Double Down with Nevada Humanities
Welcome to the Double Down blog. Our blog highlights the voices of people from around Nevada with thought-provoking humanities posts. We invite you to dive in and explore.
Featured
Welcome to the Double Down blog. Our blog highlights the voices of people from around Nevada with thought-provoking humanities posts. We invite you to dive in and explore.
By Giana Ragudos
I’ve always loved the diversity of my home. Being born and raised in Hawaii, and to be raised surrounded by such rich cultures, isa privilege. As a child, I’ve been given the opportunity to experience many cultural traditions that play a huge role in my identity today.
By Shaun T. Griffin
October 2024. This preamble is for the scores of men who have been in the Razor Wire Poetry Workshop which, for over three decades, saved lives, kept them out of prison, gave voice to many poets, and led to countless friendships that kept me returning to teach poetry.
By George Tsz-Kwan Lam
Last week, Nevada Humanities staff traveled to Providence, Rhode Island to attend the 2024 National Humanities Conference, which took place from November 13 to November 17. This annual gathering was jointly produced by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Humanities Alliance. Rhode Island Humanities served as this year’s conference host.
By George Tsz-Kwan Lam
The 2024 Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl returned on Saturday, October 12, featuring panel discussions and interactive activities throughout downtown Reno.
By Sharon K. Schafer
My interest in the magic and mystery of the natural world lies at the intersection of art and science. As a wildlife biologist by education and an artist and photographer by passion, I endeavor to work at the confluence of these disciplines to create images that open hearts and minds to the life and landscapes of the world’s wild places.
By Ashley Warren
In 2016, I rolled a 20-sided dice onto my kitchen table, surrounded by some of my closest friends, and my life changed forever. This was my first time playing Dungeons & Dragons, a game I had wanted to play since I was a child looking at the early versions of the Monster Manual at the public library.
By Alina Lindquist
When in bloom, the desert globe mallow brings the Mojave floor to life with vibrant orange and red hues. It is a common misconception that the desert is desolate or devoid of life, but when stumbling upon natural gems like the globe mallow, it unveils the incomparable beauty of the landscape. Hop out of the car and walk along any trail in the southern part of Nevada. It may look barren from the road, but it is impossible to miss all the wonders and life of the desert that emerge when walking amongst it.
By Shannon Salter
The first thing I loved about Las Vegas was its oleander. Not only the bursting blossoms—red, pink, white—but the way it so often throws itself over cement walls and sidewalks, how it thrusts up against chain link fences, and drops its petals into the street. When I came to Las Vegas in 2009 to study poetry at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), I walked around in constant awe of the blooming things, which defied the starkness of an American suburban landscape.
By George Tsz-Kwan Lam
The excitement is building around the 2024 Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl. The Crawl is northern Nevada’s largest literary festival. I am grateful to have the opportunity to work together with our team at Nevada Humanities to bring this event to life. We are now putting together the final touches to a rich program of sessions, readings, and interactive activities for Saturday, October 12 in downtown Reno.
Por Lydia Huerta Moreno
El acceso y la representación en español son cada vez más necesarios en Estados Unidos, lo que refleja la evolución demográfica y cultural del país. Con más de 40 millones de hispanohablantes, Estados Unidos es el segundo país de habla hispana del mundo, por lo que es esencial que las empresas y otras industrias faciliten el acceso y presten servicio a esta población.
By Maryam Ala Amjadi
In July 2009, a Sudanese journalist, Lubna al-Hussein, and a group of 12 other women in Khartoum, Sudan were arrested for wearing trousers and sentenced to 40 lashes each for committing an act of “indecency.”
By Michelle Graves
What a whirlwind the past year has been! For a condensed story, over the summer of 2023 I first heard about Goldwell Open Air Museum and a call for temporary outdoor sculptures through fellow Las Vegas artist Brian Gibson. I applied to the call for art as well as a Nevada Arts Council Project Grant and was accepted to both. The sculpture exhibit was canceled but I pursued the installation anyway and was told, “Absolutely yes,” by Goldwell Open Air Museum Executive Director Suzanne Hackett-Morgan. So I installed my 4’ x 30’ text sculpture called, Keep Going in October 2023.
By Laura Newman
As the recipient of the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Silver Pen Award, I am excited to present a session at this year’s Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl on October 12, 2024. The subject of the session will be Writing the Desert West in Fact and Fiction. Michael Branch, a Nevada Writers Hall of Fame 2024 inductee, represents fact, while I represent fiction. Join us!
By Shan Michael Evans
We asked Shan Michael Evans, a Las Vegas artist and guest curator of the current Nevada Humanities Exhibition Series Saint and Poets Maybe… exhibition, to answer six questions about his inspiration in creating this exhibition.