About the Water and Work Project
Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, New York City College of Technology (CUNY), in partnership with the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment, proposes a faculty development program to broaden faculty understanding and engagement with the history and the ecology of downtown Brooklyn, the immediate environment of the college. We define ecology in the broadest sense as the relationship between people and their environment, the recursive relationship between people and place and how each affects the other. The history of downtown Brooklyn is defined by its relationship to the waterfront.
New York City has 578 miles of waterfront, yet many City Tech students have never been to the water’s edge. Within their lifetimes, that water’s edge might come to them. Scientists studying climate change and extreme weather predict that coastal cities such as New York might be in danger of flooding. Our new program will have faculty and, ultimately, students look at the role of the waterfront in Brooklyn’s past, understand its current state, and look forward to social, ethical, and environmental challenges it will present in the future.
Contact us at waterandwork@gmail.com
