Join us to hear the stories of four Madison-area public humanities professionals who pursued non-academic career paths, from nonprofit administration and consulting to publishing, editorial, and curatorial work. The panel will be moderated by Danielle Weindling, Public Humanities Coordinator at the UW-Madison Center for the Humanities. Questions and topics of interest will be collected ahead of time with time for live Q&A; and informal conversation to follow.
RSVP is required. Please register in advance here.
Panelists:
Jason A. Smith, Administrative Project Manager at PBS Wisconsin, previous Associate Director of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters
Jason Aaron Smith is an editor, writer, and project manager with over 25 years of experience working in nonprofit arts, culture, and education. Jason is currently an administrative project manager at PBS Wisconsin, where he works on systems and structures that support station wide communication and collaboration. Before joining PBS Wisconsin, Jason was editor of Wisconsin People & Ideas, a magazine focused on Wisconsin thought and culture, and managing editor of The Common Review, a magazine about books and literary culture published by the Great Books Foundation.
Andy Davey, Community Resource Analyst at Madison Community Foundation, PhD Geography, UW-Madison, 2019
Andy Davey currently serves as the community resource analyst for the Madison Community Foundation. He conducts research and convenes nonprofit practitioners and other philanthropic funders around critical issues. He holds a PhD in geography and environmental history from UW-Madison. In his work, he draws on both his academic training as a scholar of food systems and environmental and political values, as well as a variety of work experiences from caregiver for people with disabilities, nonprofit program manager, urban farmer, and classroom teacher. He lives on the east side of Madison with his wife, rambunctious 4-year-old son, and soon to be rambunctious 6-month-old son.
Jolynne Roorda, Co-Director at Arts + Literature Laboratory (ALL)
Jolynne Roorda is an artist, designer, and community arts advocate. She is the co-founder and co-director of ALL, and former Director of Public Relations for the Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven, Connecticut. She has organized hundreds of exhibitions and cultural events over the past 20 years, and she spearheaded the development of ALL’s new facility in downtown Madison.
Rita Mae Reese, Co-Director at Arts + Literature Laboratory, MFA Creative Writing, UW-Madison, 2005
Rita Mae Reese, co-founder and co-director of ALL in Madison, is a recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, a Stegner fellowship in fiction at Stanford University, a Discovery/The Nation award, and a Pamaunok Poetry Prize, among other awards. Her book of poetry, The Book of Hulga, received the Felix Pollak Prize.
