Brown Club of DC

Nontraditional careers have captured widespread media attention and watercooler talk time, but truly valuable information about what it means to work in arts and culture fields, how to get there, and why it matters can be hard to find. And what is a “creative,” anyway?!

Join the Brown Club of DC on Thursday, April 11 for a free evening of professional insights and alumni networking that will address this gap—and have fun doing it. A moderated panel will answer career-building questions for people working in creative fields, as well as share creative leadership techniques for people in more traditional careers. The evening’s discussion will also engage the vital question of how the creative work we do (or can do) impacts matters of diversity, inclusion, and social justice. The panel will be followed by lightly-structured mingling time (snacks will be provided). Attendance for this event is free but is capped at 50 to ensure an engaging experience, so RSVP soon!

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Marcia Chatelain MA ‘03 PhD ‘08 (Moderator) is a Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University and creator of the #FergusonSyllabus.

Richard Willis ‘90 (Panelist) is an award-winning Theatrical Producer, whose work has appeared on Broadway, London’s West End, and throughout the United States and Canada over the past eighteen years.

Kate McMahon (Panelist) is a Curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture, which the co-organizer along with the CSSJ of the Global Curatorial Project.

Victoria Sams ‘90 (Panelist) is a Program Officer in the Division of Education at the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Rob Montz ‘05 (Panelist) is a self-taught documentary filmmaker, thought leader, and founder of Good Kid Productions.

Read their full bios here.

RSVP NOW

This event is co-sponsored by Friends of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice (CSSJ), which is a core group of Brown alumni and donors who help to support, inform, and expand the Center’s mission and work. Learn more here about the Center’s engagement with projects around the world related to the ongoing legacy of slavery in both scholarly and public humanities arenas.

The Brown Book Club will meet on Sunday, April 14 to discuss The Gift of Rain by Tan Tan Eng (fiction, 430 pp, 2008). We’ll begin at 6PM with dinner, then go on to discussion. Please RSVP by Friday, April 12 by contacting the event organizer, who will provide location information. Mention any food allergies, and bring $6 – $8 for the meal.

We previously read Eng’s The Garden of the Evening Mists. 

“The recipient of extraordinary acclaim from critics and the bookselling community – it was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2007 – Tan Twan Eng’s debut novel casts a powerful spell and has garnered comparisons to celebrated wartime storytellers Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene. Set during the tumult of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caught in the tangle of wartime loyalties and deceits.

In 1939, sixteen-year-old Philip Hutton-the half-Chinese, half-English youngest child of the head of one of Penang’s great trading families-feels alienated from both the Chinese and British communities. He at last discovers a sense of belonging in his unexpected friendship with Hayato Endo, a Japanese diplomat. Philip proudly shows his new friend around his adored island, and in return Endo teaches him about Japanese language and culture and trains him in the art and discipline of aikido. But such knowledge comes at a terrible price. When the Japanese savagely invade Malaya, Philip realizes that his mentor and sensei-to whom he owes absolute loyalty-is a Japanese spy. Young Philip has been an unwitting traitor, and must now work in secret to save as many lives as possible, even as his own family is brought to its knees.” — Amazon Book Reviews

Open to all alumni.  Please contact Corey Lipow (clipow@gmail.com) with questions.