Hunter Professor Named 2006 Guggenheim Fellow

Date: April 17, 2006
Contact: Meredith Halpern (meredith.halpern@hunter.cuny.edu)
Phone: (212) 772-4068

Michael Gitlin, a film and media studies professor at Hunter College of the City University of New York, has been named a 2006 Guggenheim Fellow and is the only CUNY faculty member to win this year’s fellowship. One of the most prestigious fellowships in the art and sciences, the Guggenheim will support Gitlin’s work on his current project, which Gitlin describes as “a kind of ethnographic film about Young Earth Creationists, dealing with philosophy of science issues.”

“I'm very happy to be awarded this Fellowship, not only because the financial support will allow me to continue to work on my current project, but also because the award conveys a sense of recognition for my previous work,” said Gitlin.

Gitlin is one of 187 artists, scholars, and scientists selected by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for this year’s awards from a pool of almost 3,000 applicants. The fellowships are awarded to applicants who have exceptional records of past achievement and are taking their work in especially promising future directions.

Gitlin’s films have been shown at numerous film festivals and other venues, both nationally and abroad, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the London Film Festival, the New York Video Festival at Lincoln Center, the 1997 Whitney Biennial Exhibition, and on Independent Focus, a PBS television program. His latest film, The Birdpeople, premiered in January 2005 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Gitlin, who has been at Hunter since 1995, teaches Experimental Film and Video, Film Production Two, Sound Production for Film and Video, and Editing Technique. He previously taught at Pratt Institute, the New School for Social Research, NYU, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

About Hunter
With a highly diverse student population of more than 20,000, Hunter is the largest college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the first choice among all CUNY applicants. Founded in 1870, the College offers more than 170 undergraduate and graduate programs. Hunter is noted for its professional schools in education, health sciences, nursing and social work, as well as its excellence in the liberal arts. Heralded as the "Crown Jewel of CUNY" by The Princeton Review, Hunter College has a distinguished reputation for nurturing talented minority scientists and meeting the challenge of providing high-quality science education in the 21st century. The College also oversees the Hunter College Campus Schools serving gifted and talented students, preschool through grade 12. For more information about Hunter College, please visit our Web site at http://www.hunter.cuny.edu.

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