Humanities Week (March 9-13) Events

During the week of March 10-13, 2015, the Humanities Division at Essex County College will host a five-day celebration of Humanities Week, centered around our Spring 2015 Conference, "Speculations: Steampunk to Afrofuturism" All events are free and open to the public. Below is a listing of the week's activities. Click HERE for the complete conference program schedule, and click HERE to read the biographies and abstracts provided by this year's participants.

Monday, March 9 through Friday, March 13 - Red Area - 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Week-long Humanities Division Open House, with information on the division's program offerings.

Tuesday, March 10 through Friday, March 13 -  Student Art Exhibit - 2nd Floor Art Gallery
"The Exquisite Corpse," based on the work of students in Prof. Anna Muniz's Drawing I (Art 107) class. Prof. Muniz will be discussing the project at the Creative Roundtable, scheduled for 1:00 pm on Thursday, March 12 in Smith Lecture Hall.

Tuesday, March 10 - Siegler Hall - 6:45 pm - 9:00 pm

Special pre-conference screening of the original version of the classic vampire film, Ganja and Hess (starring Duane Jones, of Night of the Living Dead fame), sponsored by the Micheaux/Washington Black Film Series at Essex County College. Although released in 1973, during the "blaxploitation" era of American cinema, director Bill Gunn transgressed cinematic horror conventions by producing a complicated, richly textured work of art that infuses African spiritual practices, Western philosophical ideas, and familiar images of vampires and blood into an intricate film that is now regarded as classic American post-modernism.

Wednesday, March 11 - Smith Hall - 10:00 am - 5:30 pm
"Speculations: Steampunk to Afrofuturism." Day One of the conference will feature panel sessions at 10:00 am, 11:30 am, 1:00 pm, 2:25 pm, and 3:50 pm to coincide with class meeting times. Click HERE for the complete conference program schedule. 

Wednesday, March 11 - Evening Reception - Art Gallery, 2nd Floor - 5:30 - 6:30 pm 

Sponsored by the Student Life and Activities Office. 

Thursday, March 12 - Smith Hall - 10:00 am - 3:00 pm 

"Speculations: Steampunk to Afrofuturism." Day Two of the conference will feature panel sessions at 10:00 am, 11:30 am, and 1:00 pm to coincide with class meeting times. Click HERE for the complete conference program schedule. 

Thursday, March 12 - Luncheon Reception - Africana Institute, 2nd Floor - 2:30 - 3:30 pm 

Sponsored by the Community College Humanities Association.

Thursday, March 12 - Evening Reception - Art Gallery, 2nd Floor - 5:30 - 6:30 pm 

Sponsored by Dr. Stephanie A. Steplight Johnson, Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Affairs.
 

 Thursday, March 12 - "The Silver Thread," by Joslyn Housley-McLaughlin - Mary B. Burch Theater for the Performing Arts - 7:00 - 9:00 pm 

This special staged reading of Housley-McLaughlin's award-winning play will be performed by the New York City-based Liberation Theatre Company. Pianist Richard Alston, Associate Professor of Music at Essex County College, will open the evening with a special performance of Franz Liszt's "The Mephisto Waltz." There will be a 30-minute talk-back with the actors after the performance.