Live Out Loud community conference
North Adams — The fourth annual LGBTQIA+ Live Out Loud community conference will take place Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. The keynote speaker will be Pat Griffin, a longtime advocate for LGBT equality in sports, who will speak on “Seeking Common Ground: LGBTQ People and People of Faith in College Athletics.” The conference is free and all are welcome.
Presentations, workshops and panel discussions will be held throughout the day. Topics will include Best Practices and Policies for Creating Inclusive Sports Teams for LGBTQ people, Intersectional Discrimination: Race and Sexual Identity, the Politics of Passing; Lost Voices in Queer History, the LGBTQ Community and Lyme Disease: Inclusiveness in Healthcare Advocacy; More than Flying a Rainbow Flag: An Introduction to Pastoral Care for LGBTQ+ for Leaders in Faith Communities, My Life as a Teen, and more.
The conference will take place throughout MCLA’s Murdock Hall, with registration taking place in room 208. Griffin will deliver the keynote address at 9:40 a.m. in room 218. Lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is encouraged and walk-in attendance is allowed. For more information or to register, see the Berkshire Edge calendar.
–E.E.
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Climate change roundtable discussion at Williams College
Williamstown — Environmental journalist Andrew Revkin and environmental scientist Jacquelyn Gill will participate in a roundtable discussion at Williams College titled “Communicating Climate Science in a Post-Fact World” on Wednesday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. The roundtable will also feature assistant professor of environmental studies Nicolas Howe and assistant professor of geosciences Phoebe Cohen. The event is free and open to the public.
Revkin has been a prominent voice in the debates about climate change and the Anthropocene for decades and he has written on a wide range of subjects including the destruction of the Amazon rain forest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, science and politics, and the North Pole. In the mid 2000s, he exposed political suppression of climate findings and the editing of federal climate reports by political appointees with ties to the petroleum industry. Revkin currently works as senior reporter for climate at ProPublica, joining in 2016 after 21 years of writing for the New York Times and its Dot Earth blog. He has won top awards in science journalism including a Guggenheim Fellowship, Columbia University’s John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism, and an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. He is currently senior fellow for environmental understanding at Pace University’s Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies as well as a songwriter and musician.
Gill specializes in community paleoecology and conservation biogeography at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute. An assistant professor of paleoecology and plant ecology at the University of Maine, Gill and her colleagues explore the dynamics of ecology and evolution through the challenges of climate change, disturbance, human activity and extinction. They research the dynamic distributions and interactions of plants, animals, humans and environments using the fossil record, models and contemporary experiments.
For building locations on the Williams campus, consult the online map or call the Office of Communications at (413) 597-4277.
–E.E.
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Berkshire South to hold 5K run/walk and breakfast
Housatonic — Berkshire South Regional Community Center will hold its 5th annual 5K run/walk and breakfast fundraiser at 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 9, at the Housy Dome, 1064 Main St. All funds raised will support Berkshire South’s TONE (Teen Outreach Nutrition Exercise) program and other youth health and wellness programs.
Participants may register until 5 p.m. on Friday, April 7, for $25; the registration fee will be $30 per participant thereafter. Same-day registration will be accepted at the Housy Dome beginning at 8 a.m. A registration form will be required for each entry. Those ages 7 and under may participate for free alongside a registered parent or guardian. All participants will receive one free day pass for use on race day that will allow access to facilities including the locker rooms and sauna. Following the race, all race participants are invited back to Berkshire South for breakfast and an award ceremony. Breakfast is complimentary for all participants and guest tickets are $2 per child and $4 per adult.
For more information or to register, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the director of wellness and recreation at (413) 528-2810 x35 or fitness@berkshiresouth.org.
–E.E.
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Congregation Ahavath Sholom to host art exhibit
Great Barrington — Congregation Ahavath Sholom will host an exhibit of art by Lee Rogers and Nancy Maurice Rogers Saturday, April 1, through Wednesday, May 31, in its upstairs art gallery.
Lee Rogers has been active as a photographer for 45 years and his work consists of prints that are a combination of photographs and photograms, both of which he creates in the darkroom. In 2012 he received an artist grant from the Martha Boschen Porter Fund in recognition of his “Black and White Landscape Photography Project,” centered on representations of the natural landscapes of the northeastern and southwestern United States.
Nancy Maurice Rogers studied art at Hamilton College where she received a B.A.; in Florence, Italy, where she studied printmaking, drawing and painting; and at the Art Students League of New York. She served as executive director of Wooster Community Art Center in Danbury, Connecticut, for over a decade before coming to the Berkshires. Her artwork is informed by the various environmental issues faced by all.
For more information, contact Congregation Ahavath Sholom at CASoffice15@gmail.com.
–E.E.
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‘Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Stockbridge’
Stockbridge — On Wednesday, April 5, at 6:30 p.m., the Stockbridge Library, Museum & Archives will continue its “Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Stockbridge” series about interesting people who have made their homes in Stockbridge over the years with “One to the North, One to the South.” During the program, Joanne Conroy will talk about her 1820s bed and breakfast on Route 7 and Jim Finnerty will share information about his house on Ice Glen Road. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the library at (413) 298-5501 or info@stockbridgelibrary.org.
–E.E.
