Learning from Place: LGBTQ+ History in Downtown Minneapolis
2023-07-08 09:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Loring Community Arts Center, 1382 Willow Street, Minneapolis, MN, 55403, United States
Minneapolis-Saint Paul is far from being flyover country; our metro area has some of the richest and deepest LGBTQ+ history in all of North America. Grow your understanding of this history with an interactive, in-person walking tour of downtown/central Minneapolis, an area deeply entangled with LGBTQ+ people’s stories, movements, and place in the world.
Be immersed by traveling through downtown Minneapolis, interspersing history with storytelling from local LGBTQ+ activists and artists. Learn about how down-and-out drifters in the notorious Gateway District helped shape a Twin Cities gay identity, how lesbians threw parties in deserted industrial warehouses, how gay and lesbian political power was built in response to police raids, and how one of the first Pride festivals grew from a ragtag group marching up Nicollet Mall.
We hope you’ll come along!
This event is a collaboration with Telling Queer History.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
K-12 educators will receive 3 clock hours.
This experience involves approximately 2 miles of walking and standing, starting and ending at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Audio headsets will be provided for amplification of the tour guide and storytellers.
This event is open to all. Members of Minnesota’s LGBTQ+ community are welcome to register using promo code LGBTQ-HISTORY to waive the fee if they wish.
To ensure that cost is not a barrier, we have a limited number of complimentary spaces available for all Minnesota residents. If you would like to receive a complimentary spot, please register with the promo code FEEWAIVER.
Registration for this event has SOLD OUT.
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St. Paul - Critical Conversation: Starting with the Indigenous | Emphasis on Place
2023-07-10 18:00 - 20:30 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
What connects us to this place? How does the history of this place inform who we are and how we connect with each other? Join Indigenous leaders Kate Beane, Executive Director of the Minnesota Museum of American Art, and Christina Woods, Executive Director of the Duluth Art Institute, who will engage participants in deep dialogue about Indigenous issues related to place and land. Participants will learn from Dakota and Ojibwe community members, through stories and histories often left out of public narratives, how art helps us create deeper meaning and connections.
Refreshments and a light meal will be served. This event is part of a series of Critical Conversations, created in partnership with Public Art Saint Paul’s 2023 Wakpa Triennial Art Festival.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Duluth - Minnesota Writers Series: The Sky Watched
2023-07-12 17:30 - 19:30 | American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO), 202 West 2nd Street, Duluth, MN, 55802, United States
Author and poet Linda LeGarde Grover will be joining the Minnesota Writers Series for a special event in Duluth. In addition to reading selections from her recently re-released collection, The Sky Watched: Poems of Ojibwe Lives (University of Minnesota Press, 2022), Grover will also join in conversation with Dr. Jill M. Doerfler, head of American Indian Studies at University of Minnesota-Duluth, about the joys and complexities of leading a life devoted to writing and poetry, and the ways in which poetry has connected her further to her Native culture. In celebration of poets at all stages of their writing journey, during the second half of the event, members of the audience will be invited to share their own poetry as time allows. Co-sponsored by the American Indian Community Housing Organization, also the host site for this event.
About the book: The Sky Watched is a collective memoir in poetry of an Ojibwe family and tribal community, from creation myth to this day, updated with new poems. The collection gives poetic voice, in English and Ojibwe, those assembled here—voices of history, of memory and experience, of children and elders, Indian boarding school students, tribal storytellers, and the Manidoog, the unseen beings who surround our lives—come together to create a collective memoir in poetry as expansive and particular as the starry sky.
About the author: Linda LeGarde Grover is professor emerita of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her books The Road Back to Sweetgrass, Onigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year, In the Night of Memory, and Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong, all from Minnesota, have earned numerous awards, including the Native Writers Circle of the Americas First Book Award; Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards for poetry, memoir, and fiction; and a Minnesota Book Award for memoir and creative nonfiction. Her book of stories The Dance Boots received the Flannery O’Connor Award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize.
About the moderator: Jill Doerfler is a professor and department head of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her primary area of scholarly interest is American Indian identity with a focus on Anishinaabe citizenship.
Registration
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St. Paul - Shakespeare in our Parks: Much Ado About Nothing
2023-07-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Minnesota Humanities Center is pleased to host Classical Actors Ensemble as they bring their 9th season of Shakespeare in Our Parks live theater to MHC’s lawn. This year’s play, which will travel to over 15 locations across the Twin Cities, will be William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” In this classic romantic comedy of manners, a Prince and his soldiers returning from a long campaign bring excitement, intrigue, and passion to a rural town. Can callow youths and jaded exes both find love when malicious gossip is afoot?
Picnics, lawn chairs, sunbrellas, and blankets are welcome. Please note that the performance is in an open field with minimal shade. Please plan accordingly. Can’t make that date? Check out Classical Actors Ensemble’s full calendar for other performance across the Twin Cities this summer.
From Classical Actors Ensemble: “The Theater is a sacred place. It is a public forum where actors and audience gather to contemplate what it means to be human. Shakespeare and his contemporaries grappled with that question in some of the English language’s best poetry, leaving behind a canon of compelling stories with universal themes that provide invigorating challenge for actors and an awe-inspiring legacy for audiences. Classical Actors Ensemble performs the plays of the English Renaissance as they were originally intended: as popular entertainment for everyone. By demonstrating why these works of art are considered classic, we freshly prove their relevance in today’s world.”
Registration
Registration is appreciated on the Classical Actors Ensemble website but not required.
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St. Paul - Critical Conversation: Stories I Didn't Know
2023-07-17 18:00 - 20:30 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The award-winning documentary, “Stories I Didn’t Know,” follows the story of Saint Paul resident Rita Davern as she uncovers uneasy truths of her Irish ancestors and their ownership of Pike Island, sacred land to the Dakota people. Join us for a special screening of the film followed by a community conversation with Rita Davern, Ramona Kitto Stately, and Reuben Kitto Stately. Reflect on how one person’s discovery of truth can create a significant positive impact on personal and statewide levels. Consider the transgressions made by the federal government and non-Native leaders and how together we can confront current systemic failures as we work to create a more just Minnesota.
Refreshments and a light meal will be served. This event is part of a series of Critical Conversations, created in partnership with Public Art Saint Paul’s 2023 Wakpa Triennial Art Festival.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Critical Conversation: The Art and Response to Castile and Floyd
2023-07-26 18:00 - 20:30 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Art has the power to help communities process and heal. Two of Minnesota’s leading artists are lighting the way forward as we process deep pain and confusion and setting us on a path of healing after the murders of Mr. Philando Castile and Mr. George Floyd. Be part of a Critical Conversation with gifted artists Ta-coumba T. Aiken and Seitu Ken Jones as they reflect on creating art in these tumultuous times, how art sparks change at personal and societal levels, and how we build our futures in the Twin Cities with equity and inclusion so that everyone thrives. Minnesota Humanities Center CEO Kevin Lindsey will host this interactive and vibrant conversation.
Refreshments and a light meal will be served. This event is part of a series of Critical Conversations, created in partnership with the 2023 Wakpa Triennial Art Festival, presented by Public Art Saint Paul.
Registration
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Learning from Place: St. Paul's Little Africa
2023-07-27 11:00 - 14:00 | Snelling Cafe and Restaurant, 638 Snelling Ave N, St. Paul, 55104
Minnesota is home to over 150,000 Africans, including the largest Somali population outside of Africa. Yet, many people are not aware of the rich cultural traditions and assets African immigrants and refugees bring to the vibrancy of our state. Build your cultural understanding and awareness of Minnesota’s East African cultures as you immerse yourself within St. Paul’s Little Africa cultural corridor. This interactive, in-person experience will include an Ethiopian coffee ceremony at Sabrina’s Cafe & Deli, a tour of several African-owned businesses, and lunch at the Eritrean-owned Snelling Cafe.
This event is a collaboration with African Economic Development Solutions.
Registration
Space is limited to 40 participants.
K-12 educators will receive 3 clock hours.
If cost is a barrier, please contact Jessica Rust at jessica@mnhum.org before registering.
Members of Minnesota’s African communities are welcome to register using promo code LITTLEAFRICA to waive the fee if they wish.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
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Minneapolis - Critical Conversation: Healing Through Equitable Recovery and Redevelopment
2023-08-08 18:00 - 20:00 | Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55406, United States
Since 2020, when several buildings were destroyed in the uprising following George Floyd’s murder, much has been happening at Minnehaha Avenue and East Lake Street as community organizations like Longfellow Rising, local residents and business leaders, and arts groups like Pangea World Theater plan for equitable redevelopment that centers the needs and visions of the neighborhood. Join Pangea’s Executive Director Meena Natarajan, Artistic Co-Director Dipankar Mukherjee, and other facilitators for this conversation about how our networks of mutuality working together can help to heal the traumas of 2020 to create an exciting, equitable future for Minneapolis.
Light meal will be served. This event is part of a series of Critical Conversations, created in partnership with the 2023 Wakpa Triennial Art Festival, presented by Public Art Saint Paul.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Headscarf Story Circle: The Promise
2023-08-19 09:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) is excited to host Headscarf Story Circle – a series of offerings that recognizes the strength and resiliency of women. Join us as we gather together through the shared connection of the headscarf and its complexity. Guests are encouraged to wear a headscarf or head dress that is symbolic of anything from a fashion statement, cultural identity, health related, or memories, and beliefs.
We kicked off the series by introducing women to each other through “Tea” followed by the “The Gift” where women exchanged symbolic items representing life lessons and personal power. Now we arrive at our third event “The Promise,” a commitment to memorialize our story of who we are, the lessons we’ve learned, and how we can use our abilities and stories to support each other regardless of our differences.
Join us for a day-long retreat filled with cultural dancing and sharing, food, and many ways to memorialize the promise through writing, comedy, painting, and creating a personal artifact.
We are honored to feature the talent and cultural knowledge of women leaders and artists from the following organizations: Africontigbo, Amy A Jewelry, FAWK (Funny Asian Women Kollective), Memorialize the Movement, RISE (Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood of Empowerment), WISE (Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment), and Palabristas.
A breakfast buffet will be available from 8:15 AM -9:00 AM . The program will begin at 9:00 AM. Lunch and workshop materials included.
Agenda
8:15 a.m. – Doors Open
8:30 a.m. – Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – Program Begins
9:15 a.m. – Group Story Circle
9:55 a.m. – Workshop Session I (Workshop 1A: Re-writing Our Personal Narrative, Workshop 1B: The Specialness of Being: A Memoir Writing Workshop, Workshop 1C: Personal Narrative Writing: Telling Our Stories)
12:00 p.m. – Lunch
12:45 p.m. – Workshop Session II (Workshop 2A: Reviving Forgotten Treasures, Reviving Memories Through Jewelry, Workshop 2B: Finding the Comedy In Your Life, Workshop 2C: Paint to Express)
2:50 p.m. – Group Story Circle
3:25 p.m. – Rhythms of Africa
4:00 p.m. – Closing
Intergeneration participation is welcomed.
Registration
To ensure that cost is not a barrier, we have a limited number of complimentary spaces available for Minnesota residents. If you would like to receive a complimentary spot, please register with the promo code FEEWAIVER.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
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St. Paul - National Read a Book Day
2023-09-06 15:00 - 18:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
September 6 is National Read a Book Day. In celebration, we invite book lovers of all ages to the lawn of the Minnesota Humanities Center for a read-in gathering. Bring the book of your choice, a blanket or chair, and join in celebration by reading in community. Extra blankets and books will be available for those without. Story Walks will also be located around the grounds for wandering young readers. Can’t make it? Celebrate wherever you happen to be by taking time out of your day to read. The event is free and open to all to join at their leisure as time allows.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Learning from Place: Bdote
2023-09-09 08:30 - 14:30 | Indian Mounds Regional Park, 10 Mounds Blvd, St. Paul, 55106
Learning from Place: Bdote is an immersive experience that brings participants to sites of great significance to Dakota people in the Twin Cities. Participants will learn from Dakota community members through stories and histories that have often been left out of our state’s history. This experience is open to the general public and is particularly beneficial for educators who want to include new perspectives in their history curriculum.
Learning from Place: Bdote will begin at Indian Mounds Park in St. Paul. We will also be visiting Fort Snelling State Park (parking permit is required) and Pilot Knob Preservation Site. We will be outside the entire time. Participants need to provide their own transportation, lunch, snacks and beverages.
K-12 educators will receive 5 clock hours.
Indigenous people of this place have the longest relationship to the land. Because of the nature of this program and experience, the fee is waived for indigenous participants. Contact Eden Bart at eden@mnhum.org before registering.
This experience involves nearly 1.5 miles of walking throughout the day, sometimes on unpaved paths, as well as standing for periods of time. We do provide audio headsets for amplification of the tour guides and to support social distancing. For specific inquiries about accessibility, please contact Eden Bart at eden@mnhum.org or 651-772-4261.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
Registration for this event has SOLD OUT. We are no longer accepting registrations for the Waitlist.
Want to know more about Learning from Place: Bdote?
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St. Paul - Poetry Encuentro: A Latine Poetry Gathering
2023-09-09 09:30 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
This poetry encuentro will bring together Latine community members to engage in storytelling based on Latine literary traditions. We want to recognize the complex and inspiring stories of Minnesota’s Latine community and their contribution to Minnesota’s diverse and vibrant cultural heritage. Focusing on poetry as creative expression, writers of all levels will produce, break bread, and perform together in a shared space. Join us for what will be a historic and memorable encuentro celebrating the written and spoken word!
This full-day gathering is being offered by Palabristas in collaboration with the Minnesota Humanities Center. Poetry Encuentro hosts/facilitators: Marion Gomez, Larry Lucio Jr., David Mendez, Teresa Ortiz, and Gabriela Spears-Rico.
Registration
This event is open to all Latine community members who want to write or who identify as writers. Registration is limited to 40 participants.
Continental breakfast and lunch are included.
You are welcome to register using promo code COMMUNITY to waive the fee if you wish.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
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Online - True Tuesday: Coordinating a Multifaith Response to Hate Based Discrimination and Violence in MN
2023-09-19 14:30 - 16:00 | Online
How can religious leaders and community organizations collectively work to effectively address hate and divisiveness in Minnesota?
This question was addressed on July 20 at “Coordinating a Multifaith Response to Hate Based Discrimination and Violence in MN” a convening hosted by the Minnesota Multifaith Network (MnMN), Augsburg Interfaith Institute and national organization Shoulder to Shoulder.
TRUE partner, Dr. Jen Kilps, Network Executive of the MnMN, is pleased to welcome Professor Najeeba Sayeed, El-Hibri Endowed Chair and Executive Director of Interfaith at Augsburg to our next TRUE Tuesdays session where Dr. Sayeed will share the process and results from the July 20th convening. Professor Sayeed will also share her own work toward countering and preventing religious based discrimination and violence, particularly with an anti-Muslim bias.
About this Convening
People of faith, community representatives, and organizers who are active in countering and preventing hate in Minnesota gathered to meet and build relationships with peers across traditions, share efforts underway and resources available, and brainstorm new ways to act together. The questions the group gathered to ask were:

What do Minnesotans need to hear from its diverse religious leaders on these and other issues?
What grassroots work is already going on to prevent and respond to hate, divisiveness and discrimination?
How could efforts, current and new, be synergized to make a significant impact in Minnesota’s communities?

Prof. Najeeba Syeed
Prior to becoming the El-Hibri inaugural endowed chair and executive director Augsburg’s Interfaith Institute, Najeeba Syeed was a professor and expert practitioner in the fields of conflict resolution, mediation, and interfaith studies. An award-winning educator, she has taught extensively on interreligious education and published articles on faith and community-based conflict resolution, restorative justice, and interfaith just peacemaking. She previously served for 10 years as an associate professor at the Claremont School of Theology. She also held faculty positions at Starr King School for the Ministry and Chicago Theological Seminary, where she was most recently associate professor of Muslim and interreligious studies. She has served as the co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Religion and Politics Section and was a member of the Academy’s Religion, Social Conflict, and Peace Section.
Syeed also brings significant executive experience in organizations focused on conflict resolution in community, higher education, and government settings, including the Western Justice Center Foundation and the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center. Her peacemaking work in the area of gang intervention, school based conflict resolution and community peacebuilding has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards. In 2021, she served as chief of staff to the first Asian American woman elected to the Los Angeles city council. She holds a law degree from the Indiana University School of Law and a bachelor of science degree from Guilford College.
Registration
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St. Paul - Cambodian Heritage Celebration
2023-09-23 18:00 - 22:00 | Minnesota History Center, 345 W Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, MN, 55102, United States
Join us for the first Cambodian Heritage Day as we celebrate the beauty of the Cambodian Minnesota community and its complex culture. This event features an evening of performances, music, food, and history. All community members are invited to this event to learn more about Minnesota’s Cambodian ancestry. There is no cost to attend, but registration is strongly encouraged.
The Minnesota Humanities Center and the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans are honored to support this partnership with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
Registration
Parking in the Minnesota History Center parking lot is complimentary, thanks to funding by the Minnesota Historical Society.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Cloud - Minnesota Writers Series: Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX
2023-09-28 17:00 - 19:00 | St. Cloud City Hall, 1201 7th Street South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series welcomes Sheri Brenden, author of “Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX” in a conversation with her sister, Peg Brenden, one of the St. Cloud student athletes behind the groundbreaking 1972 federal court case that took on the unequal system of school athletics nationwide. The event will take place in the former high school gym, now converted into St. Cloud city council chambers. Mayor Dave Kleis will provide a welcome. Co-sponsored by the Minnesota Coalition of Women in Athletic Leadership and the Stearns County Museum. Registration is required for this in-person event.
Can’t make it to the St. Cloud event for Break Point? Join the Brenden sisters in Red Wing in November in conjunction with the Anderson Center at Tower View’s Books in the Barn series.
Registration
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St. Paul - Our Ancestors Are Us: An Asian Adoptee Life Writing Workshop
2023-10-01 10:00 - 12:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
As part of the Minnesota Humanities Center’s writing and reflection offerings, we are excited to collaborate with Jennifer Kwon Dobbs to host Our Ancestors Are Us: An Asian Adoptee Life Writing Workshop, a project funded by the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.
Adoption from Asia involves a child’s removal from their kinship of birth and oftentimes disconnection from their ancestral culture and ways of knowing. This interactive workshop creates a generative, adult adoptee-centered space in which to explore the unique ways that adoptee memory and experience can be empowering sources of creativity and literary witness. Participants will learn and share writing strategies to compose works of their own about their lives lived, unlived, and imagined otherwise as adoptees.
Lee Herrick – Special guest Lee Herrick is the California Poet Laureate. He is the author of three books of poems: Scar and Flower, finalist for the 2020 Northern California Book Award; Gardening Secrets of the Dead; and This Many Miles from Desire. Born in Daejeon, Korea and adopted as an infant, Lee teaches at Fresno City College and in the low-residency MFA program at University of Nevada Reno at Lake Tahoe.
Jennifer Kwon Dobbs 허수진 – Born in Wonju, Republic of Korea and adopted in Oklahoma, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs 허수진 is the author of Interrogation Room (White Pine Press, 2018), Paper Pavilion (White Pine, 2007), and the chapbooks Notes from a Missing Person (Essay Press, 2015) and Necro Citizens (hochroth Verlag, 2019). Her work has received the 2023 American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Lief and Inger Sjöberg Prize for literary translation among other honors. Currently, she is senior poetry editor of AGNI and professor and chair of English at St. Olaf College. www.jkwondobbs.com.
Registration
This event is open to all adult Asian diaspora adoptees who want to write or who identify as writers. Registration is limited to 40 participants.
Snacks are included, and a journal will be provided.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Poetry Sparks! Youth Writing Workshop
2023-10-06 17:30 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Are you a young person (13-19 years of age) who writes poetry or aspires to start writing poetry? Do you want to connect with other youth writers? Then join us for the Poetry Sparks! Youth Writing Workshop with Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman, and former St. Paul Youth Poet Laureate Chavah Gabrielle. During this in-person session, you’ll have a chance to work with Gwen and Chavah to create a new piece of writing, or workshop a piece you’ve been developing. You’ll also get a chance to read aloud and practice performing some poetry. We hope that once you’ve perfected your piece, you’ll sign up for the Youth Voices Open Mic evening on November 4th. Grab a friend and pen some lines with the Laureates!
This event is free however registration is required; a light dinner will be provided; participants must 13-19 years of age*.
(We are also holding a virtual option on October 13, 2023 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. over Zoom – sign up for one or both!)
*Youth is ages 13-19 as defined by the National Youth Poet Laureate organization.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Online - Poetry Sparks! Youth Writing Workshop
2023-10-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Are you a young person (13-19 years of age) who writes poetry or aspires to start writing poetry? Do you want to connect with other youth writers? Then join us for the Poetry Sparks! Youth Writing Workshop with Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman, and former St. Paul Youth Poet Laureate, Chavah Gabrielle. During this virtual session, you’ll have a chance to work with Gwen and Chavah to create a new piece of writing, or workshop a piece you’ve been developing. You’ll also get a chance to read aloud and practice performing some poetry. We hope that once you’ve perfected your piece, you’ll sign up for the Youth Voices Open Mic evening on November 4th. Grab a friend and pen some lines with the Laureates!
This event is free however registration is required; participants must 13-19 years of age*.
(We are also holding an in-person session on October 6, 2023 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Minnesota Humanities Center. Sign up for one or both!)
*Youth is ages 13-19 as defined by the National Youth Poet Laureate organization.

St. Paul – A Decade of Learning from Place: Bdote
2023-11-02 18:00 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us as we honor and recognize ten years of Learning from Place: Bdote! We will pay tribute to the individuals who co-created this transformational experience with the Minnesota Humanities Center – Ramona Kitto Stately, Ethan Neerdaels, and Mona Smith – as well as reveal opportunities to continue the learning.
Learning from Place: Bdote started in collaboration with Saint Paul Public Schools, following the creation of the Bdote Memory Map. The daylong immersive experience brings participants to sites of significance to Dakota people in the Twin Cities. Centered in Dakota stories and cultural knowledge, the program has become a highly requested experience that expands one’s knowledge and understanding. Since its inception, Learning from Place: Bdote has been delivered 100 times, reaching 3,000 participants from across industry sectors.
A light meal of Indigenous food will be shared.
Registration
SOLD OUT – REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - Poetry Sparks! Book Discussion and Open Mic with Minnesota’s Poet Laureate, Gwen Nell Westerman
2023-11-04 17:30 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for a two-part event, a book launch of Minnesota Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman’s new collection, “Songs, Blood Deep”, followed by an Open Mic! Poet and author Heid Erdrich will engage Gwen in conversation about her new collection, and what the role of the Poet Laureate has meant for her. Their discussion will be followed by an all-ages Open Mic emceed by former St. Paul Youth Poet Laureate, Chavah Gabrielle. Hear Gwen, Heid, and Chavah read some of their work, and then take the stage yourself to read or perform!
Books will be available for purchase and signing after the Open Mic. This event is free, however registration is required; a light dinner will be provided. If you would like to read a poem during the open mic, email Corey China at corey@mnhum.org to be added to the program!
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Red Wing - Minnesota Writers Series: Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX
2023-11-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Anderson Center at Tower View, 163 Tower View Drive, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series welcomes Sheri Brenden, author of “Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX” in a conversation with her sister, Peg Brenden, one of the St. Cloud student athletes behind the groundbreaking 1972 federal court case that took on the unequal system of school athletics nationwide. The event will take place in coordination with our partners at Anderson Center at Tower View, as part of their Books in the Barn series.
Books will be available for purchase and signing following the reading, courtesy of Fair Trade Books.
Registration is required for this in-person event in Red Wing.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Headscarf Story Circle: Tea Celebration
2023-12-03 13:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) is excited to host Headscarf Story Circle – a series of offerings that recognizes the strength and resiliency of women. Join us for our fourth offering as we gather together through the shared connection of the headscarf and its complexity. Guests are encouraged to wear a headscarf or head dress that is symbolic of anything from a fashion statement, cultural identity, health related, or memories, and beliefs.
During these historical and current challenges, we will come together to share stories, embrace our differences, and support each other along the way. Reflecting on previous offerings, we will highlight the impact and discoveries made during previous gatherings as well as hold space for new stories. As we sip on teas and food from around the world, we will embark on a journey with cultural wellness professionals who will unveil their unique strategies for achieving balance and inner peace. Participation in past offerings is not required.
Presenters
Wendy Goldberg is an adjunct professor in the religion department at Augsburg University and teaches first and seventh grades at the Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School. Prior to these positions Wendy was the Director of Spiritual Engagement at Shir Tikvah Congregation in Minneapolis. Educated at Brandeis University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and at Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies, Wendy’s vocation is doing interfaith work and bringing a social and racial justice lens to all of her endeavors.
In 2022, Malika Dahir joined RISE as the new Executive Director. She also started a story-time program at her local co-op so that Muslim youth could see themselves represented positively and expanded this initiative to libraries throughout the county. She served as Executive Director at Pearls of Hope supporting young Muslims in becoming more confident, compassionate citizens of their communities through the power of mentorship.
Pamela Zeller is first generation born in the U.S. on her father’s side and is proud of her Mestiza ethnicity and culture she has over thirty-five years of nonprofit management and development experience. She shares this experience with other organizations through her nonprofit management company, Zeller Solutions. Her experience in all facets of nonprofit work, direct service provider, program developer, fundraiser, financial manager, strategic planner, facilitator, informs her work with WISE and other nonprofits.
Born and raised in North Minneapolis into an Afrocentric family, Thandisizwe Jackson-Nisan was taught to serve at a young age. She founded Vegan By Nature which has served over 1,000 free vegan meals in 2020 and is continuing to expand its reach. As an entrepreneur, she continues to work as a Vegan Chef, Poet, and Educator with the goal of helping to “Heal the Hood” with food and art.
Lupe Castillo (She/Her) creator of HeartSpeaks: Voices of Cultura Healing & Writing Circles is a proclaimed XicanaIndia from the Southern lands. Lupe is a Poet, whose recent written work is documented in the Northside Green “Our Urban Canopy” Art/Coloring Book, published in June, 2023 and featured at the 2023 State Fair. As a Culture Bearer, HeartSpeaks provides activated radical collaborations in writing and spoken word artistry. Lupe is also a co-founding member of Palabristas, a Spoken Word LatineCollective. Lupe is deepening her work as an Artist by partnering with other BIPOC & LatineArtist Collectives in the Twin Cities and beyond. She facilitates community gatherings and offers writing guidance where participants write about their connections to home, family, significant others, spirituality, Indigenous Identities, Murals and Cultural Arts.
Registration
To ensure that cost is not a barrier, we have a limited number of complimentary spaces available for Minnesota residents. If you would like to receive a complimentary spot, please register early with the promo code FEEWAIVER.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
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St. Paul & Online - Minnesota Writers Series: Trauma Sponges
2023-12-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series welcomes Jeremy Norton, author of “Trauma Sponges: Dispatches from the Scarred Heart of Emergency Response” for a hybrid in-person and virtual event. Norton will use excerpts from his new book, published by University of Minnesota Press, to spark conversations with his co-panelists, Jeanelle Austin from the George Floyd Global Memorial, and attorney and police-reform activist Abigail Cerra. The three will explore topics ranging from racial inequality to mental health to toxic masculinity for a conversation titled, “Witness and Testify: Towards a More Just Community.”
The Minnesota Writers Series is thankful for partners doing similarly aligned work supporting a diversity of Minnesota voices, like our community partner for this event, the MN Black Authors Expo: Leading, promoting and showcasing MN Black Authors.
About the book:
In this remarkable memoir, Jeremy Norton marshals twenty-two years of professional experience to offer, with compassion and critique, an extraordinary portrayal of emergency responders. Trauma Sponges captures in arresting detail the personal and social toll the job exacts, as well as the unique perspective afforded by sustained direct encounters with the sick, the dying, and the dead.
“While many bear witness to injustice and decide that silence best serves their privilege, some use their privilege to dismantle the inequities that created the disparities in the first place. Jeremy Norton is the latter.”
—Dr. Michele Harper, author of The Beauty in Breaking
About the author:
Jeremy Norton has been a firefighter/EMT with the Minneapolis Fire Department since 2000; he was promoted to captain in 2007 and heads Station 17 in south Minneapolis. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he received a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree in creative writing from Boston University. After teaching high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Norton moved to Minneapolis, where he taught creative writing at the Loft Literary Center before joining the MFD.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul & Online - Minnesota Writers Series: A Council of Dolls
2024-01-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series begins 2024 by welcoming Mona Susan Power, author of “A Council of Dolls” (Mariner Books, 2023). The acclaimed author will read excerpts from her recently published book, which will inspire conversation with the event moderator, Sheila O’Connor. Join Mona and Sheila as they discuss topics from the brutal impacts of generational trauma and systemic racism to the healing powers of love, family, and hope. This event is presented in partnership with The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, which works to understand and address the ongoing trauma created by U.S. Indian boarding school policies.
Mona Susan Power will be available for book signing and conversation after the event. “A Council of Dolls” will be available for purchase at the event, courtesy of Birchbark Books. You may also purchase the book online.
About the Book
From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people, to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, “A Council of Dolls” is the story of three generations of Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakhóta women, told in part through the stories of the dolls they carried. Gorgeous, quietly devastating, and ultimately hopeful, the novel shines a light on the echoing damage wrought by the boarding school system and the historical massacres of Indigenous people.
About the author
Mona Susan Power is the author of four books of fiction and has written short stories and essays that have appeared in publications and anthologies such as The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and Granta. She received a bachelor’s degree and JD from Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her first novel, “The Grass Dancer,” was published in 1994.
Mona is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakhóta). She was born and raised in Chicago and now lives in Minneapolis.
About the moderator
Author Sheila O’Connor has written six novels and her short stories, poems, and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Minnesota Monthly, and Bellingham Review, among other publications. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a professor emeritus at Hamline University. Her most recent novel, “Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions,” won the 2020 Minnesota Book Award (Novel & Short Story).
Registration
This free event will be in person with an option to attend virtually via Zoom. Registration required. Captioning will be available for those attending virtually.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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The Great Northern Festival - Learning from Place: Bdote
2024-01-28 13:00 - 15:00, 2024-02-04 13:00 - 15:00 | Fort Snelling State Park, 101 Snelling Lake Road, St. Paul, MN, 55111, United States
Learning from Place: Bdote is an immersive experience offered by the Minnesota Humanities Center that invites participants to visit, inhabit, and expand their understanding of Twin Cities sites with deep significance to Dakota people. Participants learn from Dakota community members to reconsider their relationship to land, water, sky, and all life—including other humans—through stories and perspectives that are often left out of our state’s history.
Bdote is a Dakota word that generally means “where two waters come together.” The bdote where Ȟaȟáwakpa (Mississippi River) and the Mnísota Wakpá (Minnesota River) come together is central to Dakota spirituality and history. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding about Dakota people’s relationship to the place we now call Minnesota and will be encouraged to put newfound knowledge into action and further learning.
Please note: This event will primarily be outdoors so dress accordingly. A Minnesota state parks vehicle permit is required (one-day permits are available for $7 and can be purchased online or at any Minnesota state park office).
Registration
Registration for this event must be made through the Great Northern Festival website.
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St. Paul - Symposium on Voting Rights: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future
2024-02-01 08:30 - 12:30 | Anderson Student Center, Woulfe Hall, UST, 2115 Summit Ave, St. Paul, 55105, United States
Please join FairVote Minnesota, the University of St. Thomas Racial Justice Initiative, Macalester College, the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and the African American Leadership Forum for a groundbreaking Symposium on Voting Rights: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future at the University of St. Thomas Anderson Student Center, Woulfe Hall, 2115 Summit Ave, St Paul on Thursday, Feb. 1, 8:30 am-12:30 pm, followed by a reception.
The symposium will convene a diverse and influential gathering of voting rights academics, thought leaders, students, community members, and political figures to engage in deep and meaningful conversations about the evolution of voting rights in Minnesota. We will tackle the challenges our democracy currently faces and explore critical reforms like ranked choice voting, campaign finance, redistricting, countering disinformation, and democratic participation, among others––and work together to build a more representative and inclusive future for our state and our country. MHC’s CEO, Kevin Lindsey, will moderate the panel entitled “Democracy Under Threat: Rise of Extremism.” There will be plenty of opportunity for Q&A throughout the morning and mingling with fellow participants at the reception.
Panels will cover the evolution of voting rights and democratic participation, threats to our democracy, and the future of democracy reform in Minnesota and the country. Confirmed speakers and panelists include: Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Secretary of State Steve Simon, Attorney General Keith Ellison, former Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, University of St. Thomas President Rob Vischer, St. Thomas Professor Yoruhu Williams, Humphrey School Dean Nisha Botchwey, Harvard Professor Danielle Allen, Stanford Professor Larry Diamond, MN House Majority Whip Athena Hollins, Rep. Cedrick Frazier, Rep. Esther Agbaje, and Rep. Emma Greenman.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. Registration conducted by FairVote Minnesota.
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Minneapolis and Online - Westminster Town Hall Forum: Our Hidden Conversations
2024-02-01 18:00 - 20:30 | Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1200 Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55403, United States
In her brand-new book, Peabody Award–winning journalist and Minneapolis native Michele Norris offers a transformative dialogue on race and identity in America, unearthed through her decade-long work at The Race Card Project.
More than half-a-million stories have been submitted. The results, collected in this new book, are shocking in their depth and candor, spanning the full spectrum of race, ethnicity, identity, and class.
At this first-of-its kind Forum, a cast of diverse readers will help bring a collection of those stories to the stage. Following this dramatic reading, Ms. Norris will sit down for an in-depth conversation about her work with the Race Card Project. She’ll discuss how even during times of great division, honesty, grace, and a willing ear can provide a bridge toward empathy and maybe even understanding.
About Michele Norris
Minneapolis native Michele Norris is one of America’s most trusted voices in journalism, earning several honors over a long career, including Peabody, Emmy, Dupont, and Goldsmith awards. She is a columnist for The Washington Post Opinion Section, the host of the Audible Original Podcast, Your Mama’s Kitchen, and from and from 2002 to 2012 she was a cohost of NPR’s All Things Considered. Norris is also the founding director of The Race Card Project, a Peabody Award–winning narrative archive where people around the world share their reflections on identity—in just six words. Her first book, The Grace of Silence, was named one of the best books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Kansas City Star. Before joining NPR, Norris spent almost ten years as a reporter for ABC News covering politics, policy, and the dynamics of social change. Early in her career, she also worked as a staff writer for The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times.
Livestream
This event will be available via livestream on May 20 on the Westminster Town Hall Forum website and Facebook page.
Registration
This event is free and open to all.
There is no ticketing or registration. Seating at Westminster is on a first-come, first seated basis. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. Music by T. Mychael Rambo at 5:30 p.m. Forum will begin at 6:00 p.m.

St. Paul - Feeding Our Souls: The Essence of Black Joy
2024-02-08 18:00 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Minnesota Humanities Center is excited to host, “Feeding Our Souls, the Essence of Cultural Joy,” food series. Food has always played a pivotal role in shaping our identities and communities. It binds families, showcases heritage, and promotes understanding. Our program delves into this unique intersection of food and culture, inviting participants to explore the rich narratives behind every dish. Join us at the Minnesota Humanities Center, where beloved local chefs and cooks will showcase dishes that speak about their cultural backgrounds. Through interactive “taste circles” attendees will be encouraged to share their own memories and traditions related to food, further enriching a collective experience.
Our first event in recognition of Black History Month is Feeding Our Souls, the Essence of Black Joy. Participants will engage in the cultural richness of food, music, and historical research that defines the essence of Black joy.
Featured Chef – Chef Gerard Klass’ culinary expertise is inspired by the richness of his Caribbean and African American heritage. Prior to co-founding Soul Bowl with his wife Brittney, he had over 10 years of experience at Kaskaid Hospitality as Executive Chef where he opened new restaurant concepts in the South, East Coast and Midwest. Soul Bowl has been featured in a number of local, regional and national publications and was awarded one of the top 50 restaurants in Minnesota by Minneapolis Saint Paul Magazine two years in a row.
Food Commentary – Steven Montomery is a social studies/ethnic studies content lead for the Minneapolis Public Schools and designed lessons for educators with a creative approach to teaching the richness and history of Black cuisine. Steven’s family upbringing influenced his interest in food stories that led to his passion for finding ways to inspire students to expand their own pride, self-identity and confidence in themselves.
Special Performance – Ginger Commodore is a singer, songwriter, & actress. She performs jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, contemporary, and gospel music and regularly appears at local club venues The Dakota Jazz Club & Crooners Supper Club. Ginger is also currently a Teaching Artist with the Vocal Essence Witness Program.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 1: Book Bans and the Freedom to Read
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
Books continue to be banned or challenged across the nation, and Minnesota is not exempt in that respect. Book bans have risen by a third over the past year in public schools, and many of these bans are targeting LGBTQ+ characters, themes, and intersectional identities. This session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series will examine the controversy over sexuality and book bans and provide an opportunity to hear directly from authors whose work has been challenged. Quatrefoil Library, a library and queer gathering space in the Twin Cities, will be in conversation with J.J. Austrian, author of Worm Loves Worm, Trung Le Nguyen, author of The Magic Fish, and Junauda Petrus, author of The Stars and the Blackness Between Them.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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