This month we’re partnering with Lawrence Public Library for NEA Big Read/Read Across Lawrence. Our book this year is “In the Time of Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez. On February 8th, we offer you three presentations related to the book that will hopefully inspire you to get reading! We’ll open the doors at 7 so you can get a drink and make a friend. Presentations will begin at 8. $1 cover. No hundies.

Wednesday FEB 8 at 8 PM Doors open at 7 PM
Maceli’s Banquet Hall & Catering
1031 New Hampshire St, Lawrence, Kansas 66044

The presentations:

“Hispaniola: Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Complex Neighbors” by Cécile Accilien
This talk will briefly highlight the complex history of Hispaniola, the island occupies by two countries, Haiti (in the western one third) and the Dominican Republic (in the eastern two thirds). It will provide an overview of the colonial history (Spanish and French) and how it continues to affect current relations between the two countries.
“Women Revolutionaries in the Caribbean” by Jennifer Abercrombie Foster
This presentation will provide you with a brief overview of the evolving role of women revolutionaries in the Latin American Left from mid 20th century. Focusing primarily on Cuban women’s experiences, we will talk about how women had to negotiate traditional gendered norms (whether by breaking with or conforming to those norms) in order to participate in overthrowing an intolerable status quo.

Our third presentation will be from Monarch Watch, a nonprofit education, conservation, and research program based at the University of Kansas that focuses on the monarch butterfly, its habitat, and its spectacular fall migration. Spoiler alert: “In the Time of Butterflies” is not literally about butterflies. But this presentation will be!

The presenters:

Cécile Accilien is Associate professor in the Department of African and African-American Studies. She is also director of the Institute of Haitian Studies and Associate Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Her primary areas of interest are French-speaking Caribbean and Africa, Film Studies and Women’s Studies. She is originally from Haiti and grew up in Newark, New Jersey.

While traveling abroad, Jennifer Abercrombie Foster tells people that she is from Lawrence, KS. After 7 years of graduate school, she now has a diploma that says she’s a doctor of philosophy, which sounds a wee bit silly, but she’s okay with that. She first got involved in Latin American culture when she moved to Honduras to live for one year as a volunteer among 500 kids. Since then, her research, travels, and interests have taken her to exciting places like the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Des Moines and she is thrilled to get to participate in Lawrence’s Nerd Nite!