Affinity Celebration Months

Affinity Month programming at Goucher features an array of ways—educational, cultural, political, activist, and social—to explore identities. By inviting speakers and leaders, presenting diverse media, and supporting student-led events, we will honor the lived experiences of historically underserved groups and celebrate the community built right here on campus.

Please check back regularly for more information to come. Visit the Goucher Events Calendar to see additional events year-round, including student-led programs.

Affinity Month 2023 HHM Header Updated

A reading with author Maria Melendez Kelson  

September 17, 7 p.m. I Soper Room, Julia Rogers 227

Presented by the Kratz Center for Creative Writing, award-winning author Maria Melendez Kelson will give a reading and book signing of her upcoming thriller, Not the Killing Kind.

An evening with author Jennine Capó Crucet   

September 18, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum

Jennine Capó Crucet, author of My Time Among the Whites, this year’s summer read for first-years, will address her work. She’s the author of the novel Make Your Home Among Strangers, the award-winning How to Leave Hialeah. Her fourth book, a novel titled Say Hello to My Little Friend, was released this spring.

Craft workshop: Making and decorating Mexican Alebrijes to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month   

September 26, 5 p.m. I Heubeck Multipurpose Room

Alebrijes are creatures that take elements from different animals and the artist’s imagination to create a magical being. There are no limits to what an alebrije can look like; the possibilities are endless. Alebrijes are spirits that guide, accompany, and protect us. They are creatures that live in our dreams and are connected to our spirit. Sponsored by the Elizabeth and David Robertson Lectureship.

Salsa night with Las Guaracheras  

October 16, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum

Las Guaracheras is an all-women salsa sextet born in Cali, Colombia, in 2017. The ensemble’s objective is to uplift female voices within Afro-Latin music and build more inclusive, diverse, and respectful cultural spaces for all. They communicate joy, memory, and transformation. With vibraphone, percussion, bass, piano, and vocals, Las Guaracheras present an explosive show that provokes dancing, singing, and reflection.

 

2024 Affinity Celebration Month Events

February: Black History Month

Black History Month

 

Black History Month Kickoff Concert With Dat Feel Good 

February 1, 2024, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum
Goucher College kicks off Black History Month with a performance by Baltimore’s own Dat Feel Good, led by saxophonist/trumpeter Clarence Ward III. Dat Feel Good delivers soulful grooves to appreciative audiences nationwide. 

 

Iyun Ashani Harrison 

February 5, 2024, Noon I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum
Duke University dance professor Iyun Harrison, founder of Ballet Ashani, shares his insights.

 

Dr. Tyrone Hayes 

February 5, 2024, 6 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum
Dr. Tyrone Hayes, professor of integrative biology at University of California, Berkeley, is known for his groundbreaking work on the impacts of the herbicide atrazine on amphibians and his advocacy for transparency about the use of environmental chemicals and the effects they have on our health.

 

The Woman King Film Screening 

February 15, 2024, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum
Join us for a screening of the 2022 film The Woman King, starring Viola Davis. The Woman King is the remarkable story of the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike the world has ever seen.

 

Radical Reversal: Workshop and Performance 

February 20, 2024
Workshop: 4-6 p.m.| Batza Room, Athenaeum
Performance: 7 p.m.| Hyman Forum, Athenaeum 

Dr. Randall Horton, along with members of his band, Radical Reversal, will perform original music and poetry that addresses social concerns with a focus on the criminal justice system. Radical Reversal works inside prisons to conduct workshops and demo-recordings, lifting up the voices and communities of folks inside. At Goucher they will present on their work as well as perform original compositions, a sound that crosses many boundaries of music and spoken word.

Dr. Horton is a writer, poet, artist, and an associate professor of English at the University of New Haven. He is the only person in the United States with seven felony convictions and academic tenure. Horton is the recipient of the 2022 Creative Capital Award, the American Book Award for Oral Literature, the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, the Bea Gonzalez Poetry Award, a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Literature, the GLCA New Writers Award for Creative Nonfiction for Hook: A Memoir, a Poet-in-Residence at the Civil Right Corpse, and a Soze Foundation Right to Return Fellow. His poetry collection {#289-128} was published by the University Press of Kentucky, and Dead Weight: A Memoir was published by Northwestern University Press in 2022.

*Sponsored by the Peace Studies Program; the Kratz Center for Creative Writing; the Goucher College Prison Education Partnership; the Center for Race, Equity, and Identity; the Isabelle Thomas Fund; the E. and D. Robertson Fund; and the Bassey Memorial Fund.

 

An Evening With Cécile McLorin Salvant: The 62nd Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Lecture-Performance 

February 24, 2024, 7 p.m. I Kraushaar Auditorium
The 62nd Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Lecture-Performance presents the multiple Grammy Award-winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant in concert, followed by an in-depth on-stage interview with WYPR’s Tom Hall. General public, $30, Goucher students, faculty, and staff, free.

 

An Evening With Yamiche Alcindor 

February 28, 2024, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum
Goucher is proud to host award-winning NBC News Washington correspondent and former anchor of Washington Week Yamiche Alcindor to deliver this spring’s Roszel C. Thomsen Lecture. 

March: Women's History Month

Womens History Month

 

Myra Berman Kurtz ’66 Seminar

Women in Leadership Panel Discussion

March 6, 2024, 5 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum

Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller - Keynote Address 

Tinisha Cheatham - Physician in Chief, Baltimore Service Area, Permanente Medicine 

Monica Mitchell - Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff, Wells Fargo Foundation 

Jaymi Sterling - State’s Attorney, St. Mary’s County Maryland 

Cindy Truitt ’86 - President and CEO, Humanim 

Moderated by The Baltimore Banner’s Leslie Gray Streeter

 

The Oil Machine Film Screening

March 7, 2024, 4:30 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum

Join us for a screening of the award-winning documentary The Oil Machine with a live discussion with the filmmakers, hosted by Dr. Jennifer da Rosa, director of the MA in Environmental Sustainability and Management Program at Goucher College. 

Oil has been an invisible machine at the core of our economy and society. It now faces an uncertain future as activists and investors demand change. Is this the end of oil?

 

Sophia Bryter Band

March 8, 2024, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum

Singer-songwriter Sophia Bryter and her band perform material from her new record, Moonchild. Fronted by Bryter and searing guitarist Morgan Gonce, the band presents powerful, sophisticated pop and rock. 

 

Basketball Empire: France and the Making of a Global NBA and WNBA with Dr. Lindsay Krasnoff 

March 28, 2024, 5 p.m. I Batza Room, Athenaeum 

Dr. Lindsay Krasnoff will be speaking about her recently published book, Basketball Empire (Bloomsbury 2023), which looks at the globalization of basketball through relations between France and the United States and the colonial legacies of francophone Africa and the Afro-Caribbean. 

April: Goucher's Pride Month

Pride Month

 

CREI Campus Pride Affinity Spaces

The student-led CREI Affinity Spaces seek to celebrate identity and create intentional space for connection, community, and joy.

House of Marsha

April 2, 2024, 7 p.m. | Athenaeum, Room 125

House of Marsha is exclusively for those who self-identify as both students of color and LGBTQ+. House of Marsha is named for Marsha P. Johnson, an activist, self-identified drag queen, performer, and survivor. She was a prominent figure in the Stonewall uprising of 1969. Marsha went by “Black Marsha” before settling on Marsha P. Johnson. The “P” stood for “Pay It No Mind,” which is what Marsha would say in response to questions about her gender.

Lavender

April 18, 2024, 7 p.m. | Athenaeum, Room 125

Lavender is exclusively for LGBTQ+ students, including but not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, gender non-binary, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, and same gender loving students.

 

Pride Month Events

Major Mimosa Affinity Mixer at Alumnae/i Weekend 2024

April 20, 2024, 10 - 11:45 a.m. | Dorsey Center Courtyard

Meet members of the AAGC and mingle with alumnae/i to explore career paths and affinity connections. Highlighted affinity groups are the LGBTQIA+ Group, Latinx Group, Black & African American Alumnae/i Affinity Group, and Men’s Group. Careers are broadly grouped in the areas of business and technology, sciences and health, social services and education, government and law, and arts and communication.

An Evening with Iyun Ashani Harrison: On-Becoming: A Journey of Self-Actualization Through Dance

April 24, 2024, 7 p.m. | Hyman Forum, Athenaeum

Hear from Duke University Professor Iyun Ashani Harrison, dance maker, educator, and executive director of Ballet Ashani. Born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica, Harrison first trained in acting, classical ballet, modern technique, and Jamaican folk dance. He graduated from the Juilliard School (B.F.A.) and Hollins University (M.F.A.), danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and developed a love for neo-classical ballet, which influenced Harrison’s movement aesthetic and laid Ballet Ashani’s foundation.

Ballet Ashani Presents: Giovanni’s Room

April 25, 2024, 7 p.m. | Kraushaar Auditorium, Dorsey Center

Iyun Ashani Harrison brings his company, Ballet Ashani, to Goucher for the Maryland premiere of Giovanni’s Room, a contemporary ballet adaptation of James Baldwin’s iconic novel.

Pride Celebration With the Peer Educators

April 26, 2024, 1 - 3 p.m. | Van Meter Highway or Mary Fisher Lobby (depending on weather)

Come celebrate your LGBTQIA+ pride with the Health & Wellness Peer Educators on Van Meter Highway! We’ll have crafts, giveaways, treats, music, and more!

 

2023 Affinity Celebration Month Events

February: Black History Month

 

Black History Month

 

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2023 Tabling Event

February 2, 2023, 12-1 p.m. I Mary Fisher Lobby

In honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the Center for Race, Equity, and Identity (CREI) is hosting an interactive tabling event to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and address longstanding racist systemic inequities that have contributed to health disparities in the Black community.

Tasty Tuesday: Kenya

Date and time T.B.D. I Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum 125

Held the first Tuesday of every month, Tasty Tuesday highlights food from a different culture for the community to explore and provides a space for learning about the meaningful relationship between culture, community, and food. In honor of Black History Month, CREI will be highlighting a dish from Kenya.

A Conversation With Joel Christian Gill

February 9, 2023, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum of the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum

Hear from Joel Christian Gill, the inaugural chair of Boston University’s master of fine arts (M.F.A.) in visual narrative and associate professor in the CFA School of Visual Arts. Comic artist Joel C. Gill shares the stories of underrepresented peoples, historical events, and dynamic illustration to illuminate why it’s important to celebrate Black history year-round.

The Roszel C. Thomsen Lecture featuring Maya Wiley

February 15, 2023, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum of the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum

Hear from Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. Maya Wiley is a nationally recognized civil rights lawyer and racial justice advocate, legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and former top candidate for New York City mayor in the 2021 Democratic primary. The Henry Cohen Professor of Public and Urban policy at the New School and the founder of the Digital Equity Laboratory, Maya Wiley will share her unique insights with the Goucher community.

Offshore Attachments: Oil and Intimacy in the Caribbean With Dr. Chelsea Schields

February 16, 2023, 5-6:30 p.m. I Buchner Hall, Alumnae/i House

Dr. Chelsea Schields ’08, a transnational historian of sexuality, race, and energy, will be speaking about her forthcoming book (University of California Press, 2023).

17th Annual Jewell Robinson Dinner

February 17, 2023, 6 p.m. I Hyman Forum of the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum

Join members of the Goucher College community as we celebrate and honor our Black and African American alumnae and alumni at this annual dinner.

Lecture-Performance With the Branford Marsalis Quartet

February 25, 2023, at 7 p.m. I Kraushaar Auditorium

Join us for the 61st Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Lecture-Performance featuring the Grammy Award-winning Branford Marsalis Quartet.

 

CREI Affinity Space: #BlackJoy

February 28, 2023, 7 p.m. I Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum 125

Sponsored by CREI, CREI Affinity Spaces seek to celebrate identity and create intentional space for connection, community, and joy. #BlackJoy is a student-led CREI Affinity Space exclusively for Black and/or African American students, including those who are biracial and multiracial/mixed.

Guest Artist in Residence: Maurice Brandon Curry

Residency on-campus begins February 10, 2023

Maurice Brandon Curry, executive artistic director of the Eglevsky Ballet, will teach ballet classes and set a work for Goucher dancers to be performed on April 21 and April 22. As a dancer, Curry appeared with the New York City Ballet and danced with Carolina Ballet, Kaleidoscope Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, and DancEllington.

Ballet Class

Saturday, February 18, 2023, 10-11:30 a.m.

Open to Intermediate and Advanced high school age dancers. Pre-registration is mandatory, and space is limited. For questions and pre-registration, contact Elizabeth Ahearn at eahearn@goucher.edu.

Meet the Artist

Thursday, February 16, 2023, 6 p.m. I Goucher College Dance Department – Todd Dance Studio

Come meet Maurice Brandon Curry and observe the Goucher dancers in a rehearsal of his work.

March: Women's History Month

Women's History Affinity Month Page header

Myra Berman Kurtz '66 Seminar Featuring Dalia Mogahed

March 1, 2023, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum of the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum

Hear from Dalia Mogahed, director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and former executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. Mogahed’s work centers around the support of American Muslims and surveys conducted of Muslim communities worldwide.

Myra Berman Kurtz '66 Seminar Featuring Sofia Teferi '93

March 8, 2023, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum of the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum

Hear from Sofia Teferi ’93, M.D., who currently holds a position as assistant professor at Georgetown University and is shaping the next generation of pediatricians. She has experience working with vulnerable pediatric populations as the medical director of a pediatric forensic medicine program and as a volunteer on mission trips to Ethiopia and Peru.

The Robert & Jane Meyerhoff Visiting Professorship Series Featuring Sherrilyn Ifill

March 15, 2023, 7 p.m. I Kraushaar Auditorium, Dorsey Center

Hear from Sherrilyn Ifill, J.S.D., renowned civil rights lawyer and former president and director-counsel of LDF (NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund).

An Evening with Ruth Rathblott

March 29, 2023, 7 p.m. I Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum, Hyman Forum

Hear from Ruth Rathblott, an expert on diversity, inclusion, and belonging. She is a TEDx and inspirational speaker and an award-winning nonprofit leader. Ruth was born with a limb difference and speaks to companies on issues of equity and belonging, the gifts of being unique, and the freedom of accepting your differences.

Goucher Virtual Authors Series: Melissa Klapper '95 and Ballet Class: An American History

March 29, 2023, 7 p.m. I VIRTUAL

Dr. Melissa R. Klapper ‘95 is a professor of history and the director of women’s & gender studies at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. She is the author Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women’s Activism, 1890-1940 (NYU, 2013), which won the National Jewish Book Award in Women’s Studies. Her most recent book Ballet Class: An American History (Oxford, 2020) is a pathbreaking social history and exploration of the growth of ballet class as it became an integral part of 20th-century American childhood across borders of gender, class, race, and sexuality. This will be moderated by Vanessa Logan ’95, the executive director of the Texas Ballet Theater.

 

April: Goucher's Pride Month

Goucher Pride Month Banner

CREI Campus Pride Affinity Spaces

The student-led CREI Affinity Spaces seek to celebrate identity and create intentional space for connection, community, and joy.

CREI Affinity Space: Blue Pink & Blue

April 6, 2023, 7 p.m. I Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum, 125

Beyond Pink & Blue is exclusively for transgender, gender non-binary, genderqueer, gender fluid, Two-Spirit, and agender students.

 

CREI Affinity Space: Lavender

April 20, 2023, 7 p.m. I Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum, 125

Lavender is exclusively for LGBTQIA+ students.

 

CREI Affinity Space: House of Marsha

April 25, 2023, 7 p.m. I Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum, 125

By Black Queers for Black Queers, House of Marsha is exclusively for students who are both Black and LGBTQIA+. 

 

Other Events:

 

Happiness Hunt

April 5, 2023, Noon - 3 p.m. I Hyman Forum of the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum

Hosted by the Student Counseling Center, the Happiness Hunt is a carnival-style event where students can meet with various on-campus offices to discuss and practice 12 happiness principles. Important messages, positive connections, joyful giveaways, and awesome prizes abound! CREI will host an interactive booth on Queer Joy. 

 

Pride Pop Up

April 22, 2023, 1 - 3 p.m. I Hyman Forum of the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum

CREI will be hosting Pride Pop Up, a fun Saturday event featuring the Gender Affirming Closet, Queer Book Fair, various resources and giveaways, and a raffle with the chance to win surprise goodies!

 

Lesbian Visibility Day Virtual Campaign

April 26, 2023 I Goucher CREI Instagram

CREI student staff will be sponsoring an IG virtual campaign to celebrate Lesbian Visibility Day, a day to show support, raise awareness, celebrate the accomplishments of lesbians, and show solidarity with all LGBTQIA+ women and non-binary people around the world.

 

October: Hispanic Heritage Month

 

Affinity Month 2023 HHM Header Updated

Events sponsored by the Department of Hispanic and Latinx Studies and the Language House

Author Jennine Capó Crucet

September 18, 2023, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum

Jennine Capó Crucet, author of this year's summer read, My Time Among the Whites, will address her work.

Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff: Salsa Night!

September 21, 2023, 7 p.m. I Hyman Forum, Athenaeum

Join us for an evening of live music and dancing with Los Hermanos Galvan Salsa Orchestra. Salsa Lessons at 7 p.m. and dancing until 10 p.m.

This event is sponsored by the Dill Fund and the Stimson Fund.

Alumni Working in Social Justice

September 26, 2023, 7 p.m. | Merrick Lecture Hall

Recent Goucher alumni share their experiences working to further the cause of social justice.

Piñatas workshop with Alejandra Martinez

October 3, 2023, 5 p.m. | Heubeck Multipurpose Room

Come participate in this traditional craft workshop led by Alejandra Martinez, a native Mexican who loves her culture and rituals. 

The workshop will be open to the public, but there will be craft supplies for only the first 45 attendees.

This event is brought to Goucher thanks to the Robertson Fund.  

Hispanic Heritage Month Marketplace

October 6, 2023 4-7 p.m. | Van Meter Highway

Explore artisanal vendors and food with live folkdance performances. 

Movie Presentation: Elisa y Marcela

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 11:30 a.m. | Batza Room of the Athenaeum

Professors Jeanie Murphy and Maite Gomis Quinto will present the movie Elisa y Marcela (2019), directed by Isabel Coixet. This film narrates the love story of two women in the late 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s. It is based on the real-life story of two women from Galicia, Spain, who fought for their relationship in a society that was not willing to accept them.

 

 


Contact events@goucher.edu with questions.