Join us on December 8th for DC Public School’s CrossTalk DC Forum. “What does it mean to be the other?” District of Columbia Public Schools December 8, 2016 6:00-8:00pm DCPS Office of Family and Public Engagement, in collaboration with the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Anacostia Community Museum, invite students, parents, staff and community to… Continue Reading »
Join us on Wednesday, October 5th at Trinity Washington University as they host a special interactive program that will feature roundtable discussions and Folger actors performing excerpts from The Merchant of Venice and District Merchants. Wednesday, October 5, 2016 6:30-8:30pm Trinity Washington University O’Connor Auditorium, Main Hall 125 Michigan Ave., NE Washington, DC 20017
As one of the program managers for CrossTalk DC, I was very encouraged after the Folger’s kick-off event in May. This work– a first for the Folger, takes risk. Building on the success of our forum in May we planned five one-hour events from mid-June to mid-July. Through these CrossTalk DC Conversations, participants were able… Continue Reading »
On May 15th we kicked off of city wide community engagement project CrossTalk DC. Over 150 members of the DC community gathered in the Folger Theatre for a welcome from Folger Shakespeare Library Director Michael Witmore and some short Shakespeare salutations, then professor and program manager Caleen Jennings led all of us in a choral… Continue Reading »
Back on May 15th we kicked off CrossTalk DC with a public forum at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Since then, we’ve had time to reflect on the conversations started that day and worked to keep them going with other CrossTalk DC events. We’ll be sharing some of those conversations with you in the coming weeks… Continue Reading »
Join us on August 8th at the Anacostia Community Museum for a CrossTalk DC Forum on “District Merchants: Reflections on Identity and Difference”. At this joint program of the Anacostia Community Museum and the Folger Shakespeare Library, actors will read scenes from District Merchants a world premiere commissioned retelling of The Merchant of Venice (probably… Continue Reading »
This reading list has been compiled by CrossTalk DC partner, the DC Public Library. Many thanks to Librarian Kari Mitchell and Special Collections Manager Kerrie Cotten Williams. These books are available at or through your local branch library. Check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Prince, S. (2014). African Americans and Gentrification in Washington,… Continue Reading »
Join us Friday, July 15th for CrossTalk DC Conversations: “DC Public Library’s Peabody Room.” Jerry A. McCoy, special collections librarian at the DC Public Library’s Washingtonian and Peabody Room, offers a brief history of the Peabody Room (nearly destroyed by fire in 2007) and highlights artifacts of African-American history from its collections. The DC Public… Continue Reading »
Join us Friday, July 8th for CrossTalk DC Conversations: “Muslim American Identity in the US”. CrossTalk DC Conversations: “Muslim American Identity in the US” Besheer Mohamed, senior researcher at the Pew Research Center, will explore place of Muslims in the U.S. He will discuss survey data that attempts to quantify how Muslim are perceived by… Continue Reading »
Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is a deeply disturbing play and its greatest disturbance is a Jew. Shylock is the play’s money-lending villain who insists in open court that he’s entitled to a pound of Christian flesh. He even packs a knife to help himself to it. His very name is synonymous with ‘loan shark,’… Continue Reading »
