From March 10-13, 2015, the Humanities Division at Essex County College
will host a 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. All events are listed below.
Tuesday, March 10
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 Officer.
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.
The final night of our conference begins with a special evening reception in the Art Gallery from 5:30 - 6:30 pm, sponsored by Dr. Stephanie A. Steplight Johnson, Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Affairs. Guests are encouraged to view "The Exquisite Corpse," the student art exhibit. Prof. Anna Muniz will be on hand to speak about the exhibit, and the student artists will also be present. 
