Baltimore Field School (BFS) 2.0: Undoing and Doing Anew in Public Humanities
| MONDAY, July 17 | ||
| Meet at The Lion Brothers Building, 875 Hollins St | ||
| MORNING (10:00am – 12pm)@ The Lion Brothers Building (875 Hollins St – entrance on Poppleton Street) | Resources and Materials | |
| 10:00 – 10:30am | Welcome to the BFS 2.0 Introduction and Welcome: Nicole King, Orser Center and American Studies, UMBC Sarah Fouts, Public Humanities and American Studies, UMBC | Bouges, Weinberg, and Gamble-Rivers. “The Rosa Parks House: Doing Public Art and Public History in the Age of Neoliberalism.” in Doing Public Humanities. Edited by Susan Smulyan (2021). Google Drive Shared Folder Nicole King, Tahira Mahdi, and Sarah Fouts, “Rethinking the Field in Crisis: The Baltimore Field School and Building Ethical Community and University Partnerships,” Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, forthcoming. |
| *10 min BREAK* | ||
| 10:40am – 12pm | Theme: “What shaped your public humanities trajectory?” 4X4 Presentations4 x 4 is a four-minute presentation with four slides which includes one image per slide and no text (unless it is already embedded in the image). Images may consist of artwork, photos, collages, etc. Presenters will dedicate roughly 1 minute per slide responding to the prompt: “ | Upload Your Slides HERE See Prompt in Google Drive Shared Folder(label w/your last name BFS e.g. King_BFS) PROMPT for 7/212021 manifestos |
| LUNCH BREAK (12pm – 1pm) Mera Kitchen Collective | ||
| AFTERNOON (1- 4pm) | ||
| 1 – 2pm | Nuts and Bolts: Overview, Logistics, and Expectations Facilitators: Buffy Illum, Program Coordinator, Baltimore Field School UMBC Nicole King, Orser Center and American Studies, UMBC Sarah Fouts, Public Humanities and American Studies, UMBC | |
| *30 min BREAK* | ||
| 2:30 – 4pm For panelists: 1. Describe the goals and ethos of your work. 2. How have you used street art as a tool for change, to resist oppression, or to engage the public? 3. Is there a specific and distinct Baltimore aesthetic; and if so, what is it and what does it tell us about the city?  2:30pm intro (Rebecca) 2:40-3pm Each panelist presents 5 minutes on one or all of the guiding questions (above). 3-3:30pm panelist conversation 3:30-4pm questions from audience | Topic: Street Art + Public Humanities panel Description: We are using the general term “street art,”as a bridge in public art between unsanctioned graffiti and sanctioned murals. Street art can convey a political or social message that confronts power disparities and oftentimes provokes discussion and/or action. This panel explores the role of street art as a collaboration and/or an activist project by hearing from people who have used street art as a tool for change. Panelists: Deborah “Mama Debbie” Mason, Director of Sankofa Children’s Museum on the art of Muralist Pontella Mason Nether, Contemporary street artist Sonia Eaddy, Poppleton Now & Organize Poppleton Lexi Tyson, Visual Arts Major, UMBC Moderator: Rebecca Uchill, Director of the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, UMBC | Suggested Tests: Pontella Mason: Staying True to his African Self, by Arthur C. Brown III on March 18, 2013. Work of Martha Cooper:Taking Her Shot, Baltimore Magazine, 2018.Steven Kasher Gallery On Nether & Wall Hunters: Wall Hunters takes on the slumlords crippling Baltimore neighborhoods Liz Miller, Mural Art Tours Baltimore Lisa Snowden, BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS MATTER: Poppleton’s Sonia Eaddy Fought City Hall and a New York Developer–And Won, Baltimore Beat, 2022. Street Art in Baltimore: A Catalyst for Change Meredith K. Stone. “Defining and Understanding Street Art as it Relates to Racial Justice in Baltimore, Maryland,” thesis, 2017 |
| TUESDAY, July 18 | ||
| Meet at Baltimore Underground Science Space, 101 N Haven St #105 | ||
| MORNING (10am – 12pm) @ BUGSS (Baltimore Under Ground Science Space, 101 N Haven St #105) We10 am Introduction and Background on BUGSS (Lydia and Lisa)10:10-10:40 am Lab Activity and Discussion10:40-11 am Panelist presents 5-7 minutes to locate their work and connection with BUGSS11-11:40 am Panelist Conversation to discuss one or all of the following as it relates to their work: BUGSS’s work with universities, the democratization of knowledge, role in Highlandtown, and the relationship (or potential relationship) between public humanities and BUGSS11:40-12 pm questions from audience | Topic: Undoing Extractive Research to Build Public Humanities in East Baltimore Description: This panel and lab activity explores questions of ethics, history, and democratic access to knowledge production by exploring the role of BUGSS in the Highlandtown neighborhood of Baltimore. BUGSS is a non-profit public laboratory offering classes, seminars, and lab access so that anyone can safely and affordably investigate the living world. By democratizing these technologies BUGSS aims to facilitate more nuanced dialogue and exploration of the incredible potential, as well as limitations and ethical issues. Key questions: How does BUGSS bridge university and community relationships? What is the connection between BUGSS and public humanities? What are the key issues that really drive these connections (ethics, climate change, etc). Why is it important to have these shared public science spaces? What is BUGSS’s relationship like with the Highlandtown community? Panelists: Lisa Scheifele, Associate Professor of Biology at Loyola University Maryland and Executive Director, BUGSS Gabrielle Sutherland, East Coast BioCrew High School iGEM Team Member and Educational Consultant Eric Ezenwanne, Machine Learning Researcher, Common Ground – Synthesis of Biology Steve Bradley, Director, Linehan Artist Scholars Program, Associate Professor of Visual Art, UMBC Lydia Stamato, PhD Human-Centered Computing, UMBC BFS Fellow Moderator: Sarah Fouts, Public Humanities & American Studies, UMBC | Materials Stamato, Higgins, Prottoy, Asgarali-Hoffman, Scheifele, Dusman, deCarvalho, Ascencao, and Hamidi. “Raaz: A Transdisciplinary Exploration at the Intersection of Bioart, HCI, and Community Engagement.” Frontiers in Computer Science. March 17, 2022. Google Drive Shared Folder |
| 12 – 1pm LUNCH BREAK @ Taqueria Vargas (301 S Highland Ave) | ||
| Southeast CDC (3237 Eastern Avenue) | ||
| AFTERNOON (1 – 4pm)Southeast CDC (3237 Eastern Avenue) 1 – 2:20pm 1-2:20 PANEL with Andy and Viridiana at Southeast CDC 3237 Eastern Avenue(5-7 minute presentations each)2:20-2:30 BREAK2:30-2:40 Walk to Creative Alliance new building (Creativity Center)2:40-2:45 Intro by Heather and Yesenia 2:45-2:50 Intro to Jovenes en Accion by Yesenia 2:50-3:10 Jóvenes Presentation3:10-3:30 Meet the Artesanas, and support their local business 3:30-3:45 Tour to Creativity Center and Patterson park building 3:45-4:00 Experience a piece of Highlandtown exploring its murals “Walking Tour of Highlandtown” credit to Julissa with Viridiana and Yesenia | Topic: Documenting Latinx Complexities in a Changing Neighborhood Description: As Latinx communities have settled in the Highlandtown neighborhood of Baltimore they often get treated as a monolith in which institutions recognize them as a demographic ready to be researched or polled. This session explores the complexity of Latin American communities who represent a vast range of cultures that get lost amidst the homogenization of their identities. This panel discusses ways to build collaborative projects with Latinx community members that reckon with these complexities, build power, and share important stories. Panelists: Yesenia Mejia, CIELO Director and Artesanas Coordinator, Creative Alliance and BFS Fellow Andy Dahl, Manager of Neighborhood Programs, Southeast CDC Viridiana Colosio-Martinez, Program Associate, UMBC Dresher Center, Intercultural Communication MA, UMBC Fellow Moderator: Sarah Fouts, Public Humanities & American Studies, UMBC | Dansberger Duque, Catalina Sofia. “Shared Stories, Shared Purpose.” UMBC Magazine. June 8, 2023. Garcia, Stephanie. “UMBC Students Archive Highlandtown’s Latino Immigration History and Food Culture.” Baltimore Sun. December 28, 2021. |
| *10 Min BREAK* | ||
| 2:40-4pm | A Tour of East Baltimore and Creative Alliance with Yesenia Mejia | |
| WEDNESDAY, July 19 | ||
| MORNING (10am – 1pm) | Writing Wednesday → morning off for work on individual projects | |
| AFTERNOON (1 – 4:45pm) | ||
| Storytelling Session @ Lion Brothers Building, 875 Hollins St | ||
| 1 – 2:15pm Questions for panelists: 1. What brought you to incorporate storytelling in your work?2. Briefly discuss the specifics methods and ethics of your storytelling practice and how you foster connection and build meaningful relationships in the field. (5-7 minutes each panelists)Questions & discuss to follow Panelist slides | Topic: Connecting Communities and Universities: Methods & Ethics of Storytelling Description: Stories connect people across differences. This session explores how to foster connection and build meaningful relationships in the process of storytelling projects. From issues on process and community ownership to learning about how to create platonic intimacy between strangers and therefore increase social connectedness for neighbors, the panelists discuss what they have learned in the field. The panel will focus on the ethics of project planning and execution and be followed by “how to” sessions with collaborators. Panelists: Bios at UMBC Fellows Earl Brooks, English, UMBC Viridiana Colosio-Martinez, Dresher Center, UMBC Charlotte Keniston, Shriver Center, UMBC Kristin Putchinski, Intermedia and Digital Arts Master’s Program, UMBC Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque, Communications Manager, UMBC Moderator: Nicole King, AMST & PUBH | Suggested Texts: Bill Shewbridge, Bev Bickel, Tania Lizarazo, Charlotte Keniston, and Jamie Gillan, “The Story in the Middle:” The Power of Collaborative Story Processes, from the forthcoming book Storywork for a Just Future Sonic Storytelling: A Conversation with Earl Brooks, March 2020. Viridiana Colosio-MartinezBilingualism and Cultural Identity in the Latinx Community, April 2022. Kristin Putchinski’s Sowebo Story Swap, West Baltimore Neighbors Swap Stories, December 2022. Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque, UMBC News & UMBC Magazine stories |
| *30 min BREAK* @ Black Yield Institute (BYI) in Cherry Hill – 844 Roundview Rd | ||
| 2:45 – 4:45pm Cherry Hill – 844 Roundview Rd Each session will be 30 minutes and focus specifically on how speakers do their storytelling work. Everyone will share the things they wish they knew before starting projects. Shared Resource google folder | How-To Sessions Description: Sonic Storytelling (2:45-3:15pm) Earl Brooks (Sonic Storytelling – podcast w/ Rona Kobel) The Art of Sound (3:15-3:45pm) Kristin Putchinski (Sowebo Storyswap / platonic intimacy & storytelling) Digital Storytelling: The Vault (3:45-4:15pm) Charlotte Kenison w/ Eric Jackson, Jae Allen, Special Collections and University Archives, Towson University, and Jordan Taylor, Black Yield Institute, and Tracey Duval, participant. Discuss & Debrief (4:15-4:45 pm) | LOCATION IN THE FIELD, BYI in Cherry Hill BYI is located in the ELEV8 Baltimore Building at 844 Roundview Rd, Baltimore, MD 21225. It’s in an old school building and has a blue door. There is a parking lot and also lots of free street parking. When you enter the blue doors, walk straight to the stairs and head upstairs. Once at the top of the stairs take a left and then another left down the first hallway. If you have any issues, feel free to call Charlotte Keniston’s cell 603-455-6910. |
| Thursday, July 20 | ||
| MORNING (10am-1pm) | Southwest | Materials |
| 10-11:30am Lion Brothers (875 Hollins St. – entrance on Poppleton St.) Schedule: 10am – Welcome (Nicole)10:05-10:10am: Introductions + overview of session (Courtney)Response to questions from City Officials (5 minutes each = 20 minutes)10:30am: Responses and feedback from Fellows/community organizers (5 minutes each = 15)10:45-11am: Dialogue w/all panelists (Courtney) 11-11:30am: Courtney moderates questions from the audience Questions for City Officials: 1. What ways can Baltimore City officials leverage and share information with the communities and residents who they serve to improve access to affordable housing, preservation, and community-led development without displacement? 2. What specific tools can you and your department of City government offer to “demystify city bureaucracies”? 3. How can researchers and teachers in Baltimore work with City agencies to build a better and more equitable city? | SESSION: Demystifying Bureaucracies: Community-led Preservation, Planning, and Affordable Housing in Baltimore As part of the 2022-2023 Baltimore Field School, Community Fellows have discussed the complexities of negotiating Baltimore City bureaucracies in ways that are productive and effective to achieve equity and community buy-in for issues related to preservation, planning and housing. We want to have a conversation between community organizers like Betty Bland Thomas (Sharp Leadenhall), Tisha Guthrie (Poppleton), and Michael Casiano (Charm City Community Land Trust) directly with the city officials in charge of the powerful organizations that make and set the priorities and processes in Baltimore. Panelists: Alice Kennedy, Housing Commissioner, Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Eric Holcomb, Director, The Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) Odette Ramos, Councilwoman, Baltimore City Council, District 14 Dr. John Bullock, Councilman, Baltimore City Council, District 9 Commentary: Betty Bland Thomas, president of the Historic Sharp Leadenhall Community Association Tisha Guthrie, Baltimore Renters United/Poppleton Now Mike Casiano, Assistant Professor, American Studies, UMBC & Charm City Land Trusts Moderated by: Courtney Hobson, UMBC Fellow | David Graeber, The Utopia of RulesOn Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy Baltimore Brew on preservation:For critics decrying the state of historic preservation in Baltimore, Hendler Creamery is Exhibit A Part IA look at Baltimore’s preservation and planning fiascos Part II Preservation Trends in Baltimore and Beyond (Eric Holcomb) Alice Kennedy: Engaging All Pieces Of The Puzzle (video)Baltimore Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy discusses the importance of collaboration of community stakeholders. The following article featuring IHC Coalition member Tisha Guthrie (Baltimore Affordable Housing Trust Commissioner and Housing activist) Article: The Grassroots Fight for Housing Justice in Baltimore December interview with IHC member Barbara Samuels and the Real News Network’s “Tax Broke” team. This interview covers the Inclusionary Housing bill within the larger housing context and history of housing segregation in Baltimore. It provides important background to understand the complex issue of affordable housing. Betty Bland Thomas, “Baltimore leaders talk the talk about equity, but don’t walk the walk in housing,” Baltimore Sun, June 23, 2023. Mark Reutter, “Zoning change vote by City Council comes as a blow to a historic Black enclave,” Baltimore Brew, June 27, 2023. Google Drive Shared Folder |
| 11:30 – 12pm mingle/break | 12pm Brief Poppleton videos before walking tour | Walking Tour – 12:30-1pm Part 1: Hollins Market |
| LUNCH (1 – 2pm) | Zella’s Pizzeria (1145 Hollins St.) | |
| AFTERNOON (2-4pm) Walking Tour – Part II | A Pla in ce Called Poppleton Site Visit & Walking Tourw/ Curtis Eaddy + Nicole King Description: For the afternoon we will have a site visit and walking tour of the historic West Baltimore neighborhood of Poppleton. The story of redevelopment in Poppleton illustrates how Baltimore City and private developers failed to see and hear the people of this historically Black neighborhood along the Highway to Nowhere. UMBC professors and students worked with community partners on research, public programming, and digital storytelling to amplify the powerful voices of residents fighting for development without displacement. The A Place Called Poppleton project uses the power of stories and narrative to call on politicians to repair and make amends for the damage done to Black neighborhoods and people in Baltimore. | Before the tour you can look over the Poppleton StoryMap, a digital walking tour, and the Poppleton timeline. These digital projects were part of cultural documentation projects produced by American Studies and Media & Communication Studies students in courses in 2021-2022. You can visit the Baltimore Traces website for more information on the project: https://baltimoretraces.umbc.edu/poppleton/ |
| Friday, July 21 | ||
| MORNING (10am-12pm) | Topic: Keeping Public Humanities Alive | Materials |
| 10 – 11am: Lion Brothers (875 Hollins St. – entrance on Poppleton St.) The 10am session explores the recently acquired “To Say Their Own Word” archive and the Ashley Minner archives at UMBC. For panelists: 1. What are the methods and ethical concerns when archiving community histories and living archives? 2. What role should archives play in public humanities research, teaching, and programming?3. What are the most important archival considerations when starting a project? 10am – Introductions10:05 – 10:30am – panelists present on their projects + the above questions.10:30-10:55am – discussion and dialogue w/audience | Part I: Living Archives: How to Keep Historical Content Alive Description: The morning panels focus on the important issues surrounding community-based living archives, including the To Say Their Own Word project and the Ashley Minner Collections from UMBC Special Collections. We will discuss the ethics of archival projects and how best to use them in public humanities research, teaching, and public programming. Panelists: Cameron Granadino, The Real News Network – “To Say Their Own Word” producer Beth Saunders, Director of UMBC Special Collections Ashley Minner, National Museum of the American Indian Lindsey Loeper, Reference and Instruction Archivist, UMBC Special Collections Moderated By: Nicole King, Public Humanities & American Studies, UMBC Commentary: UMBC/Morgan/JHU students | Suggested Texts: Meaningful Representation, UMBC magazine profile on Ashley Minner, 2020 Ashley Minner, Reclaiming Space for the Lumbee Indians of Baltimore in Folklife, 2020) “To Say Their Own Word” archival project: Collection + video TRNN, EDDIE CONWAY (1946-2023)Remembering the life and struggle of a beloved comrade and former political prisoner, Feb. 14, 2023. |
| Five Minute Break | ||
| 11am – 12pmLion Brothers 11 – 12 pm: Lion Brothers (875 Hollins St. – entrance on Poppleton St.) 11 Introduction 11:10-11:35 Panelist Presentations 5-7 minutes to locate your research and teaching in relation to keeping historical content alive11:35-11:50 Panel Discussions with the following themes: ethical concerns when archiving community histories; archival considerations when starting a project; archive and preservation of content with marginalized communities and spaces that face demolition and/or erasure; connecting LGBTQ archival work with current issues.11:50-12 Audience Questions | Part II: Staying Alive…Living Archives: How to Keep Historical Content Alive Description: With a focus on LGBTQ stories and archival research, this panel explores the role of archives as a tool of empowerment to celebrate and support LGBTQ stories. How can we effectively archive and preserve content associated with marginalized communities that have been erased or face erasure? How can LGBTQ-centric humanities archives be used for the public good during such anti-LGBTQ political and cultural milieu? What are the ethical concerns when archiving community histories and living archives with LGBTQ communities? Panelists: Kate Drabinski, UMBC Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality, Studies Legendary Rhonda Carr, Peabody Ballroom Experience Enrique St Laurent, Peabody Ballroom Experience Forrest Caskey, UMBC Language, Literacy, and Culture Ph.D. candidate“‘Who Is Dorothy?’ Baltimore Drag Queens Establishing Space and Place for Queer Culture” Moderated By: Sarah Fouts, Public Humanities & American Studies, UMBC | Suggested Readings: EmpoweringStudents by UsingPrimary Sources toResearch Queer andFeminist HistoriesKate Drabinski, Jo Gadsby, and LindseyLoeper Oral History of Legendary Rhonda Carr Peabody Ballroom Experience is an arts and humanities collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and ballroom, a nearly century-old performance-based culture composed primarily of gay, lesbian, transgender, and gender non-conforming people of color. History and Performance Collide: the Peabody Ballroom Experience, Humanities for All, July 2023. |
| LUNCH BREAK (12-1pm) | Catering: Mera Kitchen Collective | |
| AFTERNOON (1-4pm) 1-2 pm Public Humanities Grants: What are components of a successful grant in public humanities fields? What are grant reviewers looking for? Where are good places to look for funding? | Topic: Nuts and Bolts on Grants + Future Funding for PubHum Description: This panel brings in experts from key arenas to discuss the nuts and bolts on grants and future funding for Public Humanities. We bring together federal, state, and institutional experts in this field to share their wisdom in locating and securing funds for public humanities projects. Panelists: Rachel Brubaker, UMBC Dresher Center Assistant Director Ryan Patterson, Public Art Project Manager, Maryland State Arts Council Michelle Stefano, American Folklife Center, Folklife Specialist Description: What funds support the public humanities? How do we go about approaching fundraising for our projects? What are the core components to consider when grant writing? How do we determine our audience? Moderator: Nicole King | “Of The People” LOC Blog posts by Dr. Stefano Grants and Fellowships in the Grants Resources folder in Google Drive Shared Folder |
| *30 min BREAK* | ||
| 2:30 – 4 pm | Topic: Abstract Timelines, Manifestos, and/or Prompt Presentations Description: Each BFS Fellow will present their final product on a public humanities related project. A panel of peers and experts will provide feedback on these projects. Feedback Session w/ Rachel Brubaker, UMBC Dresher Center Assistant Director Ryan Patterson, Public Art Project Manager, Maryland State Arts Council Michelle Stefano, American Folklife Center, Folklife Specialist Facilitator: Sarah Fouts | Prompt here. Please post any visuals in the Google Drive Shared Folder |
| 4-4:30 | BFS Next Steps? Ideas and Visions Moderator: Nicole King & Sarah Fouts | |
| 5pm | Happy Hour @ Old Major (900 S Carey St) *BFS KARAOKE* w/snacks Courtney’s BFS playlist: Everyone is free to add to it: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3rmrIwnoOXRSgogMsTLQtd?si=bee166c419bc4209 💥💥💥Let’s keep the BFS party going 💥💥💥 | |