Podcasts

How can language used to write about autism make an impact on public discourse? The Writer’s Center in Bethesda explores this and more in “#OwnVoices: Autism Through a Literary Lens,” a one-day-only symposium. The event focuses on characters and writers with autism and features workshops for autistic individuals and parents of autistic children, as well as a panel discussion. Panelist and writer Hannah Grieco is the mother of an eleven-year-old son with autism as well as a former teacher. Her byline has appeared in The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, and more. Today, Hannah talks about how her son’s influence on her writing and how writing can help create a more inclusive world for those with autism. Read the transcript.

Did you know that since 2013, a student-produced literary magazine has featured feature the poetry, fiction, essays, and artwork of 450 students in Baltimore City Public Schools? CHARM: Voices of Baltimore is a literary organization as well as a magazine. Whitney Birenbaum, Humanities teacher at Midtown Academy, and Executive Director of CHARM, tells us more about the organization. After she speaks, ninth grader Marian Tibrey — a CHARM participant — shares her original poem. Read the transcript.

Did you know more than 100,000 creeks, streams, and rivers flow toward the Chesapeake Bay across parts of six states? Historical Society of Baltimore County’s James G. Keffer talks about the history and stories of water in the County. The Historical Society is the first of six Maryland sites to host Water/Ways, a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition brought to smaller communities across the state by Maryland Humanities. Local Water/Ways host sites add their own local exhibits to complement the Smithsonian’s exhibition.

“What Were You Wearing? Weaving a New Narrative” is an installation revealing pervasive cultural attitudes about assault while working to change those attitudes. Molly Cohen, a theatre artist and graduate of the Department of Theatre Arts at Towson University, talks about the installation. This project is funded by a grant from Maryland Humanities to Towson University. We would like to reiterate that the subject of the segment is a humanities project about sexual assault.

How is one partnership encouraging open and honest dialogue about faith and race?  Drs. Felipe Filomeno and Tania Lizarazo – professors at University of Maryland, Baltimore County – talk about “Honest Conversations: Faith Community Dialogues on Immigration and Race.” The partnership between UMBC and the Latino Racial Justice Circle is funded with a grant from Maryland Humanities.

How is Outward Bound using the humanities in its outdoor programming to enhance young people’s reflection, leadership skills, and more? Kelly Reynolds, Instructional Designer at Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound, talks about the organization’s Character Curriculum.

How is a local organization providing an opportunity for young people to share their stories through film, and to publicly speak about their own work?? Jessica Baroody-Saada, Events Manager at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Foundation Parkway Theatre/Maryland Film Festival, talks about the Baltimore Student Film Showcase.

Salisbury Mayor Jacob Day will soon announce the city’s first-ever Poet Laureate to coincide with the annual Salisbury Poetry Week, April 1 -7. Tara A. Elliott, Salisbury Poetry Week’s founder, tells us more about this year’s week of programming. Elliott is also an English and Language Arts Teacher at Salisbury Middle School. She received the Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year Award, presented by Maryland Humanities, in 2018. Launched in 2017, Salisbury Poetry Week is supported in part by a Maryland Humanities grant.

Did you know that an article of clothing can be interpreted as a historical document? What can we learn about figures from Maryland’s past by looking at what they wore? Allison Tolman, Chief Registrar and Associate Curator of the Fashion Archives at the Maryland Historical Society, tells us more.

How are two women pushing past the gatekeeping that sometimes occurs within cultural institutions? Amanda Figueroa and Ravon Ruffin started Brown Girls Museum Blog, a platform that aims to promote the visibility of people of color, especially women, in the museum field and in academia.