Meet Your Faculty-Fellows-in-Residence: Prof. Brad Lewis, Joanne Rendell, and Benny

Brad, Joanne, and Benny are one of the Faculty-Fellows-in Residence families living at Broome Street. Brad is a professor at NYU's Gallatin School and Joanne is the author of two novels.

1. Where do you come from? And how long have you been in NYC / at NYU?

BRAD: I grew up in Tennessee, lived for a number of years in D.C. and then moved to New York City eight years ago. I’ve been at NYU for six years.

JO: I’m a Brit! I was born in Cardiff, raised in Plymouth, and spent my student and grad student days in Leeds, London, and Sheffield. I moved to the States (straight to NYC) nearly seven years ago.

BENNY: I was born at home in New York City’s East Village six years ago. My mum watched Terminator movies while I was being born (no kidding…read about it here)

2. What are your professional interests? What courses do you teach?

BRAD: I’m on faculty at Gallatin and have a dual training in interdisciplinary humanities and medicine (specializing in psychiatry). I write and teach at the interface of medicine, humanities, cultural studies of science, and disability studies. “Mad Pride, Mad Science,” “Foucault, Biopower, and Biopolitics,” and “The Philosophy of Medicine” are just three of the courses I teach at Gallatin.

JO: I’m a published novelist. I also have a PhD in literature. Therefore I love anything to do with books, the publishing industry, and writing. If you’re budding author, feel free to ask me questions. My advice wont guarantee book deals (unfortunately), but I can point you in the right directions.

BENNY: I can teach you all about the Greek Gods and how the Egyptians built the pyramids. I’m also in a Jackson Pollock phase with my paintings. I like to update my blog. My parents say that they homeschool me, but I’m actually homeschooling them.

3. Do you have any publications?

BRAD: I’m the author of Moving Beyond Prozac, DSM, and the New Psychiatry: Birth of Postpsychiatry. I’m now working on a book about narrative and another about depression. I’m also the cultural studies editor for The Journal of Medical Humanities

JO: My second novel, Crossing Washington Square (Penguin), has just been released. It tells the story of two female professors at a university which looks a lot like NYU! My first novel came out last year. The Professors’ Wives’ Club is about four professors’ wives doing battle with an evil dean (this book is also set at a university which looks a lot like NYU).

BENNY: “The Adventures of Benny and his dog Rumi” (a work in progress, complete with illustrations by the author)

4. What events do you have planned for this year?

We’ll start the year with our annual “Professor and Pie” event which is basically a big welcome back shindig, complete with lots of apple pie and ice-cream! About once a month we run the Sunday Broome Café where we open up our apartment and invite you to come drink coffee, eat bagels, read the papers, and chat with your fellow Broomies. We love this event and hope you will too. We also have a number of wonderful guest speakers lined up, discussion evenings planned, and intellectual nights on the town in the pipeline. We're really looking forward to meeting you all!