The Public Humanities Network of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI), in partnership with the Whiting Foundation, is organizing a series of of virtual gatherings called 'The Humanities Tomorrow’.
These gatherings are designed to share experiences of contemporary humanities projects by scholars who are visionaries and change-makers, with a focus on practical lessons we might share as a community in committing to this work.
Each gathering will last no longer than 90 minutes, will be open to everyone who registers in advance, and will be recorded for sharing through the CHCI afterwards.
Keywords: Immigration, refugees, prisoner education, public humanities
Molly Todd is an assistant professor of History at Montana State University. Her book Beyond Displacement: Campesinos, Refugees and Collective Action in the Salvadoran Civil War was published by the University of Wisconsin Press. In addition to her research, she has engaged with living history museums, youth theater, “theater of the oppressed,” and oral history projects. Across all her work, she draws from her experience as an actress, creative writer, and historian to bring hidden stories to life and bridge divides between people and nations. As a scholar and practitioner, she has accompanied the repopulated communities of El Salvador, CRIPDES, and US-El Salvador Sister Cities since 1999 as an interpreter, researcher, and collaborator.
Xiumei Pu is bringing Asian refugees and immigrants in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley together to reflect on the cultural, symbolic, and environmental significance of mountains. Pu will collaborate with community partners and Brent Olson, co-director of the Institute for Mountain Research, to form a cohort of twelve storytellers. Together, they will produce a twelve-part podcast weaving together Asian mountain folktales and the storytellers' experiences living in mountain environments in Asia and the United States. She will also host a public storytelling event and lead a hike in the Wasatch Mountains and film a documentary in collaboration with Erin Coleman Serrano. It is Pu’s hope that this project will amplify Asian refugees and immigrants’ environmental voices, build community, and spark public interest in the connection between culture, identity, and the natural environment.
Geffrey Davis is the author of two full-length collections of poetry: Night Angler, winner of the 2018 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, and Revising the Storm, winner of the 2013 A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize. He is also the author of the chapbook Begotten, co-written with F. Douglas Brown. His poems have been published in Crazyhorse, Mississippi Review, New England Review, New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, PBS NewsHour, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. Named a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, Davis has received the Anne Halley Poetry Prize, the Dogwood Prize in Poetry, and the Wabash Prize for Poetry, as well as fellowships from Bread Loaf, Cave Canem, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center. He was also awarded a Public Engagement Fellowship from the Whiting Foundation for his work with The Prison Story Project. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Davis also teaches for The Rainier Writing Workshop, Pacific Lutheran University's low-residency MFA program.
You can register for the meeting here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUldOutrj8vH9WA4auxLxAyUtP_65kfO6v4
Panelists:
Molly Todd, Montana State University
Xiumei Pu, Westminster College
Geffrey Davis, University of Arkansas
Chair:
Jennifer Ho, University of Colorado Boulder
