Media spotlight: Fordham professors discuss Jesus’ wife, gender pay gap on TV

Michael Peppard, Ph.D., assistant professor of theology at Fordham, got to flex his Coptic papyrologist expertise on national television this past weekend in an interview about on PBS’ NewsHour Weekend.

Michael Peppard on PBS NewsHour Weekend.

The segment, which aired on April 13, centered around a faded fragment of papyrus known as the “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife.” Unveiled by a Harvard Divinity School historian in 2012, it was then tested by scientists who concluded in an April 10 journal article that the ink and papyrus are very likely ancient, and not a modern forgery.

Peppard told host Hari Sreenivasan that scholars, such as himself, that study early Christianity are “still kind of in this middle ground of mysteriousness about the text.

“That being said, some of the critics on the forgery side argue that there is bad grammar, that there are other indicators, bad penmanship and that kind of stuff. But papyrologists — that is nerds like us that study ancient papyri — we see bad handwriting all the time. The apostle Paul himself in the New Testament talks about his bad handwriting. So handwriting it’s a techne in Greek, it’s a skill, it’s acquired.”

Sreenivasan also asked Peppard what the religious ramifications are if Jesus did have a wife. 

“… this papyrus gives us another window into what were some live debates in early Christianity. Debates such as: is procreation a vehicle for holiness or is celibacy — voluntary celibacy– a vehicle for holiness. A second debate that it clearly was engaging was the worthiness of women as disciples, especially Mary the mother and Mary Magdalen, two of the main figures that were discussed,” Peppard said.

Watch the whole interview here via PBS NewsHour's website.

Fordham’s Christina Greer was also on television over the weekend. An assistant professor of political science, Greer joined a panel at MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry Show on April 12 to discuss a variety of topics, including the politics of the gender pay gap.

Christina Greer on MSNBC

In this segment, Greer says historical context should always be taken into consideration in the debate over equal pay.

“We constantly throw around that .77-to-a-dollar [figure], but we do also know that there is a very real racial divide within this. If white women are making .77 on the dollar, we know that black and Latina women are making much less than that,” she said.

Greer also discussed the downside of the bickering between the GOP and Democrats on such debates, and how there isn’t going to be a magic bullet to solve inequality.

Watch the whole episode here via the Melissa Harris-Perry Show website.

-- Gina Vergel

Panel to Discuss Bill DeBlasio's First 100 Days as Mayor of New York City

Photo via Agence France-Presse

Thursday, April 10, marked 100 days in office for New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio. How has he done as the top executive of the Big Apple?

via NY Daily News

Fordham political expert, Christina Greer, assistant professor of political science, gave him a grade of “B+” in the New York Daily News “report card” on the mayor's tenure thus far.

His strengths? “Attempting to be inclusive of all New Yorkers,” Greer said. Weaknesses? “Tardiness. I don’t let my students come in late; there’s a fine line between busy and disorganized.”

Greer was also interviewed for an article in Metro New York newspaper, in which political observers noted “the mayor still faces significant hurdles in the days ahead.

“He’s getting his footing,” Greer said. “That’s not easy after a 12-year reign of an individual that had a certain control over people.”

But the discussion on DeBlasio’s performance doesn’t end there. The Fordham community is invited to further analysis at a talk about “Bill de Blasio’s First 100 Days as Mayor of New York City” on Monday, April 14, at the Lincoln Center campus.

Karine Jean-Pierre, former senior campaign advisor and strategist for the Bill Thompson and Letitia James Campaigns; Ben Max, editor-in-chief of Gotham Gazette; Emily Ngo, political reporter at Newsday, and Morgan Pehme, editor-in-chief of City & State, will discuss the mayor’s performance on Monday, April 14, at 4 p.m.

This panel discussion, which will take place in the South Lounge in Lowenstein Center, will be moderated by Christina Greer, and is sponsored by the Deans of Fordham University. The talk is open to the public.

-Gina Vergel

Roundup: Fordham Professors Quoted in the Media

Gold medalist skier Lindsay Vonn will miss the Sochi Olympics.

When it comes to news stories dealing with sports business or law, chances are Mark Conrad, associate professor of law and ethics, has an opinion.

Conrad, who oversees the sports business specialization at the Gabelli School of Business, was quoted in an article on CNBC.com about what the absence of gold medalist skier Lindsay Vonn means for the Sochi Olympics. (Vonn will skip the competition due to a knee injury):

"She's highly marketable, and without her I would expect interest in the games from U.S. viewers to drop," said Mark Conrad, professor of sports law at Fordham University.

...

"There aren't that many well-known American athletes in the games, and she was probably the major draw," he said.

Conrad was also quoted in the New York Times about a lawsuit settlement which will allow former National Football League players suffering from health problems to receive as much as $5 million each.

According to the Times, some former players have indicated that the settlement is insufficient and are inclined to turn it down because they say not enough money will be available for players struggling with memory loss, anger management and other problems.

Still, Conrad doesn’t see too many former players opting out:

“I think this is pretty much a done deal,” said Mark Conrad, who teaches sports law at the Gabelli and Graduate Schools of Business at Fordham University. “Are people going to go to litigation by themselves and spend years doing this? I thought the $760 million was too low, but time is not on the side of people with these conditions.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Over on the local politics side of things, New York City welcomed its first new mayor in more than a decade, and Christina Greer, assistant professor of political science, has kept busy giving interviews.

Former President Clinton swears in new mayor Bill de Blasio.
Image via The Nation.

Greer provided live analysis on NY1 during Mayor Bill  de Blasio’s inauguration (it was cold one! See video here). She also penned an opinion piece for The New York Times’ “Room for Debate” section, which asked if speakers at the Jan. 1st inaugural were rude to the former mayor or just “voicing the frustrations of millions of New Yorkers who are rarely heard.”

Mayor Bloomberg wasn't smiling in the inauguration.
Image via Daily News.

Greer wrote:

“If anyone expected the inauguration of the first Democratic mayor in 20 years to serve as an occasion to celebrate the accomplishments of his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, while ignoring the issues of stop-and-frisk, homelessness, hyper-development of neighborhoods and rising inequities in general, they were sorely mistaken.”

Still, DeBlasio has a lot to prove, Greer added:

“It is now up to Mayor de Blasio to make his promises a reality. If not, he will be the one sitting bundled up on a cold January day in 2018, listening to future poets, activists and politicians go on about how he disappointed New Yorkers.”

Read the entire piece, and the opinions of others who weighed in on the same topic, here.

Greer, author of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream (Oxford University Press, 2013), also weighed in on another change in New York: an apparent shift by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (FCRH '79) on medical marijuana. Read that story here.

Finally, in other media clips news related to Fordham and the new mayor, a Dec. 13 article in The New York Times included a book published by Fordham University Press as “suggested reading for de Blasio:”

“The Accidental Playground: Brooklyn Waterfront Narratives of the Undesigned and Unplanned” (Fordham University Press). Daniel Campo, a former New York City planner, considers the serendipitous development of Williamsburg and concludes: “In contrast to urban space produced through conventional planning and design, the accidental playground that evolved on the North Brooklyn waterfront generated vitality through immediate and largely unmeditated action. The waterfront was there for the claiming, and people went out and did just that without asking for permission, holding meetings or making plans.”

See the rest of the list here.

-Gina Vergel

Professor Christina Greer to provide analysis during NYC elections

Christina Greer, assistant professor of political science, will be a busy bee providing analysis during the New York City elections on Nov. 5.

Greer will appear on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” at 5:20 a.m., and later that evening, she’ll join a panel to provide live analysis on NY1 when the polls are open. She’ll likely be on to provide more analysis once a winner is declared.

Greer was quoted by the Associated Press in a story that appeared nationally over the weekend about the race to succeed three-term Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“It seems like the city wants a Democrat right now,” said Christina Greer, political science professor at Fordham University. “Five terms of heavy-handed government has tired people out. People are ready for something different.”

This caps a busy year for Greer, whose newest book, “ Black Ethnics:  Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream (Oxford University Press, 2013), was published earlier this fall. Watch a video interview with Greer about the book via NY1 on Fordham’s YouTube channel, where you can find several video clips of our faculty in the media.

-Gina Vergel

In New Book, Fordham Professor Explores Political Identity of Black Immigrants

Christina Greer, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science, has published Black Ethnics:  Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream (Oxford University Press, 2013).

Her book addresses the steady immigration of black populations from Africa and the Caribbean over the past few decades, and how it has fundamentally changed the racial, ethnic, and political landscape in the United States, leading to questions of how will these "new blacks" behave politically in America.

Greer uses an original survey of New York City workers and multiple national data sources to explore the political significance of ethnicity for new immigrant and native-born blacks.

In an age where racial and ethnic identities intersect, intertwine, and interact in increasingly complex ways, it offers a powerful and rigorous analysis of black politics and coalitions in the post-Civil Rights era.

Back in March, Greer spoke with the Dallas Morning News about the book. To read her Q&A, visit the site here. 

—Patrick Verel

Passing on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

“There is no area of human endeavor and culture that does not find expression within the Catholic intellectual tradition,” according to Fordham Professor John L. Elias and Lucinda A. Nolan. Their new book, Educators in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (Sacred Heart University Press, 2009), is a collection of studies of ten prominent educators in the United States that outlines the ways Catholic education has progressed over the centuries; how the faith has been handed on from generation to generation; and how Catholics have learned to live their faith in the world.

The book’s introduction begins a survey of Catholic education with Jesus, a rabbi who sent apostles and disciples on teaching missions, and proceeds through centuries of teaching and learning to the present day. The book identifies key contributors to the Catholic intellectual tradition in the United States, as well as the nature and parameters of their influence on Catholic education.

John L. Elias, Ed. D., professor of religious education and social ministry in the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education (GRE) at Fordham, has published Philosophical Foundations of Adult Education; A History of Christian Education: Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Perspectives; and Paulo Freire: Pedagogue of Liberation. Lucinda A. Nolan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University.

Today, in what has become a global church, new questions and previously undreamed-of situations face all who participate in the Christian teaching-learning process. This book offers historical perspective and encouragement to anyone involved in Catholic education.

Fordham's Guide to Decision '09

Fordham University political scientists will be ubiquitous for media coverage of the 2009 elections.

Tonight, Costas Panagopoulos will be in the WNBC-TV studios to discuss New York City’s mayoral election. He will be paired with Richard Lee of Rutgers University, who will follow the exciting race for New Jersey’s governorship.

Also tonight, Christina Greer will be George Bodarky’s guest on WFUV-FM 90.7 to provide commentary on the New York City political landscape after the polls close at 9 PM.

Starting tomorrow, and continuing all week, Bruce Berg will be answering questions about New York City politics on the New York Times’s City Room blog.