12th Annual Humanities Days

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Virtual
Host: Cinder Barnes|Cinder.Cooper@montgomerycollege.edu

Join Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Deidre Price, as she discusses her journey from English major to administrator and how the skills she learned in her humanities courses prepared her for roles in leadership. She will also discuss how the humanities can prepare students for any career they choose and to be active participants in civic life.

10:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. | Virtual
Host: Adam Reed|Adam.Reed@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Cinder Barnes

This session invites students, faculty, and staff to dive into an excerpt from Homer's Odyssey using inclusive close reading and dynamic discussion techniques. Participants will experience the power of group reading paired with proven comprehension strategies, followed by collaborative discussions designed to engage deeply with the text. By conversing with the text and with each other, you’ll unlock hidden meanings that shed light on our modern lives. Whether you're a student aiming to improve your literacy and discussion skills, or faculty seeking tips for engaging instructional strategies, this session offers valuable tools for enhancing text-based learning and fostering inclusive dialogue.

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Virtual
Host: Jeremy Lignelli|jeremy.lignelli@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Jamie Gillan

This presentation will explore how public speaking can be a transformative tool for building solidarity and fostering hope in periods of upheaval. Attendees will learn strategies for delivering messages that resonate deeply with audiences, inspire collective action, and promote a sense of community. The session will cover techniques for crafting impactful speeches, engaging listeners with empathy, and using rhetoric to address and overcome collective challenges.

11:00 a.m. - Noon | Virtual
Host: Joan Naake|joan.naake@montgomerycollege.edu

Physics and Engineering Professor Kedar Hardikar, Environmental Science Professor Mike McDavit, and English Professor Kateema Lee will read their poetry and discuss the cultural background in which their poetry was created.

11:00 a.m. - Noon | Virtual
Host: Dr. Tracey Smith-Bryant|Tracey.Smith-Bryant@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Cinder Cooper Barnes

Understanding and cultivating resilience is more crucial in a world marked by uncertainty—ranging from political tensions and global conflicts to the profound shifts brought about by the pandemic and technological advancements. This presentation will explore resilience as a core psychological principle that empowers individuals and communities to navigate adversity, foster sustainable well-being, and maintain hope during challenging times. By focusing on practical strategies from psychology, this discussion aims to provide insights into how resilience can help us actively participate in shaping a more hopeful future.

Noon - 12:30 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Dr. Carol Moore|Carol.Moore@montgomerycollege.edu

Take a few minutes out of your Monday to learn some mindful breathing techniques like the 4-7-8 Breath and Box Breathing. These simple exercises send a signal to the nervous system that calms the common “fight-flight-freeze” survival response and gives us space to return to a sense of self-presence. Deepen your experience of wellbeing just by noticing the life-giving breath that we share with all other animals on Earth.

Each day this week participants are invited to drop in for a brief introduction followed by a 15-20 minute mindfulness practice. No meditation experience required.

Video recording of the introductory remarksnew window

12:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Virtual and In-Person
Host: Heather Bruce Satrom|heather.satrom@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Tiffany Banks
Location: ignite Hub, Rockville Campus (map)

Students in English Language for Academic Purposes and in Communication Studies will share the stories of their first languages through Digital Stories. Learn about the rich linguistic diversity of MC students through narrative accounts of students’ maternal languages. Discover how multilingualism can uplift and unite us.

9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Virtual
Host: Dr. Carol Moore|Carol.Moore@montgomerycollege.edu

In this meditation, we consciously drop down out of the busy mind and turn inward to connect with our present moment experience as it unfolds in the direct sensations of the body. Inviting the attention to move systematically from one part of the body to another, we practice letting go and we strengthen our capacity for deep relaxation.

Each day this week participants are invited to drop in for a brief introduction followed by a 15-20 minute mindfulness practice. No meditation experience required.

Video recording of the PowerPoint slidesnew window
Audio recordings of the Body Scan meditation by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinnnew window
Audio recordings of the Body Scan meditation by Dr. Carol Moorenew window

11:00 a.m. - Noon | Virtual
Host: Tracie Babb|tracie.babb@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Shayla Atkins

Writing allows us to articulate complex feelings and thoughts, often leading to greater clarity and emotional relief. Techniques like stream-of-consciousness writing, journaling, and narrative therapy enable us to explore our experiences, unpack traumatic events, and construct coherent personal narratives. Writing can also promote mindfulness and enhance self-awareness. This presentation will explore writing therapy and the mechanisms through which writing facilitates healing, and it will identify best practices for integrating therapeutic writing into academic settings.

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Michael Petty|michael.petty@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Ryan Jones
Location: SV Lobby, Rockville Campus (map)

This event is an interactive tabling exhibit, that takes MC students, faculty and staff on a journey through the rich history, cultural significance, and future of lacrosse.

Hosted by ATPA Student Learning Community leader Ryan Jones and History of Sport professor Michael Petty, this activity is open to all but will specifically include Professor Petty’s History of Sport students as active participants.

Designed to offer a hands-on, immersive learning experience, this exhibit will feature 3 table exhibits dedicated to a unique aspect of the sport’s evolution (Native Origins, Olympic Dreams, and Breaking Barriers) and will include some small giveaways and snacks, as well as a fun photo opportunity to imagine oneself as a future Olympic athlete in Lacrosse.

2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Deborah Taylor|deborah.taylor@montgomerycollege.edu and Cinder Barnes|cinder.cooper@montgomerycollege.edu
Location: Cultural Arts Center Gallery (CU 105), TPSS Campus (map)

Miller will be reading from The Little Book of e.

E. Ethelbert Miller is an African-American poet, teacher, and literary activist, based in Washington, DC. He is the author of several collections of poetry and two memoirs, the editor of Poet Lore magazine, and the host of the weekly WPFW morning radio show On the Margin.

In The Little Book of e, poet E. Ethelbert Miller embraces the Japanese poetic form of haiku to comment on our contemporary world. Written during the pandemic, Miller’s poems follow in the tradition of Basho and Richard Wright. The Little Book of e is a collaboration with translator Rafi Ellenson. Haiku presented in English and Hebrew is symbolic of how language can bring people together. Miller and Ellenson have given us a book that shows how Black and Jewish relations can continue to be a beacon of hope. This book is filled with words that blossom like flowers.

5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Ken Jassie|Kenneth.Jassie@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Jamie Gillan

Participants explore the events of the Holocaust through the lens of media by examining propaganda deployed by the Nazis to discriminate against Jews and other minorities. (event flyer (PDF, ) )

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Virtual
Host: Jamie Gillan|Jamie.gillan@montgomerycollege.edu and Sarah Jewett
Co-Host: Florence Gadson
Panelists: 
Sarah Jewett (UMBC) 
Karen Sung (Loughborough University) 
Holly Turpin (Loughborough University), and 
Burcu Simsek (Hacettepe University)

This panel discussion will feature digital storytelling experts from across the globe. They will discuss how storytelling, especially digital storytelling, serves to unite us in our common humanity.

10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. | Virtual
Host: Dr. Carol Moore|Carol.Moore@montgomerycollege.ed

We all know what it feels like to be taken over by challenging emotions such as anxiety and anger, fueled by rumination about the past or the future – “If only…what if…?” Mindfulness meditation teaches us how to turn toward difficult thoughts and feelings – to “tend and befriend” them rather than push them away or be driven by them. Then we are freer to respond to trying situations with clarity, calm, courage, connectedness and compassion.

Each day this week participants are invited to drop in for a brief introduction followed by a 15-20 minute mindfulness practice. No meditation experience required.

Video recording of the introductory remarks new window

11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Michael Petty|michael.petty@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Om Rusten, Florence Gadson, Jamie Gillan, Ryan Jones
Location: SV Lobby, Rockville Campus (map) (This will be for the exhibit only, not the presentation)

This event is an interactive tabling exhibit, that takes MC students, faculty and staff on a journey through the rich history, cultural significance, and future of lacrosse.

Hosted by ATPA Student Learning Community leader Ryan Jones and History of Sport professor Michael Petty, this activity is open to all but will specifically include Professor Petty’s History of Sport students as active participants.

Designed to offer a hands-on, immersive learning experience, this exhibit will feature 3 table exhibits dedicated to a unique aspect of the sport’s evolution (Native Origins, Olympic Dreams, and Breaking Barriers) and include some small giveaways and snacks, as well as a fun photo opportunity to imagine oneself as a future Olympic athlete in Lacrosse.

11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Angela Lanier|angela.lanier@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Florence Gadson
Location: Campus Center Lobby, Rockville Campus (map)

Quilting has a long tradition of not only warming our bodies but also comforting our spirits. Participants are invited to write on fabric squares their response to the question: What do you do to uplift your spirit or unite with others in times of upheaval? The squares will be combined into a quilt, which will be shared later with the college community.

Noon - 1:00 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Elizabeth Benton|elizabeth.benton@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Michael LeBlanc

In a panel discussion, faculty advisors, student editors, and contributors describe their lived experiences as students and faculty members involved in Montgomery College’s scholarly publication teams. This panel will explore process, meaning-making, sense of community, and joy that they experience from contributing to a journal.

Noon - 1:30 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Maria Sprehn|Maria.Sprehn@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Ron Nunn
Location: Driving Range, Germantown Campus (map)

The ancient spear (atlatl) throwing context will be held outdoors on the Germantown campus where students and faculty will be able to learn and then compete in this ancient skill. Anthropology Professor Nunn will be guiding participants in how to throw this spear that can send darts more than 100 yards and over 80 miles an hour.

Wednesday, October 23 – Friday, October 25 | In-Person
Artist: Jennifer Baugh|jennifer.baugh@montgomerycollege.edu 
Location: Humanities Building Ampitheater, Rockville Campus (map)

Labyrinths are used world-wide as a way to quiet the mind, calm anxieties, recover balance in life, enhance creativity and encourage meditation, insight, self-reflection and stress reduction. The practice of labyrinth walking integrates the body with the mind and spirit. On Thursday, October 24th, community, students, staff, and faculty will be invited to take a bag of their choice with a labyrinth offering when the installation is disassembled.

1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Wyckham Avery|Wyckham.Avery@montgomerycollege.edu

A panel of nonbinary/gender nonconforming staff, faculty, and students guided by a moderator answering questions about their experiences.

2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Jenn Todd Lavanish
Co-Host: Jennifer Baugh|jennifer.baugh@montgomerycollege.edu 
Location: MU 124, Rockville Campus (map)

This one-day drawing workshop teaches you the process and beauty of creating your own meditative mandalas. Enjoy making your own personal sacred circles and mindfully discover this ancient practice while learning basics in radial symmetry drafting techniques and drawing in the round using creative Zen pattern techniques. This is a process-oriented class, and you get to sample several ways to create your own beautiful mandalas using a variety of drawing supplies and surfaces.

Mandala art supplies provided for workshop with capacity for up to 50 attendees.

Mandala Making Workshop Handout (PDF, )

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Michelle Moran|michelle.moran@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Florence Gadson

This event will consist of a panel of student presenters discussing their experiences as Library of Congress interns, with a focus on their own interdisciplinary research projects. The moderator of the panel will be the coordinator of the Paul Peck Humanities Internship program.

9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Virtual
Host: Dr. Carol Moore|Carol.Moore@montgomerycollege.edu

Author and meditation teacher Rick Hanson says our brains are “Teflon for the good and Velcro for the bad.” We have a built-in negativity bias from millions of years of being hypervigilant about potential dangers. But thanks to neuro- plasticity (the brain’s innate capacity to change itself), we now know we can cultivate a “positivity bias.” Whatever we practice gets stronger. Today’s meditation draws on images from nature, inviting us to “install” experiences that promote wellbeing and joy. No meditation experience required.

Video recording of that introductory part of the sessionnew window

11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Daniel Jenkins|daniel.jenkins2@montgomerycollege.edu
Location: CM 211, TPSS Campus (map)

Students will submit entries to the Ethics Essay Contest. The winner of the contest will be announced at this event and will be invited to discuss their work. There will also be a broader discussion of ethical issues surrounding the use of AI, facilitated by Dr. Elissa Redmiles of Georgetown University.

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Tara Tetrault|Tara.Tetrault@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Gadis Effendi and Suzanne Johnson
Location: Theater 2, TPSS Campus (map)

A panel discussion on the history of Sugarland, Sugarland women, and the archaeological findings at the Dorsey Site.

11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Stacey Peterson|Stacey.Peterson@montgomerycollege.edu
Location: ST Lobby, TPSS Campus (map)

Sidewalk Talk is an international nonprofit organization that provides heart centered, judgment free listening to passersby. People are welcome to share their thoughts in a safe, compassionate environment, knowing that the information won’t be shared outside of the encounter. It promotes inclusion, compassion, active listening skills and empathy. This is an in-person event.

11.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. | Virtual and In-Person
Host: Dr. Christiana Okechukwu|Christiana.Okechukwu@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Maria Giuliana Santucci Rubio
Location: CS 21, Rockville Campus (map)

A group of ELAI 990 Students will use one folktale provided to them to make connections with classmates by examining the spoken and the unspoken mores in the story provided. In the project the students are working on, the students seek cultural relationships in worldviews as gathered from their indigenous folktales that resonate in the provided folktale sample they are given. Through the examination of the provided folktale, the students will assess assumptions and probe the stereotypes that alienate people from other cultures, and which tend to be the root cause of some upheavals in society.

11 a.m. - Noon | Virtual and In-Person
Host: Sadi Ahmad|sadi.ahmad@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Sovaida Maani
Location: CU 105, TPSS Campus (map)

The world is hit by a number of crises, chief amongst them are wars that are tearing apart society in many regions of the world: Tigray, the DRC, Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, and Gaza to name but a few. This state of affairs is becoming increasingly untenable: What, in former times, passed for local or regional wars are now generating global crises that affect us all. They include the food and energy crises, inflation, and the risk of another world war or a nuclear war. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that humanity will not be able to tackle its other global challenges, like climate change and poverty effectively, until we have global peace and security. It is, therefore, essential that we start building a global system of collective security to ensure that these disastrous wars are averted early before they disrupt international peace and security. Join me in exploring some ground-breaking ideas for what such a system would look like and how we can get there.

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Greg Wahl|gregory.wahl@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: Michael LeBlanc

A celebration of poetry in the Sligo Journal, the award-winning arts and letters journal of Montgomery College’s Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus. Poets published in the Sligo Journal and Montgomery College students will read poems from the journal, observe how poetry can serve in composition assignments, and discuss how poetry can uplift and unite us in times of upheaval.

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Sonia Pruitt|Sonia.Pruitt@montgomerycollege.edu
Co-Host: George Rice

A panel discussion on Montgomery College’s Community-Informed Policing Program will explain aspects of the program and the importance of such efforts for the MC and broader community.

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Rachel E. Sullivan|Rachel.Sullivan@montgomerycollege.edu
Location: BE 151, Germantown Campus (map)

This lecture will include a discussion of the confusion that many have over the definitions of social classes in contemporary American culture and describe how better understandings of social classes can be used to create a fairer and more equitable society.

7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Jona Colson|Jona.Colson@montgomerycollege.edu

This panel brings together three MC faculty professors and poets to discuss the transformative power of poetry in addressing and reflecting on societal upheaval. Jona Colson, Kateema Lee, and Heather Bruce Satrom will share their insights into how poetry can serve as a voice for those navigating the challenges of our time—ranging from political and social unrest to the impacts of technology and the post-pandemic world. Through readings, discussions, and workshops, we will explore how poetry fosters empathy, understanding, and solidarity, and how it can contribute to constructive dialogue and collective healing in our communities.

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. | Virtual and In-Person
Host: Cassandra Lawrence
Co-Host: Cinder Barnes|cinder.cooper@montgomerycollege.edu and Jamie Gillan|Jamie.gillan@montgomerycollege.edu
Location: SW 301, Rockville Campus (map)

This Humanities Day keynote event was a conversation and workshop on the skills needed to build belonging for just futures. We explored our stories of belonging and exclusion to learn how these experiences can help us build a campus and community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. The program was to be facilitated by Cassandra Lawrence, a trained mediator, dialogue facilitator, and interfaith and racial justice community organizer and Director of Strategic Communications for the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign: Standing with American Muslims, Advancing American Ideals, a national multifaith coalition dedicated to countering and preventing anti-Muslim discrimination in the United States. Rev. Cassandra Lawrence is the Director of Strategic Communications at the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, a multifaith coalition countering anti-Muslim discrimination to equip and engage religious communities beyond the Muslim community to counter anti-Muslim discrimination and violence.

11:00 a.m. - Noon | Virtual and In-Person
Host: Sunil Dasgupta and Andrew Nolan
Co-Host: Joseph Stumpf|Joseph.Stumpf@montgomerycollege.edu 
Location: SC 152, Rockville Campus (map)

George Washington started a trend—he didn’t want Political parties, and many Americans have since agreed with him. So why are they still around—and perhaps enjoying a resurgence? Do strong political parties help or hurt political division? Come join Sunil Dasgupta and Andrew Nolan, the UMBC Political Science and History Program Directors at the Universities at Shady Grove, for a discussion of why people have strong feelings about Political Parties and how they have channeled political mobilization.

1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | Virtual and In-Person
Host: Chip Gladson|Chip.Gladson@montgomerycollege.edu 
Co-Host: Megan Howard
Location: ignite Hub, Rockville Campus (map)

Storytelling fosters empathy and understanding, preserves our shared knowledge and traditions, and unites us across differences. Storytelling is central to emotional and psychological healing. Stories inspire us. In the case of Scheherazade, storytelling may even save a life. Join the Fall 2024 Digital Storytelling Interns to discover how digital stories can bring us together and help us better understand our place in the world.

3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Dr. Carol Moore|Carol.Moore@montgomerycollege.edu

We end the week with a classic practice called “Metta” or “Lovingkindness.” In this meditation, we silently repeat phrases that incline our hearts toward greater compassion for ourselves and all others. No meditation experience required.

Video recording of that introductory part of the sessionnew window