Greetings from the Center for Campus History and happy spring semester (if you can call it that with these brutal, bone-chilling, tree-exploding temps)! We know everyone is busy settling back in, so we’re keeping it short this month. Read on for some Center updates, events and even a little Ken Burns. 

The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Rebecca M. Blank Center For Campus History is an ongoing effort to expand and enrich UW-Madison’s historical narrative by centering the voices, experiences, and struggles of marginalized groups. As always, if you have a story to share, an event you think should be researched, or a person you think has been overlooked, please email us at centerforcampushistory@wisc.edu.  

If you’re reading this, you’re likely at least a little bit familiar with the Center’s work. But maybe you’ve found yourself wondering ‘Is there a way I can learn more? Like really dive in? Maybe over the course of a semester in a classroom setting?’ Well, you’re in luck! (As long as you’re a student.)

This semester the CCH is partnering with Educational Policy Studies to offer a course (Ed Pol 163) that contextualizes the Center's research about discrimination and resistance at UW within the history of higher education. Taught by our very own Curricular Program Manager Dan Berman, the course uses UW as a case study to explore how structural discrimination and discriminatory policies in higher ed have impacted students, staff, and faculty’s experiences in academia.

Are you interested in doing an oral history interview or project? Or are you just curious what it actually is? Check out the aptly named workshop Oral History: What is it? And how do I do it? This 90-minute workshop, presented by UW’s Distinguished Oral Historian Troy Reeves, will help by offering an overview of the art and science of oral history. 

340 Steenbock or virtual (Zoom link will be sent to attendees on 2/11.)

Register for the in person session at https://go.wisc.edu/27c08t and the virtual session at https://go.wisc.edu/2r8130. If you require an accommodation to participate in this event, please email troy.reeves@wisc.edu with the subject “Oral History Workshop Accommodations.”

Each month Center Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher will share a book, podcast, movie, quote, or something else she thinks has been adding to the CCH. We're calling it "From The Desk of KLB".

This month From the Desk of KLB, why not help pass the long hours stuck inside hiding from the cold with a good Ken Burns docuseries?

Muhammad Ali brings to life one of the best-known and most indelible figures of the 20th century. A three-time heavyweight boxing champion who captivated millions of fans throughout the world with his mesmerizing combination of speed, grace, and power in the ring, and charm and playful boasting outside of it, Ali insisted on being himself unconditionally and became a global icon and inspiration to people everywhere. Find it on PBS.