2021 King Celebration highlights ‘Voices in the Movement,’ includes arts competition

Goshen College students, faculty and community members will focus on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and explore the theme “Voices in the Movement,” with Dr. Vilna Bashi Treitler, a visual artist and professor of sociology at Northwestern University, during the campus’ annual public celebration events Jan. 16-17, 2022.

Featured events for King Celebration weekend begin on Sunday, Jan. 16 at 9:30 a.m. with a special church service in the Church-Chapel, featuring a sermon by Dr. Treitler titled “To Set at Liberty Those Who Are Oppressed,” followed by a discussion.

The King Celebration Arts Competition will take place that evening, Sunday, Jan. 16 from 7-9 p.m. via livestream. This competition is open to Goshen College and high school students in Elkhart County. Categories include short film, spoken word/performance, musical piece, and 2D or 3D visual art.

Entries will be juried by a panel of community members. Each category will include monetary prize winners in the amounts of $200 (first place) and $100 (second place) and certificates representing their award level. All student entries must be submitted by: Monday, January 10, 2022 to be considered. See the contest form here. 

On Monday, Jan. 17, at 10 a.m., the college will hold the 2021 King Celebration convocation, featuring Dr. Treitler, who will speak about “Domination and Oppression: Theories and Queries.”

Breakout sessions will take place at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. (see full schedule below).

A prayer service will be held that afternoon, Monday, Jan. 21, at 4 p.m., in the Church-Chapel.

These events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.goshen.edu/mlk.

 

Featured artist and keynote speaker information

Dr. Vilna Bashi Treitler is the Osborn Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. She is a sociologist and visual artist. Her scholarship theorizes about international migration, race and ethnicity and the dynamics of hierarchical socioeconomic structures both domestically and internationally. She has published several articles and books, including The Ethnic Project: Transforming Racial Fictions into Ethnic Factions (Stanford, 2013), a comparative historical analysis of US ethnic groups’ racialization named to the Zora Canon, the top 100 books ever written by an African American woman. She is the 2020 recipient of the American Sociological Association’s Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award for scholarship in service to social justice. Bashi Treitler is currently at work on a memoir entitled Schooled, about her experiences with public school and higher education, and a related self-portrait series.

Schedule — Goshen College’s 2022 King Celebration events:

Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022

9:30 a.m., Sermon and Discussion, College Mennonite Church
Featuring Dr. Vilna Bashi Treitler — “To Set at Liberty Those Who Are Oppressed”

7-9 p.m., King Celebration Arts Competition, livestream

Monday, Jan. 17, 2022

10-11:30 a.m., King Convocation, Church-Chapel
Keynote speaker: Dr. Vilna Bashi Treitler — “Domination and Oppression: Theories and Queries”

Breakout Sessions*

1-2:15 p.m., Sessions A

• “Church in the Movement: The Role of the Church,” led by Lawrence Giden — Church-Chapel Koinonia Room
• “Music in the Movement: Then and Now,” led by Dr. H. Roz Woll — Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall
• MLK Intergroup Dialogue on Race, led by Courtney Ropp & Dr. LaKendra Hardware — Church-Chapel Room 108 (2.5 hours)

2:30-3:45 p.m., Sessions B

• “Resilience Strategies for the Long Haul,” led by Dr. Regina Shands Stoltzfus & Cathy Stoner — Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall
• “Anti-Violence in Action,” led by Kendall McGhee & Dr. Erika Buhring — Church-Chapel Koinonia Room
• MLK Intergroup Dialogue on Race continued — Church-Chapel Room 108

4 p.m., Prayer Service, Church-Chapel
Join us for a time of prayer and song as we close out King Celebration 2022 in a time of reflection and call to advocacy.