Public Philosopher Myriam Miedzian (formerly Miedzianogora) holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Columbia University and a Masters in Clinical Social Work from Hunter College, C.U.N.Y., and has served on the faculties of Rutgers University and Barnard College.
She writes frequently on contemporary social, political and cultural issues. Her articles, Op-Eds, and blogs have appeared in publications including The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Daily News, The Baltimore Sun, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Dissent, Social Research, Jewish Currents and The Huffington Post.
Dr. Miedzian has appeared on over 300 TV and radio programs, including Charlie Rose, Oprah Winfrey, Larry King Live and The Brian Lehrer Show. She was the subject of the Time Magazine Interview.
The revised edition of her groundbreaking book, Boys Will Be Boys: Breaking the Link between Masculinity and Violence (Doubleday 1991, Anchor 1992) was published by Lantern Press in 2002. She has lectured widely on how to change the socialization of boys to decrease violence. Speaking engagements have included: Columbia University; Harvard University; the California Attorney General and Department of Education Conference; and the Barcelona II International Citizens Meeting. She has advised the Clinton Administration's Violence Prevention Task Force, and testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families.
Other speaking engagements include: International Psychohistory Conferences 2013, 2015, The State University of New York at New Paltz’s Resnick lecture, The University of California at San Diego's Holocaust Program and the 92nd
Street Y, New York City.
She is the co-founder with her husband Gary Ferdman of Monumental Women, a non-profit devoted to putting the first statue honoring women in Central Park. It grew out of their March, 2013 Huffington Post blog, ”Time to ‘Remember the Ladies’-- in Central Park.” The statue of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth was unveiled on the park’s mall on August 26th, 2020, the 100th anniversary of women winning the vote.
She is a founding director of Prepare Tomorrow's Parents, a non-profit which advocates teaching child-rearing in public schools. It grew out of recommendations made in Boys Will Be Boys. A lecture she gave in 1995 in Mississuaga, Canada on this topic led to the creation of the Canadian non-profit Roots of Empathy which has reached close to a million children in fourteen countries.
Dr. Miedzian’s book, Generations: A Century of Women Speak about Their Lives, (The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1997; Dell 1998; Kindle Edition 2013), co-authored with her daughter Alisa Malinovich, deals with the transformation of the family, work/child rearing conflicts, sexual harassment and violence against women.
He Walked Through Walls: A Twentieth Century Tale of Survival (Lantern Books. September 2009) tells the story, in the form of a "memoir," of how, against all odds, her father survived three 20th century European wars.
Her articles and excerpts appear in anthologies including Marxism, Revolution, and Utopia Vol.6 (University of California 2014); New Girl Order: Are Men in Decline? (Cato Unbound, 2012); Transforming Terror (University of California 2011); Motherhood and Feminism (Seal Press, 2010); Violence and Gender (Prentice Hall, 2004); Transforming a Rape Culture (Milkweed, 2004); Ending The Cycle of Violence (Sage, 1994) and Rethinking Peace (Lynne Rienner, 1994).
