Podcast

This episode focuses on the US care infrastructure and gender inequality. Dr. Kathlene McDonald—Associate Professor of Literature and Writing at CCNY's Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education (CWE)—considers the gaps in the US care system in comparative perspective, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. She examines President Biden’s Build Back Better plan and the precarious conditions of care workers and the challenges of family caregivers through an intersectional lens of gender, race/ethnicity, class, and legal status. She discusses her Labor of Care Archive (laborofcare.com)—a collection of stories from members of the CUNY community who undertake family and paid care work for ill, disabled, and elderly persons. As a scholar of US Literature, she explains how writing can serve as a method of healing and as a means of creating visibility to the grave human rights implications of US care policy and potentially as a catalyst for advocacy and change.

This episode focuses on the mental health challenges faced by some of the most vulnerable populations: survivors of war, sexual violence, and torture as well as forced migrants, particularly children and women. Dr. Adeyinka Akinsulure-Smith, licensed psychologist and Professor of Psychology at CCNY and the CUNY Graduate Center, discusses her research, advocacy, and clinical work with survivors of human rights abuses. She considers the particular challenges faced by the West African community in New York City, including racism and xenophobia, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and female genital mutilation/cutting practices. She also explains her research on compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress among therapists and refugee resettlement workers.

This episode engages the multifaceted human rights challenges faced by Haitians in the homeland and in the United States and beyond. It features Dr. Cécile Accilien, a professor and scholar of Haitian Studies and Board Member of the Haitian Studies Association, based in Atlanta, Georgia. She has published a number of books, articles, and chapters; her most recent publication is a co-edited volume (with Valérie Orlando), Teaching Haiti: Strategies for Creating New Narratives, published by University Press of Florida in July 2021. Dr. Accilien challenges dominant narratives of Haiti and places the island nation's current challenges within a larger historical and contemporary global perspective.

This episode features Lisa Davis, Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Human Rights and Gender Justice (HRGJ) Clinic at the CUNY School of Law.  Prof. Davis explains the particular vulnerabilities that women and LGBTIQ persons face in contexts of armed conflict, developments in international law concerning gender-based violence, and the crime of gender persecution. Also discussed is the work of the HRGJ Clinic, the stigma of sexual violence and associated challenges, and partnerships with nongovernmental organizations.

This episode focuses on the grave human rights challenges confronted by indigenous peoples throughout the Americas, activism, and film, and more specifically the Americas Film Festival of New York (TAFFNY). It features Carlos Aguasaco, Associate Professor of Latin American Cultural Studies and Spanish and in coming department chair, at City College’s Division of Interdisciplinary Studies, and Cindy Benitez, film curator and scholar specializing in Native and indigenous film and Film Program Manager for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). For further information about the film festival, please visit: https://www.taffny.com/