Following an inaugural year with Henry David Thoreau and last year’s examination of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Mount Wachusett Community College Humanities Project will begin its third year this fall with an artistic focus on “Imagining Work.”

During the upcoming academic year, students, faculty, staff and members of the greater community will delve into the many ways artists, writers and photographers have expressed the changing nature of work over the past 150 years. From farm to factory in the 19^th century to our present-day knowledge economy, the effects of automation, globalization, immigration, war, and race on the identity of the American worker will be explored. A variety of events scheduled at the college and in the community are free and open to the public.

Funded through a multi-year challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the MWCC Humanities Project strengthens the college’s humanities curriculum; supports collaborative and interdisciplinary teaching and research in the humanities; examines the intersection between the humanities and other academic disciplines; and engages the college and the greater community in the discussion of enduring themes from the world’s many cultures and traditions.

The theme will focus on the Great Depression photographs of Dorothea Lange, the Great Migration paintings by African American artist Jacob Lawrence and the poetry of Diane Gilliam Fisher, author of the award-winning book, Kettle Bottom, which depicts the Virginia mining wars.

“Year three of the Humanities Project is focused on something that MWCC students, faculty, staff and community members know a lot about – work,” said English Professor and Project Coordinator Michelle Valois. “Can the mundane be the subject of great works of art?  Can we find beauty in something we do day in and day out?  Our study will focus on paintings, photographs and poems that have transformed work into more than just a paycheck. These works of art show us the struggles and the joys of the American worker.”

This summer, participating faculty representing multiple disciplines met for a two-day workshop to develop curriculum and activities centered on the theme. Among several presentations, Stephen B. Jareckie, consulting curator of photography for the Fitchburg Art Museum, spoke on early 20^th century photography, and artist and MWCC art history instructor Donalyn Schofield discussed the artwork of Jacob Lawrence.

Upcoming fall events include a gallery talk with Tracie Pouliot, founder of the Chair City Community Art Center and Oral History Bookmaking Project; the third annual hike for the humanities fundraiser at Wachusett Mountain; a pizza party and poetry readings from Kettle Bottom; an interactive art project creating replicas of Lawrence’s paintings; and a student poetry and prose slam.

Spring events will include a poetry reading with author Diane Gilliam Fisher; a presentation by University of Massachusetts, Lowell Professor Robert Forrant on female mill workers in Lowell from 1825 to 1860; and film screenings with Fitchburg State University Professor Joe Moser, including “Grab a Hunk of Lightning,” about the life of Dorothea Lange, Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times,” “The Devil and Miss Jones,” and “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter.”

For more information, visit mwcc.edu/humanitiesproject.

MWCC’s 12^th annual Summer Leadership Academy is one for the records.

Sponsored by the office of Student Life, the two-day event for incoming students saw a record number of participants, a record number of service projects and a record number of backpacks donated to children in need, said Associate Dean of Students Greg Clement, who coordinates the annual event with campus-wide support from college faculty, staff and administrators.

Nearly 80 incoming students participated this year, up from 47 a year ago. The two-day Leadership Academy helps prepare students for the start of the new academic year and provides a half-day of volunteerism on campus and in the community. Held on Aug. 23 and 24 this year, the program offered team building activities, educational workshops and civic engagement projects completed in collaboration with the college’s Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement.

Service projects included the annual backpack drive to benefit Massachusetts schoolchildren living in foster care; landscaping at the Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center and MWCC’s Gardner campus; maintenance and painting benefiting Heywood Hospital’s wellness trail; vegetable harvesting at the Many Hands organic farm in Barre; and sorting and organizing household and construction supplies at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Leominster.

Through the generosity of the new students and members of the college community, the backpack drive resulted in 138 new backpacks filled with school supplies for children in need.

The Leadership Academy is designed to give new students a jump start on their first semester at MWCC. The success of the program relies on dedicated faculty, staff, alumni, current students and other community members who participate in the program, Clement said.

“We started with 12 students the first year. It’s an amazing program that becomes stronger each year,” Clement said. “What’s amazing to me is this is our 12^th year and we’re starting to see the legacy of children and siblings of past participants now attending. Many of our group and club leaders are born from this event. Over the past 12 years, many of our Student Government Association members and nine of our Student Trustees were Leadership Academy participants,” he said.

“I’ve met a lot of people. Everyone is so welcoming and helpful,” said Jammie Mascitti, who attended with her twin sister, Jessie. The Rindge, N.H. residents also participate in MWCC’s STEM Starter Academy this summer.

Zac Tancrell of Hubbardston, a student enrolled in MWCC’s Gateway to College program, and recent Nashoba Regional High School graduate Trevor Sicard of Leominster said they appreciated the opportunity to get to know fellow students and college staff prior to the start of the school year.

“It was a nice jumpstart and introduction to what college is like,” Tancrell said.

Photo caption: Mount Wachusett Community College’s 12^th annual Leadership Academy saw a record number of students and service projects. Students, faculty and college staff donated school supplies and backpacks that will be donated to 138 children in foster care.

Mount Wachusett Community College’s third annual STEM Starter Academy came to a close on Thursday, Aug. 18, following a seven-week schedule that provided two free academic courses with textbooks, academic support, and a stipend for participants.

More than 30 students from throughout the region enrolled in one or two courses such as a four-credit lab science and one general elective. In addition to earning up to seven free credits toward their STEM Pathway, the students toured the college’s new science, technology, engineering and mathematics building, received presentations on STEM careers, and explored MWCC’s transfer opportunities for its graduates.

“We are excited to complete our third annual summer program for local learners pursuing a degree in STEM fields,” said Veronica Guay, Assistant Dean of the School of Business, Science, Technology and Mathematics. “This summer’s Academy was outstanding. We nearly doubled the number of participants who attended in 2015 as the word is spreading about this amazing opportunity. Students have increased confidence in the areas of time management, study skills and ability to access to the college’s numerous student services. Some of the greatest areas of growth for the students include their interactions with college faculty, the willingness to access academic tutoring, and to assist one another and establish study groups. We are already looking forward to welcoming the summer 2017 STEM Starter Academy students!”

Funded through a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, the STEM Starter Academy is open to high school graduates or qualifying MWCC students who place into college-level English and math courses and are enrolling in one of MWCC’s STEM majors in the fall.

Qualifying MWCC STEM majors include analytical lab and quality systems, biology, biotechnology, chemistry, computer information systems, exercise and sports science, fire science technology, graphic and interactive design, interdisciplinary studies-allied health, medical laboratory technology, natural resources, physics, pre-engineering, and pre-pharmacy.

Courses offered during the summer academy included intermediate algebra, introduction to functions and modeling, life sciences for allied health, chemistry, statistics and introduction to psychology. In addition to the coursework, the students will also participate in MWCC’s Summer Leadership Academy on Aug. 23 and 24.

“Our students have had an outstanding summer and are ready to continue their studies this fall with two courses already under their belt,” said Christine Davis, MWCC’s STEM Starter Academy recruiter. Students from approximately a dozen area towns enrolled in the rigorous program, and tackled classes in an accelerated format that will prepare them for their careers, she said.

Many of the academy students are also recipients of STEM SET scholarships at MWCC. These awards of up to $3,500 per year are available to qualifying STEM majors through a grant the college received from the National Science Foundation.

In another MWCC STEM program supported by the DHE this summer, nearly 40 high school seniors participated in a four-credit introduction to physical science course and toured the college’s new science and technology building that is nearing completion.

For more information, contact MWCC’s admission’s office at 978-630-9110 or admissions@mwcc.mass.edu.

Photo caption: Stem Starter Academy students enrolled in Mount Wachusett Community College’s summer biology course Life Science for Allied Health, with Dean Janice Barney and Assistant Dean Veronica Guay, checked out the new science classrooms nearing completion at the Gardner campus.