Campus Currents

Framingham State University is hosting two events connected to the University's first African American graduate Mary Miles Bibb (Class of 1842) and hosted by historian Irene Moore Davis.

FILM SCREENING: ACROSS THE RIVER TO FREEDOM SERIES
Wednesday, Sept 27, 2023 at 12:30 PM in Alumni Room

Historian and producer Irene Moore Davis offers a film screening of Across the River to Freedom: Mary and Henry Bibb and Across the River to Freedom: Lucie and Thornton Blackburn, the heroic stories of fugitive slaves and other Black abolitionists. The documentaries will be followed by a Q&A with Ms. Davis, recipient of the Harriet Tubman Award for Commitment to a Purpose from the Ontario Black History Society and named to the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women.

MARY MILES BIBB, ABOLITIONIST, TEACHER, AND FRAMINGHAM'S FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN GRADUATE: THE CANADIAN YEARS
Thursday, Sept 28, 2023 at 9:00 AM in Alumni Room
Zoom Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpde2srjwoGdDt4HF_OkXberrEnO9Q3if4

Irene Moore Davis, Canadian educator, historian, and documentary film producer, brings to life the story of Mary Miles Bibb (FSU’s first African American graduate) and her role in Canada’s underground railroad and the publication of The Voices of the Fugitive, one of Canada’s first Black newspapers. Moore Davis, a teacher at St. Clair College and research associate for the University of Windsor and Ontario Heritage Trust, will screen the documentary she produced, Across the River to Freedom, and lecture on the critical impact of Mary Miles Bibb, recognized as a Person of National History Significance on Canada, and other Black Canadian abolitionists.

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

Partnership with The Amherstburg Freedom Museum of Ontario, Canada and The Essex County Black Historical Research Society in Ontario, Canada.

Heineman Center
Monday, September 25
4:30 p.m.

Come meet three award-winning Irish authors: Patricia Forde, Sam Thompson, and Siobhan Parkinson. Siobhan was the first author in Ireland to be named the Laureat an Nog, or the nation's Laureat of Children's (and Young Adult) Literature, and Trish is the current Laureat. All three authors are published by Little Island Books, a small press founded by Parkinson herself, that specializes in the promoting bold trends in Children's/YA Literature because "Books create waves!" The event will be part reading, part panel discussion, part Q&A, and part afternoon snack. Everyone is welcome!

By Sophia Harris, Publications Intern

Growing up in Jamaica one of the values Jerome Burke’s family instilled in him was a strong dedication to learning and educating. This commitment is a driving reason why he came to Framingham State, to work as the University’s new director for the Center for Inclusive Excellence.

Burke said he wants “to be a part of an environment that is really shaping and creating the world.”
He said he plans to “make an impact” at Framingham State by building out programming at FSU around heritage and culture to better serve students. Whether that be through programming, initiatives, conversations, or support - he said he hopes to transform the CIE into a resource for all students to explore their connection to their culture through FSU.

“That's really my passion, impacting youth and promoting culture,” he said.

The Center for Inclusive Excellence (CIE) is a “Brave Space.” This space represents FSU’s commitment to providing an environment where promoting equity and advocating for social justice can lead to inclusivity and support. The CIE is located in O’Connor Lounge (OC 120). Staff will be available from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Burke started as the new Director of the CIE on June 5th.

He attended the University of Technology in Jamaica for his bachelor's in law and the University of the West Indies for his master's in integrated marketing and communication.
He switched career paths when he found his love for working with “young people,” he said.

Burke said when he saw the Job posting at Framingham State he thought, “Oh my, God - this would be ideal. I am going to be able to learn so much and the best way to learn is from young people - I think young people have so much to say and so much to teach, and I want to be a part of it.”

Since starting at Framingham State Burke has embraced Hispanic Heritage Month by covering FSU’s campus in an array of artistically created dolls representing different Hispanic countries.

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated nationwide from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Recognizing and celebrating the history, culture, and influence of Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

Burke said, “I love the arts. I think art is a great unifier. Culture is one thing that unifies and brings people from all backgrounds together. I am really dedicated to that.”

Burke said as he looks ahead to his impact on campus he hopes to develop the environment of the CIE to celebrate students of all cultures in order for them to excel at FSU.

Join us for an enlightening session with Rachael Webber, a Deaf Blind woman, as she shares her journey. Discover her insights into the world of Deaf Blind individuals, their methods of communication, resources and education. 

The event will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 26, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the McCarthy Center Forum. 

September 30, 2023
10:00 am - 11:30 am
Warren Conference Center

Please join us on September 30, 2023 at 10 am at the Warren Conference Center in celebration of President Emerita, Dr. Helen Heineman's, latest novel, Emma Redux 1 - Happily Ever After. Dr. Heineman will be reading from the book and signing copies. All registrants will receive a copy of the book, as well as a continental breakfast. This event is open to the public.

Register today at: https://www.alumni.framingham.edu/redux

Dr. Heineman’s Emma Redux series, is a continuation of Jane Austen’s Emma, and begins after the marriage of Emma and Knightley and continues through life with Mr. Woodhouse at Hartfield, as an array of Heineman’s new characters interact with Austen’s, including two “real” characters, the sister of Charles Dickens, and Anthony Trollope. Frank Churchill’s story concludes, and the second novel follows the romantic relationships of Emma’s daughters Hetta and Caroline. The progeny of Emma’s sister Isabella take center stage in Emma Redux 3, and the fourth novel takes place 20 years later, focusing on a new central character, the honorable William Ashley Sundquist, age 30, and his encounter with the 17 year old Celestia, grand-daughter of Isabella Knightley, as a chance event becomes part of an inescapable design. Heineman’s novels conclude with episodes featuring Arabian horses, a scarlet fever outbreak, and the fate of two outsiders: a governess and the illegitimate brother of Lord Sundquist. The last of the Knightley daughters plans a history of the Knightleys, beginning with Emma who, “handsome, clever, and rich” was the start of it all.

The series of novels will include four entries:

EMMA REDUX 1: HAPPILY EVER AFTER
EMMA REDUX 2: FULL CIRCLE
EMMA REDUX 3: FAMILY SECRETS
EMMA REDUX 4: MATCHMAKING MAGIC

The Danforth Art School at Framingham State University presents an art exhibit at the Framingham Public Library featuring works from students participating in the Summer Arts Program. The exhibit runs from Tuesday, September 12 - Thursday September 28.

The works in this exhibit were created by students aged 5-14 over the course of the summer and were chosen for their exceptional demonstration of the lessons set by instructors.

A closing reception will be held to recognize the students with a short program including awards for outstanding achievement in various categories. The reception will be held in the Costin Room at the main library branch, 49 Lexington Street on Thursday, September 28 from 5-7 p.m.

There is a parking lot on Lexington St. with street parking also available. Handicapped ramps are located on both Pearl St. and Lexington St. sides of the library, and there is an elevator in the library building.

For more information please call the Danforth Art School at 508-515-5116.

Thursday, Oct 12, 2023, at 4:30 PM in Alumni Room
Zoom Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkf-yurjgqE9ZV-3CqO22knbI7iq2KXgVT

“Obour Tanner’s Archive” is a compelling engagement with the provenance of Wheatley’s letters to Obour Tanner. It reads closely Katherine Edes Beecher’s explanation of how she acquires a collection of Wheatley’s letters to Obour Tanner. This isn’t quite a story about Wheatley, but it is a story about Obour Tanner and her friendship with the poet. They were friends for at least ten years when Wheatley dies in 1784. Tanner keeps living until 1835, and she keeps her letters from Wheatley. She keeps these letters because they are friends. She collects or creates her own kind of archive and in it, she remembers her friend. It wrestles with the following questions: What does it mean to remember a friend? What is mourning’s relationship to the archive? Is it still an archive if you are one person collecting stuff that reminds you of your deceased friend? “Obour Tanner’s Archive” invites a reconsideration about how black women, in the eighteenth century, remember each other.

Sponsors: Arts & Ideas, the Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, the History Department, and the English Department.

Mapping Dominican Youth Politics and Culture during the Global 1960s
Wednesday, October 4, 1:30pm, Heinemann Ecumenical Center

Dr. Cordero examines the rise of 1960s youth mobilizations and cultural politics through the vantage point of the Spanish Caribbean, more specifically, the Dominican Republic. Following the assassination of Dominican dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in 1961, young political actors and students tied to the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) unleashed a political and cultural opposition to the legacies of authoritarianism, U.S. imperialism, and local traditions of racism and anti-Haitianism. What resulted was a unique manifestation of 1960s political culture that saw itself stretched between U.S. imperial demands, the reconsolidation of authoritarian regimes, and popular aspirations for revolution and broad social transformation. Dominican 1960s political culture reveals a new and exciting chapter to studies of the Global 1960s by showing how these unexplored political actors engaged the exuberance of the period through multiple fronts – from the divisive political spectrum of U.S. anti-communism and the Cuban Revolution to the unprecedented emergence of race and racism in national politics and across the globe.

Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Harlem, NYC, Dr. René Cordero is an assistant professor in the Latin American and Latinx Studies department at John Jay College of CUNY and a Gaius Charles Bolin Fellow in history at Williams College.

This event is sponsored by the Department of History and the Center for Inclusive Excellence.
To request disability accommodations, please contact inclusivex@framingham.edu.

The Center for Digital Humanities is excited to announce the Fall 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities-sponsored Invited Lecture Series on Race + Digital Humanities.

• Thursday, October 5: Claire Lavarreda (World History, Northeastern University) will be delivering a lecture, “Learning as You Go: Building an Archive of Indigenous Voices.”

• Monday, October 16: Dr. Julia Troche (Ancient Egyptian Archaeology, Missouri State University), will be delivering a lecture, “Current Debates in Digital Egyptology, Or What Happens When Scholars Assign Race to the Pharaohs.”

• Thursday, November 9: Gowthaman Ranganathan (Anthropology, Brandeis University) will be delivering a lecture, “Oral Histories of Queerness in Post-War Sri Lanka.”

All events will take place 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the Heineman Ecumenical and Cultural Center. For more information, contact Dr. Bartholomew Brinkman (bbrinkman@framingham.edu) or Dr. Kristen Abbott Bennett (kbennett5@framingham.edu)

The Admissions Office encourages everyone to Save the Date of our two Fall Admissions Open House Events on campus.

Saturday, Oct. 14

Saturday, Nov. 4

These events are among our best opportunities to promote the FSU community to prospective students! 

-Dr. Thomas Koshy, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics has three articles published in August:
1. Sums Involving Gibonacci Polynomial Squares: Generalizations, The Fibonacci Quarterly, 61:3 (2023), 197—206.
2. Additional Sums Involving Gibonacci Polynomial Squares, The Fibonacci Quarterly, 61:3 (2023), 207—213.
3. Additional Sums Involving Jacobsthal Polynomial Squares, The Fibonacci Quarterly, 61:3 (2023), 222—230.