Libraries, Community, and Fighting Food Insecurity

12/06/22 • 54 min

Jasmine Zandi is a Canadian native who has called Arkansas home since 2011. She graduated from Hendrix College with a dual B.A. in French, and International Development and Sustainability. Throughout her undergraduate studies, Jasmine completed internships with No Kid Hungry, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Toledo Museum of Art. Post-graduation, Jasmine served a year-long service term as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. In 2021, Jasmine became the new Coordinator of the Be Mighty Little Rock program, a citywide anti-hunger campaign connecting kids and teens to free USDA meals. Be Mighty operates through the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). Since she began, the program has expanded beyond USDA meal distribution to include garden & nutrition education programs, and SNAP office hours during which patrons are given information on federal programs designed to alleviate food insecurity. Whether national or local, Jasmine has a passion for nonprofit work and empowering her community with the resources needed to thrive!

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Navigating the Academic Publishing Process

Dr. Laura Portwood-Stacer is a publishing consultant and developmental editor who helps academic authors at all career stages navigate the book publishing process. Her company Manuscript Works offers regular workshops and online programs to assist writers in drafting book proposals and connecting with scholarly publishers. She is the author of The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors, published by Princeton University Press in 2021, which is the subject of our conversation today!

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Museums, History, and a Future Born of Crisis

Dr. Samuel J. Redman is an Associate Professor of History and Director of the Public History Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research focuses on studies American social, cultural, and intellectual history, and he received his B.A. in anthropology and history from the University of Minnesota at Morris and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American history since 1607 at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Redman is the author of three books. His first book, Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums was published by Harvard University Press in 2016, and was selected as a Choice Top-25 Outstanding Academic Title, Nature Top-20 book of 2016, and Smithsonian Top History Book of 2016. His second book, Prophets and Ghosts: The Story of Salvage Anthropology (Harvard University Press 2021) explores the history and legacy of salvage anthropology, and then his third book, The Museum: A Short History of Crisis and Resilience was published by NYU Press in 2022, and is the subject of our conversation today, examines how cultural institutions responded to episodes of crisis over the past century in the United States.

Before graduate school, Redman worked at the Field Museum of Natural History, Science Museum of Minnesota, and History Colorado. While at Berkeley, Redman served as the Lead Interviewer for the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Homefront Oral History Project. He also helped to organize Berkeley’s Japanese American Confinement Sites Oral History Project and San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge Oral History Project. In collaboration with a New York City based non-profit organization, Voices in Contemporary Art, he has co-led Artist Interview Workshops for more than 300 conservators, curators, educators, and arts professionals.