Join fellow community members in Essex Junction and Williston for a discussion of this year's Vermont Reads book, "The Most Costly Journey." This discussion is offered as a collaboration between Brownell Library and Dorothy Alling Memorial Library. Attendees may join in person at Dorothy Alling Memorial Library where we will discuss the book over a cup of Mexican Hot Cocoa, or register to receive the virtual link.
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. Costello will also trace the sangamento tradition in the U.S. and throughout the Americas, and discuss how the Kongolese message of liberty can inform present-day efforts to overcome the lingering effects of our colonial inheritance.
Join us for a read aloud of "Lola Out Loud" and "Dolores Huerta: A Hero to the Migrant Workers" and a discussion about migrant workers. Reading will be followed by a themed activity. For ages 6-10, siblings welcome.
Greenagers engages young adults in environmental conservation, sustainable farming, and natural resource management. Sarah Monteiro from the Massachusetts non-profit reflects on the importance of getting youth involved in environmental and agricultural industries.
Longtime First Wednesdays favorite Ilan Stavans discusses his new book, an anthology that tells the story of how the English language has been transformed in the United States. The People’s Tongue features essays, letters, poems, songs, speeches, stories, jeremiads, manifestos, and decrees across history, from Sojourner Truth and Abraham Lincoln to Henry Roth and Zora Neale Hurston and beyond.
South America’s Atlantic Forest is one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. Cristian Fretes Ojeda, technical trainer for Peace Corps Paraguay, discusses how civic participation is leading the effort to conserve crucial natural areas like the Atlantic Forest and the Gran Chaco, which span several South American countries.
Bring a friend or family member to share a short story about finding yourself in new places or situation. Your story will be edited by teens and shared with the wider community as part of our 2023 Vermont Reads Programming about "The Most Costly Journey." Prompts and easy-to-follow instructions will be available, along with help from a youth librarian.
Singer and historian Linda Radtke, in period garb and a “Votes for Women” sash, celebrates the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave the right to vote to white women.
In this event we will go over the fundamentals of how to conduct an oral history interview, resources you can use, and possible oral history projects.
Drawing on "The Most Costly Journey" (the 2022 Vermont Reads book) as well as works of art and criticism by Kate Beaton, Hilary Chute, Art Spiegelman, and others, this talk takes up these questions and reflects on the ways that contemporary nonfiction comics is challenging and revitalizing the study of literature.
Join Stowe Library to read and discuss Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. The novel chronicles the French invasion of Russia and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society through the stories of five Russian aristocratic families.
This presentation examines the many meanings of maple sugaring. Maple is enormously important to Vermont’s economy, ecology, and heritage. Champlain College professor Michael Lange will discuss sugaring ethnographically, based on over five years of research among sugarmakers all over the state, to learn from them what sugaring really means to Vermont.
Join the Axinn Center for the Humanities at Middlebury College for a poetry reading and talk by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith at Wilson Hall on the college campus. This event is free and open to the public.
Join us for a presentation and conversation on agriculture, migration, and how migrant workers enhance the vitality of Vermont. We will be discussing the agricultural history of the Stowe area and how that history and future relate to climate migration. These discussions will be bolstered by video material from Vermont Reads and the documentary For The Love of Rutland.
Singer and historian Linda Radtke, in period garb and a “Votes for Women” sash, celebrates the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave the right to vote to white women.
This presentation examines the many meanings of maple sugaring. Maple is enormously important to Vermont’s economy, ecology, and heritage. Champlain College professor Michael Lange will discuss sugaring ethnographically, based on over five years of research among sugarmakers all over the state, to learn from them what sugaring really means to Vermont.
In honor of World Water Day, the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association (VAAA) is pleased to present Kwanitekw (Connecticut River): The Sustainer of Life. On March 22 at 7pm, a panel of Indigenous citizens and environmental scientists share multiple perspectives on living in relationship with the Connecticut River watershed.
As our society increasingly relies on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, how can we understand and articulate the ethical implications of this rapidly developing field? Designed to connect more deeply with BCA's exhibition "Co-Created: The Artist in the Age of Intelligent Machines," join us for a moderated discussion with a panel of speakers who will explore the moral and social complexities of AI.
This presentation examines the many meanings of maple sugaring. Maple is enormously important to Vermont’s economy, ecology, and heritage. Champlain College professor Michael Lange will discuss sugaring ethnographically, based on over five years of research among sugarmakers all over the state, to learn from them what sugaring really means to Vermont.
Bill Mares began making his own beer 45 years ago, when home brewing was illegal and there were no microbreweries in America. In this presentation, he offers a short history of beer itself and discusses Vermont’s small but significant contribution to the American beer revolution.
One biography each year is awarded a Pulitzer Prize, but these character studies wouldn't count - each is a Pulitzer-winning work of fiction, with portions based on one person's real life story. All the King's Men is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty".
A round table discussion facilitated by Dr. Alan Berolzheimer, Project Historian and Assistant Director at The Flow of History, will lead conversation centered on the human experience explored in The Most Costly Journey.
Bring a friend or family member to share a short story about finding yourself in new places or situation. Your story will be edited by teens and shared with the wider community as part of our 2023 Vermont Reads Programming about "The Most Costly Journey." Prompts and easy-to-follow instructions will be available, along with help from a youth librarian.
This series invites readers to learn more about Robert Frost's life and the diversity of his writings. Robert Frost is commonly regarded as America's greatest poet. Among his many honors are four Pulitzer Prizes and an appointment as Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress.
The First Amendment prevents Congress from passing any laws that abridge the freedom of speech. But what does that actually mean? Professor Meg Mott considers the history of speech laws in the United States, how states and municipalities have tried to curb offensive speech, and how the Supreme Court has ruled on those efforts.
Poet Sarah Audsley joined us at the Taconic Mountains Ramble State Park for Words in the Woods.
Humanities Camps are filled with reading and writing projects, field trips, and outdoor activities.
We won a 2020 Schwartz Prize for best public humanities programming in the U.S. for Vermont Reads 2019: “March: Book One.”
We supported Historic New England’s “More than a Market” project that explored the experiences of new Americans through food markets.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
