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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260407T170000
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DTSTAMP:20260528T000723
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SUMMARY:En-Vision Embodied Writing Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Hosted by Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP) co-founder Milo Miller\, this workshop will blend mindfulness and creative writing to explore themes of slowing down\, radical self-care\, critical disability studies\, and fostering networks of mutual support and caregiving. The workshop will include time for creative exploration through collaging\, blackout poetry\, and more. Supplies will be provided\, but participants are welcome to bring their own collage\, paper\, and zine-making materials to share. \n\n\n\nWorkshop participants and the broader campus community are invited to submit artwork and creative writing pieces to a collaborative community zine project on a queer ethics of slow care. Those interested in submitting to the En-Vision Zine can find more information and submission requirements here. \n\n\n\nThis event is a part of our inaugural graduate-led public humanities program En-Vision: Toward a Queer Ethics of Slow Care. “En-Vision” explores creative practices and embodied experiences of slow care for individuals living with chronic illness and impairments.  \n\n\n\nFree and open to the public. Held in-person and online. Food and light snacks will be provided for in-person attendees. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFor those attending virtually – please click here to join the Virtual Session for the En-Vision Embodied Writing Workshop. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDirections\, Parking & Accessibility\n\n\n\n\nPaid parking is available within the Lubar Garage.\n\nLubar Parking is $1 each 20 min for the 1st hour; then pay $1 per hour. The maximum charge is $12 total.\n\n\n\n\n\nTime-limited street parking is available on neighborhood streets surrounding campus.\n\n\n\nIf using the Lubar Garage\, you can find the Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex (KIRC) across N. Maryland Ave.\n\nThe Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex is located between the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center/UWM Welcome Center and Lapham Hall. There are two accessible entrances to the East and the West of the building.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCheck parking availability with the UWM Parking Finder. \n\n\n\nUse our campus map to find the Lubar  Garage (Lot 3) or the Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex. \n\n\n\nUWM makes every effort to ensure campus events and activities are accessible. If you foresee needing accommodations for this event\, please contact the Center for 21st Century Studies during normal business hours. Advanced notice of 5 business days is preferred.
URL:https://uwm.edu/c21/event/en-vision-2/
LOCATION:Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex\, Room 1150\, 3135 N Maryland Ave\, Milwaukee\, Wisconsin\, 53211
CATEGORIES:Alumni & Community,Arts and Culture,Arts and Culture,C21 Research Workshops,Graduate Students,Public,SLOW,Slow Care,Student Life,Students,UWM Campus Events,Virtual Event,Workshops
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ORGANIZER;CN="Center for 21st Century Studies":MAILTO:c21@uwm.edu
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260411T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260411T123000
DTSTAMP:20260528T000723
CREATED:20260305T212901Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260401T200420Z
UID:10000905-1775903400-1775910600@uwm.edu
SUMMARY:Story Cart with Symphony Swan – Stills in Milwaukee
DESCRIPTION:Saturday\, April 11\, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM\n\n\n\nFruition MKE\, 819 N 27th St\, Milwaukee\, WI 53208\n\n\n\nFree and open to the public\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEvent Details\n\n\n\nC21’s Story Cart project and C21 Story Fellow Symphony Swan present Stills in Milwaukee\, a radical attention workshop and portrait session with photographer Terrance Sims. \n\n\n\nStills in Milwaukee is a documentary-style photography project aimed at capturing the diverse stories and voices of locals around the city. It’s an exploration of the people who shape the everyday life of Milwaukee\, and the nuances that make this place so unique. Guests are invited to bring an artifact that represents them and their story. Guests will share their artifact in conversation with the photographer\, who will craft individual portraits in response.  \n\n\n\nStills in Milwaukee is about active listening as much as it is about portraiture. Terrance Sims will spend time with his subjects\, hear their stories\, and allow space for the moments to unfold naturally. The goal is not to rush through\, but to take a deliberate approach that will bring out deeper narratives. Each image\, each conversation\, is an opportunity for reflection and connection. \n\n\n\nThis method is integral to the work’s authenticity. The beauty of Milwaukee lies not just in its landmarks\, but in its people—often in the quiet\, overlooked spaces. By taking the time to truly engage with his subjects and let the photos emerge over time\, Sims hopes to create a more genuine\, reflective portrayal of the city. \n\n\n\nPlease note that the guest artist for this event has changed from Samuel Allen to Terrance Sims. The event’s format will remain the same. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout Symphony Swan\n\n\n\nSymphony Swan Zawadi is an artist\, cultural strategist\, and founder of THE CR8TV HOUSE\, an arts and community institution reimagining space\, storytelling\, support and memory keeping for Black and Brown creatives. With over a decade of experience spanning arts education\, nonprofit leadership\, and philanthropy\, Symphony brings a deep commitment to equity\, imagination\, and community care.   \n\n\n\nSymphony channels her interdisciplinary expertise into building creative ecosystems that honor legacy\, foster healing\, and invest in future generations. Her work has earned her recognition as the 2023 Milwaukeean of the Year by Shepherd Express\, 2024 Gener8tor Art Fellowship Recipient and most recently the 2025 City of Milwaukee Friends of the Arts. She also serves as a trustee for the Milwaukee Art Museum. She continues to advocate for artist-led systems change that reflect the communities they serve.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout Story Cart\n\n\n\nStory Cart is a mobile story collection program that travels to community spaces and engages Milwaukeeans in conversations about their lived experiences. Our Story Fellows craft questions related to the current C21 research theme\, record participant responses to those questions\, and add them to our Story Cart digital archive (forthcoming). Supported by the Wisconsin Institute for Citizenship and Civil Dialogue\, Story Cart’s current run introduces Milwaukeeans to practices of radical attention. From September 2025 through May 2026\, our community Story Fellows will lead workshop pop-ups throughout the city and will record discussions with participants about the experience of paying attention.
URL:https://uwm.edu/c21/event/sc-swan-stills-mke/
LOCATION:Fruition MKE\, 819 N 27th St\, Milwaukee\, Wisconsin\, 53208\, United States
CATEGORIES:Arts and Culture,Attention,Health and Well-being,Off-campus,Public,SLOW,Slow Care,Story Cart,Workshops
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ORGANIZER;CN="Center for 21st Century Studies":MAILTO:c21@uwm.edu
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260417T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260417T130000
DTSTAMP:20260528T000723
CREATED:20260330T163007Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260330T163009Z
UID:10000908-1776423600-1776430800@uwm.edu
SUMMARY:Book Talk: A Conversation About Black Feminist Resistance in Trying Times
DESCRIPTION:Friday\, April 17\, 11am-1pm\n\n\n\nKuumba Juice & Coffee\, 274 E. Keefe Ave.\, Milwaukee\n\n\n\nFree & open to the public; RSVP Requested\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOverview\n\n\n\nWe welcome Dr. Stacie McCormick and Dr. Nessette Falu to a conversation around Black Feminist Resistance and the power of storytelling. \n\n\n\nIn conjunction with Black Maternal Health Week (April 11-17)\, UWM’s C21 Reproductive Justice Collaboratory and La Revo Books are pleased to cohost this community conversation around the role of stories in our esteemed authors’ own work. The authors will join us virtually\, and we invite the community to come in to the space at Kuumba to share in this important conversation. \n\n\n\nPlease RSVP by Monday\, March 30th. Refreshments from Kuumba will be provided. \n\n\n\n\nRSVP ON EVENTBRITE NOW\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBooks\n\n\n\nYou don’t need to read the books in order to participate in this event\, but both are available through our partners at La Revo. \n\n\n\nPurchase Unseen Flesh: Gynecology and Black Queer Worth-Making in Brazil by Nessette Falu. \n\n\n\nPurchase We Are Pregnant with Freedom: Black Feminist Storytelling for Reproductive Justice by Stacie McCormick. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout\n\n\n\nNessette Falu\, Ph.D. is a Black queer feminist and cultural anthropologist with sub-disciplinary specializations in medical anthropology\, Black queer studies\, Black feminist studies\, and reproductive justice studies. Her intellectual work analyzes the intersections of anti-Blackness\, heteronormativity\, medicine\, trauma\, resistance\, and freedom. She intervenes\, broadly\, to understand forms of hidden\, silenced power and the abuse of power in gynecology and medicine. Her past clinical practice of seventeen years as a Physician Assistant (neurosurgery\, internal medicine\, HIV care\, hematology/oncology\, and pain management) critically informs her research\, publications\, collaborations\, and public phasing\, and design work. The convergence of her clinical expertise with a social science\, humanistic scholarly endeavors is an invaluable\, unique asset for intellectual and public impact into the Austin community as well as with international and transnational far-reaching outcomes. Her research and professional trajectories inform her public engagement and creative work\, which is steered toward social justice in medicine and raising public awareness. At UT Austin\, she developed Gxnecologx Justice Lab (https://www.gxnecologx.org)\, a Black feminist laboratory for research and design\, publicly launched in December 2023.   \n\n\n\nDr. Stacie McCormick is a Mississippi-raised Black feminist scholar and writer. She is an Associate Professor of English\, Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies and Women and Gender Studies at Texas Christian University (TCU). Her work takes up a number of subjects such as: representations of the body\, land\, sexuality\, and the ongoing resonance of slavery in contemporary Black writing and performance. She is the author of Staging Black Fugitivity and co-Editor of the Special Issue of College Literature\, Toni Morrison and Adaptation. Central to her work is community. Whether it is in the classroom\, in the organizing space\, or in her scholarly work\, McCormick sees community building as a key form of resistance and liberation.  \n\n\n\nOperating since 2022\, Reproductive Justice works to create a space where researchers at UWM and reproductive justice community advocates in Milwaukee can work together to address systemic injustices disproportionately affecting Black\, Latinx\, and other women and trans people of color. As a collective\, we have held a variety of events in both academic and community spaces\, and seek to continue this important work in the face of uncertainty in the reproductive justice space. We work across various aspects of reproductive injustices\, including issues of access across zip codes\, early childhood education\, birth justice\, and physical environment — to name just a few. We have learned alongside our community partners how important it is to not silo this work\, and aim to continue bringing attention to reproductive injustices in Milwaukee and act as a resource for making substantial changes to improve the conditions within which individuals can exercise their “human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy\, have children\, not have children\, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities” (SisterSong). \n\n\n\nLa Revo Books offers new and used books for and by Black\, Indigenous\, and People of Color (BIPOC)\, and Latinx readers.
URL:https://uwm.edu/c21/event/book-talk-a-conversation-about-black-feminist-resistance-in-trying-times/
LOCATION:Kuumba Juice & Coffee\, 274 East Keefe Avenue\, Milwaukee\, Wisconsin\, 53212\, United States
CATEGORIES:Arts and Culture,Co-Promotional,Co-Sponsored,Collaboratory,Faculty and Staff,Health and Well-being,Lecture,Off-campus,Public,SLOW,Slow Care
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260430T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260430T180000
DTSTAMP:20260528T000723
CREATED:20260307T200728Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260415T171927Z
UID:10000906-1777568400-1777572000@uwm.edu
SUMMARY:Human Club: Little Free Library Walking Tour
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a walk with the Human Club to explore the Little Free Libraries in our campus community! \n\n\n\nWe will start our journey at the UWM Center for Student Experience and Talent in the Student Union. Then\, we will head north through the campus neighborhoods\, making stops at the Little Free Libraries we find along the way. We will hear from local Little Free Library volunteers about how they set up their libraries and what motivated them to start this project! \n\n\n\nThe Little Free Library motto is\, “Take a Book\, Leave a Book.” In the spirit of this motto\, we ask that you bring a book (or two!) to donate to a library. Your donation will help keep these neighborhood libraries stocked with stories.  \n\n\n\nWe invite both pets and children to join us on this adventure. Please be prepared to walk at least a mile as we explore the neighborhood around UWM and share the joy of books! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhat are Little Free Libraries?\n\n\n\nLittle Free Library is a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul\, Minnesota. Their mission is to be a catalyst for building community\, inspiring readers\, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Library book-exchange boxes. \n\n\n\nTheir vision is a Little Free Library in every community and a book for every reader. They believe all people are empowered when the opportunity to discover a personally relevant book to read is not limited by time\, space\, or privilege. Through Little Free Library book exchanges\, millions of books are exchanged each year\, profoundly increasing access to books for readers of all ages and backgrounds. \n\n\n\nAbout Human Club\n\n\n\nHuman Club is the Center for 21st Century Studies’ newest initiative\, which features free field trips around Milwaukee and humanities gatherings with your fellow humans. Comes with a membership punch-card!
URL:https://uwm.edu/c21/event/human-club-little-free-library-walking-tour/
LOCATION:UWM Union SET Office\, Student Union E153\, 2200 E Kenwood Blvd.\, Milwaukee\, Wisconsin\, 53211\, United States
CATEGORIES:Alumni & Community,Arts and Culture,Human Club,Off-campus,Public,SLOW,Slow Care,Student Life,Student Life,Students,Students,UWM Campus Events
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ORGANIZER;CN="Center for 21st Century Studies":MAILTO:c21@uwm.edu
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260515T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260515T170000
DTSTAMP:20260528T000723
CREATED:20260427T153345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260427T203419Z
UID:10000909-1778857200-1778864400@uwm.edu
SUMMARY:C21 Research Fellows Presentations
DESCRIPTION:Friday\, May 15\, 3:00 – 5:00 PM\n\n\n\n939 Curtin Hall\, 3243 N. Downer Ave.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout\n\n\n\nJoin the Center for 21st Century Studies for concluding presentations from our 2025-26 cohort of research fellows. \n\n\n\nCentering the humanities in the belief that groundbreaking ideas come from diversity of opinions\, disciplines\, and experiences\, each year\, C21 offers fellowships that provide the time\, space\, and collegial support to generate new knowledge and ideas. This year’s cohort conducted research and developed interdisciplinary projects that aligned with Slow Care\, C21’s 2025-26 research and programming theme.  \n\n\n\nThis event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2025-26 Research Fellows\n\n\n\nSharity Bassett (Women’s & Gender Studies)\n\n\n\nDuring this fellowship\, Bassett worked on multivocal and collaborative autofiction\, a project she began in summer 2025 with EQI/MMSD interns and a workshop series at Ring Lake Ranch in Wyoming. This work is focused on creating connected futures by engaging with difficult stories\, fostering empathy\, and facilitating productive conversations. \n\n\n\nKatharine Elizabeth Beutner (English)\n\n\n\nIn the 2025-2026 fellowship year\, Beutner revised the follow-up novel to Killingly\, her second novel\, and initiated a new environmental writing project.  \n\n\n\nKidiocus King-Carroll (African & African Diaspora Studies)\n\n\n\nCarroll researched and developed a podcast that situates Black migration to Milwaukee as a lens for exploring slow care and its impacts. \n\n\n\nLynn Goerdt (Social Work\, UW-Superior)\n\n\n\nGoerdt developed a well-being innovation lab through UW-Superior’s Pruitt Center for Mindfulness and Well-being that supports change-making efforts on innovative ideas to address the most challenging barriers to well-being\, prioritizing projects that support youth and young adults in northwest Wisconsin. \n\n\n\nYevgeniya Kaganovich (Art & Design)\n\n\n\nKaganovich continued an ongoing project that integrates fungi into and around and sculpture\, focusing on a review of literature relevant to the project\, experimentation with wild and domesticated fungal material\, and field and forest work to enable sharing the experience of the project with colleagues.  \n\n\n\nNan Kim (Anthropology)\n\n\n\nKim worked on a project about how narratives and interpretations that center the Anthropocene persist as dissenting forms of environmental memory. \n\n\n\nGabriela Nagy (Psychology)\n\n\n\nNagy is an immigration researcher who examines how the social contexts in which immigrants reside affect their wellbeing. During her fellowship\, Nagy sought to submit to publications\, code recordings of intervention sessions\, and leverage community-engaged methods to refine and optimize her work.
URL:https://uwm.edu/c21/event/c21-rf-presentation/
LOCATION:939 Curtin Hall\, 3243 N Downer Ave\, Milwaukee\, Wisconsin\, 53211\, United States
CATEGORIES:Faculty and Staff,Faculty and Staff,Lecture,Lectures Conferences and Symposiums,Lectures Conferences and Symposiums,Public,Public,SLOW,Slow Care,UWM Campus Events
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ORGANIZER;CN="Center for 21st Century Studies":MAILTO:c21@uwm.edu
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260520T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260520T203000
DTSTAMP:20260528T000723
CREATED:20260427T163457Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260510T021316Z
UID:10000910-1779303600-1779309000@uwm.edu
SUMMARY:Book Talkback - Muslims in Milwaukee: Placemaking\, Belonging\, and Activism 
DESCRIPTION:Overview\n\n\n\n\nWednesday\, May 20\, 7:00-8:30 PM\n\n\n\nIslamic Resource Center\, 5235 S 27th St\, Greenfield\, WI 53221\n\n\n\n\nJoin the Center for 21st Century Studies and the Muslim Milwaukee Project for the launch of a new book on the Muslim communities in Milwaukee by UWM professors Anna Mansson McGinty\, Caroline Seymour-Jorn\, and Kristin Sziarto. There will be a panel talkback featuring prominent members of Milwaukee’s Muslim community—Waheed Ahmed\, Othman Atta\, Amal Azzam\, Janan Najeeb\, and Brother Will Perry—moderated by Fahed Masalkhi\, PhD.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout Muslims in Milwaukee: Placemaking\, Belonging\, and Activism\n\n\n\nMuslims in Milwaukee explores the everyday lives\, identities\, and activism of Muslims in a midsized Midwestern city. Milwaukee is one of America’s most segregated cities\, yet within its boundaries\, a vibrant Muslim community is reshaping narratives and embodied practices of belonging\, civic engagement\, and urban placemaking. While considerable scholarship on Muslim Americans has concentrated on larger metropolitan centers like New York\, Los Angeles\, and Chicago\, or on Detroit’s historic Arab neighborhoods\, this book turns our attention to an understudied city where Muslim communities are small but rapidly growing\, and where their experiences unfold within distinct local landscapes of race\, segregation\, and opportunity.  \n\n\n\nDrawing on over a decade of ethnographic fieldwork\, surveys\, and extensive interviews with community members\, students\, artists\, activists\, and leaders\, the authors examine how local political\, economic\, and historical structures shape Muslim American experiences and civic participation\, situating their analysis within the dual dynamics of belonging on one hand and exclusion and discrimination on the other.  \n\n\n\n\nPurchase your copy from Syracuse University Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Panelists\n\n\n\nExpand All\nWaheeduddin Ahmed \n\n\n\n\n\nM. Sc.\, PhD.\, University of London. Scientist (retired). \n\n\n\nFounder president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee\, 1983. \n\n\n\nFounder of Islamic Information Service Inc.\, 1985. \n\n\n\nFounder Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center\, 1993. \n\n\n\nEdited various journals including: Islamicus\, The Commentator and Shahadah. \n\n\n\nInitiated the demographic survey of Muslims in Milwaukee with mutual agreement between the Dawah Center and the Chancellor of UWM\, 2010/11. The project was developed by the team that authored the book: “Muslims in Milwaukee”.\n\n\n\n\n\nOthman M. Atta \n\nServed as President of the Executive Board of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and currently serves as its Executive Director and primary spokesman. The ISM is the largest Muslim organization in Wisconsin and operates three Mosques in the greater Milwaukee area as well as the largest Islamic school in the nation.   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWorked as an attorney in private practice for over 20 years. \n\n\n\nFormer Advisory Board Member\, Marquette University Law School \n\n\n\nFormer Representative of the Islamic Society on the Board of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee \n\n\n\nFormer Adjunct Faculty Member at Cardinal Stritch University (taught courses on Religious Culture of Islam). Also taught courses on Islam and Middle-East Politics for UW-Extension. \n\n\n\nRecipient of the Wisconsin Chapter – ACLU “Civil Libertarian of the Year Award” \n\n\n\nRecipient of Wisconsin Law Journal’s “Leader in the Law Award” \n\n\n\nFormer Member\, FBI Civil Rights Advisory Group. Graduate of FBI Citizen Academy and Milwaukee Police Department’s Citizen’s Academy \n\n\n\nFormer Commissioner\, Milwaukee Commission on Police-Community Relations \n\n\n\nFormer Board Member\, Wisconsin Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee \n\n\n\nDelivered hundreds of speeches to business\, interfaith and other groups and participated in numerous lectures\, panel discussions and debates at local universities.  \n\n\n\nMarried with four children. \n\n\n\n\n\nAmal Azzam\nAmal Azzam is a Muslim American interdisciplinary artist based in Milwaukee\, WI. Her practice explores the layered complexities of identity\, trauma\, and freedom through mediums including screen printing\, found objects\, fiber\, and photography. She aims to reflect society back onto itself\, showing its contradictions and the struggles of belonging.   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn 2025\, Azzam was awarded the Mildred L. Harpole Artist of the Year by the Milwaukee Arts Board. Her work has been nationally exhibited at the Hunter Museum of American Art (Chattanooga\, TN)\, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan\, WI)\, Woman Made Gallery (Chicago\, IL)\, and the James Watrous Gallery (Madison\, WI). She has also co-curated exhibitions such as Wherever Home Is at the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences\, Arts & Letters and Al-Nisa at Walker’s Point Center for the Arts.   \n\n\n\nAmal is also the co-founder of Fanana Banana (“Fanana” meaning female artist in Arabic)\, a Milwaukee-based arts movement that creates space for Muslim\, MENA\, and underserved artists to share their work. Fanana Banana has grown into a community hub for exhibitions\, panels\, and collaborations.   \n\n\n\nHer work and story have been featured in WUWM – Milwaukee’s NPR\, PBS Wisconsin\, Artdose Magazine\, Milwaukee Magazine\, and Cream City Review\, where her art appeared on the cover in 2024.  \n\n\n\n\nJanan Najeeb\nJanan Najeeb is a pioneering Muslim community leader\, advocate\, and educator\, widely recognized for her work at the intersections of faith\, justice\, gender and civic engagement. She is the Founder and Executive Director of the Muslim Women’s Coalition (MWC)\, and the Islamic Resource Center\, Wisconsin’s first Muslim library and cultural hub.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNajeeb has founded several groundbreaking initiatives\, including the Wisconsin Muslim Journal\, Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance\, Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival\, and the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine. She also serves on the Governor’s Council on Domestic Abuse and holds board positions with the Rotary Club of Milwaukee\, Wisconsin Public Radio\, and the Wisconsin Historical Society. She chairs both the Religious Leaders Caucus of MICAH and the City of Milwaukee Commission on Community Wellness and Safety. For more than two decades\, she has co-chaired and emceed Milwaukee’s citywide Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.  \n\n\n\nA frequent media voice and public speaker\, Najeeb has delivered more than 2\,000 presentations across the country on Muslim identity\, civil rights\, women’s rights\, refugees\, and interfaith dialogue. Her published works include contributions to The Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies\, The Journal of Disability & Religion\, Interfaith Engagement in Milwaukee\, as well as training manuals for statewide agencies. She has been featured in major outlets including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel\, The New York Times\, Islamic Horizons\, Aljazeera\, Wisconsin Public Radio\, among many others.   \n\n\n\nHer trailblazing leadership has earned her numerous awards\, including the 2025 City of Milwaukee Lifetime Achievement Award\, 2024 Milwaukee Magazine Woman of Distinction Award\, the 2023 Lucille Berrien Humanitarian Award\, the 2022 Milwaukee Rotary Person of the Year Award\, and the 2019 Frank Zeidler Award for Social Justice and Activism.  \n\n\n\nNajeeb is married to Dr. Waleed Najeeb and is the proud mother of five and grandmother of six.  \n\n\n\n\nBrother Will Perry \nWill Perry is a lifelong Milwaukee resident whose career reflects a deep commitment to faith‑based civic engagement and community building. He holds a master’s degree in management and is widely known for his long tenure as Executive Director of the Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center (MIDC)\, where he played a key role in strengthening community institutions\, expanding social services\, and fostering collaboration across Milwaukee’s diverse neighborhoods.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUnder his leadership\, MIDC became a vital hub for outreach\, re-entry service\, and support for individuals and families facing social and economic challenges.  \n\n\n\nIn addition to his work at MIDC\, Will currently serves on the Board of the Muslim Community Health Center\, supporting efforts to improve access to culturally responsive healthcare. His broader leadership experience includes previously serving as Director of the Milwaukee Muslim Funeral Home\, as well as serving as Past President of the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance.  \n\n\n\nWill is a retired member of the Milwaukee Fire Department and an honorably discharged Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps. He is widely respected for his integrity\, steady leadership\, and commitment to dialogue\, belonging\, and compassionate community care.  \n\n\n\nWill Perry is a devoted family man\, serving as a husband\, father\, and grandfather.  \n\n\n\n\nFahed Masalkhi\, Ph.D. (Moderator)\nDr. Fahed is a Senior Teaching Faculty member in the Department of Global Studies at UW-Milwaukee and serves as the coordinator of the Arabic Program. His academic and professional path has been anything but conventional.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nInitially trained in the STEM disciplines\, he holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Engineering and spent a significant portion of his early career in the corporate sector. While that chapter provided valuable experience\, it ultimately left him searching for deeper intellectual fulfillment and a greater sense of purpose.  \n\n\n\nThis pursuit led him back to academia\, where he transitioned into the humanities. He earned an MA in Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and went on to complete a PhD in Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2021. His interdisciplinary training—spanning technical\, literary\, and theological fields—continues to shape both his teaching and his scholarship in meaningful ways.  \n\n\n\nHis work is anchored in two main areas of inquiry; both rooted in Qur’anic Studies. The first centers on Arabic language instruction\, with a particular emphasis on pedagogical approaches that make the language accessible and meaningful across diverse learning environments. The second engages the field of Islamic Studies more broadly\, with a focus on how it can respond thoughtfully to the intellectual and cultural needs of students in Western educational contexts.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Islamic Resource Center & Muslim Women’s Coalition\n\n\n\nThe Islamic Resource Center\, a project of Muslim Women’s Coalition\, is Wisconsin’s only Islamic cultural center and lending library. \n\n\n\nThe Muslim Women’s Coalition (MWC) is dedicated to building an equitable and inclusive Wisconsin\, where diversity is celebrated and all individuals are valued. Their mission is to empower Muslim women and girls through education\, leadership\, outreach\, and wellness programs\, helping them reach their fullest potential while creating a positive impact on the broader community. \n\n\n\nFounded in 1994\, MWC began as a local resource organization with the goal of promoting a more accurate understanding of Islam and Muslim women. Over the years\, MWC has remained committed to leading positive community change through advocacy\, dialogue\, education\, and outreach\, using faith-based values to ensure dignity and equity for all.
URL:https://uwm.edu/c21/event/book-talkback-muslims-in-mke/
LOCATION:Islamic Resource Center\, 5235 S 27th St\, Greenfield\, Wisconsin\, 53221\, United States
CATEGORIES:Alumni & Community,Collaboratory,Faculty and Staff,Off-campus,Panel,Public,SLOW,Slow Care
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://uwm.edu/c21/wp-content/uploads/sites/359/2026/04/Placeholder-Tile-MMP-Book-Talkback.jpeg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260606T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260606T170000
DTSTAMP:20260528T000723
CREATED:20260508T011548Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260508T011550Z
UID:10000911-1780754400-1780765200@uwm.edu
SUMMARY:mycollective: Slow Growing in the Time of Trees - Artist Reception
DESCRIPTION:Reception: Saturday\, June 6\, 2 – 5 PM\n\n\n\nExhibition: May 23\, 2026 – June 7\, 2026\n\n\n\nLynden Sculpture Garden\, 2145 West Brown Deer RoadMilwaukee\, WI 53217\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nArtist reception for mycollective: Slow Growing in the Time of Trees exhibition at Lynden Sculpture Garden with an unveiling of Matthew Vivirito’s Framework\, the second work in Lynden’s MATERIALIZE series of outdoor projects. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Exhibition\n\n\n\nSlow Growing in the Time of Trees presents speculative objects produced over the course of two growing seasons by mycollective\, a mycology-focused artist collective that brings together four creative practitioners and mushroom enthusiasts: Jim Charles\, Lane Hall\, Yevgeniya Kaganovich\, and Lisa Moline. Together\, they examine the durational nature of trees\, mushrooms and humans\, the symbiosis between trees and their human and non-human partners\, and interactions between natural and reclaimed materials over time. Experimenting with both naturally occurring and cultivated living mushroom cultures\, mycollective generates work with visible fungal fruits and invisible mycelial networks intertwined with trees. mycollective will be joined by guest Kate Beutner. \n\n\n\nWorking at the Lynden Sculpture Garden\, where Yevgeniya Kaganovich has long been an artist in residence\, mycollective bridges the space between humans\, sculpture\, and the landscape. To grow mushrooms\, the artists have been making sculptural forms out of accessible materials—recycled plastic bags\, cardboard\, birch bark\, tree branches—and filling them with spore-inoculated grain and straw. These forms are then installed in and around the tree-sculptures that Kaganovich began in 2019 as part of her residency\, Tree Intuits Chair. While these experiments are always visible on the grounds\, Kaganovich and her collaborators also offers programs\, such as a fall tree and mushroom walk\, that introduce the public to the specifics of their project. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Artists\n\n\n\nmycollective is a mycology-focused artist collective that brings together four creative practitioners and mushroom enthusiasts: Jim Charles\, Lane Hall\, Yevgeniya Kaganovich\, and Lisa Moline.  Kaganovich is currently in her second artist residency at the Lynden Sculpture Garden\, where she is working on Tree Intuit Chair\, a portion of her divergent fates project. She has a longstanding working relationship with Lynden\, which was home to grow\, a previous durational project. Kaganovich\, Charles\, Hall\, and Moline were colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for many years\, and began working together as mycollective\, experimenting with myceliated sculptures\, more recently. Kaganovich was a 2025-2026 C21 (UWM College of Letters & Sciences Center for 21st Century Studies) Fellow\, and mycollective began their work at Lynden as part of a 2024-2025 C21 Collaboratory that included Kate Beutner. Hall and Moline have been pursuing creative research as the collaborative team badscience for over 25 years. They are also the co-founders of the Overpass Light Brigade.
URL:https://uwm.edu/c21/event/mycollective-slow-growing-in-the-time-of-trees-artist-reception/
LOCATION:Lynden Sculpture Garden\, 2145 West Brown Deer Road  Milwaukee\, WI 53217
CATEGORIES:Arts and Culture,Exhibit,Faculty and Staff,Off-campus,Public,Research Fellows,SLOW,Slow Care
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