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Events Off Campus

Transformative action to live within the Doughnut
March 16, 2022
If humanity’s 21st century challenge is to create a world that meets the needs of all within the means of the living planet, right now we are far from achieving it. Kate Raworth and Andrew Fanning will present the core concepts and tools of Doughnut Economics, and share examples from change-makers worldwide –in education, communities, cities, and government -who are working to turn these ideas into transformative action. Prof. Kate Raworth is a renegade economist focused on making economics fit for 21st century realities. She is the creator of the Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries, and co-founder of Doughnut Economics Action Lab. Her internationally best-selling book Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist has been translated into over 20 languages and has been widely influential with diverse audiences, from the UN General Assembly to Pope Francis to Extinction Rebellion. Dr. Andrew Fanning is Data Analysis & Research Lead at Doughnut Economics Action Lab, and a Visiting Research Fellow in the Sustainability Research Institute. He was previously the recipient of a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship funded by the European Commission for the project ‘Living Well: Provisioning Systems for Sustainable Resource Use and Human Well-Being’ hosted at the Sustainability Research Institute. Andrew’s research in the field of ecological economics explores how to move towards a world where people can achieve their aspirations while ensuring the burdens of economic activity are both ecologically safe and socially just. Register using the link below:
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Virtual via Zoom
2:30 pm

Webinar: Anticipating Extreme Events in Our Changed Climate
March 17, 2022
We live in a changed climate. Every day, we see evidence of the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme events around the world. To avoid disasters, we use earth system models to "see" into the future, both to predict short-term weather events and to predict long-term changes in extremes. There is preliminary evidence that forecast-based actions c an promote nutrition security around the world, and several governments have recently committed to increase the scale of these interventions. The Academic Alliance for Anticipatory Action is a new consortium of researchers from around the world studying how we can use weather models to act before climate disasters happen. We will present stories and evidence of how people are adapting to climate change in many different contexts. Erin Coughlan de Perez, Associate Professor, Feinstein Center, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University. Register below:
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Virtual
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

Events at Smith

Connecting Threads- Working Together Towards Activating April
March 23, 2022
Get ideas, plan or work on your project, practice or learn new techniques, meet other amazing fiber artists/activists, and enjoy some creative time in community. Tasty snacks provided!
CEEDS, Wright Hall lower level
4:30 pm to 5:30 pm

SAL Workshop: Mapathon for Accessibility on Smith Campus
March 24, 2022
Crowdsource mapping, or volunteered geographic information (VGI), leverages participatory action and citizen science to gather information that could benefit the collective good. In this mapathon (a coordinated map editing event), we will contribute to three crowdsourced maps that address various aspects of accessibility that are currently deficient for campus: wheelchair accessibility, pedestrian friendly sidewalks, and safe restrooms. Register for the workshop below:
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Knowledge Lab, Alumnae Gym 207
12:15 pm to 1:15 pm

Events Off Campus

Film: Adaptation
March 22, 2022
Tim Johnson, Director of the Botanic Garden at Smith College, joins us to introduce the film as part of the 2022 National Evening of Science on Screen. Director Spike Jonze (HER, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) delivers a stunningly original comedy that seamlessly blends fictional characters and situations with the lives of real people: obsessive orchid hunter John Laroche (Chris Cooper in an Oscar-winning role), New Yorker journalist Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep), Hollywood screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage), and his twin brother, Donald (also Cage). As Charlie struggles to adapt Orlean's best-selling book The Orchid Thief, he writes himself into his own movie, as various stories crash into one another, exploding into a wildly imaginative film.
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Amherst Cinema
7:00 pm

Events at Smith

High Deserts and Mud Volcanoes: Seeing the Civil War and Reconstruction from Unexpected Places
March 28, 2022
The Landscapes Studies Program is pleased to welcome 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist Megan Kate Nelson. What happens when we look at well-known historical events from unexpected places? Drawing on material from her recent books (The Three-Cornered War and Saving Yellowstone), Megan Kate Nelson will discuss how the federal government attempted to establish control over the West during the Civil War and Reconstruction. She will focus on natural and built environments like stage roads and railroads, desert ecosystems, Indigenous pathways, and geothermal features, all of which shaped the future of the West and its communities in the 1860s and 1870s. Dr. Nelson is a writer and historian. She is the author of four books: Trembling Earth: A Cultural History of the Okefenokee Swamp; Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War; The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West; and the recently released Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America. A full list in this speaker series is at the link below:
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Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall
2:45 pm to 4:25 pm

SAL Workshop: Colorblind Friendly Cartography
April 1, 2022
How do you make maps that balance accessibility and functionality? In this workshop we will explore tools that can help improve your maps for a broader audience, with particular focus on colorblind safe color palettes and visual contrast between features. Register for the workshop below:
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Sabin-Reed 104
12:15 pm to 1:15 pm

Events Off Campus

Small Island Big Song
March 27, 2022
Featuring footage made during a three-year film trip across 16 island nations and guided by the artists on their homelands, Small Island Big Song is a stunning live collaboration reuniting the distant yet interconnected musical traditions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The resulting work is a contemporary and relevant musical statement of a region on the frontline of cultural and environmental challenges. "The most important music documentary you'll see this year," Beat Magazine wrote of the film. "One coherent, jaw-dropping piece." - Billboard Magazine. Now in-person, combining music, spoken word, dance and film, eight musicians and vocalists from the nations of Taiwan, Australia, Madagascar, Tahiti, Mauritius, Marshall Islands, and Papua New Guinea will perform live on stage with the Fine Arts Center! More information and tickets at the link below. Student tickets are only $10
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UMass Fine Arts Center (right next to the main UMass PVTA bus stop in Haiggis Mall)
4:00 pm

Roots, Resistance, and Reclamation
March 31, 2022
A very special virtual event presented by Spelman College and Food Tank. Roots: How are Black women embracing the roots of African Diasporic food systems, culture, and practices? Resistance: How are Black women resisting the current food system through AI? Reclamation: How are Black women reclaiming food and land? Speakers include: Mary Schmidt Campbell, President of Spelman College; Julia Collins, Founder + CEO of Moonshot Snacks and Planet FWD; Gabrielle E. W. Carter, multi-disciplinary Artist and Cultural Preservationist who uses Diasporic and local food as a vehicle to reimagine wealth, marginalized food systems, and inheritance; Riana Lynn, CEO of Journey Foods. Speaker, Scientist, Innovation Designer; Kimberly M. Jackson, Ph.D, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, professor of biochemistry, and director of the Food Studies program at Spelman College; Tracy Lloyd McCurty, Esq., Executive Director of the Black Belt Justice Center, who will present on the collective efforts, victories, and setbacks of the Black Farmers’ Appeal: Cancel Pigford Debt Campaign; Danielle Nierenberg (moderator), Co-Founder and President, Food Tank; Rose Scott, an award-winning journalist and host of the midday news program “Closer Look” heard on Atlanta’s NPR, station 90.1 FM – WABE. This is free virtual event. Registration required (link below).
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Virtual via Zoom
6:00 pm

Addressing Climate Change With Land Conservation and Stewardship
March 31, 2022
Join Scott Jackson, a University of Massachusetts Amherst professor of Environmental Conservation who studies the impact of climate change on wildlife and the land. He has developed landscape-based tools to assess the health of ecosystems and how they are connected to each other to help us make science-based land-use decisions. Find more information and register for the event at the link below:
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Virtual
6:30 pm