Campus Currents

Framingham State University is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of its Arts & Ideas series with a full lineup of exciting and thought-provoking speakers, films, exhibitions and performances.

The theme of the series is Sustaining Life & Sustaining Joy: Under the pandemic and during these challenging times, we are continuously experiencing burnout, anxiety, tension, and angst. How can we move beyond our worries and find ways to heal ourselves? Let’s sustain our lives and bring back our joy by listening to others, learning to help one another, and exploring healing processes.

“This year’s series includes a variety of events designed to develop emotional wellness and sustain joy and support for yourself and others,” says Dr. Yumi Park, Chair of the Arts & Ideas Program. “We encourage the community to engage with these events as we celebrate our 10th anniversary throughout the academic year.”

The series kicks off on Tuesday, Sept. 27, with a lecture and workshop on Critical Race Theory led by Dr. Lyssa Palu-ay, Dean of the Office of Justice and Transformation at MassArt.

On November 9th, there will be a panel discussion with the producers and cast members of Young Nerds of Color, a film by playwright Melinda Lopez, which will be screen at the McAuliffe Center throughout the semester.

On February 23, Daryl Christopher will talk about how we can use design elements, true stories and reflective dialogue to sustain joy and connection in our modern, fast-paced world. Christopher is a designer, educator, and founder of RE_KIN, a magazine focusing on communal wholeness through responsiveness.

The annual Olivia A. Davidson Voices of Color Lecture Series will continue on Tuesday, April 4th, with a lecture by James Edward Mills, a journalist, adventurer, and co-writer/co-producer of An American Ascent, a documentary film about the first African-American expedition to climb North America’s highest peak, Denali.

To see a full list of events throughout the year, visit www.framingham.edu/artsandideas

The McAuliffe Center is hosting an open house and stargazing event on September 6th (tonight!) from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. If you have never been to the McAuliffe Center before, this is a great chance to check out this amazing FSU resource!

Outside in the O’Connor Parking Lot by Maynard Road, use telescopes to observe the Full Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Albireo (double star), Mizar (star), and Epsilon Lyrae (multiple star system) while McAuliffe Center staff are available to answer your questions about telescopes and our Universe.

Inside the McAuliffe Center, watch a planetarium film and get a tour of the Challenger Learning Center! During Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries, visit three of the many world-class observatories at extreme and remote places along Chile’s mountains. Explore telescopes and meet the diverse people -- with different backgrounds, talents, and skills -- who help uncover mysteries about the Universe!

Thursday, Sept. 8th, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Visit the CIE and learn more about how you can engage in our programs and offerings. Student and Employee Affinity Groups will be present to discuss their plans for the year. Feel free to stop by at any time between 2:00-4:00p, and stay for as long as you'd like!

We invite you to join the Center for Inclusive Excellence in celebrating Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month, which takes place from September 15 to October 15.

Monday September 19, 2022, 1:30-2:30p
Center for Inclusive Excellence (O'Connor 120)
Click here to register for the Sept. 19 event.

Learn and Discuss:
Hispanic, Latino/a, Latinx, Latine… What’s the difference?
Co-sponsored by the Center for Inclusive Excellence and Whittemore Library. Thank you to Kathleen Barnard, Student Engagement Coordinator for the Whittemore Library, for leading this initiative.

Join us for a discussion about terms used to label, describe, and define racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, with a specific focus on Hispanic, Latino/a, Latinx, and Latine. We are currently putting together a list of resources - such as this video - that participants can access ahead of time.

Monday October 3, 2022, 1:30-2:30p
McCarthy Center Forum

Thursday October 6, 2022, 7:00-8:00p
Miles Bibb Hall Conference Room

Film Screening and Discussion:
Being Ñ: Navigating Two Worlds, Belonging in Neither
Co-sponsored by the Center for Inclusive Excellence, Residence Life, and Latinos Unidos En Acción (LUNA). Thank you to Whittemore Library for purchasing the film on Kanopy.

View and discuss the short documentary Being Ñ, which focuses on the experiences of Latinx individuals born in the United States to parents who grew up outside of the United States. Themes include identity, navigating language and culture, code-switching, and searching for community and belonging.

Date TBD
Center for Inclusive Excellence (O'Connor 120)

Panel Discussion:
Identity, Culture, and Assimilation
Sponsored by the Center for Inclusive Excellence.

Come hear panelists discuss their experiences of assimilation and navigating multiple cultures as the child of immigrants. The conversation will focus both on Hispanic/Latinx identities as well as other immigrant identities.

• Dr. Thomas Koshy, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics has six articles published recently:
  
  1. “Convergence of Extended Gibonacci Polynomial Series,” Journal of Indian Academy of Mathematics 44:1 (2022), 5-17.
  2. “Generalized Gibonacci Polynomial Products with Implications,” Journal of Indian Academy of Mathematics 44:1 (2022), 19-31.
  3. “Generalized Jacobsthal Polynomial Products with Implications,” Journal of Indian Academy of Mathematics 44:1 (2022), 55-65.
  4. “Generalized Jacobsthal Polynomial Products: Graph-theoretic Confirmations,” Journal of Indian Academy of Mathematics 44:1 (2022), 67-81.
  5. “Infinite Sums Involving Gibonacci Polynomials,” The Fibonacci Quarterly, 60:2 (2022), 104-110
  6. “Infinite Sums Involving Gibonacci Polynomials Revisited,” The Fibonacci Quarterly, 60:2 (2022), 120-125.