Claiming Williams 2025: Braiding our Interconnected Futures
Please see below for the schedule on Thursday, February 6, 2025. We are pleased to announce additional events occurring on other days that exemplify the theme of this year’s Claiming Williams Day.
Map of Williams College campus
Claiming Williams Google Calendar
Campus parking lots are for vehicles with proper permits. There is a large public parking lot at the end of Spring Street and a large parking garage behind the ’62 Center for Dance and Theater. Additionally, there is street parking throughout the area. There are very limited parking options close to Chapin Hall: plan your time and dress accordingly.
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM:
- Journeys beyond Borders: International Student Portraits, Dance Studio, ’62 Center for Theater and Dance
7:30 – 10:30 AM Breakfast: Driscoll and Whitman’s
- Meals on Claiming Williams Day are open to the full campus community, as well as any guest speakers. No need to swipe or register.
9:15 – 10:45 AM
- Archives for Liberation: Williams College and Hawai‘i, Special Collections, Sawyer Library [Note: RSVP Requested]
- Breakfast & Book Signing with Robin Wall Kimmerer, Goodrich Hall
- The CARE Team: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Supporting Williams Students, Faculty House Lounge, Downstairs
- You Belong Here: Exploring Diversity in the Outdoors with Dave Edson & WOC, Bronfman Auditorium
11:00 AM-12:15 PM
- Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, Conviction and Fight to Redeem American Justice with Barbara Bradley Hagerty and Ben Spencer, MainStage, ‘62 Center for Theater and Dance and video streaming
- Culinary Connections: Cooking with Dining Staff, Mission Park Dining [Note: this event runs until 1:00pm, RSVP Requested]
11:30 AM – 1:30 PM Lunch: Driscoll, Whitman’s, and the Faculty House (open to all)
12:30 – 2:00 PM Lunchtime Dialogues
- Braiding Circles with Verónica Pèrez, Davis Center Multipurpose Room
- Mindful Eating Meditation, Driscoll and Paresky [Note: this event runs only until 1:30pm, RSVP requested]
- N’Satung: Unpacking Colonial Histories to Make Space for Native Voices in Education (Screening), Paresky Auditorium [Note: this event runs until 3:30pm]
- Stop the US War Machine: What RIMPAC is and Why You Should Care, Bronfman Auditorium
- The Stories Food Tells: Social Identity, Sustainability, and Culture, Matt Cole Living Room, ’66 Environmental Center [Note: RSVP requested]
- Towards an Inclusive African Aesthetics: Haircare Through Headwrapping, Wachenheim 113. [Note: this event runs until 3:30pm, RSVP requested, Williams Students only]
2:00 – 3:30 PM
- Braiding our Threads: A Community Mending Workshop, FabriCation Lab in Sawyer Library
- Community Accountability in the Face of Sexual Violence, Griffin 3
- Embodied Social Justice: Standing for your Principles with Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Bronfman Auditorium and livestream
- Embracing Seasonal Cycles: A winter walk and reflection at Hopkins Memorial Forest, pick up point is Paresky Center/Park Street at 2:00pm. [Note: RSVP requested.]
3:45 – 5:00 PM
- Chinese Knotting for Joy, Goodrich Hall 207
- Honoring the Womb, Davis Center Multipurpose Room
- Living, Learning, and Growing: Braiding A Textured Residential Life, Baxter Hall
- E Mau Ke Ea: Sovereignty, Sanctuary, and Collective Liberation with Professor Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, Bronfman Auditorium
5:00 – 7:00 PM Dinner: Mission Park, Driscoll, and Whitman’s
7:30 PM Evening Keynote
Additional Claiming Williams events
Snow Moon Social Dance Field trip to Greenfield Community College | Saturday, February 8, 10am-4:30pm
Space is limited to 10 participants; please RSVP to save a seat in the van.
Claiming Williams Field Trip to Mystic: Waterways, Indigenous Food Sovereignty and our Interconnected Futures | Saturday, March 15, 8am-7pm
Vans depart Williamstown at 8am on Saturday, March 8th, arriving in Mystic before 11am, and departing at 4pm (to return to campus by 7pm). Space is limited; please RSVP by Feb. 20. This event has been moved to 03-15-2025.