2020 CUNY Adjunct Incubator Projects

The Center for the Humanities’ and the Gittell Urban Studies Collective’s CUNY Adjunct Incubator is a framework for supporting the significant scholarly, creative, and pedagogical work of adjuncts teaching in the humanities and humanistic social sciences across CUNY. Providing social, logistical, financial, and professional support for the creation and circulation of knowledge by CUNY adjuncts, this platform promotes the crucial work of part-time faculty across the CUNY community and senior college campuses.

In 2019-2020, the CUNY Adjunct Incubator awarded grants to 11 CUNY adjuncts from 6 CUNY colleges to develop a wide range of deeply impactful public and applied projects in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Read more about their vital work below:

Anthony Freeman (Gender Studies Program, John Jay College of Criminal Justice)

Enhancing CUNY-Wide Capacity to Promote Collaborative Gender Justice

This public research project seeks to develop pedagogical policies and best practices aimed at better serving the needs of faculty and students at CUNY involved in work around gender justice. The project includes the development of a website that will act as a clearinghouse for students and instructors involved in gender, sexuality and women’s studies throughout CUNY. Click here for more information about this project.

Aurash Khawarzad (Macaulay Honors College, CUNY)

A People’s CUNY Climate Plan?

This research project titled “A People’s CUNY Climate Plan?” builds on “A People’s Climate Plan for New York City?“, and plans on leveraging CUNY resources to form a People’s Climate Planning process, which includes its student body, workforce, and physical infrastructure. Click herefor more information about this project.



Conor Tomás Reed (Africana Studies and American Studies Departments, Brooklyn College, CUNY)

Radiating Black ~ Puerto Rican ~ Women’s Teaching Archives from CUNY to the Americas and the Caribbean (and Back Again)

This project will continue to develop research, as well as present and publish work on Black and Puerto Rican women’s teaching archives from CUNY to the Americas and the Caribbean. 8. Click herefor more information about this project.


Sarah Coluccio (English Department, Queens College)

Private Lives, Public Literacies

“Private Lives, Public Literacies” examines archival documents, case studies, and current library programming to not only learn how the New York Public Library was an invaluable resource to patrons at the turn of the 20th century, but also how those lessons can be utilized to improve the libraries of today. Click herefor more information about this project.


Tiffany Younger (Human Behavior and the Social Environment at Hunter College Silberman School of Social Work)

Increasing Inclusivity of Scholarship and Practice for Social Workers

This project seeks to use more inclusive scholarship and practice in social workers training to move beyond the binary through a series of coffee chats, an informal place where people can get to know each other and talk about ways to infuse inclusive scholarship in both social work classrooms and in social work community partnerships and placements. The result of our chats and working groups will result in a public syllabus. Click herefor more information about this project.




Susan Stratton and Brian McSherry (Media Arts and Technology Department, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY)

Know Your Work-Know Your Worth: Portfolio Design Thinking Cards

This research project “Know Your Work-Know Your Worth: Portfolio Design Thinking Cards,” is a creative and innovative system to teach portfolio design thinking in and out of the classroom through the production of method cards. Method cards are a design tool that enables users to explore and utilize strategic thinking through self-directed work and peer-to-peer learning in an interactive game like environment. Click here for more information about this project.



Zefyr Lisowski (English Department, Hunter College, CUNY)

Wolf Inventory: A Film Project

Zefyr Lisowski is developing Wolf Inventory, a film-in-progress and multimedia collaboration with filmmaker and artist Candace Thompson looking at the intersections of haunting, childhood/early adolescent sexual violence, and trans and femme coming-of-age in the rural South. Told through rituals, ghost stories, and reveries, the film creates a space to heal from child trauma while also acknowledging its constituent parts and the violence present for marginalized bodies. Click here for more information about this project.

Leah Batstone (Music Department, Hunter College, CUNY)

Revolution of Dignity: Art Music Culture and Political Change in Ukraine

This research project explores the relationship between political change and art music culture in 20th century Ukraine, with particular attention to the third revolution of 2014. Batstone’s project examines how the repertoire of musical institutions including major symphonic orchestras and large-scale music festivals has changed since 2014. As part of this public project, don’t miss the 2020 Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival (Fri, Feb 28 to Sun, Mar 1 at The CUNY Graduate Center, Hunter College, and the Ukrainian Museum), bringing the new music of Ukraine to NYC through a series of free discussions and musical concerts. Click here for more information about this project.

Camille Ferguson (Urban Affairs and Planning Department at Hunter College, CUNY)

Curriculum to Help Adolescents Cope with Stress

This research project seeks to develop and deliver a curriculum that teaches young people (ages 13-17) of color (Black and LatinX) about the stress process and ways to cope with stress in their lives. Click here for more information about this project.






Anita Cheng (Brooklyn College and Hunter College, CUNY)

Public Affairs Media Study

This public research project is dedicated to designing public interest graphics about current legislative issues before the New York City Council to be shown on broadcasts, events, and social media platforms with parallel goals of public application for civic education processes, and curriculum development. Click here for more information about this project.


Click here to read about the 2019 CUNY Adjunct Incubator recipients and their projects.


The CUNY Adjunct Incubator is co-sponsored by the Center for the Humanities and the Gittell Urban Studies Collective at The Graduate Center, CUNY. The Center for the Humanities thanks the Sylvia Klatzkin Steinig Fund for their generous support.

Participants