Vermont Humanities
Andy Kolovos wearing a green T-shirt and smiling

Andy Kolovos

Andy Kolovos is the Associate Director and Archivist of the Vermont Folklife Center. He has conducted ethnographic and oral history research in Vermont since 2002, and has a deep interest in the use of comics as a medium for collaborative documentary work.

“The Most Costly Journey” Latin American Migrant Workers, Health Care, and Collaborative Non-Fiction Comics

Andy Kolovos from the Vermont Folklife Center and/or Julia Grand Doucet from the Open Door Clinic provide an overview of the goals of the El Viaje Más Caro Project, the collaborative methods that define its approach, and insight into the lives and experiences of the workers whose labor supports the continued viability of dairy farming in Vermont.

Marek Bennett with a beard drawing a black-and-white cartoon on a clipboard

Marek Bennett

Marek Bennett makes and teaches comics and music in New Hampshire, USA, and the world beyond. His comics work includes the graphic novel series, “The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby,” as well as drawing, translating, and editing for “The Most Costly Journey” (2021).

Market Bennett wearing a blue shirt with a tan fedora hat drawing at a table

“The Most Costly Journey” Comics Workshop with Marek Bennett

Join award-winning cartoonist and educator Marek Bennett for a closer look at the Vermont Reads 2022 book “The Most Costly Journey.” He leads a hands-on demo to show how YOU can cartoon the stories of your own family, neighborhood, and wider world.

Minuteman Statue in Lexington MA

Do We Still Need an Armed Citizenry?

The right of the people to keep and bear arms has become one of the more contentious rights in American politics. Meg Mott focuses on the political theory behind the Second Amendment. How might pro-gun and anti-gun forces peaceably coexist? The goal of the talk is to take seriously an opposing point of view even if you can’t endorse it.

Painting of slaves attacking a house during the Stono Rebellion

The Stono Rebellion

The Stono Rebellion has been called the most important slave revolt in North American history. In this lecture, Damian Costello examines the events and the deep African roots of the 1739 uprising in South Carolina.

Image of Walt Whitman

An Evening with Walt Whitman

The audience is a visitor in Walt Whitman’s room as he prepares for his seventieth birthday celebration and questions his success as a man and a poet. Through Whitman’s poetry and letters, actor Stephen Collins helps us experience the poet’s growth into a mature artist who is at peace about “himself, God and death.”

Bill Mares and friend with beer

From Homebrew to the House of Fermentology

Bill Mares began making his own beer 45 years ago, when homebrewing was illegal and there were no microbreweries in America. Today there are over 7,000 such breweries nationwide, and Vermont has the highest percentage of breweries per capita in the country. In this presentation, Mares will discuss the American beer revolution, Vermont’s small but significant contribution, and his co-ownership of a brewery.