Faculty/Staff Daily Digest

This Humanities in Action Panel gathers scholars who have brought their knowledge and humanities perspectives to collaborative community activities.  Such public opportunities bring scholars and community members together with research and popular practices, and open new questions for consideration both in and out of the academy.  They are important avenues for engaging, disseminating, and enriching all our knowledge.  This panel seeks to celebrate such applications and mutual sharing of the humanities in our communities, and also to find ways to foster and support it.

Please join us for this panel of outstanding, active humanities scholars who carry their search for knowledge and understanding into our neighborhoods.

Facilitator:

     > Aimee Loiselle, PhD Candidate, History

Loiselle has worked in alternative and community education for many years, bringing an intersectional approach to teaching and mentoring in programs with low-income, underrepresented, and adult basic education (ABE) students.

Panelists:

     > Shayla Nunnally, Associate Professor, Political Science & Africana Studies

Professor Nunnally will discuss her work with others to expand research about and education opportunities for women and girls of color.

     > Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, Associate Professor, History and El Instituto, Director

Professor Overmyer-Velázquez will be speaking on detention and deportation activism.

     > Fiona Vernal, Associate Professor, History

Professor Vernal will discuss her local public history projects with Caribbean communities in the greater Hartford area.

     > Chris Vials, Associate Professor, English and American Studies, Director

Professor Vials will speak about labor organizing in and out of the academy.

     > Manuela Wagner, Associate Professor, Literatures, Cultures & Languages, Director of German Language and Culture Program

Professor Wagner will discuss her collaborations with K-12 teachers and graduate students.

     > Mark Kohan, Assistant Clinical Professor, Neag School of Education and English Language Arts

Professor Kohan will speak about community collaborations for multicultural education.

     > Melanie Newport, Assistant Professor, History

Professor Newport will speak about her efforts regarding prison education.

The panel is part of the Initiative on Campus Dialogues (ICD), a working group for the project Humility & Conviction in Public Life.  The UConn Humanities Institute received a substantial grant from the John Templeton Foundation, which supports innovative efforts that explore the landscape of public discourse.  The Humility & Conviction in Public Life project joins others in working to create enduring strategies to spur and sustain open-minded and well-informed discussions.  ICD is currently identifying concrete steps to creating resources and networks by which dialogue can be robustly and collectively pursued and promoted within the UConn community and beyond.

For more information, contact: Aimee Loiselle, History at aimee.loiselle@uconn.edu