Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? See how epigenetics research by Prof. Mariana Torrente could lead to new treatments for ALS, the devastating neurodegenerative disease also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. http://bit.ly/2UL7ImQ

ICYMI: Read the NYT Magazine feature of Prof. Ruth Wilson Gilmore to find out why she wants to abolish prisons and how she created the concept of “carceral geography” nyti.ms/2IDUh0T

Nandini Sikand used her training as an anthropologist from The Graduate Center to create a documentary on the lives of the women at a jail in her community. The result, “Inside/Outside,” tells a disturbing story about how the country treats its most vulnerable members. Learn more about her method and inspiration: https://buff.ly/2GhMt33

Graduate Center Prof. Robert Duncan hopes his study of virtual reality might reveal answers to a great mystery. “Your body is an avatar for your mind,” he says, “and we hope to find out how this works.” Learn more: https://buff.ly/2KO0byW

Congratulations, Graduate Center Assoc. Prof. Mandë Holford on winning the 2019 Women of Discovery Humanity Award! She explains how she decided to become a venom scientist and how snail venom is transformative (like a superhero!) in the world.

Is it really anyone’s right to ride the bus? Yes, argues Graduate Center and CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies Prof. Kafui Attoh in his new book https://buff.ly/2v3pWAO

Graduate Center Ph.D. candidate Emily B. Campbell (Sociology) has lost friends and classmates to accidental opioid overdoses. Now she hopes her research will lead to policies that will “make this less deadly for everybody.” Learn more about her work to understand the social response to the addiction crisis: https://buff.ly/2KytKod

Congratulations, Graduate Center professors Helena Rosenblatt and Suzanne Farrin on winning prestigious Guggenheim Foundation fellowships! Learn more about their work and scholarship. https://buff.ly/2UxRBZO

“One has to say something about this war on journalism that’s going on not only in the U.S. but across the world,” says Professor Blanche Wiesen Cook, well-known Eleanor Roosevelt biographer, in her revealing interview on The Thought Project podcast bit.ly/2UcjQYQ

Honoring the memory of Assistant Prof. Cindy R. Lobel, who posthumously received our City University of New York Award https://buff.ly/2IjjkGl

There's a new source to spark dialogue and ideas about one of the most pressing issues of our day — the future of democracy. The Promise and Perils of Democracy, a Graduate Center project supported by The Carnegie Corporation of New York, features events and important writing and scholarship about democracy.

Remembering Graduate Center and Queens College Prof. Sydel Silverman, who successfully campaigned to save CUNY's anthropology department in the 1970s when it was targeted to be cut in the city's budget crisis. Learn more about her legacy and scholarship here.

It's beginning to look like spring at The Graduate Center!

Congratulations Nandini Sikand, who received a 2019 Graduate of the Last Decade Award! Sikand, a dancer, filmmaker, and scholar, credits her training at The Graduate Center with making her a “more thoughtful and more ethical filmmaker.”

Congratulations to GC alum Ardie Walser, who received the City University of New York Award for his work improving diversity in the field of engineering! Walser is the associate dean of academic affairs at the Grove School of Engineering at City College and has played a key role in making it one of the most diverse engineering schools in the country.

Congratulations to Maggie Nelson, author of books including "The Argonauts," who was awarded the 2019 Alumni Achievement Award from The Graduate Center! bit.ly/2CHG4fI

Congratulations to Amy E. Hughes, who received a 2019 Graduate of the Last Decade Award from the GC! Hughes has made a significant impact on the study theater as well as the art of teaching. bit.ly/2CHG4fI

Congratulations to James Giordano, who was awarded a Graduate Center 2019 Alumni Achievement Award for his work in neuroethics. He looks at the future of brain science and asks such complex questions as how advancements in neuroscience and neurotechnology impact the ways in which wars will be fought in the future. bit.ly/2CHG4fI

GC Prof. Setha Low says that many of New York City’s security systems have “nothing to do with crime and everything to do with trying to turn Manhattan — and now Brooklyn — into a luxury city.” She explains the motives behind secured spaces and what citizens should do about it. bit.ly/2UgiMIi

“Hearing aids these days have a big problem. They cost a lot of money, but people wear them a few times and then put them away,” says GC Prof. Lucas Parra.

In a new study, he and GC Ph.D. student Ivan Iotzov show that hearing aids may one day adjust themselves by reading brainwaves. Sounds like science fiction? Parra explains in this Q & A. bit.ly/2Ur4jZo

Mason Youngblood is an animal behavior and comparative psychology Ph.D. student who typically studies birdsong. He’s also a musician, and something about a methodology often used in his field led him to apply it to another kind of sound: music sampling.

In a new paper in the journal Plos One, he offers insights into how the internet is shaping hip-hop and electronic music. bit.ly/2TEpoeB

Each year, we celebrate outstanding GC alumni with our Alumni Awards. This year, on April 3, we will honor this year’s winners: James Giordano, Maggie Nelson, Amy E. Hughes, Nandini Sikand, Ardie Walser, and Cindy R. Lobel (posthumous award).

Congratulations to all! Learn about their accomplishments and join us for the event next Wednesday. bit.ly/2CHG4fI

“Yuck!” might be your first reaction to a new study co-authored by Prof. Gregory O’Mullan on contaminants (e.g., bacteria) in the Hudson River. Still, he says, “We don’t want to scare anybody off.” bit.ly/2OuOD1P

What does the rise of authoritarianism and cyberwarfare mean for the future of democracy?

Washington Post reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Applebaum weighs in on the latest edition of The Thought Project podcast, recorded just before her appearance in the GC’s sold-out event, “The Free Press.” bit.ly/2HI1rBI

“Suck it up, snowflakes. Trigger warnings don’t work.”

That’s how the New York Post summarized a new study co-authored by Prof. Deryn Strange, showing that the warnings that are common in pop culture and higher education “do not appear to do much.” bit.ly/2UQqiWG