An LCC faculty, staff, and students teaching event exploring racism and injustice in America
Interfaith Panel with Rabbi Amy Bigman, Imam Sohail Chaudry, and Pastor James Granger
April 11th WebEx Sessions
The histories associated with Passover, Ramadan, and Easter’s Resurrection are recalled by the faithful and faithfully applied to their lives in a variety of ways during this season. Three religious leaders will share with us the stories behind their holy days and how these holy days continue to be sacred in terms of empathy, equity, and justice.
With Masaki Takahashi
April 11th WebEx Sessions
Writer and spoken word artist Masaki Takahashi returns to Take A Stand to share poetry and personal narratives, and provide prompts for an opportunity to share your words. Each and every one of us has a story to tell. Whether your focus is on poetry, essays, or lectures, anything you think of can benefit from poetic language. No experience needed. This is the experience.
Biography of the presenter:
A published spoken word artist and the host and founder of The Poetry Room Open Mic. During the pandemic, Masaki has pivoted to help his community by partnering with local non-profits to raise donations for the organization. Masaki has brought in his amazing friends and some of them just happen to be amazingly well-known national acts (the showcases have included Neil Hilborn, Megan Falley, Brenna Twohy, Jahman Hill, Beau Sia, Natasha Miller, Olivia Gatwood, Ebony Stewart, and Phil Kaye joining on May 18th). Masaki also is most proud of conducting workshops with students in the Lansing School District and the Refugee Development Center. Masaki works in Software Development during the day, and he holds a bachelor’s in Media Arts & Technology from Michigan State University and Computer Science from Davenport University.
With Kristen Dunn
April 11th WebEx Sessions
LCC students and employees, no matter our body size, all experience our culture’s fixation on thinness and dieting, on food moralizing, and shaming and blaming fat people. There is overwhelming evidence that this contributes to oppression of fat people in the US, including medical bias and employment discrimination. This session will include data about the harm caused by anti-fat bigotry, and what we can do about it. More importantly, we’ll share and discuss resources about and links to essays, blogs, books, and social media accounts where LCC students and employees of all sizes can explore the fatosphere, to unpack and debunk our own bigotries and privileges, and to find the beginnings of freedom from internal and external anti-fat oppression.
Biography of the presenter:
Kristen Dunn is a Professional Tutor in the LCC Learning Commons and Writing Center, supporting students in all social sciences and humanities courses. In her education, work, and personal life, Kristen focuses on understanding and dismantling systems of privilege and oppression.
With Benjamin C. Roy Cory Garrett
April 11th WebEx Sessions
Human beings are not telepathic. When we have ideas and we want to share those ideas with others, we must create a vehicle for them to travel from ourselves to those we want to share them with. Our current world tends to define the word “media” as something large and controlled by powerful corporations, or in some countries, government agencies, but the reality is that we make media every time we try to share an idea with others, and we are all both consumers and producers of media that is shared around the globe.
In this workshop, we will be reflecting upon the history of independent small press publishing of zines and comics, and how little folded pieces of paper can become a method of making connecting with communities and advocating for change on a local, regional, and national scale. Then we will be learning basic techniques for how to make several different styles of zines and comics that can either be shared directly with a specific audience, or easily reproduced as either physical or digital artifacts that can be far more meaningful and powerful than the ideas shared with us through mass media bombardment.
Here is a link to the google slideshow for the presentation.
Biography of the presenter:
Benjamin C. Roy Cory Garrett’s most favorite publication is a press kit published by a Benjamin C. Roy Cory Garrett, called “I became Benjamin C. Roy Cory Garrett by accident, and now you can too!” The Benjamin C. Roy Cory Garrett facilitating this workshop is known around LCC as an instructor of Composition and general digital media maker. He/They/We has a past wrapped up in myth and misdirection that is the subject of numerous essays, poems, short stories, books, and legal proceedings. This version of Benjamin C. Roy Cory Garrett has been involved in the small press publishing world for over 17 years and will be speaking to this workshop as a cofounder and editor of the Black Unicorn Press.
With Janet Ehrlich Colson
April 12th WebEx Sessions
What can theatre – plays – do that other media can’t? Why is theatre relevant as we emerge from the pandemic? What is eco-comedy? And is every play political? Writer/actor/director Janet Ehrlich Colson will lead an interactive workshop and conversation exploring these questions and how theatre could give voice to your story.
Biography of the presenter:
Janet Ehrlich Colson (she/they) is a playwright and experimental theatre artist living in Detroit. Before the pandemic, Janet enjoyed writing plays about family dynamics, eating disorders, and addiction. Since then, Janet has been writing plays about consent, climate change, and most recently, squirrels. Janet is Drama Editor emeritus and a contributor for Fleas on the Dog online magazine where her play Priced to Sell appears in volume 11. Their short play, Snails, is pending publication in the second edition of The Champagne Room, a print-only literary space. Janet received an MFA in creative writing from Goddard College. janetehrlichcolson.wordpress.com.
With Dr. Krishnakali Majumdar
April 12th WebEx Sessions
Drawing inspiration from Carole McGranahan’s claim that storytelling is a theoretical strategy in anthropology, I discuss how anthropology as a discipline is about storytelling where the stories are transformational in intent, and the mission is relativizing: your way is not the only way to think and see the world around you. As anthropologists, we tell stories of others’ stories, stories that transform everything in the way we view ourselves in relation to the world. We learn about others’ stories by “storylistening”, talking to people. As we listen, we begin to straddle both the insider and outsider status; and we are transformed. This is the revolutionary potential of anthropology, the “wakefulness” as Edward Said calls it.
Biography of the presenter:
Krishnakali (Kali) Maju
mdar, Ph.D. is professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Lansing Community College. She joined the faculty in 2013, previously teaching Anthropology at Ferris State University. She holds her doctorate in anthropology from Michigan State University and her bachelors in biology from Miranda House, University of Delhi, India.
With Louise Rabidoux, Melissa Kaplan, and Barb Clauer
April 12th WebEx Sessions
There are many obstacles to getting mental health care: access, stigma, and fear to name a few. This workshop starts with an overview of these issues, then we’ll watch Please Stay: A Call for Suicide and Depression Awareness, an artistic program with contributions from LCC students and faculty. We’ll conclude with a chance to ask questions and an activity to creatively respond in our own words.
Biography of the presenters:
Barb Clauer, Lansing Community College English Professor since 2001, is founder/director of the LCC Community-Generated Poetry Project. In 2017 she was inspired by a poetry conference session and created what evolved into the LCC Poetry Project. Barb sees this as a culmination of decades of classroom teaching, and her world view at the core of her own teaching and learning: working collaboratively, being open, lifting up each others’ voices, and really listening to what emerges.
Melissa Kaplan (she/her) has produced dozens of plays, concerts, and events in her almost 20 years at LCC, dozens of educational videos during the previous 15 years as a media producer/manager, and currently develops and facilitates interdisciplinary projects at LCC as Academic and Arts Outreach Coordinator in the Business, Communication and the Arts Department. Melissa is host of LCC Connect’s Galaxy Forum podcast on WLNZ 89.7 FM, creator/content curator of Arts Connect @ LCC, and is very proud to be part of the Please Stay: A Call for Suicide and Depression Awareness creative team with Jon Ten Brink, Rob Edwards, Barb Clauer, Louise Rabidoux, Layne Ingram, and the many other contributors.
Louise Rabidoux is a licensed professional counselor who has provided comprehensive student support at LCC for nearly 24 years. Most rewarding for her is assisting students: in identifying concerns, developing strengths and coping skills, and achieving academic and personal success. Her special Counseling interests are Grief and Loss, Sexual Assault, Relationship Violence, Depression and Anxiety, Coping with Change, Developmental Challenges, and Post-Traumatic Stress. She is an LGBTQ+ ally and a member of the LCC Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT). Louise holds a Master of Arts in Counseling from Michigan State University, a Bachelor of Social Work from Western Michigan University, and is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) through the National Board for Certified Counselors. “I strive to create a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment to help students explore their goals, feelings, and behaviors. I believe that everyone is the author of their own story, and that counseling helps clients discover their authentic narrative.”
With Zakiya Minifee
April 12th WebEx Sessions
Who was everyone talking about after Saturday’s party? What do your friends say about you when you aren’t in the room? Good, bad, or otherwise – people are going to talk about you, they are going to share stories or characteristics that make you unique and identifiable to others. This presentation will teach us not to ignore the gossip, but instead influence the information being shared so it’s more aligned with our true identities and personal brands.
Biography of the presenter:
Zakiya Minifee hails from East Lansing, Michigan but has recently relocated to Chicago, Illinois. While studying history and interpersonal communication at Oakland University, Zakiya was also a member of the division I women’s basketball team. She’s an avid lover of travel, live music, and good storytelling in all its mediums. Monday through Friday she’s a principal business manager at AT&T, but you can always catch her hunting down the best live set in the city, snuggling up to a good book with her cat Kevin, or devouring too much black garlic ice cream.