Lunchtime Dialogues 2014

Claiming Williams Lunchtime Dialogues, Feb 6, 2014

A word about food on Claiming Williams Day

12:15 – 1:45 PM

Behind the Scenes: Williams Dining Staff Discuss Sustainability

Location: Greylock Main Dining Room

Six Williams Dining employees discuss their perspectives on departmental sustainability from behind the hot line, in the kitchen, pre consumer waste reduction Lean Path, net nutrition, and in the office.  Gayle Donohue, Unit Manager at Mission Park Dining Hall, will guide a conversation that reveals what it takes to feed the campus while minimizing environmental impacts.  Panelists include Peter Armstrong, Mike Militello, Jill St John, Jeritza Garcia, Sarah Tovani, and Kris Williams. Lunch is available UPSTAIRS in Greylock for this presentation.

Creating Difficult Stories with Joshua Bennett / The Strivers Row

Location: Greylock A

Join Joshua Bennett from The Strivers Row and some of SpeakFree’s poets for a provocative discussion about storytelling during lunchtime!  Chat with them about how experiences become poems, what stories they decide to tell, and how they know what to speak up (or keep quiet) about!

Gay or Queer?  What’s the Difference, and Why Does it Matter?

Location: Greylock C

How has our talking about sexuality shifted over time, and how do these shifts affect the alliances we make across generations? Join in on the discussion, moderated by justin adkins.

Living Between Languages

Location: Greylock Makepeace

What is it like to move between languages—as an international student, as a child of non-English speaking parents, as a student studying abroad, as a participant in a language class or as a member of a multilingual society? What happens to your sense of your own identity, your sense of how you are perceived, and your way of relating to others when you move across language communities? Join language faculty and students for a discussion.

On the Outside Discussion

Location: Faculty House New Private

Join the speakers from the 10:45 AM panel discussion in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall for more in depth dialogue and a chance to ask questions about their personal experiences.

Soul-Searching: To Be or Not to Be “Spiritual” at Williams

Location: Paresky Quiet Room

What’s it like to be “religious” at Williams?  Or not to be?  Is your way of being “spiritual” a bond with others – or an obstacle?  What does this community need to do better, as far as embracing religious or spiritual diversity is concerned?  What do you wish other people understood about your own affiliation or identity?  Join an open lunchtime forum on these and other questions, facilitated by a group of students who studied and practiced interfaith dialogue in the context of community service during Winter Study.

The Whiteness of Belonging Discussion

Location: Driscoll Lounge

In conjunction with the 10:45 AM event, The Whiteness of Belonging will focus on more in-depth discussions regarding Tim Wise’s film White Like Me.  Join in on the conversation that will expand ideas of diversity beyond a minority issue to one that intimately affects everyone at Williams College. Panelists include: Leslie Brown, History; James McAllister, Political Science; Charles Dew, History; Danilo Contreras, Political Science; Nicole Mellow, Political Science; Cathy Johnson, Political Science; Candis Smith, Political Science; Joy James, Political Science; Chip Chandler, Leadership Studies; Sara LaLumia, Economics; Scott Wong, History; Gretchen Long, History; and Kevin Escudero, Latino/a Studies Program.

When Emotions Enter the Classroom: Faculty and Students Talk

Location: Faculty House Lounge

Classrooms are spaces for intellectual inquiry.  But what happens when emotions – fury, panic, shame, outrage, performance anxiety – affect what goes on in unexamined or hidden ways?  Faculty and students are invited to reflect and to share strategies for transforming ugly feelings into productive exchange.  Helping to facilitate will be Betsy Burris, a psychotherapist whose research focuses on emotion in the classroom.