Once the faculty pick a theme, they plan courses and co-curricular activities, such as plays, films, exhibits and guest speakers, around this theme to explore its central ideas.
This year’s “Themester” is “@Work: The Nature of Labor on a Changing Planet”, which deals with complex issues surrounding labor and work.
It will address the cultural and historical wlegacy, contemporary significance and future implications of labor and work.
Last year’s Themester was “Eat, Drink, Think: Food from Art to Science,” which dealt with the complex issues surrounding food.
The advisory committee for this year’s Themester is co-chaired by Benjamin Robinson, professor of Germanic studies, and Alex Lichtenstein, associate professor of history.
“We’re just trying to think about what work means in all sorts of facets — emotional, psychological, productive, philosophical,” Lichtenstein said. “That draws together all these different areas of teaching and research in the college.”
The marquee event of Themester is a dialogue between Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, and Richard Trumkank, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of International Organizations, the largest trade union in the United States.
Brother William Morris, a local anti-poverty lawyer, will moderate the discussion, and the IU Black Student Union will do a Q-and-A session.
The marquee event will be take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in Presidents Hall.
“It works very nicely because it brings together that organized labor wing, civil rights, but then the event itself will have this infusion from the local community, Morris and from students,” Lichtenstein said. “It’s a very nice symbol of exactly what Themester is trying to do, which is to bring together ideas, community members and students into a common dialogue.”
Other Themester events include two productions of “Of Mice and Men” by the Cardinal Stage Company, a showing of “Miners Shot Down,” a film about labor strikes in South Africa, and a lecture by Annie Sprinkle on sex work.
On Monday, Aug. 31, the IU Cinema will show “Modern Times,” a Charlie Chaplin movie about labor in the Great Depression. The event is ticketed but free. Tickets can be secured online with an IU Cinema Ticketmaster account or at the door if they’re still available.
Lynn Duggan serves on the Themester advisory committee.
She said some Themester events focus on topics not traditionally discussed in everyday conversation, such as class.
“It gives everyone a topic of conversation that’s timely and meaningful, and people can come together much more easily than they can without some common theme for the Themester,” Duggan said.
Robinson said he feels support for Themester has to do with what a residential campus offers, as opposed to what a community or online college has to offer.
Robinson added that students chose to come to a residential college and that provides them with wide opportunities for culture and experiencing education.
“It really has to do with that the vision of what a residential education can offer, and that’s a curriculum across all departments including plays, films, culture, just a broad-based thing where you’re really experiencing an issue together with the undergraduate community but the whole Bloomington community,” Robinson said.
