The Public Self: Citizen As Change Agent

Fall 2020 Events

Please note: Due to COVID19, all Fall 2020 Arts & Ideas Events will be held virtually. Check back here for information on how to join the webinars.

Raymond Santana: From Central Park 5 to Exonerated 5
September 17, 2020, 4:30 p.m., Webinar Session - Register Here.

Wrongfully accused and convicted of a heinous crime as a teenager, exonerated years later! Join Raymond Santana and a guest interviewer on stage, to share his thoughts and insights on the US Justice System and a first-hand account of being betrayed by this system.

Building a Civic Community - Unraveling the Truth: Fake News and the Election 
October 19, 2020, at 1:30 p.m., Webinar Session - Register Here

What is Fake News? How can you tell what you are reading is not false information and what is a trusted news source? How does this relate to the upcoming presidential election and how you make your voting decisions? Journalist Emily Sweeney from the Boston Globe and Professor Laura Saunders from Simmons University will address these issues. Moderator: Sandra Rothenberg is Senior Librarian and Coordinator of Library Instruction at Framingham State University.

Building a Civic Community - Democracy in Crisis
October 27, 2020 at 5 p.m. Webinar Session - Register Here

Dr. John Ambacher, Professor Emeritus of Framingham State University, will present on the current state of democracy. Dr. Ambacher argues that America was in crisis well before the presidential election of 2016. The crisis centered on the state of our democracy itself. A representative democracy should guarantee that every citizen has equal worth. That can only be accomplished if every citizen is guaranteed an equal freedom to vote. This is no longer the case. Dr. Ambacher will explore how we arrived at this state of affairs and what we can do to restore a representative democracy.

The Arthur Nolletti Jr. Film Series: "Just Mercy"
November 9th, 2020 7-10 p.m., Webinar Session - Register Here.

Just Mercy (2019) is an unforgettable story about Bryan Stevenson, a young African American lawyer challenging the Alabama legal system over its wrongful conviction of an innocent man sentenced to death. Based on a true story with phenomenal performances by Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan, this is a must-see.

Lecture by Leslie Starobin: Looming in the Shadows of Łódź
November 10, 2020, 4:30-6 p.m., Webinar Session - Register Here.

Professor Leslie Starobin of the Art and Music Department will share her on-going project, “Looming in the Shadows of Łódź.” Please come witness the route back to the Łódź Ghetto, the last in Poland to be ‘cleansed’ of its Jews by the Nazis. Her work weaves together film clips, photographs, and oral history narratives to reveal how memories and stories of the Shoah affect multiple generations of one family. Notably, the cinematographer, Ori Segev, is the grandson of Holocaust survivors. This event will be moderated by Professor of History Lori Gemeiner Bihler. (credit to Framingham Cultural Council, FSU CELTSS, and FSU CDI)

Spring 2021

All Spring 2021 locations are subject to change and will not be open to the general public. Every event will, however, be available as a webinar. Check back for more information.

I Shimmer Sometimes, Too: A Poetry Performance by Porsha Olayiwola
February 4, 2021, 4:30-6 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

Porsha Olayiwola, is a writer, performer, educator and curator who uses afro-futurism and surrealism to examine historical and current issues in the Black, woman, and queer diaspora. Her poetry and performances as well as her activist work around poetry and art has earned her position as the poet laureate of Boston. She will be performing poetry from her book, I Shimmer Sometimes, Too.

(Un)Documents: A Solo Theater Performance by Jesús Valles
February 24, 2021, 5:30-7 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

In their acclaimed solo show, (Un)Documents, award-winning actor and poet Jesús I. Valles journeys across both sides of a river with two names, moving between languages to find their place in a nation that demands sacrifice at the altar of citizenship. In doing so, they create a new kind of documentation written with anger and fierce love.

Always Faithful ... to What? A Woman Veteran Writes about Coming of Age in the Marine Corps
March 1, 2021, 4:30-6 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

In her memoir Fidelis, Teresa Fazio chronicles her deployment to Iraq as a young Marine officer and homecoming as a veteran of an ongoing war. She will explore how she processed her experiences through writing and her work to explore the role of women in the military and public life.

Arpilleras: From the Collection of Marjorie Agosin
March 9, 2021, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

Mazmanian Gallery presents an exhibition of arpilleras, hand-sewn quilts that tell the story of "Los Desaparecidos" in Chile. Marjorie Agosin will speak about how this art form emerged as a female-led resistance movement in response to the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, and about her role as a collector.

CHALLENGER: Soaring with Christa McAuliffe
March 11, 2021, 5:30-7:30, Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

Who is America's favorite teacher? Ask anyone old enough about Christa McAuliffe and they will tell you exactly where they were when the Challenger shuttle launched; however, few people understand who Mrs. McAuliffe really was. America's Teacher in Space was an educational pioneer and her goals and accomplishments are explored in this performance.

Meaning Making at the Crossroads: Hispanic Poetry in Translation
March 25, 2021, 4:30-6 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

Join us for an evening of Hispanic poetry in translation. We will have poetry readings and discussion with renowned poet and Latin Grammy nominee, Fernando Valverde (Spain), acclaimed poet, Javier Alvarado (Panamá), and professor and poetry translator, Nieves García Prados (Spain). The event explores Hispanic poetry and the role of translation in fostering connections between an increasingly bilingual, Spanish and English world.

From Theory to Practice: Ethnic Studies to Make a More Just World
April 5, 2021, 4:30-6 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

The celebrated author of The Borders of Dominicanidad: Race, Nations, and Archives of Contradictions, Dr. Lorgia García Peña is coming to FSU to discuss ethnic studies, empowering students, inclusivity, and social justice. Her talk will also examine structures of higher education that affect students and faculty of color

The 2021 Miriam Levine Reading: Grace Talusan
April 6, 2021, 4:30-6 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

Author Grace Talusan will read from her memoir The Body Paper. A searing account of childhood sexual abuse, the book also delves into Talusan’s backgroun as a Filipino immigrant and a cancer survivor and the ways in which these experiences are linked by vulnerability and personal strength. Recipient of the 2017 Restless Book Prize for New Immigrant Writing, she teaches in the Boston area.

The Arthur Nolletti Jr. Film Series: Woman at War
April 12, 2021, 7-10 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

Woman at War (2018) is an Icelandic gem. No one suspects that Halla, a mild-mannered choir-leader, is the eco-terrorist battling corporate greed and government lies. Fueled by her fierce convictions, Halla displays extraordinary ingenuity as a solo crusader for the environment. This is cinematic artistry at its best!

Self-Production as a Form of Development
April 15, 2021, 7-8:30 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

Self-Production is a creative, community-based urban planning tool. It involves no prior planning, but an effective and spontaneous communication and self-organization system that responds to needs. In Latin America, it has become the most efficient form of housing construction. Cardona will speak about Self-Produced Neighborhoods and analytical research of self-production.

Jeff Sparr: PeaceLove
April 22, 2021, 4:30-6 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

Jeff Sparr is an advocate, a teacher, and a self-taught artist. Believing in the healing power of creating, Jeff founded PeaceLove to spread peace of mind through expressive arts workshops. Jeff travels the world sharing his story of hope and his vision for a world where every person has the tools to care for their mental health.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Quiara Hudes: My Broken Language
April 26, 2021, 4:30 – 6 p.m., Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center

Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Hudes will read from her new book, My Broken Language, a coming of age memoir about language and sacred practice in North Philadelphia — aka el barrio — in the 1990s.

Self-Care Cyanotypes
April 28, 2021 (rain date is 4/29), 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., outdoors

Mazmanian Gallery presents a workshop with Hernease Davis. Based off of her series “A Womb of My Own (Mistakes Were Made in Development)” participants will be invited to engage in a dialogue about self-care and explore incorporating their rituals into the cyanotype making process.