Columbia State Community College’s English Department, in partnership with the Humanities and Social Sciences Division, will host interactive events at the Columbia and Williamson campuses for students and staff to explore the intersection of local history and themes of belonging.

Nina Adel, Columbia State assistant professor of English, will host the “Underneath” and “Place and Belonging” events, open to students as well as faculty and staff. She also designed, curated and produced the event series.

The events at each campus will be split into two halves. Students will listen to speakers and then take part in discussions for the first half of the event. After a catered lunch, they will be given supplies to express their takeaways from the event through art and creativity. The full runtime for each campus event will be 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The “Underneath” event will explore the layered history of Middle Tennessee — including the indigenous presence, Mississippian culture, removal policies, enslavement, Reconstruction, segregation and modern development. Featured speakers include Dr. Thomas Flagel, Columbia State professor of history; Dr. Marquita Reed-Wright, Tennessee State University associate professor of history, geography and political science; and Dr. Learotha Williams, TSU professor of history, geography and political science.

The event will be held on the Columbia Campus on Thursday, March 26, starting in the Hickman Building’s Cherry Theater, followed by a lunch and reflection in Hickman 123.

The “Place and Belonging” event will be an interactive dialogue-based exploration of identity, belonging and community connection. Featured speakers include Jonathan Jacobs, an independent facilitator for Sustained Dialogue, and Caitlin Holzer, an independent facilitator for Sustained Dialogue. The full runtime for each campus event will be from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

For the Williamson Campus, “Place and Belonging” will be held on Thursday, April 2, starting in the Fine Arts and Technology Building, room 18.

The event will be held on the Columbia Campus on Thursday, April 23, in Hickman Building’s Cherry Theater, followed by a lunch and reflection in Hickman 123.

This two-part event seeks to contextualize and personalize conversations about local human history, place, identity and belonging. Attendees will walk away with a broad understanding of their significant selves as part of the local and universal human community.

“At Columbia State, our students long for and enjoy complex, high-level programming that will be fun to engage with while simultaneously sparking their curiosity, expanding their academic toolbox and connecting them both within the college and to the communities beyond,” Adel said.

The events are made possible in part by funding from the Tennessee Board of Regents Student Success and Innovation Block Grant.