Connect, learn, share: Miami events promote inclusiveness

by Carole Johnson, university news and communications

Numerous events and programs designed to serve as a catalyst for intercultural connection and dialogue are planned for the upcoming academic year.

Miami’s department of institutional diversity updated its website to help highlight them. To enter your event, submit it through Miami’s online calendar system, 25 Live. If you have a story idea, use the “Submit a Story” button found on Miami’s main news website.

New this year

The following are events in the works for this academic year.

Unity in the Community

The Miami community is invited to meet and get to know each other from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, in Rooms 154-158 Marcum Conference Center. Pizza and soft drinks will be served.

Meet the Police Chiefs

Join police chiefs John McCandless of Miami University, John Jones of Oxford, and Michael Goins of Oxford Township 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, in Taylor Auditorium.

Freedom Summer Dialogues

These dialogues will continue the work and conversations begun during the 50th anniversary celebration of the activities of the summer of 1964. The series will promote interactive discussions about race, civil rights and social justice. The first event will be held 4-6 p.m. Sept. 15, and feature Keith Parker, founder and chair of the Annual National Civil Rights Conference. Remaining dialogues will be held 4-6 p.m. Oct. 20, Nov. 10, Jan. 26, Feb. 23 and March 16 at Kumler Chapel. The dialogues are hosted by the office of the president, the department of institutional diversity, university archives, office of diversity affairs, university communications and marketing and the Western College Association.

• Freedom Summer Award: Miami will present the Freedom of ’64 Award to an outstanding individual who has continued to inspire or lead the nation and advanced civil rights and social justice in America. An award presentation with a keynote speaker will be held in early 2017. (Details to be announced.) 
• Freedom Summer App Event: The Freedom Summer App is a location-based game that uses a mobile device and GPS technology to transport students to 1964. By understanding the struggles of the past, students reflect on what is at stake now and in the future. The game will be played 5-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, and Monday, Sept. 26, and will begin in Thomson Hall on the Western campus. The event is hosted by Miami’s office of community engagement and service, the department of theatre, the Center for Digital Scholarship and the Miami University Art Museum.

The Every 28 Hours Project

The Miami community is invited to participate in a national event Saturday, Oct. 22, that features a series of 71 one-minute scripts done as readings. Miami’s theatre department invites directors from Miami campuses and the community to form teams for the readings. Discussion sessions will promote dialogue, understanding, and engagement in the topics of race and identity. Learn more at Miami’s Every 28 Hours Facebook page. The event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Gates Abegglen Theatre in the Center for Performing Arts.

Twilight: Los Angeles

The voices of gang members, police officers, activists, shopkeepers and others from multiple ethnic backgrounds are presented via a single performer, featuring Torie Wiggins. The production and the dialogue that follows will provide an opportunity to reflect on the complex social, economic and political issues that arose in the wake of the Rodney King verdict and the confrontations between the police and citizens today. The performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3, 4, and 5 in Studio 88.

Center for American and World Cultures 

• Security: A permanent challenge for Latin America, Sept. 21.
• Syria at the Crossroads Lecture, Sept 27 and 28  
• Comparative Religion, Inter-Civilization Dialogue and Gandhi, Oct. 6.
• Films: "Citizen U.S.A. - A 50 State Road Trip," Sept. 16. "Salam Neighbor," Oct 19; "No Más Bebes/No More Babies," Nov. 16.
• International Education Week - Nov. 14-18. An initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education that draws attention to the value of international education. 
• Ethnomusicality Program: Cuban Music in a New Global Context, Nov. 17.

Performing Arts Series: Presidential Series on Inclusivity - Ask More. Engage Intentionally. Think Differently. 

• Beth Stelling, Live: Stelling is a 2007 theatre alumna. She performs at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, in Wilks Theatre. This event is hosted in collaboration with student programming groups Late Night Miami and MAP (Miami Activities and Programming). 
• Dear World: This is an interactive event uniting people through pictures in its distinct message-on-skin-style. The main event will be held 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, in the Fritz Pavilion at the Armstrong Student Center. The event is sponsored by Scott and Jennifer Walter.
• It Gets Better Tour: Inspired by Dan Savage's 2010 video message of hope to gay teens, the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles and Speak Theater Arts will do a week of campus and community workshops focusing on bullying and sexuality, culminating in an inspiring performance. The performance will be held Saturday, Feb. 25, in Hall Auditorium. Time to be announced. The event is sponsored by the Bothast-Revalee family.
• Judgment at Nuremberg: LA Theatre Works performs this gripping courtroom drama portraying the trial of Nazi war criminals during Holocaust Awareness Month. John Dolibois (Miami ‘42) and his role as an interrogator at the trial will be spotlighted. The performance will be held Thursday, April 13, in Hall Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the Western College Alumnae Association.

Miami Regionals kick off September

• Speak Out: Join us for a community discussion on The Political Fix: What can we do to strengthen political participation? Student moderators will help facilitate. Sponsored by the MUH Center for Civic Engagement. The event will be held 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, Miami Hamilton Downtown.
• Real Talk: Free Speech and Democracy Moderated by Daniel Hall, department of justice and community studies. Have structured meaningful conversations with fellow students. The event will be held 12:30-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, at the Democracy Wall in front of Rentschler Hall on the Hamilton campus.
• Social Justice Theater: In this interactive performance, students at Miami Hamilton will present a short piece of theatre designed to engender the sharing of ideas about social justice and/or injustice in our communities. Following the performance, audience members will engage in a lively discussion with performers and other attendees about the themes presented in the piece. The performance will be held 4-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, in 307 Phelps Hall, Hamilton’s Theatre Studio.
• Naturalization Ceremony: Join us as we celebrate with approximately 75 new U.S. citizens and their families.  Miami Hamilton is hosting the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio for a formal naturalization ceremony at which new citizens will take their oaths of citizenship. The event will be held 10 a.m.-noon Thursday, Sept. 15, in the Quad, Hamilton campus.
• Real Talk: Civility Join the Center for Civic Engagement's Public Moderators as they lead a discussion on civility. The event will be held 1-2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, 114 Rentschler Hall, Hamilton campus.

Keep up-to-date on these and more events by visiting Miami’s news and events website, Miami’s calendar, and the updated institutional diversity website.