Join us at the (Re)Telling Conference
On Friday, June 7, 2024, the Roger Williams University Public Humanities and Arts Collaborative (The Co-Lab) will host (Re)Telling: Crafting New Stories of Race and Place in Southern New England at the Providence Public Library in Providence, R.I.
(Re)Telling: Crafting New Stories of Race and Place in Southern New England
RWU Public Humanities and Arts Collaborative (The Co-Lab)
June 7, 2024, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Providence Public Library, Providence, RI
Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, this regional public humanities gathering will bring together organizations, groups, and institutions engaged in the public humanities work of researching, crafting, and sharing stories about race and place in our region.
The conversations at (Re)Telling will consider methods for fostering and amplifying new and known narratives, engaging in public dialogs that foster collective understanding, and using stories to further justice-oriented action in the present. We also hope to explore increased connections between organizations engaged in this work in the region and consider ways to stimulate new research and programming collaborations through a public humanities consortium.
9:00 Welcome and Overview
Margaret Everett, Provost, RWU
Elizabeth Francis, Executive Director, RI Humanities
Jeffrey Meriwether, Dean, RWU SHAE
Elaine Stiles, Faculty Director, RWU Co-Lab
9:30 Fostering and Amplifying New Narratives
- Maisa Tisdale, CEO, The Mary and Eliza Freeman Center for History and Community, Bridgeport, CT
- Akeia de Barros Gomes, Senior Curator for Maritime Social Histories, Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, CT
- Marta Martinez, Oral Historian, Nuestras Raices and Executive Director, RI Latino Arts, Central Falls, RI
Facilitator: Jeffrey Meriwether, RWU
10:45 Break
11:00 Engaging Community in Dialog/Fostering Collective Understanding
- Christopher West, Curator of the Black Diaspora, John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, RI on the Mumia Abu Jamal Papers Collection Exhibition
- Jeannie Salomon, Founder and Director, Cultural Society for Entrepreneurship, Bilingualism, Resources and Inspirations and Asian American and Pacific Islander Museum, RI
- Ena Fox, Director, Providence Commemoration Lab Project
Facilitator: Brian Hendrickson, RWU
12:15 Lunch
1:15 Keynote Program
2:15 Break
2:30 From Narrative to Action: Using Stories to Foster Change
- endawnis spears, Akomawt Educational Initiative and The Upstander Project
- Jocelyn Foye, The Womxn’s Project, RI
- Brian Hendrickson and Ray Two Hawks Watson, Roger Williams University and the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative, Providence Truth-Telling and Reconciliation Framework
Facilitator: Anne Proctor, RWU
3:45 Break
4:00 Closing Reflection, Discussion of Future Work
About the Co-Lab
Founded in 2021, the Co-Lab at RWU is a mission-driven public humanities center dedicated to sharing and fostering inclusive narratives, representations, and histories that make historically marginalized or erased populations audible and visible. Our work seeks to cultivate knowledge rooted in authentic, reciprocal, and ethical collaboration between scholars, communities, and practitioners in the arts and humanities. Since its founding, and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Co-Lab has sponsored curriculum development and established a minor in Public Humanites at RWU, run the popular Hidden Truths: Stories of Race and Place lecture series, offered public humanities and arts pedagogy and practice workshops for faculty, and initiated an anti-racist community engagement campus training series.
Event Directions and Parking
Directions to the Providence Public Library and information on parking options are available on the Providence Public Library website. The nearest parking facility to the Providence Public Library is the Civic Center Garage at 165 Washington Street.
This event is made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.