"I heard a bird sing in the dark of December. A magical thing. And sweet to remember. We are nearer to Spring than we were in September. I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.”-Oliver Herford | |
|
December 2021
Directors Note:
| |
|
Last month marked two of the few victories we have seen in justice. The three men who killed Ahmaud aubrey were convicted of their crime, and a jury in Virginia found the leaders of a White supremacist rally liable for the violence that ensued. As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” We are seeing some of that justice, but there is still much farther to go. Let’s keep working.
This month is Universal Human Rights Month with December 10th specifically being International Human Rights Day. Take some time to learn more about what you can be doing to lower barriers to basic human rights for marginalized groups.
Still, in our work as humans, we also need to spend some time celebrating. December 25th marks Christmas Day, December 26-January 1 is the week of Kwanzaa, and the ball drops on the new year as December comes to a close. Spread some holiday cheer by giving back in a way that resonates with you and your family.
In this month’s Newsletter, we share what our CEFs are up to, invite you to learn more about a diversity of interests, and let you know what is happening on and off campus.
Read on!
Eden-Reneé
| | | |
Community Engagement Fellows (CEF) | |
|
The DC Community Engagement Fellows are a Davis Center-trained, peer-to-peer diversity education, and mentoring group. Trained extensively by The Davis Center team, Community Engagement Fellows work closely with The DC Team and are part of The Davis Center’s effort to provide education for the campus on issues of identity, power, and privilege in order to build a more inclusive community. Community Engagement Fellows co-facilitate workshops, hold office hours, form partnerships across the campus, and work on independent capstone projects. Each month we will highlight a couple of the amazing CEF's that the DC has been fortunate enough to get to work with.
| |
CEF-curated programming:
free and open to the campus community!
| |
|
Let's Breathe!
Devika invites all to join on Mondays and Thursdays in the Hardy House for a hot cup of tea and meditative tranquility! The end of the year, and the end of a semester, is a hectic time: take a moment and learn some new strategies to help you remain centered, mindful and more relaxed.
Mondays 8p-9p
Thursdays 5p-6p
Warm tea and warmer guidance supplied. This program is open to students, staff and faculty.
Available until December 16.
| |
|
Tina is hosting mindfulness watercolors on Saturdays from 3pm to 5 pm. All supplies are provided so grab a snack and forget about school for a little bit.
Tina will help teach new techniques for mindfulness and to up your watercolor game!
DROP IN: come when you want, leave when you want!
Available until December 12
| |
|
As the vigors of the semester take ahold of our lives, know that Jahnavi welcomes you to the Jenness House every Wednesday from 3-5 p.m.
Come for a few minutes or stay the whole time. There are a variety of coloring books and high quality coloring supplies.
Stay for as long as you want!
Available until December 15.
| |
|
Dear Davis Center Times Readership,
My name is Aseel Abulhab, and I'm the Assistant Director of the DC. Welcome to Williams Signs! I discovered a passion for sign language and working with the D/deaf community at the end of high school, and have since had the opportunity to finish a complete course in ASL, attend a summer course at Gallaudet University, and undertake two international fellowships devoted to deaf access to education. Each month, I will share related to sign language and/or D/deaf culture. If you have any additional questions or want to engage on the subject, please reach out to me at aa9. Happy signing!
As we wind down this semester, check out Lifeprint, a fantastic free resource for learning American Sign Language. Dr. Bill Vicars created and manages the website and its content. If you have some extra time this break, take the opportunity to learn a few signs and phrases!
Make sure to take care of yourself and each other as we move through finals, and have a restful and rejuvenating break and happy new year!
| | |
|
Greetings, Ephs! I’m Aly, the Associate Director of the Davis Center. Each month I write a little about issues of identity and power in U.S. Musical Culture.
Last month I suggested listening to a live performance of Aretha Franklin’s “Dr. Feelgood” from 1971. If you haven’t listened, I suggest checking it out! And if you have listened, why not listen again? But this month, I want to suggest watching a very short New York Public Library oral history interview with jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. Tyner talks about his relationship with the piano and the way he experiments as an improviser, trying to come up with new sounds from the instrument. Even if you’re not a pianist, I encourage you to find a piano sometime and tinker around with it, seeing what sounds you can pull out of it, as a way to give yourself a bit of a break during these last weeks of the semester! You might not be able to play like Tyner does on this live recording of “In A Sentimental Mood,” but you might find some sounds that move you somehow!
| | |
|
As much as I champion self-care...sometimes I suck at it. I forget to prioritize myself and have to figure out how to regroup and recommit. So as we continue forward in a busy month for both work and personal needs, let’s ensure that we have set aside time for self care. Go ahead, pause right here and take out (or toggle to) your planner. Now that you are there, where can you schedule at least five minutes of self care a few days a week? Packed schedule? No problem! Consider those times where you can sneak in self-care without much planning. Standing in line? Try a meditative (open eyed) body scan. Just got a few minutes back from a meeting ending early? Take a deep breath and try a few stretches. Just do what you can when you can, but do it intentionally.
Want to go deeper? Try to get in five minutes of self care every day this month!
Want to learn more? Here’s a list of quick self care options (10 minutes or less!).
Want to talk about it? I’d be happy to chat! Here’s the office hour calendar for The DC Team! Also consider creating your own self-care check in group.
Be Well,
Eden-Reneé
| | |
|
Getting outside, breathing fresh air, creating your own sun-food (vitamin D--you magnificent heliotropic being, you!) and observing little bits of natural beauty should all be more than enough reason to get out in December--but what if you could serve the scientific and ecological community as well? WIN WIN WIN, yes? Well have I got great news for you: get outside for the century-old Audubon Bird Count! Whether you're in a city or the country, up north or down south--this program is for everybody, everywhere.
Click here to read more about how to participate in this free--and important--scientific study that also looks a lot like a great excuse to get outside and enjoy your beautiful world.
Happy birding and thank you for your contribution to science and conservation! You're part of a long legacy of citizen science and conservation.
Below, is a video about the history of this tradition--which. is now going into its 121st year and has been quintessential to understanding the effects of climate change on natural populations.
|  | | |
EVENTS•OPPORTUNITIES•RESOURCES | |
Dively Committee seeking members
Are you interested in supporting LGBTQ+ life on the Williams campus? The Dively Committee for Human Sexuality and Diversity is seeking new members. The Dively Committee plans events such as Rainbow Graduation, co-sponsors events that address questions of gender and sexuality, and funds summer opportunity grants. The committee is open to faculty, staff, and students, and we’d love to meet you! If you are interested, please reach out to Aly Corey (awc5) for more information.
| | |
Muh-he-con-ne-ok:
The People of the Waters That Are Never Still
On through January 9, 2022
Following the symbolic pathway of water throughout the exhibition, visitors will develop new insights into the history and culture of this Berkshire County Indigenous community through objects from the Berkshire Museum collection and those of partner institutions, contemporary oral histories and historical profiles of members of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, timelines, and more. As they travel through the galleries, museum patrons will trace the journey of this region’s first residents from their lands that stretched from the Hudson River Valley to Berkshire County, through forced removal from these lands by white colonizers, to their current home in Wisconsin. Along the way, visitors will explore historical and current-day topics, discover actions they can take to be better allies to Indigenous people worldwide, and unlearn harmful misconceptions and stereotypes.
| | |
Integrative Wellness Services (IWS) | |
|
The Davis Center at Williams College
10 Jenness Drive
Williamstown, MA 01267
davs-center.williams.edu
| |
| | | |
