Humanities at Home

Humanities at Home

With so many of our community members staying at home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we at the Center are reminded of our commitment to create spaces for intellectual engagement and discussion.  Despite the challenges presented by illness, our partners across the globe have inspired us to seek creative solutions and offer online experiences so we can maintain our relationship with the South Florida community and beyond.  We are therefore pleased to present the Humanities at Home initiative, comprised of different opportunities to engage with your community online.

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  • Virtual Book Club

    Virtual Book Club: Summer 2021

    The University of Miami Center for the Humanities is pleased to continue our Virtual Book Club!  Our Summer 2021 selection will be Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. The book club discussion will take place on Wednesday, July 21st via Zoom.

    Per the author's website: Everything I Never Told You is the story of the Lees, a Chinese American Family living in a 1970's small town in Ohio.  Marilyn and James are determined that Lydia, their middle and favorite child, will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue.  When Lydia's body is found in a local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the family together is detroyed. 

    Although the novel takes place decades ago, many of the issues the characters face are just as relevant today.  Those who are different still find themselves pressured to be someone they're not.  The same questions we may have asked ourselved generations ago persist today.  Why do we keep secrets, even from the people we love most?  How well do we ever really know each other?  What do we expect of our children and of our parents?  And what holds families together, even in the face of unthinkable tragedies?  

    How the Virtual Book Club works:

    Virtual Book Club discussions are held once during the academic year and once over the summer break.  If you are interested in reading the book and joining us for a virtual discussion session, you'll be asked to register.  The Summer 2021 discussion of Everything I Never Told You, will be held on Wednesday, July 21 at 7pm via zoom.  Register here.

    After registering, participants will then receive a confirmation email.  Then, as we get closer to the July 21st meeting, registrants wll receive an email with additional details, including possible discussion questions and topics.

    Zoom Discussion:  The discussion session will be held on Wednesday, July 21st at 7pm EST.  Although participants will receive possible discussion questions by email, open conversation is encouraged and participants are welcome to share their own ideas and comments.

     

    How to access the book:

    University of Miami Libraries has the e-book version of Everything I Never Told You available to UM faculty, staff, and students. We also suggest exploring availability through your local library or supporting a local bookstore such as Books&Books. 

     

     

  • UM-Sponsored Webinars and Recordings

    In this section, we provide links to talks given by our own University of Miami faculty and our invited guests.   

    Webinars 

    • Wednesday, May 20th at 12:30pm: "Will International Security Change in the Age of COVID-19?"
      • As part of the College of Arts and Sciences "Feed Your Mind" interactive learning sessions, Professor Bradford McGuinn, Director of the Master of Arts in International Administration Program and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, will share his thoughts on the changing nature of international security in the age of COVID-19.  From a world of contending states to societies torn by conflict to the global health challenge facing all of us: our sense of security – being safe, feeling safe – has been redefined. At a time when the norms and institutions meant to foster international cooperation are facing their greatest test since the Second World War, we will examine the impact of COVID-19 and whether it will deepen our divisions or induce a renewed commitment to our common security.  Click here to register.
    • Wednesday, June 3rd at 12:30pm: "Are You Staying Socially Connected and Mentally Fit While Social Distancing?
      • As part of the College of Arts and Sciences "Feed Your Mind" interactive learning sessions, Dr. Deborah Jones Weiss and Dr. Steven Safren will share their thoughts on how to manage mental health to prevent burnout. The session will be followed by a brief guided meditation by Dr. Lunthita Duthely.  Click here to register!
    • Thursday, June 4th at 5pm: "How to EmbRACE Change and Find Your Way Forward"
      • The UM Alumni Association and LGBTQ Canes will present a webinar with Chris Rackliffe, UM alumni, author of How to EmbRACE Change and Find Your Way Forward.  Join and listen as Chris seeks to help attendees in navigating a relationship with CHANGE and how to learn to EmbRACE it! Register here.
    • Wednesday, September 16 at 8pm: In light of factors realted to COVID-19, all of our fall 2020 Book Talks will take place via Zoom.  The fall series will begin with a Book Talk with Jennifer Ferriss-Hill, Associate Professor of Classics, on Wenedsday, September 16th.  Please see details and the full schedule here.
    • Thursday, September 24 at 5pm: This year, the Center presents a special sequence of the Stanford Distringuished Professors Series: Stanfords Online.  The series begins on September 24th with Professor Nelson Maldonado-Torres's presentation, "Are Decolonial Humanities Possible?"  Read more and register here. 
    • Thursday, October 1 at 7pm: We're delighted to introcude the new Humanties Hour series, featuring our own UM humanities faculty.  The series will begin on October 1 with a presentation from Chantel Acevedo, Professor of Creative Writing, on "Historical Fiction—A Novelist’s Approach to Researching and Writing 19th Century Cuba."  Read more and register here. 
    • University of Miami Libraries presents the "Deep Dives" series. These online events offer an informative, enticing, and educational look into a selection of images that are representative of materials in Special Collections.  Click here and select the appropriate date fromt the menu on the right to register:
        • Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 1 pm: "The Liberation of Paris: The G.I. and the Amazon"
          • Presented by Arthur Dunkelman, Curator of the Jay I. Kislak Collection
        • Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 1 pm: "Diving Deep: An Artists' Book Trip Through the Oceanic Zones"
          • Presented by Jay Sylvestre, Special Collections Librarian
        • Thursday, January 28th, 2021 at 1 pm: "Book of Fate"
          • Presented by Chelsea Jacks, Special Collections Reference Assistant
        • Thursday, February 11th, 2021 at 1 pm: "Love in the Stacks: An Exploration of Romance in the Special Collections at UM"
          • Presented by Cristina Favretto, Head of Special Collections 
    • On Tuesday, October 13th at 7pm, Professor Scott Heerman resents our second Humanities Hour talk on "Slavery's Emancipation: A Rashomon Effect."  Read more and register here. 
    • On Thursday, October 15th from 11am to 12:30pm, join the Cuban Heritage Collection for its fourth installment of "El efecto Mariel: Before, During, and After."  Three distinct voices representing recent scholarship will address the complicated ways in which issues around race and gender played out post-Mariel during the 1980s and continue to shape Miami today.  Read more and register here. This event is co-hosted by Harvard University's Cuba Studies Program.
    • On Thursday, October 22 at 3:30pm EST, UM's MFA in Creative Writing Program presents a special IBIS Reading Series event featuring its newest faculty members, Patricia Engel and Kei Miller. Join the program for a dual reading curated by program director Chantel Acevedo. Email mkh81@miami.edu by October 21st to request the meeting link and password.
    • On Monday, October 26th at 3pm, join Special Collections at the UM Libraries for a presentation from Andrew Stauffer, Associate Professor of English at the University of Virginia and co-PI for Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Strategic Planning Grant, about Book Traces, a crowd-sourced project that supports the discovery, cataloging, and preservation of unique artifactual materials found in books held in American college and university library collections. The program will include a teaching workshop from Amanda Licastro, Assistant Professor of Digital Rhetoric at Stevenson University.  Register here. 
    • On Wednesday, October 28th, from 12:30 to 1:15pm EST, the Department of History will kick off its new series of interviews with UM History faculty called, “What I’m Working On.” The first interview will be with Professor Krista Goff, a historian of Russian and Soviet history. Learn how she became a historian, about her experiences conducting research in the Caucasus region, and about the new book project that she’s working on.  Those with a UM email address can attend using this link. 
    • On Tuesday, November 10th from 3:00-4:00pm EST, the Department of History will host a post-election panel discussion with History Professors Robin Bachin, Max Fraser, and Don Spivey.  These three experts on American history, politics, and civic engagement will be putting the 2020 election into historical perspective and fielding questions from the audience.  Registration details coming soon.
    • Breakfast with Hope: Wake up to a VIRTUAL BREAKFAST WITH HOPE, a monthly reading & discussion group hosted by Hope Torrents and sponsored by Sylvester Cancer Center!  In partnership with Books&Books, Torrents, Museum Educator and Director of the Fine Art of Healthcare program at the Lowe Art Museum, leads a series of monthly discussions about her passion: health and well-being. 
    • Between January 16th and 17th, participate in the 70th annual Beaux Arts Festival online!  The festival will feature over 220 fine art exhibitors.  View the online art festival here. 
    • On Wednesday, January 20th at 8pm, our Book Talk series continues!  Claire Oueslati-Porter will discuss Gender, Textile Work, and Tunisian Women's Liberation: Deviating Patterns.  Book Talks will cotinue to be presented by webinar until further notice.  See the full schedule and registration details here.  
    • Our friends in Special Collections continue their Deep Dives series with "The Book of Fate" on Thursday, January 28th at 1pm. Register for this great event here. 
    • On Friday, January 29th at 4pm, the Spring 2021 Stanfords Online series continues with Dr. Antoni Trilla's lecture on "The 1918 'Spanish Flu' in Spain.  Register here. 
    • On Thursday, February 4th at 11am, University of Miami Libraries and Harvard University's Cuba Studies Program present, "El Effecto Mariel: Before, During and After."  Join for a conversation about the Mariel Boatlift with Ambassador Ernesto Pinto-Bazurco Ritter and journalist Leticia Callava.  This event will be presented in Spanish.  Register here. 
    • On Thursday, February 4th at 2pm, the Miller Center for Judaic Studies, the Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studies, and the Center for the Humanities present a lecture by Hugh Thomas, Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Humanities.  Join here.
    • On Wednesday, February 10th at 3:30pm, Founding Director of the Center for the Humanities, Mihoko Suzuki, will present her Cooper Fellow Lecture on "Early Modern European Encounters with Japan."  Prof Suzuki will discuss two early modern European observers of Japanese society a century apart: the Portuguese Jesuit Luis Frois (1532–97) and the German physician and scientist Engelbert Kaempfer (1651– 1716). By juxtaposing these texts and considering the different historical contexts in which they were written, both for the authors and the Japanese society they took as their subject, Suzuki arrives at a comparative analysis of these early modern European encounters with Japan. Join here. 
    • On Thursday, February 11th at 1pm, our friends at Special Collections continue their Deep Dives series with "LOVE IN THE STACKS: Stories of Romance (and Heartbreak)" just in time for Valentine's Day. Register.
    • On Thursday, February 18th at 7pm, the university's common read program One Book, One U, is pleased to present a virtual event with Ijeoma Oluo, author of this year's selected text, So You Want to Talk About Race.  Register here. 
    • On Tuesday, February 23rd at 6pm, Black HERstory Month features "Black Women in Health" for Black Women Appreciation Day.  Learn more about Black HERstory Month.
    • On Wednesday, April 7th at 3:30pm, Professor of History, Michael Miller, will present his Cooper Fellow Lecture: "Of Time and the River: The Marne in French History."  The history of rivers has been the subject of increased attention in recent decades, mostly as a
      tale of engineering and environmental change or as river biography in the guise of national history. In this talk, Michael Miller takes a different approach, asking how Marne history, and property disputes over “who owns the river,” catch unexpected understandings of French connections to their past, and how the built river landscape reveals the complementarity between modernity and tradition in modern France.  Join Here. 

    Recordings:   

    • "The Black Death to Coronavirus: Linking Pandemics from History to Today"
      • If you missed the live webinar, you can view the recording here.  Use this password to join: 5a.a7247.  In this pop-up lecture, Hugh Thomas, Professor of History and Driector of our Center, discusses the "Great Mortality" of the middle of the 14th century and the parallels to the current pandemic.  What do the differences between the impact and experiences of the two plagues tell us about modern society and what lessons might we learn?
    • Book Talks: 
      • Remember that if you missed a live session of our Book Talk series, we include links to the recordings of each talk through our Book Talk page. 

     

     

  • Other Resources

    In this section, we will list links to virtual programming and online resources provided by our friends and partner institutions.  Although this list is by no means comprehensive, we will do our best to update the list periodically as we become aware of new opportunities. 

    Weekly Event: Coffee and Conversations

    The Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab at FIU created a weekly series titled Coffee and Conversations  as part of its digital and remote programming for FIU and the South Florida community at large in response to the novel coronavirus.  Their first "season" addressed how leaders of cultural institutions began to respond to the coronavirus pandemic including conversations with representatives from The Museum of Graffiti, The Jewish Museum of Florida, and many more. 

    Season 2 titled Museums and Histories of Anti-Blackness takes place on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. WPHL faculty host a remote, informal chat with directors and leaders of museums and other cultural institutions to discuss how they and their institutions are addressing the challenges of working against institutional powers that have historically erased, marginalized, or whitewashed Black histories.

    These conversations are free and open to the public over Zoom. Audiences are invited to ask questions and contribute to the discussion after the initial interview. Learn more here and view recordings of previous Coffee and Coversations events!

    Humanities Now, Humanities Center at Texas Tech

    Humanities Now is the official podcast of the Humanities Center at Texas Tech. Each month, they feature conversations with members of the humanities community at Texas Tech University. With every episode, these varied voices help us realize the Center’s mission: asking out loud, “What does it mean to be human?” and demonstrating how can we answer that question from so many different perspectives.

    Lowe Art Museum at UM

    The Lowe offers great ways to engage, including free weekly Mindfulness Sessions online as well as Digitial Engagement projects, such as interactive tours and 3-D models of certain collections.

    Cuban Heritage Collection at UM

    The Cuban Heritage Collection is home to the largest repository of materials on Cuba outside of the island and the most comprehensive collection of resources about Cuban exile history and the global Cuban diaspora experience.  Consider engaging in their digital collections and exploring their online exhibits on topics such as the Cuban Rafter Phenomenon, the writings of Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, and more!

    National Endowment for the Humanities 

    Review NEH's work including HUMANITIES Magazine articles, their blog, and projects on a variety of topics from superheroes to WWI America to Islamic manuscripts.

    National Humanities Center: Humanities In Class Digital Library 

    The Humanities in Class Digital Library is an Open Education Resources (OER) platform, providing you with direct access to all of our online educational content. Individual educators and scholars, cohorts and schools, districts and states are encouraged to join and contribute. The digital library offers many useful features to help you more easily discover, remix, and share humanities content, including lectures, primary sources, and more!  View webinars like “The History of White Supremacy” led by incoming NHC Fellow and Duke University historian Adriane Lentz-Smith or the America in Class lesson on "The Columbian Exchange.”  Register for your free membership today! 

    African American History Archive:
    An Audio, Print, and Video Bibliography

    With the assistance of the USF-St. Petersburg Library, who hosts this collection, Florida Humanities has created the African American History Archive, featuring materials on civil rights, arts and Architecture, education, and more.  Iteract with the archive here. 

    Virtual Exhibits and Tours

    • Our friends at the Ben May Library (AL) have shared a helpful list of Virtual Field Trips that includes trips to places like the Frida Khalo Museum and a list of Virtual Road Trips where you can "visit" Mount Everest, the Sistine Chapel, and other destinations!
    • Courtesty of one of our youngest community members, Amelia, consider making a virtual visit to some of the wonderful museums of Dubai.  Click here to access a variety of videos, exhibits, and more.
    • Use Google Arts & Culture to access a 360-degree tour of the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, featuring masterpieces that span 1,400 years.
    • Access virtual tours of exhibitions and collections at The Louvre incuding "The Advent of the Artist" the "Galerie d'Apollon" and their collection of Egyptian Antiquities.
    • Take a virtual tour of the Guggenheim Museum and get a close-up look at select pieces. 
    • Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device.  Explore current exhibits such as "African Voices" and "Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt."
    • The British Museum has partnered with Google to present The Musuem of the World, featuring an interactive timeline that allows you to filter by region and topic of interest.
    • The Virtual Angkor project features 360 degree panoramas that enable you to look around the city as if you were standing in a particular spot at a particular time.  Although they are best experienced with a Virtual Reality headset such as a Google Daydream, the videos displayed can be moved around with a mouse or cursor, giving you some sense of how the city looked and a limited capacity to interact with the wider landscape.
    • Take a virtual tour of Machu Picchu and feel as if you're exploring this Inca citadel by foot.  The tour includes optional audio clips offering a brief overview of its history and commentary on architectural elements and spiritual significance. 
    • Visit the Great Wall of China from the comfort of home and enjoy the stunning panaramic views. 
    • Take a virtual tour of The Taj Mahal and explore the grounds and interor of the momument's buildings. 
    • Explore Stonehenge via virtual tour and click on the hotspots to learn more about sepcific features.  English Heritage's site also offers an opportunity see live footage from the center of the stone circle through Skyscape.
    • Take a Virtual Tour of the Acropolis Monuments, including the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Athene Nike.  Images and panaramos are complemented with desrciptive information.

    FIU Center for the Humanities in an Urban Evironment

    Explore the FIU Center's page for links to videos such as their recent webinar, "Contagious: The Outbreak Narrative" and as well as videos featured in their "What is LatinX" series, including a Reading with Author Reyna Grande and An Interview with Author Reyna Grande.

    Obermann Center at the University of Iowa

    Our friends at the Obermann Center have published a growing video series, Pandemic Insights.  In this series, scholars and artists explore the impact of the pandemic through their work.  

    Center for Humanities and the Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder

    In addition to partnering with us on our Virtual Book Club, our colleagues at Boulder have created an Anti-Asian Racism and COVID-19 webpage where you can review a brief hstory of anti-Asian sentiment and learn more about how to become an anti-racist ally. 

     

  • Archived Programs

    Virtual Book Club: February-March 2021

    The University of Miami Center for the Humanities is pleased to continue our Virtual Book Club!  Our Spring 2021 selection will be Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. The book club discussion will take place on Thursday, March 4th via Zoom and will be led by the Center's UGrow Fellow, Nadiyah Aamer.  Nadiyah is a PhD candidate in the Departmet of Modern Languages and Literatrues.  

    Penguin Random House's description of Exit West: In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair, and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through. . . . 

    Exit West follows these remarkable characters as they emerge into an alien and uncertain future, struggling to hold on to each other, to their past, to the very sense of who they are. Profoundly intimate and powerfully inventive, it tells an unforgettable story of love, loyalty, and courage that is both completely of our time and for all time.

    How the Virtual Book Club works:

    Virtual Book Club discussions held during the academic year will be limited to one meeting.  If you are interested in reading the book and joinig us for a virtual discussion session, you'll be asked to register.  Register for the discussion here by March 1. 

    After registering, participants will then receive a follow-up email with more information, discussion questions, and the link to a Zoom meeting.

    Zoom Discussion:  The discussion session will be held on Thursday, March 4th at 7pm EST.  This session will be facilitated by Nadiyah Aamer, PhD Candidate with the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.  Participants will be sent possible discussion questions but open conversation founded in mutual respect is encouraged. 

     

    How to access the book:

    University of Miami Libraries has both the e-book and e-audiobook of Exit West available. We also suggest exploring availability through your local library or supporting a local bookstore such as Books&Books. 

     

     

    Virtual Book Club: November 2020

    The University of Miami Center for the Humanities is pleased to continue our Virtual Book Club!  We are currently working on plans for Spring 2021 so please check bak soon and monitor our Newsletter for updates!

    The Center for the Humanities is pleased to adopt this year's One Book, One U selection, So You Want to Talk About Race as its next Virtual Book Club text! The book club discussion will take place on Thursday, November 5th via Zoom and will be led by the Center's UGrow Fellow, Nadiyah Aamer.   

    Per Seal Press's descriptuon of the book: Widespread reporting on aspects of white supremacy -- from police brutality to the mass incarceration of Black Americans -- has put a media spotlight on racism in our society. Still, it is a difficult subject to talk about. How do you tell your roommate her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law take umbrage when you asked to touch her hair -- and how do you make it right? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend?

    In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to "model minorities" in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life. 

    How the Virtual Book Club works:

    Virtual Book Club discussions held during the academic year will be limited to one meeting.  If you are interested in reading the book and joinig us for a virtual discussion session, please register here by Monday, November 2.  

    After registering, participants will then receive a follow-up email with more information, discussion questions, and the link to a Zoom meeting.

    Zoom Discussion:  The discussion session will be held on Thursday, November 5th at 7pm EST.  This session will be facilitated by Nadiyah Aamer, PhD Candidate with the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.  Participants may use the provided discussion questions but open conversation founded in mutual respect is encouraged. 

    How to sign up:

    If you’d like to sign up, please complete this form. This virtual book club is open to anyone interested in participating, regarless of UM affiliation or location.  We ask you to sign up for each book selection, even if you have participated in prior Virtual Book Club discussions.  Please sign up by Monday, November 2. 

    How to access the book:

    As an added bonus, we are pleased to offer free hard copies to the first 10 registrants!  Registrants will be notified if they are eligible and copies will be available for pick-up from UM's Richter Library.  For other members of the book club, we encourage you to explore availability through your local library (Miami Dade Libraries have several copies avaialbe) or consider supporting a local book store such as Books&Books. 

     

    Virtual Book Club: April-May 2020

    The University of Miami Center for the Humanities is pleased to partner with the Universty of Colorado Boulder's Center for Humanities and the Arts in presenting a virtual book club, as part of the Humaniites at Home initiative.  For April and May of 2020, we will be discussing Ross Gay's essay collection, The Book of Delights (Algonquin Books 2019), which the jacket blurb describes as: 

     

    “one of today’s most original literary voices offers up a genre-defying volume of lyric essays written over one tumultuous year. The first nonfiction book from award-winning poet Ross Gay is a record of the small joys we often overlook in our busy lives. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical delights: a friend’s unabashed use of air quotes, cradling a tomato seedling aboard an airplane, the silent nod of acknowledgment between the only two black people in a room. But Gay never dismisses the complexities, even the terrors, of living in America as a black man or the ecological and psychic violence of our consumer culture or the loss of those he loves. More than anything else, though, Gay celebrates the beauty of the natural world—his garden, the flowers peeking out of the sidewalk, the hypnotic movements of a praying mantis.”

    Gay was also recently part of a This American Life episode on delight.

     

    How the Virtual Book Club works:

    Since the book is comprised as a series of 102 very short essays, we will divide the book into quarters so people can participate as they are able.  The suggested reading schedule is:

    • By April 17: Chapters 1-25
    • By April 24: Chapters 26-50
    • By May 1: Chapters 51-75
    • By May 8: Chapters 76 – 102

     

    If you are interested in participating, you'll be asked to complete a brief form (see below) and we will follow up with more detailed instructions by email.  There will be two main ways to participate: 

    1. We hope to offer 1-2 discussion sessions via Zoom.  These sessions will be led by UM faculty.  Those from the Boulder cohort may also choose to join these sessions and likewise, any Miami cohort partcipant may request to participate in the Boulder zoom meetings, although they are on a slightly different reading schedule.
    2. All participants will be given access to a "Slack workplace," a messaging platform that allows all readers to respond to specific discussion topics and to exchange thoughts and ideas. You can download the free Slack app here and watch a tutorial for those unfamiliar with using Slack.

     

    How to sign up:

    If you’d like to sign up, please complete this form. This virtual book club is open to anyone interested in participating, whether they are affiliated with CU Boulder or University of Miami, live in Colorado or Florida, or are somewhere in the world and want to join in a discussion of Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights.  You will have the option to indicate interest in the Slack messaging tool, the Miami cohort zoom meetings, or both.  Registrants will be emailed details on how to join the Zoom and Slack discussions.

    We encourage you to sign up by Friday, April 10 to stay on track with the reading schedule, but will accept new members through May 2020.  

     

    How to access the book:  

    Virtual Book Club: July-August 2020

    The University of Miami Center for the Humanities is pleased to present a Virtual Book Club alongside our partners at the Center for Humanities & the Arts at the Universty of Colorado Boudler, as part of the Humanities at Home initiative.  After a successful Virtual Book Club discussion of Ross Gay's The Book of Delights in spring 2020, we will continue the Virtual Book Club with a discussion of Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron in July 2020.

    The Decameron is one of the literary masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. It tells of ten wealthy Florentines, three men and seven women, who flee to the countryside to escape the Black Death and pass their time in quarantine by telling ten stories a day over the course of ten days. The introductory framework provides an unusually vivid picture of the impact of a premodern pandemic, which may be of particular interest, given the present COVID-19 pandemic. The stories abound in trickery, sex, love, piety, and impiety, and provide a humorous window into Renaissance culture. 

    How the Virtual Book Club works:

    The book is organized according to the number of days the characters spend telling stories.  Each day, the characters share their stories or "novels" to pass the time.  Although we encourage participants to read as much of the book as they'd like, the Zoom discussion at the end of July will focus on the following sections of the book:  

    • Proem (Introductory Section) 
    • First Day: Novels 1 and 2
    • Second Day: Novel 9
    • Third Day: Novel 4
    • Fourth Day: Novel 1
    • Fifth Day: Novel 3
    • Sixth Day: Novels 7 and 10
    • Seventh Day: Novel 5
    • Ninth Day: Novel 2

     

    If you are interested in participating, please register here by Friday, July 3rd to allow enough time to read the above sections (although we will accept new members through July 2020). 

    After registering, participants will then receive a follow-up email with more information, discussion questions, and links to the following Zoom discussions:

    Zoom Meeting 1:  The first discussion session will be scheduled for Thursday, July 16th at 7pm EST and will be an informal meeting where participants can "meet" each other and share initial reactions.  This session will not be facilitated by a group leader, but will allow for open and casual conversation.

    Zoom Meeting 2: The second and final discssion will be held on Thursday, July 30th at 7pm EST and will be led by Professor Hugh Thomas. 

    How to sign up:

    If you’d like to sign up, please complete this form. This virtual book club is open to anyone interested in participating, regarless of UM affiliation or location. 

    We encourage you to sign up by Friday, July 3rd to allow enough time to read the above sections, but we will accept new members throughout July 2020. 

    How to access the book:

    There are many translations of the book available and you are welcome to read any.  Professor Thomas will be using the J.M. Rigg translation, which you can access online here.  If you prefer to purchase a hard copy, we encourage you to consider using an independent book store, although copies are also avaialble through Amazon.

    Select Webinars and Virtual Events Archives

    • On Thursday April 23 from 4:00-5:00 PM EST, Floida International University's College of Arts, Sciences, and Education - with support from the Spencer Foundation - will be hosting an important webinar entitled “Supporting Online Learning for English Learners and Students with Limited Formal Education.” This webinar will be vital for anyone working with English learners during this time. Click here to register and contact Dr. Ryan Pontier at rpontier@fiu.edu for more details.  
    • On Friday, May 15 from 1:00-3:00 PM EST, the Medieval Academy of America presents a webinar: "The Mother of All Pandemics: The State of Black Death Research in the Era of Covid-19.  Panelists will discuss how work in genetics has transformed the kinds of questions that historians and researchers in allied fields can now ask about this pandemic. Please join for this important conversation as we seek to understand what the medieval epidemic can teach us about the causes of, societal response to, and economic recovery from COVID-19.  Learn more and access the zoom meeting here.  
    • On Friday, May 15th from 11am to 12pm, Dr. Joe Stoltz of the Fred W. Smith Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon present "FIU in DC: National Leadership in Times of Crisis: Historical Perspective."  Stoltz and Smith will explore how the role of the federal government during pandemics and other disasters has changed over the years.  Register here.  
    • On Thursday, June 11th at 4pm, the FIU Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment invite the public to attend "Black Humanity Matters: A Teach-In on the Crisis of Race in America."  The event, designed to amplify the voices of South Florida community members speaking out against racism, will feature mini lectures by scholars and activists from across the country. Join HERE.  If viewer capacity is reached on Zoom, you may also join the Livestream Simulcast on CHUE’s Facebook page.  
    • On Tuesday, August 18th at 4pm EST, FIU's Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment will present "Monumental: Flags, Statues, and the Politics of Public Space." This free event brings together perspectives from architecture and design, museum studies, history, photojournalism, African American studies, cultural studies, anthropology, and more, while taking us across the United States, the Caribbean, Brazil, and the UKJoin here via zoom or via their Facebook Page. 

     

    • The Chicago Humanities Festival is offering a variety of online programs, starting with "Krista Franklin and Nate MArshal on Black Futures" on Tuesday, September 8.  View the schedule, descriptions, and registration information here. 
    • On Wednesday, September 9 at 11:30am EST, you can join author, award-winning journalist, advocate and activist Maria Hinojosa as she discusses her new book, Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America.  Maria will provide insights into important issues related to social justice, women’s rights, immigration, health disparities, diversity and inclusion, and the current state of the country.  Register here.   
    • On Wednesday, September 23 at 2pm EST, Professor Rana Hogarth  (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign) discusses her research on the creation of ideas about racial difference in North America and the Caribbean as they emerged through the language of medicine and its allied fields. Her scholarship highlights how the professionalization of medicine and the production of scientific knowledge in the Americas was bound up with the making of race. Her session on "Medicalizing Blackness" is the final session of the "Plagues, Epidemics and Culture: Histories of Crisis and Care" series presented by the Institute for Humanities Research.  Learn more and register here. 
    • On Wednesday, September 30th at 4:00pm EST, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) will host "A Discussion on Race and Racisim."  Learn more and register here. 
    • On Wednesday, October 7th at 6pm, Florida Humanities presents "The Spanish American Pirates and Privateers Who Tried to Conquer Florida."  Learn more and regsister here. 
    • On Wednesday, October 14th at 6pm, Florida Humanities presents "Sacred Waters: Exploring the Protection of Florida’s Fluid Landscapes."  Learn more and register here. 
    • On Thursday, Octobober 15th at 6pm, Florida Humanities present "Florida Decides: A Conversation with Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee."  Learn more and register here. 
    • On Thursday, October 22 at 7pm EST, the Center for Humanities & the Arts at University of Colorado Boulder is screening the documentary FIRST VOTE and hosting a panel discussion with director Yi Chen and the four subjects of the film.  The event will be moderated by Professor Elizabeth Skewes, the Chair of Journalism at CU Boulder who will ask the panelists questions about voting and civic engagement to reinforce the importance of participating in US democracy through voting.  FIRST VOTE is a character-driven documentary film with unparalleled access to a diverse cross section of politically engaged Chinese Americans: a gun-toting Tea Party-favorite candidate courting GOP votes in the South; a podcaster in Ohio who became a citizen in order to vote for Trump; a progressive journalist confronting Chinese Americans for Trump after moving to a battleground state; and a University of North Carolina professor teaching about race and racism in the US.*** A vérité look at Chinese American electoral organizing in North Carolina and Ohio, the film weaves their stories from the presidential election of 2016 to the 2018 midterms, and explores the intersection of immigration, voting rights and racial justice. The film screening will begin at 5pm MT (7pm EST).  After the screening, a panel-style discussion will take place from 6-7pm MT (8-9pm EST). The Zoom link will be distributed the week of the event via email for those who register here.
    • On Tuesday, October 27th at 7pm EST, FIU's Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment for “Fake News: Objectivity, Subjectivity, and the Search for Truth."  A panel of journalists, media experts, and philosophers wade through meanings of truth, objectivity, subjectivity, and veracity in the context of big data, the news media, social media, education, and the self.  Join the webinar here.  
    • On Wednesday, November 11 at 7:30pm PST/10:30PM EST, Stephanie Jones-Rogers, Associate Professor of History at University of California, Berkeley, presents "Mistresses of the Market: White Women and the Nineteenth-Century Domestic Slave Trade."
    • On Thursday, November 12 at 6pm, Florida Humanities presents, "African American History IS American History."  Learn more and register.  
    • The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) recently presented “A Discussion on Race and Racism,” via Zoom webinar, co-moderated by ACLS President Joy Connolly and Alondra Nelson, President of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). Featured panelists were Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, and Director of the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project, and Bianca Williams, Associate Professor of Anthropology and faculty lead of the PublicsLab at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY).  Watch the recording here. 
    • Floria Humanities continues to offer a variety of virtual programming including "Reimagining Monuments: Contemporary Interventions in Public Space" on Saturday, January 23 at 11am. See the full schedule of events and register here.
    • Florida Humanities presents "Hidden History of Florida" on Monday January 25th at 6pm.  See the full schedule of events and register here. 
    • On Tuesday, January 26 at 4pm EST, join our friends at FIU’s Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment for “Shut Up and Play,” a discussion led by NFL player and activist, Ryan Russell, on the long history of racism in sports and sports culture in the US.  Learn more here. 
    • Florida Humanities presents "Strange Fruit in Florida," a discussion of Florida's painful history of racial violence, on Thursday, February 4th at 5pm.  See the full schedule of events and register here.