{"id":623,"date":"2025-08-06T09:54:47","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T16:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/?p=623"},"modified":"2025-08-06T09:54:47","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T16:54:47","slug":"orser-center-for-public-humanities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/?p=623","title":{"rendered":"Orser Center for Public Humanities"},"content":{"rendered":"

In April 2025, the new <\/span>Orser Center for Public Humanities<\/b> debuted at an event at UMBC\u2019s Library Gallery with a packed crowd. The evening was a celebration of public humanities work in and around Baltimore with a panel discussion on the Chicory exhibition \u201c<\/span>Soul of the Butterfly<\/span><\/a>,\u201d designed by<\/span> Markele Cullins<\/span><\/a>, Visual Arts, UMBC ’18, UCLA, MFA candidate. <\/span>\"Orser<\/a>The event included a panel discussion on community engagement in Baltimore with Patrick Oray (Bard Early College), Keegan Finberg (UMBC, English), Mary Rizzo (Rutgers, American Studies), Nicole King (UMBC American Studies), Markele Cullins (UCLA), and Sarah Fouts (UMBC American Studies). Following the panel we will have performances by Rejjia Camphor, A\u2019niya Taylor, and Slangston Hughes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Soul<\/a>The Orser Center for the Study of Place, Community, and Culture was founded in 2011 when Ed Orser retired from the Department of American Studies at UMBC. Ed Orser earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of New Mexico and came to UMBC in 1969, just one year after the uprisings of 1968 following the assassination of MLK Jr. and just three years after UMBC was formed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ed was one of the founding faculty members of the Department of American Studies. He served numerous terms as chair of the department and developed foundational courses still taught today. Ed was kind and thoughtful and committed to his students, his city, and especially his family.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ed<\/a>Ed Orser was doing public humanities before we even called it that. Ed was just doing the good work that mattered. One of my favorite Ed Orser quotes (Richard Byrne \u201886,<\/span> Locale Hero<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>UMBC Magazine<\/span><\/i>, Summer 2009):<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you ground the American experience in something you can get your hands around? I always thought it was helpful to bring things down to a certain scale. Maybe because that\u2019s as much as I could try to get my mind around, but also it is because in some ways, that\u2019s where we live our lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The public humanities is <\/span>where we live our lives.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Ed Orser will be remembered for his contributions to how we understand cities, especially Baltimore, and issues of environmental justice. He influenced generations of students and mentored many faculty members (myself included). His kindness, humility, and generosity are greatly missed in the Department of American Studies, the Orser Center, and across the UMBC campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ed\u2019s memory will always remind us of where we do this work, <\/span>where we live OUR lives<\/span><\/i> and why we do it \u2026 to build better futures.<\/span><\/p>\n

The things that connect us across differences are strong and deep. The Orser Center for Public Humanities continues the work of meeting people where they are and doing the best we can to understand one another even in difficult and divisive times.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we look back on the history and roots of the Orser Center we also look forward with hope and determination. Sometimes that\u2019s enough. <\/span>And sometimes it\u2019s not and we have to sacrifice and we have to stand up and we have to lose some of our comfort to be able to make sure we wake up in a world we want to live in.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Where we live our lives is up to us. We can build new worlds together through the work of the humanities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Orser Center is part 1. UMBC\u2019s Public Humanities Program is part 2 of the story\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016, one year after the uprisings following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, we launched a working group to build a program in Public Humanities at UMBC. The working group was co-chaired by me and Jessica Berman, director of UMBC\u2019s<\/span> Dresher Center for Humanities<\/span><\/a> at the time. We built an<\/span> advisory committee<\/span><\/a> from across the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Public<\/a><\/p>\n

In fall 2019, the Dept of AMST welcomed Michael Casiano, Sarah Fouts, and Ashley Minner as full time faculty members in public humanities, joining me and Tamara Bhalla\u2013our current department chair. It was an amazing moment that became precarious when a global pandemic emerged and numerous members of our BFS community fellows team were experiencing displacement from their homes and sacred spaces in Baltimore City.<\/span><\/p>\n

We worked diligently for three years planning the program. This work all culminated in our minor in Public Humanities in 2019 and the<\/span> Baltimore Field School<\/span><\/a> (BFS) project in 2020, funded by grants from the Mellon Foundation and ACLS, to<\/span> build ethical university\/community partnerships<\/span><\/a> at UMBC. We sought to honor and work with the people already doing the good work on the ground in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

At that difficult moment in 2020, we should remember that we rose to the challenge. We did not stop because the work was difficult. We persevered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We simply kept doing what we do\u2013the good work that bends towards justice and<\/span> humanities for all<\/span><\/i><\/a>. The humanities are public when they serve everyone and are beholden to no one individual or institution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The public good is also the collective good.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, in conclusion, I want to return to that quote from Ed Orser.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought it was helpful to bring things down to a certain scale\u2026 because in some ways, that\u2019s where we live our lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So, keep living your lives and doing the good work that can build new and brighter futures. That is the collective goal of public humanities and higher education in their best forms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Onward towards more meaningful Public Humanities work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicole King, co-director \/ Professor, American Studies \/ nking@umbc.edu\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In April 2025, the new Orser Center for Public Humanities debuted at an event at UMBC\u2019s Library Gallery with a packed crowd. The evening was a celebration of public humanities work in and around Baltimore with a panel discussion on … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amstcommunitystudies.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}