American Studies

American Studies - Commencement 2025 Remarks and Awards

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 11:50:04 +0000

American Studies - Commencement 2025 Remarks and Awards Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/21/2025 - 07:50 Middlebury College

Remarks and awards for American Studies department seniors and their families.

Location: American Studies Conference Room, Axinn Center

Watters, Mae 443-5704 mwatters@middlebury.edu American Studies

Storying Harm: Centering Victims of Vermont’s Sterilization Program

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 18:55:03 +0000

Storying Harm: Centering Victims of Vermont’s Sterilization Program Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/15/2025 - 14:55 Axinn Center 219

In 1931, Vermont passed a sterilization law aimed at curbing what it saw as “undesirable” traits in its population. But who, exactly, was this law applied to — and why? While it is documented that this law primarily targeted people of low socioeconomic standing, and those who were institutionalized and disabled, many instead claim that the program disproportionately affected Indigenous people—a claim which evidence does not support.

In this talk, Witting will explore his work to use archival records to honestly answer these questions, and uncover the stories of those impacted by the law, and consider how and why we construct, and use, historical narratives around state-sanctioned harm, and victimhood. He will also discuss his podcast Those Who Were Harmed, and the questions that arise when we tell stories about past injustice.

Richard Witting is a researcher and public historian whose work focuses on Vermont’s eugenics policies and their legacies. His current research centers on identifying those affected by the 1931 law and challenging the silences and simplifications that often surround public memory of such policies.

Brooks, Jett jvadenbrooks@middlebury.edu American Studies

Making and Unmaking Categories: Queer/Trans/Disabled Resistance and Joy

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 19:55:03 +0000

Making and Unmaking Categories: Queer/Trans/Disabled Resistance and Joy Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/25/2025 - 14:55 Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103 Open to the Public

White, disabled, and genderqueer, Eli Clare lives near Lake Champlain in unceded Abenaki territory (also known as Vermont) where he writes and proudly claims a penchant for rabble-rousing. He has written two books of essays, the award-winning Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure and Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation, and a collection of poetry, The Marrow’s Telling: Words in Motion. His next book, a mixed genre volume titled Unfurl, will be released in July, 2025. Additionally he has been published in dozens of journals and anthologies.

Eli works as a traveling poet, storyteller, and social justice educator. Since 2008, he has spoken, taught, trained, and consulted (both in-person and remotely) at well over 150 conferences, community events, and colleges across the United States and Canada. He currently serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Disability Project at the Transgender Law Center and is also a Disability Futures Fellow (funded by the Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation). Among other pursuits, he has walked across the United States for peace, coordinated a rape prevention program, and helped organize the first ever Queer Disability Conference.

Brown, Minna mbbrown@middlebury.edu Disability Resource Center (ADA Office); Office of Institutional Diversity Equity & Inclusion; Sustainability & Environmental Affairs; American Studies

Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 19:50:03 +0000

Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/04/2024 - 14:50 Virtual Middlebury Open to the Public

A virtual book talk with author Sunara “Sunny” Taylor, an American academic, painter, writer and activist for disability and animal rights.

Co-Sponsored by the Program in American Studies, Environmental Studies, Advisory Group on Disability Access and Inclusion, and the Academic Speaker Supplement Fund.

Virtual event, open to the public. Registration is required.
https://middlebury.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_y4FDHNthSpOVOJM2O-HG7g

Captioning will be provided for this event.

Johnsen, Molly 802-443-5276 mjohnsen@middlebury.edu American Studies

Professor J Finley: Sass: Black Women's Humor and Humanity

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 15:55:04 +0000

Professor J Finley: Sass: Black Women's Humor and Humanity Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/30/2024 - 11:55 Axinn Center 229 Open to the Public

J Finley, Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Pomona College, will be discussing her exciting new book, Sass: Black Women’s Humor and Humanity (UNC, 2024). Dr. Finley will offer an overview of the book and the methodologies of studying the genre of stand-up comedy. Professor Finley was formerly a member of the American Studies Program at Middlebury College and critical in founding Black Studies at the College.

An official description of the book from Google: Black women comedians are more visible than ever, performing around the world in physical venues like comedy clubs and festivals, along with appearing in films, streaming specials, and online videos. Across these mediums, humor—and particularly sass—functions as a tool for Black women to articulate and redress cultural, social, and political marginalization.

Joo, Rachael (802) 443-5783 rjoo@middlebury.edu American Studies

Place Attachment and the Geographies of Being

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 19:25:07 +0000

Place Attachment and the Geographies of Being Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/28/2024 - 15:25 McCardell Bicentennial Hall 104 Open to the Public

The Middle of Somewhere: Place Attachment and the Geographies of Being
Place attachment is a burgeoning field of scholarship that investigates place identities and their relation to mobility and migration. Professor Alexander Diener’s research project considers people’s varied capacities to make and remake place attachments, and how this shapes everyday routines, social interactions, major life choices, and identities at different scales. His talk will engage with topics such as home/homeland, mobility/immobility, biological geographies, sacred place, and moral geographies.

Alexander Diener is a Professor of Geography at the University of Kansas. His recent publications include Borders: A Very Short Introduction (2024), The Power of Place in Place Attachment (2023), Invisible Borders: Geographies of Power, Mobility, and Belonging (2022). He is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Connecticut’s Humanities Institute.

Moody, Amy (802) 443-5856 amoody@middlebury.edu Environmental Studies; Geography; American Studies; International & Global Studies

Objects of Wonder: Makings from across the Middlebury campus

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 16:01:01 +0000

Objects of Wonder: Makings from across the Middlebury campus Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/08/2024 - 11:01 Johnson Gallery/Crit (208) Open to the Public

Objects of Wonder
In the upcoming exhibition Objects of Wonder, students, faculty, staff, and alumni offer an intersection of research, art, history, and academia. These objects are curious snapshots-sneak peeks at the varied interests and endeavors present across this campus. Free and open to the public. Johnson Exhibition Gallery, Johnson Memorial Building room 208.

Boyd, Colin 5397 colinb@middlebury.edu Science Technical Support Department; Studio Art; Biology; History of Arts and Architecture; Physics; Theatre; Academic Affairs; American Studies

A Reading by Layli Long Soldier

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 19:10:01 +0000

A Reading by Layli Long Soldier Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/08/2024 - 14:10 Axinn Center Abernethy Room (221) Open to the Public

More information can be found on the English Department News and Events webpage

/college/academics/english/upcoming-events Johnsen, Molly 802-443-5276 mjohnsen@middlebury.edu Office of Institutional Diversity Equity & Inclusion; Environmental Studies; Axinn Center for the Humanities; American Studies; Department of English; Creative Writing

Emily St. John Mandel in Conversation

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 16:10:01 +0000

Emily St. John Mandel in Conversation Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/04/2023 - 11:10 Wright Theatre Open to the Public

Acclaimed author Emily St. John Mandel will bring her work and perspectives to Middlebury College in this special reading, Q&A and book signing.

This event is in-person and open to the public.

Can’t make it? A recording will be available February 16-March 1, 2024 at https://vimeo.com/911642948

Password: EmilyMidd2024

Ms. Mandel is author of six novels, most recently Sea of Tranquility, which has been translated into 25 languages and was selected by President Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2022. Her previous novels include The Glass Hotel, which was also on Obama’s list, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and has been translated in 26 languages; and Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, won the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award among other honors, has been translated into 36 languages, and aired as a limited series on HBO Max. She lives in New York City and Los Angeles.

Please submit questions in advance via this form.

Students are also encouraged to join student-led Winter-term book groups via go/bookclub

Sponsored by the Climate Action Program, Environmental Storytelling Program, Department of Theatre

With Support from The Departments of English and American Studies, Axinn Center for the Humanities, Writing & Rhetoric Program, Vermont Humanities Council, Ilsley Public Library

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScBDpT3GCeY_0txWEVYceZDc-r5j7BrdSxdgrp… Brown, Minna mbbrown@middlebury.edu Sustainability & Environmental Affairs; Theatre; Writing and Rhetoric Program; American Studies; Department of English

Queer Anthropology: A Dialogue

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 21:10:01 +0000

Queer Anthropology: A Dialogue Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 09/26/2023 - 17:10 Axinn Center Abernethy Room (221) Open to the Public

Erin Durban and Lucinda Ramberg, two feminist, queer, postcolonial scholars, will have a conversation about queer anthropology: What does it mean to queer anthropology? How can we do anthropology, as well as ethnographic methods more broadly, in a queer way and for queer purposes?

Thomsen, Carly 443-5785 cthomsen@middlebury.edu Religion; American Studies; International & Global Studies; Gender, Sexuality, & Fem Studies; Sociology; Anthropology; Black Studies; Global Gender & Sexuality