What’s Happening around Rutgers? February 2018

M.K. Asante, author of the critically acclaimed Buck: A Memoir, will present the Ida B. Wells-Barnett keynote lecture on February 1 as part of Rutgers–Camden's Black History Month celebration.

M.K. Asante, author of the critically acclaimed Buck: A Memoir, will present the Ida B. Wells-Barnett keynote lecture on February 1 as part of Rutgers–Camden’s Black History Month celebration.

Celebrate Black History Month at Rutgers–Camden

A series of activities will celebrate cultural diversity at Rutgers University–Camden throughout Black History Month in February.

Thursday, February 1 The Africana Studies Program will kick off Black History Month 2018 with a presentation by Sandra Turner-Barnes titled “Critical, Little Known Truths, Regarding African Enslavement within the State of New Jersey,” in the Multi-Purpose Room, located on the main level of the Campus Center. Turner-Barnes serves as executive director of the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission.

M.K. Asante, author of the critically acclaimed Buck: A Memoir, will present the Ida B. Wells-Barnett keynote lecture at 6 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room, located on the main level of the Campus Center. Asante is a bestselling author, award-winning filmmaker, recording artist, and professor whom CNN calls “a master storyteller and major creative force.” Registration is encouraged. For more information or to register, visit go.rutgers.edu/nd4842au

Sunday, February 11

The Black Catholics and Cultural Diversity Ministry will host the “Tri-State Catholic Gospel Concert featuring Choirs from Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey” at 3 p.m. in the Walter K. Gordon Theater, located in the Fine Arts Complex. To reserve a seat, visit rudioceseconcert.eventbrite.com or contact James Andrews at (856) 583-2907 or Rev. Richard Owens at (215) 587-3541.

Monday, February 12

The Africana Studies Program will host a screening and discussion of the film Timbuktu at 6 p.m. in the Viewing Room, located on the lower level of the Campus Center.

All events are free of charge and open to the public. For more information, visit the Camden News Now website.

Join the Graduate School of Education for the DeMarzo Lecture on Teaching Excellence on February 15.

Join the Graduate School of Education for the DeMarzo Lecture on Teaching Excellence on February 15.

Building a Coherent and Equitable System of Assessments in Science in a District: A Partnership Approach

Thursday, February 15
3:30–5:30 p.m.
Bloustein School, Rutgers–New Brunswick

The Graduate School of Education cordially invites you to the fifth annual DeMarzo Lecture Series on Teaching Excellence. This lecture series features outstanding scholars addressing a broad range of issues around teaching. Dr. William Penuel, professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder, will give this year’s lecture.

In this talk, Professor Penuel will describe the ongoing efforts of a research-practice partnership between Denver Public Schools and the University of Colorado Boulder to create a more coherent and equitable system of classroom and district-based assessments of students in science.

Seats are limited, so if you plan to attend, please visit the Graduate School of Education’s website to RSVP.

The 38th annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture will be held at Rutgers–Newark on February 17.

The 38th annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture will be held at Rutgers–Newark on February 17.

The Space Between the Notes: The Social Life of Music in Black History

Saturday, February 17
9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Paul Robeson Campus Center, Rutgers–Newark

The 38th entry in the Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series weaves together the academic and the artistic to explore the social roles of music in black history. Speakers and performers will delve into the history and current state of music in the black diaspora from a variety of angles. At a time when artistic production is so closely interwoven with Newark’s continued development, we seek to draw lessons from music’s history of helping imagine and create a more inclusive and just city, nation, and world. Together, the featured speakers and performers will offer a profound demonstration of music’s power to forge community, provide refuge in troubled times, and move us toward better futures. This year, we have an amazing lineup of speakers including: Stefon Harris, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Daphne Brooks, and performance by Alexis Jessica Morrast. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Newark College of Arts and Sciences website.

Douglass Library is the locus for the States of Incarceration conference, which starts on February 28 and draws in partners from across Rutgers–New Brunswick.

Douglass Library is the locus for the States of Incarceration conference, which starts on February 28 and draws in partners from across Rutgers–New Brunswick.

States of Incarceration Conference

Wednesday, February 28–March 2
Rutgers Cinema, Douglass Library
Rutgers–New Brunswick

States of Incarceration is an exhibition and series of programs created by over 500 students and community partners in 17 states, including participants from Rutgers University–New Brunswick and Rutgers University–Newark. The exhibit explores the roots of mass incarceration in the United States through local case studies and opens a dialogue on what must happen next.

Conference events and programming explore themes related to the different components of the States of Incarceration exhibit. In particular, they highlight subjects connected to the history of Seabrook Farms, the focus of Rutgers–New Brunswick students’ contribution to the exhibit.

A frozen-foods agribusiness in Cumberland County, New Jersey, during World War II Seabrook Farms recruited 2,500 incarcerated Japanese Americans released on parole from so-called internment camps in the western interior of the United States. Seabrook Farms would also employ guestworkers from the British West Indies, migrant workers from the United States South, Japanese Peruvians imprisoned by the United States, and, after the war, Estonian refugees from displaced persons camps in Germany.

Events and panels seek to explore not only the history of Seabrook Farms and Japanese Americans’ incarceration, but also the issues that agricultural workers—who are mainly immigrants—face today.

The schedule includes a screening/director Q&A of documentary film Resistance at Tule Lake; tours of the States of Incarceration exhibit; a production of the play The Castle; panel discussions on agricultural workers and incarceration; and a plenary by John Seabrook, grandson of the founder of Seabrook Farms.

The conference is free and open to the public. For more information or to register, visit the States of Incarceration website.

Matt Badessa