Calendar of Events
Calendar of Events
Wednesday, February 2*
Black Global Consciousness feat. Dr. Angela Davis in Conversation with Dr. Ann Morning | Virtual Event | 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. EST/7:30 – 8:45 p.m. GST
Following the resurgence of social movements challenging the status quo on social inequity and racial inequality, words such as ‘colonialism’, ‘systemic racism’, and ‘access’ remain central in global conversations today and even more so during Black History Month. The essence of this month is to challenge systems of oppression embedded in institutions and knowledge production for the upliftment of Black people. Often considered an import of “American ideologies,'' Dr. Angela Davis and Dr. Ann Morning will explore Black History Month as a tool for highlighting the importance of diverse and inclusive conversations about the Black experience and historical knowledge in a global context.
* special pre-week event
Organized in collaboration with the Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation; the NYUAD Humanities Research Fellowship for the Study of the Arab World; NYUAD Institute; and the Office of Spiritual Life and Intercultural Education.
Monday, February 7
The Promised Land: Our New World | Virtual Event | 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. EST
If the last two years have shown us anything, it is that change can be unexpected, complex, and bittersweet. There often lies beauty in this experience, as challenge and change are vital to constructing a new world.
Just as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaimed to have looked over and seen the Promised Land, and just as we as a people have descended valleys, so too can we come together to climb mountains. Join us for a multidisciplinary conversation that reflects on the challenges and changes we've collectively experienced over the last year, envisions what the "Promised Land" looks like for the Black community, and explores the tangible actions we all must take to create this new world together.
Organized in collaboration with the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE) at the Tandon School of Engineering.
Tuesday, February 8
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award Ceremony | Virtual Event | 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST
On Tuesday, February 8, we hosted a virtual ceremony honoring the recipients of the 2022 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award recognizes outstanding faculty who exemplify the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s scholarship, life, and justice work and who promote the principles and ethos of Dr. King’s extensive global contributions in their research, teaching, leadership, and/or community-building efforts. These awards are of particular significance as they are driven by students. Student participation includes, but is not limited to, award development, nomination, selection, and recognition of faculty honorees who have made a substantial impact within the classroom, in advancing student research and co-curricular projects, and in their work with students across the greater NYU community.
NYU Steinhardt Graduate Student Organization (GSO) MLK Oratorical Contest | Virtual Event | 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST
This year's MLK Oratorical Contest will feature a variety of performances from graduate student orators, poets, musicians, actors, dancers, and more. Performances will honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and center around this year's theme: The Beautiful Struggle for a New World.
All NYU graduate students are encouraged to apply to perform in this year's competition.
Organized in collaboration with the NYU Steinhardt Graduate Student Organization (GSO).
Thursday, February 10
University-Wide Event | Virtual Event | 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. EST
For the 17th consecutive year, NYU will commemorate Dr. King’s visit to the University Heights Campus in 1961 and honor his legacy by hosting a week-long (Feb. 7–12) schedule of special events.
As we continue to navigate this time of challenge, change, and adversity, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s teachings remind us of the critical opportunity we have to work together across communities to envision, build, and actualize a new reality. In the words of Dr. King, it is our commitment to the revolutionary spirit that drives the beautiful struggle for a new world—and along with it—the reimagining of new, transformative possibilities.
Occurring as a virtual event, this year's marquee will feature a conversation between special guests and Dr. Lisa Coleman.
Friday, February 11
Friday with RAPtivist Aisha Fukushima | Virtual Event | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EST
Join RAPtivist (rap activist), Aisha Fukushima, in a virtual space that offers an opportunity to explore the power of your voice and creativity as a portal for changemaking (from the inside out). This event will involve music, movement, creative writing, and mindfulness. It will be a space to decompress and get refreshed. Aisha invites you to have a notebook and pen ready, to join from a comfortable space if possible, and to come as you are. All are welcome.
Organized in collaboration with NYU Residential Life and Housing Services.
Saturday, February 12
Zoom In on Food Activism | MLK Day of Service Workshop | Virtual Event | 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. EST
Dr. King's legacy and teachings remind us that engaging in service is a powerful way to bring people together to advocate for change. In this workshop, NYU Service will facilitate a conversation on the food systems in the United States, and how these systems lead individuals to experience food insecurity. Attendees will learn how to get active in serving our local community and beyond.
Organized in collaboration with NYU Service, within the Center for Student Life.
The Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation invites the NYU community to join in celebrating the rich history and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Among the various programs organized by the NYU MLK Week Planning Committee, schools, offices, and student organizations across the University organize events occurring throughout and beyond NYU MLK Week 2022. These programs seek to educate and encourage community engagement with various social justice topics.
FEBRUARY 2: Transformation!: The African Grove Theatre in "The Land of the Blacks" | Virtual Event | 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST
In 1821, the African Grove Theatre was built on Mercer and Bleecker Streets, in a region of New York where Blacks had previously lived for more than 175 years. Transformation! explores the rich history of African American theatrical stage performance. Hear from one of the Transformation! curators, Michael Dinwiddie (NYU Gallatin), about the exhibition, the African Grove Theatre, and the scholarship surrounding it.
Joining him will be David Tidwell (Associate Professor of Scene Design at North Carolina A&T University), who will explore the construction of the African Grove Theatre’s maquette; actor Shanga Parker (NYU Tisch), who will perform two versions of a monologue from Shakespeare’s Richard III; and John Ray Proctor (Tulane University), who will discuss Shakespearean performance styles in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This event is open to NYU community members only and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 3: Black Lives Matter at School | An Interactive Panel of Teacher Voices and Experiences | Virtual Event | 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. EST
As part of the Black Lives Matter at School National Week of Action, join the Department of Teaching and Learning to listen to, learn from, and interact with teachers who actively incorporate Black Lives Matter in their preK-12 schools and classrooms. We will hear from teachers who represent a diversity of schools, grades, subject areas, and identities around New York City. The panel conversation will be followed by breakout rooms facilitated by teacher-panelists to further explore specific strategies, lessons, activities and approaches to bringing Black Lives Matter into all classrooms.
This event is open to the public and organized by the Department of Teaching and Learning at NYU Steinhardt.
FEBRUARY 7: Gallatin Alumni Working Group in the Arts—Artist Spotlight on LaTasha Barnes with Yvonne Curry-Thomas | Virtual Event | 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST
Join Gallatin's Alumni Working Group in the Arts for their Artist Spotlight series. In this edition, we feature alum LaTasha Barnes (MA '19) in conversation with fellow alum, Yvonne Curry-Thomas (MA '17), as they discuss their MA Program experiences, professional pathways before and beyond Gallatin, and all things dance, choreography, and more!
This event is open to the public and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 8: Volunteer for "What Graduate Students of Color Need to Know About Mentorship" | Application Deadline | 11:59 p.m. EST
NYU grad students and alumni are needed to lead networking breakout sessions for this special admissions event. Help applicants and newly admitted grad students of color explore the importance of mentorship in academia and beyond. The event includes a keynote with Dr. Karen Jackson-Weaver and a faculty panel.
NYU graduate students and alumni are encourged to volunteer for this special event.
FEBRUARY 9: "How I Got Here," feat. Dr. Karen Jackson-Weaver | Virtual Event | 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
During MLK Week, the School of Professional Studies is pleased to feature Dr. Karen Jackson-Weaver in a special session to kick-off their spring 2022 “How I Got Here” series.
Dr. Jackson-Weaver is an expert on educational policy; a historian specializing in religion, ethics, and political affairs; and a former dean-in-residence at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. She is now the senior associate vice president of global faculty engagement and innovation advancement at NYU.
Dr. Jackson-Weaver facilitated and led institutes throughout the country and edited two volumes of primary source documents which culminated in the publications, Reconstruction Reconsidered: The African-American Presence in American History, and the Amistad Curricular Guide to American History. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Princeton University, a master’s degree at Harvard University, and a PhD in American History from Columbia University, where she was a Kluge Scholar Fellow, Merit Dissertation fellowship winner, and nominee for the university-wide teaching award.
Join in as Dr. Jackson-Weaver shares her journey in higher education and her facilitation of editing Reconstruction Reconsidered.
This event is open to NYU students only and is organized by the School of Professional Studies.
FEBRUARY 9: Reimagining Well-Being: Finding Joy in the Workplace | Virtual Event | 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. EST
During these unprecedented times, we have all been called to reflect on what it means to find joy in the midst of suffering, and well-being in the midst of a pandemic. The landscape of our inner and outer worlds has drastically shifted and has impacted our abilities to live and work. How do we protect our mental health, show up authentically, and advocate for ourselves, particularly as people of color, in the workplace?
Join the Administrators of Color Network (ACN), and associate director of diversity and inclusion at the Stern School of Business, Nico Le Blanc, for intentional reflection and dialogue on finding professional joy, well-being, and community within the workplace.
Note: ACN's events are centered on the experiences of self-identified People of Color, but all members of the NYU community are welcome to join and participate.
This event is open to NYU community and is organized by the Administrators of Color Network (ACN).
FEBRUARY 9: Baby's Bath Water: A Critical Look at Narratives Associated with Blackface and Minstrelsy | Virtual Event | 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST
Join us for a panel discussion from dramaturg and director Arminda Thomas and actor Brittany Bradford to explore the contradictory notions of blackface minstrelsy that have been expounded by scholars, practitioners, and artists. Moderated by Michael Dinwiddie (NYU Gallatin).
This event is open to NYU community members only and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 10: Deconstructed Liberation Lunch: The Beautiful Struggle | Virtual Event | 12:00 – 12:45 p.m. EST
Drawing on the lives and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Thích Nhat Hanh, the Center for Global Spiritual Life invites you to this open, Interfaith gathering to reflect on this year's MLK Week theme, "The Beautiful Struggle for a New World."
Attendees are encouraged to bring and share a piece of art, poetry, or text that inspires their commitment to Beloved Community and engaged mindfulness.
This event is open to NYU community members only and organized by the Center for Global Spiritual Live.
FEBRUARY 11: Technology, Identity & Verbatim Performance MAKE-A-THON | Virtual Event | 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. EST
Propose an innovative way to present NYU Verbatim Performance Lab’s forthcoming project, Portraits US: Polarization—and your project just might win a $350 cash prize!
Important Dates:
- February 8 — Registration deadline
- February 11, 3:30 p.m. — Kickoff meeting
- February 13, 4:00 p.m. — Make-a-Thon presentations and judging
This challenge is open to all NYU community members and organized by the department of Technology, Culture & Society at NYU Tandon and the Verbatim Performance Lab at NYU Steinhardt.
FEBRUARY 11: Film Screening—Summer of Soul | Virtual Event | 6:15 – 8:15 p.m. EST
Join us for a screening of Summer of Soul, the acclaimed debut documentary from Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. A powerful and transporting film—part music film, part historical record, created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park. The footage was never seen and largely forgotten–until now.
Summer of Soul shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest. It includes concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension and more.
After the screening, join us for a talk with Joseph Patel (Producer), along with Gallatin faculty Kwami Coleman, Michael Dinwiddie, and Rahul Hamid.
This event is open to NYU community members only and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 15: Black History Month Mentorship Meetup | Virtual Event | 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. EST
Join Gallatin Alumni Relations and Student Life for a special Black History Month Mentorship Meetup! This event brings together Students of Color and members of our Gallatin Black Alumni group to discuss academics, how to design your concentration, building a support system and network, marketing your interdisciplinary degree, professional pathways beyond Gallatin and so much more.
Alumni mentors come from a variety of industries and specialties, ranging from nonprofit and social justice to marketing, sustainability, education, dance, music, and more. Bring your questions, an eagerness to connect, openness to cross academic fields, and be ready to network with fellow interdisciplinary thinkers who succeeded at Gallatin and beyond!
This event is open to NYU community members only and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 15: Black Nurses Panel + Roundtable Discussion | Virtual Event | 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. EST
A roundtable discussion/informal interview where students can share and hear from Black nursing professionals.
This event is open to NYU community members only and is organized by the Black Nursing Student Association at the Meyers College of Nursing.
FEBRUARY 16: “I’d Go Wherever They Said Show": The Black Patti Troubadours | Virtual Event | 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST
Interdisciplinary artist Marta Effinger-Crichlow, author of Staging Migrations Toward an American West: From Ida B. Wells to Rhodessa Jones, will share her research on the remarkable career of Madame Sissieretta “Black Patti” Jones, an acclaimed opera singer whose 80+ person troupe disrupted systems of oppression during the genesis of Jim Crow.
This event is open to NYU community members only and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 17: The Black Commons: Exploring Land and Housing Practices in US Cities | Virtual Event | 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST
The Urban Democracy Lab will host a panel discussion among scholars and activists to contemplate cooperative housing and land stewardship models that embody the idea of the Black commons. What can we learn from this rich history of alternatives to market-based housing and land ownership? Hear from panelists Sawdayah Brownlee, Brooklyn Queens Land Trust; Kofi Boone, Joseph D. Moore Distinguished Professor and University Faculty Scholar, Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, NC State University; and Fred McGhee, founder and president of Fred L. McGhee & Associates, an archeological and environmental consulting company; moderated by UDL Director Gianpaolo Baiocchi.
This event is open to the public and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 23: From Bert Williams to Eubie Blake: Memories of Them | Virtual Event | 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST
Broadway veteran Larry Marshall and jazz chanteuse Jeannine Otis team up to bring a classic medley of tunes by Bert Williams and Eubie Blake, including “Cousin of Mine,” “Memories of You, “Let it Alone,” and “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” accompanied by Rick Cordova on piano.
This event is open to NYU community members only and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 24: Say it Loud! | Virtual Event | 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. EST
Gallatin’s Office of Student Life presents Say It Loud!: the 7th annual showcase on the Arts and Black Activism. This hybrid event features new works by NYU student and alumni performers, focusing on expressions of black culture and activism through music, spoken word, dance, drama and visual arts.
Special guest: Emcee Jayshawn Lee (Gallatin '21)
This event is open to NYU community members only and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 25: Kameelah Janan Rasheed Bookmaking Workshop | Virtual Event | 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. EST
Join artist Kameelah Janan Rasheed for a bookmaking workshop focused on her practices of iterative creation, [un]learning, Black knowledge production, and information technologies. This workshop is open to Gallatin students.
Kameelah Janan Rasheed (she/they) was born in East Palo Alto, California. Rasheed lives and works in Brooklyn, New York and is the author of three artist’s books: An Alphabetical Accumulation of Approximate Observations (Endless Editions, 2019), No New Theories (Printed Matter, 2019), and the digital publication, Scoring the Stacks (Brooklyn Public Library, 2021). Her writing, including longform essays and interviews, has appeared in Triple Canopy, The New Inquiry, Shift Space, Active Cultures, and The Believer.
She is a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in Fine Arts and a 2022 Creative Capital Awardee. Rasheed is the founder of Mapping the Spirit, a digital archive documenting how Black faith lives, shifts, and self-revises. She is also the owner and founder of Orange Tangent Study, a boutique consultant service that nurtures tentacular and transdisciplinary projects as well as provides microgrants to artists.
This event is open to NYU community members only and is presented as a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming.
FEBRUARY 25: Kameelah Janan Rasheed in Conversation with NYU Libraries | Virtual Event | 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. EST
Join artist Kameelah Janan Rasheed (she/they) and Giana Ricci, librarian for the Fine Arts at NYU, for a conversation about Rasheed’s work and its intersection with libraries. Why is the medium of the artist’s book appealing? How can Libraries promote the use of artists’ books in creative research? What can creating and promoting artists’ books do to aid antiracism efforts? There will be 30 minutes of conversation followed by 30 minutes of Q&A, moderated by Ricci.
This event is open to NYU community members only. It is organized by NYU Libraries, co-sponsored by the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, and is a part of Gallatin’s 2022 Black History Month programming
MARCH 3–31: ConcienciaAfro: Conversations About the Realities of Afro-descendents in Spain | Virtual Events | 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. EST
Madrid-based collective, ConcienciaAfro, offers this seminar series to make visible the racial problematic of Afro-descendents in Spain, a conflict which has received little attention so far in Spain and needs to be addressed urgently.
All sessions will take place as Zoom Webinars at 12:30 p.m. EST (6:30 p.m. in Madrid). Pre-registration is required; sessions will be facilitated in Spanish.
More Info & Event Summary | Flyer
- March 3—How to Be Anti-Racist feat. Moha Gerehou
- March 10—Creative Processes from My Blackness feat. Rubén H. Bermúdez
- March 24—Media Representations of African People and Afro-descendants feat. Lucía Asué Mbomío Rubio
- March 31—Black and Diaspora Women’s Literature feat. Deborah Ekoka
This event is open to the public and organized by the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center.