These Speakers Bureau events are hosted by non-profits across Vermont. All are open to the public. Vermont organizations can book talks through our Speakers Bureau catalog, which offers thought-provoking presentations by scholars on diverse humanities topics.
February 8
“Finding Jesse: A Fugitive from Slavery in Vermont” traces Jesse’s life from enslavement in North Carolina to freedom in Vermont. His story is told through letters in the collection at Rokeby Museum and documents at the North Carolina State Archives. The illustrated talk brings the narrative of one slave out of anonymity and explores his life and pursuit of freedom.
February 9
In this presentation, Andy Kolovos from the Vermont Folklife Center and Julia Grand Doucet from the Open Door Clinic provide an overview of the goals of the El Viaje Más Caro Project.
February 17
Join award-winning cartoonist and educator Marek Bennett as he presents some of the many comics documenting human migrations and struggles throughout the ages, and lead a hands-on demo to show how YOU can cartoon the stories of your own family, neighborhood, and wider world.
February 23
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.
February 27
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.
March 5
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.
March 18
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.
March 22
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.
April 2
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.
April 4
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.”
April 18
“Finding Jesse: A Fugitive from Slavery in Vermont” traces Jesse’s life from enslavement in North Carolina to freedom in Vermont. His story is told through letters in the collection at Rokeby Museum and documents at the North Carolina State Archives. The illustrated talk brings the narrative of one slave out of anonymity and explores his life and pursuit of freedom.
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.
