Name: Welcome to Boston: Keynote Panel Discussion about Creative Practices In and With Communities
Start: 2025-03-21T18:30:00-0400
End: 2025-03-21T20:00:00-0400

Welcome to Amplify & Ignite 2025

Thank you to our generous Donors -
Emerson College:

Academic Affairs
School of the Arts
Social Justice Collaborative
Department of Performing Arts
Graduate Studies
Elma Lewis Center
Theatre Education Graduate Association

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Sustainability Invitation
Emerson Sustainability is currently preparing for the annual Campus Race to Zero Waste competition that runs from February through the end of March. It’s a friendly competition between universities in North America to reduce waste on campuses and raise awareness about waste-related behaviors. In celebration of Campus Race to Zero Waste, we are participating in the Green Event Certification program and we hope you will join us in this challenge. In advance of your travel to Boston, we encourage you to bring a reusable water bottle and/or hot thermos and utensils to reduce the need for single use products.

Friday March 21, 2025 6:30pm - 8:00pm EDT

Bordy Auditorium

As we face an uncertain world with stark divisions and ruptures, what is our role as artists, educators, and scholars working with and across our multiple communities? How can and do the performing arts amplify community concerns, connections, and celebrations? How can we center arts and culture in movements for local and global change?

Join us for an inspiring discussion moderated by Michael Bobbitt, Executive Director of Massachusetts Cultural Council, and featuring:

Giselle Byrd, Executive Director of The Theater Offensive
Ronee Penoi, Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts & Director of Artistic Programming at ArtsEmerson
Alison Yueming Qu 曲悦鸣, Co-Founder and Executive Director of CHUANG Stage.

Sponsored by the Dean’s Office at the School of the ArtsClick Here for Live Stream:
https://howlround.com/happenings/welcome-boston-keynote-panel-creative-practices-and-communities

Moderators

Michael Bobbitt

Michael J. Bobbitt is the Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council, the highest-ranking public official for arts and culture in Massachusetts. Since 2021, he has spearheaded major initiatives, including the agency’s first Racial Equity Plan, d/Deaf & Disability Equity and... Read More →

Speakers

Alison Yueming Qu

Alison Yueming Qu (she/they) is a Chinese American theatre creative producer, dramaturg, director, and community organizer reshaping Greater Boston’s cultural landscape through radical accessibility and diasporic storytelling. Recognized as a 2023 ARTery Maker by WBUR (Boston’s... Read More →

Giselle Byrd

Giselle Byrd is the Executive Director of The Theater Offensive, located in Boston, MA, making her the first Black trans woman to lead a regional theatre company in the United States. There, she is passionately continuing and amplifying the theater’s mission for uplifting and elevating... Read More →

Ronee Penoi

Ronee Penoi (Laguna Pueblo/Cherokee) is the Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts at Emerson College and Director of Artistic Programming at ArtsEmerson, Boston’s leading presenter of contemporary world theater. Previously, she was a Producer with Octopus Theatricals... Read More →

Friday March 21, 2025 6:30pm - 8:00pm EDT
Bordy Auditorium

Panel

Michael Bobbitt

Alison Yueming Qu

Giselle Byrd

Ronee Penoi

Attendees (5)

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