Campus Currents

April 7, 2025

Image of people looking up at the sky through telescopes


Community Stargazing with the McAuliffe Center

Tuesday, April 8, 7:45 to 9 p.m.
Outside May Hall

Participants of all ages are welcome!

Use telescopes to observe the Moon, Jupiter and Mars! McAuliffe Center staff are available to answer your questions about telescopes and our Universe.

Important Information:
This event is weather-dependent. In case of inclement weather or conditions inconducive for observing, this event will be cancelled.

Parking is available in the Salem End Lot and unmarked spaces in McCarthy Center lot. Once parked, follow Framingham State University’s signs and the McAuliffe Center’s yard signs to May Hall. 

National Library Week

This week is National Library Week and Whittemore Library has several events on tap. Click here to learn more about any of the events below:

Cake Decorating Content
Monday, April 7
Voting: 9 a.m. to Noon; Winner announced 12:30 p.m.

Exploring Library Careers – Panel Discussion Q&A with Library Staff
Tuesday, April 8
2 p.m.

No Homework Book Club
Wednesday, April 9
12:30 p.m.

Button-Making with Profs. Cataldo and Yalowitz
Thursday, April 10
Noon

Curl Up for Quiet Reading in The Pit
Friday, April 11
2 p.m.

 

A talk with best-selling author Joanna Rakoff

By Cas Barrett, publications intern

The best way for an aspiring author to get their book published is to live their life in a way that feeds their writing, according to author Joanna Rakoff. 

Rakoff, the author of international bestselling memoir My Salinger Year and the bestselling novel A Fortunate Age, offered attendees of this week's Miriam Levine reading a glimpse of a publishing house filled with typewriters, smoke and forwarded calls from J. D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye, when her boss wasn't in office.

Rakoff has won the Goldberg Prize for Fiction and the Elle Readers’ Prize, and her books have been translated into 20 languages, and the film adaptation of My Salinger Year was released worldwide in 2021. 

After reading segments of My Salinger Year, Rakoff began to take questions and explored the path to publication with attendees.

“I think the desire to be published has to come from an ingrained almost DNA level need to be a part of cultural conversation and be in conversation with readers. It can’t come from any sort of professional development or desire for fame,” Rakoff said.

Rakoff had dreamed of being an author but was afraid to pursue it and attended a master's program in literature at the University College London, planning to publish her work only after establishing a secure career.

“Having the freedom to write all the time I feel lucky that I have my family to brush up against that, but sometimes those things become so much that it can become hard to make time to write,” Rakoff said. "You only have so much inner strength, you have to use that energy to do your finals or take care of family members but you still have the choice to do things that feed your writing, something like walking around the block for five minutes without your phone, take a run and listen to music, decide not to listen to the news for a day, take half an hour to read.” 

Rakoff’s newest memoir, The Fifth Passenger, is set to be released soon.

Additional Events

Tuesday, April 8, 6 to 8 p.m.
Center for Inclusive Excellence

We invite you to join us for an enlightening discussion on Islam with our guest speaker, Rohan Khan, Muslim Representative of Campus Ministries, followed by a delicious selection of Arabic-inspired meals. This event is open to the entire campus community, and we encourage everyone to attend! 
 

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Hemenway Hall Room 107 or via Zoom

How can we facilitate a creative exploration of course concepts using AI tools? Guest speaker Jennifer Dowling (Art, Design, & Art History department) will highlight experiences and assignments in her RAMS 101 course Real or Digital? Creativity and Artificial Intelligence. Steve Courchesne will talk about divergent thinking and share techniques for using AI as a tool in brainstorming. Together, we’ll discuss practical ways to engage students in incorporating AI into the creation process as a helpful but flawed assistant.

https://reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0005-0021-db4e30d9c838442aa50c0fe3a879f7e1

 

Wednesday, April 9, Noon to 1:30 p.m.
McCarthy Center Forum

The annual mental health fair with lots of prizes and free T-shirts and therapy dogs. Sponsored by Health and Wellness.

Wednesday, April 9, 2025 from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM in Hemenway Hall Room 107 or via Zoom

In this workshop, we will explore using Google NotebookLM's machine learning to create a chatbot your students can interact with that only knows your class material. From syllabus and assignment questions to topical knowledge, the notebook can connect dots and extrapolate data to answer questions and provide a study partner in a more controlled environment. 

https://reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0005-0021-bd6051ebdcf44541bbbe43aa47a506cb

 

Sunday, April 13, 1 to 4 p.m.
Danforth Art Museum and School, 14 Vernon Street

Join us to explore an installation of fiber and textile art from the Danforth Art Museum’s Permanent Collection. Discover the various ways artists use different fabrics and methods to make their art work, and then make a fabric sculpture in the Art Studio.

April’s Drop into Art is presented in conjunction with Gather 2025, a month-long celebration of fiber and textile art in Greater Boston.

Drop into Art is designed to celebrate the creative potential in all of us. With new themes and projects every month, Drop into Art offers opportunities for kids with their caregivers and adults to explore and create together. The sessions are unique, fun, and free, emphasizing discovery, invention, improvisation, and hands-on creativity.