Cultural Programming

About the Cultural Programming Committee

The Cultural Programming Committee supports the academic curriculum by organizing on-campus and off-campus lectures, panel discussions, debates, concerts, readings, workshops, performances, and other culturally enriching events in Danielson and Willimantic. The committee seeks to engage students, staff, faculty, and community members with dynamic programs to educate against all forms of prejudice and injustice, while educating towards mutual respect, genuine inquiry, personal growth, and multicultural affirmation.

Julius Sokenu Poetry Awards
Cultural Programming Committee Day of the Dead

Celebrating Women’s History Month

Women’s history is history since women are part of all societies. However, there are unique sets of challenges to women’s rights in the US and the efforts to fight back, and it is important to remember this as part of Women’s History Month.

See a celebration of women’s history through the Smithsonian’s Women’s History Month. Learn about change-makers across the twentieth century.

Civil and Political Rights
At the founding of the US, women did not have rights to vote or citizenship (e.g., to own or inherit land or enter into contracts).
See a brief history of women’s Civil rights.

Women’s Suffrage Movement (Video, PBS)

 

Over 4 waves of feminism across the last 100+ years, activists have fought for the right to vote, equality of civil rights, intersectional rights, and rights for all identified women, including trans women.

Second Wave Feminism (Video, PBS)
Learn about the distinctions between sex, gender, and sexual orientation through the Genderbread Person.

Reproductive Rights

Historically, women have had limited control of their bodies and reproduction (e.g., getting pregnant or not, staying pregnant or not, and accessing maternal health care pre- and post-natal). These conditions left them in a precarious position sometimes to have unwanted children or be robbed of the ability to have and care for them safely.

Advocacy

Listen to the Roe vs Wade Podcast Series (Slate)

Celebrating Arab American History Month

There are over 3.5 million Arab Americans in the United States. They are a pan-ethnic group of people from countries and territories across the Middle East and North Africa (called MENA), from Lebanon on the Mediterranean Sea to Egypt in North Africa. The states with the largest populations are California, Michigan, New York, and Texas (see Arab American demographics). While many Arab American people are religiously Muslim, there is a diversity of religious affiliations, from Christian to Druze. Arab Americans are part of many communities in the US, and there are complicated racial and ethnic dynamics. Listen to Un-HolyLand? An Arab Muslim Reckoning With Racism (NPR’s Code Switch).

Arab American History Month, named in 2022, is an opportunity to learn about the history and diverse cultures of people from the Middle East and North Africa.

Arab Americans (PBS)

“The Arab Americans is the untold story of almost 200 years of contributions, trials, and tribulations of those who immigrated to the United States from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf have made to the American fabric.”

 

Arab American National Museum

The nation’s first and only museum dedicated to Arab Americans.

 

Library Resources

Modern Arab American Fiction: A Readers Guide (online)Arab New York Politics and Community in the Everyday Lives of Arab Americans (online)Arab Americans in Film From Hollywood and Egyptian Stereotypes to Self-Representation (online)The Rise of the Arab American Left : Activists, Allies, and Their Fight Against Imperialism and Racism, 1960s–1980s
Modern Arab American Fiction: A Readers Guide (online)Arab New York Politics and Community in the Everyday Lives of Arab Americans (online)Arab Americans in Film From Hollywood and Egyptian Stereotypes to Self-Representation (online)The Rise of the Arab American Left : Activists, Allies, and Their Fight Against Imperialism and Racism, 1960s–1980s

Explore

The Cultural Programming Committee provides a variety of opportunities to connect with each month’s topics. Want to revisit resources from a previous month? Select your subject below to explore related books, films, and outside organizations.

Celebrate Black History Month: Harlem Renaissance Artistic Influences on Black Culture

Black History Month 2024 theme is African Americans and the Arts, and the Harlem Renaissance (1918-1937) is a key historical moment. Centered in Harlem, New York City, the Harlem Renaissance was a movement of art, music, and literature. Harlem was an urban destination for people from the Great Migration, where more than 6 million African Americans migrated from southern states to urban centers (including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit) from 1916 to the 1930s. Harlem Renaissance Artist Jacob Lawrence’s 60-panel Great Migration painting series is about the Great Migration. Movement to northern cities meant more waged work with freedom from Jim Crow legal segregation and forced labor (sharecropping & convict leasing).

As African Americans moved to urban industrial centers (e.g., New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit), urban life opened access to education, higher-paying work, and closeness to the community (challenging in the rural south). In NYC, many Black families moved to Harlem in upper Manhattan, including artists and intellectuals. In the 20th century, Harlem became the hub for Black Culture.

Harlem Renaissance

Black History Month, Harlem Renaissance
View the CT State QV Library celebrating Black Culture, starting with the Harlem Renaissance artists, musicians, and authors that includes videos and relevant books including a graphic novel of Octavia Bulter’s Kindred.
Harlem in the 1920sHarlem in the 1920sTake a “Walking” Tour of Harlem from your computer (just press play).
Benny Powell Video Thumbnail

Oral History Interview with Saxophonist Benny Powell

Listen to Jazz Collections from Harlem Renaissance legends like Billy Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald from the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Watch jazz oral histories.

Afrofuturism 101

Learn about the expansive creativity of Afrofuturist artists and icons and tour digital resources from the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
Image from Mystic Country CT
Image from Mystic Country CT
In CT, you can visit the Prudence Crandall Museum in Canterbury. The site of a boarding school for Black and Brown girls opened in 1833.

Heard Museum Online Exhibit Away from Home

tiled collage made up of photos of many different American Indians' photos.The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona’s exhibit Away from Home captures the stories of Native children & their families subjected to over 100 years of off-reservation Boarding Schools. See images and listen to stories.

The National Museum of the American Indian Online Exhibits

The museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution and hosts Native artifacts, including objects, photographs, and media. Enjoy its extensive online exhibits:

Featured Library Resources

Indian Voices-Listening to Native Americans book cover

Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans

Native American Almanac- More Than 50,000 Years of the Cultures and Histories of Indigenous Peoples book cover

Native American Almanac: More Than 50,000 Years of the Cultures of Indigenous Peoples

Blood Will Tell Native Americans and Assimilation Policy book cover

Blood Will Tell: Native Americans and Assimilation Policy

For more on blood quantum as a measure of ancestry and eligibility for tribal membership (and rights) that disenfranchised many, listen to NPR’s Code Switch podcast episode So What Exactly is ‘Blood Quantum’? https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/02/09/583987261/so-what-exactly-is-blood-quantum

Podcasts with Native Voices

the red nation podcast

Red Nation Podcast

The Red Nation Podcast features discussions on Indigenous history, politics, and culture… Hosted by Nick Estes and Jen Marley…”

this land podcast

This Land Podcast

“ALM – as referred to in court documents – is a Navajo and Cherokee toddler. When he was a baby, a white couple from the suburbs of Dallas wanted to adopt him, but a federal law said they couldn’t. The Brackeens case would have been a normal adoption dispute, but then one of the most powerful corporate law firms in the United States took it on and helped the couple launch a federal lawsuit. Today, the lawsuit doesn’t just impact the future of one child, or even the future of one law. It threatens the entire legal structure defending Native American rights. The second season of This Land is a timely exposé about how the far right is using Native children to quietly dismantle American Indian tribes and advance a conservative agenda.”

Local Event

Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center in Mashantucket, CT Trail & Guided Hike

Explore the history of the New England National Scenic Trail through Indigenous eyes.

  • November 18: Presentation
  • December 2: Guided Hike

description of events

Learn more

Book Your Spot

Event Details:
Friday, February 10, 2023 10:30 AM
QVCC Auditorium, Danielson, CT
Students, faculty, staff, and community members welcome

Mary Romney-Schaab
Mary Romney-Schaab

Presentation: An Afro-Caribbean in the Nazi Era: Oral History and Black History

How did an Afro-Caribbean civilian become a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II? How did he survive to tell about it? The QVCC Foundation, in partnership with QVCC Cultural Programming, is proud to welcome author Mary Romney-Schaab to present on her book, An Afro-Caribbean in the Nazi Era: From Papiamentu to German on Friday, February 10th in the Quinebaug Valley Community College auditorium. This presentation will discuss the importance of oral history within the context of Black history and shine light on an area of Black history that might otherwise remain obscured: that of Black victims of the Nazis during World War II.

Event Details:
Friday, February 10, 2023 10:30 AM
QVCC Auditorium, Danielson, CT
Students, faculty, staff, and community members welcome

November is national native american heritage month

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month!

Peabody Essex Museum houses among the oldest ongoing collections of Native American art in the Western hemisphere, commencing with the museum’s founding in 1799 and continuing through today. Spanning 10,000 years of Indigenous visual expression in the Americas, these works cross boundaries of region, period, and medium, and emphasize the continuum of creativity and character of change that undergirds Native American art. This distinguished collection is a vital testament to thousands of individual artists from hundreds of distinct Native nations, each with its own history, language, and artistic expressions. Visit the museum in Salem, Massachusetts.

Explore the Native American Art Gallery

On Being Podcast: Few books have been more eagerly passed from hand to hand with delight in these last years than Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass. Krista interviewed her in 2015, and it quickly became a much-loved show as her voice was just rising in common life. Robin is a botanist and also a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She’s written, “Science polishes the gift of seeing, Indigenous traditions work with gifts of listening and language.” An expert in moss — a bryologist — she describes mosses as the “coral reefs of the forest.” Robin Wall Kimmerer opens a sense of wonder and humility for the intelligence in all kinds of life we are used to naming and imagining as inanimate.

Listen to Episode

National Museum of the American Indian – Native American Cinema Showcase Nov. 18-25th

The online program includes a total of 35 cost free films representing 30 native nations from 8 countries.

Native American Cinema Showcase

Livestream – Native Veteran’s Procession and Dedication Ceremony
Nov. 11 at 2 p.m.

Weekend Celebrations – Music and Cultural Performances
Nov. 12 & 13

Learn More

Visit Nowashe Village, an outdoor museum of indigenous life in South Windsor, CT.

Learn More

CPC Film Series: Thunderheart scheduled (in auditorium) for 11/16 (Wednesday) @ 5:30 pm.

Introduction by Instructor Cory McClellan

From the Library

All eyes are upon us : race and politics from Boston to Brooklyn
Sokol, Jason author.
New York : Basic Books [2014]
Reserve a copy

Prudence Crandall’s Legacy: The Fight for Equality in the 1830s, Dred Scott, and Brown v. Board of Education
Williams, Donald E., Jr., 1957-
Middletown, Conn. : Wesleyan University Press [2014]
Reserve a copy

Making Freedom: The Extraordinary Life of Venture Smith
Saint, Chandler B. ; Krimsky, George A.
Middletown, Conn. : Wesleyan University Press [2009]
Reserve a copy

African American Connecticut Explored
Normen, Elizabeth J.
Middletown, Connecticut : Wesleyan University Press [2013]
Reserve a copy

Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities
Wilder, Craig Steven author.
New York : Bloomsbury Press 2013
Reserve a copy

A Whole-Souled Woman : Prudence Crandall and the Education of Black Women
Strane, Susan.
New York : W.W. Norton c1990
Reserve a copy

More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Connecticut Women
Petrash, Antonia.
Guilford, Conn. : Twodot ©2004
Reserve a copy

Fortune’s Bones: The Manumission Requiem
Nelson, Marilyn, 1946- ; Espeland, Pamela, 1951-
Asheville, N.C. : Front Street c2004
Reserve a copy

Stream for Free

NOTE: You must login using your NetID and password to access free streaming for the films below.

Cover photo for the film Amistad (1977) AMISTAD (1977)
Rating: 
R
Runtime: 
2hr34min

STREAM NOW

 

Cover of film Glory (1989)GLORY (1989)
Rating: R
Runtime: 2hr20min

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Cover for film Selma (2014)SELMA (2014)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hr8min

STREAM NOW

Stream for Free

NOTE: You must login using your NetID and password to access free streaming for the films below.

Poster for the film titled, "The Willmar 8"THE WILLMAR 8 (1980)
Rating: NR
Runtime: 
50min

STREAM NOW

 

THE STORY OF ELIZABETH CADY STANTON AND SUSAN B. ANTHONY (2005)
Rating: NR
Runtime: 
1hr35min

STREAM NOW

 

Movie poster for "A Midwife's Tale (2011)"A MIDWIFE’S TALE (2011)
Rating: NR
Runtime: 90min

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Movie poster for "Silver Wings, Flying Dreams: The Complete Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (2015)"SILVER WINGS, FLYING DREAMS: THE COMPLETE STORY OF THE WOMEN AIRFORCE SERVICE PILOTS (2015)
Rating: NR
Runtime: 55min

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Movie poster for "The Vote (2020)"THE VOTE (2020)
Rating: NR
Runtime: 1hr55min

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Overview

On the 24th of February, 2022, Russia began a military invasion of Ukraine. Keeping up with the conflict, figuring out how and why it happened, and understanding how it affects you can be difficult. This guide is designed to provide basic information and links for those who want to explore in more depth.

Important Dates

4/2 – World Autism Day
A day that seeks to raise awareness of the lives and contributions of people with autism.
LEARN MORE

4/21-4/23 – Gathering of Nations
More than 500 Native tribes meet and celebrate various traditions and cultures.
LEARN MORE

4/22 – Earth Day
A celebration of the planet we live on, observed internationally in more than 192 countries.
LEARN MORE

Religious Dates

4/2 – First Day of Ramadan (Islamic)
The first day of Islam’s sacred month in which Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dusk until dawn.
LEARN MORE

4/15 – Passover (Jewish)
Start of Jewish holiday honoring the freeing of Israeli slaves.
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4/17 – Easter (Christian)
Most important holy day in the Christian faith, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus following his death.
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Committee Chair

Photo of Jess PorzuczekJessica Porzuczek
jporzuczek@qvcc.commnet.edu
(860) 932-4102