Campus Currents

February 14, 2024 at 1:30 p.m.
Forum, McCarthy Center

Sarah Levecque is a songwriter, guitarist who moves easily between the sturdy roots of American music. Influenced in equal parts by early blues, country, folk, and rock music.

Framingham State University’s Danforth Art Museum has teamed up with FSU’s Center for Inclusive Excellence on a special display of five beautiful pieces art created by Black artists.

The exhibition will be up in the Center for Inclusive Excellence, located in O’Connor Hall, throughout February, as part of FSU’s Black History Month celebrations.

“FSU is fortunate to be home to a fantastic museum, which creates really wonderful opportunities for us to partner on exhibitions,” says Jerome Burke, Director of the Center for Inclusive Excellence. “These five pieces were created by some remarkable black artists and we are proud to have them on display at the CIE this month.”

Rachel Passannante, the Collections Manager at Danforth Art Museum, collaborated with the CIE to select the images and artists to feature in the exhibition.

They include (work of art in parentheses):

Allan Rohan Crite (Madonna and Child, 1940 Brass, wood) was an African-American artist born on March 20, 1910, and he passed away on September 6, 2007. He was known for his significant contributions to the art world, particularly as a painter and illustrator. Crite's work often focused on themes related to African-American life, culture, and spirituality.

Winfred Rembert, (Miss Prather's Class, 2014 Woodcut, silkscreen on BFK Rives paper) an African-American artist born in 1945 and passed away in 2021, created the artwork "Miss Prather's Class" in 2014. Rembert was known for his unique and intricate leather carvings that depicted scenes from his life and the African-American experience.

Faith Ringgold (The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles, 1996 Lithograph on paper) was born Faith Jones on October 8, 1930, in New York City. She has created art centered around her own experience as a Black Woman her entire life and started making quilts in the 1980s. Quilts are an innovative and creative way to pass stories and lessons down. This print is based on a quilt with the same image.

Sonya Tanae Fort (Side View, 2021, Photograph) is an African-American artist from Brockton, MA. She finds joy in photographing “the mundane” and finds the rawest moments the most interesting to capture. She did not pick up a camera until adulthood, in 2014 she was mentored by collector Martha Tepper Takayama, and since then her works have been featured internationally and here in Framingham. Side View won third prize in the Danforth Annual Juried Exhibition in 2022, before it was acquired for the permanent collection.

Sacha Tebo (Red Bird, 1968 Encaustic on flour sack) is a Haitian artist who was born in 1934 and passed away in May of 2004. Tebo is memorialized by his use of Haitian culture as his art and sculptors, and his care for environmental reform.

To learn more about the amazing artwork at Framingham State University’s Danforth Art Museum, visit danforth.framingham.edu.

Framingham State University will host 8 planetarium shows from James Hood's Mesmerica this weekend!

Mesmerica is a visual music journey that brings the mesmerizing music of Grammy-nominated composer and percussionist James Hood together with visually-hypnotic, 3D animated art curated from artists around the world, creating an immersive experience designed to transcend time, relax, soothe, and stimulate your mind and senses...

Tickets to each show costs $14.59 (including booking fee) and can be purchased at:

https://tickets.mesmerica.com/framingham/#about

*All FSU students, faculty and staff can receive 10% off the price of admissions with the code: FSU10MES

After you select your preferred showing, you will want to choose the "standby option" for your ticket. Ignore the more expensive options shown. When you go to checkout your cart, select "Redeem coupon/voucher" and enter FSU10MES to receive the discount. 

Showtimes are:

Friday, Feb. 16th: 5 p.m.; 6:15 p.m.; 7:30 p.m.; 8:45 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 17th: 4 p.m.; 5:15 p.m.; 6:30 p.m.; 7:45 p.m.

Please note: The Christa McAuliffe Center is not responsible for the management of the box office. Profit from tickets go directly to Mesmerica.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024, at 4:30 PM in Ecumenical Center

This event brings together voices from two political struggles against women’s imprisonment in Turkey and the US. Emek Ergun (Associate Professor, Women's and Gender Studies & Global Studies, UNC Charlotte) and Sashi James (Families for Justice and Healing, Roxbury MA) will join in a conversation about prison conditions, politics of prisons, and solidarity practices that flourish within and outside prisons. By telling the inspiring stories of courage and resilience of Kurdish women political prisoners in Turkey and incarcerated women of color in Massachusetts, the conversation will contribute to the efforts to forge solidarity among freedom struggles across borders. The event will also include the promotion of a new book on imprisoned Kurdish Women politicians in Turkey, The Purple Color of the Kurdish Politics (Pluto Press, 2022).

Sponsors: Arts & Ideas and the Sociology & Criminology Department

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2024
7:30PM | CENTER FOR INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE 
Taste of Culture: Join CIE, the Black Student Union, and African Student Association as we celebrate Black History Month with African cuisines, drumming and more! 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2024
4:30PM | DWIGHT PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (DPAC)
Film Screening, Chinonye Chukwu’s ‘Till’
Mamie Till-Bradley’s fight for justice after her son Emmitt’s heinous murder sparks a movement.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2024
10:45AM | BOSTON, MA
Black History Month Freedom Trail Tour
Learn about African Americans who played vital roles in the American Revolution.
Register Here

JANUARY 2 — FEBRUARY 29, 2024
HENRY WHITTEMORE LIBRARY, FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY
Exhibits highlighting Civil Rights accomplishments and events in Massachusetts and beyond, spearheaded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Dr. Betty Shabazz, and others.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 4:30 PM, at DPAC

Chinonye Chukwu’s Till tells the powerful story of Mamie Till-Bradley, the Chicago educator-turned-activist after the heinous lynching of her 14-year-old son, Emmett. His murderers have unfortunately never been brought to justice. Nevertheless, six decades after the crime, on March 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Emmett Till-Anti-Lynching Act into effect. Till not only acknowledges Till-Bradley’s courage and resilience, but also forcefully addresses questions of equity, inclusion, power, social justice in the lives of Black Americans.

Dr. Jeffrey Coleman, Vice President & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, will lead a post-screening discussion with Dr. Jon Huibregtse and members of the Black Student Union and Brother2Brother. This event is being held in partnership with Framingham Public Library.

Sponsors: Arts & Ideas and the Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement

Tuesday, February 20
Stop by any time between
5:30PM - 7:00PM
Location TBD, Framingham state University

Participants of all ages are welcome!

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

Fly Me to the Moon
Friday, February 23
SHOWTIMES at 2:30pm AND 3:45PM

An elaborate 3D-animated film offering big adventure and comedy, set against the real story of our first visit to another world. Follow three young flies as they inadvertently stowaway aboard Apollo 11 and join Neil, Buzz, and Michael on their mission to pull off the very first moon landing!

Recommended for: Families and all ages
Length: 49 minutes
https://cm-center.org/event/feb23films

Reception in the Mazmanian Gallery Tuesday, February 27 at 2:30 PM
Lecture in the Forum, McCarthy Center, Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 3:30 PM
Zoom Registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvf-GpqD8uHtcJ4Utn_6mr7WAySIsBzCgC

Artist Lisa Iglesias (she/they) will present an exhibition in Mazmanian Gallery and speak about her artwork. Her projects incorporate expansive histories and potentials of drawing and painting, take into consideration the translation of patterns, images and gestures across materials. Iglesias’ multidisciplinary work explores issues of social participation, collectivity, caretaking, family connection, and transnational identity, all of which speak to the Arts & Ideas theme of resilience.

Sponsors: Arts & Ideas

Wednesday February 21 at 12:30pm in UM14 (Whittemore Library)

Registration link: https://framingham.libcal.com/event/11553904

You’re invited to join the Whittemore Library’s No Homework Book Club! What is the No Homework Book Club? It’s a discussion group for people who like to read and talk about books but don’t want to do assigned reading! It’s for people who are looking for their next great read! It’s for everyone, whether you finished a book last night or last month!

Join us this spring for lively discussions about books and reading. You don’t need to read anything ahead of time--just join us for a fun discussion about books and reading! Visit the link above for information about meeting dates and times.

To see a list of the books we discussed last semester, please visit our blog!

Alumni Room, McCarthy Center
Tuesday, Feb. 27
4:30 p.m.

Learn how to use naloxone (Narcan) to stop an opioid overdose

Attendees will receive free Narcan

Spring 2024 Campus Sustainability Events & Activities:

• Join the Green Initiative (or encourage your students to do so)! Students interested in sustainability, climate justice issues, and/or community gardening are invited to join the Green Initiative Club on Ramlink
  
  
• Monthly Campus Sustainability Meetings on Zoom:
  • Monday Feb 12th at 1:30pm
  • Monday March 11th at 1:30pm
  • Friday April 19th at 2:30pm
    
    
• Diversify Your Relationship with Fashion - Campus Sustainability is teaming up with the Fashion Department to offer an exciting series of events that will help us re-think our relationship to fashion.
  • Design Competition – Designers are challenged to create new original garments, sculptures, paintings, or art-pieces from damaged luxury goods. Winners of the competition will receive prizes as well as have their work displayed at the annual FSU student fashion show. Check out the dates below and attached flyers to learn more.
    • Thursday, February 1st from 12:30-1:30pm in Hemenway Hall 218– Info Session for students to learn more about the design competition
    • Wednesday, February 21st – Round 1 Deadline to Submit Design Concepts via Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HhWM-9lrQacriR5Inn4-Jbx0X9Xtz8CeW6ecvZXHGwk/viewform?ts=65a934a0&edit_requested=true
    • March 4th – 8th, Finalists Create their Upcycled Designs, Hemenway Hall sewing labs (HH202, HH206).
  • Lunch and Panel Discussion – join us to hear from three professionals each involved in a different area of sustainable fashion – upcycling, recycling, and resale.
    • • Thursday, March 7th at 12pm in the McCarthy Center Forum
        
        
• Climate Justice Teach-in - “Turning from Climate Despair to Climate Repair”
  • April 1 – 8, in classrooms throughout FSU
  • Faculty and staff – please sign up here if you’re interested in participating: https://framingham.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eLJya769pO9bDcq
    
    
• Climate Hope Concert, hosted by Christa McAuliffe Center
  • Saturday, April 20th, time and location TBD
    
    
• Earth Week Celebration
  • April 22-26, 2024
  • Event dates and times TBD but will include a campus and community garden clean-up, tabling and plant-based food in the Dining Commons, and the Framingham Earth Day Festival
    
    
• Science on State Street at Framingham State University
  • Saturday, April 27th, time TBD

Rams Refresh Presented by the Counseling Center
Whittemore Library Rams Renew Space C-UM-08
Every Wednesday; 1:45 to 2:15 p.m.

Join for relaxation and de-stressing. 

https://framingham.libcal.com/event/11771905

March 9th, 2024 from 9am-2pm – Spring Open House
April 6th, 2024 from 10am-2pm – Rams Rising: An Accepted Student Event
April 13th, 2024 from 10am-2pm – Rams Rising: An Accepted Student Event