Fall '25 Funded Grants and Events

Jun Yang, Staff

The goal of this project is to advance open, inclusive dialogue around the often-overlooked issues faced by Asian women in higher education–including racism, gender bias, cultural expectations, isolation, and barriers to career advancement. Rooted in national and campus level needs, the project addressed the critical domestic issue of racial and gender equity in higher education, with specific focus on the experiences of Asian women in academia. These dynamics contribute to significant challenges in recruitment, retention, and career development for Asian women students, staff, postdocs, and faculty in U.S universities. In a three part brown bag discussion and workshop series, the project creates structure, safe spaces for dialogue, reflection and strategy-building by addressing systemic inequities and promoting greater understanding on the intersection challenges Asian women face in academia. 

Taelore Marsh, Faculty

Led by the Black Feminist Archive (BFA), this project aims to develop and pilot an instructional toolkit that faculty and graduate instructors can use to design inclusive syllabi, classroom activities, and assignments built around BFA collections. By supporting instructors in implementing primary source research that gives students the opportunity to dive deeper into history that is erased, gain foundational archive literacy, and have the confidence to critically engage with historical records. This project amplifies narratives of joy, hope, and aspirations within Black feminist traditions. On a more global scale, the project's efforts directly support broader social movements focused on racial justice, gender, equity, and the democratization of history memory. 

Kara Ireland, Graduate Student

This project, led by the Black Lavender Collective (BLC), is a Healing Symposium that creates a space centering Black Feminist and queer thought, creativity and community. The symposium invites a wide variety of contributions, with presentations that may take the form of papers, panels, performances, workshops, or other innovative formats. By embracing experimental, creative, and traditional forms of scholarship, the event fosters open discussion by advancing intellectual diversity through broadening the scope of what Black Feminist theory and praxis look like. The openness of the contributions ensures the event remains responsive to the needs and practices of its participants, cultivating cross-disciplinary and community engagement. 

Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Faculty

Hosted by the W.E.B. Du Bois Center, this annual lecture is a cornerstone event that celebrates and advances the legacy of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, who is one of the most influential scholars and activists in American history. This year's speaker is Dr. Karida L. Brown, a NAACP Image Award winning author and Professor  at Emory University. She has written several books about W.E.B. Du Bois, systemic racism, and the study of Black Life. This event engages a broad and diverse campus audience by including students, faculty, and members to the Five College Community.

Jamie Rowen, Faculty

The goal of this project is to present diverse views on current federal policies, and encourage respectful dialogue across differences. Instead of centering discussion around being right or wrong about politics, this event aims to create productive discourse where people can see and engage in multiple points of view. This project will occur in two parts: first, a series of community dialogues organized with the Center for Justice, Law and Societies then a more formal series of three panels with different political opinions and viewpoints. Selected speakers will represent diverse political orientations driven by prepared questions, After the talk, a Q&A will occur, engaging the attendees of the event in a public forum.  

Sawyer Rogers, Graduate Student

Inspired by a college course titled “State and Local Government” in Fall 2025, this project is a day-long event that will bring together meeting participants, practitioners, and scholars to conduct panels, a keynote, work through cases, and participate in a mock town meeting. Not only will this event provide a learning opportunity, but also build skills and connect students with practitioners working in state and local government. The panels and keynote will educate and formulate best practices while the cases and mock town meetings will provide practice and skill-building. This even builds participants knowledge and skills to openly discuss complex, critical, and divisive social issues. The facilitators of the event will give participants resources, support, and knowledge needed to participate in active engagement and productive dialogue in local and state government. 

Mitia Nath, Graduate Student

This project will involve the screening of “All That Breathes”, a documentary film directed by Shaunak Sen. The film delves into the intersection between the political and the ecological, connecting the story of the Black Kite bird of New Delhi and the species struggle with air pollution to the political unrest and violence against Muslims in India.the film’s depiction of the ecological and the political as inseparable components of our current historical moment makes it timely and urgent work that nudges us towards interspecies solidarities, and a politics rooted in social and environmental justice. Open to the Five College Community, there will be a discussion accompanied by food provided by UMass Catering. Graduate students will lead the discussion, which will be focused on this theme of intersectionality, promoting diverse dialogue amongst participants about their thoughts and reflections following the film.

Brennan Tierney, Staff

In Fall 2025, the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy will launch its third major annual theme: The Democracy Project. This project is dedicated to exploring the threats and possibilities facing democracy today. Through the ACDD Grant, this three-part project will provide UMass Students, faculty, and the wider community with direct access to national leaders, public intellectuals, and scholars. The first event will begin October 25th and will be in a panel format featuring prominent leaders such as Congressman Jim McGovern, Senator Ed Markey, Representative Ayanna Pressely, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Congresswomen Becca Balint. Towards the end of the Fall 25 semester, there will be a Ellsberg Lecture with invited guest speaker Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an inspiring advocate for democracy, equity, and justice. Finally, a Journalism & Democracy Panel organized by professor Kathy Forde at UMass will take place. Together these events will create space for serious dialogue on how to resist authoritarianism and rebuild democratic institutions, while equipping the next generation with tools for civic courage and engagement. 

This project invites Dr. William A. Nericcio and his travelling art exhibition, Mextasy, to UMass Amherst to explore how Mexican stereotypes have developed in the digital age. Dr. Nericcio’s exhibition juxtaposes negative Latinx stereotypes with empowering depictions, exploring themes of propaganda, immigration, and the Mexican-American experience. Beyond the exhibit, this project will also include a lecture by Dr. Nericcio that allows attendees to delve deeper into the art pieces and engage in critical dialogue on topic. With recent rises in anti-immigrant violence, the project plays a critical role in illuminating the struggles of Mexicans and the misleading use of stereotypes to fuel anti-immigrant sentiments. 

Cas Rego-Martin, Staff

Organized by the UMass LBGTQIA+ Network, this project invites author Kimm Topping (they/them) to an author talk and discussion series centering their latest book, Generation Queer. The project will center on an in-person panel discussion featuring Kimm Topping and several local youth activists featured in General Queer, with the initial gathering followed by a series of Zoom book group discussions. As a whole, the project aims to connect the queer community at UMass, forming meaningful connections and uplifting each other in the face of harmful cultural trends. With LGBTQIA+ activism in educational settings being a particular focus of Generation Queer and the subsequent related book group discussions, this project hopes to provide UMass’s queer community and allies with the tools to celebrate queer activism and engage with ongoing dialogue on the subject.

Michael Sakamoto, Staff

This project centers around the visiting theatre artist, Alaa Shehada, and his deeply insightful play, “The horse of Jenin”.  The play tells the story of a young boy growing up in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, exploring broadly how the human experience encapsulates both joy and creativity in the most dire of circumstances. To accompany this play, three additional outreach activities are being organized. Firstly, Shehada will be engaging in an Artist Conversation and Q&A post performance, allowing deeper discussion of the play’s artistic, cultural and social themes. Additionally, Five College students can attend an acting workshop hosted by Shehada to better understand his unique approach to acting.  Finally, a conversation-based social gathering with campus organizations has been arranged to allow for further dialogue between Shehada, faculty, staff and students. Through this range of interactive events, the project will engage our campus artistically, intellectually, and socially on the ongoing Palestinian crisis, nurturing healthy dialogue and open mindedness across groups.

Purna Venugopalan, Staff 

This project, composed of multiple outreach events and activities, will highlight the collaborative work of playwright Larrissa FastHorse and theatre director Michael John Garcés, who examine modern Indigenous cultures and narratives through community-engaged theatre. The project is composed of three main components, including classroom visits, a broader consensus-building workshop, and final panel discussion event. Through these components, the project will address the underrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in both cultural and academic contexts. The project's structure places trust-building and respect at the heart of the complex conversations on sovereignty, displacement, and cultural preservation it hopes to spark. Through this, the series will ultimately create spaces across campus which center Native perspectives and demonstrate how the skills of listening, mediation, and collective creativity can be applied across disciplines.

Kefiana Wairimu Kabati, Graduate Student

Centered on rice as a unifying link across African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin, and North American Cuisines, this festival will bring together various cultural organizations across UMass to submit traditional rice-based recipes representing their heritage. Alongside food tastings and recipes, the festival will include a keynote speech and workshop focused on the sociocultural and anthropological aspects of food, as well as poster presentations by students to provide narrative context to their dishes. Using food as a gateway, this project aims to foster intercultural solidarity, cultivate a deeper awareness of food justice, and encourage dialogue on the socio-economic context of food, including global trade, colonization, migration, and more.

Mahwish Chishty, Faculty 

Through a collaborative arts-based approach, this project aims to explore the emotional and societal impacts of modern warfare in the U.S. Participants will be invited to respond to the question “How do you feel about the current wars?” via visual and symbolic means. These pieces will be turned into embroidered patches, then sewn on a repurposed Vietnam War-era U.S. Air Force uniform, ultimately creating a collective portrait of our psychological landscape amid ongoing and remote conflicts. Upon completion, this project will be installed at the campus’s Herter Art Gallery, where participants and other attendees will be able to engage in active dialogue regarding the topic, their artistic process, and personal experiences. Through this artistic process and collective reflection, participants will aid in bridging the gap between war and the American public, promoting deeper understanding of diverse perspectives on modern wars, remote warfare, and human ethics.

Arnav Gholap, Graduate Student

With a focus on digital inequality and algorithmic bias, this project will explore the potential of automated decision-making to unintentionally reproduce social bias, as well as possible human-centered alternatives. The series will consist of four core events, including: a kickoff panel discussion, two interactive workshops, a brown-bag discussion, and a culminating mini-symposium showcasing student projects and practical tool kits. Across all events, there will be an emphasis on  dialogue and co-creation through breakout discussions and interactive, collaborative activities, ultimately focused on imagining and planning actionable solutions to algorithmic bias. With an emphasis on interdisciplinary and underrepresented perspectives, the series will join technical knowledge with social understanding and lived experience to develop broader understanding of the widespread impacts that digital inequality has on equity, opportunity access, and civic trust in institutions.

Ibrahim Ali, Staff

Organized by Self-Evident Education, this project centers around the first part of a three-part film series, titled “Get A Mule, Forty Acres or So”, aiming to address limited and skewed historical representations of race and racism in educational American history materials. It is grounded in the belief that honest and possibly difficult acknowledgements of and critical discussion around American history are necessary to achieve a real multiracial democracy, and stories provide an empathetic way of moving along this path. This film series will specifically delve into the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era, tying together themes of land ownership, generational wealth, Black economic autonomy, political disenfranchisement, and systemic racism. The screening will be done in tandem with an audience Q&A with panelists, and event registrants will also be provided a one-month access to the Self-Evident library for further reflection on these themes and ideas. Through the creation of a safe space for dialogue and questions, this project will address imbalances in historical representation and cultivate the ability to critically analyze the biases in mainstream narratives.