List of Events

L.A. Rebellion - Cinema Salon

Abby Rhinehart — 2013-03-15T19:15:00Z

The L.A. Rebellion film movement unfolded against the backdrop of the recent Watts Uprising, the profound sociocultural re-assessments it provoked and amidst growing dissension among black political groups, from the Panthers to Ron Karenga's US movement (who had an infamous shoot-out on the UCLA campus in 1969).

Deep in the background of these movies are the distant rumblings of the Attica prison rebellion (the other Woodstock), the growth of Third World liberation movements (to which many of these filmmakers felt themselves allied), the paranoia induced by the FBI's CoInTelPro assault on black political organizations and the ongoing cultural and musical explosions within America's creative communities of color.

Join author Pat Thomas (Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975), Ron Johnson (member of the Seattle Black Panther Party) and Seattle University professor Gary Perry as they discuss the legacy of Watts, the L.A. Rebellion and social justice, reviving a cultural, social, artistic and political framework now lost to memory.

Tonight's program is part of the month-long film series L.A. Rebellion. During our weekly cinema salons, local activists, filmmakers and scholars come together for free public conversations about race, gender, social and political issues today, as seen through the lens of the L.A. Rebellion films.

This program is supported by a Humanities Washington Spark Grant.

Mapping Latino Musical Migrations

Zaki Abdelhamid — 2013-05-16T23:29:12Z

What’s in a pop song? There are stories that run deeper than catchy lyrics might suggest. The instruments, the language, the style – even a song’s structure can show us how ideas and experiences are traded between diverse communities. In this hands-on experience, participants will play instruments from U.S. Latino and Latin American traditions and literally “connect the dots” on a map to see how Latinos have contributed to popular music in the U.S. We’ll explore typically “Latin” styles such as salsa, Tejano and reggaetón as well as Latina and Latino’s integral contributions to rock ’n’ roll, hip-hop and country.

About Antonio Davidson-Gómez

Antonio Davidson-Gómez has played and studied percussion for more than 20 years, with an interest in Afro-Latin and Mediterranean/Middle Eastern music. In addition to music, he is passionate about teaching and learning. He has been a classroom teacher at both the elementary and secondary levels and is an experienced facilitator for audiences of all ages. Currently he serves as the Educational Services Manager at KCTS 9 public television, where he also developed bilingual programming for Vme, the Spanish-language sister network of PBS. Gómez wrote the online teacher course for the EMP Museum’s American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music and developed a world-music class combining cultural study with music and ethnography.

Davidson-Gómez currently lives in Puyallup.

Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology

Zaki Abdelhamid — 2013-01-31T19:54:47Z

From Wonder Woman to Buffy Summers, Emma Peel to Sydney Bristow, Charlie’s Angels to the Powerpuff Girls, superwomen are more than just love interests or sidekicks who stand by their men. In this lively multimedia presentation, pop-culture historian Jennifer K. Stuller will help us explore how the female hero in modern mythology has broken through the boys’ club barrier of tradition. Using comics, television and film, we will discuss female action and super heroines from the 1930s to the present day. Do social and political forces affect pop culture – and vice versa? This conversation will examine women’s representations in media and women’s roles as media makers, inspiring us to think deeper about popular culture, media, gender images and storytelling.

About Jennifer K. Stuller

Jennifer K. Stuller is a professional writer, critic, scholar, pop-culture historian, public speaker and the author of Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology. Stuller’s particular interests focus on what popular culture reveals about social mores, especially regarding gender, race, sexuality, ability, religion and class in a given time or place. She is co-founder of and the programming director for Seattle’s GeekGirlCon. Stuller received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington in the Comparative History of Ideas with a minor in women studies.

Stuller currently lives in Seattle.

Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology

Abby Rhinehart — 2013-01-31T20:06:23Z

Humanities Washington presents Hazel Miller Conversations in the Humanities, a lecture series designed to invite participation from new audiences and encourage exploration of new topics, throughout 2013 at the Edmonds Community College.

About Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology

From Wonder Woman to Buffy Summers, Emma Peel to Sydney Bristow, Charlie’s Angels to the Powerpuff Girls, superwomen are more than just love interests or sidekicks who stand by their men. In this lively multimedia presentation, pop-culture historian Jennifer K. Stuller will help us explore how the female hero in modern mythology has broken through the boys’ club barrier of tradition. Using comics, television and film, we will discuss female action and super heroines from the 1930s to the present day. Do social and political forces affect pop culture – and vice versa? This conversation will examine women’s representations in media and women’s roles as media makers, inspiring us to think deeper about popular culture, media, gender images and storytelling.

About Jennifer K. Stuller

Jennifer K. Stuller is a professional writer, critic, scholar, pop-culture historian, public speaker and the author of Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology. Stuller’s particular interests focus on what popular culture reveals about social mores, especially regarding gender, race, sexuality, ability, religion and class in a given time or place. She is co-founder of and the programming director for Seattle’s GeekGirlCon. Stuller received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington in the Comparative History of Ideas with a minor in women studies.

Stuller currently lives in Seattle.

Partners

The Lewis & Clark Wildflower Discoveries

Zaki Abdelhamid — 2013-05-16T23:29:25Z

In one of our country’s most fortunate coincidences, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their return canoe ride home from their Pacific encampment just as spring was breaking along the Columbia River. Thomas Jefferson waited at the White House for news of Native American tribes and possible trading partnerships along the way. But scientists in Philadelphia were waiting for something else: specimens of new plants. During their difficult two-year journey, Lewis and Clark collected specimens and wildflowers during the day and dutifully wrote down their discoveries every night by the campfire. Garden historian Joan Hockaday will lead a discussion on the lasting legacy of Lewis and Clark in the exploration of the American West. What do we discover today from Lewis and Clark’s daily accounts about our early Washington landscape, natural history and native peoples? And what can their legacy show us about our state today?

About Joan Hockaday

As a garden historian, Joan Hockaday has helped put together wildflower tours along the Columbia River since 2004 for groups including the L&C Trail Heritage Foundation and a group of visiting British botanists. Hockaday is the author of Greenscapes: Olmsted’s Pacific Northwest and The Gardens of San Francisco.

Hockaday currently lives on Bainbridge Island.

here:now at the Frye Art Museum Tour

Abby Rhinehart — 2013-01-04T00:30:00Z

here:now offers monthly small group gallery discussions and art-making studio experiences for individuals with dementia and their care partners. here:now offers an opportunity for adults facing the challenges of a devastating disease to strengthen their patient/care-partner relationship, to gather strength from a wider community and to build self-confidence in theme-based discussions of works of art. Participants (six adults with dementia and six care partners) gather in the Frye Art Museum galleries and the facilitator uses a conversation-based approach to stimulate active discussion about the artworks on view.

here:now tours and classes are free, but space is limited and reservations are required. To register or for more information: 206 432 8265 or herenow@fryemuseum.org

This program is supported by a Humanities Washington Spark Grant.

Dr. Doyle and Mr. Holmes: The Cultural Staying Power of Sherlock Holmes

Zaki Abdelhamid — 2013-05-16T23:30:12Z

Journalist Tom Keogh leads this conversation about Sherlock Holmes, the story of his creation by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the latter’s subsequent love-hate relationship with the character over decades. During the discussion, we’ll ask why Holmes still matters in the 21st century, and why we, as a culture, remain so attached to a character invented in 1886. Certainly there are characters from literature, history and popular culture that are revisited from time to time. But Holmes is different: He resides deep within our collective memory and subconscious, re-embraced, resurrected and rebooted every few years – and for each new generation – in ever-shifting visions of who he is and of the major touchstones of his legend.

About Tom Keogh

Tom Keogh is an arts journalist and critic for The Seattle Times, where he writes about classical music, film and theatre. He is also a contributor to various arts-industry magazines, a former staff writer for Seattle Weekly and Eastsideweek, a former film critic for Seattle public radio station KUOW-FM and has contributed to Rolling Stone, MSN, Chicago Reader and Village Voice. Keogh has taught film history at North Seattle Community College, co-founded the nonprofit Seattle Filmhouse and was an assistant director for the Seattle International Film Festival. He is the founder and director of AllStages, a new arts-and-humanities nonprofit. A lifelong Holmes fan, Keogh was recently commissioned by Seattle Children’s Theatre to write an original drama featuring the detective.

Keogh currently lives in Shoreline.

Think & Drink: Bit by Bit: The Digital Evolution of the Neighborhood

Abby Rhinehart — 2013-03-26T17:10:14Z

Join Humanities Washington for the first 2013 Think & Drink conversation in Spokane: Bit by Bit: The Digital Evolution of the Neighborhood at Lindaman's Gourmet Bistro 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 22. The free event will feature a discussion about how advances in digital technology affect our interactions, institutions and culture.

This Think & Drink discussion will be led by technology experts Alex Alben and Brett Atwood, with moderator Shann Ray. Alben is the author of Analog Days – How Technology Rewrote Our Future. He is also a member of Humanities Washington’s Speakers Bureau.Atwood is a professor at the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University, as well as a website editor, content strategist and former print and online journalist. Ray is the author of American Masculine and a profess of leadership studies at Gonzaga University.

World Café: All Lines Come Together, Tell a Story

Abby Rhinehart — 2013-03-06T17:45:00Z

Join Vietnamese Friendship Association for a lively evening of conversation and cross-cultural dialogue! Drawing upon your knowledge, experience, and ideas, we’ll explore questions that matter to those of us who share a connection to Vietnam and the Vietnamese-American community.

This year’s theme, “All lines Come Together, Tell a Story” is based on an excerpt from author Andrew Lam, our featured speaker, who will share a reading from book Birds of Paradise Lost, a collection of short stories that chronicle the anguish, joy and bravery of those who fled Vietnam and remade themselves in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The World Cafe is free and open to the public, but space is limited, so please register in advance. Hearty appetizers will be served.

This program is supported by a Humanities Washington Spark Grant.

James Baldwin as Theater Director: Staging Queerness in Istanbul

Abby Rhinehart — 2013-01-07T22:30:00Z

Professor Magdalena Zaborowska, University of Michigan, is the author of James Baldwin’s Turkish Decade: Erotics of Exile(2008). Zaborowska will speak about how Baldwin’s life in Turkey as an artist exploring questions related to sexuality and identity.

This conversation is part of The Intersection of Race, Sexuality, Identity, and Culture through the Lens of James Baldwin, a lecture series at the Northwest African American Museum and supported by a Humanities Washington Spark Grant.

This program is supported by a Humanities Washington Spark Grant.

The Laramie Project - Staged Reading

Abby Rhinehart — 2013-03-11T20:06:50Z

The Merc Playhouse creates a community conversation around homophobia, tolerance and small town dynamics, using the play The Laramie Project, about the brutal murder in 1998 of gay student Matthew Shepard. Over two nights, The Merc Playhouse puts on a public presentation of a staged reading of this play, followed by a talk-back to discuss how our community has some similar characteristics with the town of Laramie, and how we can try to avoid such a tragedy.

Play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, directed by Dr. Mark Wenzel.
Post-play discussion led by Dr. John Roth.

This program is supported by a Humanities Washington Opportunity Grant.

Hidden Treasures in Washington's Museums

Zaki Abdelhamid — 2013-05-16T23:29:03Z

Space restrictions allow most museums to display only about 10 percent of their holdings. However, there are also surprising political, philosophical, artistic, environmental and historic reasons why museums keep objects from view. Journalist Harriet Baskas will present a fast-paced, photo-filled and, at times, somewhat offbeat tour of Washington history through the stories of museum artifacts that are rarely – or never – shown to the public. Examples include Bing Crosby’s toupees in Spokane, a quilt made of Ku Klux Klan robes in Yakima and Native American spirit boards in Tacoma. We will explore how those objects came to be in the local collections and who makes decisions about what is displayed or kept from view.

About Harriet Baskas

Harriet Baskas writes about airports, museums and a wide variety of other topics for msnbc.com, USATODAY.com, AAA Journey and other outlets. She also maintains two blogs: StuckatTheAirport.com and MuseumMysteries.com. She produced a major radio series on hidden museum artifacts that aired on National Public Radio, with Smithsonian-based historians as her advisers. Baskas has a master’s in communication from the University of Washington and served as general manager for three community radio stations in Oregon and Washington. Baskas is the author of a half dozen books, including Washington Curiosities, Washington Icons and Oregon Curiosities, and is finishing a book about hidden treasures in museums.

Baskas currently lives in Seattle.

Bones Beneath Our Feet: The Puget Sound Indian Wars of 1855-56

Zaki Abdelhamid — 2013-05-16T23:29:53Z

Led by author Michael Schein, this conversation explores the period from the first European-American settlement in Puget Sound to the execution of Chief Leschi, leader of the Native Americans in the Indian War of 1855-56. This is a story of extremes: great courage, cultural misunderstanding, interracial love, heroism and cruelty. The discussion will cover the trial of Leschi, and will discuss the limits of constitutional protections in the face of hysteria and fear (with marked parallels to the War on Terror). Participants will explore the causes of the war, cultural misunderstandings and the consequences of fearing a stereotyped “other.” Because there is no simple “right” answer, attendees may also begin to empathize with both sides in a long-ago struggle.

About Michael Schein

Michael Schein is the author of two historical novels, a play, an urban fantasy novel and many poems. His novels include Bones Beneath Our Feet, a historical novel set around the Puget Sound that was nominated for a Washington State Book Award, and Just Deceits, a historical courtroom mystery. Schein taught American legal history for 15 years at the University of Puget Sound and Seattle University, which is where he first became fascinated by the story of how the “Boston tribe” gained control of Puget Sound. A frequent and lively teacher of history, poetry and fiction, Schein also serves as Director of LiTFUSE Poets’ Workshop. His poetry is supported by a grant from 4Culture, and has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

Schein currently lives in Seattle.

The Laramie Project - Staged Reading

Abby Rhinehart — 2013-03-11T20:10:00Z

Play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, directed by Dr. Mark Wenzel.
Post-play discussion led by Dr. John Roth.

This program is supported by a Humanities Washington Opportunity Grant.

Territorial Voices: A Civil War Reader’s Theater

Zaki Abdelhamid — 2013-05-16T23:30:07Z

We often forget that the Civil War involved the entire nation – and that Washington territorial residents were deeply involved in its issues. As the 150-year anniversary of the Civil War continues, historian Lorraine McConaghy has developed an interactive, living theater piece in which the audience reads the words of ordinary settlers, territorial military and administrative leadership. The reading will be preceded by a brief lecture to set context and followed by a conversation about the ideas and themes raised by our communal theater. Through the presentation, participants will realize the changing significance of words like “Democrat” and “Republican” and learn about various opinions on race and slavery in the territory. It is one thing to hear these startling realities in a lecture; it is more powerful to speak them.

About Lorraine McConaghy

Lorraine McConaghy is a public historian who has devoted her professional life to researching and teaching Pacific Northwest history. At Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry, she has curated a series of successful projects, including the museum’s core exhibits Metropolis 150 and Essential Seattle, as well as Blue vs. Gray: Civil War in the Pacific Northwest. McConaghy teaches in the Museum Studies program at the University of Washington, and her work has been honored by the Washington Museum Association, the Oral History Association, the National Council on Public History and the American Association for State and Local History. In 2010, she received the Robert Gray Medal, the highest honor awarded by the Washington State Historical Society.

McConaghy currently lives in Seattle.