- The medical, scientific and social aspects of psychedelic-assisted therapy will be discussed when Fitchburg State University hosts a panel discussion of experts from medicine, neuroscience and clinical practice at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 19 in the main lounge of Hammond Hall. Admission to the talk is free and open to the public. Psychedelics, such as psilocybin and MDMA, are promising treatments for mental-health disorders including addiction, depression, anxiety, and PTSD. The expert panel will discuss psychedelic-assisted therapy as well as future prospects and challenges. The panel discussion will be moderated by Fitchburg State Associate Professor Michael Hove of the Psychological Science Department. Panelists will include: Yvan Beaussant (MD, MSc, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), a hematologist, palliative care physician, and clinical investigator, with training in psychedelic research and therapy. He studies the effects and mechanisms of psilocybin and MDMA-assisted therapy on depression, pain, and existential distress in patients with serious illness. Francis Guerriero (MA, LICSW), a therapist, trainer, supervisor, and clinical social worker in private practice. He trains and supervises local clinicians in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. He was a therapist on a national study of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, deemed a breakthrough therapy by the FDA and currently under FDA review for approval. Alexandre Lehmann (PhD, McGill University, Montreal), a cognitive neuroscientist and a psychedelic science advisor to media and nonprofits. Fascinated by the therapeutic potential of music and non-ordinary states, he has been involved in ketamine and psilocybin research. The event is sponsored by the university’s Psychological Science Department and its School of Health and Natural Sciences.
- Women's History Month programs honor those who fight discriminationFitchburg State University will commemorate Women’s History Month in March with a series of programs that celebrate women who advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. The national Women’s History Month’s theme recognizes women throughout the country who understand that, for a positive future, bias and discrimination must be eliminated from our lives and institutions. Programs include the Nancy Kelly Memorial Lecture at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 21, in which Rachel O’Leary Carmona will present “Fostering Our Feminist Future.” Carmona, executive director of the Women’s March, will discuss her activism work and the future of feminism in the U.S. and the rest of the world. The talk will be delivered in the Randall Lecture Hall of the Antonucci Science Complex. Admission is free and open to the public. The lecture is presented by Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; the Economics, History, and Political Science Department; the English Studies Department; the Humanities Department; and the Behavioral Sciences Department. The campus will also celebrate Women in the Arts with a performance at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 28 in Kent Recital Hall in the Conlon Fine Arts Building, 367 North St. For this event, the Women’s History Month planning committee is welcoming singers, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, poets, actors, visual artists, and more to perform and/or display work in celebration of women. There will be an exhibition at 3:30 p.m. before the performances at 4 p.m. The full calendar of offerings may be viewed online. Also this month, the Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library presents the exhibit "Mapping Our Past: The Women of Fitchburg State's Campus Buildings." The exhibit, located near the first floor entrance of the library, features the women who serve as the namesakes for a number of buildings and spaces around campus, including the library itself. Fitchburg State's celebration of Women's History Month was organized by the following: Junior Pena, Director for Student Diversity, Equity, Belonging, & Inclusion Programs Krysta Lopez, Program Coordinator for the Center for Diversity & Inclusiveness Marquise Harding, Undergraduate Intern for the Center for Diversity & Inclusiveness Shane Franzen, Associate Director of Student Development, Commuter, & Volunteer Affairs Angelo Prevosto, Assistant Director for the Office of Student Development Elizabeth Swartz, Director for TRIO Student Support Services Allison Bunnell, Technology Trainer, and Academic Project Administrator Additional Contributions made by the African Student Association, Latin American Student Organization, and the Black Student Union
- Theater students shine at Kennedy Center festivalTwenty-one students from Fitchburg State University took part in the recent Kennedy Center American College Theater Region 1 Festival, where several were recognized for acting, directing and technical achievements. Fitchburg State has long participated in the festival, sending students from the Communications Media Department’s theater and technical theater concentrations to compete against peers from across the country. Its graduates have gone on to award-winning careers in theater, film and television. Among the honorees at the recent Region 1 Festival: Allison Thompson of Melrose received The Best Director Award for the “Ten-Minute Play Festival’ James Mcgarry of Highland Lake, N.Y. received the coveted invitation for the Next Up Review & Response Session for Up and Coming Writers for “The Ghost” in the Short Stage Play Category Chris Brennan of Fitchburg received the Communication with Actors Award for Directing. Chris Brennan of Fitchburg, Lina Kherallah of Fitchburg, and Gabriel Mangrum of Fitchburg received 1st Runner-Up in the Directing Showcase for their scene from “The Language Archive” by Julia Cho Noah Barnes of Merrimack, N.H. received 1st Runner-Up for the Aspire Award for his Original Theater Company proposal. Colby Hairston of Melrose was selected to Stage Manage the Invited Scenes Showcase The following KCACTF Awards and Nominations were for the university’s Main Stage production of “It's a Wonderful Life” that was performed on campus in December: Marco Grogan of Brockton, Lina Kherallah of Fitchburg, and Gabriel Mangrum of Fitchburg were nominated for the National Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship The cast and crew received the Regional Merit Award for Excellent Ensemble Colby Hairston of Melrose was nominated for the National Stage Management Award Allison Thompson of Melrose received the Regional Merit Award for Directorial Assistance Cole Wilkinson of Methuen received the Regional Merit Award for Sound Technician The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) honors excellence of overall production and offers student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, criticism, directing, and design. Started in 1969 by Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center’s founding chairman, the KCACTF is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide which has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States. The KCACTF has grown into a network of more than 600 academic institutions throughout the country, where theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment by KCACTF respondents.
- Campus welcomes Fitchburg High honors students for writing retreatFitchburg State University hosted a dozen Fitchburg High School juniors during their February vacation for a writing retreat on campus. The students included members of the Fitchburg High Honors Academy, through which they gain special access to their hometown university and its resources. English teacher Kathleen Hytinen helped organize the excursion. The students, enrolled in Hytinen’s Advanced Placement seminar, came to campus on their personal time to hone their writing skills. In addition to the time spent refining their own work, the students critiqued their peers’ work and availed themselves of the university’s writing center and its student staff of peer tutors, including Fitchburg High Honors Academy graduates. “It’s a great opportunity to get them out of their everyday classroom environment and come together to help each other out,” Hytinen said. “These students are amazing and hardworking, and I’m grateful for how much I’ve seen them grow academically in these last two years.” The visiting students said their time on campus was helpful. “It’s been very beneficial for my writing process,” said Carissa Triolo. “It’s good to be in a new environment, and the peer tutors from Fitchburg State were very helpful.” Triolo said she plans to major in English when she begins her college career. Naika Jean, who is interested in studying pre-law or political science in college, also enjoyed the opportunity to focus on her writing during the trip to Fitchburg State. “There’s definitely value in stepping into a new environment,” Jean said. Asa Oywech said the seminar gave him valuable insights into his approach to writing. “I think this process has been very introspective in how I operate as a writer,” said Oywech, who is also looking at studying English with a minor in international affairs or sociology when he goes to college. The students said they have enjoyed the Early College courses they have taken at Fitchburg State, through which they are earning college credit while honing their academic skills. They also didn’t balk at coming to campus on what could have been just another week off. “This is definitely a responsible use of my time,” Oywech said. “It’s better than sleeping in or watching TV.” The visiting students concluded their visit to campus with lunch in the university’s dining commons. Fitchburg State and Fitchburg High School first signed the Honors Compact in 2013, an agreement that gives students enrolled at Fitchburg High School’s Honors Academy priority admission to the university as well as access to university courses, facilities and scholarships. The program was a collaboration between the FHS Honors Academy, Fitchburg State Early College and Dual Enrollment, and the Fitchburg State Honors Program.
- Italian immigration series continues with film screeningsThe Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State University will continue its 2023-2024 programming series, "Nuovo Mondo: A Century of Immigration from and to Italy," with a series of film screenings that focus on recent immigration to Italy from diverse perspectives. Admission to the screenings, all of which will be held in Ellis White Lecture Hall in Hammond Hall, is free and open to the public. The events will also include a virtual workshop in April for those interested in applying for Italian citizenship. The screenings begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 29 with Billo - Il grand Dakhaar (2007), an Italian comedy directed by Laura Muscardin. In this quasi-documentary film, hip-hop designer Thierno Thiam is the star of his own real-life story as a Senegalese boy who arrives in Italy in search of fortune with the desire to work in the fashion industry, but life puts him face to face with tragicomic situations. The series continues at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21 with a screening of Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) (2016), a gripping Italian documentary film directed by Gianfranco Rosi. This film, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, was shot on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa during the on-going European migrant crisis, and sets the dangerous Mediterranean crossing by migrants against a background of the ordinary life of the islanders. The film series continues at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2 with Maka (2023), which tells the story of Geneviève Makaping's life in Italy and perilous migration journey. The Cameroonian-Italian anthropologist and writer is the first black woman to serve as the editor of a newspaper in Italy. Inspired by Makaping’s book Reversing the Gaze, the film offers a poignant reflection on displacement, identity, and belonging. Following the screening, Associate Professor Kevin McCarthy of the Communications Media Department will facilitate a virtual question and answer session with the film’s director, Simone Brioni. The center will also host a virtual workshop on applying for Italian citizenship at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 16. Information on signing up for the forum, presented by the Vermont Italian Cultural Association, will be posted to the CIC’s programming page at fitchburgstate.edu/nuovo-mondo.