The Power May Be in Manhattan, but The Brains Are In The Bronx
A map art project by doctoral student Richard Lissemore

This interactive map art is a representation of a semester’s work in the course Mapping The Futures Of Higher Education, taught by Distinguished Professors Cathy Davidson and William Kelly at The City University Of New York (CUNY). As a Futures Initiative Graduate Teaching Fellow, I taught Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Mechanism at Lehman College. The major elements of the speech mechanism are represented on the map; the lungs (the power), the larynx (the source), and the vocal tract (the filter).

An additional element of the design is the megaphone as a representation of the desire of Lehman College students to be heard. The megaphone leads to a video link in which the students of this undergraduate course perform their version of a Bronx Cheer, titled The Power May Be In Manhattan But The Brains Are In The Bronx! (Written by Michelle Mack and Richard Lissemore)

The final element of this project is a geo-political jibe at the commonly held perception that Manhattan is the power center of New York, while the Bronx is often ignored. Can you hear us now?

Conceived by Richard Lissemore
Illustration by Oded Naaman