Summer Seminars at UMass Downtown

Description

UMass Downtown and the UMass Amherst Graduate School invite you to the Summer Seminar Series, a new public speaker series connecting campus research with the community. Each Wednesday evening, UMass graduate student presenters will share their research, ideas, and work in an engaging and approachable format designed to spark conversation, curiosity, and connection. Each session offers a chance to hear directly from emerging scholars doing meaningful work across disciplines, with opportunities for discussion and community engagement.

Wednesdays | June 17–August 5 6:00–7:30 PM
Free and open to the public

June 24 | Marcus Smith Who Keeps History Alive? Black Grassroots Museums and the Fight to Preserve Memory Have you ever wondered what happens to history when communities are left to preserve it on their own? Who bears the responsibility of preserving memory and history when those histories are absent from, or excluded by, formal archives and institutions?

Join us in exploring This Proud Home, a dissertation that traces how Black grassroots museums—often built in living rooms, historical structures, and contested landscapes—sustain and contribute to the long struggle for Black freedom.