HWS News
13 February 2026 Fisher Center Spring Programs Announced
A multidisciplinary lineup of artists and scholars examines how narrative, performance and language shape identity, culture and human rights.
This spring, the Fisher Center series “Backlash, (Im)mobility, Reaction” invites the campus community into a dynamic series of workshops and talks that explore storytelling as a force for identity, creativity and social understanding. One visiting artist and one scholar, along with Hobart and William Smith faculty, will use performance, language, visual arts and literature to examine how stories shape the way people see themselves and the world. All events are free, open to the public and take place in Demarest 212.
The series begins on Monday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. with “Trans/Non-binary Storytelling Workshop, Part 2.” Building on a fall visit from Emmy-nominated trans actor and performer Scott Turner Schofield, this semester’s workshop shifts focus to creation, offering participants space to develop and share their own stories rooted in trans, non-binary and gender-expansive experience. Participation in the fall workshop is not required. The session will be facilitated by HWS faculty.
On Thursday, March 12 at 5:15 p.m., multidisciplinary artist and puppeteer Linda Wingerter will lead “Shadow Puppetry for Contemporary Media,” a workshop exploring the intersection of puppetry, film and movement. A third-generation puppeteer, Wingerter grew up immersed in sculpture, mechanics and performance in her grandparents’ puppet theater. Influenced by training at the Montanaro Mime School, she brings a distinctive, whimsical aesthetic to her work. Wingerter has taught puppetry across educational settings, including Quinnipiac University, Boston University, Cornell University and the Yale School of Drama. The session will highlight storytelling that moves beyond spoken language, using objects, motion and visual expression as narrative tools.
Language and its connection to justice take center stage on Wednesday, April 1 at 3 p.m. with “Maya Tzotzil: Language and Justice,” an interactive workshop facilitated by Fisher Center Postdoctoral Fellow André de Oliveira Nascimento. Participants will learn basic expressions in Tzotzil, a Mayan language, while exploring how language shapes relationships to nature, property, community and human rights. The workshop also introduces poems, Mayan glyphs and textiles as forms of writing, expanding traditional ideas of literacy and knowledge. Having received a doctorate degree at Cornell University, Nascimento’s research investigates the theme of protest literature in the pursuit of democratic radicalization.
The series continues on Thursday, March 26 at 7 p.m. with a talk by Assistant Professor of English at Syracuse University Vanessa K. Evans. A scholar of contemporary Indigenous literatures and theory, Evans examines how comparative approaches to diverse Indigenous literatures illuminate the ways Indigenous Peoples and nations are enacting resurgence. Her research and teaching connect literature to questions of sovereignty, citizenship and cultural renewal, and her work has appeared in several international scholarly venues. Evans was a visiting lecturer at the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies and the Center for Comparative Native and Indigenous Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Her research has appeared in venues such as Mapping World Anglophone Studies: English in a World of Strangers (2024), Studies in the Novel (2022), and The International Journal of Online Pedagogy and Course Design (2022). Her co-edited book, Cultures of Citizenship in the Twenty-First Century, was published in 2023, with Transcript Press. She is co-editor of Cultures of Citizenship in the Twenty-First Century (2023).
The relationship between puppetry and activism will be explored on Wednesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. with “Paper is Political: The Puppet Show,” by Associate Professor of Media and Society Leah Shafer. The presentation will include a brief history of toy theatre, a contextualization of the relationship between the aesthetics of puppetry and activism, and three performances that use paper puppetry and low-fi tech to address AI, memes and the 1%. Shafer’s research focuses on areas including new media, advertising and television and has been featured in several publications including Routledge Handbook of Medicine and Media (2022), The 25 Sitcoms that Changed Television: From I Love Lucy to Modern Family (2017), and Film Criticism (2016).
Professor of Philosophy Karen Frost-Arnold will lead "Stop Talking About Polarization when we’re in the Middle of a Backlash" as well. Frost-Arnold's research focuses on topics such as social epistemology and the philosophy of the internet. She is the author of Who Should We Be Online? A Social Epistemology of the Internet (2023) and has been featured in publications such as The Routledge Handbook of Applied Epistemology, The Routledge Handbook of Trust and Applied Epistemology.
The Spring semester wraps up on Wednesday, April 29 at 7p.m. with “Bodily Fluid: A Multi-sensory Exhibit of Liminality (Contested)" by Professor of Theatre H. May. “Bodily Fluid” is an attempt to live in the messy intersection of bodily fluidity, transformation and im/mobilization as a means of claiming liminality as a site of power and resistance. May’s work focuses on themes of visual impairment in the theatre, theatre for social change and disability aesthetics. May has been featured in publications including Performance Matters (2023) and Inclusivity and Equality in Performance Training: Teaching and Learning for Neuro and Physical Diversity (2022).
Professor of Dance and Movement Studies Cynthia Williams will also be presenting. Williams' research areas include contemporary dance history, dance criticism and Rommett Floor Barre. She has participated at events such as the National Dance Education Organization Conference and the American Culture Association/Popular Culture Association Conference.
For more Information, contact Professor of English and Creative Writing Alla Ivanchikova.
Top: In the fall, Fisher Center Postdoctoral Fellow André de Oliveira Nascimento presents on the Mayan Literary Renaissance unfolding in Chiapas, Mexico.
