14th Annual Humanities Days
The Humanities in Action: Collaboration, Solidarity, and Hope
October 26 - 30, 2026
Humanities Days questions? Please contact us at: HumanitiesDays@montgomerycollege.edu
Humanities Days
October 26 - 30, 2026
Welcome to Montgomery College's 13th annual Humanities Days celebration! This annual weeklong series of events is sponsored by the Global Humanities Institute and the Paul Peck Humanities Institute of Montgomery College.
2026 Humanities Days Keynote: A Conversation with Lawrence Burney
Author of the 2026 One Maryland One Book Selection, No Sense in Wishing: Essays on Black Music, Belonging, and Baltimore (the libguide new window)
Date: Monday, October 26, 2026
Time: 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Location: Globe Hall, Germantown Campus (map)
Humanities in Action: Collaboration, Solidarity, and Hope
This year’s theme, Humanities in Action: Collaboration, Solidarity, and Hope, explores how the humanities serve as a catalyst across different spaces. By fostering collaboration among people with diverse perspectives, the humanities can bring about social change, promote solidarity in the face of injustice, and inspire hope for a more peaceful and just world for all.
We invite students, faculty, staff, and community members to share their research, teaching, service, creativity, or hands-on activities that contribute to the theme.
2026 Humanities Days may be offered via Zoom or In-Person:
Zoom sessions: Humanities Days events may be recorded at the discretion of the presenter. By participating in Zoom events, you may be recorded. If you do not consent to being recorded, do not turn on your cameras or connect your microphone. Please discuss any concerns with the host, or contact us at HumanitiesDays@montgomerycollege.edu.
- Keynote Speaker: Lawrence Burney
- Fall 2026 Collaborative Artist in Residence Amir Hariri: Provisional Futures: Building As Revision
- Come See Me in the Good Light
- Business Anthropology at the MBI Café
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Carla Naranjo
Location: Germantown Campus (map)
We are excited to announce that the MC Humanities Days keynote speaker will be the 2026 One Maryland One Book author, Lawrence Burney. He will share his new book No Sense in Wishing: Essays on Black Music, Belonging, and Baltimore in a talk moderated by MC English Professor Stephen Bess.
12:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Amanda Miller | TBD
Location: Sarah Silberman Art Gallery, Paul Peck Art Building, 2nd Floor, Rockville Campus (map)
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Heather Bruce Satrom
Co-Host: Delia Sipe
Location: RC 204, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus (map)
The 2025 documentary film Come See Me in the Good Light explores the life and work of the late poet and activist Andrea Gibson and their wife, fellow poet Megan Falley. When faced with Gibson's cancer diagnosis, Gibson and Falley work together to continue to create art and build community. The MC library has numerous e-copies of the poetry collection You Better Be Lightning for those who would like to explore Gibson's work.
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: daniele Ginsberg, Emily Li, Micah King, Rodney Watson
Co-Host: TBD
Location: Rockville Campus (map)
- Delivering Connection: The Art of Snail Mail
- Sligo Journal Poetry Appreciation
- In Defense (Praise???) of Politics and Power
- Walking in Solidarity with the MC Immigrant Rights Collective (MC IRC)
- Music & Community: The Beat of Connection
- Collaborating Across Disciplines: Perspectives from PPHI Honors Interns
- Capital Love: A Reading and Creative Writing Workshop
9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. | In person
Host: Matthew Decker
Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus (map)
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Greg Wahl
Co-Host: Michael LeBlanc
Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus (map)
One-hour presentation | In-Person and Virtual
Host: Sunil Dasgupta and Andrew Nolan
Co-Host: Angela Lanier
Location: Rockville Campus (map)
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. | In-Person and Virtual
Host: Carla Naranjo, Norma Winfell, MC IRC
Co-Host: Angela Lanier
Location: Rockville Campus (map)
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Roger Rosen
Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus (map)
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.| Virtual
Host: Michelle Moran
Location: Zoom
7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Jona Colson
Co-Host: Caroline Bock and 2–3 readers TBD
Location: Zoom
- Día de los Muertos Altars
- From Isolation to Belonging: How We Build Communities of Care
- Greetings from Earth: The Golden Record and the Hope of Being Known
- The High Cost of Giving Birth in the Modern United States
- Music & Community: The Beat of Connection
- Examining U.S. Foreign Policy — Past and Present
- From Classroom to Community: Students Reflect on Learning Together
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Virtual
Host: Comfort Davis Mingot
Co-Host: Bryant Davis, Ahoefa Marah, Sally McClean, Marianne Szlyk, and Lauren Strawbridge
Location: Zoom
11:15 a.m. | In-Person
Host: Carrie Fitzgerald and Erin Benitez
Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus (map)
12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. | In-person
Host: Brett Pelham
Co-Host: Teresa Lew
Location: Germantown (map)
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | In-person
Hosts: Roger Rosen
Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus (map)
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: James Furgol, Matthew Walker, and Nathan Zook
Co-Host: Nathan Zook
Location: Rockville (map)
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Tracie Babb, LaTonya Pinkard, and Gina Wesley
Location: Zoom
- Día de los Muertos Altars
- Ethics Essay Contest
- Sidewalk Talk
- Atlatl (Ancient Spear) Throwing
- Justice for Janitors: How the Labor and Immigrant Communities Came Together for Social and Economic Justice in the Nation's Capital
- Glenstone: How Art, Architecture and Nature Create a State of Mind
- On the Same Page: Responding to Poems by Incarcerated Authors
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Daniel Jenkins
Location: Zoom
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Stacey Peterson
Co-Host: Kristie Freeman
Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus (map)
12:30 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Maria Sprehn, Ron Nunn, Kevin Gibbons, and Amber Ketchum
Location: Germantown Campus (map)
Learn how to throw an ancient spear using an atlatl (spear thrower).
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | In-Person and Virtual
Hosts: Carla Naranjo
Presenter: Maria Naranjo
Location: Germantown Campus (map)
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Heather Bruce Satrom
Co-Host: David Lott
Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus (map)
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Free Minds Ambassadors, Albert Kapikian, and Monica Mische
Location: Rockville Campus (map)
- Día de los Muertos Altars
- Divided America?: We Are Not as Divided as You Think
- Delivering Connection: The Art of Snail Mail
- Humanities Not Simply as a Field of Study, but as a Practice of Connection, Collaboration, Solidarity, and Hope
- Calaveras T-Shirt Printing Workshop Inspired by Artist José Posada
- Digital Storytelling Interns Present: Benefits of Interning
- The Gratitude Attitude: Interconnectedness, Wonder, and Appreciation
11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Rachel E. Sullivan
Co-Host: TBD
Location: Germantown Campus (map)
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | In-Person
Host: Matthew Decker
Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus (map)
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Comfort Davis Mingot
Co-Host: Colleen King, Stephen Manangan, Ahoefa Marah, and Jerald Monahan
Location: Zoom
11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. | In person
Host: Amanda Miller
Location: HS 161, Germantown Campus (map)
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | Virtual
Host: Jamie Gillan
Co-Host: Megan Howard
Location: Zoom
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | In person
Host: Teresa Lew and Jenny Hatleberg
Location: Germantown Campus (map)
Tracie Babb | Professor of Communication Studies, Takoma Park/Silver Spring, Collegewide Coordinator
of Writing in the Disciplines
Dianne Cherry | Professor of Communication Studies, Takoma Park/Silver Spring
Kyoko Enomoto | Analyst/Programmer Web Services
Florence Gadson | Paul Peck Humanities Institute Administrative Aide III
Jamie Gillan | Paul Peck Humanities Institute Director
Angela Lanier | Instructional Designer, ELITE
Alejandro Leopardi | Professor, English, Coordinator of Programs and Partnerships, ENRD
Teresa Lew | Associate Professor of English and Reading
Carla Naranjo | Global Humanities Institute Director
Heather Satrom | Professor of ELAP, Linguistics, and Communication Studies
Andrew Scheppler | Interim Rockville IT Campus Manager
MC Disclosure
Here are the facts about this week’s Humanities Days virtual presentations, dialogues, workshops, and panels and privacy as it relates to Zoom and your participation:
- Please note that all Humanities Days events will be recorded (with the exception of where mentioned, or listed, that the event will not be recorded). By participating in this event, you automatically consent to such recording. If you do not consent to being recorded, you may join, but do not connect your microphone or enter text into the attendee chat. Please discuss any concerns with the host.
- All the material appearing in this conference is the property of the original author(s) and is protected by copyright under U.S. copyright laws. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any way exploit any such content, nor may you distribute any part of this content without the approval of the original author(s). Violators of this policy may face disciplinary action and/or legal action.
- We obtain data when you use Zoom in order to deliver our college services and provide a better experience to you. The categories of data we obtain when you use Zoom include data you provide to us as well as data that our system collects from you. We do not sell your personal data.
- During use of Zoom. When you use Zoom, some data will be disclosed to other participants
and to meeting or webinar hosts. For instance, when you attend a meeting, your name
might appear in the attendee list. If you turn on your video camera, your image will
be shown. If you send a chat or share content, that can be viewed by others in the
chat or the meeting.
For more information on Zoom privacy: https://zoom.us/privacy new window.