Staff
Staff
Director
Peter-Christian Aigner is an historian of twentieth-century America. His first book explores the life and career of Daniel Patrick Moynihan as a view onto the strains of modern American liberalism between the New Deal and the present century (Simon & Schuster, March 2027). It will be the first scholarly biography of the national political figure, public intellectual, and New York City icon.
As head of the Gotham Center, he leads all programming. At his initiative, the organization has introduced a variety of new programs, including the establishment of its first research grant and writing fellowship programs, its online adult education program GothamEd, the award-winning series Sites & Sounds and other podcasts, and NYC Revolutionary Trail, a multimedia walking tour and educational resource which is now a free smartphone app, sponsored by the Downtown Alliance (lower Manhattan BID), winner of the Guides Association of New York City’s 2026 Apple Award. He is the co-curator of “The Occupied City,” a 7,000 square-foot exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, opening May 1, 2026. He is also the principal on Echoes of Revolution: NYC, a gamified, interactive trail with immersive augmented reality, using the digital recreation of New York City’s colonial streetscape in the popular video game series Assassin’s Creed. Developed in partnership with Ubisoft and Sugar Creative, the free smartphone app will be released in June 2026.
Aigner has published essays in The Nation, The Atlantic, and The New Republic, presented original research on a variety of topics before numerous professional academic associations, served for years as assistant editor for the Journal of the History of Ideas, and hosted a podcast on urban history for the New Books Network. His work has been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Crain’s New York Business, Untapped New York, DecodeDC, Journey to Esquire, Radio Night Live, Arts in the City with Mike Gilliam (CUNY TV), NY1, Vice, and The New York Times Up Close with Sam Roberts.
Prior to being named The Gotham Center's acting director (2016-2019), he served as the organization's administrator, during which time he spearheaded the redesign of its website and the creation of several new features, including the noted semiweekly digital publication Gotham. He completed his PhD at The Graduate Center in 2017 under David Nasaw, the Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Distinguished Professor of History.
Programming Assistants
Rachel Pitkin is a PhD student in US History at The Graduate Center, CUNY, where she currently serves as Gotham’s Managing Editor. Her current research interests include public history and historical memory, women, gender, and the development of social welfare and settler colonialism in the early twentieth century United States. Rachel holds MA degrees in History and in Museum Studies, and has a background in education, teaching History and Social Studies. She is originally from Buffalo, New York, and her spare time is spent road-tripping throughout New York State.
Naomi Fischer is a PhD Student in US History at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Her research examines the intersections of gender, settler colonial violence, and historical memory in early America. Her work focuses in particular on representations of violence against Indigenous peoples and the role of these narratives in constructing colonial and national identities. Naomi is also a public historian, with previous experience at the Museum of the City of New York, PBS and the Tenement Museum. Naomi holds a BA from Barnard College. She is originally from Worcester, Massachusetts.
K-12 Education Director
Julie Maurer is an art, history, and museum educator who specializes in architecture and design education. For thirty years, she has been designing programs, publications and exhibitions for cultural institutions and community groups in New York City and the tri-state area. Her work combines disciplines to create innovative programs for all ages. Some highlights include developing Henry Street Settlement’s "Architecture & Design and Community Studies Project,” which received the 2000 President’s Art and Humanities Award for Youth, and "City of Neighborhoods: Bridging School and Community," a nationwide program awarded an independent grant from the Architecture, Planning and Design Program of the New York State Council on the Arts in 1998. She is the author of My Preservation Journal, an architecture, design and preservation book for children, and co-writer of the Historic District Council’s "Community As Classroom," as well as other K-12 curricula with museums and arts organizations. Before coming to the Gotham Center, Maurer served as Director of Education at the South Street Seaport Museum and the Central Park Conservancy.