Poet Nikki Giovanni to deliver keynote for Black History Month

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Here are a few events that are definitely worth checking out this week, including a lecture by Nikki Giovanni,  this year’s Black History Month keynote speaker.

Giovanni will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday in  Love Auditorium, hosted by the Black Student Union. She is one of America’s most distinguished African-American poets, authors, and essayists. Her work is the product of the 1960s Black Arts Movement.

During her talk at Colgate, Giovanni will deliver her lecture, “An Evening of Poetry, Love, and Enlightenment,” sharing her words of wisdom on the civil rights movement, politics, love, art, and more.

She will discuss the ideals of equality while sharing the experiences and poetry that exemplify both her passion for the arts and her activism. After the talk, stick around for a reception, where you’ll have the chance to meet and speak with the keynote speaker!

Did you know that stress and anxiety are the number one reason that students visit the Counseling Center? Join the Shaw Wellness Institute for its class Strategies for Stress on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. Grab a friend and come learn about cognitive behavioral strategies that you can use every day to manage stress in your life.

On Thursday be sure not to miss Professor Susan Burch explore the implications of biomedical diagnoses in her talk “Discovered Pasts: Revisiting the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, 1902-1934.”

Through the lived histories of people incarcerated at South Dakota’s Canton Asylum, the only federal psychiatric hospital for American Indians, Burch looks at contested cultural understandings of institutionalism, communication, madness, gender, race, and power. The lecture begins at 4:15 p.m. in 209 Lathrop Hall.

Interested in education? Stop by the COVE lounge on Friday at 12:15 p.m. for the Equity and Education Brown Bag, hosted by Teach for America, Let’s Get Ready, and Hamilton Central Tutoring. Bring your friends, enjoy some free lunch, and hear a panelist of Colgate alumni and local educators discuss their approach to education reform and their experiences in the classroom.

Looking for something different to do this week? Browse the full Colgate calendar of events to see everything that the Colgate community has in store.