Humanities News, Features, and Other Updates

Heather Loughman

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Heather Loughman, BA, STC ’09 and MS, RTC ’11 has been selected as the new CEO of Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and Saunders Counties. Loughman previously served as Director of Communications and Development for the non-profit agency focused on helping families and individuals living in poverty reach economic stability. Key program areas include early childhood education, homelessness prevention, financial and family well-being, and hunger relief and healthy food access.

“Community Action is an organization very dear to me, where I have had tremendous opportunity to learn and grow both personally and professionally,” said Loughman. “Learning and growth will be at the forefront of Community Action’s continued efforts to create opportunities for individuals to achieve economic stability, and to address both poverty’s conditions and causes.”

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The 41 North Film Festival Returns

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Wildlife Photographer Vincent Munier and writer Sylvain Tesson seek the elusive snow leopard in The Velvet Queen, screening Saturday, 11/6, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the 41 North Film Festival.

The 41 North Film Festival will be held November 4–7, 2021, featuring four days of award-winning independent film at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. Highlights from this year’s program include: Storm Lake (Risius/Levison, 2021), a story about a family-owned and operated small-town newspaper that recently won a Pulitzer Prize. The Storm Lake Times editor, Art Cullen, and filmmaker Beth Levison, will join for a virtual Q&A following the film. The film will screen on Friday, 11/5, at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, 11/6, at 7:30 p.m. the festival will present The Velvet Queen (Amiguet, 2021), which follows acclaimed wildlife photographer Vincent Munier‘s Tibetan trek in search of the elusive snow leopard. On Sunday, the festival offers the family-friendly, Lily Topples the World, the story of young domino artist Lily Hevesh, whose incredible domino creations have earned her over three million Youtube followers.

Other films include Sundance documentary winner Summer of Soul, Writing with Fire (winner of 17 international awards), Academy-Award nominee The Mole Agent, and a host of other thought-provoking, entertaining, and inspiring films. As always, expect music in the lobby between films, as well as other special events and guests.

The festival is free and open to the public. MTU staff, faculty, and students from other schools can reserve a ticket (only one needed for entire festival) by visiting https://tickets.mtu.edu or calling the SDC Ticketing Office at 906-487-2073. MTU students should bring an ID to gain admittance. The festival will follow the Rozsa Center Covid-19 Policies. Please visit the festival website for the full program and additional information.

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ACSHF Forum: Stefka Hristova, Humanities

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The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences will host speaker Stefka Hristova (Associate Professor of Digital Media, Humanities) at the next Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors forum. The presentation, “Emptied Faces: In Search For An Algorithmic Punctum”, will be from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Monday (October 11) in Meese 109 and via Zoom.

This talk explores the ways in which human faces have become reconfigured in the context of algorithmic culture. More specifically, it details the decomposition of the face in the context of big data and machine learning algorithms and its two subsequent distinct rearticulations: one linked to predictive algorithms and the other linked to the generation of deep fake portraits.

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Women of the Copper Country

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Logo of Michigan Humanities Great Michigan Read

University Archivist and RTC doctoral student Lindsay Hiltunen was an invited speaker as part of the Great Michigan Read (GMR) programming series at Dearborn Public Library on Oct. 7.

Hiltunen presented a talk on the Michigan Copper Miners’ Strike of 1913-14 and the Italian Hall Disaster as part of a programming series to promote this year’s GMR book, “The Women of the Copper Country.”

Hiltunen will be sharing her presentation at several public libraries across the state as part of the GMR.

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Zach Nicholas named Assistant Director of Athletic Marketing and Communication

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Michigan Tech Athletics has hired Zach Nicholas (STC, ’19) as assistant director of athletic marketing and communication. Nicholas will serve as the primary media contact for soccer, Nordic skiing, and track and field. He will also assist the director of advertising sales with the execution of partnership contracts and artwork.

Nicholas continues with Michigan Tech after three years as an athletic communications intern. He is a native of South Range, Michigan.

“I am very thankful to have the opportunity to promote my hometown Huskies, tell stories of our incredible student-athletes, and establish and maintain strong relationships in the community,” Nicholas said. “I am very appreciative of the invaluable experience and knowledge I have gained as an intern and am excited to continue with Michigan Tech in a new role.”

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Calling All Writers: Summer Youth Program a Success

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The Class of Writers poses at Prince's Point on the Portage
The Class of Writers poses at Prince’s Point on the Portage.

Thirteen high school students joined us for a week of writing-related activities, led by Maria Bergstrom, Humanities Department Lecturer, and Kate Woodford (English). The students spent time exploring the natural world throughout the Keweenaw and using it for inspiration in individual writing projects. They also had the opportunity to meet professional writers and learn more about careers in writing-related fields.

Highlights of the week included a trip to McLean State Park, a hike to Hungarian Falls, and an opportunity to explore materials in the Michigan Tech Archives. The week ended with students reading their work for a broad audience in a Facebook Live event.

This year the Humanities department was able to offer four scholarships to encourage local students and underrepresented students to take advantage of this opportunity.

Michigan Tech Summer Youth Programs is organized through the Michigan Tech Center for Educational Outreach.

Play Calling All Writers Summer Youth Program video
Preview image for Calling All Writers Summer Youth Program video

Calling All Writers Summer Youth Program

Hear about the student’s experience in their own words with local reporter Joshua Vissers of Late Edition.

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“Bad Info” Project Funded by Michigan Humanities Grant

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Dr. Stefka Hristova and Dr. Sue Collins (HU) have been awarded a grant by Michigan Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, for their project “Bad Info: Fake News, Manipulated Photographs, and Social Influencers.”

This project explores issues of media literacy in relation to the spread of mis- and dis-information. It aims to educate college students as well as our local community more broadly on how to identify fabricated news, manipulated photographs, and social influencers and their infomercials, in digital media and social media contexts.

This initiative is a collaborative effort involving the Department of Humanities, J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library, and Copper Country Community Art Center. Bad Info features three exhibits, four workshops, film screenings, panel discussions, and keynote experts in information literacy.

The series of events will run from October 2021 through the spring semester 2022.

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