What does it mean to be an American in the 21st century? What does a model American do, and what responsibilities do Americans have to their communities and each other? How have the answers to these questions changed over the history of the United States? The participants in the reading and discussion program "American Politics and Community Today" will engage with these questions and others regarding politics and the current state of civic thought, feeling, and participation. online via Zoom The League of Women Voters of Albany County and Albany Public Library invite you to participate in a four session […]

Join the SCHS Book Club to take a deep look at a topic we often take for granted: food! Food provides both nourishment and pleasure, of course, but under the surface of each meal lies a series of complex interactions and entanglements. Led by Chris Leonard, Schenectady City Historian, we'll read and discuss nonfiction, novels, and archival materials focused on the issues that lie on our plates. Limited to 12 people. Please contact Marietta Carr, SCHS Librarian, at [email protected] or 518-374-0263 x3 to sign up. All book club discussion meetings will be at 32 Washington Ave, at 6pm. -Wed, 2/15, […]

By reading excerpts of popular new autobiographies in conversation with scholarly essays, this program investigates contemporary Blackness and the impact the Obama family has had on how we envision it.

This will be a six-session series hosted by writer Sheila Isenberg and sponsored by HumanitiesNY and the Woodstock Public Library. We will read and discuss selected essays from Collected Essays by James Baldwin. And we will examine Baldwin’s collaboration with Richard Avedon, Nothing Personal. The aim of these readings and discussions will be to gain a deeper understanding of Baldwin’s America: his thoughts on slavery, racism, relations between black and white citizens, and the continuance of social and cultural behaviors that separate black and white communities.

Join archaeologist and historical anthropologist Sarah Kautz, PhD, for an invigorating six-week discussion about the book, "Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War" by Lisa Brooks, which re-covers the story of Native resistance during the colonial wars through the eyes of two Native Americans, Weetamoo and James Printer, and reframes colonist Mary Rowlandson's history of her captivity by Native Americans.

Join us for a series of listening and discussion sessions with scholar Gunja SenGupta on the podcast Amended – a series that travels from the 1800s through the present showing the quest for women’s full equality which has always been diverse, complex, and unfinished. The NYC Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) will be hosting this Humanities New York series for the month of May. Register to be a member of a small cohort engaged in conversations reframing narratives of women’s suffrage and sharing a more holistic picture of the fight for equality for all women and women-identified beings. […]

By reading excerpts of popular new autobiographies in conversation with scholarly essays, this program investigates contemporary Blackness and the impact the Obama family has had on how we envision it.

The Best of Simple and Series Introduction ─ March 22, 2023 The Best of Simple ─April 5, 2023 The Return of Simple ─ April 19, 2023 Simple’s Uncle Sam ─ May 10, 2023 The Langston Hughes Reader ─ May 24, 2023 The Ways of White Folk ─ June 8, 2023

Inspirational stories about women who confront insurmountable odds. Can the young women in these four novels ‘beat the odds’ life presents to them to make a better life for themselves and others?   April 12 How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue May 3 The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré May 24 The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd June 14 The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

This will be a six-session series hosted by writer Sheila Isenberg and sponsored by HumanitiesNY and the Woodstock Public Library. We will read and discuss selected essays from Collected Essays by James Baldwin. And we will examine Baldwin’s collaboration with Richard Avedon, Nothing Personal. The aim of these readings and discussions will be to gain a deeper understanding of Baldwin’s America: his thoughts on slavery, racism, relations between black and white citizens, and the continuance of social and cultural behaviors that separate black and white communities.

Join facilitator Diane Conroy-LaCivita, visiting chefs and food producers for a monthly book club and practicum all about food entitled "Food Glorious Food". We will explore the serious side of food, how it is produced, the economics and politics behind it and the responsibility we have as consumers. This reading and discussion program will also entail local food production including some hands-on opportunities.

Join us for a series of listening and discussion sessions with scholar Gunja SenGupta on the podcast Amended – a series that travels from the 1800s through the present showing the quest for women’s full equality which has always been diverse, complex, and unfinished. The NYC Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) will be hosting this Humanities New York series for the month of May. Register to be a member of a small cohort engaged in conversations reframing narratives of women’s suffrage and sharing a more holistic picture of the fight for equality for all women and women-identified beings. […]