Events

Here's a sampling of the events that have been planned for the Year of the City.  Additional events can be found on the Calendar page and on the list of proposals that have received funding from the Year of the City Coordinating Committee.  If you are sponsoring an event that you would like to feature here, please contact the Committee.

Jesuits and Urbanism: History, Theology and Spirituality (Angela Christman, Catholic Studies)
This lecture series features several Jesuit scholars who have studied the urban focus of the work of St. Ignatius and the Jesuits.  Fr. Tom Lucas (University of San Francisco) will speak about St. Ignatius' choice of the city as the primary locus of the ministry of the Society of Jesus.  Fr. Bill Reiser (College of the Holy Cross) will explore how we might allow cities to shape how we pray and what we choose.  And Fr. T. Frank Kennedy (Boston College) will speak about Jesuit urbanism and the arts.

Multicultural Awareness Program: Baltimore Cultural Tour (Rodney Parker, ALANA Services)
The Multicultural Awareness Program, which introduces ALANA freshman to the College and the larger Baltimore community, is adding a new Baltimore Cultural Tour.  The tour will highlight important historical and cultural aspects of Baltimore.  Students will learn about the significance of the City in the struggle for civil rights and the contributions of many Baltimoreans to American history.  The tour includes stops at Orchard Street Church, the Civil War Museum, Fort McHenry, St. Frances Academy, and the Great Blacks in Wax Museum.  Other attractions include the Basilica, the Billie Holiday Statue, and other sites.  The tour concludes with a meal at El Travador, a Latin American restaurant in Fells Point.

SGA Initium Week: September 8-13 (Student Government Association)
With the Year of the City nearing its official kickoff, the Student Government Association’s annual Initium Week promises to deliver a variety of events aimed at strengthening our relationship with Baltimore. This Initium Week, remember that CommUNITY Starts Here – and that building our community starts with YOU!

First-Year Common Text Week: September 19-26 (Jeff Kniple, Leadership and New Student Programs)
The events for this year's common text program focus on the economic and political realities of the farming, textile and garment industries, as outlined in Pietra Rivoli's book Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy.  Since the historic Baltimore textile factories are now closed and most garment production has moved away from the City, these events give us a chance to examine the forces that are shaping this city and others as companies find new, less expensive places to produce their goods.  Events include keynote address by the author, a discussion led by a representative from Baltimore-based Under Armour, an up-close look at garment and textile production in El Salvador, and the "Don't give us a T-Shirt Donation Drive" competition for the class of 2010.   

CCLS Lecture Series: P.A. Miller (Sharon Nell, Modern Languages and Literatures)
“I Get Around: Desire and Metonymy on the Streets of Rome with Horace, Ovid and Juvenal” (Nov. 20, 2006).  The Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures is organizing talks with the Year of the City theme: what it means to live in a city in different literary and historical contexts.  P.A. Miller, Director of Comparative Literature at the University of South Carolina, publishes on ancient Greek poetry, 19th century French poetry and theory.  He will discuss Roman elegy and satire; they portray the city and the action of “navigating through the city” in fundamentally different ways.

Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium (Leonard Brown Jr., Student Development)
The MLK Symposium is a day-long reflection on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Offered in conjunction with the Education department, the symposium focuses on the lessons of social justice from MLK and the application of social action on the public school system in Baltimore City.  It will be a learning experience about the history of the civil rights movement locally and about Martin Luther King, and an examination of social action in public schools.