College to Host "From Slavery to Freedom" Symposium
The African and African Diaspora Studies program at St. Mary's College of Maryland will host its first annual fall symposium "From Slavery to Freedom: The Struggle for Civic Virtue at St. Mary's and Beyond" on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, Sept. 23 at 9 a.m. in the Blackistone Room of Anne Arundel Hall. The event is free of charge and open to the public but pre-registration is required. Visit www.smcm.edu/africandiaspora/events/.
"From Slavery to Freedom: The Struggle for Civic Virtue at St. Mary's and Beyond" will give special attention to recently discovered evidence that St. Mary's Female Seminary owned slaves during the nineteenth century. The symposium will also examine practices designed to memorialize slavery on American college campuses. In addition, scholars will explore the history of slavery in St. Mary's County, Southern Maryland and other parts of Maryland.
Friday, September 22
The symposium's evening program will take place from 7–8:30 p.m. in the College's Blackistone Room. The program will feature a roundtable discussion with visiting panelists from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, James Madison's Montpelier, Georgetown University, and the College of William and Mary.
Saturday, September 23
The symposium continues on Saturday in Daugherty-Palmer Commons. It will consist of four moderated panels, held from 9–10:30 a.m., 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m., 1:15–2:45 p.m., and 3:15–4:45 p.m. The panels will feature the College's African and African Diaspora Studies program faculty members, along with additional College faculty and scholars from Historic St. Mary's City, Sotterley Plantation, and George Washington's Mount Vernon.
The symposium's final event is a lecture and concert, "Liberation: The Spirit of Jazz & Democracy," September 23, 5 p.m., in Auerbach Auditorium, St. Mary's Hall. Drummer and music historian Dominic Fragman and philosopher Sybol Anderson tell the story of enslaved people in St. Mary's County who self-emancipated during the War of 1812. Fragman and Anderson illuminate connections between those self-emancipators, later African Americans' self-liberation through jazz improvisation, and how Americans today use improvisation to expand freedom and promote democracy. Master musicians Paul Murphy (drums) and Larry Willis (piano) perform a rare, totally improvised concert featuring guest performances by Fragman and poet Jere Carroll.
Hotel accommodations are available at Home2Suites, Lexington Park, Md. for $89.00/night and at the Brome Howard Inn, St. Mary's City, Md. for $102.00/night. Callers should mention the African and African Diaspora Studies Symposium at St. Mary's College to receive the discounted rate.
College Announces Dates for Fall Festival Hawktoberfest
Come out and join St. Mary's College of Maryland for a full weekend of festive fall activities during Hawktoberfest, Oct. 20–22. The annual event attracts more than 1,000 visitors to the College's waterfront campus each year.
Hawktoberfest weekend is comprised of a variety of free and low-cost events for community members, students and their families, and the College community to enjoy, including:
• Taste of Southern Maryland, Friday, 5–7:30 p.m.
• 18th Annual Petruccelli 5K, Saturday, 8 a.m. race start
• Kids' Corner, Saturday, 12–5 p.m.
• Arboretum Guided Tree Walk, Saturday, 1–2 p.m.
• St. Mary's River Cruises, Saturday, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4 p.m.
• Bamboo Boat Race, Saturday, 4–5 p.m. (construction begins at 12 p.m.)
• Crab Feast, Saturday, 6–8 p.m.
• Brunch Buffet, Sunday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
For a full list of events and to register for any event for that weekend, visit www.smcm.edu/events/hawktoberfest. Registration is now open through Thursday, Oct. 12.
Events Announced for Center for the Study of Democracy
St. Mary's College of Maryland's Center for the Study of Democracy has announced several events taking place in September and October. All events are free of charge, open to the public, and take place at Cole Cinema in the Campus Center on the College's campus.
Immigration to Maryland, Thursday, Sept. 14 at 4:45 p.m., will explore the history of Southern Maryland. St. Mary's College Professor of Anthropology Julia King examines the past with her presentation "Immigration and the Founding of Maryland." Joining her, Professor of Anthropology Judith Freidenberg from the University of Maryland, will focus on more recent immigration with her talk "Contemporary Conversations on Immigration in the United States: The View from Prince George's County, Maryland."
The GAP Film Series: The Undocumented, Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m., weaves Marcos Hernandez's story—an undocumented Mexican living and working in Chicago, searching the Sonora Desert for his father who was entering the U.S. undocumented—with the efforts of the humanitarians and Border Patrol agents fighting to prevent migrant deaths, and the medical investigators and Mexican Consulate who work to identify the dead.
The GAP Film Series: I Learn America, Thursday, Oct. 26, 8 p.m. shows five resilient immigrant teenagers coming together over a year at the International High School at Lafayette and struggling to learn their new land. The International High School is a New York City public school dedicated to serving newly arrived immigrant teenagers, with more than 300 students speaking two-dozen languages from 50 countries.
The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) explores contemporary and historical issues associated with the ideas of democracy, liberty and justice in national and international contexts. It supports research that enhances our understanding of liberal democracy and its critics. The CSD facilitates activities that strengthen democracy and the rule of law; enhance security and individual freedoms; invigorate the civil society; encourage free enterprise; and increase economic, environmental, educational and cultural equity.
Emmy Award-Winning Filmmaker Sherry Jones presents Documentary of Cuban Missile Crisis at St. Mary's College
St. Mary's College of Maryland's Center for the Study of Democracy presents "The Missiles of October: What the World Didn't Know; The Cuban Missile Crisis +55" on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 5:30 p.m. in Cole Cinema, Campus Center on the St. Mary's College campus. The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Sherry Jones will present the documentary and lead a discussion on the missile crisis and how its mishaps, miscalculations and lessons resonate today, 55 years after that perilous October. In particular, the speakers will discuss how the crisis relates to the current escalation between the United States and the North Korean nuclear missile program. Director of National Security Archive at George Washington University Thomas Blanton, and director of the archive's Russia program Svetlana Savranskaya will join producer Jones for the discussion.
The documentary is told through minute-by-minute accounts of those who were involved from the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba. With correspondent Peter Jennings, the documentary portrays the events as the crisis of the nuclear age while revealing that the world was much closer to the brink in October 1962 than anyone either knew or was willing to admit.
Jones is an award-winning producer and director with dozens of television documentaries to her credit. Her films have won eight Emmy awards, two Robert F. Kennedy awards, three Edward R. Murrow awards, and two consecutive Silver Baton awards from the American Bar Association. Jones is a fellow of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, and has been honored as a "Woman of Vision" by Women in Film and Video.
The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) explores contemporary and historical issues associated with the ideas of democracy, liberty and justice in national and international contexts. It supports research that enhances our understanding of liberal democracy and its critics. The CSD facilitates activities that strengthen democracy and the rule of law; enhance security and individual freedoms; invigorate the civil society; encourage free enterprise; and increase economic, environmental, educational and cultural equity.
Boyden Art Gallery presents "Living on the Land, Vol. 2" Exhibition Sept. 6–Nov. 12
Guest Curator and St. Mary's College of Maryland alum Jayme McLellan '94 offers an exhibition presenting diverse perspectives on the relationship to the land on which humans live for the exhibit "Living on the Land, Vol. 2," Sept. 6–Nov. 12 at the Boyden Gallery in Montgomery Hall on the St. Mary's College campus. The gallery is open Tuesday–Friday, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m.–2 p.m. , and during special College events.
Featured artists include Colby Caldwell, Margo Elsayd, Eve Hennessa, Peter Garfield, Noelle Tan and Curtis Woody. The exhibition features a variety of media, including black-and-white and color photography, site-specific installation, sculpture, painting and more. The artists' work considers the cyclical nature of life and death, obligations of humankind to connect, heal and grow thoughtful and engaged communities, and power disparities in contemporary culture, including the legacy of slavery on the Eastern Shore.
Their projects also explore the remnants of stories and traces of history left behind in objects, ideas and situations, as well as a shared obligation to protect the environment and heal the land.
Boyden Gallery will host two related events, free and open to the public: a gallery talk with McLellan, founder of Civilian Art Projects and cofounder of Transformer in Washington, D.C., is scheduled for Oct. 16 from 4:45-5:45 p.m. Additionally, photographer Colby Caldwell will give an artist talk on Monday, Oct. 23 from 4:45-5:45 p.m. (Caldwell will be in residence at St. Mary's Artist House between Oct. 19-25).