Marquette Matters September 2012

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MARQUETTE Exploring freedom in its many forms By April Beane

It can mean different things to different people at different times. That’s why Dr. James Marten, professor and chair of the Department of History, chose to spearhead The Freedom Project — a yearlong commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and the ­emancipation proclamation. “Freedom isn’t something that is self-evident to everyone. You have to make it,” Marten says. “One of the joys of teaching history is teaching students what they don’t know, but think they do, and more importantly that things are not as simple as they seem.” Two years in the making, Marten wanted The Freedom Project to provide “the biggest umbrella possible” to involve as many departments and units on campus as possible. And it has — particularly in the arts.

Image source: Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division

Freedom is complicated.

THE FREEDOM PROJECT at Marquette

Fall 2012 Event Highlights August 22 – December 22 Exhibit: Thencefoward, and Forever Free Haggerty Museum of Art Exhibit: The Freedom Project: Text/Context Haggerty Museum of Art August 29 – January 5

Thursday, September 27 – 7:30 p.m. Klement Lecture “The Dimensions of Freedom: Slave Emancipation, Indian Peoples and the Projects of the New American State” Dr. Steven Hahn, Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania Raynor Memorial Libraries, Beaumier Suites

Photo by Ben Smidt

Monday, October 1 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Freedom is the theme of the Helfaer Theatre’s 2012–13 season and several Haggerty Museum of Art exhibits. In addition, the Office of Student Development is sponsoring several banned book readings and movie viewings at Raynor Memorial Libraries. “Freedom of press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech — a lot of abstract and ­interesting constructs of freedom are coming out through our schedule of events,” Marten says. For a complete list of events and more ­information, visit marquette.edu/freedom-project.

A Civil War Commemoration

The image of a slave asserting his manhood serves as a symbol of Marquette’s Freedom Project. It first appeared in 1780s abolitionist literature and became one of the iconic images of the movement to abolish slavery.

Exhibit: Freedom Of/For/To: Selections From the Permanent Collection Haggerty Museum of Art

Dr. James Marten

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Banned Books: The Reading Haggerty Museum of Art Friday, October 4, 2012 – 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Forbidden Film Festival: Four Films Based on Banned Books Raynor Memorial Library Conference Center (lower level) 1 p.m., Lord of the Flies; 3 p.m., Howl; 5 p.m., Twilight; 7:30 p.m., Hunger Games Monday, October 8 – 4:30 p.m. Staged reading of A Vexed Question: John Quincy Adams and the Fight Against Slavery Performed by The Fiasco Company Eckstein Hall, Appellate Courtroom

Wednesday, October 10 – 4:30 p.m. “American Slavery/American Freedom: The Possibilities and Limits of Black Freedom in the 19th Century” Dr. H. Robert Baker, Georgia State University Dr. A. Kristen Foster, Marquette University Dr. Kate Masur, Northwestern University Raynor Memorial Libraries, Beaumier Suites October 15 – January 28 Exhibit: Defining Freedom at Marquette in the 1960s and 1970s Raynor Memorial Libraries, second floor Thursday, October 18 – 4:30 p.m. Boden Lecture “Reconstruction and the Origins of Birthright Citizenship” Dr. Eric Foner, Dewitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University Eckstein Hall Wednesday, October 24 – 6 p.m. Curtis L. Carter Art and Social Change Lecture “Recreating Missing Histories” Elisabeth Subrin, assistant professor of film and media art, Temple University Haggerty Museum of Art Monday, November 12 – 7:30 p.m. Metcalfe Chair Lecture “Taking Leave: Fugitive Slaves and the Politics of Freedom, 1850–1860” Richard Blackett, Andrew Jackson Professor of History, Vanderbilt University Raynor Memorial Libraries, Beaumier Suites

CAM PU S H A P P E N I N GS Faber Fall Retreat will be held Oct. 26 – 28

AMUW’s Boheim Lecture to focus on unrest in Syria

The Faber Center’s annual Fall Retreat will take place Friday, Oct. 26 to Sunday, Oct. 28, at the Jesuit Retreat House in Oshkosh, Wis. Retreat director Rev. Bert Thelen, S.J., will lead the group in “Cosmic Prayer, Personal Transformation and Global Unity: The Journey of Faith,” an exploration of the Biblical tradition enlightened by the new universe story. Online registration begins Monday, Sept. 10, and space is limited. This retreat is free and open to all faculty and staff. Visit marquette.edu/faber for more information and to register, or call 8-4545.

The Association of Marquette University Women will present the Distinguished Eleanor H. Boheim Lecture, “Political Unrest: Notes from Syria,” Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 6 p.m. in Raynor Memorial Libraries, Beaumier Suites. It will be delivered by Dr. Lisa Wedeen, this year’s AMUW Women’s Chair in Humanistic Studies, and the Mary R. Morton Professor of Political Science and the College at the University of Chicago. Wedeen spent the first four months of the Arab ­uprisings in Syria, and will attempt to make sense of current events there.