Campus Currents

Exhibition on Display: September 2 - 30, 2022

Reception September 20, 2022 at 4:30pm with an artist talk on Designing from Silence, Sound and Music at 5:30pm in the Alumni Room

"How can we 'see' more by listening to sound?"

This is the question posed and explored by Myanmar-born graphic designer, Soe Lin Post. Soe Lin began his deep inquiry into sound and its connection to graphic design as a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001. His discoveries, called Typosonic, have transformed the way he thinks about design and the way he works as a design professional. Now, as the Director of Design at Wellesley College, his process continues to involve listening meditatively to silence, noise and music. He draws his inspiration from sound in order to break from preconceived notions and fixed habits that can hinder creative potential. Mazmanian Gallery at Framingham State University is thrilled to present Soe Lin's professional work from Wellesley College alongside fresh, new Typosonic experiments and explorations.

By Leighah Beausoleil, publications intern

Framingham State Education Professor Wardell Powell will be the interim Chief Diversity Officer of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (DICE) for the Fall 2022 Semester, according to an August 26 campus-wide email from President Nancy Niemi.

While Powell is in this position, the University will continue its search to fill the vacancy, which has been unfilled since the Spring 2021 Semester after the departure of Former Vice President of DICE Constanza Cabello.

Though on sabbatical, the search committee continues to be chaired by Catherine Dignam, a chemistry and food science professor. According to Powell, the University has already begun conducting interviews.

Powell said he was asked by Former Provost and Academic Vice President Ellen Zimmerman to take on the position in the fall.

“I said yes because I wanted to help however I can in promoting a culture of inclusion, equity, anti-racism, and diversity at Framingham State,” he said.

He added as a faculty member, he tries to do what he can to help support the University.

In taking on this position, Powell said he had to drop teaching two sections of his course on special needs and education technology.

However, the course will still run as Powell added, “Someone else was gracious enough to fill in that role for me.”

Powell said he will continue to teach his secondary science methods course this fall as well as work on developing the Framingham Teacher Residency Program with the AmeriCorps grant he and his colleagues were awarded.

Though this position for Powell is only temporary, he said he still has some goals he’d like to achieve.

“One of the main things that I've been charged with is to provide oversight and/or support to employees as well as student affinity groups,” Powell said.

Therefore, he said he would like to hear more from them on what he should be thinking about throughout the course of the semester.

In order to provide support, Powell said he would like to conduct a climate survey.

Through this survey, “Our constituencies on campus can provide their feedback as it relates to how DICE might be better able to provide support.

“One of my biggest goals before they actually find someone to take on the role permanently, is to be able to collect the data necessary for that individual to move forward,” he added.

Powell said in order for the University to “fulfill its mission” of becoming an anti-racist institution, there needs to be a way to identify what the issues currently are.

He added he will be working with the Center for Inclusive Excellence to run committees and will attempt to answer any questions and address any concerns students and faculty may have “in a meaningful way.”

Powell said he hopes the campus community will bear with him as he adjusts to the role, adding anyone can feel free to reach out to him.

“I'm really here to listen and to learn and to see how best I can support,” he said.

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.

Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022

Lecture: Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center at 4:30 PM
Workshop: McCarthy Center, Alumni Room at 2:30 PM

Dr. Lyssa Palu-ay is the Dean of the Office of Justice and Transformation at MassArt. She will provide both an in-person lecture and a workshop on Critical Race Theory in the arts, including how it may be employed in curricula in studio arts and art education programs. Her lecture will also address how Critical Race Theory can be practiced in the humanities to address inequality, sustain our support of each other, and increase happiness. During the workshop, an interactive discussion will help faculty from all disciplines learn about adopting critical race theory into their teaching and more generally helping students of color and first-generation students.

The exciting artwork of three talented solo artists looking at complicated family and societal dynamics - while at the same time emphasizing the need for care and empathy - highlight the fall exhibitions at Framingham State University's Danforth Art Museum.

Toni Pepe, Lisa Rosowsky and Jane Szabo will have their work on display from October 8, 2022 through January 29, 2023. An artist reception that is open to the public is scheduled for Saturday, October 22 from 6 to 8 p.m.

"Each of the artists on view address contemporary issues at a time where engagement with one other has become increasingly fraught and we struggle to understand the time we are living in," says Danforth Art Museum Director and Curator Jessica Roscio. "My hope is that these exhibitions will challenge patrons, while creating a space for understanding and empathy."

Toni Pepe's exhibition, "An Ordinary Devotion," refers to the repetition of daily tasks and rituals of care, both comforting and mundane, that become the backbone of our lives. "Ordinary devotions" can particularly refer to the responsibilities associated with motherhood and caregiving, and this exhibition uses mixed media and installation-based work to explore these specific rituals.

Lisa Rosowsky's works in her exhibition, "Othering," use a range of media—found objects, photographs, text, and installation—to highlight how we "other" while urging us to understand history and our place within it. To "other" is to view or treat a person or a group of people as intrinsically different, to the point of making that person or group seem less than human. In Rosowsky's words, "Othering negates individuals' humanity. It makes us believe that certain others are less intrinsically worthy of dignity and respect."

Finally, through her work, Jane Szabo incorporates memory, metaphor, and allegory to express the challenges, burdens, and joys of her role as daughter, and then caretaker, of her elderly parents. Through childhood possessions and simple items that had been in the family for years, the artist created tableaus that hint at complicated family dynamics. The arrangement of these objects is not merely a collection of possessions, but a catalog of feelings—pain and disappointment, hope, loss, and burden.

Danforth Museum is open to the public Tuesday-Sunday, Noon-5 p.m. Advanced registration is 

For more information, visit danforth.framingham.edu.

Fall 2022 Campus Sustainability Events & Activities:

1. Join the Green Initiative!

Students interested in sustainability, climate justice issues, and/or community gardening are invited to join the Green Initiative Club on Ramlink

2. Monthly Campus Sustainability Meetings on Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86215029627?pwd=NXVPNmloczJOK01iNzVYeDNVMzB0dz09

Monday, September 26th 1:30pm
Monday, October 31st 1:30pm
Monday, November 21st 1:30pm

3. Neighborhood Clean-Up Event

Thursday, September 22nd 11:30-1:30, McCarthy Lobby & Around Campus. Join FSU community members as we travel the sidewalks around campus to pick up litter as a part of Keep Framingham Beautiful World Clean Up Week events. Groups will meet outside the McCarthy Center at 11:30 and 12:30 and depart together for the clean-up route. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094aa5ab2caafe3-fall
*Gloves, trash bags, and trash pickers will be provided.

4. Rising Sea Levels: Preparing for Boston’s Future

September 27, 2022 at 5:00 pm, UM-14/Library Instruction Room. Virtual Panel and Follow-up Discussion Hosted by Campus Sustainability and the Whittemore Library as a part of Climate Prep Week hosted by Communities Responding to Extreme Weather. Registration information: https://framingham.libcal.com/event/9599386
*Check out other Climate Prep Week Events here: https://www.climatecrew.org/climate_prep_week_2022

5. Scraps to Scrumptious: Focaccia Bread Art with Food Scraps

Friday, October 28 at 3:30 p.m., Hemenway Hall 209

The USDA estimates that 31% of food is wasted, so let’s do our part to reduce this amount by using scraps and leftovers from our food labs to bake up a batch of surprisingly fast focaccia. Join us as we learn about food waste, bake up some delicious focaccia, and taste a piece or two or three!

FSU Cooks up Some Mix and Bake Fun: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Friday, September 30th at 3:30 pm

Register here!

Did you know there is a connection between chocolate chip cookies and FSU? Ruth Wakefield, the inventor of Tollhouse Cookies, graduated from Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. Let’s come together as a community to honor this connection by baking up a batch of Ruth’s cookies!

Join us for some fun as we learn about the science behind the ingredients, bake up a batch of delicious cookies, and of course, enjoy some cookies and milk!

FSU Cooks from Scraps to Scrumptious: Focaccia Art with Food Scraps!

Friday, October 28th at 3:30 pm

Register here!

The USDA estimates that 31% of food is wasted, so let’s do our part to reduce this amount by using scraps and leftovers from our food labs to bake up a batch of surprisingly fast focaccia. Join us as we learn about food waste, bake up some delicious focaccia, and taste a piece or two or three!

Mix and Bake to Give and Take: Blue Ribbon Winner Peanut Clusters!

Friday, December 9th at 3:30

Register here!

'Tis the season to celebrate the end of the semester. Join us to mix and bake some peanut clusters. This effortless candy is great to pack up and share or nibble on throughout the winter break, but fair warning, it’s hard to eat just one! Come have some fun as we let the secret out of the bag for these simple treats, mix up a batch of delicious and award-winning (blue ribbon at the Pima County Fair) treats, and of course, taste a cluster or two!