The Syracuse University Humanities Center, based in the College of Arts and Sciences, announces its most ambitious spring lineup to date, supporting more than 30 events and activities taking place between Jan. 29 and April 20.

Special guests include the following:

• Bettina Love, renowned Hip Hop-based educator and feminist (Feb. 4)

• Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement (Feb. 23)

• Harry Allen, Hip Hop activist, journalist, and former member of Public Enemy (March 23)

• Jacqueline Woodson, award-winning author of books for young adults (April 5)

• Laura Freixas, renowned Spanish writer and the 2016 Jeanette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor (March 29-April 5)

• Sanjit “Bunker” Roy, founder of India’s Barefoot College (April 21-22)

“The Humanities Center is a physical expression of the importance of the humanities at Syracuse University,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and associate professor of women’s & gender studies. “We present programming and partnerships that highlight the humanities as a public good and underscore its relevance for addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.”

Much of this work, she adds, takes place in the public and scholarly realms.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit syracusehumanities.org or call 315-443-7192.

The January-February schedule is as follows:

Friday, Jan. 29
Workshop: Public Humanities Fellowships Information Session
10:30-11:30 a.m.
Leonard and Ruth Sainsbury Library (room 300), Tolley Humanities Building
The Humanities Corridor brings together Paul Arras, Scarlett Rebman, and Thomas Guiler, Syracuse Ph.D. students who are current or former Public Humanities Fellows, to discuss their experiences with the New York Council for the Humanities and to offer guidance to those applying for 2016-17 Fellowships.


Friday, Jan. 29
Workshop: “For Those Who Can’t be Here Today: Prison Mindfulness”
Noon to 1:30 p.m.
Sims Hall (room 123)
The Contemplative Collaborative Brown Bag Series continues with a moderated discussion about mindfulness as a form of social justice. Participants include Bonnie Shoultz, chaplain of the Buddhist Campus Ministry; Patrick Berry, assistant professor of Writing & Rhetoric; Syeisha Byrd, director of the Office of Engagement Programs; and Michaela Thorley ’15, yoga instructor and prison educator.

Co-Sponsors: Hendricks Chapel, Hendricks Chapel Wellness Fund, The Writing Program (A&S), and Making a Space (a graduate student group)


Thursday, Feb. 4
Lecture: “Imagining Mattering: Hip Hop Civics Ed., Intersectionality, and Black Joy”
5:30-7 p.m.
Maxwell Auditorium
The Douglas Biklen Landscape of Urban Education Lecture Series continues with a presentation by Bettina L. Love, associate professor of educational theory and practice at the University of Georgia and an expert on Hip Hop-based education and feminism.

Principal Sponsor: School of Education


Saturday, Feb. 6
Screening: "Earth, Water, Woman"
1 p.m.
Community Folk Art Center (805 East Genesee St.)
A short documentary spotlighting the Fondes Amandes Community Reforestation Project, a Trinidadian initiative that has become an exemplar of grassroots conservation. The film is part of the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC)'s annual Caribbean Cinematic Festival, running Feb. 4-7. In addition to nearly a dozen films, the festival features music, dance, food, and spoken word, with an overarching emphasis on the Caribbean Diaspora. A complete schedule is available at communityfolkartcenter.org/cfac-signature/caribbean-cinematic-festival.

Sponsor: Community Folk Art Center, an academic partner of the Department of African American Studies in A&S

Wednesday, Feb. 10
Lecture: “Three Networks Walk Into a Bar … “
2:15-3:45 p.m.
The Kilian Room (500), Hall of Languages
Syracuse SymposiumTM continues its “Networks” theme with a program by Clay Spinuzzi, professor of writing and rhetoric at The University of Texas at Austin, who studies workplace research and computer-mediated activity.

Co-Sponsors: The Writing Program, The Writing Program’s Student Organization and Composition and Cultural Rhetoric Graduate Circle, and the Department of English (A&S); Syracuse University Libraries; and the Digital Humanities Working Group (Central New York Humanities Corridor)


Thursday, Feb. 11
Mini Seminar: “Modeling Qualitative Data,” led by Clay Spinuzzi
9 a.m. to noon
Room 304, Tolley Humanities Building
Registration required; RSVP jpwill03@syr.edu by Feb. 4

Co-Sponsors: The Writing Program, The Writing Program’s Student Organization and Composition and Cultural Rhetoric Graduate Circle, and the Department of English (A&S); Syracuse University Libraries; and the Digital Humanities Working Group (Central New York Humanities Corridor)


Monday, Feb. 22
Lecture: “Players on the Field: Thinking About Musical Humanity Through Sport”
2:15-3:35 p.m.
The Kilian Room (500), Hall of Languages
Jonathan Dueck, assistant professor of writing and deputy director of Writing in the Disciplines at The George Washington University, explores the role of music in sporting communities.

Sponsor: Department of Art & Music Histories (A&S)


Monday, Feb. 22
Mini-Seminar: “Musical Methods for Teaching and Researching Movement in Sport,” led by Jonathan Dueck
4-5:15 p.m.
Room 304, Tolley Humanities Building
Registration required; RSVP drjustic@syr.edu by Feb. 15

Sponsor: Department of Art & Music Histories (A&S)

Tuesday, Feb. 23
Lecture: “Black Lives Matter”
7-9 p.m.
Hendricks Chapel
Alicia Garza, activist, writer, and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, delivers the Black History Month Commemorative Lecture.

Principal Sponsor: Office of Multicultural Affairs


Thursday, Feb. 25
Lecture: “Other Networks: Hands-on History in the Media Archeology Lab”
5-7 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (room 114), Bird Library
Syracuse SymposiumTM continues with a visit by Lori Emerson, associate professor of English and of Intermedia Arts, Writing, and Performance and founder of the Media Archeology Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Co-Sponsors: Syracuse University Libraries, Department of Art & Music Histories and The Writing Program (A&S), and the Office of Research


Friday, Feb. 26
Mini-Seminar: “Internet, Darknet, Alternet // The Past, Present, and Future of Cooperatively Run Networks,” led by Lori Emerson
9 a.m. to noon
Room 304, Tolley Humanities Building
Registration required; RSVP awinkler@syr.edu by Feb. 16

Co-Sponsors: Syracuse University Libraries, Department of Art & Music Histories and The Writing Program (A&S), and the Office of Research


The Humanities Center is located in the Tolley Humanities Building, and is a hub of humanities research, fellowships, and public programming. Click here for the complete Spring 2016 schedule.