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It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
-e.e.cummings
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September 2021
Directors Note: Welcome Back...in 3-D!!
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Welcome to the new year!
Like most of us in The DC, I started at Williams under COVID and spent last year getting to know everyone via zoom. But oh what a difference a year makes! Walking around campus and seeing so many people in one place, connecting with some for the first time in 3-D, holding in person meetings, and continuing to do what we can to stay safe. I feel like a first year trying to figure out my way around!
There are still multiple pandemics in need of heightened awareness and justice. The DC will continue our mission to educate, lead, and support; working towards building and sustaining a welcoming and inclusive environment..
In addition to this time being the start of a new academic year, it is also a new year for my Jewish peeps who just celebrated Rosh Hashanah and will soon atone during Yom Kippur. Sukkot follows in a week. September 10th is also the start of Ganesh Chaturthi, a holiday celebrating Ganesh, the Hindu God of new beginnings, overcoming obstacles, wisdom, and intelligence. All celebrations that help us to reflect.
September is a month full of celebration and invitations to learn more about diverse groups. September 8th was Native Women’s Equal Pay Day, September 15th marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, and September 20th is International Equal Pay day.
In this month’s newsletter, we re-introduce you to The DC, recommend a film, music, self-care, and to photograph the beauty around you! We also let you know about some of the great events on and around campus. Stay tuned for MinCo events!
Read on!
Best,
Eden-Reneé Hayes
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Meet the Davis Center Team | |
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Director of
the Davis Center
Dr. Eden-Reneé Hayes
Hi Friends!
I'm Eden-Reneé!! Although I have only been at Williams for one year, I have lived in the Berkshires for twelve. I went to Tulane for a Ph.D. in Social Psychology, and did a National Science Foundation funded post doctoral fellowship at The Pennsylvania State University. I'm looking forward to using my education and passion for social justice as Director of the Davis Center!
I'm very excited to work alongside my comrades in the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in continuing to develop and sustain a welcoming environment at Williams. I hope to have an opportunity to say hello to everyone and be another voice to remind you that you belong here.
In my spare time you can find me centering the experience of marginalized communities in the Berkshire Community. I'm also really into self-care. Life can be hard, especially under the multiple pandemics we are in. I hope to encourage everyone to develop their self-care practice. Check out my column below!
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Assistant Director for Intergroup Relations & Inclusive Programming
Aseel Abulhab
Hi all!
My name is Aseel (she/her), and I'm Williams Class of 2015. I was born and raised in metro-Detroit to Iraqi Muslim immigrant parents.
As a first-generation college student, I majored in History/International (now called Global) Studies, and I studied abroad in London. After graduation, I did a Watson Fellowship and a Fulbright to Jordan, where I explored Deafness and access (this is still so important to me, and would love to chat with anyone else who shares this interest and/or wants to learn American Sign Language!).
Just before coming back to Williams in this role, I did a Master's in Social Work, and am using that knowledge to inform conversations around mental health and systemic issues in our community. I am so grateful to be back at the DC; happy first week of classes!
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Associate Director of Inclusive Learning Environments
Dr. Aly W. Corey
Hi!
I’m Aly, the new Associate Director for Inclusive Learning Environments at the Davis Center. Before coming to Williams, I was a faculty member in the History & Literature program at Harvard. I taught courses in ethnic studies and gender studies while also chairing the program’s Committee on Accessibility and Inclusion. I’m so excited to be expanding my advocacy for accessible and equitable learning environments in my new role at Williams!
A bit about me: I grew up in Boston, studied music at the University of Chicago, and earned a PhD in English at the University of Colorado Boulder. Academia isn’t everything, though! I’ve also worked in the outdoor industry, as a labor organizer, and as a high school teacher for neurodivergent students.
During the summer I spent my time trying to perfect my baguette-shaping skills, refusing to cross picket lines, and getting outside with my family.
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Dialogue Facilitator
Drea Finley
Warmest Greetings:
I joined the Williams
community in April 2020, as the college's inaugural Dialogue Facilitator.
Born and raised in Buffalo NY, I am a first generation scholar who has committed my life's work to providing access to underrepresented identities within higher education.
As a spoken word artist and community organizer, I am deeply attracted to building robust communities with an organic sense of realness.
My scholarship works to interrogate the intersections of race, class, gender, spirituality and sexuality.
In my spare time, you can catch me playing some smooth chords, as I am also a jazz pianist.
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Assistant Vice President for Campus Engagement
Dr. Bilal W. Ansari
Welcome Class of 2025 and welcome back Williams students.
My name is Bilal Ansari and I am Assistant Vice Presidents for Campus Engagement.
There is no greater joy of mine in this role beyond being an Advisor to multiple MinCo groups, especially during this double pandemic time of COVID and Anti-Black racism in America.
Please reach out to me at ba3@williams.edu if you are interested in getting involved in Anti-Black racism campaigns or wish to discuss community organizing/social justice activism on and off campus.
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Program Coordinator
Nat Montoya-Barnes
Hi Friends!
I grew up in the deepest of Deep Southern communities and it affected me...deeply. As a a "major tomboy"/ mixed-race individual who fit into exactly zero molds growing up, I have always embraced my differentness as a huge part of what makes "me," ME. I'm the sore thumb and I wouldn't want it any other way. As a college professor said to me once, "I work so hard to get students to think outside of a box, but sometimes I wish you were near a box."
My path to Williams is undoubtedly different than most: I was the opposite of a good student or exemplar at anything growing up--in fact I barely graduated high school. Once I figured out that teachers and schools weren't inherently evil, I dedicated myself to being the excellent student I was NOT growing up. I graduated with high Latin honors, all while working full time (and having a family, too!): but I did that for ME--not my parents, not the school: ME. I needed to show myself that I was worth it.
I work REALLY hard because working and doing a good job, KINDLY, is basically part of my spiritual practice. I'm here to do my best for my community and I can't wait to see what that means.
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2021-2022 DC Faculty Fellows | |
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Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Faculty Affiliate in Comparative Literature, Faculty Fellow of the Davis Center and the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Dr. Rashida K. Braggs
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Associate Professor of Mathematics, Faculty Fellow of the Davis Center and the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Dr. Pamela E. Harris
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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 newsletter, I will share content 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!
This week, I'd like to introduce you to the film "CODA." CODA stands for Child of D/deaf Adults, and the movie follows Ruby, the only hearing member of a deaf family from Gloucester, Massachusetts. In joining her high school's choir club, Ruby finds herself drawn to both her duet partner and her latent passion for singing. Here the stars of the movie discuss representing the Deaf experience. Enjoy!
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Greetings, Ephs! I’m Aly, the Associate Director of the Davis Center. This is my column about issues of identity and power in U.S. musical culture.
The Labor Day holiday has me thinking about how professional musicians are not only artists--they’re also workers. One of my favorite books about this topic is Ingrid Monson’s Freedom Sounds: Civil Rights Call Out to Jazz and Africa (available at the library!). I love how Monson connects struggles for more equitable workplaces to the broader civil rights movement.
My favorite chapter is about the desegregation of musicians’ unions in the 1950s and 1960s. Monson shows how Black union members focused intently on improving economic opportunity and their working conditions. However, white union musicians were often less focused on building more equitable working conditions, even if they supported integration. Instead, they often prioritized what they understood to be the artistic and moral merits of desegregation. It was a conflict that integration alone could not resolve, and it’s a reminder that the long conversation about race and music in the US has always been as much about labor as it has been about artistic expression.
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We have gone through a tough year, and the “new normal” isn’t quite settled in...or decided for that matter. One thing we can do is reclaim time for self care so that we are doing what we can for our own happiness and well-being.
Happiness seems elusive, but it doesn't have to be!! One way to grasp happiness is to do something positive, on purpose. So, every month, I’ll post a self-care “challenge”. Each exercise will be simple and (usually) take 15 minutes or less and can be done at any convenient time. You can do as many or as few of the practices as you like. If you have time, consider going deeper and learning more about the suggested practice.
This month, I am recommending the 4-7-8 breathing method!
We usually don’t pay much attention to our breathing, but when we do, we can take that needed pause and slow down for a moment. Doing so can reduce the stress response, which can become overactive as we encounter day-to-day pressures, ultimately leaving our health to pay the price. Focused breathing is an act of mindfulness that can reduce anxiety, improve sleep, and help us to deal with life.
With 4-7-8 method, you
- Position your tongue behind your upper teeth
- Inhale to a slow count of four
- Hold your breath for seven seconds
- Exhale for eight (go ahead, make a whoosh sound!)
Repeat three more times (four breaths total). Easy peasy!
A slice of relaxation in under two minutes! Give it a try!!
Want to go deeper? Try doing the 4-7-8 method at least once a day, whether you feel stressed in the moment or not, and journal about how it makes you feel. Look back after a week or two and see if there is a trend! You can also go deeper by learning about other Pranayama techniques and seeing what might resonate with you!
Want to learn more? This article explains more about the 4-7-8 method and its benefits.
Want to talk about it? I’d be happy to talk! Just email me!!
Be Well,
Eden-Reneé
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I have a challenge for you this year: look at the world around you as if you were a tourist. Go to those places that "everyone," goes and you somehow never did, you know, because that's what everyone does, and find out why that's what everyone does--perhaps there's a very cool experience hidden in plain sight that will enrich your life: you'll never know!
But beyond going and exploring the less familiar-familiar places, I hope you begin to look at your world with fresh eyes. Notice how the light affects a place, think about how if you'd arrived another time or another date how you might now have gotten the opportunity to see it look so beautiful. Take pictures of that unique phenomenon, even if it's otherwise just a bit of mundane life. Take pictures like a tourist--you never know what life has put its sleeves, even the mundane stuff you don't even notice isn't promised to remain how you remember it--and it might even go away.
I'm fairly infamous among my community for taking a hilarious amount of photographs: easily in the tens of thousands each year, I'm dedicated to documenting what deserves appreciation--especially the 'boring' or 'ugly,' stuff. There's beauty in everything, if you're willing to change perspective or think of the ephemeral, temporal nature of life.
So get out there and take a zillion pictures--share with people that moment when the ice crystals on the trees made the world shimmer or how the alpine glow of late afternoon makes the mountain glow red, get out early in the morning while the dew and mist dances along the slopes of the mountains; take a picture of your loved ones being happy. And share.
Our world is beautiful: appreciate it and help others see why YOUR world is a beautiful place.
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Community Engagement Fellows (CEF) | |
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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. In next month's newsletter, we will have a chance to meet the 2021-2022 Community Engagement Fellows!
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EVENTS•OPPORTUNITIES•RESOURCES | |
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DC SOCIAL CHANGE FILM SERIES
2021-2022
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SALT OF THE EARTH
Talkback with Dr. Matt Gonzalez
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Tuesday, October 5, 2021 at 7:30 PM
•FREE!•IN PERSON•
Images Cinema •Spring Street•Williamstown, MA
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Images & The Chaplain’s Office presents "Man On Wire" in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 Attacks
Sat, September 11th, 2021
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm
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Let's Get Together! 09-14-2021 6:30-8:30pm
Rain or shine--it's time to have an in-person Block Party again! So meet the DC team, student leaders, and other amazing community assets who are dedicated to creating a more just, equitable, accessible and loving world for all.
Meet folk and play a rousing game of "human bingo," create beautiful art, enjoy a hamburger or perhaps some saag panner--a variety of food will be available in hopes one discovers some new favorite local spots to dine. During the party, Chris Biggz of Klipper Kingz barbershop will be offering up some of the tightest fades or at least get you that lil' trim you needed. Students, faculty, staff--you're all welcome! We can't wait to see you!
It's a short, but sweet little block party--6:30pm-8:30 pm on Tuesday the 14th of September!
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Stay tuned for more information about our next Lunch & Learn, which will be held on Thursday October 6 from 12-1.
Questions or suggestions? Write Aly!
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Berkshires As Living Laboratory
Interested in Diversity & Inclusion in the Outdoors?
Berkshires as Living Laboratory aims to increase inclusion and accessibility to natural and cultural resources. Please join these artists -and scientist- led programs to experience new perspectives on the histories, current conditions, and barriers to inclusion. Imagine possible futures along BNRC trails.
BNRC is partnering with CALL/City as Living Laboratory, the Berkshire Museum, and several community stakeholders: Living the Change, Word X Word, NAACP, Berkshire Environmental Action Team (B.E.A.T.), Manos Unidas, to launch Berkshires as Living Laboratory. education, and outdoor recreation initiatives.
Join the Berkshire Natural resources Council on Sunday, October 3, and Sunday, October 9
If MinCo groups/students are interested in participating, please reach out to NRM4 to see about ride arrangements and to see if there's more learning opportunities available--including getting the speakers or performers up to campus. Let's see what we can do! The Davis Center's here to "make it happen!"
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AMAZING INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY:
Stockbridge-Munsee Community- Tribal Historic Preservation Office
The Stockbridge-Munsee Community hosts two interns each semester in partnership with the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. These are valuable opportunities to benefit the efforts of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community in amplifying its cultural heritage and representation efforts in its homelands and to learn and engage with local indigenous history and contemporary Native cultural heritage issues. Learn more about these opportunities!
“This experience was a great example of using the field of historic preservation for resistance and empowerment.”—Trudy Fadding, ’23, Winter and Spring 2021 Intern
Read about the internship experience of Meadhbh Ginnane ’21, who successfully assisted the Community in repatriating the leggings of Mohican Sachem John W. Quinney.
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Deaf Culture Training
The Office of Accessible Education is now offering the second Deaf Culture Training Session on Monday, September 13th from 12:00 to 1:00pm. This session is a shorter version of the first training and will not be as in-depth. If you are not able to attend this session and missed the first session as well, please email Jean Grant (jmg4) and your email address will be added to a list to access the recordings.
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The Zilkha Center is hiring student interns and EcoAdvisors!
The Zilkha Center is hiring (paid!) student interns and EcoAdvisors for the 2021-2022 school year! Positions range from zero waste, to communications, to gardening, and beyond. Applications are due September 15th @11:59pm, so apply now!
Open positions include, but are not limited to:
Visit our internship listing to learn more and apply! If you have any questions, please reach out to zilkhacenter@williams.edu .
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Artist Talk with Christine Sun Kim
WITH WILLIAMS COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART
September 23, begins at 12 o'clock noon
Berlin-based artist Christine Sun Kim discusses her wide-ranging practice around sound and language. Her work reflects on her experiences as part of the Deaf community and comments on the visual representation of sound, alongside its social and political operations, using performance, video, drawing, writing, and technology. This talk is presented in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition Sweaty Concepts, which includes work by Kim from the Williams College Museum of Art's collection. The talk will be presented with ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation.
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Thursday, September 30, 7:00pm | |
“It wasn't until I began to see my own trauma as a creation myth that I could truthfully begin to heal. A myth is only a myth after all. It is not set in stone. It was truth, but shouldn't be truth forever...The myth can change.”
― Javier Zamora
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This fall we are so excited to present A CROSSING: A DANCE MUSICAL, led by Broadway's Joshua Bergasse (On The Town, SMASH, etc) and Alberto Lopez (Artistic Director of the Calpulli Mexican Dance Company). The show runs Sept 23–Oct 17 at our Boyd–Quinson Stage in Pittsfield, MA.
Pulsing with energy and emotional intensity, this story about a group of migrants crossing the southern border is raw, visceral and electrifying — demonstrating the personal impact of crossing an “invisible line.” The group faces many dangers, including the coyote — a human smuggler. This new dance musical ingeniously combines compelling lyrics, athletic choreography and elements of Mexican folk music to tell a remarkable tale of courage, fear and struggle.
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The Festival Latino of the Berkshires is celebrating its 25th anniversary!
Saturday, September 25th, 2021, from 12:00pm to 6:00pm, rain or shine, at Green Park (behind the Town Hall) & Saint James Place on Main Street in Great Barrington, MA.
There will be Latin American folkloric dance companies and live music performances, language, dance, and cultural education activities, artisans, and a variety of Latin cuisine vendors. The Festival Latino of the Berkshires has been known for its high-quality performances and community spirit. It has created a legacy with the purpose of enjoying and celebrating the diversity of Hispanic Heritage and Culture in the Berkshires. It is free of charge, alcohol-free, and open to the public. The Festival Latino invites families, students, and community members near and far to join in on this special celebration, revive our spirits, and share in this cultural experience. The Festival Latino is committed to maintaining public health and following all Covid-19 safety guidelines as recommended by the CDC.
For further information, please visit our Facebook https://www.facebook.com/festivallatinooftheberkshires// or our website: www.festivallatino.org.
Questions? Please contact, Liliana Ortiz-Bermúdez at 413-717-1096 or Erika Wainwright Vélez at 413-854-5419.
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Integrative Wellness Services (IWS) | |
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The Davis Center at Williams College
10 Jenness Drive
Williamstown, MA 01267
davs-center.williams.edu
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