Umass Amherst History Department

A panel conversation responding to the ongoing attacks on teaching accurate history, with Shevrin Jones, Laura Briggs, Raphael Rogers, and Jennifer Rich, moderated by Barbara Krauthamer. For not the first time in U.S. history, the content of public school curricula is being challenged across the country. Since January 2021, 41 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict the teaching or discussion of “divisive concepts,” such as racism, sexism, critical race theory, and the 1619 Project. A Tennessee school board recently banned teaching the Pulitzer Prize-winning Holocaust novel Maus. And at least 16 states are considering "don't say gay" laws, which restrict discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity. This panel of scholars, political leaders, and teachers addresses the ongoing national assault against teaching accurate and evidence-based history at the K-12 level, and increasingly, at the community college and university levels. Panelists consider the history of public

2021 HISTORY WRITER IN RESIDENCE PUBLIC LECTURE BY GREGG MITMAN The word “hotspot” can mean a place where fires flare, where novel viruses appear, where human rage erupts. In the turbulence of ecological, public health, and political crises, hotspots portend disaster and death. Too often hotspots and the menaces they pose are only made visible, only made objects of concern, when they threaten lives most valued in the brutal structures of capitalism and white supremacy that have gone hand in hand for more than four hundred years. Drawing upon work in Liberia, this talk interrogates the ecological, economic, political and social forces at play that have simultaneously turned certain regions into profitable sites of natural resource extraction, productive enclaves of biomedical research, and hot zones of pandemic threats. Gregg Mitman is the Vilas Research and William Coleman Professor of History, Medical History, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. -- The History Writer In Res

A conversation with Landfall director Cecilia Aldarondo, with an introduction and moderation by Patricia Montoya. Through shard-like glimpses of everyday life in post-Hurricane María Puerto Rico, Landfall is a cautionary tale for our times. Set against the backdrop of protests that toppled the US colony’s governor in 2019, the film offers a prismatic portrait of collective trauma and resistance. While the devastation of María attracted a great deal of media coverage, the world has paid far less attention to the storm that preceded it: a 72-billion-dollar debt crisis crippling Puerto Rico well before the winds and waters hit. Landfall examines the kinship of these two storms—one environmental, the other economic—juxtaposing competing utopian visions of recovery. Featuring intimate encounters with Puerto Ricans as well as the newcomers flooding the island, Landfall reflects on a question of contemporary global relevance: When the world falls apart, who do we become? Cecilia Aldarondo is a documentary director

2021 James Baldwin Lecture Young people have transformed the climate and environmental movement. Youth of color and youth from the Global South have been especially central in this process. In this conversation, Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate and executive director of the Sunrise Movement Varshini Prakash ‘15 reflected on their personal experiences in the movement and shared their organizing strategy, insights, and visions for the world they’re fighting to win. Read more and watch the video: https://blogs.umass.edu/feinberg/young-people-fighting-for-climate-justice/ -- The UMass Amherst James Baldwin Lecture addresses issues connected to social, economic, and political justice and underpinnings in institutional racism. It was established by and made possible by Dr. Allen J. Davis ’68 and presented by the UMass Amherst Department of History, the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, and the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. The Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series is ma

The gravity of climate change and the environmental emergency demands not just attention but concerted action. But what form will that action take? Will states exercise more authority to impose solutions without democratic process? Will corporations seize opportunities to rebuild devastated communities, privatizing land and infrastructure in the process? Will political movements tap climate fears to promote exclusionary immigration policies and enact violent attacks on scapegoats? Historically and today, ecological crisis has produced numerous such cases. In this panel discussion, Katia R. Avilés Vázquez (Institute for Research and Action in Agroecology), Rajani Bhatia (SUNY Albany) & John Aloysius Zinda (Cornell University) explore examples from China, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. that open a wider discussion of the threats to, and continued possibilities for, democratic action on climate change. Moderated by Sigrid Schmalzer (UMass Amherst). The Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series is made possibl

Feinberg Series Panel Discussion with Bill McKibben, Robert Pollin, Thea Riofrancos & Eve Vogel, moderated by Ashwin Ravikumar with an introduction by Kevin Young. We have only a few years left to make deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. This event will reflect on the implications of the U.S. election results for meeting this imperative. What are the prospects for a Green New Deal and other urgently needed measures, in the United States and beyond? How can the destructive power of the fossil fuel industries be neutralized? The panelists will analyze the current moment while also offering a historical perspective on environmental policy and movements. To watch the video recording: https://blogs.umass.edu/feinberg/environmental-policy-in-historical-perspective/ -- The 2020-2021 Feinberg Series ~ Planet on a Precipice: Histories and Futures of the Environmental Emergency The UMass Amherst history department's 2020-2021 Feinberg Series is exploring the climate and environmental emergency in historical per

Feinberg Series Panel Discussion with Angélica Maria Bernal, Nigel Clark, Gregory Cushman, and Andrea Marston, moderated by Kiran Asher and with an introduction by Heidi Scott. November 18, 2020 Human exploitation of the underground has been central to the unfolding climate and ecological emergency. Inseparable from empire-building, colonialism, and the rise of capitalism, extractions from the earth have expanded dramatically since the early modern era. Across the world, there have been unpredictable transformations in climate, landscapes, ecologies, affecting the lives of humans and nonhumans alike. In all this, however, the underground is not simply passive matter; human actions, to put it differently, are not the only force feeding these transformations. What kinds of stories, still untold, might we tell about human entanglements with the physical earth, and about geological agency and history? How might such inquiries help us to better comprehend and confront our contemporary planetary predicament? To w

Feinberg Series lecture on the disappearing snails of Hawaii by Thom van Dooren. Thom van Dooren is a field philosopher, storyteller and Associate Professor, University of Sydney and the University of Oslo. Moderated by Malcolm Sen with an introduction by Brian Ogilvie. The Hawaiian Islands were once home to one of the most diverse assemblages of terrestrial snails found anywhere on earth. Today, however, the majority of these species are extinct and most of those that remain are headed swiftly in the same direction. This lecture explores this larger context of loss, asking what it means and why it matters that so much of Hawai’i’s rich snail diversity is disappearing. It does so, however, through a focus on one very particular question: how did a global centre of terrestrial snail diversity end up out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Snails, after all, are not commonly known for their propensity to undertake long journeys—not by land, and certainly not by sea. So, how did they all get to this most remot

UMass Amherst Department of History Distinguished Annual Lecture and Feinberg Series Lecture by Mike Davis, moderated by Vijay Prasahd California Burning: The Apocalyptic Trinity of Climate Change, Alien Plant Invasion and Exurbanization An activist and writer, Mike Davis is the author of 20 books, including City of Quartz, Ecology of Fear, Planet of Slums, The Monster at Our Door, Magical Urbanism, Late-Victorian Holocausts, and most recently (with Jon Wiener) Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties. An acclaimed public intellectual and global activist, Vijay Prashad is director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. The Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible thanks to the generosity of UMass Amherst history department alumnus Kenneth R. Feinberg ’67 and associates. The series is co-sponsored by more than 3 dozen university and community organizations. The Distinguished Annual Lecture celebrates the 1996 establishment of the UMass/Five College Graduate Program in His

Educator, writer, public scholar and spoken word artist Walidah Imarisha explores the history of sci-fi and social change, sharing tools for using science fiction as a practice ground for social justice strategizing and vision. Imarisha is co-author with adrienne maree brown of Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements. This lecture was delivered at UMass Amherst on November 13, 2018 as part of the UMass History Department's 2018 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series, "Another World Is Possible: Revolutionary Visions, Past and Present."

Domestic workers are drawing lessons from past movements to organize on a massive scale and build feminist economies. A panel conversation with Linda Burnham (National Domestic Workers Alliance), Monique Tú Nguyen (Matahari Women Workers’ Center), and Jennifer Guglielmo (Putting History in Domestic Workers’ Hands), moderated by Diana Sierra Becerra (Putting History in Domestic Workers’ Hands). Hosted by the UMass Amherst History Department's 2018 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series. November 1, 2018

Venezuelan communes are radical experiments in grassroots democracy and economic production that attempt to “concretize utopia.” Atenea Jiménez (Network of Communers, Venezuela) and George Ciccariello-Maher (Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, New York) examine the communes’ history, achievements, and present challenges. Presented by the UMass Amherst History Department's Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series, Oct 17, 2018, UMass Amherst. English transcript forthcoming.

An exploration of efforts to create intentional communities based on participants' visions of just and harmonious social relationships. Often described as “utopian,” these movements have focused on realizing transformative visions on a small scale in the “here and now,” and were envisioned by participants as an opportunity to live rightly even within a larger oppressive society. Recognizing the complicated social realities in which such movements have been embedded, this event places practitioners and scholars in critical conversation about the movements' premises, challenges, contradictions, blind spots, impacts, and transformative potentials. Panelists include Ousmane Power-Greene (Clark University and the David Ruggles Center), Lior Libman (Binghamton University), Jasmine Burems (Wildseed Community Farm and Healing Village), and Kate Daloz (Columbia University, author of We Are As Gods). Includes discussion of abolitionist, socialist-Zionist, anti-racist, queer/trans, and back-to-the-land movements. Note:

In the 1980s, Salvadoran revolutionaries fought to overthrow a U.S.-backed dictatorship and build popular democratic alternatives. Many people in Massachusetts supported them. Former guerrilla Carlos Henríquez Consalvi, peasant organizer Rosa Rivera, and Pioneer Valley Workers Center immigrant rights organizer Diana Sierra Becerra will discuss the lessons for today’s social movements. This talk was conducted in Spanish. For a complete English transcript, go to: https://www.umass.edu/history/sites/default/files/assets/history/state_violence_and_revolution_-_english_transcript.pdf

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is president of Repairers of the Breach, national co-chair of the 2018 Poor People’s Campaign, and leader of an alliance of more than 200 progressive organizations best known as “Moral Monday.” This coalition has led justice work in North Carolina for a decade and inspired organizing across the nation. Delivered at UMass Amherst on Sept 20, 2018, this lecture was the 2018 Feinberg Series keynote address and the Inaugural James Baldwin Lecture. More info: https://www.umass.edu/history/feinberg-series

A panel discussion with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (author of From #Blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation and How We Get Free), Kali Akuno (Cooperation Jackson), and Mary Hooks (Southerners on New Ground), moderated by Toussaint Losier (UMass). Presented by the 2018 Feinberg Series. Sept 6, 2018

This lecture by Jen Manion (Amherst College) explores how the penitentiary system in early America exploited racist ideologies, gender norms, sexual desire and antipathy toward the poor to justify its existence and expansion. Presented by the UMass Amherst's 2016-2017 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series. Nov 15, 2016. Image Credit: "Freedom" by Ronnie Goodman, www.ronniegoodman.com.

A panel discussion on the history and current realities of the migrant detention regime with David Hernández (Latina/o Studies, Mount Holyoke College), Carl Lindskoog (History, Raritan Valley Community College), Megan Kludt, (Curran and Berger Immigration Law), and Mizue Aizeki (Immigrant Defense Project). This event was part of the 2016-2017 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series. Image Credit: "Freedom" by Ronnie Goodman, www.ronniegoodman.com

An evening of conversation with local and national voices on police violence in Springfield, MA and beyond, featuring Kissa Owens (mother of Delano Walker), Andrea Ritchie (attorney, writer, Soros Justice Fellow), ShaeShae Quest (Out Now), and Rhonda Y. Williams (scholar and community organizer). Presented by the University of Massachusetts Amherst History Department's 2016-2017 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series, Out Now, Project Operation Change and Springfield Technical Community College. October 26, 2016. Image Credit: "Freedom" by Ronnie Goodman, www.ronniegoodman.com

Lecture by award-winning historian Talitha L. LeFlouria (University of Virginia) on the plight of post-Civil War black women prisoners and their day-to-day struggles to overcome work-related abuses and violence, based on LeFlouria's award winning book. This event was the 2016 UMass/Five College Graduate Program in History Distinguished Annual Lecture and a part of the 2016-2017 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series. October, 2016. Image Credit: "Freedom" by Ronnie Goodman, www.ronniegoodman.com