Tea Time Speaker Series presents: Mardi Fuller speaks on The Black Outdoors on Tuesday April 30th 12:00-2:00pm in Theater at Mount Wachusett Community College RSVP: BlackOutdoors

Professor Kevin McCarthy will host a discussion after the movie.

Co-sponsored by Fitchburg State University Library, Fitchburg Public Library , MWCC

Location: Fitchburg State University - Ellis White Lecture Hall in Hammond Building

Community Read Event-Virtual

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2024 12:30—1:45 PM Virtual Program

Theodore Seixas Solomons: The Jewish San Franciscan who Inspired North America's Most Famous Footpath

Join Fitchburg State University Professor Michael Hoberman for an illuminating talk on Theodore Seixas Solomons.  Dr. Hoberman will share Solomons' role in the shaping of the nation's best loved and most spectacular long distance footpath through California' Sierra Nevada Range.

This event is virtual, free, and open to the public.  Here's the link to join the event:  https://meet.google.com/quc-jrxs-pwe?authuser=0

Tim Swanson, founder of Owl Eyes Wilderness Survival company, will instruct the group on the skills and knowledge needed to take their hiking up to the next level.

Meet at Peabody Conservation Area Parking  200-298 Holman Street, Lunenburg, MA, 01462

Registration is Required through the North County Land Trust Events page. 

The kickoff event for the 2023-24 Community Read is a gorgeous ~2 mile hike up to the top of Rollstone Hill in Fitchburg! Peter Capodagli will lead participants in the walk, explaining the stories and history of the Boulder, the quarries, and other sites along the way.

This event is free and open to the public. The difficulty level of the hike is considered moderate. 

No registration required; hikers will meet at Boulder Art Gallery, 960 Main Street in Fitchburg at 3:45 p.m. Rain date is 9/28

This event will showcase the stories of students and community members through on-stage readings. Much like The Moth's storytelling events, we hope this event encourages heartfelt, compelling, humorous, and honest tellings of the complex and rich lives led by our peers, students, neighbors, and colleagues. Inspired by the historically and culturally rich vignettes presented by Trevor Noah in "Born a Crime," we hope this event opens us up to thoughtful consideration of who we are as a community, where we come from, and how we all ended up together in the Falcon Hub at Fitchburg State. 

Coffee and other refreshments will be available. 

Live performances will be recorded for an edited podcast.

Join us for a book discussion at Eagle House Adult Activity Center in Lunenburg, MA. The event is free and open to all! To register for the brunch, please call 978-582-4166.

A conversation between Dr. David Gillota, Associate Professor of English, University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Dr. DeMisty Bellinger-Delfeld, Associate Professor of English at Fitchburg State University.

Format:

Virtual.  Register at this link. Link to the event stream will be sent out at 9 AM (EST) on February 23.

Speaker Biographies:

David Gillota teaches courses in film, American literature, and composition. He is the author of Ethnic Humor in Multiethnic America (Rutgers University Press, 2013) and is the Associate Editor at Studies in American Humor.

DeMisty D. Bellinger is the author of the novel New to Liberty and the poetry collections Rubbing Elbows and Peculiar Heritage. She teaches creative writing at Fitchburg State University and serves on the editorial boards of the Prairie Schooner, Porcupine Literary, Malarkey Books, and West Trestle Review. DeMisty has an MFA from Southampton and a PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Join us for a film screening of District 9 (2009), dir. Neill Blomkamp, as we reflect on South African apartheid. This screening is part of our program on Trevor Noah’s memoir, Born a Crime.

The screening will be followed by a discussion moderated by Fitchburg State Univeristy professor Kevin McCarthy.

Community member? Register for a parking pass!

This event is co-sponsored by Community Read and the Leominster Public Library.

The Eagle House Senior Community Center Book Club will be hosting a “Book Club Brunch and Discussion” at 10am on March 21, 2022 and everyone is welcome to join us. Just call us at 978-582-4166 to let us know you’d like to attend.

In Nomadland, the new nomads, people making a life on wheels, refer to themselves not as homeless, but "houseless." Join us for a viewing of some short films and a discussion of "what is home?" Kevin McCarthy, Associate Professor of Communications Media at FSU will moderate.

This event is part of the 2021-2022 Community Read of the book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-first Century, by Jessica Bruder.

This program is free and open to the public. No registration is required.

Join us for a book discussion of Nomadland by Jessica Bruder. All are welcome.

Panel Discussion: Panelists Mr. Doug Bushman (Fitchburg Housing Authority) and Dr. Jennifer Molinsky (Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies), Moderator Dr. Mark Williams (Fitchburg State University)

Format: Virtual; register at the following URL to receive the meeting invitation: https://forms.gle/tKxyZirCcR39UJzk9

Is the American dream of home ownership crumbling for those 65 and over? Join us as our panelists discuss the growing challenge of ensuring older adults in America have access to affordable and safe housing.  Dr. Jennifer Molinsky from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies will be our national expert.  Mr. Bushman from the Fitchburg Housing Authority will be our local expert. Dr. Mark Williams from Fitchburg State will be the moderator and will field questions from the virtual audience.

Co-Sponsored: The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Fitchburg Housing Authority and Fitchburg State University

Douglas M. Bushman has been involved in issues concerning affordable housing and services for families and the elderly for almost 15 years. As the Executive Director of the Fitchburg Housing Authority and as an attorney, he has worked closely with service providers, public officials and residents on addressing the ramifications of the shortfall of quality affordable housing and services to address both the physical and mental health needs of seniors.

Jennifer Molinsky directs the Housing and Aging Society Program at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The program aims to highlight the housing challenges facing older adults and the links between housing and wellbeing. Jennifer has a PhD in urban planning, and prior to coming to Harvard she was chief of long range planning for the city of Newton.

Dr. Mark Williams is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences, teaching in the Human Services Program curriculum. He earned his PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Washington, and has taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in direct practice skills, gerontology, and social welfare policy. His research and teaching include a focus on older adults, end-of-life care, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) health, and the role of intimate relationships in promoting health and well-being.

A Virtual Program Presented by the Leominster Public Library 

Here is the zoom link for registration: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rde6vqj0sH9MGnVWji_hAXnu-K9k9F5L6

Join us for this exciting Community Read Event inspired by the Red Dancers chapter of Underland, by Robert MacFarlane, featuring Professors Sarah Bromberg, Sally Moore, and Jessica Robey of Fitchburg State University.   

Jessica Robey will provide an overview of the discovery of prehistoric cave art and its reception in the 20th century.  We'll look at how these earliest examples of culture lead to a reassessment of what it means to be human.

Sally Moore will give an overview of the role of the shaman in tribal society, discuss the inward vs outward  journey, and will present examples of her own shamanic masks as well as those of her students.

Sarah Bromberg will present an overview and analysis of cave art imagery, particularly prehistoric cave art in France and Norway, with photographs.  She'll discuss her students sketching of cave paintings as a means to developing their own observations and interpretations of these ancient masters.

This event is sponsored by the Eliane and Maurice Tonkin Memorial Fund

Join the Center for Italian Culture and Community Read to discuss Chapter 6 of Underland - Starless Rivers (The Carso, Italy).

Professor Daniel Sarefield will guide a discussion about the mythology represented in the chapter and Italian Speleologist, Rosario Di Pietro, will share his knowledge about the caves in Italy.

To attend this event, please register at https://forms.gle/xampAWX9Pu21FGXB8

About the Presenters:

Rosario Di Pietro
My cv tells about my passion turned into work. And for this reason I think I am a lucky man.

The passion is speleology which I approached at the age of 17. While my schoolmates spend their free-time practicing or commenting on the national sport (football), with a group of friends I used to visit or explore caves, living unforgettable experiences and bringing at home lots of muddy clothes. Generally attracted by outdoor activities, I chose to attend the Geology Course at the University of Palermo.

Passion becomes concreteness and service for the community when I joined the National Team of Alpine and Speleological Rescue. And turned into work when, soon after graduating, I was chosen by the environmental organization (Legambiente) as director of the Carburangeli Cave Nature Reserve, dealing along with other things of scientific research, environmental recovery, environmental education. Now I am 52, I gained few pounds and I lost most of my black hair… but passion for the caves is still there.

Daniel Sarefield, Ph.D.

Daniel received his B.A. in History and Religion from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, where he studied Ancient History. He joined the Fitchburg State University faculty in 2007 and teaches courses in History and Latin. He has been a member of Center for Italian Culture since 2007 and serves on the Programming Committee.

An avid traveler, Daniel has visited many parts of the Roman world and, in particular, he has traveled all over Italy. He has led summer study abroad courses to Verona and the surrounding region on three occasions.

We will have an online conversation about Part I of the book – Seeing which explores the “Underlands” of Britain. We will have experts in the field guide us through the discussion. A link to the discussion will be forthcoming.

Professors, Eric Budd, Kate Jewell, Ben Lieberman and Ben Railton will discuss competing visions of the nation, and who belongs to the nation historically and today. The panelists will explore the political and socio-economic significance of rising nationalism and Globalization, both at home and abroad.

Join us for a screening of this award-winning documentary which interviews adult children of Holocaust survivors, as they share their memories of growing up with parents who could not recount their years in Nazi camps. 

Join us for a brunch and book discussion on Maus. RSVP by calling 978-582-4166 if you plan to attend. 

Students from Professor Ben Lieberman's course on the Holocaust will share their research on Holocaust-related topics.

Light Refreshments will be provided.

Location: Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library, Hammond Hall, Fitchburg State University