9th Annual Humanities Days at Montgomery College

9:00-10:00 a.m.

Event Host: Dr. Anestine Theophile-LaFond, Professor, Communication Studies| anestine.theophile-lafond@montgomerycollege.edu 
Co-Host: Dr. Benjamin Osmond Farrell

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened the human propensity for perception distortion creating a challenge for interpersonal relationships. Persons engage in faulty attribution to explain others behavior resulting in misunderstanding and distrust. This panel discussion will highlight the experience of community members and students who belong to virtual communities. They will share on how their relationships were impacted by these conspiracy theories. The discussion will include communication strategies to effectively overcome the negative impact of these conspiracy theories on human relationships. 

Noon till 1:00 p.m.

Event Host: Dr. Paul D. Miller, Professional Development Director | paul.miller@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Stacy Ford

Is it a myth or a reality? Come explore interesting facts about the brain and how common brain myths have made it difficult for us to separate brain facts from fiction.  

2:00-3:00 p.m.

Event Host: Stacy Ford, Accessible Technology Coordinator | stacy.ford@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Dr. Paul D. Miller, Professional Development Director | paul.miller@montgomerycollege.edu

During this session we will explore examples and scenarios to think about how our environments and interactions are designed, who can be excluded, talk about what worked or did not, and how to deliberately consider inclusion in the design process. 

4:30-5:30 p.m.

Event Host: Carol Moore, Creative Project Manager, Global Humanities Institute | carol.moore@montgomerycollege.edu 
Co-Host: Cinder Cooper Barnes

Recommended Media: https://henryamills.com/
Published Poems:

• https://www.acentosreview.com/May2019/henry-mills.html
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuneaRYCk5g

The Robert L. Giron Global Humanities Lecture Series presents poet Henry Mills. Mills was born in DC to a Salvadoran mother and a Jewish-American father. A 2005 graduate of Montgomery College, he has been featured at a variety of music and poetry festivals including Different Kind of Dude Fest, Positive Youth Fest, and Split this Rock. His work has appeared in Folio, Border Crossing, Hyrsteria, RiverSedge and in the Time You Let Me In anthology. In 2016 he received an MFA in poetry from New York University. Mills will be reading from his upcoming collection of poetry titled The Indigo Field. These poems explore the identity of the children of the displaced, and our complicated relationship to language.

9:00-10:00 a.m.

Event Host: Chip Gladson, Professor, English College Coordinator, Writing in the Disciplines | chip.gladson@montgomerycollege.edu 
Co-Host: Shayla Atkins

Resources: #MCWritingtheDisciplines #WhyIWrite

Celebrate the National Day on Writing with the Montgomery College community! Participants will share reflections on how writing helped them to navigate their experiences of a most uncommon year.

10:00-11:00 a.m.

Event Host: Denise Hill
Co-Host: Angela Lanier

From stories of people carrying disabled colleagues down flights of stairs during the 9-11 attacks to those of strangers protecting a neighborhood kid from aggressive dogs, this presentation examines how our personal fitness and well-being affects our ability to impact and offer support to our family, community, and the world. Here, we challenge the notion that fitness and wellness activities are solely to benefit the individual in their quest for great health or aesthetics and encourages the audience to also view them as part of their preparedness to serve other. 

11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 

Event Host: Amanda Miller, Associate Professor | amanda.miller@montgomerycollege.edu

Trained as a cultural anthropologist and public interest designer, Natan Diacon-Furtado is drawn to projects that remain a part of his life long after bringing him into new experiences and communities. As a globally southern person of color, growing up between the modernist city of Brasília and the living traditions of East Tennessee, Natan was raised with an expansive sense of race, identity, culture and community, and the continuous self-translation work required to exist within and between these worlds. Emerging from this site of translation, his work engages in forms of visual code-switching to collaboratively make space through pattern. Uniting communities of all sizes in the creation and re-creation of shared cultures, this work taps into a globally southern heritage of pattern making as a language, art and craft. 

11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Event Host: Daniel G. Jenkins, Professor | daniel.jenkins2@montgomerycollege.edu

Recommended Media: Case #9 "Giving in to the DarkSide

Students will share essays using a theory of normative ethics that answer the following question: under what circumstances, if any, should an organization pay to end a ransomware attack, and why? Applied ethics will be evaluated by faculty, and a winner will be announced during the events. 

11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Event Host: Kenneth Jassie, Professor | ken.jassie@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Sara Ducey

Early encounters with Europeans were often recorded in African art. Look closely, top, lower-left mask photo at the top. Do you see faces? These represent Portuguese explorers with beards and hats (flanked by mudfish) who visited the Benin Kingdom along the west coast of Africa in the late 1400s. These explorers began to collect ivory which they referred to as “white gold.” 

Please join us in exploring some traditional African art and how it evolved over time, in addition, to the complicated Western response to African art.

Other art works from the Benin Kingdom include intricately designed brass plaques (the so-called Benin Bronzes), many of which are on view in the British Museum in London (see above).  Not only do we see them out of their original context; they came from the walls in and around the royal palace; but they were taken from Nigeria during the infamous British Punitive Expedition of 1897.  We will discuss how to understand African Art on its own terms as well as efforts to restore stolen artifacts to their rightful owners.

12:30-1:45 p.m.

Event Host: Cinder Cooper Barnes, Professor of English and Director of the Global Humanities Institute | cinder.cooper@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Greg Wahl

This presentation will showcase an American Council of Learned Societies' project that took the presenter on a journey along the Gullah Geechee Corridor of South Carolina to investigate two seemingly contradictory incarnations of African American joy and how they evolved through slavery, reconstruction, the Jim Crow Era, the Civil Rights movement, and today. 

2:30-3:30 p.m.

Event Host: Angela Dawson, Program Coordinator | angela.dawson@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Jennifer Baugh 

This even will use spoken word, song, storytelling, or any performance art to bring awareness of the prevalence of domestic violence and its impact on our community.  Various artists will be highlighted as they perform their art. This is an opportunity for reflection and learning as the session uses voice and talents to create awareness and work toward eliminating domestic violence are encouraged to attend and participate. This event creates a call to action. This workshop will not be recorded.

5:30-7:00 p.m.

Event Host: Jona Colson, Associate Professor of English | jona.colson@montgomerycollege.edu

Recommended Media: Washington Writers’ Publishing Housenew window

Six poets from the new anthology, This Is What America Looks Like: Poetry and Fiction from DC, Maryland, and Virginia, will share their work from the book, and how it relates to identity and the public and private self.

9:00-10:00 a.m.

Event Host: Serena Gould, Adjunct Professor ELAP | serena.gould@montgomerycollege.edu

Personal narrative has developed into an important tool in educational practices for clarification, memory, language acquisition, mediation, problem solving and working through trauma as we emerge into a post-Covid learning environment. Serena Gould, adjunct professor ELAP, plans to demonstrate its implementation and practice in the classroom as a cognitive strategy for communicative interaction to build student confidence, widen their horizons and enable practices of social justice.

10:30-11:30 a.m.

Event Host: Stephanie Will, MC Mental Health Services Program Manager | stephanie.will@montgomerycollege.edu

This workshop will present the impact of stress on a person’s mental and physical health. Participants will engage in an experiential component to try a mindfulness activity to help relieve stress.

11:00 a.m. till Noon

Event Host: Patricia Ruppert, Professor Global Humanities, Women's Studies, Philosophy | patricia.ruppert@montgomerycollege.edu 
Co-Host: Bala Nikku, Professor of International Social Work at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, Canada

In 2015, EVERY member nation of the UN signed on to 17 goals for making the globe safer, greener, and more just by 2030.  Come hear how Montgomery College students are joining the effort with students in Arizona and British Columbia to co-create a better world.

Noon till 1:30 p.m.

Event Host: Cheryl Tobler, Professor of Music, Montgomery Scholars Program | cheryl.tobler@montgomerycollege.edu 
Co-Host: Joan Naake

Renowned ethnomusicologist Dr. Razia Sultanova of Cambridge University and Charles University, Prague, discusses her experiences conducting fieldwork on women musicians in northern Afghanistan. She will accompany her lecture with a live performance of the music, playing the Uzbek Dutar. 

Noon till 1:30 p.m.  

Event Host: Kelly Rudin, Professor of World History | kelly.rudin@montgomerycollege.edu

The event centers on the Star Trek Next: The Generation episode where the android, Data's status as an object or a human is evaluated.  This episode examines not only what it means to be human, but how, when the word "human" is placed in a box, that "disposable entities" can be created, such as how chattel slavery was developed.  This ideas of disposability and invisibility apply to many groups and many in these groups have resisted.  We will watch the episode and then discuss these concepts. 

1:00-2:00 p.m.  

Event Host: Albert Kapikian, Nonfiction editor, Potomac Review | albert.kapikian@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Huong Nguyen

Recommended Media: Potomac Reviewnew window

Potomac Review interns will present readings, discussions, and writing activities around the theme of loss during a pandemic. The title of the presentation, "One Art: Literature and Loss in a Time of Pandemic", takes its inspiration from Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art (poetry), Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Love in the Time of Cholera (Fiction), and Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year (Creative Nonfiction). During a time of great suffering, literature can be a means of connection and expression of our shared grief, as well as a means by which we can process, cope, and persevere in the wake of tragic events. Particularly when we are in isolation, more separate than ever, we rely upon the artist to articulate our despair, connect us through a common catharsis, and provide the platform for transformation.

1:00-2:30 p.m.  

Event Host: Greg Wahl, Professor of English TPSS and Contributing Editor, Sligo Journal | gregory.wahl@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Michael LeBlanc, Professor of English TPSS and Editor-in-Chief, Sligo Journal; David Lott, Professor of ELAP, TPSS and Poetry Editor, Sligo Journal

Recommended Media: Sligo Journalnew window

Poets published in Montgomery College’s journal of literature and the arts, The Sligo Journal, including MC faculty and/or student poets, will read and discuss their poems. MC ENGL 101 and 101+011 students who are studying the poems will ask questions of the poets and present their interpretations of the poems.   

3:00-4:00 p.m.  

Event Host: Leah Sneider, Professor of English | leah.sneider@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Angela Lanier

Learn about African-American storytelling traditions and discuss how stories help to maintain culture and identity and resist oppression. 

9:30-10:30 a.m.

Event Host: Elizabeth Benton, Interim Dean of English and Reading | elizabeth.benton@montgomerycollege.edu

Recommended Media: https://www.bdperry.com/new window

During this session, participants will be introduced to a recently published text What Happened to You? by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey.  Participants will hear stories from the text and be provided the chance to share their experiences.  The session information and discussions will inform reflections on our lived experiences and strategies for walking alongside our students and colleagues. 

11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Event Host: Deb Taylor, Professor | deborah.taylor@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Greg Wahl, Professor

Student-led presentation from GHUM 101 students.  The students will present - using a mix of methods including game show, discussion, and/or PowerPoints - knowledge/information from our texts.

12:30-2:00 p.m.

Event Host: Deb Taylor, Professor | deborah.taylor@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Karl Smith

This will be a student-led presentation.  Professor Karl Smith's Political Ideologies class will present with Professor Deborah Taylor's Introduction to Women's Studies class on oppression, domination, and rebellion. 

1:30-5:00 p.m.

Register for zoom participation and limited in-person seating at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus:

Contact: Jeanette Rojas, Equity and Inclusion Program Manager | jeanette.rojas@montgomerycollege.edu

Recommended Media: Critical Race Theory Forum - Reframing the Narrative (PDF, )

Re-frame the narrative! Join us for a deep dive into Critical Race Theory (CRT). Find out what CRT is, and what it is not. Help us foster stronger relationships between MC, our partners at The Universities at Shady Grove and Montgomery County. Learn about available services and supports; consider innovative ways that CRT can being integrated into your courses, programs, and community. Come open to learning and take away an action list!

This special afternoon is co-hosted by MC’s Office of Equity and Inclusion, the Office of County Executive-Montgomery County, and The Universities at Shady Grove (USG). 

6:30-7:30 p.m.

Event Host: Gloria Barron, Instructional Designer and Part-time Computer Science Faculty | gloria.barron@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Dr. Paul D. Miller, Professional Development Director | paul.miller@montgomerycollege.edu

It is undeniable that social media plays an important role in impacting our culture, our economy and our overall view of the world. In today's ever-connected world, the use of social media in our personal and professional lives has become blurred. Attend this workshop and learn about the growing advantages and concerns that social media offers as we return to a new normal from a lengthy isolation period from the pandemic.

10:00-11:00 a.m.

Presenter: Marianne Szlyk, Professor | marianne.szlyk@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Ethan Goffman

As we return to campus after time away, participants will be asked to reflect on the first time they returned to a place they had once frequented. They will also read "mentor" poems and be guided through exercises that will enable them to provide sensory detail about their experience.

Recommended/Media:

• Laura Tohe, "Returningnew window"
• Oscar Gonzales, "We All Return to the Place Where We Were Bornnew window" 
• Mary Oliver, "The Place I Want to Get Back Tonew window" 

10:00-11:30 a.m.

Event Host:  Jamie Gillan, Digital Storytelling Internship co-coordinator, Associate Professor of English | jamie.gillan@montgomerycollege.edu 
Co-Host: Megan Howard

This event will showcase how digital story work enables the storytellers to connect deeply and create resonance with audiences after first connecting their own identities.  First, stories will be shared, followed by a "how-to" workshop with digital storytelling internship and leaders.

12:30-2:00 p.m.

Event Host: Jennifer Baugh | jennifer.baugh@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Andrew Scheppler
Speaker/Facilitator: Mina Devadas

As the COVID-19 global pandemic rages on, reckoning with our own mortality has become inescapable. The scale of loss is unprecedented in our lifetimes. The types of losses fall along a sprawling spectrum: loss of people we love, loss of connection with family and community, loss of feeling safe, loss of income and stability.

One of the hardest aspects of loss and grieving in the pandemic age is having to process our experiences and feeling in solitude, via Zoom, and/or distanced from others.

Led by Mina Devadas, an end of life doula and hospice volunteer, this 90-minute workshop is intended to provide a safe space for participants to connect with community to explore loss, grief, and healing through journaling exercises and breakout groups.

Note: This event is not a grief support or therapy group but intended to encourage individual exploration and community dialogue about death, loss, grief, and healing.

1:00-2:30 p.m.

​Event Host: Joseph Stumpf, History and Political Science Department | joseph.stumpf@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host:
Sunil Dasgupta, Ph.D., Political Science Program Director for UMBC at Shady Grove
Andrew Nolan, Ph.D., History Program Director for UMBC at Shady Grove

Climate change has taken on new prominence in politics around the world, raising some crucial questions, including: How did we get here? And what can we do next? Join representatives of the UMBC History and Political Science programs at the Universities at Shady Grove as they explore some of the events and people driving the rise of ecological thinking, conservation policy, and climate activism in the modern United States. Presenters: Sunil Dasgupta, Ph.D., Political Science Program Director for UMBC at Shady Grove Andrew Nolan, Ph.D., History Program Director for UMBC at Shady Grove.

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Event Host: Dr. Naliyah Kaya, Associate Professor of Sociology (Artist, Beader, Poet) | Naliyah.Kaya@montgomerycollege.edu

Recommended Media: Mona Cliffnew window
*Student Life, who sponsored the beading kits, also made a shortened link if it's helpful: https://bit.ly/MCBEADS

Multidisciplinary Indigenous visual artist Mona Cliff will facilitate a beading workshop over Zoom while also teaching about Indigenous practices and cultural elements of beading. This event will lead us into Native American Heritage Month in November while reminding us that we should not just focus on Native American / Indigenous history, culture, and experiences one month out of the year. 

Register by October 17 to receive a free bead supply kit by US Mail! For those of you who miss the deadline, you may purchase your own materials, which are listed on the zoom registration form.