In today’s interconnected world, cultural competency, critical thinking and innovative problem solving are important proficiencies that are highly sought after by employers. The Institute for the Future predicts that 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 have not yet been invented, highlighting the need for adaptable graduates. The humanities play a vital role in cultivating skills such as agility, resilience and flexibility by broadening students’ worldviews and exposing them to diverse cultures, perspectives and experiences.

For the last 21 years, the ���ϲ����� Symposium has done just that through a public series of art exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, workshops and musical performances which encourage people to think critically about important questions and reflect on their values and beliefs.

“���ϲ����� Symposium’s free, inclusive programming is so important to creating a sense of purpose and contribution larger than our individual selves,” says , professor of women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and director of both the Humanities Center and Central New York Humanities Corridor. “Symposium’s diverse lineup of immersive experiences in the arts and humanities helps to humanize large-scale problems and to imagine how we can make a difference, together.”

Each year’s symposium programming centers around a theme, with this year’s being “community,” as chosen by the . May notes that the range of events will engage attendees in conversations about social justice and well-being, while also demonstrating how community is vital to achieving more just and equitable futures. For example, a lecture and workshop with prison studies scholar Brandon Erby will highlight how incarcerated individuals are developing communities to foster a sense of belonging and emotional support as they work to prepare for life after release. Another art exhibition and film screening will highlight how the women artists in the Mithila region of northeast India are using art to challenge longstanding gender-based violence and patriarchal structures to foster empowerment and social reform.

“This fall’s lineup invites us to immerse in a rich array of cultural forms to consider how community can be imagined and built but also undermined,” says May. “Our fall offerings underscore the humanities’ central role in how we craft identity and forge community, including in contexts of constraint; in how to confront myriad forms of violence rupturing our communities; and in how we imagine community differently and tap into its possibilities in more just ways.”

Fall Symposium Events at a Glance

Friday, Sept. 6

Gordon Parks

– During his career as a photojournalist from the 1940s to the 1970s, Gordon Parks illuminated issues of race relations, poverty, civil rights and urban life in America. An exhibition of his works, which he donated to Kansas State University, will be on display at the SU Art Museum’s Joe and Emily Lowe Galleries through Dec. 8. At the Sept. 6 event, , associate curator at Kansas State University’s Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, will discuss the legendary photographer and his wide-ranging artistic ideas.

– , professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara and prominent architect and architectural historian, will introduce participants to new methodologies in researching architectural and urban space through colonial and post-colonial lenses. The workshop will feature selected archival materials in the Special Collections Research Center and will also include a walking tour of the Erie Canal in downtown ���ϲ�����.

Thursday, Sept. 12

Swati Chattopadhyay

– Chattopadhyay, whose research specializations include modern architecture and urbanism, and the cultural landscape of the British empire, will present a public lecture exploring how analyzing architecture, urban design and monuments can help people understand sovereignty and its relation to colonialism.

Friday, Sept. 20

– will commemorate Latine Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15) with the opening of its new exhibition, “Weird Barrio,” featuring the work of ���ϲ�����-based Puerto Rican artist Manuel Matías. The installation will feature a collection of miniature three-dimensional dioramas that depict the Latino experience of ���ϲ����� and Central New York.

Friday, Oct. 18

– An art exhibition at the SU Art Museum and film screening of will emphasize how women in the Mithila region near the India-Nepali border are shifting gender and other social norms through storytelling and art. The film screening will include a question-and-answer session with producer Coralynn Davis.

Sunday, Oct. 20

– Composer Kurt Erickson and award-winning poet and veteran Brian Turner will discuss the creative process behind their collaborative works, which blend Erickson’s compositions with Turner’s poetry. As part of Remembrance Week, the artists’ talk follows a of “Each Moment Radiant,” which commemorates the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. The concert will also include a rendition of “Here Bullet,” featuring a poem by Turner reflecting on his experiences as an American soldier in Iraq, and chamber music of Johannes Brahms.

Alba

Thursday, Oct. 24

– This year’s Kashi and Kameshwar C. Wali Lecture in the Sciences and Humanities will feature “bio-artist” Eduardo Kac, who gained prominence at the beginning of the 21st century with his transgenic work GFP Bunny (pictured). Kac used molecular biology and a gene found in jellyfish to create Alba, a bunny which turned fluorescent green when exposed to blue light. Kac will revisit key highlights in his career, with emphasis on his current space artworks.

Brandon Erby

Thursday, Nov. 7
– , assistant professor of writing, rhetoric and digital studies at the University of Kentucky, will discuss how incarcerated individuals build communities inside jails and the vital role they play in their emotional well-being, rehabilitation and reintegration.

Reparations for slavery. Environmental justice. Reproductive justice. Students, faculty, staff and the general public are invited to engage with these urgent topics and more throughout the spring semester thanks to the ���ϲ����� Symposium. The , which includes film screenings, lectures, concerts, exhibits, workshops and more, takes up this year’s�� theme of “repair.” Each program encourages participants to consider whether and when “repair” is possible, and how repair can help lead us to a more just world.

According to , director of both the Humanities Center and Central New York Humanities Corridor, “repair” can take on many forms and meanings. For some, it might signify healing, mending or fixing on an intimate or personal level, while for others it can mean setting things right on a more structural level, to rectify historical wrongs. The spring semester’s diverse mix of events, featuring several community-engaged components, offers a range of opportunities to connect with and make an impact on the local community.

“Bridging scholarly inquiry with public impact, engaging wider communities in social justice matters and the public good, is at the core of what ���ϲ����� is all about—and certainly lies at the heart of ���ϲ����� Symposium’s annual lineup,” observes May. She notes that “this year’s activities centered on ‘repair’ show how deeply the humanities are needed, in both educational and community settings, to confront complex questions of reparations, restitution, displacement, climate and wellness in quite profound ways.”

Sara Trail

This semester’s ���ϲ����� Symposium events kick off with a two-day event featuring the (SJSA). Founded in 2017 by Sara Trail, SJSA is a platform where individuals utilize textile art for personal transformation and community cohesion and to begin the journey toward becoming an agent of social change. Trail, who learned to sew at the age of 4, is now a successful author, sewing teacher and pattern and fabric designer. On Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. she will visit the (CFAC) in ���ϲ����� to present a program titled . The event will highlight the SJSA project, its history and impact, with a focus on how textile arts can contribute to repairing societal injustices.

Community Quilt Project

On Jan. 28 at 10 a.m., registrants are invited to create their own social justice quilt block in a led by Social Justice Sewing Academy instructors. In addition, now through Feb. 17, visitors can view SJSA quilts on display at CFAC, located at 805 E. Genesee St., ���ϲ�����. Trail’s visit is organized by , an associate professor in the School of Information Studies.

SeQuoia Kemp

Reproductive Justice–Part of , a yearlong exploration of the environmental humanities and arts organized by A&S’s and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Writing, Rhetoric and Communications Program, of the Sankofa Reproductive Health and Healing Center will take part in two ���ϲ����� Symposium events.

will trace out the relationship between environmental racism and reproductive justice and explain how the health of mothers is a key barometer of community health. Situated in the local ���ϲ����� context, Kemp’s talk will center on mothers’ lived experiences. This event will be held Thursday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in the Community Engagement Room, Nancy Cantor Warehouse.

Kemp will also lead a , which offers members of the ���ϲ����� community an opportunity to address intergenerational trauma in service of gaining greater reproductive justice for all. This event is Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. at the Salt Space, 103 Wyoming St., ���ϲ�����.

Community-Engaged Repair–The , with support from the Engaged Humanities Network and Unlearning the Urban, will host Sara Safransky, assistant professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University. Motivated by a concern for social and ecological justice, Safransky’s research centers around urban displacement and land justice.

Safransky’s first event, , is a workshop open to faculty, staff and students highlighting her community-engaged work in Detroit as a jumping off point for a broad conversation about how, why, and for whom research might take place. This event is Friday, Feb. 24 at 12:30 p.m. in Eggers Hall (room 155).

Her second event, , is a public lecture about the legacies of industrial decline in Detroit and the possibilities for creating a more just city. This event is Friday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. in MacNaughton Hall (room 200).

– Four composers whose music centers on the ideas of justice and identity will present a concert on March 26, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse III. Hosted by the and the , the performance of “repair” works will feature Flannery Cunningham, Stacy Garrop, Anthony R. Green and James Gordon Williams. The concert is free to all SU students, faculty and staff with valid ID.

Nell Irvin Painter

– The 40th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Public Memorial Lecture will feature a virtual talk by , professor emerita at Princeton University. Hosted by the Department of African American Studies, the program will explore issues of racial and gender identity and how they have figured into North American and Western history more broadly. Painter’s work urges us to look at history beyond the lines of difference and stereotype. The event on March 28 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. will feature a question-and-answer session and will be moderated by , associate professor of African American Studies.

–CODE^SHIFT (Collaboratory for Data Equity, Social Healing, Inclusive Futures and Transformation) at the Newhouse School presents a showcase of media, art and storytelling created within immigrant and refugee communities in ���ϲ����� and Richmond, Virginia. The event will feature work by the current cohort of Narratio Fellows, created in collaboration with artist Rina Banerjee, the . The showcase is March 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Museum Studies Gallery at the Nancy Cantor Warehouse.

Climate Justice–George Lakey, a renowned champion of creating positive social change through nonviolent direct-action tactics, will take part in two events exploring climate justice as part of .

At the first event, , Lakey will share stories of how the successfully mobilizes cross-sections of society to address structural challenges in the United States, and how people can create inclusive nonviolent campaigns. This event is April 13 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Bird Library (room 114).

Lakey’s second event, Climate Justice Nonviolent Action Campaign Training, will feature a discussion with Sarah Nahar, a Ph.D. candidate in religion, on how to craft nonviolent social change campaigns to be inclusive, powerful and successful. This event is April 14, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Community Folk Art Center.

Read more about .

iSchool associate professor sees SJSA as a perfect fit for this year’s symposium because of the way it combines art and activism in an environment carefully designed to create positive social change.

“When I think of repair, I immediately think of textiles, like sewing torn seams or darning socks” says Clarke. “SJSA shows us that textile arts can repair more than clothing—they can also work toward repairing injustices in our society. The City of ���ϲ����� consistently has some of the highest rates of poverty, segregation and redlining in the country. Efforts to repair these issues continue to be stalled in legal bureaucracy instead of moving forward toward reparative justice. We need to harness all the ways we can use our voices, talents and skills to communicate information about these issues, from formal data-driven reports to emotionally resonant art, if we want to have real change.”

SJSA’s founder Sara Trail has been an artist, activist and entrepreneur since an early age. She first started sewing at 4 years old and in her early teens she had already written a nationally published sewing book, was featured in a series of sewing videos and had designed two of her own textile patterns. After earning an undergraduate degree at University of California, Berkeley, and completing a graduate program in education at Harvard, Trail founded SJSA to get youths involved in art projects that engage and educate their communities.

Trail concedes that sewing and similar skills are being lost in younger generations. Relevant coursework (i.e., home economics) has been cut from many secondary schools, the cost of materials is prohibitive in many cases and fewer young people are exposed to textiles as a legitimate and modern art form. Aside from the expression of art and opportunity to actively pursue social justice, SJSA workshops also teach the skills necessary to sew, mend, darn and embroider.

“The goal is to create an intentional brave space to give people the opportunity to have their voices heard through textile art. They can talk about issues from ���ϲ����� to New York as a state, to a critique of America as a whole. What is going well, what is getting better, and how can we all participate in being socially active citizens” says Trail.

Having taken this workshop all around the country, Trail has heard about a variety of social issues affecting communities. Sometimes they overlap, but sometimes they are local/regional problems. No matter what issues come up, Trail is prepared to tackle them through her thoughtfully constructed exhibitions and workshops.

A self-proclaimed “artivist,” Trail explains her professional identity as “a hybrid of artist, activist and educator—and more than that, a forever student. I’m always learning. As much as I go and facilitate conversations, I leave the space learning as much as I bring into the space, because other people’s lived experiences and narratives are so important.”

Her approach to educating and her hunger for learning are evident in the way she runs her workshops. Wherever she is working, Trail leans on the community to deeply explore the issues they face. She intentionally creates room for community members to express themselves and encourages their agency and participation to help lead and guide the scaffolded discussions. After all, they are the experts on their own lives.

. There will be deeply meaningful conversations, opportunities to raise important social issues and at the end, a commemorative art piece built collaboratively by the community. Come for the art, stay for the activism!

The celebrates 19th year with a diverse selection of public events exploring “repair” in the context of medicine, religion, the environment and more. Through a lineup that includes a film festival, lectures, workshops, exhibitions and readings, programming will consider whether and when “repair” is possible, and encourage ethically based action. Symposium’s annual theme is chosen by the , whose members review proposals and select each year’s events and activities.

According to Humanities Center Director , this year’s season will examine the concept of repair through different historical, political and cultural lenses. She notes that while for many, repair signifies healing, mending or fixing, or bringing together (re-pairing) or restoring, it can also reference questions of restitution and reparations.

“Repair, as a verb, entails action—and the concept touches on key questions about what’s possible to repair, how, and by whom” says May, who also directs the Central New York Humanities Corridor. “For instance,” she asks, “who/what is seen as in need of ‘repair’ or as broken? How might repair and justice be ‘stitched’ together?” Furthermore, she notes, as much as repair can signal healing (in a positive sense), it can also reinforce prevailing ideas about health, cure and able-bodied norms.

This year’s ���ϲ����� Symposium kicks off with the . Presented by the Humanities Center and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the three-day festival features a line-up of award-winning films addressing social justice issues around the globe with ties to the symposium theme of “repair.” All films listed below will be screened on the ���ϲ����� campus.

Thursday, Sept. 22

• “” – Investigating what happened in the Palestinian village of Tantura in 1948, director Alon Schwarz explores Israeli society’s taboo on discussing the Nakba (Catastrophe) that displaced an estimated 700,000 Palestinians.

Friday, Sept.23

• “” – This collaborative reimagination by Chase Joynt breathes new life into long-lost medical archives, revealing the never-before-seen histories of transgender people in 1960s Los Angeles.

Saturday, Sept. 24

• “” – In this film by Violet Du Feng and Zhao Qing, a centuries-old secret text created by Chinese women promises modern female empowerment, but also commercial exploitation by the government.
• “” – This documentary by Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee highlights the dangers Black mothers face as they give birth in the U.S., and how their grieving families try to heal and change society.
• “” – A young female doctor fights to bring justice for a student sexually assaulted by one of her senior colleagues in this Bangladeshi drama by Abdullah Mohammad Saad.

Other Symposium Highlights:

The ���ϲ����� Human Rights Film Festival (SUHRFF) celebrates 20 years of programming with outstanding films about human rights and social justice from around the world. SUHRFF takes place Sept. 22-24, and is part of 2022-23: REPAIR. It is presented by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Tula Goenka

“When I started the Human Rights Film Festival 20 years ago, I never imagined that we would sustain the energy and momentum over two decades, or that it would become an eagerly awaited annual event for our ���ϲ����� campus community,” says festival founder , professor of television, radio and film at the Newhouse School.��, associate professor of English and SUHRFF co-director, ascribes the festival’s staying power to a combination of factors. “We’ve been able to build an audience among students, faculty, staff and the ���ϲ����� public by consistently programming what we believe to be the most interesting, stimulating and vital films to emerge from the international film festival circuit.”

Adds Goenka, “Roger and I have programmed several films for the University community before they’ve gained wider recognition or success, such as Joshua Oppenheimer’s Oscar-nominated ‘The Act of Killing’ (2012) or Rudy Valdez’s ‘The Sentence’ (2019), which won an Emmy for exceptional merit in documentary filmmaking.”

Hallas also points out that he and Goenka work hard to build enriching experiences for students and visiting filmmakers, who interact with one another during post-screening Q&As and smaller special events where they discuss social justice storytelling in greater depth.

Roger Hallas

“The ���ϲ����� Human Rights Film Festival is a prime example of the important work of our faculty,” says Newhouse dean . “It builds community and provides our students with the opportunity to view and understand the world in new ways. Kudos to Professor Goenka for creating this initiative and sustaining it for 20 years.”

���ϲ����� faculty also praise the festival for providing students with intellectual and social engagement both in and out of their coursework. While many instructors incorporate the festival’s films into their course syllabi, others appreciate the festival’s capacity to broaden campus discussions of major issues.

Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center, says, “We are delighted to once again partner with SUHRFF to celebrate its 20th year as part of our��annual�����ϲ����� Symposium��public event series. Film is an important medium for forging dialogue, offering an immersive experience and bridging divides. Social justice storytelling is essential in our collective pursuit of a more just world for all, locally and globally.”

SUHRFF began as “Illuminating Oppression” in 2003, when Goenka collaborated with the international social justice organization Breakthrough to program a series of films focused on human rights issues in South Asia. The program was broadened to showcase films from across the world in 2007. Mallika Dutt, founder and former president and CEO of Breakthrough, says, “It has been an honor and delight for me to collaborate with my genius friend Tula to create the first South Asian human rights film festival in the United States in 2003 as a partnership between Breakthrough and ���ϲ�����. As the festival celebrates 20 years of highlighting multiple forms of justice, I want to congratulate everyone involved for their ongoing commitment to global social change.”

When Hallas joined Goenka as co-director in 2010, they collaborated with the Mellon Central New York Humanities Corridor to organize the first Digital Witness Symposium as part of the festival. The symposium, which ran for five years, invited scholars, media makers and human rights leaders to discuss how the digital revolution was transforming human rights media.

The 2022 ���ϲ����� Symposium theme of “Repair” proved a powerful inspiration for this year’s program, according to Goenka. The opening film, “Tantura,” investigates how difficult the repair work of peace building becomes when one side refuses to recognize the historical trauma endured by the other. The film will be screened on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse 3. Israeli filmmaker Alon Schwarz will introduce the film and participate in a Q&A session following the screening.

SUHRFF continues with “Framing Agnes,” Chase Joynt’s playful but deeply moving documentary about the everyday lives of trans people in mid-century Los Angeles. Joynt uses inventive formal devices to repair trans histories so long beholden to the power of medical science. The film will be screened on Friday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse 3. Joynt will introduce the film and participate in a Q&A session following the screening.

SUHRFF concludes on Saturday, Sept. 24, with three films: “Hidden Letters,” “Aftershock” and “Rehana Maryam Noor,” which explore the necessary work of repair in the process of empowerment against diverse forms of gendered and racial discrimination in China, the United States and Bangladesh.

Festival co-sponsors are the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics; Atrocity Studies and the Practices of Social Justice Minor; Department of Anthropology; Department of Film and Media Arts; Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics; Department of Political Science; Department of Religion; Latino- Latin American Studies Program; Jewish Studies Program; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Studies Program; Renée Crown University Honors Program; Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC); Hendricks Chapel; Lender Center for Social Justice; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Resource Center; Office of Diversity and Inclusion; and South Asia Center.

Festival supporters are the Department of Art & Music Histories; Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies; Department of English; Department of History; Department of Women’s and Gender Studies; Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition; Asian/Asian American Studies Program; Disability Cultural Center; and South Asian Student Association (SASA).

All films are closed-captioned or subtitled and audio described in English. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is available during all Q&A sessions. If you require other accommodations, contact Amanda Lerch at alerch@syr.edu or 315.443.2150.

Free parking is available to the public on Thursday and Friday at the University Avenue Garage, and on Saturday at either the College Place or Women’s Building lots. Drivers should indicate to the attendant that they are attending the film festival.

Full information is available online at . Follow on social media at #SUHRFF.

From COVID-19’s transformative impact on people’s daily lives to the global reckoning against histories of colonialism and racism, norms are constantly evolving. The ���ϲ����� Humanities Center’s yearlong , entitled Conventions, explores the ever-changing political, social and cultural currents through a series of lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films, readings and more.

The Symposium’s theme, chosen by the��, features events intended to inspire critical thinking and encourage ethically based action through a humanistic lens.

According to Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and the Central New York Humanities Corridor, this spring’s events will help attendees confront and rework powerful norms and expectations that shape people’s lives and imaginations. “We hope the spring Symposium programming provokes open-ended thinking about what conventions we have come to accept, in our collective and personal lives,” says May.��Below is a selection of upcoming Symposium events.

Supporting Urban Communities During COVID

Community-based programs play a critical role in convening and forging solidarity among vulnerable urban communities.��, a program of the College of Arts and Sciences, has been a space devoted to cultural and community exchange, bridging the Hispanic communities of ���ϲ����� and Central New York for 10 years. But according to Tere Paniagua, executive director of La Casita and of the Office of Cultural Engagement for the Hispanic Community at ���ϲ�����, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting isolation severed bonds developed through community-engaged programs at La Casita and similar organizations.

Zach Pearson (left), M.S.W. candidate in the Falk College’s School of Social Work, leads an open dialogue about mindfulness with teens enrolled in ECHOES, a program focused on drama, acting and self-expression.

“The fracture in our system seems to have deepened, disconnecting people from each other and disengaging communities from service agencies, youth programs and other resources available at no cost to residents,” says Paniagua. “The strategies that worked well to build community connections in the past are not as effective now.”

In response, La Casita is hosting —an open, candid dialogue among community organizers, artists, scholars, educators and students about how to address these fractures in ���ϲ�����-area urban communities. They will discuss challenges that can hinder community support and the need to reassess traditional ways of engaging. The event is Feb. 24 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and will be held in person at La Casita, located at 109 Otisco St. in ���ϲ�����, and will also be available virtually, .

The panelists will reflect on the experiences, inadequacies and successes of various community engagement initiatives as programs reopened to the public following the COVID-19 shutdown.

“The present circumstances within urban communities living in poverty demand more from agencies established to engage and serve,” says Paniagua. “The panel will consider social and cultural elements; the pandemic-related ruptures that have underscored disparity and inequity; and what changes are needed to achieve positive results.”

The event will be moderated by Paniagua, and panelists include:

• Bea Gonzalez, community organizer and the University’s former vice president for community engagement
• Fanny Villarreal, executive director, YWCA
• Elisa Morales, executive director, Spanish Action League
• Maria Emma Ticio, associate professor and chair, Spanish and linguistics
• Brice Nordquist, Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement
• Zachary Pearson, M.S.W. candidate, School of Social Work
• Lizmarie Montemayor, engaged humanities undergraduate research assistant
• Zakery Munoz, Ph.D. candidate, writing and rhetoric

Conventions of Care

Narratio Fellows at the summer workshop (Photo by Edward Grattan)

Since 2019, the�� has been inspiring ���ϲ�����-area former refugee youth to share their stories in a way that is authentic and meaningful to them. The fellowship launches each summer with a monthlong intensive workshop where Fellows learn how to use artistic expression as a storytelling method. They work with artists-in-residence to explore and represent a full range of their own histories and experiences through different creative mediums.

With the 2021-22 cohort marking Narratio’s largest class to date, this year’s fellowship included two groups: A poetry cohort, led by Somali-American writer and community organizer Khadija Mohamed, herself a��, and a photography cohort led by Columbian-American photographer and filmmaker Stefano Castro in collaboration with����and��National Geographic photographers Matt Moyer and Amy Toensing, who is also a professor at the Newhouse School.

Fellows will present their original poetry and photography at an exhibition titled “” on May 5 at La Casita. The exhibition will be connected to La Casita’s spring showcase celebrating youth art in ���ϲ�����.

“Timely and timeless” is how Vivian May, director of the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center, describes “Conventions,” the theme of this year’s . In the political sense, she says a convention can be a gathering or convening, as in political conventions or civil rights grassroots organizing. One recent example includes the #BlackLivesMatter movement against police violence for a more just, peaceful world for all, particularly for Black communities. Conventions also take up the concept of norms or expectations (that one follows or seeks to break or change), be they social, religious, familial, linguistic or artistic, among others.

May says this year’s Symposium theme is particularly fitting during the pandemic, as the health crisis has altered ideas of what is (or should be considered) normal in everyday life, how people want to live their lives, and how to inhabit and support a global community across conventional divides and boundaries.

The ���ϲ����� Symposium, now in its 18th year, will investigate and reflect on conventions through a series of lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films, readings and more. Hosted by the��, the series is intended to broaden people’s views, address humanitarian issues and encourage ethically based action. Symposium’s annual theme is chosen by the��, whose members review proposals and select each year’s final lineup of events and activities.

Kicking Off With ‘Heart of the Barrio’

Symposium’s season begins with the on Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. ET at La Casita Cultural Center, a hub of experiential learning for ���ϲ����� students. It is also a place of participatory research and cultural heritage preservation for Latinx scholars, artists, community organizers and educators. This in-person/virtual event includes a guided tour of the exhibit, which focuses on the .

Tere Paniagua, executive director of La Casita and the Office of Cultural Engagement for the Hispanic Community in the College of Arts and Sciences, says that the anniversary programming and exhibition transcend narrow cultural categorizations of Latinx cultures and focus on the individual and collective strengths and talents of those who have contributed to the Center’s richness over the past decade.

Students and alumni facilitating a dual language reading program with children at La Casita.

Nearly 200 students each year from 24 different academic programs across the University participate in co-curricular work, from course-related research to service-learning projects. One community engagement project, also supported by the Humanities Center, is La Casita’s annual children’s publication. The book features original drawings and stories by the children (ages 8-12) in La Casita’s dual language youth program, with writing workshops led by students.

“The student volunteers and children immerse themselves in explorations of ideas and writing for publication,” Paniagua says. “For many of these children growing up in disadvantaged circumstances, this is a moment when their work and creativity are recognized and validated by their community, teachers and families.”

La Casita was also part of last year’s ���ϲ����� Symposium, “,” which included the “” exhibition.

Other Symposium Highlights

The 19th annual��, on Sept. 23, 24 and 25, will showcase trailblazing feature documentaries about social justice issues around the world.

Symposium Q&A

Vivian May

Vivian May, who in addition to being director of the Humanities Center also directs the Central New York Humanities Corridor and is a professor of women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, offers insight into this year’s Symposium.

What do you hope people attending any of this year’s events will take away about conventions?

We hope Symposium’s broad engagement with the humanities and the theme will provoke open-ended thinking about what conventions we have come to accept, in our collective and personal lives. In our classes, as researchers, and with and in our wider communities, the humanities can help us confront and rework powerful norms and expectations that shape our daily lives and our imaginations. The power of collectivity, of convening as a community, and thinking about how best to forge coalitions, build connections and yet not silence differences or ignore disparities, is also something I hope is part of what this year’s programming sparks.

Can you talk about what��this year’s��Symposium��graphic��says about conventions?

It is intended to convey a sense of community or gathering together (circling), but also openings for departing or diverging from one’s community—hence, some of the fish turn away or are swimming outward from the group.

With last year’s events being virtual because of the pandemic, did you find that you were able to reach a wider range of audiences? Will you continue to offer some events virtually going forward?

Yes! Our impact and imprint for programming grew expansively, with participants from across the nation and around the world engaging with our work. Online format events continue to be more inclusive, for those with health immunity issues right now, and are “greener” in many ways, as we face a global warming crisis. Of course, there are intimate and more personal connections that can be lost online, so a mix of offerings and approaches, to meet various needs and remain inclusive and broadly welcoming, is how we anticipate future seasons will unfold.

This is the 18th symposium, each year with a different theme. What factors go into choosing the theme each year?

Our interdisciplinary board, comprising faculty and staff from across the University, thinks carefully about selecting a concept that has many valences and possibilities, offers different ways to be interpreted and applied, and that is relevant across generational, disciplinary, cultural and historical contexts.

How has the symposium changed or evolved over the years?

One significant change, starting in my second year as director, was that, given growing interest and demand, we shifted to a two-semester season, to support more offerings and spread out opportunities across the year for students and faculty to engage with all our partners’ compelling ideas and activities—from film and drama to exhibits and lectures to workshops and other hands-on offerings.

At the same time, the initial impetus—to work from and around a concept, and invite our campus partners and participants to plumb its possibilities—remains a constant.

For more information about the Humanities Center or any of this year’s Symposium events, visit the��.

She will be interviewed by Rawiya Kameir, assistant teaching professor in the magazine, news and digital journalism department in the Newhouse School. A critic, editor and producer, Kameir was a finalist for the 2020 National Magazine Award in the Essays and Criticism category.

All individuals wishing to virtually attend the lecture��. You will then be sent a confirmation email with your personal link to access the virtual interview.

Nikole Hannah-Jones

���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures brings to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

Hannah-Jones’ appearance is co-sponsored by the , which is presenting .

Hannah-Jones covers racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine and has spent years chronicling the way official policy has created—and maintains—racial segregation in housing and schools.��Her deeply personal reports on the black experience in America��offer a compelling case for greater equity.

She was named a�� for “reshaping national conversations around education reform.” This is but one honor in a growing list. Her story “Worlds Apart” in��The New York Times Magazine��won the��National Magazine Award (a.k.a. Ellie) for “journalism that illuminates issues of national importance” as well as the��Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism.

In 2016, Hannah-Jones was awarded a Peabody Award and a George Polk Award for radio reporting for her��“This American Life”��story “The Problem We All Live With.”��She was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists and was also named to 2019’s The Root 100 as well as Essence’s Woke 100. Her reporting has also won Deadline Club Awards, Online Journalism Awards,��the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service, the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Distinguished Education Reporting and��the Emerson College President’s Award for Civic Leadership.

Most recently, The New York Times Magazine’s that she spearheaded on the history and lasting legacy of American slavery went viral, and her powerful introductory essay—written under the headline “Our Democracy’s Founding Ideals Were False When They Were Written. Black Americans Have Fought to Make Them True”—was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Named for the year the first enslaved Africans arrived in America, the project features an ongoing series of essays and art on the relationship between slavery and everything from social infrastructure and segregation, to music and sugar—all by Black American authors, activists, journalists and others.

Nothing we know about American life today has been untouched by the legacy of slavery. “The 1619 Project” quickly went viral—the print issue flew off shelves immediately, prompting hundreds of thousands of extra copies to be printed—spreading its heartbreaking and important message worldwide. Random House announced��that it will be adapting the project into a graphic novel and four��publications for young readers, while also releasing an extended version of the original��publication, including more essays, fiction and poetry.

Earlier this year, Hannah-Jones appeared on to discuss the project. And an impactful ad about the project—a collaboration with singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe—debuted at the Oscars just days later.

In addition to Hannah-Jones’ Pulitzer, “The 1619 Project” won two 2020 National Magazine Awards this past May, in the Public Interest category and in the Podcasting category, for three audio pieces.

In February 2020, she was profiled by Essence as part of its Black History Month series, celebrating “the accomplishments made by those in the past, as well as those paving the way for the future.”

Hannah-Jones co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting with the goal of increasing the number of reporters and editors of color.

Along with��The New York Times, her reporting has been featured in��ProPublica,��The Atlantic Magazine, Huffington Post, Essence, The Week Magazine,��Grist, Politico Magazine and on��“Face the Nation,” “This American Life,” “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” MSNBC, C-SPAN,��Democracy Now and radio stations across the country.

The University Lectures series will continue virtually via Zoom this semester with celebrated designer, international tastemaker, television personality and ���ϲ����� alumnus Thom Filicia ’04 (“Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”) on Oct. 27.

As we collectively navigate through a global pandemic, pursue social justice on multiple fronts and seek answers to the global warming crisis, “Futures,” the theme of this year’s ���ϲ����� Symposium hosted by the ��(SUHC), offers a series of events to broaden people’s perspectives, inspire change and encourage ethically based action.

“Futures,” which launched at the start of the semester and runs throughout the academic year, features a tackling existential questions like, why are we here, what are we called to do and to whom/what are we accountable or responsible? Many Symposium events address social, cultural and environmental shortcomings, past and present, and offer ways we can improve the outlook for our shared future.

Some of this year’s Symposium events include a and creator of , Nikole Hannah-Jones (The New York Times) (Oct. 8); a , whose work illustrates the possibility of moving toward a peaceful future (Oct. 29); a addressing race and roles of women while engaging with a just vision of the future (Nov. 12) (Jean-Louis’ exhibit “” is currently on display at Point of Contact); and an , linking ���ϲ����� and South African communities to investigate the impacts of climate change on marginalized and racialized populations (March 26). All Symposium events this year take place virtually, allowing for unprecedented national and international participation.

A Q&A with Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center, principal investigator of the Central New York Humanities Corridor and professor of women’s and gender studies, provides further insight into this year’s Symposium.

How does this year’s Symposium address some of the current challenges facing society?

VM: This year is full of uncertainty and ambiguity—because of the pandemic and novel coronavirus, but also because many forms of injustice and inequality are being laid bare, from state violence against Black and Brown communities to the ways that climate change is wreaking havoc on our environment.

In response, “Futures” has many different kinds of offerings. We hope this multifaceted approach provides different portals for people to experience how the humanities matter, how we must not take them for granted and how they provide us with much-needed tools to navigate so much uncertainty.

How do the humanities help us in times like these and what are the benefits of attending symposium events?

VM: Art, music, history, drama, literature, philosophy, languages, religion—they pull us into different worlds, expand our imaginations and provide us with tools to deal, at our innermost levels, with our fears, hopes and disappointments. The humanities lead us to, and through, hard questions about inequality, love, memory, justice and the role of the state. The nature of existence, and definitions of what we mean by personhood, or what a world is, cannot be addressed without the humanities.

So, we hope people find ways to connect with each other, think proactively about the future and to try to ensure, even if we also feel some despair right now, that collectively, we can and should pursue glimmers of possibility for a transformed and more just world.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of The 1619 Project, will participate in a virtual conversation on Oct. 8. (Photo by James Estrin)

On Oct. 8, in partnership with University Lectures, Nikole Hannah-Jones (The New York Times), a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and creator of The 1619 Project, will engage in a��virtual conversation with Rawiya Kameir, a new faculty member in the Newhouse School. What can people look forward to that evening?

VM: Hannah-Jones’ work, particularly in The 1619 Project, excavates the past, starting with the first ship of enslaved people arriving at Jamestown, as a means to carve out our future differently as a nation. It is well beyond time to collectively confront how systemic racism, structural inequality and violence are woven into the very fabric of our democracy, in contradiction with our stated aims and goals. Hannah-Jones’ work underscores how the future we say we want is not possible without a return to our nation’s roots, meaningfully reflecting on (and acting from) how our past continues to shape our present structures, practices, laws and our very sense of self as individuals and as a nation. As James Baldwin wrote in 1965, “History…is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us.”

With symposium events going virtual, how does that impact programming as well as potential audiences?

VM: We made the decision to hold all of our offerings in a virtual format early on, when not much was known about how COVID-19 might unfold and what impact that might have on this academic year’s activities. Holding remote-format events, workshops and dialogues is different—we lose the intimacy of being together, exploring ideas. On the other hand, virtual events have invited broad engagement in new ways. First, our students can participate, no matter where they are in the world. Faculty, staff, students and community members can easily join activities and, in addition, we have seen quite a lot of national and international participation already in this year’s earliest Symposium events.

Describe your vision for the Humanities Center and its role in larger cultural conversations.

VM: At the SUHC, we showcase how the humanities are needed to address today’s most pressing problems and can help us all explore some of life’s most enduring questions—questions that have no easy answers or quick solutions, but that we are compelled to answer as a broader society and individually. Through our diverse events, research supports and fellowships for faculty and students, we break divides, facilitate new knowledge and bring people together in ways that build community. The SUHC’s impact can be felt well beyond the University’s boundaries—thanks to our many community partnerships, but also because we are home to the CNY Humanities Corridor, an 11-institution consortium supporting humanities collaborations in Central New York, as well as national and international partnerships.

Since 2004, ���ϲ����� Symposium has engaged wider publics with innovative, interdisciplinary work in the humanities by renowned scholars, artists, authors and performers. The Symposium’s annual theme is chosen by the Humanities Center advisory board, which also helps review proposals and select each year’s final line-up of events and activities.

For more information about the Humanities Center or any of this year’s Symposium events, email��humcenter@syr.edu.

Hilary Weaver

On Oct. 22 and 23, the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI), housed within the College of Law, and the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center, whose home is the College of Arts and Sciences, are hosting two virtual events on disability and future thinking. Both events are part of , the Humanities Center’s annual public events series. This year’s programming engages the meaning and impact of “Futures” from diverse perspectives and genres across a range of locations, locally and globally. The events also honor and contribute to National Disability Awareness Month, celebrated each year in October.

“The two-day ‘Futures’ event is an excellent opportunity for those involved in social work, members of the disability community and Indigenous community, and many other individuals and groups to examine methods of change to positively impact those with disabilities,” says Diane Wiener, research professor and associate director of interdisciplinary programs and outreach at BBI. “July 26, 2020, was the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); the two-day ‘Futures’ event could not be more timely. Professor Weaver brings years of expertise and experience in multicultural, Indigenous-centered social work to our collaborative discussion on the future of the disability community and thoughtful, practical ways to imagine and create a more inclusive and accessible world. We are honored and thrilled to have her join us, virtually.”

“(Dis)ability Futures and Indigeneity: Critical Epistemologies for Social Change”
Virtual lecture on Oct. 22 from 4 to 6 p.m. ET

Guest Speaker: , associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, University at Buffalo

In mainstream thinking, disabilities are frequently perceived as deficits, emboldened by values borne out of colonization. In this lecture, Weaver instead draws on traditional Indigenous understandings, wisdom, and knowledge to answer vital questions. What can the United States and the rest of the world learn to change our future, by making disabilities and other differences understandable, without applying a deficit model? The future does not need to be as hierarchical as the present.

RSVP by Oct. 16 to receive the link to the event.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and live captioning will be provided. Please indicate any other accommodations requests when RSVPing.

“The Medicine Wheel as a Framework for Understanding Disabilities: Informing Our Future Thinking, Informing Our Future Actions”
Virtual workshop on Oct. 23 from 10 a.m. to noon ET

Guest Speaker: , associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, University at Buffalo

The Medicine Wheel is a powerful symbol for many Native Americans and it contains many layers of meaning. In this workshop, Weaver explores how components of the Medicine Wheel can be used to understand traditional Indigenous ideas about disabilities. Participants will engage with relevant Native American teachings and interpretations to understand how these ideas can shift our understanding of different abilities of Mind, Body, Spirit and Heart. Discussion focuses on how, as individuals and more broadly, we can work toward change, reduce stigma and “othering,” and forge a better future in our shared world.

RSVP by Oct. 16 to receive the link to the event.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and live captioning will be provided. Please indicate any other accommodations requests when RSVPing.

Note: a special opportunity for NY State licensed social workers, the School of Social Work Continuing Education Program is offering free continuing education (CE) contact hours for these events. If you are eligible and interested in obtaining free CE’s for this event, please express interest when you RSVP. Earn up to four Continuing Education contact hours on Oct. 22 (2 CEs) and Oct. 23 (2 CEs). is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0106. Please for more information.

Additional supporters of the two-day symposium are the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics; the Office of Diversity and Inclusion; the Department of Religion; the Native American and Indigenous Studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences; and Native American SUNY: Western Consortium.

Through the eye—or ear—of the beholder.

“People experience silence in many ways. It may represent peace and quiet, or—in contexts of inequality—a stifling of voices, or a strategy of resistance,” says Vivian May, director of the in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and newly appointed director of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-supported Central New York Humanities Corridor. “Silence is a rich concept, approachable from many angles.”

Each year, the Humanities Center hosts the ���ϲ����� Symposium, a year-long series of public events focused around a theme. Previous themes (all chosen by the center’s advisory board) include “Stories,” “Belonging,” “Identity” and “Justice.”

Programming for the engages the meaning and impact of silence across perspectives and genres, locally and globally. As notions of social justice and inclusivity continue to be at the forefront of national discussions, students, faculty and community members have the opportunity to engage personally with these same ideas through the Symposium’s more than two dozen events.

Highlights of fall Symposium programming include:

• film (Human Rights Film Festival, Sept. 26-28);
• musical performance (“On the Edge of Silence” with Ensemble/Parallax, Sept. 29);
• exploring the humanities’ role in understanding health and disability (“TitBits: Breast Cancer Stories,” Oct. 24-26, and “Cripping Graphic Medicine,” Oct. 29); and
• poetry (“What You Have Heard is True,” with Carolyn Forché, Dec. 5).

“The humanities (the arts, literature, philosophy, language, history) give us the keys to interpreting the human condition,” May observes. “For example, when is silence acceptable—and to whom? When is it chosen, or imposed, and why? These thought-provoking questions are timeless—and timely.”

The full Symposium schedule is available at . Events are free and open to the public. Workshops require advance registration, where noted.

The Humanities Center is located in the historic Tolley Humanities Building. It serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships, and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

In addition to the ���ϲ����� Symposium, the Humanities Center annually supports graduate student and faculty fellowships; the Watson Visiting Professorship; a Universitywide Books in the Humanities celebration; and many lectures, workshops and seminars. It is also home of the Central New York Humanities Corridor, a dynamic consortium of more than 10 universities and colleges that sponsors innovative research activities across the region.

Presented by the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), the series explores the role of storytelling through an interdisciplinary lens. More information is at .

A&S recently caught up with a few of this month’s organizers—Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history, Anneka Herre, program director of the Urban Video Project (UVP), and Phil Memmer, executive director of the Arts Branch of the YMCA—to discuss their programming.

Osamah, tell us about your transnational symposium, “,” on April 11-12.

Osamah Khalil

We will address the theme of “Stories” by examining how authoritarianism has been experienced and resisted through a range of expressions, from text and film to art and activism, over the past seven decades.

Our topics will range from Japanese-American internment during World War II, to the end of the Cold War, to current debates over immigration. In addition to different kinds of authoritarianism, we will explore why it endures.

You’ve assembled a terrific lineup.
Thank you. Participants include ���ϲ����� faculty and graduate students, as well as scholars from Cornell and the U.S. State Department [Associate Professor Jeremy Wallace and historian James Graham Wilson, respectively].

Urban Video Project will screen “Culture Capture: Terminal Addition” on the Everson Museum Plaza from April 11-May 25.

Anneka, you have invited the New Red Order [NRO], a rotating and expanding cast of visual artists and performers, to campus. Tell us about them.
Our three guests—Adam and Zack Khalil, as well as Jackson Polys—are core contributors to the NRO. [April 16-18], they will discuss and premiere their film “Culture Capture: Terminal Addition,” commissioned by LightWork for UVP and shot in and around ���ϲ�����.

The NRO is a “public secret society” that challenges European settler and colonialist tendencies with what they call “sites of savage pronouncement.”

American history told through a Native lens, as it were.
Their project is about many stories. They include stories that we, as a country, built on settler-colonialism, tell ourselves about our own history, specifically the way we have consigned Indigenous peoples to a historical past.

Phil, you regularly team up with ���ϲ����� Symposium for a mini-residency by a renowned writer. What should we know about this year’s visitor, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, on April 25?

Laure-Anne Bosselaar

She’s an acclaimed poet whose four books demonstrate how the unique particulars of one’s life stories—the horrors of anti-Semitism, the pain of childhood neglect and abuse, the grief of losing a spouse—can, through the filter of art, shimmer with universal truths.

Her latest book, “These Many Rooms” [Four Way Books, 2019], draws on the sudden loss of her husband, noted poet Kurt Brown. Like her previous volumes, it shows how the particulars of any individual’s story have the potential to become universal through artful retelling.

Her own life story is rather unique—born in Belgium, raised by a convent of “abusive nuns.”
Laure-Anne describes the family that briefly raised her as “virulent anti-Semitism.” Her stories from these difficult times permeate her first three books of poems, which show how early emotional and physical deprivation can be overcome by intelligence, humor, curiosity and determination.

[Pulitzer Prize-winning poet] Charles Simic says that Laure-Anne writes “wise poems about memory—poems whose art lies in their ability to make these memories ours, too.”

Rounding out ���ϲ����� Symposium is a (April 23-24) by Michelle Caswell and Samip Mallick, co-founders of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) in Philadelphia.

“They will address how institutional archives have historically served as sites of white privilege and supremacy, thus disadvantaging the stories of marginalized communities,” writes organizer Tarida Anantachai, a librarian in ���ϲ����� Library’s Learning Commons in Bird Library. “Their programs will explore the embedded oppressions within archival practices and how community-based archives such as SAADA have countered these structures and amplified the experiences of historically underrepresented communities.”

Susan Hill

���ϲ����� Symposium continues its yearlong exploration of “Stories” with three events in March.

On March 5, Susan Hill, associate professor of history at the University of Toronto (UT), will discuss “” from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (114 Bird Library).

The following day, she will participate in a with Philip P. Arnold, associate professor and chair of religion, and Scott Manning Stevens, associate professor and director of Native American and Indigenous studies. (Both professors are in ���ϲ�����’s College of Arts and Sciences.) The program is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Skä·noñh—Great Law of Peace Center (6680 Onondaga Lake Parkway, Liverpool).

On March 21, Andrew Saluti G’09, assistant professor of design in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) and coordinator of VPA’s Museum Studies program, will moderate a at the William H. Seward House Museum (SHM) in nearby Auburn. Joining him are Jeffrey Ludwig, SHM’s director of education, and Peter Hyde, owner of his eponymously named design firm in New York City. The event is from 6:30-8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Nancy Cantor Warehouse (350 West Fayette St., ���ϲ�����).

For more information, call the Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192, or visit .

A&S recently spoke with all three organizers about their events.

In addition to directing UT’s Centre for Indigenous Studies, Susan Hill is author of “The Clay We Are Made Of” [University of Manitoba Press, 2017]. What else should we know about her?
Stevens: Dr. Hill’s work stands tall in the field of Indigenous history. She has a Ph.D. in Indigenous studies from Trent University—one of the oldest, best regarded programs of its kind in Canada.

Dr. Hill was raised and lives in Canada’s Six Nations of the Grand River. Her formulation and articulation of a Haudenosaunee historiography in her published essays and in “The Clay We Are Made Of” make her a leading figure in the Haudenosaunee intellectual community.

Arnold: Her lecture will focus on the gap between written and oral accounts of the first contact between French Jesuits and the Onondaga people—something that occurred near here in 1654. She’ll tell the Indigenous side of the story.

Phil, how does First Contact relate to your role as founding director of Skä-noñh, the Haudenosaunee heritage center at Onondaga Lake?
Arnold: Skä-noñh is located on the site of a 17th-century French Jesuit mission. We will re-narrate�� local history from the Onondaga perspective.

Stevens: Dr. Hill synthesizes information from traditional oral histories, wampum belts and document-based archives. The result is a distinctly Haudenosaunee historical perspective, offering a corrective to settler histories.

Andrew, your event uncovers a different period of local history.��
Our program, “Designing Stories of Abolition and Coalition,” looks at how exhibition design affects our interpretation of history. We will focus on a new exhibition at SHM that links William Seward [U.S. Secretary of State from 1861-69], his family and his home in Auburn to the Underground Railroad.

Would you say more about the exhibition?
It recognizes our community’s role in the abolitionist movement. The exhibition also invites us to have difficult, yet important conversations about where we’ve come from and who we are today.

There is archival evidence of the Seward House being not only a stop on the Underground Railroad, but also the home, for a while, of Margaret Stewart, possibly the daughter or niece of Harriet Tubman.

What is “exhibition design”?
It refers to the way we consume the information presented—the way we interpret and experience it. Exhibition design ranges from the way labels are type set, to the complete transformation of an environmental space.

Recognizing the careers of Professors Susan S. Wadley and Ann Grodzins Gold, the event includes guest panelists Kirin Narayan (Australian National University), Joyce Flueckiger (Emory University), Corinne Dempsey G’96 (Nazareth College) and Priti Ramamurthy G’95 (University of Washington).

The discussion is free and open to the public, and takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Dr. Paul & Natalie Strasser Legacy Room, 220 Eggers Hall. For more information, contact the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) at 315.443.7192 or visit .

Wadley and Gold also are involved with “,” running from April 6-May 18 at ArtRage Gallery, 505 Hawley Ave., ���ϲ�����. The opening reception for the exhibition, which represents two painting styles from eastern India, is Saturday, April 6, from 7 to 9 p.m.

A&S recently caught up with both professors, who have enjoyed prolific careers in A&S and the Maxwell School.

Susan S. Wadley

Sue, you hold multiple positions, including the Ford-Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies. What will you miss most about ���ϲ�����, when you retire in June?
Wadley: I love teaching ANT 185, Global Encounters: Comparing World Views and Values Cross Culturally. It’s an introductory course focusing on war, organ transfers, surrogate mothers and global tourism. It usually attracts about 200 students.

I also will miss the Coronat Scholars Program, of which I am founding director. This fall marks our 16th incoming class.

Most of all, I’ll miss my great graduate students.

Is it true, Ann, that you’ve already retired?
Gold: Officially, my first day [of retirement] was Jan. 1, 2019. I spent it with my husband in an Indian ashram, which he has been visiting since the ’60s.

I miss everyone at ���ϲ�����—my colleagues, my students, our wonderful staff, the vital interdisciplinary conversations. I’ve had a fortunate career here.

You were the Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion, in addition to being an anthropology professor. How do you define ethnography?
Gold: There are many definitions, but, to me, it means writing based on living in a place, as part of a community or even as part of another family.

India must seem like a second home to you.
Gold: Fieldwork depends on interpersonal relationships, and there are risks of them souring, of unfulfilled expectations. The rewards of incorporation—into a community and a family—and of learning whole worlds from people seem to outweigh the risks. The work is worth the struggle.

Wadley: Our fieldwork is very basic—no electricity nor amenities. Through our research, we’ve gained major insights into how women live their daily lives.

Ann Grodzins Gold

You’ve assembled a remarkable panel, some of whom have ���ϲ����� connections.
Gold: Corrine [Dempsey] was my first graduate advisee. I have enjoyed seeing her work take remarkable, new directions. Corrine’s latest book is about spirit work in Iceland.

Wadley: My memory is that her doctoral dissertation and first book grew out of a course that I taught.

Priti��[Ramamurthy] and I worked closely together when she was a student and later in her various roles at ���ϲ�����, including associate director of the South Asia Center [in the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs] and a faculty member in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies [in A&S].

Gold: Although I never taught Priti, we are now friends and colleagues.

I feel like we’ve known Kirin [Narayan] and Joyce [Flueckiger] forever—our work is closely intertwined. Our shared reliance on intimate ethnography and many forms of narrative is pivotal to our enduring sense of connection.

How will you spend retirement?
Wadley: Gardening, when the weather is nice. Also quilting, which is my second love. Grandchildren and more.

Gold: I am figuring it out as I go along.

The panel discussion is co-sponsored by the Department of Religion (A&S), the Department of Anthropology (Maxwell), the South Asia Center (Maxwell), the Humanities Center (A&S) and the Ray Smith Symposium (A&S).

Anthony DeCurtis (Photo by Francesca DeCurtis)

���ϲ����� Symposium continues its yearlong excursion into “Stories” with a program by , bestselling authors of biographies of musicians Lou Reed ’64 and Joni Mitchell, respectively.

Both authors will discuss their respective books and rock biographies, in general, on Tuesday, Feb. 19, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library. Theo Cateforis, associate professor of music history and cultures in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), will moderate the discussion. Afterward, DeCurtis and Yaffe will sign copies of their books, which will be available for sale.

Cateforis also will host a session with DeCurtis on “The Music and Life of Lou Reed” in conjunction with Cateforis’ course Rock Music/HOM 378 on Feb. 19 from 2 to 3:20 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons.

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, call the Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192 or visit .

“As a fellow author, I admire Anthony’s and David’s ease of prose. They have a wonderful sense of flow,” says Cateforis, author of “The Rock History Reader” (Routledge), the third edition of which was published last month.��“It is tremendously difficult to engage a reader, but they make it look easy.”

A contributing editor for Rolling Stone for more than 35 years, DeCurtis is author of four books, including “Lou Reed: A Life” (Little, Brown and Company, 2017) and “The Soundtrack of My Life” (Simon & Schuster, 2013), with music legend Clive Davis. DeCurtis also is a distinguished lecturer in the creative writing program at the University of Pennsylvania. His many honors include a 1988 Grammy Award for “Best Album Notes” for the Eric Clapton “Crossroads” box set and three ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thompson Awards.

DeCurtis says his liberal arts education, which includes a Ph.D. in American literature from Indiana University-Bloomington, has helped him identify with Reed, long considered one of rock’s most singular and influential artists.

“Lou saw himself as a writer,” says DeCurtis, adding that the Velvet Underground leader earned a bachelor’s degree in English at ���ϲ�����. “Growing up in Greenwich Village, I had a firsthand relationship with many of the worlds in which Lou moved, even the most marginal, underground ones. This, coupled with my teaching and research interests, has helped me comprehend and render this aspect of his creative life and identity.”

David Yaffe (Photo by Ellen M. Blalock)

Like DeCurtis, Yaffe is a seasoned journalist and scholar—a humanities professor in A&S, who writes about music for such periodicals as The Nation, Harper’s Magazine and The New York Times. He also is author of three books, notably “Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell” (Sarah Crichton Books, 2017).

Yaffe notes similarities between Reed and Mitchell, suggesting they are musical polymaths, as remarkable as they are complicated. The difference, however, is that Mitchell is alive and Reed is not—giving “Reckless Daughter” a sense of urgency.

“Both of them walked into pop music and transcended whatever limitations it was thought to have,” says Yaffe, winner of an ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thompson Award and a Roger Shattuck Prize for Music Criticism. “They were untrained musicians who were as original as anyone could have been.”

Cateforis admits that writing about celebrities, dead or alive, can be challenging. He references the opening chapter in “Reckless Daughter,” in which Yaffe details how Mitchell “turned on him” after interviewing her for The New York Times in 2007. “You constantly risk offending or overly flattering your subject,” says Cateforis, newly elected president of the U.S. chapter of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music.

Theo Cateforis

Conversely, DeCurtis probably would have never considered writing a book about the “prickly and combative” Reed, were he still alive. “With Lou’s passing [in 2013], the challenge then falls to reconstructing the artist’s life through the eyes and memories of others, while still maintaining a critical distance,” Cateforis adds.

In addition to primary funding from the Humanities Center, both events are co-sponsored by A&S, the Department of Art and Music Histories (A&S), the Department of English (A&S) and the Goldring Arts Journalism Program in the Newhouse School.

Adela C. Licona

, this year’s ���ϲ����� Symposium keynote speaker, finds the euphemistically termed “tender-age facilities”—in reality, prisons for migrant babies and children—wholly reprehensible.

The University of Arizona (UA) professor, artist and activist believes the oft-repeated phrase masks extreme cruelty and violation. “I seek to unmask such violence, using socially engaged art to intervene and offer shared outrage,” she explains.

Humanities Center Director Vivian May is an ardent supporter of Licona’s work, having invited the scholar to participate in the symposium’s yearlong foray into “Stories.” “Adela shows how the humanities and creative arts give us tools to confront our complicity in violence, while combating inhumane ways of thinking and being in the world,” says May, professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S.

An outspoken critic of Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy, Licona makes creative projects that highlight the long and brutal history of state violence against families and children. Such projects, she says, help raise public awareness of, deepen collective engagement in and spur action around issues of social justice.

Licona insists the public humanities—and the liberal arts, in general—play a key role in questioning and combating Trump’s policy, which, to date, has “divided more immigrant children than have been counted from their parents or caregivers.”

“I first heard the term ‘tender-age facility’ last summer, when the current administration began separating and incarcerating children in isolation from those with whom they were traveling,” says Licona, who holds multiple appointments at UA, including associate professor of English and vice chair of the Ph.D. minor in Social, Cultural and Critical Theory. “Children and adults have died at the hands of ICE [the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency] and in the context of ‘tender-age facilities’ and ‘transgender migrant pods.’ It’s urgent to ensure people understand there is nothing ‘tender’ about them.”

On Thursday, Feb. 21, Licona will discuss “,” an original participatory art project that directs attention to the United States’ flawed immigration system and long histories of forced separations and incarcerations. The event is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. The following morning, Licona will present a on a type of coalitional community engagement she calls “borderlands activism.” Both events are free and open to the public.

A&S recently caught up with Licona to discuss how “Stories” can help contextualize histories of cruelty inflicted on migrant and refugee children and their families.

“TENDER R/AGE :: RABIA TIERNA”

You have said that Audre Lorde, who wrote that our silence does not protect us, was the inspiration for “RABIA TIERNA” [Spanish for “Tender Rage”]. How has your creative project evolved?
It began as a crowdsourcing call to friends to send in photos of themselves as children. Like many project participants, I lived a cage-free childhood, and have always known that caging people was wrong. This project has become a collective outcry against what is happening to children and other migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

As someone studying textual and visual rhetoric, I contemplate new ways of seeing, being and relating. Therefore, “TENDER R/AGE” is a collaboration of socially engaged art that intervenes into the horrors of U.S. policy regarding migrants and asylum seekers. At its inception and especially as the project circulates online and as a site-specific exhibition, it becomes relational and coalitional, with distinct localities and other movements for social justice broadly defined.

Family separations are nothing new in the United States.
We have a long, brutal history of them. From slavery and government boarding schools to internment camps, the United States has incarcerated and killed many children through imposed or enforced separations.

We are witnessing the proliferation of a for-profit industry that is unfolding before our eyes, but also stays purposely obscured from us. “Tender-age facilities” are prisons. They are a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States.

This proliferation is taking place in what I call a “regime of distortion,” where the current administration cultivates fear and suspicion through dehumanizing and criminalizing rhetorics. This brings me to the role of the humanities.

That role is—
Formulating tough questions beyond the how, how many and why of any given practice—in this case, issues of migration and asylum.

We can sketch the most pressing issues of our time with data, but the ethical, moral and human rights dimensions [of these issues] must be interrogated and reimagined through a creative and critical humanistic approach. It’s at times like these that I look first to the poets among us.

(Sakhorn/shutterstock.com)

What do you say to people who think illegal border-crossers deserve punishment?
Rather than seeing these separations as a form of punishment, I see them as enactments of simultaneous torture—for the child and the adult. I believe the cries of the children we have heard from the prisons are a call to collective action. They are calling us to do something.

I am fortified by the many writers, thinkers, artists, scholars and music makers who turn their creative and critical attentions toward imagining a world of broad justice, one free from domination. They include [writer] Octavia Butler, who didn’t shy away from the ugliest truths about humanity; [cultural theorist] Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa, who reminded us that the pen can be used as a sword in the fight for social justice; and [writer] Toni Morrison, who believes writing helps civilizations heal.

I hope my time at ���ϲ����� inspires meaningful conversations and that, together, we might imagine new strategies and practices for collectively being.

, presented by the in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), continues its yearlong look at “Stories” with a rich array of November events.

They include a mini-residency by photographer (Nov. 1-2), a concert by the (Nov. 2), readings by members of the (Nov. 8) and the screening of a documentary about twin artists (Nov. 13).

A&S recently caught up with organizers Mary Lee Hodgens (MLH), Neva Pilgrim (NP), Ivy Kleinbart (IK) and Roger Hallas (RH) to discuss their respective events.

Mary Lee, you are associate director of Light Work, where Keisha Scarville’s photography is on display through Dec. 13. How do you characterize her brand of storytelling?

Keisha Scarville’s primary theme is the relationship between transformation and the unknown. Grounded in photography, she works across different media to explore [notions of] place, absence and subjectivity.

A selection from “Alma,” Keisha Scarville’s solo show at Light Work.

Her new exhibition, “Alma,” refers to her mother, who died in 2015. It features photographs that explore how the loss of such an anchor point can affect one’s identity, as well as one’s sense of absence and self in the world.

“Transformation born of loss,” as you have written.

Yes. Keisha worked on the project for more than three years and approached it like chapters in a book. There are references to Guyana [South America], where Alma was born, and to Crown Heights in Brooklyn, where Keisha grew up and has continued to call home. She uses Alma’s richly patterned clothing and possessions to conjure up her presence, visually speaking.

I sense parallels with your event, Neva, where storytelling can be transforming for performers and audience alike.��
Our concert draws on the stories of people who fled South Vietnam after the war in search of a better life for themselves and their children. It is called “The Odyssey: Stories of the Boat People,” and shows how these people have held onto their music, art and values. “The Odyssey” is the latest in a long line of concerts that the Society of New Music [which Pilgrim co-founded in 1971] has done at ���ϲ�����.

Van-Anh Vanessa Vo performs a Tiny Desk Concert in October 2013.

Tell us about the headliner, Vân-Ánh Vanessa VÕ.��

She is a North Vietnamese musician, composer and filmmaker who has immersed herself in the traditional arts of her homeland. Her story is inspiring, considering that Asian music is male-dominated. She pestered one teacher for three years to give her lessons, until he finally relented and took her on as an apprentice.

Vanessa was part of a second wave of Vietnamese refugees who entered the United States in the late Seventies and early Eighties. The similarities between them and the Syrian refugees of today are striking.

The Vietnam War also figures in readings by members of the ���ϲ����� Veterans’ Writing Group. Would you say something about the group, Ivy?��

We have been holding monthly workshops on campus for about eight years. While many of our members are Vietnam veterans, the group is open to��all veterans, giving them a safe space to produce and share writing, mostly nonfiction and poetry, with one another.

Your event is on the Thursday before Veterans Day. Busy year, right?
It marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive [of the Vietnam War] and the 15th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.

The ���ϲ����� Veterans’ Writing Group meets every month on campus.

The theme we’ve chosen for this reading is “Returning from Conflict,” which observes these and other critical moments in history through our readers’ stories of homecoming and reintegration.

We will feature seven writers, each representing a unique experience of “Returning from Conflict,” in terms of the physical return from war and the long-term psychic and social process of reintegration. We hope the audience will come away with a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the diversity of veterans’ experiences and the true costs of war.

You and your co-leader, Professor Eileen Schell, have remarked about the literary quality of your members’ writing.��

We think audiences will be surprised by how powerful and piercing these stories are. The work featured in this reading is at times bold, witty and humorous; at times poignant, lyrical and reflective. But all of these writers are fearless in confronting the military’s impact on their lives.

Roger, you and Professor Tula Goenka, as co-directors of the ���ϲ����� Human Rights Film Festival, bring many filmmakers to campus. What is special about this event?
We are thrilled to present “Witkin & Witkin,” Trisha Ziff’s superb, new documentary about painter Jerome Witkin [professor emeritus in the ] and his identical twin brother, photographer Joel-Peter Witkin.

It was Trisha’s first visit to campus in 2012 to screen her film “The Mexican Suitcase” at the ���ϲ����� Human Rights Film Festival that sparked the idea for “Witkin & Witkin.”��A good friend of Joel-Peter, she was eager to meet his brother, Jerome. That initial meeting set the stage for a documentary about the two brothers, who may share genes and a family history, but remain both personally and professionally divided.

Trisha Ziff at ���ϲ����� in 2016.

Will we hear from the filmmaker or the artists?

We will host Trisha and Jerome, both of whom will introduce the screening and participate in a Q&A afterward.

Trisha is a photography curator-turned-filmmaker who has a gift for reframing the rich storytelling of static images within the dynamism of cinematic storytelling.��Jerome is a world-renowned painter and beloved professor who has trained generations of artists at ���ϲ�����.

All of us seem to enjoy a good story.
NP: Storytelling is a great tool. If used properly, technology can enhance it. For instance, “The Odyssey” features video clips of brave Vietnamese who, in their own words, talk about risking everything for a better life in the United States. We see how they have carved out new identities for themselves while remaining true to their heritage.IK: For audiences, storytelling offers access to otherwise incomprehensible experiences. It can change people’s way of understanding the world, providing a broader perspective and challenging distortions in thinking.

For the writer, the act of translating experience into language, working to ‘get it right’ on the page, can be an enormous help with coming to terms with a complicated past.

RH: Images tell stories differently than words, but different kinds of images have their own distinct modes of storytelling.

[To Hallas] Would you elaborate?

RH: A painting or photograph tells a story within a single frame, giving the viewer time to contemplate what it is saying. Cinema, on the other hand, controls our experience of narrative time, as it unfolds across the duration of a film.

In my own research, I have been thinking about what happens when these two distinct modes of visual storytelling intersect in innovative ways, which is another reason why I am excited to bring “Witkin & Witkin” to campus.

MLH: Storytelling is how we share our humanity. It may be the primary antidote to the isolation and loneliness of modern life.

For more information about the 2018-19 ���ϲ����� Symposium, visit .

Margaret Atwood

Acclaimed author Margaret Atwood (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Alias Grace”) will visit ���ϲ����� on Thursday, Oct. 25, and participate that evening in an on-stage conversation in Hendricks Chapel for the series.

The event, which is free and open to the public, starts at 7:30 p.m. Part of SU’s , it is co-sponsored by the and the , with media sponsor . Atwood’s appearance is also part of the Humanities Center’s programming, which is focusing this year on the meaning and impact of “STORIES” from diverse perspectives.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided.

Atwood will be speaking with fellow novelist , associate professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences. At the conclusion of their conversation, the floor will open for questions from the audience. The SU Bookstore will have a selection of Atwood’s books available for purchase in the Hendricks narthex before and after the event. There will be no book signing opportunity.

Margaret Atwood
The renowned Canadian author has more than 40 novels, non-fiction works, short story collections, children’s books, books of poetry, a graphic novel and a comic books series to her credit spanning her more than 50-year career.

Atwood has been a recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction, the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, the Harvard Arts Medal, the Raymond Chandler Award, the Carl Sandburg Literary Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among more than a hundred honors. She has also received 26 honorary degrees.

Two relatively new blockbuster adaptations of a pair of Atwood’s most notable books—“The Handmaid’s Tale” (McClelland & Stewart, Houghton Mifflin, 1985) and the mystery “Alias Grace” (McClelland & Stewart, Bloomsbury, Doubleday, 1996)—have brought a fresh recognition of her work to new audiences.

The two seasons of the Hulu production of “The Handmaid’s Tale” have garnered nine Primetime Emmy Awards, including the 2017 award for Outstanding Drama Series. The series has also earned a Peabody Award, two Television Critics Association Awards, an American Cinema Editors Award, an Art Directors Guild Award, three Critics’ Choice Television Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, among other honors.

The six-episode adaptation of Atwood’s murder mystery “Alias Grace” is currently available on Netflix, having debuted in November 2017.

Her children’s book “Wandering Wenda and “Widow Wallop’s Wunderground Washery” (McArthur & Co., 2011) was produced as an animated children’s series. MGM is producing a series from her novel “The Heart Goes Last” (McClelland & Stewart, Bloomsbury, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2015). And Paramount is adapting the three books in her MaddAddam series (McClelland & Stewart, Bloomsbury, Doubleday)—“Oryx and Crake”��(2003),��“The Year of the Flood”��(2009) and “MaddAddam” (2013)—into a television series.

In 2016, Atwood entered the world of graphic novels with “Angel Catbird” (Dark Horse), the story of a young genetic engineer who accidentally mutates into a cat-owl hybrid, which debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times Bestseller List. She has since written volumes two and three. And the complete 320-page collection was released Oct. 16.

Atwood recently teamed with Eisner Award-winning illustrator Ken Steacy for a three-issue comic book series, “War Bears,” which tells the story of the early days of comics in Toronto and one fictional cartoonist’s struggles with the industry in the 1940s.

Atwood is a founding trustee of the Griffin Poetry Prize and a founder of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, a nonprofit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada’s writing community.

In addition to her literary endeavors, Atwood is an inventor. In 2004, while on a paperback tour in Denver for her novel “Oryx and Crake,” Atwood conceived the concept of a remote robotic writing technology, the LongPen, that would allow someone to write in ink anywhere in the world via tablet PC and the internet.

Dana Spiotta
Spiotta��is author of four novels:����(Simon & Schuster, 2016), winner of the St. Francis College��Literary Prize and a finalist for the��Los Angeles Times��Book Prize;����(Simon & Schuster, 2011), a finalist for the��National Book Critics Circle Award;����(Simon & Schuster, 2006), a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the American Academy’s Rosenthal Foundation Award; and����(Simon & Schuster, 2001), a��New York Times��Notable Book.

Spiotta is recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Foundation for��the Arts Fellowship and the Rome Prize in Literature. In 2017, she��received the John Updike Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

About the University Lectures
The University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

The lineup includes the exhibition “”; a lecture by geographer�� from Williams College; and a about slave narratives and identity, in conjunction with a world premiere at ���ϲ����� Stage.

A&S recently caught up with professors Tula Goenka (TG), Timur Hammond (TH) and Kyle Bass (KB) to learn more about their respective events.

Newhouse Professor Tula Goenka is director of “Look Now: Facing Breast Cancer.” (Photo by Cindy Bell)

Tula, you have mounted an ambitious exhibition called “Look Now: Facing Breast Cancer” at the Point of Contact Gallery [running Oct. 11-31]. How does it reinforce the idea of “Stories”?
We have used photography and film to break down the barriers between a survivor’s public persona and their private struggles with the disease. I have been working on the project for several years. We are proud to launch it in October because it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Does the show carry personal significance?
I am a breast cancer survivor, and I started this project in 2010 with two other survivors. Thanks to support from the Newhouse School, ���ϲ����� Symposium and others, I have relaunched “Look Now” with a new collaborative team, including Point of Contact and Light Work, the latter of which has printed nearly a hundred images for the show.

Who is Cindy Bell?
She is our project photographer and a breast cancer survivor herself. She brings a lot of artistic talent and personal empathy to the process.

When you look at Cindy, me or another survivor, you have no idea of what we have gone through. Individuals tend to be private about the disease, even though it’s becoming acceptable to talk about breast cancer as a cause. When you are diagnosed, you don’t know what your surgical or treatment options might be. I hope our personal stories and images can be a resource.

The exhibit is a testament to surviving breast cancer. It celebrates every participant and empowers others. Really, it’s about resilience.

Sounds like “Facing Breast Cancer” is not just for people who have—or had—breast cancer, but anyone affected by it.
Exactly. We anticipate a big turnout. The Point of Contact Gallery is hosting a reception on Thursday, Oct. 11 [from 5-8 p.m.]. The exhibit remains on display, Mondays through Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m., or by appointment until Oct. 31. Everyone is welcome.

Nicolas Howe

The following day [Oct. 12], ���ϲ����� Symposium will present a free lecture by Nicolas Howe, associate professor of environmental studies at Williams College. Timur, what should we expect?
Dr. Howe is a geographer and environmental studies scholar who examines stories that different groups tell to make sense of the natural world around them.

In this case, sacred space.
Yes. His lecture is called “Sacred Landscape, Secular Law.” It explores how stories about sacred space have shaped conflicts over iconic American wilderness areas. [The lecture is from 3-5:30 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library.]

Although Dr. Howe’s work resides in a tradition that analyzes the legal and political contexts shaping social encounters with the environment, he reminds us that cultural acts of storytelling are equally important to the ways we engage with the world around us.

How does storytelling relate to religion and the environment?
I chose Dr. Howe because his work speaks to many of the themes central to a course I am teaching this fall called Geography of Religion [GEO 300]. One of the goals of the course is to explore the different ways that religious traditions, especially Christian and Native American, make sense of the relationship between humans and the natural world.

For instance, Native American claims to the natural landscape on religious grounds often have been in conflict with the American legal system, which is based on secular principles. We have seen this in debates ranging from the future of Onondaga Lake to the struggles at Standing Rock. His talk will shed light on this tangled relationship.

A relationship transcending science and facts.
Dr. Howe’s research shows us that debates about climate change and climate policy are more than science and facts; they involve cultural performances—storytelling—through which societies make sense of their relationship to the world.

The lecture’s subtitle is “Storying Spirituality on American Public Lands.” Would you elaborate?
I want our audience to understand how the United States’ natural landscapes—and wildernesses, in particular—have come to be managed and why they are so meaningful.

Dr. Howe will show how geographers’ research interests often intersect with religious studies, law, anthropology, sociology and environmental studies.

Playwright Kyle Bass teaches drama in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. (Photo by Brenna Merritt)

Kyle, congratulations on your latest play, “Possessing Harriet” [whose premiere production runs Oct. 17-Nov. 4 at ���ϲ����� Stage]. Even though the action takes place in Peterboro, south of ���ϲ�����, in 1839,��its themes of race, identity and equality persist today.
Thank you. That’s something our talkback will address. It’s called “Stories in the Blood: Slave Narratives and Identity in Contemporary American Theatre” [running Sunday, Oct. 21, from 3:45-5 p.m., immediately following ���ϲ����� Stage’s matinee performance]. The panelists were chosen for their diversity of approach and experience with the subject.

They include Christian DuComb, John Ernest and Joan Bryant—scholar-teachers at Colgate, Delaware and ���ϲ�����, respectively.
And the show’s director, Tazewell Thompson, and me.

People should expect a rich conversation about enslaved people’s experiences, the importance of storytelling and the centrality of identity in the American narrative.

What do you want us to get out of the panel discussion and your play, in general?
Food for thought around various questions: “What are the value, meaning and politics about dramatizing the slave experience and slave narratives in 21st-century American theatre?” … “In what ways does theatre expand or diminish the impact of the slave narrative?”

Are we the stories we tell?
That’s another one of my questions. I want to know what responsibility art and artists have to history when creating fictive stories from real events. Is there tension and danger at the intersection of fiction and history, when issues of race, slavery and oppression rest at the crux?

Why is storytelling important?
It is intrinsic to human nature: We know who we are and who others are by the stories we tell and by the stories we’re told. “What’s your name? Where are you from? Who are you?”—they’re all invitations to tell a story. Also, the stories we invent—plays, novels, movies, TV shows—are the stories that cultures and societies imagine about themselves, for themselves.

Indeed.
TG: Human beings are social creatures, and we always seek a personal connection, consciously or unconsciously. Storytelling helps us heal from our own traumatic journeys. It also creates identification—it carries an emotional aspect that tends to support remembering the message. It increases empathy.

There’s that word again: “empathy,” the lifeblood of the humanities.
TH: Communities are based, in part, on the stories they tell. Storytelling thus functions as a key practice through which people come to make sense of themselves in relation to their world, their pasts and possible futures.

KB: We make theatre, and theatre, of course, is storytelling. It is a storyteller’s medium and art form.

Rounding out the month is a residency by Minneapolis-based artist-activist Seitu Jones, Oct. 4-6, and a University Lectures event featuring Canadian author Margaret Atwood, Oct. 25.��For more information about these and other ���ϲ����� Symposium events, visit .

Margaret Atwood

“Stories” is the theme of the , hosted by the in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S).

Now in its 17th year, the annual public events series explores the humanities through an array of programming, including lectures, workshops, performances and exhibits.

Highlights include the 16th annual ���ϲ����� Human Rights Film Festival (Sept. 27-29), a mini-residency by Twin Cities artist-activist Seitu Jones (Oct. 4-6), a discussion with “Handmaid’s Tale” author Margaret Atwood (Oct. 25) and a concert by Emmy Award-winning composer and filmmaker Vân-Ánh Vanessa VÕ (Nov. 2).

All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise indicated. For more information, contact the Humanities Center at 315.443.7192 or visit .

Humanities Center Director Vivian May says storytelling is integral to the human experience. “Stories can convey lessons about love, empathy, justice and equality—and they can offer a means to share experiences of suffering and harm,” says May, also professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “Stories come in all kinds of forms. We learn them via song, visual culture, symbols, the written word and more. They help shape social imaginaries and create community, which is why stories infuse so much of our humanities teaching and research.”

The fall season is as follows:

José “Peppie” Calvar

Thursday, Sept. 20

7-8 p.m.
La Casita Cultural Center (109 Otisco St., ���ϲ�����)
José “Peppie” Calvar leads the Hendricks Chapel Choir in the world premiere of his original composition, “Voces en Exilio,” for chorus and Caribbean percussion. Presented in conjunction with National Hispanic Heritage Month, the piece pays tribute to the victims of 2017’s Hurricane María, the worst natural disaster on record to affect Dominica and Puerto Rico.

Sunday, Sept. 23

7-8 p.m.
Hendricks Chapel
An encore performance of Calvar’s newest work, presented as part of the Dean’s Convocation at Hendricks Chapel.

Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 27-29

SUHRFF continues with an outstanding lineup of award-winning films addressing social justice issues around the globe. Visit for a complete schedule.

Thursday, Oct. 4

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Watson Theater

Seitu Jones (Courtesy of The Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts)

Seitu Jones, the first artist-in-residence of the City of Minneapolis, discusses how food and activism flavor his artwork. A 2017 McKnight Distinguished Artist, he has created more than 30 large-scale public works, in addition to co-founding Frogtown Farm, a certified organic farm in St. Paul.

Saturday, Oct. 6

2:30-4:30 p.m.
Brady Farm (150 Ford Ave., ���ϲ�����)
Jones leads a hands-on workshop on community-based art and the value of food. Interested parties must R.S.V.P. to ehmorr01@syr.edu by Tuesday, Sept. 25.

Thursday, Oct. 11

6-8 p.m.
Point of Contact Gallery (350 W. Fayette St., ���ϲ�����)
This multimedia installation features the stories of 44 breast cancer survivors from Central New York via a series of photographic portraits, images of bare chests and experimental film. The show runs through Wednesday, Oct. 31.

Friday, Oct. 12

3-5:30 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (114 Bird Library)
Nicholas Howe, associate professor of environmental studies at Williams College, discusses how spirituality shapes public discourse about sacred space.

Sunday, Oct. 21

3:45-5 p.m.
���ϲ����� Stage (830 E. Genesee St., ���ϲ�����)

Kyle Bass

A panel discussion about the importance of storytelling identities in the American narrative, presented in conjunction with the ���ϲ����� Stage production of Kyle Bass’ “Possessing Harriet.” In addition to Bass (Stage’s associate artistic director who also teaches in VPA’s drama department), the panelists are Christian DuComb, associate professor of theater at Colgate University; John Ernest, the Judge Hugh M. Morris Professor and chair of English at Delaware University; Joan Bryant, associate professor of African American studies in A&S; and Tazewell Thompson, director of “Possessing Harriet.”

Thursday, Oct. 25

7:30-9 p.m.
Hendricks Chapel
Coinciding with the popularity of “The Handmaid’s Tale” (a Hulu TV series based on her 1985 dystopian novel), Canadian writer Margaret Atwood returns to campus to discuss the importance of storytelling. (Atwood was the 2004 Jeanette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor in A&S.) Dana Spiotta, associate professor of English, moderates the event, which also is part of the University Lectures series.

Thursday, Nov. 1

5-7 p.m.
Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery, Light Work (316 Waverly Ave., ���ϲ�����)
Brooklyn-based photo and mixed-media artist Keisha Scarville unveils and discusses her latest exhibit, weaving together themes of transformation, place and the unknown. The show runs through Thursday, Dec. 13.

Friday, Nov. 2

3-7 p.m.
Light Work Lab
���ϲ����� students, faculty and staff, as well as Light Work members may register for one-on-one portfolio reviews with Scarville. To enroll, contact Mary Lee Hodgens, associate director of Light Work, at mlhodgen@syr.edu by Monday, Oct. 15.

Friday, Nov. 2

7:30 p.m.
Hendricks Chapel

Vân-Ánh Vanessa VÕ

Vân-Ánh Vanessa VÕ marks the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War with her original multimedia composition, “The Odyssey.” A talented composer and multi-instrumentalist, she joins members of the Society for New Music All-Stars to honor the spirit of all refugees, past and present.

 

Thursday, Nov. 8

5 p.m.: Reception
6-7:30 p.m.: Readings
Goldstein Alumni and Faculty Center
Members of the ���ϲ����� Veterans’ Writing Group help mark Veterans Day by reading original works of creative nonfiction. Bearing witness to more than 50 years of U.S. military history, they will share true stories about their lives in and out of the service.

Tuesday, Nov. 13

6:30-9:30 p.m.
Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium (140 Newhouse 3)
Organizers of the SUHRFF present a screening of and discussion about “Witkin & Witkin,” a 2017 documentary exploring the worlds of twin brothers Joel-Peter Witkin, a famous photographer, and Jerome Witkin, an acclaimed painter and longtime professor of art in VPA. Director Trisha Ziff and Jerome Witkin will discuss the film, following the screening.

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. The Humanities Center is located in the historic Tolley Humanities Building. It serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships, and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

David Loy

On Thursday, April 19,��, a renowned professor, writer and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism, will give a public talk titled “.” The lecture is from 7-9 p.m. in Watson Theater (382-392 Waverly Ave., ���ϲ�����). He also will lead a group meditation from 6-6:45 p.m.

The following day, Loy will lead a small-group workshop called “” from 9-11 a.m. in 304 Tolley. The event will explore in detail some of the ideas from the night before. Space is limited; registration is required. To R.S.V.P. or request special accommodations, please contact Jikyo Bonnie Shoultz in Hendricks Chapel at��Bshoultz@syr.edu.

���ϲ����� Symposium is sponsoring both events, which are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) at 315.443.7192, or visit��.

While in ���ϲ�����, Loy will participate in two other events, which are free and open to the public. On Saturday, April 21, he and Onondaga Clan Mother Freida Jacques ’80 will discuss “Buddhist and Indigenous Values and Perspectives on the Ecological Challenges Facing Us” from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Skä•noñh—Great Law of Peace Center (6690 Onondaga Parkway, Liverpool). The session includes a light vegetarian lunch.

On Sunday, April 22, Loy will celebrate Earth Day with a special Dharma talk from 10-10:50 a.m. at the Zen Center of ���ϲ����� (266 W. Seneca Turnpike).

Additional support for his visit comes from Hendricks Chapel, the University’s Contemplative Collaborative, the Department of Religion in A&S, the Student Buddhist Association in the Division of Student Affairs and the Zen Center.

Freida Jacques

“David Loy works at the unexpected intersections of Buddhism and secular society,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “He is primarily concerned about social and ecological issues, and suggests that Buddhism says a lot about our personal and collective predicaments in relation to the rest of the biosphere.”

In addition to being a regular magazine contributor, Loy is the author of 13 books. His best known ones are from Wisdom Publications and include “A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution and Ethics in the Modern World” (2015); “The World Is Made of Stories” (2010), which Spirituality & Practice named one of the year’s best books; and “Money, Sex, War, Karma: Notes for a Buddhist Revolution” (2008), available in eight languages.

Loy is co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near his home in Boulder, Colorado. He also serves on the advisory boards of the Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, Zen Peacemakers International and the Ernest Becker Foundation.

For more than 45 years, his work has straddled theory and practice. “He understands the dialogue between Buddhism and modernity, particularly the social implications of Buddhist teachings. This likely is an outgrowth of his philosophical education,” says May, referring to Loy’s Ph.D. in philosophy from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and M.A. in Asian philosophy from the University of Hawaii.

In addition to studying analytic philosophy at King’s College London, Loy has trained under Yamada Koun Roshi and Robert Gyoun Aitken Roshi, seminal figures in the Western expansion of Sanbo Zen, an international Zen school in Kamakura, Japan.

A professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy, Loy has held appointments at NUS (Malaysia), Bunkyo University (Japan), the University of Cape Town (South Africa), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), Radboud University (The Netherlands), Xavier University in Cincinnati and Naropa University in Boulder.

His visit coincides with Earth Day on Sunday, April 22.

“Without a better understanding of the ways in which we belong to and depend on the Earth, and greater awareness of other ways of dwelling on it, it is likely that our now-global civilization will remain unable to respond adequately to this new challenge,” May says. “Rather than thinking of ‘Belonging’ in dualistic terms—who belongs and who does not belong—David Loy offers a non-dualistic approach to understanding belonging and living.”

About ���ϲ�����

���ϲ����� is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, ���ϲ����� offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of ���ϲ����� is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

Colleen Kattau

On Thursday, April 12, singer-songwriter����will present a lecture-performance about the����from 2-3:20 p.m. in 304 Tolley. The program is part of the ���ϲ����� Symposium course Women, the Arts and Social Change, SPA 400, taught by Gail Bulman G’96, associate professor of Spanish in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (LLL).

Space is limited; registration is required. To R.S.V.P. or request special accommodations, contact Bulman at��gabulman@syr.edu.

The following day, poets Christine Kitano G’10 and Sean Thomas Dougherty G’00 will lead a mini-seminar called “Longing and Belonging: A Conversation on Poetics” from 2-4 p.m. in 304 Tolley. Space is limited; registration is required. To R.S.V.P. or request special accommodations, contact Phil Memmer, executive director of the YMCA Arts Branch, at��pmemmer@syracuseymca.org.

Later that day, Kitano and Dougherty will headline a joint reading titled “Naming What Is Left Behind” from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Jason Shinder Theater of the YMCA’s Downtown Writers Center (340 Montgomery St., ���ϲ�����). Both are alumni of the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing in the (A&S).

All three events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192, or visit��.

Kattau’s visit is supported by the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean (PLACA) in the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, based in the .

Dougherty’s and Kitano’s events are supported by a Community Partnership Grant from��.

“These artists will examine notions of ‘Belonging’ from various perspectives,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “Colleen Kattau is a bilingual musician whose work draws on folk-inspired styles and socially committed lyrics. In turn, Sean Thomas Dougherty and Christine Kitano use original verse to address notions of identity, being and belonging. All three convey what it means to belong to and be recognized by a wider community.”

A musician, educator and activist, Kattau is an associate professor of Spanish at SUNY Cortland. Much of her scholarship revolves around��nueva canción��(“new song”), a social movement that began as a swipe at Latin American dictatorships in the late 1950s and early ’60s. Since then, the New Song Movement has drawn on various traditional and popular traditions, resulting in various regional manifestations.

Kattau considers herself a��nueva cancionera, who, like the genre’s founders, uses music and poetry to promote socio-political awareness. Her career has taken her around the world, sharing the stage with such luminaries as Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton and Holly Near. Aaron “Professor Louie” Hurtwitz, longtime producer of and collaborator with The Band, lauds her singing as “pitch perfect” and “superb.”

The Cortland native also fronts a band called Dos XX, winner of the prestigious Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, New York.

Christine Kitano

“Music is a big part of Colleen’s life,” says Bulman, citing Kattau’s recent performances on the “Democracy Now!” news program and at a School of Americas Watch vigil at Fort Benning, Georgia. “Her lyrics cover a lot of ground—from labor and immigration struggles, to the civil rights, women’s and antiwar movements. She also helped get fracking banned in New York State.”

Kattau is involved with the Colombia Support Network (CSN), a national grassroots organization that uses sister communities to promote a peaceful, democratic and economically just society. Specifically, she has helped connect the cities of ���ϲ�����, Ithaca and Cortland with the Small Farmers Movement of Cajibío, based in a violence-torn area of Colombia, South America.

“Both communities work together to face similar problems and environmental challenges brought on by corporate incursion,” says Kattau, who earned a combined M.A./Ph.D. in Spanish from A&S. “CSN condemns violations of human rights by all actors, including guerrilla groups, military, paramilitary, national police, multinational corporations and foreign agents.”

Kattau also has published articles about the New Song Movement and women writers, and has created multimedia presentations on art and activism.

“Her visit to campus will be an intimate affair, an ideal synthesis of performance and scholarship,” Bulman says.

Such intimacy also underscores the two literary events. Presented in conjunction with the����(DWC), Kitano and Dougherty’s visit will look at how notions of community inform the practice of creative writing. “‘Belonging’ is as much about being included and recognized as part of a community as it is about denial,” May says. “Both poets deal with themes of illness, violence, economic disenfranchisement, incarceration and the immigrant experience.”

An assistant professor of English and writing at Ithaca College, Kitano specializes in the teaching and study of 20th- and 21st-century American poetry, poetry writing and Asian American literature. She is the author of the poetry collections “Sky Country” (BOA Editions, 2017), which Independent Publisher named a “Notable Indie Book Release,” and “Birds of Paradise” (Lynx House Press, 2011).

“Her poems leave one feeling close and remote at the same time, estranged and yet familiar,” writes Lantern Review, an online journal devoted to Asian American poetry and art.

Adds Publishers Weekly: “Kitano’s alluring, well-crafted poems are attuned to tragedy and loss, yet an element of wonder shines through.”

Sean Thomas Dougherty

Likewise, Dougherty exemplifies profound human sensitivity. Part poet and part performer, he has appeared at the Detroit Festival of the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival in Newark, New Jersey (the largest poetry event in North America), the Old Dominion University Literary Festival in Norfolk, Virginia, and at venues in Albania and Macedonia.

Doughtery’s 15 books include the forthcoming “Second O of Sorrow” (BOA) and “Sasha Sings the Laundry on the Line” (BOA, 2010), a finalist for Binghamton University’s Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award. Among his many honors are the Lifetime Achievement Award from Poet’s Hall in his native Erie, Pennsylvania.

Fellow poet Dorianne Laux calls him the “gypsy punk heart of American poetry.”

“Sean Thomas Doughtery has earned the reputation of a ‘blue-collar, Rust Belt Romantic,’” says May, alluding to Dougherty’s time in the Midwest, where he taught at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University. “Like Christine Kitano, he is a sensitive and dynamic artist who focuses on different and sometimes marginalized truths, histories and experiences.”

Jenna Freedman

continues its yearlong look at “Belonging” with a visit by renowned zine maker and librarian .

A member of Columbia University’s Barnard College, Freedman will headline a lecture and workshop collectively titled “Classification and Language(s) of Belonging,” April 5-6.

On April 5, Freedman will discuss “” from 5:15-6:30 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (114 Bird Library). Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services will be provided. The following day, she will present a workshop called “” from 9 a.m. to noon in 002 Bird.

Both events are free and open to the public; however, registration is required for the April 6 workshop. Please R.S.V.P. Patrick Williams, librarian for literature, rhetoric and digital humanities at ���ϲ�����, by calling 315.443.9520.

���ϲ����� Libraries, the School of Information Studies (iSchool) and the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) are sponsoring Freedman’s visit. For more information about her or ���ϲ����� Symposium, contact the Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192, or visit .

“Jenna Freedman is a nationally renowned activist librarian, committed to elevating the role and function of academic libraries,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “She is particularly interested in the impact of zines and other forms of alt press on librarianship. Jenna will discuss how zines not only foster community, but also document contemporary popular culture in bold, new ways.”

Williams is co-organizing Freedman’s visit with Rachel Clarke, an assistant professor in the iSchool. He says both events will consider how librarianship supports higher education, particularly student learning and faculty scholarship, while facilitating community building and knowledge formation.

“Librarians and other library staff engage in work, such as collecting diverse materials and creating space for conversations, that is not always driven by the curriculum,” Williams points out. “Jenna contends that librarians perform their roles with empathy and a critical eye, thus opening up new possibilities for creative and academic projects.”

Zines and activist librarianship underscore much of Freedman’s work at Barnard, where she is an associate director of communications; the founder and curator of the college’s zine library; and a personal librarian for transfer and commuter students and for the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality interdisciplinary department.

A national authority on zines, Freedman works with handmade magazines of all shapes, sizes and formats. Most zines are handmade, photocopied or stapled; others are more polished in appearance. They cover myriad themes and topics—from feminism, music and politics to movies, literature and arts and crafts. “Zines draw from the traditions of comic strips and artist’s books,” Williams says.

Freedman is an avowed digital humanist, as evidenced by her leadership roles at , a union catalog dedicated to zines, stemming from her recent M.A. work at the CUNY graduate center; , providing online reference services to activists, journalists and researchers; and , dedicated to exploring critical perspectives on library practice.

“Zines are a unique form of self-expression, done as a labor of love rather than for profit,” Williams says. “The writing, design, production and circulation of zines offer students opportunities to develop information literacy and to follow personally meaningful modes of inquiry. Also, many libraries are adding zines to their collections, for their unique value as primary source material for future scholarship. Zines represent a way to include work by students in library collections.”

Adds May: “Zines originated in the 1950s and ’60s, and saw a brief resurgence in the ’90s. Today, they are thriving, thanks to the internet and social media. … Zines often reside at the intersection of art and activism, and help preserve and amplify voices out of the mainstream.”

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Tracy Hamlin

Hamlin will headline a panel discussion titled “” on Monday, Feb. 26, from noon-1:30 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library). The event is moderated by Kal Alston, interim executive director of the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC), professor of Cultural Foundations of Education in the School of Education and a faculty affiliate in women’s & gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). Rounding out the panel are Theo Cateforis, associate professor of music history and cultures in A&S, and Jeff Welcher in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Setnor School of Music, where he teaches jazz and commercial music and directs the SU Vocal Jazz ensemble.

Also on Feb. 26, Hamlin will lead a����from 7-8:30 p.m. at CFAC (805 E. Genesee St., ���ϲ�����). Space is limited, and registration is required. To register and request accessibility accommodations, contact��cfac@syr.edu.

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, call the Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192, or visit��.

Hamlin’s visit to campus follows her performance with saxophonist Eric Darius on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 5 p.m. at the Marriott ���ϲ����� Downtown (100 Onondaga St.). Their concert is part of CNY Jazz’s Black History Month Cabaret. For tickets and more information, contact Cathleen O’Brien Brown, general manager of CNY Jazz, at 315.479.5299 or��cathleen@cnyjazz.org.

Additional support for Hamlin’s residency comes from A&S, CFAC and the Department of Art and Music Histories in A&S.

From the video for “Standby,” featured on Hamlin’s 2015 album, “No Limits”

“We are honored to partner with CNY Jazz in presenting Tracy Hamlin: Her singular voice redefines every genre she performs,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “As a singer, producer and creative entrepreneur, Tracy defies stereotypes about race and gender. Her visit will explore how music shapes and is shaped by individual and collective notions of belonging.”

As the title suggests, Hamlin’s noontime discussion will explore connections between music and identity, with special attention to how music promotes social and cultural understanding and how new technologies, such as digital streaming, help showcase diverse cultural histories.

Larry Luttinger ’79, G’81, founder and executive director of the CNY Jazz Arts Foundation, anticipates a lively interdisciplinary discussion. “Music communicates values and shapes identity, and as such, fosters bonds between people across cultural origins,” says Luttinger, also an award-winning percussionist and music educator. “Tracy will draw on personal experience, as a classically trained singer who has crossed over into other genres, to illustrate how music intersects with ideas about belonging, identity, mobility and social relations.”

May applauds Hamlin’s interest in reaching wider audiences while in ���ϲ�����. At the master class, the Baltimore native hopes to work with singers of all ages and backgrounds. Interested participants should prepare a solo (preferably memorized) from the Great American Songbook or the pop/soul canon. Each singer also should bring two copies of his or her lead sheet or keyboard accompaniment, or, if applicable, a mobile phone audio file.

“This is an opportunity for singers to find their voice and connect with a major artist,” May adds. “Tracy will briefly work with each person, focusing on sound, technique and overall performance. Since this is a community event, spectators are welcome to attend.”

As an internationally touring solo artist, Hamlin has shared the stage with some of the biggest names in soul, jazz, R&B and house music. They include Carlos Santana, Wynonna Judd, Chaka Khan, Esperanza Spalding, Jonathan Butler, Marcus Miller and DJ Spen.

Hamlin also has served as lead vocalist for the smooth jazz group Pieces of a Dream, and has maintained an ongoing partnership—as a songwriter, arranger and lead background vocalist—with disco queen Gloria Gaynor.

Backstage with Wynonna Judd at the 2017 GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards in Washington, D.C.

Hamlin has produced and released five solo albums on her label, DMH Records. Three of these albums—“No Limits” (2015), “This Is My Life” (2013) and “Better Days” (2008)—have gone to No. 1 on the U.K. Soul chart. One of her singles, “Drive Me Crazy” (2011), went to No. 1 four times in a four-month period on the Traxsource house music chart. Currently, she is working on her sixth solo album.

In addition to running a record label, Hamlin is a trustee of the Washington, D.C., chapter of The Recording Academy (internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards); the producer of an annual “fringe” event of the St. Lucia Jazz festival; and a music teacher at Baltimore’s Jemicy School, serving students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences.

Classically trained, Hamlin studied at Peabody Preparatory and the Baltimore School for the Arts. She is proficient in German, French and Italian diction.

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

On Monday, Feb. 12, La María will present the U.S. premiere of “” (“The Millionaires”) from 6-8 p.m. in The Underground of the Schine Student Center. Performed in Spanish with English supertitles, the play explores issues of race and racism in modern-day Chile.

Teatro La María’s production of “The Millionaires” satirizes the ongoing land feud between the Chilean government and indigenous Mapuche people. (Photo by Prensa UC)

Members of La María also will participate in two panel discussions. On Tuesday, Feb. 13, they will lead a program titled “” from 9:30-11 a.m. On Thursday, Feb. 15, the company will explore “” from 2-3:20 p.m. Both events take place in 304 Tolley. Space is limited. To register or request accessibility accommodations, contact Gail Bulman G’96, associate professor of Spanish in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (LLL), at��gabulman@syr.edu.

La María will conclude its visit with a workshop on theatrical adaptation on Friday, Feb. 16, from 1-4 p.m. in the Kilian Room (500 Hall of Languages). All events are free and open to the public.

The company’s residency is part of the ���ϲ����� Symposium course “Women, the Arts and Social Change in Latin America” (SPA 400/006), and is presented in partnership with faculty at Hobart and William Smith (HWS) Colleges and the State University of New York at Oswego. Sponsors include LLL and the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean in the Maxwell School’s Moynihan Institute of Public Affairs.

Humanities Center Director Vivian May is excited about La María’s visit, explaining that Chilean theater is older than the nation itself. “Indigenous peoples of the region were performing and creating art long before the Spaniards’ arrival,” says May, a professor of women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). “La María is part of a new wave of independent theater companies whose work revolves around Chile and its complicated history. The company artfully employs dark comedy to expose evil and hypocrisy at the highest levels.”

Vivian May

Inspired by a notorious 2013 court case, “The Millionaires” satirizes the long-running land feud between the State of Chile and the indigenous Mapuche people. The story focuses on Erwin Cayuqueo, accused of murdering several wealthy landowners in the nation’s fertile southern region. Dramatic complications ensue when a powerful law firm decides to take his case, only to reveal, in the process, its lack of respect for him and the Mapuche, in general.

“The play suggests Chile is run by a small group of wealthy people who have little or no regard for the rest of its citizens,” says Bulman, a scholar of Latin American theater. “The plutocracy controls Chile’s vast resources, and contributes greatly to the government’s indifference and prejudice toward indigenous communities.”

Bulman says “The Millionaires” draws on more than 500 years of Chilean history, politics and political culture—from the Spanish conquest in the 1500s to present-day conflicts between the government and the Mapuche, the nation’s oldest and largest indigenous group. “The ruling class’s disregard for anyone outside their power structure exposes the inequality behind the country’s prosperity,” she adds.

Since its premiere in 2014, “The Millionaires” has toured Chile, Peru and Portugal. Critics agree that the production has all the earmarks of independent theater: a small cast, tight focus and superlative��mise en scène��(i.e., scenery and stage properties).

Gail Bulman

During its visit to Central New York, La María also will perform “The Millionaires” at HWS, along with another dark comedy, “El Hotel,” at SUNY Oswego. May suspects that, while both plays comment on the perversion and hypocrisy of Latin American politics, “The Millionaires” might hold special significance for American audiences.

“In addition to exposing multiple levels of exploitation and inequality, born of settler colonialism, ‘The Millionaires’ explores the marginalization of the middle-class, as more millionaires rise to political power,” May continues. “The play invites us to reflect on our own history and complicity in such legacies, so as to better understand the struggles against oppressive power structures that occur everywhere.”

The public will be able to discuss these issues and others at the two panel discussions. The Feb. 13 event will explore Latin American theater and performance as “text.” “It will present strategies for reading about and understanding Latin American theater, especially Chilean theater, in a global context,” Bulman says. “I see it as an introduction to, among other things, the stylistic analysis of drama—from text to context to performance.”

Similarly, the Feb. 15 talk will consider the role of gender in Latin American theater. Special emphasis will be on the push for human rights, on and off the stage. “We will look at how Latin American women are making inroads into writing, directing, producing and starring. This has coincided with a shift in consciousness about discrimination and corruption. Groups such as La María are fostering social change,” she adds.

Alexis Moreno and Alexandra von Hummel were students at the University of Chile in 1999 when they founded La María. Since then, the Santiago-based company has led the fields of dramaturgy and play development in Latin America. La María frequently participates at new-play festivals around the world, while encouraging the production or presentation of new, original work. (Moreno and von Hummel write and direct most of their plays.) The company’s productions often involve characters dealing with some kind of literal or figurative displacement.

Members of La María, including co-founders Alexis Moreno (top, right) and Alexandra Von Hummel (bottom, second from right)

“La María blends a critical view of the past and the present with a concern for different possibilities in the future,” May concludes. “Their plays run the gamut in terms of genre, but are united in a desire to help people negotiate their sense of belonging.”

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

To learn more about ���ϲ����� Symposium, organized and presented by the Humanities Center in A&S, call 315.443.7192 or visit��.

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

On Wednesday, Feb. 7, the Toronto- and Seattle-based activist will present a multidisciplinary performance titled “” from 4-5:30 p.m. in 304 Schine. The program will present her work with Sins Invalid, a Bay Area performance project that features artists with disabilities and highlights intersecting identities.

Piepzna-Samarasinha also will read from her memoir, “Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home” (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2015), and from some of her poetry collections, including “Bodymap” (Mawenzi House Publishers, 2015). A Q&A and book signing will follow. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services will be provided.

The following day, she will host a workshop titled “” from 12:30-1:50 p.m. in 319 Sims. Attendees will learn how to create a movement-building framework for historically marginalized people. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be available.

Both events are free and open to the public. People interested in the workshop should register with Michael Gill, assistant professor of disability studies in the (SOE), at��mcgill@syr.edu.

For accessibility and accommodations requests, contact SOE at��suschoolofed@syr.edu��or 315.443.4696. Parking is available in the Booth Garage on Comstock Avenue. Attendees of both events are asked not to wear perfumes or other scented products.

To learn more about ���ϲ����� Symposium, organized and presented by the Humanities Center in the (A&S), call 315.443.7192 or visit��.

Piepzna-Samarasinha’s visit is co-organized by Michael Gill; Beth Ferri, professor of inclusive education and disability studies in SOE; and Eunjung Kim, assistant professor of women’s and gender studies and of disability studies in A&S and SOE, respectively.

“Leah deconstructs structures that uphold violence in activist communities,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies. “Her understanding of systems of colonialism, abuse and violence engages marginalized communities in new, illuminating ways. She also challenges exclusionary paradigms of ‘normalcy,’ advocating for the inclusion of all individuals and communities.”

Piepzna-Samarasinha considers herself a queer femme—a “sick and disabled, Sri Lankan/Irish/Roma writer, educator and disability and transformative justice organizer.” The author or editor of five books, she is perhaps best known for “The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities” (AK Press, 2016). Originally published in 2011, this landmark anthology provides strategies, stories and questions for dealing with abuse and assault.

Co-edited by Piepzna-Samarasinha, “The Revolution Starts at Home” includes her poem “when your parents made you,” which concerns loving someone who is both a survivor and perpetrator of violence.

Piepzna-Samarasinha’s memoir, “Dirty River,” is a critical and commercial success.

“Stories create the world,” says Piepzna-Samarasinha, whose upcoming publications include a collection of essays titled “Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice” and a book of poetry called “Tonguebreaker.” “Seeing stories that look like your own, that you’ve never read written down before, or that are stories you’ve never thought of before that change your whole idea of what is possible, are a big revolutionary deal. … My poems are my stories of the freedom dreams I want for me and us.”

These ideas also permeate “Dirty River,” a finalist for both the Lambda Literary and Judy Grahn awards. A critical and commercial success, this coming-of-age tale follows Piepzna-Samarasinha’s move to Toronto, where a community of queer punks entices her with promises of love and revolution. Dramatic complications ensue when Piepzna-Samarasinha finds herself navigating the “dirty river” of her not-so-distant past and coming to terms with her own identity.

“‘Dirty River’ is not just her own story—it also is a story about the important work being done by communities to challenge racism and environmental and disability injustice,” Kim says.

Adds May: “It is about the complex search for belonging, as Piepzna-Samarasinha separates from her abusive mother and strikes out on her own.”

In addition to being a widely published and anthologized writer, Piepzna-Samarasinha is a sought-after lecturer and performer. She is the co-founder and co-director of the San Francisco-based Mangos with Chili, the nation’s oldest “floating cabaret” of queer and transgender performers. Piepzna-Samarasinha also founded the Toronto-based Asian Arts Freedom School, an arts-flavored history and activism program for Asian and Pacific Islanders.

Both organizations—along with Sins Invalid, of which Piepzna-Samarasinha is a lead artist—are located at the nexus of storytelling and social activism.

Piepzna-Samarasinha considers herself a “queer, sick and disabled, nonbinary femme writer.”

Born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, Piepzna-Samarasinha earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from Mills College in Oakland, where she was a Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation Fellow. Her many honors and awards include Feminist Press’ “40 Feminists Under 40 Shaping the Future.”

Piepzna-Samarasinha maps what she describes as “luscious and vulnerable terrains of queer femme of color transformative love, survivorhood, sick and disabled queer of color genius and all the homes we claim, make and deserve.”

“Her campus visit surely will be remembered for years to come,” Gill says.

Support comes from the Douglas P. Biklen Landscape of Urban Education Lecture Series (SOE), the Harry S. and Elva K. Ganders Lecture Series (SOE), the Disability Cultural Center (Division of Student Affairs), the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies (A&S), the South Asia Center (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs), LGBT Studies (A&S), the Office of Multicultural Affairs (Enrollment and the Student Experience) and the LGBT Resource Center (Student Affairs).

About ���ϲ�����

Founded��in 1870, ���ϲ����� is a private international research university��dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering student success through teaching��excellence,��rigorous scholarship and interdisciplinary research. Comprising 11��academic schools and colleges, the University has a long legacy of excellence��in the liberal arts, sciences and��professional disciplines that prepares��students for the complex challenges and emerging opportunities of a rapidly��changing world. Students enjoy the resources of a 270-acre main��campus and��extended campus venues in major national metropolitan hubs and across three��continents. ���ϲ�����’s student body is among the most diverse for an��institution of its��kind across multiple dimensions, and students typically represent��all 50 states and more than 100 countries. ���ϲ����� also has a long legacy of��supporting veterans and is home to��the nationally recognized Institute for��Veterans and Military Families, the first university-based institute in the��U.S. focused on addressing the unique needs of veterans and their��families.

On Monday, Dec. 4, , assistant professor of information and media studies at Western University in London, Ontario, will discuss “” from 5:15-6:30 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library.

The following day, she will lead a small-group workshop on “” from 9 a.m. to noon in room 304 of the Tolley Humanities Building.

Both events are free and open to the public; however, the latter requires registration. To R.S.V.P., please contact Rachel Clarke, assistant professor in the School of Information Studies, at rclark01@syr.edu.

Adler’s visit will consider how systems of classification permeate almost every academic field.

“Drawing primarily on historical texts, she will explore some of the processes by which the marginalization of queer and racialized subjects become systemic,” says Clarke, who co-organized Adler’s visit with Patrick Williams, librarian for literature, rhetoric and digital humanities. “Her research concerns the history of library classifications, as they intersect with state and cultural discourses about race and sexuality.”

While queer studies and critical race studies share similar histories of oppression, they are not alone. Williams says critical animal studies and disability studies usually fall into this category, too.

“All of these fields are deeply invested in the critique and production of taxonomies and language. Their subjects push the limits of classifications in unique and compelling ways,” he adds.

The author of “Cruising the Library: Perversities in the Organization of Knowledge” (Fordham University Press, 2017), Adler will follow her lecture with a workshop on how classification systems, from biological taxonomies to library organization systems, reflect the values of their creators and exert power in defining relationships of belonging.

“‘Cruising the Library’ examines the history of sexuality through the lens of Library of Congress classifications,” Adler writes. “My next project, tentatively called ‘Organizing Knowledge to Save the World,’ is a feminist critique of knowledge organization systems that aspire to universality in reach, scope or design.”

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Karen dancers represent one of Burma’s largest, most diverse ethnic groups.

continues its yearlong theme of “Belonging” with a celebration of multicultural food, music and dance.

On Saturday, Dec. 2, ���ϲ����� students, along with locally resettled refugees and immigrants, will present “” from 6-8:30 p.m. in Falk College.

Free and open to the public, the event is a collaboration among the Department of Art and Music Histories in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S); the Food Studies Program in Falk College; and With Love, a teaching restaurant and business incubator on ���ϲ�����’s North Side, operated by Onondaga Community College.

For more information about ���ϲ����� Symposium, contact the Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192, or visit .

Sydney Hutchinson

Co-organizer Sydney Hutchinson says the program will highlight an eclectic mix of music and dance traditions, followed by a cuisine reception.

“Our students have spent the entire semester interviewing refugee musicians, artists and chefs, documenting their unique traditions,” says Hutchinson, associate professor of music history and cultures in A&S. “Special emphasis has been on Burma, [a sovereign state in Southeast Asia], which also is the culinary theme of With Love.”

The evening will begin with a program of music and dance from 6-7:30 p.m. in Grant Auditorium. Performers include Burundian dancer Beatrice Muradi, Karen and Matupi Chin dancers of Burma, Congolese musicians Immaculee Kandathe and Olivier Byinshi, Syrian oudist Ahmad Alkhlef and dabke dancers from the Saint Elias Orthodox Christian Church in ���ϲ�����.

Ahmad Alkhlef

A reception will follow in Wildhack Lounge, featuring hors d’oeuvres from Burma and a slideshow of images documenting student work from throughout the semester.

Hutchinson says the decision to focus on Burma was “easy,” since the country accounts for more than a quarter of all resettled refugees in Central New York. “Burma is home to many different ethnic groups who speak a multitude of languages, and engage in markedly different music, dance and religious traditions,” she explains.

According to the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Onondaga County has received more than 9,500 refugees since 2007, the greatest number of whom are from Burma.

Slightly smaller than Texas, Burma borders India and Bangladesh to the west, Thailand and Laos to the east and China to the north.

One of the highlights of the semester has been a cooking lab with Nancy Aye, a Burmese chef at With Love, who has helped students prepare food for the reception.

Hutchinson and co-organizer Elissa Johnson credit Adam Sudmann, With Love’s program manager, for facilitating such experiences. “The beneficiaries are not only students, but also refugees, immigrants and low-income citizens,” Hutchinson says.

Elissa Johnson

“Our students have been able to explore Burma’s cultural foodways, as well as its political and social histories,” says Johnson, who teaches “Food, Identity and Power” (FST 204) in Falk. “For many, it has been an eye-opening experience, absorbing Burmese traditions and learning about some of the issues that refugees and immigrants face in Central New York.”

In addition to Burma, students have spent the semester learning about the food and cultures of other countries, including Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Puerto Rico.

“This project is an excellent opportunity to draw connections between performances—in the traditional sense, through dance and music—and through the performance of cultural foodways,” says Johnson, also a Falk internship placement coordinator. “We don’t always acknowledge food and cooking as a cultural art form that it is, and this collaboration certainly highlights all three.”

In October, Hutchinson’s students presented refugee music traditions and documented traditional food cultures at the 2017 Convening of the Welcoming Economies Global Network in ���ϲ�����. “It was a special opportunity to collaborate with an organization dedicated to promoting the contributions of immigrant-entrepreneurs in Rust Belt cities,” she says.

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Paula J. Giddings and Beverly Guy-Sheftall, from left

On Monday, Nov. 27, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Paula J. Giddings and Beverly Guy-Sheftall will convene a dialogue titled “” from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, 140 Newhouse 3.

Free and open to the public, the program will conclude with a reception and book sale. American Sign Language interpretation is provided. For more information, contact the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center in the (A&S) at 315.443.7192, or visit��.

Each presenter is a distinguished educator, scholar, activist and administrator.��—director emerita of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art and former president of Spelman and Bennett colleges—is a senior consulting fellow of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and a principal consultant with Cook Ross.

��is the Elizabeth A. Woodson 1922 Professor Emerita of Africana Studies at Smith College.

��is on the faculty of Spelman, where she is the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies and founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center (WRRC).

“We are honored to welcome these luminaries for a conversation about combating injustice and creating change,” says co-organizer Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “All three are remarkable intellectuals whose generous leadership, meticulous research and deep commitment to collaboration and instituting change have transformed the scholarly landscape.”

May credits members of the trio, individually and collectively, for documenting a “long and robust Black feminist intellectual tradition,” and she underscores how their “deeply felt collaborations” have impacted many.

“As a community, we are fortunate to engage with all three visionaries together,” she continues. “They will draw on their collective expertise and shared commitments to show how ‘lessons’ from Black feminist histories affect personal, institutional and political change.”

The event is co-presented by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, with a generous gift from University Trustee Christine Larsen G’84, and by the new Universitywide Council on Diversity and Inclusion (CDI).

Vivian May, Carol Faulkner and Barry L. Wells, from left

Additional support comes from the Department of African American Studies (A&S); the College of Arts and Sciences; the Department of History (Maxwell); the Newhouse School of Communications; the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services (���ϲ�����); the Office of Multicultural Affairs (���ϲ�����); the Department of Political Science (Maxwell); the Department of Public Administration and Public Affairs (Maxwell); the School of Education; the Department of Sociology (Maxwell); and the Department of Women’s & Gender Studies (A&S).

Co-organizer Carol Faulkner notes the timing of the event, which coincides with the centennial of women’s suffrage in New York State—a movement that has had myriad social, economic and political consequences.

“It is hard to think of three women who have had greater impact on their academic disciplines and on higher education, more broadly,” says Faulkner, associate dean and professor of history in the Maxwell School. “They are public intellectuals whose pioneering careers demonstrate the tremendous impact that Black feminists have made—and continue to make—on American public life. I eagerly anticipate their conversation, which will offer important perspectives on the history and contemporary challenges of the ongoing struggle for racial and gender equality.”

Adds Barry L. Wells, special assistant to the Chancellor and co-chair of the CDI: “This event is designed for men��and��women, in hopes of advancing a vision of racial justice. Only by understanding the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and social class can we unpack the mechanisms by which inequalities manifest. Our esteemed scholars will consider how these dimensions of difference can become sources of identity and collective action.”

Johnnetta Betsch Cole

Johnetta Betsch Cole

Cole has enjoyed a long, distinguished history in higher education and the arts. In March 2017, she retired as director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, where, during her eight-year tenure, she embarked on a series of groundbreaking exhibitions and education programs, and established the first chief diversity officer position at a Smithsonian museum.

The only person to preside over both of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges for women, Cole became Spelman’s first African American woman president in 1987. During her 10-year appointment, Spelman was named the South’s top liberal arts college. From 2002-07, Cole led Bennett College, where she launched, among other things, an Africana women’s studies program.

Cole is professor emerita at Emory University, where she retired as a Presidential Distinguished Professor. She also has held teaching and administrative positions in anthropology, women’s studies and African American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles; Washington State University; the University of Massachusetts Amherst; and Hunter College. Cole has written or edited numerous publications for scholarly and general audiences, including several with Guy-Sheftall.

The recipient of nearly 70 honorary degrees, Cole is a fellow of both the American Anthropological Association and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). She has served on many boards, including that of the United Way of America, of which she was the first African American chair. Cole currently co-chairs the American Alliance of Museum’s Working Group on Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion, and serves on the board of Martha’s Table. She earned a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Paula J. Giddings

Paula Giddings

Giddings specializes in the social and political histories of African American women. Her best-known book is “Ida: A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching” (HarperCollins, 2008). “Ida” won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize; was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award; and was one of the year’s best books, according to The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune. Toni Morrison, a Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, has called it “history at its best—clear, intelligent and moving.”

Giddings also wrote the acclaimed books “In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement” (1988) and “When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America” (1984), both from HarperCollins.

A former book editor at Random House and Howard University Press, Giddings is a member of the founding advisory board of the interdisciplinary journal Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism (Smith College). She also has worked as a magazine editor and journalist, having regularly contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Philadelphia Inquirer. During the ’70s, Giddings was the Paris bureau chief for “Encore American and Worldwide News,” and was a member of the press corps for President Carter’s first trip to Europe, India and the Middle East.

Prior to Smith, Giddings held faculty positions at Spelman and at Rutgers, Duke and Princeton universities. She earned a B.A. from Howard University, and, last year, was named an AAAS Fellow.

Beverly Guy-Sheftall

Beverly Guy-Sheftall

Guy-Sheftall is a prolific scholar widely known for editing “Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought” (The New Press, 1995), a 200-year anthology and history of black feminist theory, and for co-editing with Roseann Bell and Bettye Parker “Sturdy Black Bridges: Visions of Black Women in Literature” (Doubleday, 1979). Both volumes are among the first of their kind in academia.

Other notable books include “Who Should Be First: Feminists Speak Out on the 2008 Presidential Campaign” (State University of New York Press, 2010), co-edited by Cole; “I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde” (Oxford University Press, 2009), co-edited by Cole and Rudolph P. Byrd; “Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women’s Equality in African American Communities” (Random House, 2003), co-authored by Cole; and “Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality” (Indiana University Press, 2001), co-edited by Byrd.

After enrolling at Spelman at age 16, Guy-Sheftall earned a master’s degree from Clark Atlanta University and Ph.D. from Emory, where she has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Since joining Spelman’s faculty in 1971, Guy-Sheftall has founded WRRC, the college’s first women’s studies program and SAGE: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women—all firsts for a historically Black college for women.

In 2017, Guy-Sheftall became an AAAS Fellow. She also was featured in the 2013 PBS documentary “Makers: Women Who Make America,” which praised her for “bringing the women’s studies movement to women of color, and the voices of women of color to women’s studies.”

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Tim Brookes

On Friday, Nov. 3,��, founder of the��, will address “.” His lecture is from 10-11:30 a.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library.

The following week, the University will host����and��, English professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), respectively.

On Wednesday, Nov. 8, Prior will lead a workshop titled “” from 9 a.m. to noon in 304 Tolley Humanities Building.

That same day, he and Shipka will examine “” from 2:15-3:45 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library.

On Thursday, Nov. 9, Shipka will lead a small group in a variety activites called “” from 8:30 a.m. to noon in 319 Sims Hall. Coffee and light breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m.; the presentation will begin at 9 a.m.

The workshops are filled to capacity, but those wishing to be placed on a waiting list may contact Patrick Berry, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), at��pwberry@syr.edu.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, call the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192, or visit��.

Vivian May

“All three presenters are highly interdisciplinary,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “With the Endangered Alphabets Project, Tim Brookes has created an ambitious linguistic-art initiative to protect disappearing languages and scripts. Paul Prior studies sociocultural theories of writing; Jody Shipka, multimodal discourse and digital rhetorics. Common among all of them is the desire to imagine new potentials for conceiving archives, authorship and agency.”

Brookes, an associate professor of communication and creative media, as well as a professional writing instructor at Champlain College in Vermont, founded the Endangered Alphabets Project to bring attention to imperiled, minority and indigenous cultures, using their writing systems to create art. Since 2010, he has been carving and painting decorative or functional pieces that depict these vanishing languages and scripts.

A number of Brookes’ plaques, along with photographs of some of his other pieces and information about 15 at-risk languages, are on display on the first floor of Bird Library through Friday, Nov. 3.

“His visit will address questions of how a culture’s writing system reflects a sense of value, legitimacy and belonging, why certain cultures around the world are losing their traditional scripts, and what else is being lost in the process,” says May, adding that Brookes is an Oxford-educated writer and artist. “His is a timely and relevant pursuit.”

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the world has 6,000-7,000 languages, half of which may disappear by the end of the century. Most languages spoken today rely on fewer than 100 alphabets. The Latin, Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese and Japanese alphabets dominate.

“At least a third of the world’s remaining alphabets are endangered,” Brookes says. “[They are] no longer taught in schools, no longer used for commerce or government; understood only by a few elders; restricted to a few monasteries; or used only in ceremonial documents, magic spells or secret love letters.”

Using Vermont Tiger Maple as his canvas, Brookes combines his love of woodcarving with his passion for preserving traditional languages and scripts. His research and artistry have led to presentations and educational partnerships all over the world, as well as national and international media coverage. Recently, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., presented an exhibition of his work.

Brookes’ visit is co-sponsored by ���ϲ����� Libraries; A&S; The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs;��the School of Education (SOE); the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (LLL) (A&S); the Department of Religion (A&S); the Indigenous Values Initiative of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy; the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition (A&S); and the Department of Reading and Language Arts (SOE).

Paul Prior

Prior is a professor of English at UIUC, where he directs the Center for Writing Studies. Former editor of the journal Research in the Teaching of English (National Council of Teachers of English), he specializes in writing studies, literate activity, dialogic theory, semiotic practice and applied linguistics.

May says that, at ���ϲ�����, Prior will invite participants to consider “heterogeneous trajectories that become entwined in their own disciplinarity” and then use their autobiographical reflections to “rethink relevant problem spaces in theory, research and practice.”

“His solo workshop is divided into two parts,” she explains. “During the first part, participants will think about their own becoming and engagements in disciplinarity, reaching a deeper awareness of the system of terms, tropes and interests that constructs typical models of discipline. The second part of the workshop will explore implications for theory, research and practice of seeing disciplinary becoming and belonging as laminated assemblage, rather than category membership.”

The author or editor of three books, including “Exploring Semiotic Remediation as Discourse Practice” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), Prior also will team up with Shipka for a workshop challenging static notions of being and belonging in accounts of literacies and disciplines. According to a joint statement, Prior and Shipka will offer a “dynamic view of the embodied, affective and historically situated process of making and remaking literate lives.”

Jody Shipka

An associate professor of English at UMBC, Shipka teaches courses in the communication and technology track. She is the author or editor of multiple books, including “Toward a Composition Made Whole” (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), and is a highly sought-after conference and workshop presenter.

“Historically speaking, composition—as a discipline and a course—has focused on human agents/agencies (writers) and the production of print-based (alphabetic) scholarly texts,” Shipka writes. “I argue for an expanded, increasingly dynamic focus for composition: One that advocates for the inclusion of more beings (both human and nonhuman), and that recognizes various forms of longing, and, in so doing, facilitates a greater capacity for belonging.”

Their workshop is co-sponsored by the Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Composition (A&S); SOE; LLL (A&S); and the Composition and Cultural Rhetoric Graduate Circle (A&S).

Shipka will conclude her visit with a hands-on workshop, exploring the relationship between belonging and composition. The theme, she says, is a response to the tendency to conflate multimodality with digital media.

“We will encourage participants to understand how composing with objects provides opportunities to create different kinds of arguments and tell different kinds of stories about themselves and the world around them,” Shipka adds. “In so doing, we will examine the complex relationship between making, being, longing and belonging through the lens and practice of multimodal composition.”

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Wafaa Bilal

On Thursday, Oct. 12, Bilal will give a presentation titled “” from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library. Bilal will discuss how he uses online performance and interactive works to address issues of identity, exile and politics.

The following day, he will lead a small-group discussion from 10-11:30 a.m. in 304 Tolley Humanities Building. Titled “,” the program will focus on the relevance and role of artistic expression in relation to war trauma, violence and diasporic belonging.

Both events are free and open to the public; however, the event on Friday, Oct. 13, requires registration. To RSVP, contact Amy Kallander, associate professor of Middle East history in the Maxwell School, at��akalland@maxwell.syr.edu.

More information about ���ϲ����� Symposium, organized by the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), is available at��.

“Waafa Bilal believes artists should be more than educators; they should be provocateurs,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “He has produced a body of work that is both controversial and illuminating. Many of his projects utilize robotics, the Internet or photographic mobile mapping to provoke a dialogue about international politics and internal dynamics.”

Bilal is an associate professor of photography and imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Much of his artwork draws on the experience of fleeing his homeland in 1991, following the Gulf War and taking up residence in the United States a year later.

He also has been an outspoken critic of the Iraq War, an antipathy that deepened in 2004 when an unmanned U.S. Predator drone killed his brother at a security checkpoint.

As a result, Bilal believes he inhabits parallel worlds. One is his physical home in the “comfort zone” of the United States; the other is his consciousness of the “conflict zone” in Iraq.

“Bilal’s art points to the role that the public plays in constructing, perpetuating and resisting these seemingly separate zones, or spaces,” says Carol Fadda, who is co-organizing the event with Kallander.

An associate professor of English in A&S, Fadda teaches and writes about Bilal’s artwork. This semester, she is using his book “Shoot an Iraqi: Art, Life and Resistance under the Gun” (City Lights Publishers, 2008) as part of her course “Gender, Violence and Sexualities in the ‘War on Terror.'”

“After his brother was killed, Wafaa Bilal began using his art to expose those in what he refers to as the ‘comfort zone’ with the realities of life in the ‘conflict zone,’ with an understanding, however, that not everyone in the U.S. is or can be a part of this ‘comfort zone,’” she says.

The Chicago Tribune hailed “Domestic Tension” (above) as a “sharp work of political art.”

Bilal responded to his brother’s death with “Domestic Tension,” a 2007 interactive performance piece that thrust him into the national spotlight. For a month, Bilal confined himself to a prison cell-sized room in a Chicago art gallery, where virtual users shot paintballs at him 24 hours a day.

Bilal’s unsettling take on the morality and violence of the Iraq War prompted the Chicago Tribune to name him Artist of the Year, calling his show “one of the sharpest works of political art … seen in a long time.”

In 2010, Bilal found other ways to use his body as the medium. For one project, he installed a thumb-sized camera into the back of his head. Every minute for a year, the camera took snapshots of his activities, from the sublime to the mundane. Another project saw him tattooing an Iraqi map onto his back, using dots to represent U.S. and Iraqi casualties. “For the Iraqis, he used invisible ink, which was seen only under a black light,” May says.

Bilal’s latest project, “168:01,” is an austere white library that remembers the cultural losses Iraq has endured throughout history, while serving as a platform for potential rebirth. The installation positions viewers as potential donors, whose contributions benefit the University of Baghdad’s fine arts college, which lost more than 70,000 books during the Iraq War.

“The installation venerates Iraq’s rich cultural heritage,” says Kallander, whose colleague Boryana Rosa, assistant professor of art video and transmedia in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, is trying to bring “168:01” to the Community Folk Art Center next year.

Kallander considers Bilal’s work timely, given the recent spike in violence and prejudice against Iraqis and Muslims. According to the M.I.T. Center for International Studies, the number of people displaced by the Iraq War, internally (within Iraq) and externally (mainly in Jordan and Syria), ranges from 3.5 million to 5 million. Complicating displacement are attempts to ban immigrants and refugees from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East.

These issues permeat a course Kallander teaches called “Iraq: Modern Nation to U.S. Occupation.” She thinks Bilal’s visit will help bring the material to life. “He is part of a growing number of Iraqis who turn art into a form of everyday resistance. His work rejects the dehumanizing nature of dominant stereotypes about Iraq and the Middle East, in general,” Kallander adds.

Fadda marvels at how Bilal engages with, and draws inspiration from, the “rich cultural and intellectual heritage” of Iraqi, Arab and Muslim history. She points out, however, that his art moves beyond “humanizing frameworks” that usually affirm the “us-and-them” binary.

“He pushes viewers to address the violence of U.S. wars abroad, specifically in the Arab world, and the effects of these wars on the everyday lives of Arabs and Muslims,” Fadda says.

Two years ago, Bilal created “Canto III,” which explored the extremes people go to honor despotic rulers—in this case, Saddam Hussein. Bilal invited a group of U.S. veterans who served in Iraq to assist with the artwork’s fabrication, for which they were paid minimum wage. The work, May says, raised awareness of the neglect that veterans face upon returning home from war.

Wafaa Bilal at home in his studio

Bilal’s artwork resides in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha (Qatar).

His visit is co-sponsored by the Democratizing Knowledge Project (A&S), the Department of English (A&S), the Department of History (Maxwell), the Middle Eastern Studies Program (A&S), the Department of Art and Music Histories (A&S) and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies (A&S).

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Poster for Kirschenbaum’s lecture, “Belonging to the International: Gender, Sexuality and Community Identity during the Spanish Civil War”

��continues its yearlong theme of “Belonging” with two events devoted to the contours of social identity and the navigation, if not forging, of political community.

, professor of history at West Chester University, will discuss “” on Thursday, Sept. 28, from 11 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (114 Bird Library). The lecture is part of a pair of ���ϲ����� Symposium courses exploring cultural responses to the Spanish Civil War and Russian Revolution, taught respectively by Kathy Everly and Erika Haber, professors in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics in the (A&S).

, an Indian-born, Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist, will perform on Thursday, Oct. 5, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Kilian Room (500 Hall of Languages). Her program will kick off a two-day symposium titled “,” which doubles as the South Asia Center (SAC)’s Fall Symposium and the College’s Ray Smith Symposium.

Based in the , SAC is an all-University center directed by Carol Babiracki, associate professor of music history and cultures in A&S.

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192 or visit��.

“Race, class, gender and sexuality do not exist in isolation, but intersect with one another,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “Both presenters will look at how these interchanges shape our experiences and sense of belonging. They reinforce the idea that belonging is as much about being included in a community as it is about being excluded.”

Lisa Kirschenbaum

Kirschenbaum will draw from “International Communism and the Spanish Civil War: Solidarity and Suspicion” (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Winner of a 2016 Heldt Prize from the Association for Women in Slavic Studies, her book provides a sociocultural history of international communism against the backdrop of one of the 20th century’s bloodiest civil wars.

The Philadelphia-based scholar approaches communism as a form of transnational community, viewed through the twin lenses of gender and sexuality.

“The communist party was not just a political organization; it was a way of life,” May says. “For example, it was not uncommon for a woman to temporarily abandon her maternal role to join the struggle in Spain. Individual circumstances often encouraged people to challenge, however implicitly, the Stalinist sanctification of the family.”

From 1936-39, the Spanish Civil War pitted the fascist-aided Nationalists, eventually led by Francisco Franco, against the democratically elected Spanish Republic, made up of anarchists, bourgeois liberals, socialists and Communists. The Republic lost, and Franco remained in power for the next 36 years.

Some argue that the war was less a prelude to World War II than to the Cold War, whose fratricidal violence within the Left later doomed social revolution projects throughout Western Europe.

“Professor Kirschenbaum will consider the ambiguities, complications and shifts in the Soviet understanding of belonging,” says May, adding that the speaker also will touch on International Brigades, whose tens of thousands of volunteers railed against fascism in Spain and championed the equality of men and women. “This includes a foray into the communist understanding of ‘masculinity’—how it brought together men and set limits on the communist community—in Spain. The way norms of masculinity and femininity were enforced during the Spanish Civil War tells us a lot about the process of constructing a transnational communist community.”

Kirschenbaum also is the author of “The Legacy of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941-1995: Myth, Memories and Monuments” (Cambridge University Press, 2006) and “Small Comrades: Revolutionizing Childhood in Soviet Russia, 1917-1932” (RoutledgeFalmer, 2000).

Her visit will be co-hosted by Haber and Everly, the latter of whom chairs the campuswide Humanities Council.

Vivek Shraya

Shraya, whose work spans music, film and literature, will address notions of identity too. Recent accomplishments include her debut poetry collection, “even this page is white” (2016), winner of the Publishing Triangle Award for Trans- and Gender-Variant Poetry and a finalist for the CBC Canada Reads competition.

The four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist also is the author of the children’s book “The Boy and the Bindi” (2016), a National Post bestseller and a South Asia Book Award “Highly Commended” title, and the illustrated novel “She of the Mountains” (2014), named one of The Globe and Mail’s best books.

Arsenal Pulp Press is the publisher of all three books, and is home to Shraya’s own imprint, VS. Books.

“Vivek Shraya will highlight the complex relationship between ‘Belonging’ and the body itself,” May says. “Her work tackles what it means to belong—and not belong—in relation to family, religion, community spaces, queerness and transness.”

A sought-after performer, Shraya has shared the stage with the acclaimed Canadian pop band Tegan and Sarah. She also is half of the sibling musical duo Too Attached.

Shraya is a budding filmmaker, as evidenced by the recent success of “I Want to Kill Myself” (2017), which critics have dubbed a “bold statement” (Huffington Post) and a “courageous and vital portrait of mental health” (CBC Arts).

“My biggest hope is that people watch the film,” she recently told CBC Arts. “Given our decreasing attention spans and the amount of online content we are flooded with, seeking an audience for an almost nine-minute short, let alone a short that delves into suicide, unfortunately feels like a big ask.”

Vivek Shraya book cover

Shraya’s commitment to inclusiveness and celebration—a quality instilled in her by her mother—has earned her the respect of the worldwide LGBTQ community. In addition to serving as last year’s Pride Toronto Grand Marshal, she has been honored by the Toronto Arts Foundation and The Writers’ Trust of Canada.

In addition to Shraya’s lecture, the “Embodied Belongings” symposium includes a keynote address by Gayatri Reddy, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, titled “‘With Respect to Sex,’ Revisited” on Friday, Oct. 6, at 9 a.m., followed by a reading by Shyam Selvadurai, a Sri Lankan Canadian novelist, at 6:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public, and take place in 500 HL. For a complete schedule, visit��.

Shraya’s visit is co-sponsored by the South Asia Center; the Ray Smith Symposium; the departments of Anthropology, Religion, Women’s & Gender Studies and English; the LGBT Studies program; and Susan Wadley, the Ford-Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies.

Suné Woods

Fall guests include visual artist Suné Woods (Sept. 13-16); poets Janice Harrington and Oliver de la Paz (Sept. 26-27); Iraqi-American artist Wafaa Bilal (Oct. 12-13); Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Keiko Ogura (Oct. 24-28); Black feminist scholars Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Paula J. Giddings and Beverly Guy-Sheftall (Nov. 27); and gender studies scholar Melissa Adler (Dec. 4-5).

“Belonging is as much about being included and recognized as part of a wider community, as it is about denial,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). “We will examine a range of issues—belonging as it relates to structural and political power and to interpersonal relationships—from various perspectives and in different genres and settings. The result is a rich survey of theory and practice, showing how the humanities address some of the most pressing issues of our time.”

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192 or visit��.

The fall schedule is as follows:

Suné Woods
Wednesday, Sept. 13

Los Angeles artist Suné Woods will unveil her solo show at Light Work, titled “To Sleep with Terra,” examining absences and vulnerabilities within cultural and social histories. The program includes a panel discussion with Fred Moten, professor of English at the University of California, Riverside, and James Gordon Williams, assistant professor of African American studies at ���ϲ�����.
6-7:30 p.m.
Watson Theater, Menschel Media Center (316 Waverly Ave.)

Saturday, Sept. 16

Woods leads a photo-collage workshop. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Mary Lee Hodgens, associate director of Light Work, at��mlhodgen@syr.edu.
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Light Work Lab (316 Waverly Ave.)

Oliver de la Paz and Janice Harrington

Janice Harrington and Oliver de la Paz
Tuesday, Sept. 26

���ϲ����� Symposium teams up with the YMCA’s Downtown Writer’s Center for a reading by Harrington, professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and De la Paz, associate professor of English at College of the Holy Cross. Both poets will address notions of race, ethnicity and identity with their original, award-winning work.
7-8:30 p.m.
Jason Shinder Theater, YMCA Downtown Writer’s Center (340 Montgomery St.)

Wednesday, Sept. 27

Harrington and De la Paz lead a workshop for writers of all ages, backgrounds and levels of experience. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Phil Memmer, executive director of the YMCA Arts Branch, at��pmemmer@syracuseymca.org.
9-11 a.m.
304 Tolley Humanities Building

Thursday, Sept. 28

Lisa Kirschenbaum, professor of history at West Chester University, explores communism as a way of life during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Part of an official ���ϲ����� Symposium course, Kirschenbaum’s lecture will draw, in part, on her award-winning book “International Communism and the Spanish Civil War: Solidarity and Suspicion” (Cambridge University Press 2015).
11 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library

Thursday, Sept. 28, to Saturday, Sept. 30

The 15th annual ���ϲ����� Human Rights Film Festival presents an outstanding lineup of critically acclaimed films, addressing social rights issues around the world. Visit����for film descriptions, screening times and locations.

Thursday, Oct. 5

Vivek Shraya, a South Asian artist, musician and writer, highlights the complex relationship between belonging and embodiment. Shraya’s work focuses on matters of family, religion, public space, queerness and “transness.”
7-8:30 p.m.
Kilian Room, 500 Hall of Languages

Wafaa Bilal

Wafaa Bilal

Thursday, Oct. 12

Bilal, associate professor of photography and imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, uses online performative and interactive works to tackle questions about identity, exile and U.S. politics.
5-6:30 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library

Friday, Oct. 13

Bilal leads a small-group discussion on the relevance and role of artistic expression in relation to war trauma, violence and diasporic belonging. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Amy Kallander, associate professor of history in the Maxwell School, at��akalland@maxwell.syr.edu.
10-11:30 a.m.
304 Tolley Humanities Building

Keiko Ogura
Tuesday, Oct. 24

Edward Morris, professor of practice of transmedia and co-director of the Canary Lab in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, moderates a panel discussion about the effects of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Japanese art and architecture. Participants include Keiko Ogura, a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing; Yutaka Sho, associate professor of architecture; and Linda Zhang, a 2017-18 Boghosian Fellow of Architecture. Ogura’s visit is part of a spate of local events, including an exhibit at the Everson Museum of Art titled “That Day Now: Shadows Cast by Hiroshima,” running through Nov. 26. More information about Ogura’s visit is at��.
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Slocum Hall Atrium and Marble Room

Saturday, Oct. 28

Keiko Ogura

Ogura headlines a daylong program that includes remarks by Daisaku Yamamoto, associate professor of geography and director of Asian studies at Colgate University; Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, author of the award-winning books “Hiroshima in the Morning” (Feminist Press, 2010) and “Why She Left Us” (Harper Perennial, 2000); Chad Diehl, assistant professor of history and coordinator of Asian studies at Loyola University Maryland; and Susan Napier, professor of international literary and cultural studies at Tufts University.
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Slocum Hall Auditorium

Friday, Nov. 3

Tim Brookes, associate professor of communication and creative media at Champlain College, uses carvings and stories from various cultures to illustrate how writing systems affect a culture’s sense of belonging.
10-11:30 a.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library

Paul Prior and Jody Shipka
Wednesday, Nov. 8

Prior, professor of English at UIUC, leads a small-group discussion on sociocultural theories of writing. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Patrick Berry, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric, at��pwberry@syr.edu.
9 a.m. to noon
304 Tolley Humanities Building

Wednesday, Nov. 8

Prior returns to campus with Jody Shipka, associate professor of English at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, for a presentation that challenges static notions about being and belonging in accounts of literacies and disciplines.
2:15-3:45 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library

Thursday, Nov. 9

Shipka leads a small-group workshop on the growing importance of podcasts, blogs, collages, video and audio essays, comic strips and storyboards. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Patrick Berry, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric, at��pwberry@syr.edu.
9 a.m. to noon
304 Tolley Humanities Building

Monday, Nov. 27

From left: Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Paula Giddings and Beverly Guy-Sheftall

The ���ϲ����� Symposium Keynote brings together three prominent Black feminist scholars: Johnnetta Betsch Cole, former president of Spelman and Bennett colleges and recently retired director of the National Museum of African Art; Paula J. Giddings, the Elizabeth A. Woodson 1922 Professor Emerita of Africana Studies and senior editor of “Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism” at Smith College; and Beverly Guy-Sheftall, the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies and founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman. This distinguished trio will offer personal reflections on confronting inequality and creating change, touching on topics ranging from the power of collaboration, educational pathways and politics, to key lessons from Black women’s history of activism and scholarship, past and present.
6-7:30 p.m.
Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, 140 Newhouse 3

Saturday, Dec. 2

���ϲ����� and With Love, a project of Onondaga Community College, celebrate the folk traditions of local immigrant and resettled refugee communities with this distinctive multicultural event. Highlights include musical performances by Burundi, Congolese and Burmese musicians and dancers, as well as cuisine prepared by Burmese chef Shwe HninSi.
6-7:30 p.m. (concert), Grant Auditorium
7:30-8:30 p.m. (reception), Wildhack Lounge, Grant Hall

Melissa Adler
Monday, Dec. 4

Melissa Adler

Adler, assistant professor of information science and of gender and women’s studies at the University of Kentucky, illustrates how systems of classification—from biological taxonomies to library shelves—define relationships of belonging and exclusion. She will focus on some of the ways in which the marginalization of queer and racialized subjects is systemic.
5:15-6:30 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library

Tuesday, Dec. 5

Adler leads a small-group discussion on deconstructing social norms and taxonomies, as they pertain to LGBTQ communities. Space is limited; registration required. Contact the Humanities Center at 315.443.7192.
9 a.m. to noon
304 Tolley Humanities Building

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

A bird’s-eye view of ���ϲ�����, N.Y. (c. 1850), engraved by Lewis Bradley, lithographed by D. W. Moody and published by the Smith Brothers of New York. (Courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center.)

concludes its yearlong examination of “Place” with an art exhibition of local relevance.

On Thursday, April 20, the and the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) in will co-host an opening reception for the show “” from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on the sixth floor of Bird Library.

The exhibition—free and open to the public—features rare books, pamphlets, maps, manuscripts, photographs and other artifacts from SCRC’s permanent collection, intended to reframe and expand the notion of what “place” was, is and can be.

For more information about the opening, call the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences at 315.443.7192 or visit .

To learn more about “YOU ARE HERE,” which runs until Friday, Aug. 11, contact SCRC at 315.443.2093 or visit . SCRC is presenting the exhibition with support from the Humanities Center.

Lucy Mulroney, SCRC’s senior director, says the exhibition aims to expand the concept of “place”: “Although we often think of ‘place’ in terms of coordinates on a map, it can include a vastly wider vocabulary that encompasses experiences of displacement, migration, belonging and ways of moving through spaces over the course of one’s life.”

Lucy Mulroney

Vivian May agrees. As director of the Humanities Center, she considers the exhibition a fitting way to cap off the yearlong symposium.

“The idea of ‘place’ can be wide-ranging,” says May, also a professor of women’s and gender studies in . “We bring to the places we live a set of cultural preconceptions that shape how we respond to them. We also shape them to fit our preconceptions. ‘YOU ARE HERE’ explores this idea in an interdisciplinary way—from the geographical relevance of the Erie Canal, to the conceptual destination of the Underground Railroad, to the student experience at ���ϲ�����.”

During the reception, Brice Nordquist and Emily Stokes-Rees will present results from their SCRC Faculty Fellowships, sponsored by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Nordquist, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric in A&S, used his fellowship to teach a course on the rhetorics of futurity. His students engaged with materials from SCRC’s collections of utopian, science fiction and city-planning materials.

Stokes-Rees, assistant professor and coordinator of museum studies in the School of Design in the , focused on ethnographic curatorship. Her students worked extensively with SCRC’s plastics collection to develop an installation for Bird Library’s Plastics Pioneers Reading Room.

Emily Stokes-Rees and Brice Nordquist

Mulroney hopes the new fellowship program will get more people involved with SCRC’s primary source materials.

“Our pilot year has been a great experience on both sides,” she adds. “Working closely with faculty has given us the opportunity to develop transformative learning experiences for our students. As professors Nordquist and Stokes-Rees have demonstrated, we can breathe new meanings into historical materials by being able to handle, analyze and interpret them.”

Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center cultivates diverse forms of humanities scholarship, sponsors a range of dynamic programming and partnerships, highlights the humanities as a public good, and underscores the relevance of the humanities for addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Mauro Novelli

continues its yearlong study of “Place” with a visit by a scholar of modern Italian literature.

Mauro Novelli, associate professor of contemporary Italian literature at The University of Milan, will discuss “” on Tuesday, April 4, from 3:30-4:45 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (114 Bird Library).

The following day, he will participate in a special “” from 10-11 a.m. in 304 Tolley Humanities Building.

Free and open to the public, both events will draw on Novelli’s vast knowledge of Fascist Italy (c. 1922-43). For more information, contact the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences at 315.443.7192, or visit .

“Professor Novelli’s visit is timely, given the current political climate,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “Much of his work analyzes the ideological function of literature and culture in Italian Fascism. He will consider, among other things, how literature has justified, endured and fought the terrors of a totalitarian regime.”

Stefano Giannini, associate professor of Italian and chair of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics in A&S, is organizing Novelli’s visit. Giannini anticipates a nuanced conversation about the use of simulation and dissimulation in contemporary Italian literature.

“Simulation and dissimulation are protective rhetorical devices that, despite their negative connotations, possess positive traits,” Giannini says. “In ‘Places of Resistance,’ Dr. Novelli will examine how literary characters, living on the periphery of Italy during Fascism, fight political oppression by dissimulating their intentions.”

Simulation is the act of pretending or deceiving; dissimulation is concealing or disguising one’s true thoughts or motives.

Mussolini salutes a crowd in Rome. (Wikimedia Commons)

In life as in art, fascism has come in many forms. Novelli warns that it would be overly simplistic to think all Italians embraced fascism out of convenience or because they were forced to do so.

“Benito Mussolini was interested in a new avant-garde that merged art and life, and could be easily communicated to the masses,” says Giannini, regarding Italy’s notorious prime minister and founder of fascism. “The result was a literary aesthetic—a kind of ‘spiritual realism,’ as it was called—that enabled writers to manipulate reality in service of a moral vision, thus fostering changes in collective behavior.”

Ultimately, fascism did not spawn the type of literature that Mussolini envisioned. Scholars blame the failure on stifling intellectual conditions and a contempt for democracy.

Among the writers Novelli will discuss are Giuseppe Antonio Borgese, Ignazio Silone, Benedetto Croce and Curzio Malaparte, all vocal opponents of fascism.

“Dr. Novelli will examine how literature was manipulated and made into vehicles of mass deception,” Giannini says. “Novelists often used code language and symbolism in their stories, proving that censorship and adversity could, at times, serve a creative purpose. Once freed of government scrutiny, there was an explosion of nonrealistic work after World War II.”

Italian writer and literary critic Giuseppe Antonio Borgese.

An expert on contemporary Italian literature and culture, Novelli also studies dialect poetry, the 19th-century Scapigliatura movement and Italian crime fiction. He is the author of three books and more than 250 scholarly and popular articles, and is an internationally sought-after lecturer.

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Eric Sanderson

continues its yearlong look at “Place” with a visit by an expert in ecosystem and landscape ecology.

, senior conservation ecologist of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), will present “,” on Thursday, March 30, from 4-5:30 p.m. in Room 100 in the Falk College complex. The following day, he will lead a workshop titled “” from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Room 304 in the Tolley Humanities Building.

Both events are free and open to the public; however, the workshop, which has a morning and an afternoon session, requires registration. To enroll in either or both sessions, call Jane Read, associate professor of geography in the Maxwell School, at 315.443.4279 or email her at jaread@maxwell.syr.edu. The registration deadline is Friday, March 24.

For more information about Sanderson’s visit, contact the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences at 315.443.7192 or visit .

“Dr. Sanderson has devoted his career to species and landscape conservation planning,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in

Phil Arnold

A&S. “His work is holistic and compelling, combining elements of biology, history, anthropology, sociology and political science to help us understand our experience of place—past, present and future.”

Sanderson’s visit is co-organized by Read; Phil Arnold, associate professor and chair of religion, as well as director of the Skä•noñh—Great Law of Peace Center in ���ϲ�����; and Rachel May, director of sustainability education for the University.

Pronounced “way-LEE-kee-uh,” welikia means “my good home” in Lenape, the Native American language of the New York City region at the time of the Europeans’ arrival in the early 1600s.

Jane Read

Sanderson oversees the Welikia Project, which includes an interactive, three-dimensional map tracing the ecology of Manhattan and its surrounding boroughs over the past 400 years. Welikia is an outgrowth of the Mannahatta Project, which Sanderson also directs, but focuses exclusively on Manhattan’s social, cultural and natural transformation.

The Welikia and Mannahatta projects are sponsored by WCS, which is committed to protecting the world’s wildlife and wild places.

Arnold says the Welikia Project is designed to help people appreciate, conserve and reinvigorate the natural heritage of New York City, regardless of where they live.

“Eric Sanderson explores not only the deep history of ecosystems and landscapes, but also the rich human cultures that have inhabited these areas for thousands of years, before [English explorer] Henry Hudson arrived in 1609,” Arnold says. “This kind of information is a boon to students, researchers, teachers and policymakers.”

Read echoes these sentiments, saying the Welikia Project embodies digital humanities excellence. “This is more than a flashy Photoshop job,” she says. “Dr. Sanderson uses digital mapping to create now-and-then comparisons of New York City—from visualizing plants and animals that have inhabited a specific area to showing how valleys, forests and marshes have given way to farms and then skyscrapers.”

Like Arnold, Read is excited about Sanderson’s workshop, saying it will show how digital tools and methods are used to recreate the natural and historical continuum of Onondaga Lake.

Rachel May

“Digital technologies can be layered together to tell stories about the lake’s seemingly incompatible features,” she says. “They range from sacred spaces; to post-industrial wastebeds; to secret, effaced or poisoned landscapes.”

Located north of the City of ���ϲ�����, Onondaga Lake has been a sacred space for the Haudenosaunee Confederacy for more than a thousand years. The lake also is the birthplace of the Great Law of Peace, whose teachings inspired parts of the U.S. Constitution. Today, Onondaga Lake is in the midst of a $1 billion cleanup, following decades of industrial pollution.

Sanderson’s visit coincides with a project directed by Rachel May, involving the creation of a prototype of a digital atlas of Onondaga Lake. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the project includes Read and Arnold (its co-directors), who believe the digital humanities occupy a unique place in the 21st-century classroom.

“Our approach is similar to Dr. Sanderson’s—integrating the idea of place as a spiritual center in indigenous and local knowledge with the more decentered idea of place that is inherent in digital mapping,” May says. “The result is a comprehensive survey of the historical, cultural and economic significance of Onondaga Lake that ultimately becomes a tool for respectful communication.”

In addition to the Welikia and Mannahatta projects, Sanderson has embarked on a series of projects over the past 20 years, bringing international distinction to WCS. They include the Human Footprint map, the first global map of human influence on the land surface, and the Landscape Ecology and Geographic Analysis project, a unique fusion of landscape thinking, geographic analysis and conservation practices.

Sanderson also has contributed to efforts to save lions, tigers, Asian bears, jaguars, tapirs, peccaries, American crocodiles, North American bison and Mongolian gazelle. His landscape planning conservation efforts have involved Argentina, Tanzania and Mongolia, as well as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Adirondack Park, both in the United States.

He is the author or co-author of three books, including “” (Abrams, 2009); two scientific volumes; and dozens of scholarly papers.

His visit is made possible with support from the Department of Geography, the Skä•noñh center and the University’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives.

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Carl Elsaesser’s “Project Gasbuggy” (2014) on the outside of the Everson Museum of Art

continues its yearlong look at “Place” with an evening of video and experimental film.

(UVP) will present a program titled “” on Thursday, March 9, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in Hosmer Auditorium of the Everson Museum of Art (401 Harrison St., ���ϲ�����). Mounted in conjunction with a UVP group exhibition by the same name, the program features six works by a trio of emerging filmmakers: Carl Elsaesser, Sky Hopinka and João Vieira Torres. All three will participate in a Q&A, followed by an artist reception in the Everson Plaza.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences at 315.443.7192 or visit .

UVP is a multi-media public art initiative of Light Work and the University, carried out in partnership with the Everson and Onondaga County.

“This exhibition explores the rich, problematic genre of ethnographic documentary, as a locus of aesthetic and conceptual innovation,” says Anneka Herre, UVP’s director and an instructor of transmedia core in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “These films blur the boundary between the ethnographic and auto-ethnographic, altering our conception of how we interact with one another and with the world around us.”

Common to all three filmmakers is an abiding interest in ethnography, the study of how people live and make sense of their lives in a particular place.

Carl Elsaesser

Elsaesser is an award-winning filmmaker from Maine whose work examines aesthetics of identity and narrative representative. He will present and discuss “Vague Images at the Beginning and End of the Day” (2016) and “Project Gasbuggy” (2014), both of which question how images are constructed, encountered and interpreted.

“[My films] address a desire to see what can be stated in a system, where normative values are denied, and concepts of resolution are suspended,” says Elsaesser, a graduate student in The University of Iowa’s cinematic arts department.

A native of Bellingham, Wash., Hopinka is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of indigenous peoples and a descendant of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, whose history stretches back more than 10,000 years. His work focuses on what he describes as “personal positions of homeland and landscape, designs of language and the facets of culture contained within.”

Sky Hopinka

Hopinka will screen “I’ll Remember You as You Were, Not as What You’ll Become” (2016), an elegy to Native American poet Diane Burns, and “Jáaji Approx.” (2015), featuring audio recordings of his father and videos of landscapes they have traversed separately.

Torres is a filmmaker, actor and artist who splits time between France and his native Brazil. He will present “Ghost Children” (2016), a self-described “procession of cheap snapshots, assembled from discarded family albums,” narrated with personal tales of birth and death, and “Toré” (2015), in which he explores the limits of what can be seen and shown, after being asked to document a ritual in a remote region of Brazil. His work appears at festivals on both sides of the Atlantic.

João Vieira Torres

“We’re excited to partner with UVP in a program showcasing ethnographic films and the notion of ‘haunting,’ to focus on elements of memory, history, land and power,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies. “As a composite, these films complicate our understanding of self and others, and help create bridges across time, place and circumstance. The films’ visual storytelling encourages us to come to know each other differently and to perceive reality in new ways.”

The outdoor exhibition of “Haunted Ethnography” runs at UVP Everson until Saturday, March 25. The show is part of a yearlong UVP exhibition titled “Interzones,” exploring liminal states, haunted places and the space in-between.

UVP operates a permanent architectural projection venue on the facade of the Everson, transforming the adjoining plaza into a public video installation every Thursday through Saturday night. Time Warner Cable provides UVP with the technology to operate a permanent exhibition site, as well as a mobile projection unit on the Connective Corridor.

Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center cultivates diverse forms of humanities scholarship, sponsors a range of dynamic programming and partnerships, highlights the humanities as a public good and underscores the relevance of the humanities for addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

The schedule includes nearly a dozen lectures, workshops, exhibitions and performances. Special guests include Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, landscape ecologist Eric Sanderson, visual artist Juan Juarez and Italian literary scholar Mauro Novelli.

The ���ϲ����� Humanities Center, based in the College of Arts and Sciences, organizes and presents ���ϲ����� Symposium. All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise indicated. For more information, call 315.443.7192 or visit .

“We are excited to resume our study of ‘place’ through a humanistic lens,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Using methodologies steeped in the arts, humanities and social sciences, we offer a place-based approach to cultural studies. This enables us to engage wider publics and address questions of injustice and human rights.”

The spring schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, Feb. 7

Jhumpa Lahiri

7:30-9 p.m.
Hendricks Chapel
The University Lecture series continues with Lahiri, professor of creative writing at Princeton University, who will discuss her memoir, “In Other Words” (Knopf, 2016). She also is the author of “Interpreter of Maladies” (Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Co., 1999), winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and “The Namesake” (Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Co., 2003), the subject of a 2006 Indian-American film.

Thursday, Feb. 9

5:30-7 p.m.
Maxwell Auditorium
Edward Brockenbrough, associate professor of teaching and curriculum at the University of Rochester, examines negotiations of identity, pedagogy and power in urban educational spaces. His visit is part of the Douglas P. Biklen Landscape of Urban Education Lecture series.

Thursday, Feb. 16

Carl Elsaesser’s “Project Gasbuggy” (shown above) is part of “Haunted Ethnography.”

5-8 p.m.
Point of Contact Gallery
Nancy Cantor Warehouse (350 W. Fayette St., ���ϲ�����)
Point of Contact presents an Artist Talk & Tour with Juan Juarez, associate professor of studio arts and coordinator of the Arts in Context Program in VPA’s School of Art. The event also serves as the opening reception for his multi-media show, “Corpus,” exploring the meaning of space/place and the human desire to leave tangible remains after death, thus providing context for a larger physical existence.

Friday, Feb. 17

7:30-9:15 p.m.
Carrier Theater, The Oncenter (421 Montgomery St., ���ϲ�����)
The Society for New Music marks its 45th season with a performance titled “Vision of Sound: (making) PLACE,” featuring collaborations between 10 composers and choreographers from Central and Upstate New York. Each original work expresses the importance of place through music, dance and movement.

Thursday, March 9

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Hosmer Auditorium, Everson Museum of Art (401 Harrison St., ���ϲ�����)
The Urban Video Project (UVP) and Light Work co-present a special indoor screening event and panel discussion, as part of “Haunted Ethnography: new experimental documentary,” an exhibition devoted to new video and experimental film works by emerging artists.

Thursday, March 30

Eric Sanderson

4-5:30 p.m.
100 Falk College
Eric Sanderson, a senior conversation ecologist of the Wildlife Conservation Society, provides an overview of The Welikia Project, which documents the historical ecology of New York City and compares it to the city’s present biodiversity. Emphasis is on how teachers, government officials and everyday citizens use such information to transform their experience of “place.”

Friday, March 31

9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Sanderson explores digital methods and tools to visualize the continuum of the indigenous, industrial and post-industrial history of Onondaga Lake. The program includes a visit to the lake and to The Ska-Nohn—Great Law of Peace Center. Participants may attend all or part of the workshop. Registration required; RSVP with Jane Read at 315.443.4279 by Friday, March 24.

Tuesday, April 4

Mauro Novelli

3:35-4:45 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
Mauro Novelli, associate professor of contemporary Italian literature at The University of Milan, examines how Italians relegated to the periphery during Fascist rule used dissimulation to help overthrow the government.

Wednesday, April 5

9 a.m. to noon
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Novelli surveys the cultural, political and economic landscape of Italy during World War II, explaining how Fascism strained Swiss relations and led to Italy’s defeat.

Thursday, April 20

4-6 p.m.
Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), 6th Floor, Bird Library
The SCRC hosts an opening reception for “YOU ARE HERE,” an exhibit using the physical manifestation of historical events and social reform movements (e.g., rare books, photographs, maps and pamphlets) to redefine notions of “place” in the City of ���ϲ�����.

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

Carla Shatz

A professor of biology and neurobiology at Stanford University, Shatz will deliver this year’s Kameshwar C. Wali Lecture in the Sciences and Humanities titled “.” The lecture is Thursday, Dec. 8, at 4 p.m. in 132 Lyman Hall. The following day at noon she will lead a scientific research seminar in Watson Theater.

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences at 315.443.3901.

Shatz’s visit is co-sponsored by the Kameshwar C. Wali Lecture in the Sciences and Humanities Fund, the physics department, the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Studies Program and the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center, all based in A&S.

���ϲ����� Symposium is organized and presented by the Humanities Center.

“In addressing questions of development, memory and immunity, Carla’s research enhances our understanding of human nature,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies. “She illustrates how our brains are like plastic, inviting us to think of the brain as a ‘place’ of its own and as something that interacts with wider contexts and experiences. Her study of brain-environment interaction provides an important glimpse into how our bodies ward off neurodegenerative disease.”

May adds that Shatz’s work exemplifies the interdisciplinary nature of the liberal arts: “As a Wali lecturer, she will encourage us to think collectively about complex problems, traversing the boundaries of scientific, humanistic and social science inquiry.”

Shatz celebrates her Kavli prize with members of her Stanford lab. (Linda A. Cicero/Stanford News Service)

Cristina Marchetti, the William R. Kenan Distinguished Professor of Physics in A&S, says both presentations will address Shatz’s contributions to understanding how brain wiring occurs during development—research for which she was awarded the prestigious Kavli Neuroscience Prize in June.

Particular emphasis will be placed on the part of the brain that receives information from the eyes.

“Using the visual system as her primary model of brain development, Carla has discovered universal mechanisms that determine which young synapses get strengthened and which ones are pruned to create adult brain wiring. She has confirmed that neurons activated simultaneously often form stable connections,” says Marchetti, alluding to Shatz’s favorite quote, “Cells that fire together, wire together.”

Shatz also will talk about her discovery of proteins that may be manipulated to help the brain and nervous system fight neurological ailments, such as autism, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“Carla will describe her laboratory’s groundbreaking discovery, in which molecules once thought to function only in the immune system, are present in the brain and regulate this [synaptic] pruning,” says Sandra Hewett, the Beverly Petterson Bishop Professor of Neuroscience in A&S. “Research shows that blocking the function of these molecules reopens a critical period for vision in the adult brain. This leads to the intriguing idea that manipulating these molecules after brain damage may help retrain brain circuits or help people with Alzheimer’s learn and remember better.”

Committed to shattering glass ceilings, Shatz is the first woman to have earned a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Harvard Medical School and to have chaired that university’s Department of Neurobiology. At Stanford, she was the first woman hired by the School of Medicine and then awarded tenure in the basic sciences.

In addition to Stanford and Harvard, Shatz has taught at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2007, she returned to Palo Alto, where she has since served as the inaugural Sapp Family Provostial Professor and the David Starr Jordan Director of Stanford Bio-X, a pioneering interdisciplinary biosciences institute.

Kameshwar C. Wali

The lecture’s namesake, Kameshwar C. Wali, is the Steele Professor of Physics Emeritus. A ���ϲ����� faculty member since 1969, he is internationally recognized for his research into the symmetry properties of fundamental particles and their interactions. Wali is the author of “Cremona Violins: A Physicist’s Quest for the Secrets of Stradivari” (World Scientific, 2010) and “Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar” (University of Chicago Press, 1991). He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, whose India Chapter named him Scientist of the Year, and a recipient of the Chancellor’s Citation at ���ϲ����� for exceptional academic achievement.

Alan Michelson

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, Michelson will discuss from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library. The following day, he will lead a on site-specific art and native history from 9 a.m.-noon in 304 Tolley.

Both events are free and open to the public; however, the workshop requires registration. To RSVP or request any accessibility accommodations, contact humcenter@syr.edu by Monday, Oct. 24.

���ϲ����� Symposium is a yearlong series, organized and presented by the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information, call 315.443.7192 or visit .

“Alan Michelson employs various media to address notions of place in his public art and installations,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s & gender studies. “His work is both elegant and eloquent, and draws on the complexities of environmental advocacy, sovereignty and the juxtaposition of native and other cultures. We are very excited to host him.”

Michelson’s visit will focus primarily on “,” a permanent monument that he is erecting on Capitol Square in Richmond, Va.

Commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly, “Mantle” will commemorate the life, achievements and legacy of American Indians in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The $1 million project is slated to unveil next year, and will combine four integrated spiral elements to create the shape of a nautilus. At the center will be a meditation area and an infinity pool.

A schematic design of the northeast view of “Mantle.”

“[‘Mantle’] requires the visitor to neither look up nor look down, but invites one to enter—from the east—and participate in it,” says Michelson, adding that a five-foot-wide winding footpath will follow the monument’s outline. “It is not conceived as a static monument to be venerated, but an active one to be experienced by moving off the everyday grid and into the American Indian circle.”

Michelson was invited to ���ϲ����� by Scott Manning Stevens, associate professor and director of Native American studies in A&S.

Stevens says both events have multiple audiences in mind, including students interested in the practice and scholarly study of visual art.

“Alan will discuss the associated challenges and opportunities of a Native American visual artist drawing on historical notions of place and its intimate relationship to the indigenous peoples connected to it,” says Stevens, also an associate professor of English. “His visit surely will resonate with students and scholars alike.”

Based in New York City, Michelson has carved out a successful career for himself as an artist, writer and lecturer. He recently completed “Third Bank of the River,” an award-winning permanent public art project for the U.S. Port of Entry that was commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration.

His art has been featured in more than 40 solo and group exhibitions around the world. It currently is part of the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and the Art Institute of Chicago.

A prolific author, Michelson has published books, articles and essays, including “Failure to Launch,” part of the companion book to the NMAI symposium “Vision, Space, Desire: Global Perspectives and Cultural Hybridity.” He also is a sought-after lecturer and panelist.

Michelson was born in Buffalo, but raised in Massachusetts, where he earned a B.F.A. from Tufts University. He eventually settled in New York City and, over the years, has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, The New School and SUNY Purchase College. He is the recipient of many grants and awards, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

Much of his art draws on Haudenosaunee concepts and perspectives, which have their origins in Central New York. “The forms that I invent are often based on Haudenosaunee cultural models, like wampum belts, blended with media or materials from the dominant culture, such as video or glass,” he says. “My work is grounded in place and informed by history; therefore, research is an integral part of my practice.”

Emilie Garrigou-Kempton

Free and open to the public, the workshop will provide an overview of the VHA, a free online database of more than 53,000 video testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides.

The workshop is co-sponsored by the Humanities Center and University Libraries. For more information, contact the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center at 315.443.7192, or visit .

“In many of the testimonies, the interviewees speak to matters of ‘place,’ both literal and figurative,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s & gender studies in A&S. “The workshop will familiarize attendees with the database interface and search engine, will showcase examples of teaching and research, and will enable participants to start exploring material relevant to their own work.”

Co-organizer Lydia Wasylenko helped make ���ϲ����� an early adopter of the database.

“The ���ϲ����� Libraries have made the VHA database available to any and all users from our campus community and the Central New York region since 2008, back when only 25 institutions worldwide were serving as full-access sites,” says Wasylenko, librarian for citizenship and humanities. “Since then, countless individuals engaged in genealogical and historical research, teaching and learning or documentary filmmaking have benefited enormously from this unique, truly extraordinary resource.”

A majority of VHA’s testimonies are from Holocaust survivors and witnesses, interviewed during the 1990s. The VHA also devotes space to other atrocities, such as the Armenian Genocide of World War I, China’s Nanjing Massacre of 1937-38, the Guatemalan Genocide from 1978-96 and the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.

Testimonies have been conducted in 63 countries and 41 languages.

“This workshop is a special opportunity for students and teachers alike,” May says. “Each collection in the VHA adds context for the others, providing multiple pathways to learn from the eyewitnesses of history across time, locations, cultures and social-political circumstances.”

The VHA is based in and its Institute for Visual History and Education, the latter of which grew out of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, started by Steven Spielberg. “He was inspired by his encounters with Holocaust survivors during his on-location filming of ‘Schindler’s List,’” Wasylenko says.

Lydia Wasylenko

Initially, the VHA database featured survivors of the Holocaust-era persecution of Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma/Sinti (Gypsies) and homosexuals, survivors of Nazi eugenics policies, political prisoners, rescuers and aid providers, concentration camp liberators and participants of war crimes trials.

Much of the interviewing was done in consultation with historians, psychologists, and experts in the field of oral history. VHA staff has since trained thousands of interviewers, and has recruited more than a hundred regional coordinators.

“I want to increase our visibility … and get more researchers from more disciplines to show all the things that can be done [with testimony],” says the French-born Garrigou-Kempton, who also has worked for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Additional support for the workshop comes from the Holocaust and Genocide Education program in the School of Education; the Department of History in the Maxwell School, in conjunction with the Documentary Film and History Program in the Newhouse School; and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics in A&S.

���ϲ����� Symposium is organized and presented by the Humanities Center, based in the College of Arts and Sciences. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, call 315.443.7192 or visit .

“We are excited to continue our foray into ‘place’ by looking at art, music, education, literature, oral history and sport,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies. “These events vividly show how creative and scholarly practices combine to engage wider publics and address questions of injustice and human rights. It’s interdisciplinary humanities at its finest.”

May adds that, by hosting events throughout the entire academic year, ���ϲ����� Symposium is better able to critically examine “Place,” while growing and diversifying its audience.

Merasi Musicians, Oct. 4

Merasi Musicians

Activities get underway with a workshop titled “Finding Their Place: Social Change and Merasi Identity” from 12:30-2 p.m. in 341 Eggers Hall. Merasi musicians from North India’s desert region will join representatives from two nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the U.S.-based Folk Arts Rajasthan and India-based Lok Kala Sagar Sanstha, for a discussion about the role of music and social justice in a rigid caste system. Originating in the Indian district of Jaisalmer, Merasi music is thousands of years old, but on the verge of extinction.

“For generations, the Merasi of Rajasthan [a North Indian state bordering Pakistan] have been stigmatized and deemed unworthy of education, healthcare or political representation,” May says. “Despite systemic caste prejudice, they persist as storytellers and musicians. At ���ϲ�����, Merasi musicians will be joined by NGO staff to discuss collaborative efforts for social change.”

The workshop is co-sponsored by the Humanities Center, the Department of Anthropology in the Maxwell School and the departments of Religion and Art & Music Histories (AMH) in A&S. Seating is limited, and lunch is served. RSVP to elbridge@syr.edu.

The Merasi also will present a concert titled “Finding Their Place” from 8-9:30 p.m. in Slocum Auditorium.

The concert is co-sponsored by AMH and Performance Live, in conjunction with the Humanities Center, as well as the Maxwell School’s Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs and South Asia Center.

Robert Brooke, Oct. 6

Robert Brooke

The John E. Weaver Professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), Brooke will lead a small-group workshop titled “Designing Place-Conscious Courses” from 9 a.m.-noon in 304 Tolley Humanities Building. Attendees will learn how to design and coordinate interdisciplinary place-conscious assignments, activities and projects.

Brooke also will discuss “Writing Suburban Citizenship: Place-Conscious Education and the Conundrum of Suburbia” at 4:30-5:45 p.m. in 304 ABC Schine Student Center. His lecture will address theories and practices of place-conscious education in relation to suburban geographies.

Both events are organized by the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition in A&S.

“Professor Brooke considers rural and suburban communities as rich contexts for examining lived experience and for contextualizing curriculum,” says May, who regards him as an authority on rural education and community development. “He seeks to reacquaint people with their local and regional environments through action-oriented, interdisciplinary inquiry.”

Also director of the Nebraska Writing Project, Brooke is the author of four books, including “Place-Conscious Education: Writing Education for Community Involvement” (Teachers College Press, 2003).

Todd Gray, Oct. 7

Todd Gray

Gray is a contemporary artist who lives and works in California and Ghana. This fall, he is the subject of a major retrospective at Light Work titled “A Place That Looks Like Home,” spanning his 40-year career as a photographer, sculptor and performance artist. Gray will deliver a similarly titled lecture, organized by Light Work, from 6-8 p.m. in Watson Theater, 316 Waverly Ave.

May says the exhibition seeks to reframe and recontextualize images from Gray’s archive. “His work is timely, and prompts us to examine colonialism, race, class and gender,” she says. “He layers images, as well as fragments of images, to craft his own narrative and explore history, evoking his ‘own position in the diaspora,’ as he describes it.”

Wooden Stick Festival, Oct. 8

Lacrosse stick on display at the Skä·noñh (Photo by Scott Willis / WAER News)

The Skä·noñh—Great Law of Peace Center (6680 Onondaga Lake Pkwy., Liverpool) presents its annual Wooden Stick Festival, celebrating the legacy of lacrosse among the Haudenosaunee people. The event, which runs from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., includes native speakers, music, dancing, stick-making, crafters and food. It is organized by the religion department in A&S.

The Skä·noñh Center is a Haudenosaunee Heritage Center, committed to telling the story of the native peoples of Central New York.

“This is an opportunity to experience the great history and legacy of lacrosse, as it has been played for over a thousand years, since the time the Haudenosaunee [the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and, later, Tuscarora] formed their confederacy at Onondaga Lake,” May says. “The Haudenosaunee refer to lacrosse as ‘The Creator’s Game,’ and it was instrumental in bringing together the five original nations.”

Emilie Garrigou-Kempton, Oct. 10

Emilie Garrigou-Kempton

Garrigou-Kempton is the academic relations and outreach officer at the Center for Advanced Genocide Research, which is part of the USC Shoah Foundation’s Institute for Visual History and Education. From 9-11:30 a.m., she will provide an overview of the institute’s Visual History Archive (VHA), based at the University of Southern California, in a workshop titled “Conducting Research with Audiovisual Testimonies of Genocide Survivors.” The workshop will take place in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library, and will cater to teachers and researchers alike.

The event is co-sponsored by the Humanities Center and University Libraries. Additional support comes from the Holocaust and Genocide Education program in the School of Education; the Department of History in the Maxwell School, in conjunction with the Documentary Film and History Program in the Newhouse School; and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics in A&S.

VHA is a database of more than 50,000 video testimonies from survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other atrocities, including the Armenian Genocide of World War I, China’s Nanjing Massacre of 1937-38, the Guatemalan Genocide from 1978-96 and the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. Interviews span 63 countries and 41 languages.

“In many of these testimonies, interviewees speak to matters of ‘place,’ both literal and figurative,” May says. “The workshop will familiarize attendees with the database interface and search engine, showcase examples of teaching and research and enable participants to start exploring material relevant to their own work.”

Adrian Matejka and Stacey Lynn Brown, Oct. 13-14

Adrian Matejka and Stacey Lynn Brown

Matejka and Brown are nationally acclaimed poets and teachers. The husband-and-wife team will deliver a joint reading titled “The Poetry of Place,” on Oct. 13 from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Downtown YMCA (340 Montgomery St.), followed by a mini-seminar the next day, from 9 a.m.-noon in 304 Tolley Humanities Building. The workshop targets serious writers, writing teachers adult writing students from the YMCA’s Downtown Writers Center (DWC) and students in ���ϲ�����’s M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing.

Their visit is organized by the DWC. Workshop attendees must RSVP to pmemmer@syracuseymca.org.

Matjeka is the author of several collections of poetry, including “The Big Smoke” (Penguin Books, 2013), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. He is an associate professor of English at Indiana University Bloomington.

Brown is a poet, playwright and essayist, whose collection “The Shallows” has been awarded New Southerner’s James Baker Hall Memorial Prize in Poetry. She is an assistant professor of English at IU Bloomington.

“We’re thrilled to have such gifted writers in our presence,” May says. “Matjeka is a commanding poet whose work boldly comes to life on the page. Like her husband, Brown mixes history and mythology in a voice that is urgent and original.”

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships, and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

On Tuesday, Sept. 20, Mande Strings will present a concert of West African folk music at 8 p.m. in Setnor Auditorium.

The following day, Shawn Ginwright, associate professor of education in the Africana Studies Department at San Francisco State University (SFSU), will discuss the role of healing strategies in stressed schools and community organizations at 5:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.

From Friday to Sunday, Sept. 23-25, artists, scholars and curators will pay homage to Stanley William Hayter, one of the 20th century’s most influential printmakers, with a two-day symposium and three-day print fair in the Shaffer Art Building.

���ϲ����� Symposium is organized and presented by the Humanities Center, based in the . All events are free and open to the public. For more information, call 315.443.7192 or visit .

“Questions of ‘place’ shape intellectual, political and artistic endeavors alike,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies. “We are excited to launch ���ϲ����� Symposium with a trio of events, featuring scholars, educators, artists, activists and performers. The lineup illustrates how the humanities speak to a range of issues, and how theory and practice combine in a variety of ways to engage wider publics.”

May adds that, for the first time in its 15-year history, ���ϲ����� Symposium will officially run the entire academic year. “The expanded format, along with our new website, is designed to reach wider audiences and highlight the humanities as a public good,” she says.

Mande Strings, Sept. 20

Mande Strings

Activities get underway with the Mali-based Mande Strings, whose program is titled “Music and Place Around the Black Atlantic.” The trio comprises Kokanko Sata Doumbia, Assaba Dramé and Lamine Soumano, all of whom play indigenous stringed instruments, including the guitar; the kora, a 21-stringed lute-bridge-harp; and the kamelen ngoni, a hide-covered wooden bowl, with a round stick for a neck.

Organizer Sydney Hutchinson says the music of the West African Mande people has a long and complex history, with some songs possibly dating back to the Mali Empire of the 13th century.

“The concert will demonstrate the connection of musical instruments to a Mande sense of place, as well as how various aspects of Mande tradition, such as slides, bends, pulls and hammers, flourish in African American musical performance,” says Hutchinson, assistant professor of music history. “Some of these connections recently have been brought to the fore with the remake of ‘Roots,’ in which [actor] Forest Whitaker is shown playing the jeli ngoni, an ancestor of the banjo.”

The concert is sponsored by the Department of Art & Music Histories in A&S.

Shawn Ginwright, Sept. 21

Shawn Ginwright

The following afternoon, Ginwright will present a lecture titled “Radical Healing in Schools and Communities,” part of the ’s (SOE) Douglas P. Biklen Landscape of Urban Education Series. An expert on African American youth activism and development, Ginwright will explore how a deep focus on healing and hope can counteract structural inequality and violence, leading to justice and social change in urban schools and neighborhoods.

Marcelle Haddix, Dean’s Associate Professor and chair of the Reading and Language Arts Center in SOE, is the series organizer. She expects Ginwright to reference his latest book, “Hope and Healing in Urban Education: How Urban Activists and Teachers Are Reclaiming Matters of the Heart” (Routledge, 2015), which will be on sale at the SU Bookstore, during his visit.

“Using ethnographic case studies from around the country, Shawn Ginwright makes a compelling case for using teacher-activists to help reverse structural violence in urban communities,” Haddix says. “He argues that healing a community is a form of political action. As such, healing and hope should be at the center of our educational and political strategies.”

A senior research associate in SFSU’s César E. Chávez Institute, Ginwright also is the author of “Black Youth Rising: Activism and Radical Healing in Urban America” (Teachers College Press, 2009) and founder of Leadership Excellence, an Oakland-based youth development agency that trains African Americans to address pressing social and community problems.

The lecture is co-sponsored by SOE and the Humanities Center.

“Atelier 17,” Sept. 23-25

S.W. Hayter

The week concludes with a symposium and three-day print fair, collectively titled “Atelier 17: A Gathering Place for Avant-Garde Artists.” Presented in conjunction with the SU Art Galleries exhibition “About Prints: The Legacy of Stanley William Hayter and Atelier 17” (running through Nov. 20), the symposium is Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Much of the discussion will revolve around Atelier 17, an influential printmaking workshop that the London-born Hayter founded in Paris in 1927.

Panelists include Domenic Iacono, director of the SUArt Galleries; Joann Moser, former deputy chief curator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum; Christina Weyl, a freelance curator, as well as co-founder and co-president of the Association of Print Scholars in New York; and Andrew Raftery, professor of printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design.

“As a painter and printmaker, Hayter was considered a child of his time—someone who believed in the power of impulse and the unconscious mind,” says Iacono, referring to the artist’s flair for automatism. “When he relocated the Atelier to New York City during World War II, it became a haven for European artists escaping persecution by the Nazi regime. Some of these artists—Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Marc Chagall and Jacques Lipchitz, to name a few—changed American thinking about the graphic arts, and helped usher in the abstract expressionist movement.”

The SUArt Galleries will host a print fair in the Shaffer Art Building Galleria on Friday and Saturday, from noon to 6 p.m., and on Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m. The fair will feature representatives from the Susan Teller Gallery in New York City; the Dolan/Maxwell Gallery in Philadelphia; Annex Galleries in Santa Rosa, Calif.; Thomas French Fine Art in Akron; and Lake Effect Editions in ���ϲ�����.

Events are co-sponsored by the SUArt Galleries and Humanities Center.

For the first time in its 15-year history, ���ϲ����� Symposium will officially span the entire academic year. Humanities Center Director Vivian May is positive the expanded format, along with the center’s new website and branding campaign, will appeal to a wide audience.

“Questions of ‘place’ are at the heart of a wide range of endeavors,” says May, also a professor of women’s and gender studies. “Our range of events examine ‘place’—its meaning and impact—from diverse perspectives and genres, across a range of locations, locally and globally. This year’s lineup combines theory and practice to engage wider publics with the humanities, broadly conceived.”

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Humanities Center at 315.443.7192 or visit .

The fall schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, Sept. 20

The world-renowned Mande Strings, a trio from Mali, presents an evening of traditional Western African folk music.
8 p.m., Setnor Auditorium

Thursday, Sept. 22

Shawn Ginwright, associate professor of education in the Africana Studies Department at San Francisco State University, explores how social change can counteract poverty, violence and hopelessness; presented by the Douglas P. Biklen Landscape of Urban Education Series in the School of Education
5:30 p.m., Maxwell Auditorium

Friday-Sunday, Sept. 23-25

Artists, scholars and curators (including Joann Moser of the Smithsonian American Art Museum) pay homage to one of the 20th century’s most influential printmakers; presented in conjunction with the SU Art Galleries exhibition by the same name.
Times and activities vary, Shaffer Art Building

Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1

Schedule includes screenings of films from North and South America, Europe and Africa, with appearances by directors Trisha Ziff (“The Man Who Saw Too Much”) and Alanis Obomsawin (“Trick or Treaty?”); presented in partnership with the Newhouse School.
Times and locations vary; for a complete schedule, visit .

Tuesday, Oct. 4

Musicians from North India’s desert region join representatives from two nongovernmental organizations for a discussion about music and social justice within a rigid caste system.
12:30 p.m., Eggers Hall (Room 341)

Tuesday, Oct. 4

A program of North Indian folk music, steeped in Islamic and Hindu traditions.
8 p.m., Slocum Auditorium

Thursday, Oct. 6

Robert Brooke, the John E. Weaver Professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, leads a three-hour discussion, drawing on his book “Writing Suburban Citizenship” (���ϲ����� Press, 2015).
9 a.m., Tolley Humanities Building (Room 304)
Contact rverity@syr.edu or 315.443.1091 by Monday, Sept. 29, to RSVP or request any accessibility accommodations.

Thursday, Oct. 6

Brooke continues his visit with a public lecture about suburban classroom projects that help foster a sense of community.
4:30 p.m., Schine Student Center (room 304ABC)

Friday, Oct. 7

Visual artist Todd Gray, who splits time between California and Ghana, examines conjugations of black and male identity; presented in conjunction with his Light Work exhibition by the same name.
6 p.m., Watson Theater (316 Waverly Ave.)

Monday, Oct. 10

Emilie Garrigou-Kempton, academic relations and outreach officer of the University of California Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research, provides an overview of the foundation’s Visual History Archive (VHA). A repository of more than 50,000 video testimonies from survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides, the VHA encompasses over 60 countries and 40 languages, and is a resource for students and scholars alike.
9 a.m., Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (Room 114), Bird Library

Thursday, Oct. 13

The acclaimed husband-and-wife team of Adrian Matejka (“The Big Smoke”) and Stacey Lynn Brown (“Cradle Song”) read original poetry; presented in conjunction with the YMCA’s Downtown Writers Center.
7 p.m., Downtown YMCA (340 Montgomery St.)

Friday, Oct. 14

Matejka and Brown co-lead a three-hour writing workshop.
9 a.m., Tolley Humanities Building (Room 304)
Contact pmemmer@syracuseymca.org or 315.474.6851, ext. 328, by Friday, Oct. 7, to RSVP or request any accessibility accommodations

Tuesday, Nov. 1

Alan Michelson, a Mohawk installation artist, lecturer and writer, discusses how his notion of history and place is shaped by Haudenosaunee concepts and perspectives.
4:30 p.m., Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (Room 114), Bird Library

Wednesday, Nov. 2

Michelson will lead a three-hour workshop focusing on the challenges and opportunities associated with his public art projects.
9 a.m., Tolley Humanities Building (Room 304)
Contact scsteven@syr.edu by Monday, Oct. 24, to RSVP or request accessibility accommodations

Thursday, Dec. 8

Stanford neurobiologist Carla Shatz delivers the annual Kameshwar C. Wali Lecture in the Sciences and Humanities, exploring the link between brain wiring and developmental disorders.
4 p.m., Lyman Hall (Room 132)

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, ���ϲ����� Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

The Tolley Building, home of the Humanities Center.

The in the concludes its spring series with appearances by several luminaries, including social entrepreneurs and .

“We’re ending our season on a high note,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and associate professor of women’s & gender studies in Arts and Sciences. “In addition to extending the series, this year’s spring schedule is breaking ground with bold, new lectures, workshops and seminars. Common to all of them are issues of broad societal concern, worthy of public and academic attention.”

All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. For more information, visit or call 315-443-7192.

Upcoming events include the following:

Wednesday, April 20
Humanities Book-Signing & Reception
4:30-6 p.m.
Goldstein Alumni & Faculty Center

This inaugural event showcases more than 30 humanities-related books written or edited by ���ϲ����� faculty and staff in 2015. Many authors will be on hand to discuss and sign copies of their work, available for purchase at a one-time 20-percent discount. (Some exceptions apply.) Additional support comes from the Office of Research and the ���ϲ����� Bookstore.

Sanjit “Bunker” Roy and Meagan Fallone

Thursday, April 21
Lecture: “’Barefoot’ Solutions: Networking Rural India and a Global Initiative”
5:30-6:30 p.m.
Maxwell Auditorium

Friday, April 22 (Earth Day)
Mini-Seminar (sold out)
9 a.m.-noon
341 Eggers Hall

Friday, April 22
“Moonlighting Discourse Series: Ethics and Earth Day,” with Quentin Wheeler, president of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and Samuel Gorovitz, professor of philosophy and former dean of Arts and Sciences
7-9 p.m.
Gateway Center, SUNY-ESF (1 Forestry Dr., ���ϲ�����)
Registration required; click to register

���ϲ����� Symposium continues its “N��ٷɴǰ����” theme with three events featuring Sanjit “Bunker” Roy, founder and director of Barefoot College in Northern India, and Meagan Fallone, CEO of Barefoot College International. Presented in conjunction with Earth Day, their talks focus on “barefoot solutions” to solar energy, water, education, connectivity, health care, handicrafts and the empowerment of women.

Organizers: The South Asia Center in the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs in the , the Humanities Center, the South Asia Program at Cornell University and SUNY-ESF

Co-Sponsors: Arts and Sciences; the ; the ; the ; the Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) program; the Democratizing Knowledge Collective; The Renée Crown University Honors Program; the ; the departments of Geography and Art & Music Histories; and the Department of Philosophy’s Undergraduate Ethics Program.

Wednesday, April 27
The Central New York Humanities Corridor Seminar by
Noon-1 p.m.
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Registration required; RSVP mmditmar@syr.edu by Monday, April 25

Paul Arras is this year’s New York Council for the Humanities’ Graduate Student Public Humanities Fellow and a Ph.D. candidate in history in the Maxwell School. He will discuss his role in developing a podcast about people and places in ���ϲ�����’s Near Westside neighborhood. Light refreshments provided.

Co-Sponsors: The CNY Humanities Corridor, the Humanities Center, the New York Council for the Humanities, and Daniel and Joanna Rose

Wednesday, May 4

Alan Rutenberg

, Humanities Fellowship Advisor (The University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
Workshop 1: “Effective Applications for Humanities Funding & Fellowships: A Substantive Approach”
2:30-4:30 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (room 114), Bird Library

Based in UT Knoxville’s Office of Research & Engagement, Rutenberg explores strategies for conceptualizing and crafting compelling, competitive proposals for humanities funding and fellowships, involving such organizations as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Guggenheim Foundation and the American Academy in Rome. Supported by Arts and Sciences and the Office of Research.

Thursday, May 5
Workshop 2: “A First Step in Humanities Competitions: Short-Term Fellowships at Humanities Research Libraries”
9:30-11 a.m.
304 Tolley Humanities Building

Rutenberg discusses how short-term residencies may serve as a pivotal step in pursuing larger awards and appointments. Supported by Arts and Sciences and the Office of Research; coffee provided.

Thursday, May 5
Workshop 3: “Fulbright Fellowships for Faculty: A Strategic Approach”
2:30-4 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library

Rutenberg explains key considerations for submitting a successful proposal to the Fulbright Program—suitable for faculty across the disciplines, including the liberal arts, communications, law, visual and performing arts, education and management. Supported by Arts and Sciences and the Office of Research.

Friday, May 6
Workshop 4: “Humanities Fellowships for Recently Tenured Faculty: An Introduction and Incitement”
9:30-11 a.m.
304 Tolley Humanities Building

Rutenberg reviews strategies for pursuing fellowships for recently tenured humanities faculty, with emphasis on projects of broad scope and high significance. Supported by Arts and Sciences and the Office of Research; coffee provided.

All four professional development workshops are free and open to the public; registration is not required.

Sanjit “Bunker” Roy and Meagan Fallone

Roy is founder and director of the internationally acclaimed in India—the only college built by and for the rural poor. Fallone is CEO of Barefoot College International.

The duo also will visit Cornell University on Tuesday, April 19, and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) on Friday, April 22.

Roy and Fallone’s program is titled “’Barefoot’ Solutions: Networking Rural India and a Global Initiative,” and includes a public lecture on April 21 at 5:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium and a sold-out mini-seminar the following day at 9 a.m. in 341 Eggers Hall. For more information, contact the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center, based in the College of Arts and Sciences, at 315-443-7192, or visit .

In addition to the Humanities Center, their visit is co-sponsored by the South Asia Center (SAC) in the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs in the , the South Asia Program at Cornell and SUNY-ESF.

Additional support comes from the College of Arts and Sciences; the ; the ; the ; the Women in Science and Engineering program; the Democratizing Knowledge Collective; The Renée Crown University Honors Program; the ; the departments of Geography and Art & Music Histories; and the Department of Philosophy’s Undergraduate Ethics Program.

Romita Ray

Lead organizer considers Roy and Fallone’s visit a “historic opportunity” for the area. “Their ‘barefoot solutions’ have transformed the lives of more than 3 million rural people across 75 countries in the developing world,” says Ray, associate professor of art history. “These ‘solutions’ center on solar energy, water, education, connectivity, health care, handicrafts and the empowerment of women.”

Ray adds that the program coincides with Earth Day (April 22), during which Roy and Fallone will participate in ESF’s “” with ESF President Quentin Wheeler and ���ϲ����� Philosophy Professor Samuel Gorovitz. The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in ESF’s Gateway Center.

The duo also will travel to Cornell, where they will discuss “India’s Barefoot College: Women and Community Solar Energy Development” on April 19 at 4:30 p.m. in the G10 Biotechnology Building. The event is free and open to the public.

Kevin Rudd, president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York City, is likely to attend one of the events. Known for his work in various political, environmental and social arenas, the former Australian prime minister is a Barefoot College patron.

Humanities Center Director Vivian May is excited about the program. “With their commitment to education and grassroots organizing, ‘Bunker’ Roy and Meagan Fallone redefine how we think about addressing environmental questions, fulfilling community needs and combating structural inequality,” says May, also an associate professor of women’s and gender studies. “We are delighted to partner with numerous colleagues across campus and the region in presenting this acclaimed duo, who have carefully crafted approaches to sustainability and to education that eschew top-down models and, instead, focus on empowering thousands of people.”

Adds Ray: “This program marks the culmination of almost a year of planning, some of which was carried out while I was overseas on research leave. I couldn’t have done it without vital support close to home.”

She is undoubtedly referring to a handful colleagues at ���ϲ����� and Cornell: May and Gorovitz; Cathryn Newton,��dean emerita of A&S, who is ���ϲ�����’s only professor of interdisciplinary sciences and a Provost’s Faculty Fellow; Susan Wadley, the Ford Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies, professor of anthropology, and director of SAC, all in the Maxwell School; Emera Bridger Wilson, SAC’s associate director and outreach coordinator; Tula Goenka, associate professor of television, radio, and film in the Newhouse School of Public Communications; S.P. Raj, Distinguished Professor of Marketing in the Whitman School; Shobha Bhatia, the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence in ECS; Stefania Ianno, an administrator in ���ϲ�����’s art & music histories; and William Phelan, program manager and fellowship coordinator of Cornell’s Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Barefoot College empowers communities toward self-sufficiency.

“Anyone with an interest in empowering communities toward self-sufficiency will resonate with what ‘Bunker’ Roy and Meagan Fallone have to say,” Wadley explains. “For more than four decades, Barefoot College has decentralized and demystified technology, placing it in the hands of those whom need it the most.”

Indeed, Roy and Fallone owe a considerable debt to Mahatma Gandhi, whose spirit of service and thoughts on sustainability permeate their work. From solar energy, water, education and health care to rural handicrafts, Barefoot’s “solutions” are unique, as exemplified by the award-winning architecture of Barefoot College itself. “It’s designed and built by villagers for villagers,” Ray says.

Using a social justice approach, Barefoot College encourages the rural poor to have a voice in the design and innovation of their own technologies. For instance, the college has trained grandmothers from developing countries to be solar engineers, enabling them to bring electricity to their remote villages.

“Barefoot College demonstrates the power and impact of modern technologies within rural settings,” Bridger Wilson says. “’Bunker’ Roy and Meagan Fallone are committed to improving everyone’s basic quality of life. This is something that’s innately human and transcends all racial and socioeconomic barriers.”

“This spring is one of the Humanities Center’s most ambitious to date,” says Vivian May, director of the center and associate professor of women’s and gender studies. “We’re excited to support a rich array of scholars and artists who engage with the humanities as a public good. Many of them are committed to addressing issues of broad societal concern in the public and scholarly realms.”

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit or call 315-443-7192.

The March schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, March 1
Lecture: “Prototyping Absence, Remaking Old Media”
4:30 p.m.
Guerlac Room in the Andrew Dickson White House, Cornell University (29 East Ave., Ithaca)
, assistant professor of English and director of the Maker Lab in the Humanities at the University of Victoria (Canada), discusses how historians of media and technology, when conducting archival research, often encounter devices that no longer work or exist only as illustrations, fictions or one-offs. Sayers outlines ways to prototype absences in the historical record. Supported by The Central New York Humanities Corridor, from an award by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Organizers: The CNY Humanities Corridor, The Society for the Humanities (Cornell) and Cornell University Library

Co-Sponsors: The Writing Program, The Writing Program’s Student Organization and Composition & Cultural Rhetoric Graduate Circle, the Humanities Center, the Department of English, ���ϲ����� Libraries and the Digital Humanities Working Group of The CNY Humanities Corridor

Thursday, March 3

Jentery Sayers

Lecture: “Making Things, Writing Things: Prototyping as a Compositional Strategy”
2:15-3:45 p.m.
The Kilian Room, 500 Hall of Languages
���ϲ����� Symposium continues its yearlong “N��ٷɴǰ����” theme with a presentation by Sayers, who examines scholarly communication, with an emphasis on rapid prototyping (i.e., the production of abstract models in tactile form). Supported by The CNY Humanities Corridor, from an award by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Co-Sponsors: The Writing Program, The Writing Program’s Student Organization and Composition & Cultural Rhetoric Graduate Circle, the Department of English, ���ϲ����� Libraries and the Digital Humanities Working Group of The CNY Humanities Corridor

Thursday, March 3
Panel Discussion: “Poetry of Content: A Roundtable Discussion with Exhibition Artists”
7-9 p.m.
Watson Theater
SUArt Galleries’ “” features an evening with the show’s participating artists: Robert Birmelin, Tim Lowly, Bill Murphy, Gillian Pederson-Krag and Joel Sheesley, moderated by Jerome Witkin, professor of painting in the School of Art in the . “Poetry of Content” is co-curated by Witkin and David Prince G’83, associate director and curator of collections at SUArt Galleries.

Co-Sponsors: The Program in Painting in the School of Art and the Department of Art & Music Histories

Friday, March 4
Mini Seminar: “Scalar for Beginners: An Introduction to Media-Rich Scholarly Communication,” led by Sayers
9 a.m. to noon
227 Huntington Beard Crouse Hall
Sayers provides an overview of Scalar, a free open-source authoring and publishing platform that facilitates long-form, web-based scholarship. Supported by The CNY Humanities Corridor, from an award by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Co-Sponsors: The Writing Program, The Writing Program’s Student Organization and Composition and Cultural Rhetoric Graduate Circle, the Department of English, ���ϲ����� Libraries and the Digital Humanities Working Group of The CNY Humanities Corridor

Wednesday, March 9
Lecture: “To Kill a Mockingbird: From Jim Crow to Black Lives Matter”
2-2:45 p.m.
���ϲ����� Stage (820 East Genesee St.)
, a professor in the College of Law and an expert on sex, race and family in the United States, leads a pre-performance discussion and Q&A about the ongoing relevance of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Organizer: ���ϲ����� Stage

Wednesday, March 9

Cary Wolfe

Lecture: “The Poetics of Extinction”
4:30-6:30 p.m.
Room 123, Sims Hall
Cary Wolfe, the Bruce and Elizabeth Dunlevie Professor of English and director of the Center for Critical and Cultural Theory at Rice University, delivers The CNY Humanities Corridor Mellon Distinguished Visiting Collaborator Public Lecture. He will focus on how art, science and philosophy respond to the concept of extinction, along with society’s ethical responsibilities to other forms of life.

Principal Organizer: The CNY Humanities Corridor

Co-Sponsors: The Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies and the Humanities Center

Thursday, March 10
Screenings and Talkback: “Between Species”
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Hosmer Auditorium, Everson Museum of Art (401 Harrison St., ���ϲ�����)
“Between Species,” an Urban Video Project /Light Work exhibition exploring what it means to be an “animal,” presents an evening of curated videos, followed by a conversation between Cary Wolfe, The CNY Humanities Corridor Mellon Distinguished Visiting Collaborator, and , an assistant professor of drawing/intermedia at the University of Alberta and a Lynette S. Autrey Visiting Scholar at Rice University’s Humanities Research Center.

Principal Organizer: The CNY Humanities Corridor

Friday, March 11
Mini-Seminar: “After Biopolitics”
9 a.m. to noon
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Registration required: RSVP mmditmar@syr.edu by Monday, March 7
Wolfe delivers The CNY Humanities Corridor Mellon Distinguished Visiting Collaborator Mini-Seminar. His presentation will address connections between animal studies and post-humanism, systems theory and pragmatism, biopolitics and biophilosophy, and American literature and culture.

Principal Organizer: The CNY Humanities Corridor

Co-Sponsor: The Humanities Center (A&S)

Tuesday, March 22
Lecture/Recital: “A Global Journey Through the Arts”
4-5:30 p.m.

Ola Onabulé

Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
British-Nigerian singer Ola Onabulé reflects on his success as an R&B performer, singer-songwriter, record producer, studio head and label owner. In line to become a UNESCO Honorary and Goodwill Ambassador to Nigeria, he is joined in conversation by James Gordon Williams, assistant professor of African American studies in Arts and Sciences.

Co-Sponsors: The Central New York Jazz Arts Foundation, Office of the Provost, Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, the Humanities Center, Department of Art and Music Histories and The Africa Initiative, on behalf of the Department of African American Studies

Wednesday, March 23
Lecture: “Shooting the Enemy: My Life in Pictures with the People Who Became P.E. (Public Enemy)”
7-8:30 p.m.
Watson Theater
Harry Allen (a.k.a. “The Media Assassin”), a hip-hop activist, journalist, D.J. and photographer, discusses his involvement with the legendary group Public Enemy. Moderated by Theo Cateforis, associate professor of music history and cultures and chair of the Department of Art and Music Histories.

Co-Sponsors: Departments of Art & Music Histories and African American Studies, the Humanities Center, the Student Association’s Co-Curricular Fee Fund and the Bandier Program in the Setnor School of Music

Thursday, March 24
Dinner/Workshop: “The Possibilities for Urban Acupuncture in Three ���ϲ����� Neighborhoods”
5:30-7 p.m.
Nancy Cantor Warehouse, Ste. 405 (305 West Fayette St.)
Anne Mosher, associate professor of geography in the , co-organizes a “working dinner” to discuss the role of arts and technology in making local communities safer and more vibrant.

Co-Sponsor: Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development

Tuesday, March 29

Laura Freixas

Welcome reception for Laura Freixas, the Humanities Center’s 2016 Jeanette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor
5-6:30 p.m.
Goldstein Alumni and Faculty Center
Freixas is a Spanish author, publisher, literary critic and translator. Known the world over for her fiction and nonfiction writing, including the award-winning “Feminine Novel and Its Readers” (The National University of Córdoba, 2009), she is a renowned scholar and proponent of living female writers. The event includes light refreshments, live music and an author book-signing.

During her visit to campus, Freixas will be hosted by Kathryn Everly, professor of Spanish literature and culture in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics in Arts and Sciences.

Thursday, March 31
Lecture: “Woman According to Clarice Lispector”
4-6 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
Freixas considers the life and work of the late Clarice Lispector, arguably the most important Jewish writer since Franz Kafka.

Click for the complete Spring 2016 schedule.

All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. For more information, visit or call 315-443-7192.

“We are proud to finish off the month with four highly distinguished guests,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and associate professor of women’s and gender studies. “Common to all of them is a deep appreciation for the humanities in American public life. Whether their work is disciplinary or interdisciplinary, it has transformative potential and seeks to reimagine the nature and scope of engaged scholarship.”

Jonathan Dueck

On Monday, Feb. 22, Dueck will discuss “Players on the Field: Thinking About Musical Humanity Through Sport” at 2:15 p.m. in the Kilian Room, 500 Hall of Languages. At 4 p.m., he will lead a private mini-seminar in 304 Tolley Humanities Building titled “Musical Methods for Teaching and Researching Movement in Sport.” Both events are sponsored by the Department of Art & Music Histories (AMH) in Arts and Sciences.

Dueck is both an assistant professor of writing and the deputy director of Writing in the Disciplines at GW, where he studies, among other things, musical practices among affinity groups. He is co-editor of the “Oxford Handbook of Music and World Christianities” (Oxford University Press, forthcoming), and is a regular contributor to several scholarly publications, including Ethnomusicology, the Journal of American Folklore, and Popular Music and Society.

Alicia Garza

The following day (Tuesday, Feb. 23), Garza will deliver the University’s Black History Month Commemorative Lecture at 7 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. The renowned social activist is expected to address the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman (a white Hispanic) in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin (a black teenager), which prompted her to use social media to express her love and anguish for the black community. Ending her message with “Our Lives Matter / We Matter / Black Lives Matter,” she helped turn those powerful last words into a Twitter hashtag. Today, is an Internet-driven civil rights movement.

Currently the special projects director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Garza formerly served as executive director of People Organized to Win Employment Rights. Her visit is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Lori Emerson

The week continues with a two-day residency by Emerson, founder of the Media Archeology Lab, as well as associate professor of English and of intermedia arts, writing and performance at CU Boulder. Part of the 2015-16 ���ϲ����� Symposium, whose theme is “Networks,” her visit gets underway on Thursday, Feb. 25, with a lecture titled “Other Networks: Hands-on History in the Media Archeology Lab” at 5 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library. The next day, she will participate in a private mini-seminar titled “Internet, Darknet, Alternet // The Past, Present, and Future of Cooperatively Run Networks” from 9 a.m. to noon in 304 Tolley.

Emerson writes about media poetics, as well as the history of computing, media archaeology, media theory and digital humanities. She is the author of multiple book projects, including “The Lab Book: Situated Practices in Media Studies” (University of Minnesota Press, forthcoming) and “Other Networks” (forthcoming), a history of telecommunications networks before and outside of the Internet. Her visit is co-sponsored by ���ϲ����� Libraries, AMH and the Writing Program (both in Arts and Sciences), and the Office of Research.

Gloria Joseph

On Monday, Feb. 29, Joseph will visit the Community Folk Art Center (805 East Genesee St.) from 5-8 p.m. During her visit, the iconic feminist will read from her acclaimed book, “The Wind Is Spirit: The Life, Love and Legacy of Audre Lorde” (Villarosa Media, 2014), honoring the memory of her lifelong partner. Part biography and part anthology, the book features essays, poems, and reflections about Lorde, a self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” who died in 1992.

Joseph is professor emeritus of Africana studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. She is widely known for her cross-cutting pedagogical style, combining arts and activism. Her reading is sponsored by the Democratizing Knowledge Collective in Arts and Sciences, and is followed by a reception and book-signing.

Click for the complete Spring 2016 schedule.

Clay Spinuzzi

���ϲ����� Symposium continues its yearlong theme of “N��ٷɴǰ����” with a visit by an expert on rhetoric, technology and research.

, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, will deliver a lecture titled “Three Networks Walk into a Bar … ” on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 2:15 p.m. in The Kilian Room (500) of the Hall of Languages.�� The following day from 9 a.m. to noon, he will lead a mini-seminar on “Modeling Qualitative Data” in room 304 of the Tolley Humanities Building.

Both events are free and open to the public; however, registration is required for the mini-seminar. Please R.S.V.P. to jpwill03@syr.edu by Thursday, Feb. 4.

For more information, contact the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center, based in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), at 315-443-7192 or visit .

Spinuzzi’s residency is co-sponsored by the Writing Program, the Writing Program’s Student Organization and Composition & Cultural Rhetoric Graduate Circle, and the Department of English, all in A&S; ���ϲ����� Libraries; and the Digital Humanities Work Group of the Central New York Humanities Corridor.

“Professor Spinuzzi draws on the humanities��to reframe how we think about labor relations, workplace technology, and widespread economic changes,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and associate professor of women’s and gender studies.�� “Moving between theory and practice, he examines how people collaborate with one another and share information within a contemporary workplace environment.”

Affiliated with both the College of Liberal Arts (where he teaches English) and the School of Information, Spinuzzi is interested in writing and rhetoric, workplace studies, research methods and methodologies, and activity theory.

He is the author of four critically acclaimed books: “All Edge: Inside the New Workplace Networks” (The University of Chicago Press, 2015); “Topsight: A Guide to Studying, Diagnosing, and Fixing Information Flow in Organizations” (CreateSpace, 2013); “Network: Theorizing Knowledge Work in Telecommunications” (Cambridge University Press, 2008); and “Tracing Genres Through Organizations: A Sociocultural Approach to Information Design” (The MIT Press, 2003).

His books and articles have received awards from the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing.

“Work is changing. Speed and flexibility are more in demand than ever before, thanks to an accelerating knowledge economy and sophisticated communication networks,” Spinuzzi writes. “These changes have forced a mass rethinking of the way we coordinate, collaborate, and communicate. Instead of projects coming to established teams, teams are increasingly converging around projects. … When the work is done, they disband their members, and take their skills to the next project.”

Special guests include the following:

Bettina Love

• Bettina Love, renowned hip-hop-based educator and feminist (Feb. 4)

• Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement (Feb. 23)

• Harry Allen, hip-hop activist, journalist and former member of Public Enemy (March 23)

• Jacqueline Woodson, award-winning author of books for young adults (April 5)

• Laura Freixas, renowned Spanish writer and the 2016 Jeanette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor (March 29-April 5)

• Sanjit “Bunker” Roy, founder of India’s Barefoot College (April 21-22)

“The Humanities Center is a physical expression of the importance of the humanities at ���ϲ�����,” says Vivian May, the center’s director and associate professor of women’s and gender studies. “We present programming and partnerships that highlight the humanities as a public good and underscore its relevance for addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.”

Much of this work, she adds, takes place in the public and scholarly realms.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit or call 315-443-7192.

The January-February schedule is as follows:

Friday, Jan. 29
Workshop: Public Humanities Fellowships Information Session
10:30-11:30 a.m.
Leonard and Ruth Sainsbury Library, 300 Tolley Humanities Building
The Humanities Corridor brings together Paul Arras, Scarlett Rebman and Thomas Guiler, ���ϲ����� Ph.D. students who are current or former Public Humanities Fellows, to discuss their experiences with the New York Council for the Humanities and to offer guidance to those applying for 2016-17 Fellowships.

Friday, Jan. 29
Workshop: “For Those Who Can’t be Here Today: Prison Mindfulness”
Noon-1:30 p.m.
123 Sims Hall
The Contemplative Collaborative Brown Bag Series continues with a moderated discussion about mindfulness as a form of social justice. Participants include Bonnie Shoultz, chaplain of the Buddhist Campus Ministry; Patrick Berry, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric; Syeisha Byrd, director of the Office of Engagement Programs; and Michaela Thorley ’15, yoga instructor and prison educator.

Co-Sponsors: Hendricks Chapel, Hendricks Chapel Wellness Fund, the writing program and Making a Space (a graduate student group)

Thursday, Feb. 4
Lecture: “Imagining Mattering: Hip-Hop Civics Ed., Intersectionality, and Black Joy”
5:30-7 p.m.
Maxwell Auditorium
The Douglas Biklen Landscape of Urban Education Lecture Series continues with a presentation by Bettina L. Love, associate professor of educational theory and practice at the University of Georgia and an expert on hip-hop-based education and feminism.

Principal Sponsor: School of Education

Saturday, Feb. 6
Screening: “Earth, Water, Woman”
1 p.m.
Community Folk Art Center, 805 E. Genesee St.
A short documentary spotlighting the Fondes Amandes Community Reforestation Project, a Trinidadian initiative that has become an exemplar of grassroots conservation. The film is part of the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC)’s annual Caribbean Cinematic Festival, running Feb. 4-7. In addition to nearly a dozen films, the festival features music, dance, food and spoken word, with an overarching emphasis on the Caribbean diaspora. A complete schedule is available at .

Sponsor: Community Folk Art Center, an academic partner of the Department of African American Studies

Wednesday, Feb. 10
Lecture: “Three Networks Walk Into a Bar … ”
2:15-3:45 p.m.

Clay Spinuzzi

The Kilian Room, 500 Hall of Languages
���ϲ����� Symposium^TM continues its “N��ٷɴǰ����” theme with a program by Clay Spinuzzi, professor of writing and rhetoric at the University of Texas at Austin, who studies workplace research and computer-mediated activity.

Co-Sponsors: the writing Program, the writing program’s student organization and composition and cultural rhetoric graduate circle and the Department of English ; ���ϲ����� Libraries; and the Digital Humanities Working Group (Central New York Humanities Corridor)

Thursday, Feb. 11
Mini Seminar: “Modeling Qualitative Data,” led by Clay Spinuzzi
9 a.m. to noon
Room 304, Tolley Humanities Building
Registration required; RSVP jpwill03@syr.edu by Feb. 4

Co-Sponsors: the writing program, the writing program’s student organization and composition and cultural rhetoric graduate circle and the Department of English; ���ϲ����� Libraries; and the Digital Humanities Working Group (Central New York Humanities Corridor)

Monday, Feb. 22
Lecture: “Players on the Field: Thinking About Musical Humanity Through Sport”
2:15-3:35 p.m.
The Kilian Room, 500 Hall of Languages
Jonathan Dueck, assistant professor of writing and deputy director of writing in the disciplines at�� George Washington University, explores the role of music in sporting communities.

Sponsor: Department of Art & Music Histories

Monday, Feb. 22
Mini-Seminar: “Musical Methods for Teaching and Researching Movement in Sport,” led by Jonathan Dueck
4-5:15 p.m.
Room 304 Tolley Humanities Building
Registration required; RSVP drjustic@syr.edu by Feb. 15

Sponsor: Department of Art & Music Histories

Tuesday, Feb. 23

Alicia Garza

Lecture: “Black Lives Matter”
7-9 p.m.
Hendricks Chapel
Alicia Garza, activist, writer and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, delivers the Black History Month Commemorative Lecture.

Principal Sponsor: Office of Multicultural Affairs

Thursday, Feb. 25
Lecture: “Other Networks: Hands-on History in the Media Archeology Lab”
5-7 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
���ϲ����� Symposium^TM continues with a visit by Lori Emerson, associate professor of English and intermedia arts, writing and performance and founder of the Media Archeology Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Co-Sponsors: ���ϲ����� Libraries, Department of Art & Music Histories and the writing program�� and the Office of Research

Friday, Feb. 26
Mini-Seminar: “Internet, Darknet, Alternet // The Past, Present, and Future of Cooperatively Run Networks,” led by Lori Emerson
9 a.m. to noon
Room 304 Tolley Humanities Building
Registration required; RSVP awinkler@syr.edu by Feb. 16

Co-Sponsors: ���ϲ����� Libraries, Department of Art & Music Histories and the writing program and the Office of Research

Utrecht University

The first initiative involves the (UU) in the Netherlands, which has been designated as PPP’s permanent home. UU will house not only PPP’s administrative offices, but also its archives, including personal and professional papers, as well as audio and visual materials. The move coincides with UU’s launch of a newly updated PPP .

The second initiative concerns the publication of “ (UU, 2015), an e-book written and designed by UU students that deals with Immanuel Kant’s landmark essay, “Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch,” on which the goals of PPP are based. Published in Dutch, the book will be translated into English later this year.

, Dean’s Professor of the Humanities in the , co-founded PPP in 2008 with , executive director of the Slought Foundation, and , a former Austrian diplomat who now runs New York University’s Deutsche Haus.

“We’re writing a new chapter in the life of the Perpetual Peace Project,” says Lambert, who also directs the Mellon-funded . “Utrecht University has long served as the spiritual home of PPP, sponsoring an array of events and projects that has involved ���ϲ����� faculty. Now that we are permanently based there, we can leverage our presence in ways that previously weren’t possible.”

Along with ���ϲ�����, UU and the Slought Foundation, PPP partners with various organizations and institutions around the globe, including the European Union National Institutes of Culture, the United Nations University, the International Peace Institute and the Treaty of Utrecht Chair professorship.

Currently, PPP is in the third and final phase of a nine-year production cycle, yielding an array of feature films, publications, and exhibitions propounding Kant’s pacifist ideologies. They include “Kant for Kids,” published last month, and “,” a two-year ongoing project, directed by , a senior lecturer in international relations at the University of Bristol (U.K.), looking into the theoretical, aesthetic and empirical dimensions of mass violence.

“Kant for Kids” book cover

“’Kant for Kids’ translates the concept of perpetual peace into a terminology that’s accessible and understandable to children,” says Lambert, who advised the creation of the book with several UU professors, including , director of the Centre for the Humanities and a longtime PPP collaborator.

He says most of the work was done over a two-year period at UU by four graduate students and a team of interns. Brandon Pakker, then a master’s student of philosophy, came up with the concept as a way to contemporize the six “Preliminary Articles” in Kant’s famous 1795 essay.

“The students didn’t just translate Kant’s text; they placed it within a contemporary political, social and economic framework,” says Lambert, who regards Kant’s articles as “action steps for peace.” “The result is a book that stands on its own or may be incorporated into a classroom lesson on philosophy or politics.”

Begun in 2008, PPP didn’t catch fire until 2010 with ���ϲ����� Symposium^TM, whose theme that year was “Conflict: Peace and War.” Then the founding director of the (which sponsors ���ϲ����� Symposium), Lambert began organizing various PPP events along the East Coast, including a documentary film and an art exhibition, as well as myriad workshops, seminars and symposia. A high-water mark was the to ���ϲ����� in 2012. Lambert—and, by extension, PPP—made national headlines by introducing the Dalai Lama at a public forum and orchestrating some of the related programming.

PPP has since increased its global footprint, thanks in part to Lambert’s moxie. During a visiting professorship at UU in 2013, he participated in the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Utrecht, a series of accords that led to the rise of the British Empire. As part of the observance, he commissioned a collection of PPP films and essays, whose contributors included two ���ϲ����� icons: , professor and interim dean of the , as well as founding director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism; and , professor emeritus of sociology, Professor Emeritus of Social Conflict Studies and founding director of the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts.

Author of the aptly titled “Realizing Peace: A Constructive Conflict Approach” (Oxford University Press, 2015), Kriesberg was asked to comment on Kant’s Third Article, which argues for the abolition of standing armies. Thus, Kriesberg considers how conflicts may be conducted without recourse to mass violence.

Gregg Lambert

“This includes a reliance on strategic nonviolent actions, interventions by international organizations in the form of peacekeeping forces, applications of mediation at various levels and amelioration of conflict-generating conditions,” he says, adding that perhaps, someday, individual standing armies will be replaced by a global peacekeeping force, evolving out of the United Nations’ operations.

Banks is equally persuasive in his essay, which takes on the legalities of warfare, as outlined in Kant’s Sixth Article. Although foundational treaties and international agreements have remained substantially unchanged over the past decade, Banks says that the laws of armed conflict have evolved through other means.

“Many states have enacted new laws or have reformed existing rules to better anticipate asymmetric warfare waged by non-state actors,” says Banks, an expert in national security law. “State militaries have also revised operational law—the legal advice given by military lawyers to commanders in operational environments. The new actors have significantly stressed the conventional LOAC/IHL [Law of Armed Conflict/International Humanitarian Law] regime because the rules were written for state militaries, and only a little attention was paid to nontraditional fighters.”

Lambert has overseen other PPP projects, including a series of discussions with leaders in North and South Korea and a weeklong “Eat Together for Peace” initiative at ���ϲ�����.

“In wake of recent tragedies in Paris, Beirut and San Bernardino, initiatives such as PPP help define the concept of world peace,” he says. “By inviting critical reflections from theorists and practitioners, we’re rethinking the ideas of global citizenship, while breaking down boundaries—civil, military and otherwise.”

Jennifer Roberts

, Elizabeth Cary Agassiz Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, will present a lecture titled “Matrix, Meshwork, Moiré: Patterns in American Print” on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 6 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (Room 114). The following day, she will lead a sold-out HC Mini-Seminar at 3 p.m. in the Antje Bultmann Lemke Seminar Room, located on the sixth floor of the library in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC).

The Nov. 17 lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center at 315-443-7192, or visit .

Roberts’ visit is co-sponsored by the Department of Art and Music Histories (AMH) in the ; the SCRC; and SUArt Galleries. The Humanities Center is based in Arts and Sciences.

“We are delighted to host Jennifer Roberts, whose cross-cutting research and critical insights into American art, from the colonial period to the present, are virtually without peer,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and associate professor of women’s and gender studies. “Much of her work examines the complex relationship between network science and print studies, and is interdisciplinary scholarship at its best.”

Roberts looks at American art through the lens of craft and materiality theory, print studies, and the history and philosophy of science. Her books include “Transporting Visions: The Movement of Images in Early America” (University of California Press, 2014) and “Mirror-Travels: Robert Smithson and History” (Yale University Press, 2004). Roberts is also the co-author of the textbook “American Encounters: Art, History, and Cultural Identity” (Pearson Education, 2007), as well as an exhibition catalog titled “Jasper Johns/In Press: The Crosshatch Works and the Logic of Print” (Harvard Art Museums and Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2012), published in conjunction with a show she curated at Harvard.

Romita Ray, associate professor of art history in AMH, anticipates a lively discussion about American art and material culture. “Professor Roberts will investigate, in her own words, the ‘relationship between the social networks that replicated images enable, and the physical networks—the screens, dots and lines of various printing matrices—that enable those images to be replicated in the first place,'” says Ray, who is organizing Roberts’ visit.

Roberts is no stranger to campus, having served as the Carole and Alvin I. Schragis Postdoctoral Faculty Fellow in AMH from 2000-2002.

This visit coincides with a retrospective of acclaimed American artist , whose paintings and prints are on display at SUArt Galleries through Sunday, Nov. 22.

“It’s an exciting time to be on campus to discuss American print culture,” Ray adds. “Professor Roberts will not only take us back in time to discuss 19th-century print networks, but also will draw us into the contemporary visual and social frameworks through which print culture is shaped and consumed.”

Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshu, founders of the Otolith Group

The , an award-winning London-based artist collective, will be the focus of a special event on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6:30 p.m. in Hosmer Auditorium of the Everson Museum of Art (401 Harrison St.). The program features an indoor screening of works by the group, including “Anathema” (2011), as well as a live stream of an interview with co-founder .

The program, which is free and open to the public, includes a reception. For more information, contact the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences at 315-443-7192 or visit .

The evening is also part of a yearlong program titled “,” involving the Urban Video Project (UVP) and its parent organization, Light Work. “Anathema” will be shown at UVP’s outdoor architectural projection venue at the Everson Museum of Art from Nov. 5-Dec. 19, screened onto the north façade of the building and are visible from the plaza every Thursday-Saturday from dusk to 11 p.m.

“Kodwo Eshun uses film essays to examine lived conditions, engage current events and unpack history,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and associate professor of women’s and gender studies. “Working at the nexus of visual culture and contemporary art, Sagar—and, by extension, The Otolith Group—seeks to rethink cultural production in the context of precarious global conditions. This work approaches film in new and important ways.”

Eshun founded the Otolith Group with Anjalika Sagar in 2002. Since then, the collective has exhibited, installed and screened works all over the world. Many of the group’s projects are commissioned by public and private organizations, and involve research, installations and publications.

No doubt that The Otolith Group’s self-described “collaborative and discursive practice” is an extension of its founders’ liberal arts training. (Sagar studied anthropology and Hindi at the University of London; Eshu, English literature at University College, Oxford.) Hence, their films and solo exhibitions, which number in the dozens, draw on material found within a range of disciplines, particularly the moving image.

“[Our] work is formally engaged with research-led projects, exploring the legacies and potentialities of artist-led proposals around the document and the essay film, the archive, the aural and sonic medium, speculative futures and science-fictions,” says Eshun, whose work resides in the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

A still from “Anathema” (2011)

“Anathema” exemplifies this cross-cutting aesthetic. A 36-minute high-definition video, the work re-imagines liquid crystals as sentient entities that possess fingertips and eyes. The result is what Sagar describes as a commentary on “communicative capitalism.”

“’Anathema’ can be understood as an object-oriented video that isolates and recombines the magical gestures of dream factory capitalism,” she says. “By bringing the telecommunicating couplings of mother-father-daughter-son-machines and boyfriend-girlfriend units into contact with the conductive imagery of liquid crystallization, [the film] proposes itself as a prototype for a counter-spell assembled from the possible worlds of capitalist sorcery.”

The program is co-sponsored by the UVP and Light Work Visual Studies, administered by Light Work and the University; the Visiting Artist Lecture Series in the School of Art and the Department of Transmedia, both in the ; the Coalition of Museums and Art Centers; the Connective Corridor; the Everson Museum of Art; and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Music in ���ϲ����� will be accompanied by dance at Cornell, and poetry and Chinese painting in Beijing, while an erhu (Chinese two-stringed fiddle) performance in Beijing will interact with sound-reactive visuals by artist Lorne Covington in ���ϲ�����. Audiences at all three venues will see and hear all performances simultaneously on big screens.

“This is an incredibly complex event, both technically and artistically,” says Neva Pilgrim, director of the Society for New Music. “The tech rehearsals with IT people at each site and between sites have been going on since September. It’s bound to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those attending, whether in ���ϲ�����, at Cornell or in Beijing.”

Director Vivian May remarks, “We are pleased to support the Society for New Music in this innovative, multi-site arts performance. This event offers a rare opportunity to bridge different genres and audiences in real time, via the layers and interactions offered by combining live performances with a networked environment.”

Guest Neil Rolnick, former head of RPI computer music, director of the iEAR Studios and a pioneer in the use of computers in performance, will be on hand in ���ϲ����� to join the ensemble in performances of two of his works, “Faith” (2009) and “Fiddle Faddle” (2003). The approximately 25-minute “Faith” will be accompanied by Chinese painting in Beijing by renowned impressionist painter Tang Li responding in real time.

In ���ϲ�����, Blagomira Lipari, Rob Auler, John Friedrichs and guest ensemble Eastman Broadband will perform music by Rolnick, Ernste, Ping Jin and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon’s 2015 “Sones de tierra fria” (four settings of texts by Shakespeare and Raul Aceves, and two settings of Shakespeare sonnets, all texts about love).

���ϲ����� composer Ping Jin will be in Beijing, where he teaches at the Beijing Conservatory, to see and hear the ���ϲ����� performance of his 2012 “Three Folksongs from the Blue Lake,” a three-movement clarinet trio making use of folk tunes from the Blue Lake region in Qinghai Province, China.

Ithaca composer Kevin Ernste will be at Cornell University’s Lincoln Hall with dancer Alaina Olivieri, who will dance to his 2010 “Long Path,” choreographed by Eran Hanlon and performed by pianist Rob Auler in ���ϲ�����. The Chinese poem that inspired the work will be read in Beijing, also coordinated with the music in ���ϲ�����.

Covington’s sound-reactive visuals in ���ϲ����� will respond to an erhu solo by Grammy winner Tan Dun performed in Beijing by Yan Yan.

This is the third concert in the Society for New Music’s 44th season of concerts in Upstate New York, where it is the only year-round new music group and one of the oldest in the U.S.

The event is free for ���ϲ����� students and faculty with valid I.D.; $15 for seniors and $12 for students; $30 for a family. Tickets are available via paypal at , by calling 315-245-1689 or at the door.

Minnie Bruce Pratt

Also part of the Visiting Author Reading Series of the YMCA Arts Branch’s (DWC), the event is Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. at the DWC (340 Montgomery St., ���ϲ�����). It is free and open to the public. For more information, call the ���ϲ����� Humanities Center or visit .

The reading is co-sponsored by the DWC and the Humanities Center, the latter of which is based in the .

“This is a special opportunity for the campus community,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and associate professor of women’s and gender studies. “Minnie Bruce’s poetry shows us how theoretical and creative insights are most powerful when they are embedded within, and speak to, lived realities of everyday life. In turn, Martha’s precise and meditative language has addressed some of the most pressing social issues of our day, such as racism, immigration and eugenics.”

Known for her groundbreaking work in women’s studies, Pratt retired earlier this year from ���ϲ�����, where she helped establish the LGBT Studies Program, and held faculty positions in the Writing Program and Department of Women’s and Gender Studies. Pratt is the author of more than a dozen award-winning or critically acclaimed books, including “The Dirt She Ate: Selected and New Poems” (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003) and “Crime Against Nature” (Firebrand Books, 1990). She also has published dozens of poems, essays and articles, many of which have been anthologized.

Martha Collins

Collins founded the M.F.A. program in creative writing at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and has taught at Oberlin College and Cornell University. Her collections of poetry include “Day Unto Day” (Milkweed Editions, 2014), written over a six-year span, and “Blue Front” (Graywolf Press, 2006), which won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the year’s most memorable books. Collins is currently promoting “Catherine Breese Davis: On the Life and Work of an American Master” (Pleidas Press, 2015), which she has co-edited, and is working on “Admit One: An American Scrapbook” (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016).

Phil Memmer is executive director of the Y Arts Branch and founder of the DWC. “This is one of the top literary events of the season,” he says. “To have not one, but two iconic writers on stage, reading from their work and interacting with the audience in a relatively intimate setting, is not to be missed.”

The panel will discuss “Glamour and Damage: Women, Scandal, and Social Media Networks,” using Steve Martin’s “The Underpants,” above, as a launchpad. (Photo by Michael Davis)

���ϲ����� Symposium^TM continues its “N��ٷɴǰ����” theme with a panel discussion on the media’s portrayal of women—from gossip circles in the early 20^th century to modern-day social networks—and its ensuing impact on gender bias.

Titled “Glamour and Damage: Women, Scandal, and Social Media Networks,” the event will take place on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 4 p.m. at ���ϲ����� Stage (820 E. Genesee St.), immediately following the matinee performance of .”

The discussion, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by ���ϲ����� Stage and the Humanities Center, based in the . For more information, call 315-443-7192 or visit��.

Using “The Underpants” as a launchpad, the discussion will explore how women have been characterized, victimized, shamed and sensualized throughout history.

Kal Alston, professor of cultural foundations of education in the and ���ϲ�����’s senior vice president for human capital development;��, associate professor of magazine journalism in the ; and��, assistant professor of communication studies at SUNY Oswego.

Running through Nov. 8, “The Underpants” is a witty commentary on gender politics and instant celebrity. Adapted from Carl Sternheim’s 1911 work “Die Hose,” the play is set in early 20th-century Germany, and follows one woman’s “very public wardrobe malfunction.”

Show tickets may be purchased by calling 315-443-3275 or visiting��.

Ethan Zuckerman

Ethan Zuckerman, a researcher and administrator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will deliver the symposium’s keynote address, “Insurrectionist Civics and Digital Activism in an Age of Mistrust,” on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Watson Theatre. The lecture is free and open to the public, and is followed by a Q&A session. For more information, call the Humanities Center at 315-443-7192, or visit .

Zuckerman is the author of the bestselling “Digital Cosmopolitans: Why We Think the Internet Connects Us, Why It Doesn’t, and How to Rewire It” (W.W. Norton & Co., 2014). His lecture, as well as the symposium series, is sponsored by the Humanities Center, based in the .

“We are honored to present Ethan Zuckerman as this year’s keynote,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and associate professor of women’s & gender studies in A&S. “Professor Zuckerman will discuss how people are finding ways to act as effective citizens during a time he characterizes as an ‘Age of Mistrust,’ one in which activists, spurned by traditional political institutions and strategies, are turning to the Internet to effect change, either in spite of that mistrust or by harnessing it.”

A highly regarded teacher-scholar, blogger and Internet activist, Zuckerman directs the at MIT, where he also is a principal research scientist in the . Much of his work involves the distribution of attention in mainstream and new media, the use of technology for international development and the use of new media technologies by activists. Notably, Zuckerman has co-founded the blogging community, which showcases news and opinions from citizen media in over 150 nations and 30 languages, and , which sends IT volunteers to work on projects in developing nations, including West Africa.

Although public skepticism of institutions of power is not new, Zuckerman says civic mistrust has recently gained momentum, due to the global financial crisis, the Catholic sexual abuse scandal, the Iraq War and the U.S. response to Hurricane Katrina. The result, he contends, is a “deep skepticism of institutions of power.”

Provocatively, Zuckerman asks: “This patterns presents a challenge for activists and for civic actors: If we no longer have confidence in the institutions of power, who do we seek to influence to make change?” In discussing case studies from the broader social-change field, Zuckerman will explore how civic actors challenge biases in existing institutions and engage in networked approaches to activism.

A graduate of Williams College, Zuckerman helped found Tripod.com, one of the Web’s first personal publishing sites, where he also created the industry’s first pop-up ad. (Zuckerman recently apologized for his invention in a lengthy essay in , calling advertising the “original sin of the Web.”) He is particularly committed to revenue reform, as well as freedom of expression in online spaces.

“Ethan Zuckerman is the real deal—a thinker and activist brilliantly connected to what’s really happening on the Internet on a genuinely global basis,” says Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist and craigconnects.