Washington College invites the community to a flurry of events open to the public this December as we kick off the holiday season with art, history and civic engagement. Directions to Washington College and a map of campus are available online. For more information on these events and others, please visit www.washcoll.edu.

Jam Out for a Trifecta of Concerts

The Music Department presents a series of upcoming ensemble performances along with a Senior Capstone Experience this month. The first of the performances is a concert of the Percussion Ensemble, directed by Eric Plewinski, a lecturer in the Music Department, and the Steel Pan Ensembles, directed by John Leupold, the chair of the Music Department, on Monday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Decker Theatre. Jack Riveros ‘25 will perform on the steel pans for his SCE on Wednesday, December 4 at 6:30 p.m. in Hotchkiss Recital Hall. Finally, on Thursday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m., the Rock Ensemble will perform in Decker Theatre. All events are free and open to the public. See the website for listings for all Department of Music Events for 2024-2025. 

Dive into the History of the Calvert Family and Maryland’s Founding 

Explore history when learning how the Calvert name is familiar in both the state of Maryland and the county of Yorkshire, England with Washington College Academy of Lifelong Learning‘s (WC-ALL) free workshop “From Yorkshire to Maryland: The Calverts and Kiplin Hall.” Alice Rose is the Programming Curator at Kiplin Hall and Gardens in the United Kingdom, where Washington College students have been able to study abroad. In this talk, Rose will explore why Kiplin Hall is often referred to as “the birthplace of Maryland” and how familial ties bind us across countries in unbelievable ways. The event will be held on Wednesday, December 4 at noon in the Hynson Lounge in the Hodson Hall Commons on Washington College’s campus. Tickets are $25 for general admission and must be purchased in advance. Lunch will be served.

Reimagining How and Why We Reckon

Earlier this spring, the Washington College Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience was awarded a grant to begin planning for a major artwork of national significance that engages African American history and culture in the Chesapeake Tidewater region. Now, the Starr Center is hosting several community events to foster conversation for the eventual piece. The second event in the series focuses on four panelists from the Public Art Across Maryland grant planning process. The talk, entitled “Reimagining How and Why We Reckon” is being held via Zoom on Wednesday, December 4 at 5:30 p.m. Each panelist will provide community members in Kent County and along the Eastern Shore with insights into their respective institutional commitments and journeys in honoring the African diaspora through public art on college campuses spanning the Chesapeake to further inform local ideation.

Travel Back to the 80s Through Film

The Department of Communication and Media Studies continues to ignite curiosity among film lovers with its Creative Life Film Series. This thought-provoking cinematic line-up delves into the diverse ways individuals and groups engage in creative practices. Featuring a variety of films from different time periods and genres, the series explores the motivations behind pursuing creative passions, the challenges and joys of producing authentic work, and the interconnectedness between the creative process and the surrounding world. All screenings are free and open to the public. This month’s film, the 1984 musical drama film Purple Rain, is a fictional story about the rise of musician Prince, known as “the Kid.” The free screening will take place on Thursday, December 5 at 7 p.m. in the Norman James Theater in William Smith Hall.

Devotions Continues to Channel Natural Inspiration at The Kohl Gallery

The second and current exhibit in the Washington College Kohl Gallery’s 2024 -2025 season, Devotions, opened earlier this month, and will continue to be until December 15. The exhibition is a tribute to the Pando Forest in Utah by artist Sobia Ahmad. For more information, visit the Kohl Gallery’s webpage.

Get a Sneak Peek at WC-ALL’s Fall Courses Available to the Public

Registration for the Washington College Academy of Lifelong Learning’s (WC-ALL) fall semester will soon be open. Members of the public are invited to get a preview of the courses and meet instructors at the Spring Showcase on Monday, December 16 at 3 p.m. Those interested in joining should register in advance to attend. The showcase will be held in Hynson Lounge in Hodson Hall.

Indulge Your Birding Passions with our Final Bird Walk of the Year

The Washington College Academy of Lifelong Learning (WC-ALL) invites amateur birders to join Dan Small, Associate Director of Natural Land Stewardship at the Center for Environment & Society, and the Washington College Birding Club on Friday, December 20 at 8 a.m. for a guided bird walk at Conquest Preserve in Queen Anne’s County. The walk is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Participants will explore the extensive native grasslands and numerous wetlands that dominate the Park, while looking for wildlife using mature woodlands, hedgerows and the open waters of the neighboring rivers. 202 species of birds have been found at the Park.

Jeremy Bard, assistant professor of chemistry at Washington College, was all smiles as he watched his students conduct their experiments. “This annual event is our way of sharing the magic of chemistry with the community,” Bard said. “As a college I think it’s our duty to show the more fun side of some of our topics and being able to share some of our joy and some of our passion around chemistry has been really great.”

“We do this to get involved in the community and showcase our chemistry work,” exclaimed sophomore and treasurer of the Washington College chapter of the American Chemical Society Club Maggie Boyle. “It’s fun to just blow up some pumpkins and show off the fun things we can do with it.”

Washington College’s Chemistry department regularly conducts events and activities to engage the local community in the wonders of using science in an effort to encourage more interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related degrees and careers. The pumpkin explosion event was just one example of the department’s commitment to bringing science to life.

For more information on Washington College’s chemistry department and degree options go here

As millions of birds embark on their annual migration this fall, regional bird experts at Washington College’s Center for the Environment and Society are urging residents to participate in a Lights Out Alert to help protect these feathered friends tonight.

On Thursday October 10, an estimated 3.6 million birds will make their way over the state of Maryland. The highest concentration of birds will be going over the Baltimore region, with an estimated 28.6 million of our feathered friends making their way overhead.

Residents are urged to turn off their lights during the evening hours to help aid the birds in a safe journey. This includes porch lights, those in office buildings, flood lights in yards, and strings of cafe lights. The goal is to reduce the light pollution so that the birds flying overhead can find their way.

“Billions of birds make an epic migration south every fall, and the trip is strenuous even under ideal conditions,” says Maren Gimpel, associate director of Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory at Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society. “Birds that migrate at night can become confused and get off track by artificial light as they fly over our towns and cities. Turning your lights out at night – at home and at your office – is a simple act we can do to help our feathered friends make this trip safely.”

During migration, artificial light can disorient birds, causing them to collide with buildings and other structures. A study by Aeroecology Lab suggests that light pollution can have a significant impact on bird migration patterns. By turning off unnecessary lights at night, we can create a safer environment for these incredible creatures.

To participate in the Lights Out Alert, simply turn off your outdoor and office lights during the nighttime hours this evening. This simple act can make a significant difference in the survival of migrating birds.

About Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory

Located on the Chester River, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory is nestled in a waterfront refuge on Washington College’s River and Field Campus. The Observatory’s primary research focuses on monitoring the seasonal movements of migratory birds between their breeding and wintering areas. By placing uniquely numbered aluminum bands on birds, the team can monitor population trends, document migratory pathways, and track the productivity of local breeding birds.

Data from the spring and fall programs has been used to chart the timing of migration of many species of songbirds moving through the Eastern Shore of Maryland and is reported to the North American Bird Banding Program.

You can follow Gimpel and her team’s banding adventures on Instagram at instagram.com/foremansbranch.

David Waldstreicher

David Waldstreicher has been awarded the 2024 George Washington Prize for his book, The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys through American Slavery and Independence (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023). This prestigious annual award recognizes the past year’s best works on the nation’s founding era, especially those that have the potential to advance a broad public understanding of early American history.

Created by Washington College, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the $50,000 George Washington Prize is one of the nation’s largest and most notable literary awards.

The 2024 winner was announced at a gala dinner held on September 21, 2024, at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home in Virginia.

Adam Goodheart, Director of Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, said, “Phillis Wheatley’s name is known to millions of people, but the details of her life and especially her work are hardly familiar except to scholars. In the pages of Waldstreicher’s lucidly written book, Wheatley’s poetry lives and speaks afresh: both as a record of her revolutionary life and as a commentary on her Revolutionary times.”

Doug Bradburn, President & CEO of Mount Vernon, said, “Phillis Wheatley was admired by George Washington, and she led an extraordinary American life. Despite enslavement to a Boston merchant family, she rose to become an unforgettable poet. Her exquisite verse was fearless in questioning issues such as slavery and discontent with British rule. David Waldstreicher’s compelling biography offers a long overdue account of Wheatley’s life and works, expanding our understanding of America’s complex history.”

James Basker, President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, said, “Phillis Wheatley burst on the scene like a starburst in the founding era, and her light is once again shining in American literature and history today. David Waldstreicher’s biography of Wheatley will be the definitive biography for years to come. Deeply researched, rich with historical and literary detail, with subtle readings of her poems and their classical antecedents, Waldstreicher gives us a Wheatley who is not only ‘the mother of African American literature,’ but a serious actor in the politics and religious life of the American founding.”

Waldstreicher is a historian of early and nineteenth-century America, with a focus on political history, cultural history, slavery and antislavery, and print culture. He is Distinguished Professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Previously, he taught at Temple University, University of Notre Dame, Yale University, and Bennington College.

Each year since the Prize was created in 2005, an independent jury evaluates 50 to 100 books published in the previous year that explore the history of the American founding era. The five books named finalists for the 2024 George Washington Prize are outstanding examples of robust and thought-provoking explorations of America’s unique history and include (in alphabetical order):

• Michael A. Blaakman, Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023)
• Ned Blackhawk, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2023)
• Cassandra A. Good, First Family: George Washington’s Heirs and the Making of America(Toronto, ON: Hanover Square Press, 2023)
• Cynthia A. Kierner, The Tory’s Wife: A Woman and Her Family in Revolutionary America(Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2023)
• David Waldstreicher, The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys through American Slavery and Independence(New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023)

More information about the George Washington Prize is available at https://www.washcoll.edu/learn-by-doing/starr/george-washington-prize.php.

About the Sponsors of the George Washington Prize: 

Washington College, Maryland’s premier small college, enrolls approximately 1,000 undergraduates from more than 39 states and territories and 23 nations. Washington is known for outstanding academics in more than 50 academic programs. With an emphasis on experiential learning opportunities across the disciplines, ranging from internships and research to international study and civic engagement, Washington prepares students for successful careers and lives after graduation. The College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing as well as the 5,000-acre River and Field Campus, which provides unique research opportunities for students and faculty. Learn more at https://www.washcoll.edu.  

Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires thoughtful conversation informed by history. We offer college students dynamic opportunities for hands-on learning and off-campus experiences unequaled at other small liberal arts schools. To learn more about our innovative public history projects; prizes and fellowships; staff and students; scholarships and internships; and our partnerships with some of America’s leading cultural institutions:https://www.washcoll.edu/learn-by-doing/starr/

George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States. The estate is open to visitors and includes the Mansion, a museum, gardens, tombs, a working farm, a functioning distillery, and a gristmill. It also includes the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon.  Learn more at https://www.mountvernon.org. 

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History was founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman, visionaries and lifelong supporters of American history education. The Institute is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to K–12 history education while also serving the general public. Its mission is to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and resources. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is supported through the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations. The Institute’s programs have been recognized by awards from the White House, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Organization of American Historians, and the Council of Independent Colleges, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Learn more at https://www.gilderlehrman.org.