Lakewood branch & GCU to host “Reflections on Justice: Humanities & the Environment”

The New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has awarded Ocean County Library a $350 Humanities Festival Grant.

 Each year the Council awards grant to celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month, held every October. This year’s theme is “Reflections on Justice: Humanities and the Environment.”

 The grant will support the library’s humanities education program “Gasland: A Conversation on Environmental Ethics.”

 The program will be held Monday Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Georgian Court University’s Little Theatre, 900 Lakewood Av., Lakewood.

 The program will include a screening of the film “Gasland,” a winner of the Sundance Festival’s Special Jury Prize for Documentary in 2010.

 It will be followed by a panel discussion that will explore the role of ethics in making decisions about the environment, what part religion has in environmental responsibility, and the individual’s responsibility in formulating the community’s response in the use of natural resources and how to handle its waste products.

 The panelists will represent four disciplines from GCU:

• Sr. Mary-Paula Cancienne, Ph. D. from the religious studies and theological department
• Dr. Kasturi Dasgupta, sociology department
• Dr. Louise Wootton, biology department
• Dr. Mary C. Chinery, English department and moderator of the discussion. 

 This program is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

Registration is required and seating is limited. Contact Georgian Court University’s Office of Conferences and Special Events by telephone (732) 987-2262 or by email specialevents@georgian.edu to reserve a seat.

“The Beauty of Water” & social justice

Of the four classical elements identified by ancient philosophers, water may be the one most taken for granted, and the most abused by people.

As global inventories diminish and climate change threatens future supplies, the concept of water as a human right is receiving increasing attention.

The New Jersey Council for the Humanities has awarded grant funds to Ocean County Library in support of a three-part series, “The Beauty of Water.”

 “The Beauty of Water” examines the relationship between human culture and the environment as an issue of social justice.

The programs will be held in October at the Toms River branch, 101 Washington St.

Donna Gustafson, curator at Rutgers University’s Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick, will inspire people to look at water in new ways: as an element in nature, poetry, and literature Tuesday Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.

Gustafson organized the exhibit “Water” that was displayed at the museum Sept. 1, 2010 until Jan. 2, 2011. The exhibit included prints by Paul Gauguin, photographs by Edward Steichen and Sally Gall, and paintings by John J. Kensett and Albert Bierstadt.  Contemporary artists such as Maya Lin and Bill Viola were also represented.

Rich Bizub, director for the Pinelands Preservation Alliance’s water programs, will present “From Barrens to Beaches” Tuesday Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.  The distinct nature of Pine Barrens water sustains plant, animal and human communities in our region.  Bizub will focus on ensuring just access to water of the Pine Barrens and the Barnegat Bay Watershed for drinking, fishing, recreation and cultural use.

Author Charles Fishman will present “The Big Thirst” Thursday Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.  Fishman will discuss the history of water and its distribution throughout history and the importance of understanding and managing water as a human right.

The programs are free and open to the public.  For more information contact the library website www.theoceancountylibrary.org or telephone the operator at (732) 349-6200 or (609) 971-0514.

“The Beauty of Water” is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

Please be aware that some programs may have waiting lists or may be at capacity at the time of your call.

National exhibit to spend 8 weeks in OCL

 

Ocean County Library’s Toms River branch, 101 Washington St., will host a reception Saturday June 25 at 2 p.m. to mark the start of an eight-week series of programs and the display of a traveling exhibition entitled “Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country.”

 

The traveling exhibition tells the story of the explorers’ historic 1804–1806 expedition from a different point of view—that of the Indians who lived along their route.

 

During their journey to the Pacific coast and back, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and crossed the traditional homelands of more than 50 Native American tribes.  The exhibit examines this monumental encounter of cultures and examines the past and present effects of that encounter on the lives of the tribes which still live in the region.

 

“Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country” draws upon original documents in the rich Native American collections of the Newberry Library, of the Washington State Historical Society, the Minnesota Historical Society and other institutions.  Photographs of handwritten documents, maps, paintings and drawings provide a colorful background for the story of the encounter. 

 

“We are pleased to have been selected as a site for this exhibition,” said Carol Zsiga, Principal Librarian and Project Coordinator.  “The story of the Lewis and Clark expedition is well known to most Americans, but the Native American perspective on their voyage is not as well known.” 

 

“This great journey essentially opened American eyes to the West and encouraged national expansion, but also contributed to a dramatic change in the well-established cultures of the Indian tribes already living in the region,” she said.

 

Ocean County Library was one of only 23 libraries nationwide selected to host this exhibit.

 

Organized by the Newberry Library, Chicago and the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, “Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country” was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Additional support came from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities provided program support.  The Sara Lee Foundation is the lead corporate sponsor.  Ruth C. Ruggles and the National Park Service also supported the exhibit.

 

The library is also sponsoring more than a dozen programs to enrich the exhibition including a viewing of the two-part film “Lewis & Clark: the Journey of the Corps of Discovery;”  studies of the history and social life of the American Indians; the art and history of the Native American Flute; and the technology used by the Corps of Discovery.  These programs are free and open to the public.

 

“This exhibit and our related programs explores how these two histories, that of the United States and that of Indian peoples along the expedition route, came together two hundred years ago and how they remain intertwined today,” said Susan Quinn, Director of Ocean County Library.

 

“Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country” will be on display at the library until August 19.

 

Ocean County Library has 21 locations and serves a population of more than 570,000 people.

For more information telephone the operator at(732)349-6200or(609)971-0514or visit its Web site http://www.theoceancountylibrary.org for more information.