Campus Currents

The first event for the Fall 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities-sponsored Invited Lecture Series on Race + Digital Humanities kicks off this week with a special lecture on building an archive of indigenous voices.

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

Click here to view event flyer.

The event is presented by FSU's Center for Digital Humanities. Other events this fall include:

• 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)

By Sophia Harris, publications intern

Students file into the McCarthy Forum from all different backgrounds of life, but with one common goal: to learn about what the study abroad office at Framingham State has to offer.

The office has sent students from Framingham State all over the world, and on September 20th students were filing into the Study Abroad fair to see how they too can make the memories of a lifetime.

“I never thought that I could go abroad myself," said senior Carly Paul. "I always thought of travel as an idealistic ‘maybe in the future' type of thing.’ For familial and monetary reasons I assumed studying abroad would be out of the cards for me. But now - two years later - I still shock myself when I say that I’ve gone twice. And I’ve more than enjoyed it both times.” 

Paul has traveled to London, England and studied at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. She also works in the Study Abroad Office as a study abroad student ambassador.

She said studying abroad has had a “profound impact” on her.

“I have noticed that I am more open in talking to people, more independent, and generally less afraid of the world," she said. "I am not naïve but my outlook has changed for the better.” 

Jane Decatur, Executive Director of International Programs, said studying abroad gives students “the soft skills that you can talk about with a future employer.”

She said after graduation employers are looking for people who are resourceful, independent, problem solvers, and have cultural competency. "Those are all the kinds of things that you get from being on your own in another country,” Decatur said.

Decatur added that studying abroad through Framingham State is very affordable. There are programs that can cost as little as $8,000, including room and board.

Cecilia Reyes Alarcon, Assistant Director of International Programs, who recently started working in the study abroad office in August, said when she was in college she had the opportunity to study abroad in Chile, where she is ethnically from.

She said studying abroad in college was life-changing for her, so she enjoys being able to help students along the journey as well.

“You get another perspective about yourself, your country, and the whole picture of the world,” she added.

Rafael Serrat, a student ambassador for the study abroad program, studied in Rome, Italy for a semester. He said he had such an amazing time studying in Rome that he wanted to work in the study abroad office to give other students that same opportunity.

He said he hopes the study abroad fair “sparked students' interests” in going abroad. He added, he hopes students also “realize how affordable it can really be.”

Paul said the advice she gives to students who are considering studying abroad is, “to plan in advance, that it can work with your major if you choose matching programs, there are significant scholarship opportunities, and it can even put you ahead for graduation– so they should definitely consider it.”

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.

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.

Join staff from the Christa McAuliffe Center to observe (safely) a Partial Solar Eclipse!

Saturday, October 14
STOP BY ANY TIME BETWEEN
12:30PM - 2:30PM
In front of May Hall, Framingham state University

Participants of all ages are welcome to safely observe the partial solar eclipse and participate in hands-on activities!

Partial eclipse begins: 12:18 PM

Maximum eclipse: 1:25 PM

Partial eclipse ends: 2:33 PM

McAuliffe Center staff are available to facilitate hands-on activities, guide your observations, and answer questions about eclipses.

We will distribute eclipse glasses to all who join us for observing. If you plan to observe the partial solar eclipse on your own, please read important safety information below!

Study English at Framingham State University this Fall!

The new six-week Saturday session starts on October 21!
Register now! Registration is open through October 28.

Drop into Art is designed to celebrate the creative potential in all of us. With new themes and projects every month, Drop into Art offers opportunities for adults and kids with their caregivers to create together and connect with one another. Each program is unique, fun, and free, emphasizing invention, improvisation, and hands-on creativity.

FREE, drop-in any time from 1-4 pm. All materials and supplies are provided. All ages are welcomed! Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Sunday, October 8, 1-4 pm: Circles, Triangles, Squares – Oh My!
Drop in and explore the creative potential of shapes in art. See how artists in the Museum’s collection use shapes to represent real or imagined experiences. Visitors are invited to think like artists in the Art School studio and complete a hands-on activity inspired by the works of art.

Sunday, November 12, 1-4 pm: Face Value
How would you choose to depict yourself, a friend, or a famous face? Every artist makes choices to represent people. In this Drop into Art, learn about styles of portraiture in the Museum which will inspire your hands-on activity in the Art School.

Sunday, December 10, 1-4 pm: Plenty of Patterns
Join us and hunt for patterns in the Museum’s collection. Discover how artists create patterns in a variety of ways using different art-making processes. Continue your exploration of repeating shapes, colors, and designs by making your own block print in the Art School.

Sunday, January 14, 1-4 pm: What a Relief!
Join us in the Museum’s gallery and learn about Kate Holcomb Hale’s relief paper clay sculptures in lean, STAND, collapse. The impressions she took of objects in the home will inspire your hands-on relief sculpture activity in the Art School.

The Danforth is located at 14 Vernon Street, Framingham, MA 01701. Free parking is available.

Fall FSU Cooks Events!

FSU Cooks is back in the kitchen…in-person to Mix and Bake some fun with the entire FSU Community!! Join us for any and all of the following events. All events are free to the FSU community and are sponsored by the Nutrition and Health Studies Department.

Quick Pumpkin Snack Cake – October 25th 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Come scare up some fun as we bake a simple pumpkin chocolate chip snack cake. This Mix and Bake takes place during lunch break, so bring your lunch and leave with a snack cake! #snackcake #1hourbake

Registration Link

A Twist on Pie Crust – December 6th between 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Looking to perfect your pie crust?…then join us to learn some new techniques. This Mix and Bake takes place mid-day, so bring your lunch and leave with some pie crust twists! #pietwists #1hourbake

Registration Link

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!