Voices from the Global Humanities

How can humanities centers and institutes work with other disciplines and research units to address issues of environmental justice and equity in their local communities? With colleagues from across the university—from literature and the arts to oceanography and urban planning—Emily Brady and the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research are showing that responses to our current environmental conditions are strengthened by the inclusion of research that emphasizes justice, ethics, and the imagination. This episode focuses on the Coastal Communities and Justice program, the Glasscock Center's virtual event series that uses interdisciplinary humanities-based collaborations to study overlooked issues facing Texas’s Gulf Coast Communities. Craig Eley spoke with Emily Brady and Michelle Meyer about the collaboration between the Glasscock Center and Texas A&M's Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center. Eley then speaks with Tim Tsai, the director of Seadrift, a 2019 documentary film about racial and economic tensions between Texans and Vietnamese refugees in coastal fishing communities in the late 1970s about this program. Links: Watch Seadrift (2019) [Free Until May 1 2021] Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research - Texas A&M University Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center - Texas A&M University Credits: Craig Eley, producer; Sara Guyer, host; Emily Brady, guest; Michelle Meyer, guest; Tim Tsai, guest. Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions.

How can humanities centers stay publicly engaged in the time of social distancing? In this episode, Craig Eley speaks with Aaron Fai (Assistant Director for Public Humanities at the UW-Madison Center for the Humanities) about the Humanities Responders: a student-run public humanities program conducted virtually. Seeking to identify and respond to invisible crises taking place in the community, Fai discusses how he drew down the barriers between the university and the community to promote access and fund new projects.  We also hear from Orion Risk and Steven Wang about their Humanities Responders projects. Orion is the founder of the Trans Theatre Fest, happening March 13 and 14, 2021, which will include a performance of their play, Gendertalks. You can learn more about Steven's project, "Queer We Are, Together We Heal," on their Facebook page. Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions.

In this episode, Craig Eley talks with Jean Allman, director of the Center for the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis, about the "Life/Lines" project. Back in April, Jean wanted to add to the humanities conversations she was seeing in her feeds. So she launched “Life/Lines,” a project that gave participants a daily poetry prompt: 5 keywords that must be used, and 7 or 8 lines to use them. The response was remarkable—undergrads to professors emeritus, lifelong poets and those just starting out, people inside the university and well beyond it. Special thanks to Jean Allman, the J.H. Hexter Professor in the Humanities and director of the Humanities Center at Washington University in St. Louis. Thanks also to this episode’s poets: Mark Alford, Jeannette Cooperman, Gwyneth Henke, Robert Henke, and Jey Sushil. The show was produced by Craig Eley with help from Jade Isiri-Ramos. Music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions.