Vermont Humanities
Black and white photo from Vermont Lesbian and Gay Pride march in 1983

Stories from the Vermont Queer Archives

Objects such as banners, T-shirts, and buttons in the Vermont Queer Archives at the Pride Center of Vermont reflect currents and changes in the lives of Vermont’s LGBTQ+ community. Meg Tamulonis, volunteer curator of the Archives, discusses how these objects mark various milestones, from Pride events to legal rulings.

“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.

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.

Painting of Lucy Terry Prince

Lucy Terry Prince: Witness, Voice, and Poetics within the American Tradition

This exploration starts with a question: what is the arc from Lucy Terry Prince to the modern moment of the spoken word within poetry? Lucy’s poem “Bars Fight” survived for 100 years in oral tradition before appearing for the first time in 1854 in the Springfield Daily Republican.

Rajnii Eddins beside a brick wall

The Value of Our Stories

Each one of us has a story that is valuable. In this presentation, Rajnii Eddins will share his poetry, and will discuss how our stories can be used to confront racism and other injustices, affirm diversity and equity, and initiate community dialogue.

Image of preamble to the Constitution

A Dramatic Constitution

We often are divided on the merits of the Constitution: can it redeem us or is it a convenient cloak for white supremacy? Meg Mott explains that the Constitution might be seen as an invitation to develop the habits of political engagement through deliberation and adjudication.

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.”