, and the perception of neglect by city government. It has long been whiter, wealthier, less populated, and more politically conservative. And despite many attempts over the years, Staten Island is not connected by the subway to any of the other four boroughs.
Kenneth M. Gold argues that the lack of a subway connection has deeply shaped Staten Island’s history and identity. He chronicles decades of recurrent efforts to build a rail link, using this history to explore the borough’s fraught relationship with New York City as a whole. The Forgotten Borough ranges from when Staten Island first contemplated joining the city in the 1890s to the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, highlighting pivotal moments when the construction of a subway appeared possible. The economics and engineering of tunnel construction, the difficulty of uniting Staten Islanders around a single solution, competition from the other boroughs, and resistance from powerful corporations and public authorities all undermined a rapid transit connection. Gold demonstrates that the failure to establish a rail link during this period caused Staten Island to diverge culturally, demographically, and politically from the other four boroughs. Drawing on extensive archival research, The Forgotten Borough shows how transportation infrastructure and politics shed new light on urban history.
Published April 2023
Columbia University Press

The Thought Project
The Thought Project shares the knowledge, research, and innovation of Graduate Center scholars with the world. Through a podcast and a Medium blog, The Thought Project allows Graduate Center faculty and students to discuss how their scholarship goes beyond academia and affects the public good.
Podcast Episodes
In the News
Our faculty, staff, and students are regularly in the news for their expertise and accomplishments. View our latest media coverage.
Media CoverageSubscribe to 365 Fifth
The 365 Fifth e-newsletter is published by the Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications monthly. Sign up to receive the latest news.